Ch.7Chapter 7: First Magic.

So Balt and Lisa head to the location specified in the request form to apply for the escort mission.

There was originally someone in charge, but they couldn’t handle Balt, so they said they’d call their supervisor, causing a slight delay.

The supervisor who rushed over asks Balt:

“S-so… a savage—I mean, a barbarian wants to take on escort duty?”

This fairly large man is the caravan’s guard captain.

He belongs to the merchant group and is skilled enough to hold his own anywhere in the middle levels of the 3rd Aura Floor.

But his decent build is nothing compared to Balt’s.

Despite standing over 180 centimeters tall with a sturdy frame, he seems small next to Balt, who towers well over 2 meters.

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

“And the young lady too?”

“Yes! Balt and I are a team!”

The guard captain didn’t need to think about it.

He knows well how strong barbarians are.

After all, he’s originally from Lester.

Now well over 30 years old, he still remembers hiding under his blanket as a child, trembling at the news of fearsome barbarians attacking.

He was even more shocked when he saw that the Lester Castle guards, whom he had admired as a child, were reduced by more than half the next day.

The Lester guards are strong. They consist of skilled warriors at minimum of 3rd Aura Floor level.

But much time has passed. Though they were once fearsome enemies, there’s no reason for hostility now that they’ve made peace.

He’s too old to hold grudges based on childhood memories.

Rather, it’s good news that they’ve gained such powerful allies.

Even if the girl can’t pull her weight, one barbarian is worth at least five men.

“N-no problem at all! W-welcome! We’ll make room even if there isn’t any.”

The guard captain is thinking this will ensure their caravan’s safe return.

They depart in two days.

Balt and Lisa will need to prepare for the long journey ahead.

***

Time passes, and it’s the day of the caravan’s departure.

A fairly large merchant group prepares to leave the castle.

Balt immediately captures the attention of all the merchants and hired mercenaries gathered there.

“Wow… seeing him up close is even more impressive… can human muscles even grow that large?”

“There’s a reason they station capable armies in this harsh southern region. Imagine thousands of guys like him charging in!”

“…Don’t say such frightening things… They’ve made peace with us. Keep your voice down.”

Balt pays no attention to their whispers.

The looks they give him aren’t of contempt or disgust, but curiosity and a touch of fear.

‘I didn’t realize when playing the game that barbarians were such a big deal. I found knights using Aura harder to deal with.’

Aura and Mana are closely connected. Aura is Mana that has been absorbed and stored within the body.

Therefore, those who deeply master Aura can naturally respond better to magic that uses Mana.

But a barbarian’s power comes from pure physical strength.

Of course, their bodies, which transcend normal limits, are impressive, but barbarians, being less attuned to Mana, would inevitably be helpless against Aura users above the 7th Floor or mages above the 7th Circle.

This is what Balrock hopes to remedy.

Then why not learn Aura with their strong bodies instead of magic?

Aura requires systematic training methods that barbarians don’t have.

Aura training methods are only possessed by renowned families in the central continent, and ordinary people can’t even get a glimpse of them.

It would be nearly impossible for barbarians to obtain such Aura training methods.

Moreover, there’s the matter of temperament.

Do barbarians develop muscles just by sitting still?

While that’s partly true, it’s also not.

Their temperament makes it impossible for barbarians who run across steppes and sprint across plains to practice Aura methods that require meditation-like training.

As the caravan departs, Balt and Lisa take positions at the rear.

They bought only one horse, which Lisa rides.

No ordinary horse could carry Balt’s massive frame.

It would take a black runner horse like those that accompany barbarians.

Since he had already sent that horse back to his tribe, Balt decided to walk.

As he walks while trying to do something, Lisa’s nagging voice reaches him.

“That’s not it! You gather the mana tightly, then transform it quickly, and then firmly apply it with your hand!”

Having become a teacher, Lisa now readily raises her voice at Balt.

People around them wonder why this barbarian is nodding without complaint to whatever this girl is saying.

Contrary to rumors, they thought the barbarian seemed quite well-mannered.

‘This isn’t easy…’

Magic that was automatically acquired in the game is incredibly difficult to learn in reality.

It’s only because Balt is a magic enthusiast with knowledge and experience that he can even attempt to imitate it.

