Water Magician

Magic seemed to have somewhat of an effective range.

Currently, Ryo’s range was roughly about a radius of 15 meters around him.

He could not channel his magical power beyond that.

For example, even if he launches a Water Ball, it would lose its ability to float and fall to the ground once it passes 15 meters.

Before it reaches 15 meters away, he seemed to be able to control it to some extent as though there was a thread of magical power connected to it.

Thinking back as to how the Water Ball would fall after 10 meters, he was able to verify that the effective range would be extended.

That said, the Water Ball wasn’t fast and its attack power was weak so Ryo could not use it as an attack spell …

Even the Ice Bahn that Ryo used when hunting the Lesser Boar could only be generated up to 15 meters in front of Ryo.

It could only manifest starting from Ryo.

It was not possible to create an Ice Bahn directly underneath the feet of a Lesser Boar 15 meters away.

Suddenly creating a Water Ball in a space 15 meters away was impossible.

But what if he could do it …?

Forming a 3-meter radius Ice Bahn underneath a Lesser Boar 10 meters away … just that alone would render the Lesser Boar immobile due to the slippery surface.

At the moment, Ryo’s greatest means of attack was the Water Jet.

That was a straight-line attack originating from Ryo toward the opponent too.

In a sense, that made it relatively easy to avoid.

Since the trajectory of the attack was just a straight line.

Sure, avoiding the fast Water Jet was pretty difficult but … that Assassin Hawk dodged it.

Furthermore, <Water Jet 32> was Ryo’s hidden trump card.

Firing 32 Water Jets at the same time … An all-direction surface suppression, even though they were fired at a slight angle to achieve, but it still managed to move out of the effective range.

There was still room for improvement.

While enriching his food was an attractive prospect … there were still monsters that Ryo could not win against at his current stage.

And it could be found very close by.

He had to become even stronger.

Since everything would be over once he dies.

He would hunt in the Eastern forest once every two days in the morning.

Hunt one Lesser Rabbit or Lesser Boar.

On days when he doesn’t go hunting or on rainy days, he would read the 『Monster Encyclopedia: Beginner’s Edition』 in the morning diligently.

Since he didn’t know when, where or what kind of monster he would encounter.

It would be too pathetic if he couldn’t cope with the new monsters because he didn’t read up on them.

Apart from that, he would train magic.

He was practicing creating water and ice away from him.

As expected, he could not immediately create them 10 meters away from him.

He extended his right arm.

He cast a Water Ball in front of him, forming a Water Ball 10 cm away from his palm.

His goal was to extend that distance to 15 meters or even further … that training seemed that it would take a long time as well.

Nevertheless, just because it felt like it would take a long time didn’t mean that he shouldn’t do it.

When he was practicing outside, he would always incorporate the practice of firing a Water Jet from a point away from him.

By doing so, he could practice both creating it away from him and improving its power.

Growth only progressed in tiny steps.

But Ryo was happy to see the result of his growth.

As it was directly connected to his survival, he had to do it regardless of whether it made him happy or not.

That was a fact but humans are not that strong-willed.

Instead, having visible results from effort would have a great impact on motivation.

It was more related to emotions than reasoning.

Half of the humankind’s drive comes from emotions.

Whether that half can be moved was crucial in getting good results.

Ryo knew about that regardless of being a person who leaned on the side of reasoning.

Ryo was not a genius.

Nor was he a talented person.

But he knew the importance of hard work.

That came from his emotional side, rather than his rational side.

For a person like him, the effort didn’t bother him at all.

The change came suddenly.

On the day he goes hunting.

He was hunting for Lesser Rabbits or Lesser Boars in the Eastern forest.

Of course, there was a chance of encountering monsters other than those two types.

But he had not experienced it other than the encounter with the Assassin Hawk in the Northern forest.

The Northern and Eastern forests were connected and it wasn’t such a large distance so he naturally considered the possibility of the Assassin Hawk appearing in the Eastern forest.

However, he encountered a different monster today.

“Greater Boar …”

The greater species of the Normal Boar that is the greater species of the Lesser Boar.

Capable of shooting stone gravel as a long-range earth attribute attack magic.

And the speed of its charge was close to the speed of sound.

Although there was a difference of wind and earth and sky and ground, its characteristics were similar to the Assassin Hawk.

But it was huge …

Its length was about seven meters. Its head was around three meters above the ground.

Something that large would charge at subsonic speeds. It was a nightmare.

“I’d die if I get hit. I was hit by a truck and died on Earth but isn’t that even faster?”

Since kinetic energy was determined by mass and speed, a Greater Boar that charges at subsonic speed produce destructive power that is incomparable to the trucks on Earth.

By visual estimations, it was about the size of a dump truck.

The Greater Boar was so large that even though it was about 20 meters away from Ryo, the perspective seemed strange due to its appearance.

(<Icicle Lance 16>)

First, 16 Icicle Lances formed at a 30 degrees angle from the ground to intercept its charge.

That would prevent the subsonic charge.

The Greater Boar fired two stone gravels while slowly approaching.

(<Ice Shield 2>)

Two shields about the size of tennis rackets made of ice formed in front of Ryo and disappeared after the gravels that were shot over collided with them.

“Guooooo”

He wasn’t sure if it was to intimidate or a cry of frustration. But the Greater Boar cried out.

Immediately after, more than 20 stone gravels manifested around the Greater Boar.

“That’s way too many.”

(<Ice Wall>)

Ryo chose a wall instead of a shield to prevent all the attacks from the front.

The Greater Boar shot the stone gravels immediately after that.

The stone gravels that flew toward Ryo shattered the Icicle Lances before causing cracks on the Ice Wall.

Ryo jumped to his left at once.

Almost the same time as the stone gravels landed, the Greater Boar charged.

“Charging in at the same time as using skills … are you some knight with a sacred sword technique!”

It was a technique that appeared in Ryo’s favorite comic.

“If I were a wind attribute magician, I could form three other bodies and shoot sonic blades before following up with a charge assault!”

But that was impossible for Ryo.

The Greater Boar shattered the Icicle Lances with stone gravels and shattered the Ice Wall with its body charge.

It passed Ryo by from the momentum of crushing the Ice Wall and turned around to face him after about 15 meters.

“You shouldn’t have stopped there.”

(<Ice Bahn>)

He formed a floor of ice with the Greater Boar in the middle.

A radius of about three meters around the Greater Boar became a floor of ice and the space between it and Ryo was an ice floor as well.

The Greater Boar failed to stand on the ice and fell over many times.

It probably never experienced walking on ice before in its lifetime. The Rondo Forest was warm after all.

(<Icicle Lance 16>)

Even after that much practice, he still could not shoot the Icicle Lances forward.

However, after becoming able to form them away from himself, he found a new way of using them.

16 Icicle Lances formed 18 meters above the Greater Boar with their center of gravity placed near their tips.

Then, they fell.

“Gyaaaaaa”

The Icicle Lances pierced the Greater Boar one after another from its neck to its back, except for its head.

Due to the Greater Boars characteristic to favor charging, its entire head, including its nose, was extremely sturdy.

An ordinary sword would not be able to pierce it.

That was how it was able to break through Ryo’s Ice Wall.

However, its body other than its head wasn’t as sturdy.

It was similar to that of the Lesser Boar and may only be slightly tougher than a regular boar.

Ryo aimed for that.

“I’m glad I read the 『Monster Encyclopedia』. But the hide is now full of holes and no longer useable …”