Woong.

Thanks to his Magic stat of over 50, gathering magical power in his hand is easy.

‘I can do this much, the first step of casting magic: concentrating magical power. And the next calculation is also decent… But the next part is the problem…’

Magic is like advanced mathematics.

Of course, once you create a circle and reach a certain level, they say you can use magic with just imagery, but that’s a distant dream for Balt.

Nevertheless, for Balt, who completed higher education in South Korea, these calculations aren’t difficult.

He may not understand high-level magic, but the formulas for basic magic are merely at the level of basic arithmetic.

Even that is considered extraordinary higher education in this world, something commoners never have the opportunity to learn.

But he can’t manage to apply the imagery.

‘What does applying imagery even mean? Isn’t it just thinking about fire?’

The transformation of magical properties that follows calculation is realized through the user’s powerful imagery.

It’s a kind of mental strength.

‘I have plenty of mental strength… Is it intelligence? Is that the issue?’

That’s possible, but in the game, intelligence increases mana capacity or enhances magical power.

This is the first time Balt, who always started with intelligence over 30, has experienced this issue.

‘It’s highly likely… I need to level up?’

But Balt didn’t stop practicing the enchantment magic that seemed almost within reach.

It’s also because there’s not much else to do while walking.

After walking for a while, he comes up with a hypothesis.

‘That’s it! Elemental affinity! Fire might not suit me well! Let’s try changing the element!’

Everyone who practices magic knows that individuals have elements they’re naturally attuned to.

Balt was convinced his theory was correct.

Even when he played as a fire mage, water element magic was noticeably less powerful.

“Lisa.”

Lisa, excitedly looking around, doesn’t hear Balt’s call.

Even staying at a cheap inn for a few days was an incredible experience for her.

She almost feels like a veteran adventurer.

And now she’s accompanying a merchant caravan with skilled mercenaries.

If this isn’t exciting, what is?

Lisa’s mind is in a field of flowers right now.

‘She’s not paying attention again.’

“Lisa!”

Startled, Lisa finally responds to Balt.

“Y-yes!? D-did you call me?”

She’s just like a child.

“Do you know any earth element enchantment spells?”

For barbarians who make their home in vast steppes and plains, no element could suit them better than earth.

Even their god Geruntus is an earth deity, and their solid bodies are like the firm ground.

In other words, if earth magic doesn’t work, nothing else will.

Lisa thinks for a moment before answering.

“Hmm… Earth element? I’m not very compatible with earth…”

She looks like she’d blow away in the wind, so wind element probably suits her better.

“But I can do one. Could you give me a stone from over there?”

Balt hands Lisa a small stone.

Taking it, Lisa gathers magical power and utters a simple incantation.

“Indu Fumnis!”

Lisa’s magical power infuses the stone, and she hands it back to Balt with a confident expression.

“Feel it. It should be harder now.”

Being a noble lady, Lisa sometimes acts a bit clueless.

‘What is this idiot saying? Stones are already hard! And this pathetic pebble!’

When Balt squeezes the stone slightly, it crumbles to dust.

“Harder?”

“……”

Lisa hurriedly tries to salvage the situation.

“Th-that’s not what I meant! You should compare it with another stone! It becomes a little! Just a little bit harder! Besides, I told you I’m not compatible with earth element!”

When Lisa casts the spell again and they compare, the enchanted stone is indeed very, very slightly harder.

Though both turn to dust in Balt’s hand all the same.

Still, Balt learns the earth element magic formula from Lisa and applies the will to harden, just like his own sturdy body.

Woooong.

Balt’s hand glows, and he feels something different from before.

‘The imagery is applied!’

It was indeed an elemental affinity issue.

Next, he manifests the magic in the physical world with an incantation!

“Indu Fumnis.”

Fwoosh!

A golden light, quite different from Lisa’s, envelops the stone, and Balt instinctively knows his magic has succeeded.

‘It worked!’

A stone with a slight golden glow.

The earth-element reinforcement magic that hardens objects has been applied to the stone.

Seeing this, Lisa’s eyes widen to the size of saucers.

“B-Balt, is that…?”

Balt reveals his even teeth in a wide grin, expressing his joy.

“Yes! That’s it! Success!”