Chapter 312: Ch 311: That means that I… No… It can’t be

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’Hmm, this skill doesn’t work either… What am I doing wrong?’

We’ve been in the labyrinth for a few hours now, and Melisa is currently fighting a Level 5 Fire Ant.

’- I think I’m starting to enjoy this fighting thing… There was no point in being afraid. Emir wouldn’t ask me to do anything I wasn’t capable of.’

She can now fight independently with some ease, using an old spear I had stored in my inventory.

I don’t remember where I got it, but that’s normal.

I have so many weapons in my inventory that I can’t remember where each one came from.

It’s probably a weapon I got from a thief or an enemy soldier in the war zone.

The spear is nothing special, but it serves its basic function.

While Melisa fights the monsters mostly on her own, Arya stands by with an arrow ready in her pulley bow, alert in case she needs to help the farmer.

But Melisa has already reached a high enough level in the Lancer class to be able to fight with the spear without needing help.

That’s why, taking advantage of the fact that I don’t need to keep such a close eye on her right now, I’m acquiring and testing the new skills I got yesterday at the auction.

However, my experiments are not yielding very satisfactory results.

For some reason I don’t understand, many of the skills I got don’t work.

At least not in a useful way.

So far, I’ve only been able to successfully test Sprint Lvl 1, Iron Skin Lvl 1, Meteor Fist Lvl 1, Lancer Breathing Style Lvl 1, and Archer Breathing Style Lvl 1.

Sprint allows me to explosively boost my running speed in a straight line for a short period of time.

Iron Skin is similar to Sprint, but it boosts my physical resistance.

Meteor Fist, on the other hand, is different. This is the only offensive skill I’ve been able to use correctly, and it allows me to strike with greater speed and force than I could normally imprint on my punches.

In the case of Lancer Breathing Style and Archer Breathing Style, they work exactly the same as Sword Breathing Style, except that they are used with bows and spears, respectively.

None of these skills gave me a new ability that would be useful under normal conditions, as they would only be useful in very specific situations.

But that’s because the most impressive skills refuse to work properly.

Ice Spear Lvl 1, Lightning Lvl 1, Fireball Lvl 1, Magic Breathing Style Lvl 1.

They all have impressive names and descriptions.

But, despite having learned them, I can’t make them work.

Magic Breathing Style has no noticeable effect on me.

But I suppose that’s better than the unpleasant feeling that runs through my body when I try to use Lightning.

On the other hand, Fireball and Ice Spear only serve to heat or cool my body to extremes, respectively.

The sensation of using those last two skills is quite horrible but bearable.

However, the fact that, after spending tons of gold coins to buy these new skills, the best ones don’t work is quite irritating.

And the subtle feeling of mockery I feel coming from the sword at my waist every time I fail to make a new skill work doesn’t help my mood.

“Haa… I can’t ignore it any longer. Out of curiosity, Master, what are you hoping to achieve with those strange movements?” says Arya as she watches me with a mocking smile, even though until now she had been indifferent to anything I didn’t directly order her to do.

I’m jumping and moving my arms and legs frantically to warm up as quickly as possible.

“I am t-trying to warm up-p m-my b-body. When I tried to test one of the skills I got at the auction, my body suddenly lost a lot of temperature,” I say, annoyed, stuttering, and careful not to bite my tongue as I speak because of the way my teeth are chattering from the horrible cold I feel throughout my body.

“Hahaha… And I guess earlier, when you suddenly started taking off all your clothes, you had tried to use some fire-related skill…” says the elf, struggling to contain her laughter.

“… Didn’t anyone ever tell you that it’s not possible to use external magic skills without a magic class?”

While Arya and I talk, Melisa skillfully faces two Level 5 Fire Ants at the same time.

She is making effective use of the spear’s range to keep a safe distance between herself and both monsters.

“I didn’t know that. Anyway, I don’t know how I could get a magic class either. As far as I know, there is only one reliable way to get the Mage class. And that way is out of my reach,” I say, a little less annoyed now that my teeth have stopped chattering.

“Ohh? What would that way be?” Arya asks with genuine curiosity.

“Killing someone else with a grimoire when you’re a baby,” I say, slightly surprised that we’re getting to the topic of conversation I bought Arya for in such a simple way.

I didn’t want to force her to talk to me about it, but her usual attitude didn’t leave me much choice.

Fortunately, it seems I won’t have to order her to.

“That’s so savage…” Arya says with visible revulsion.

“… Although it’s not surprising, coming from you people. Only your race could come up with such a barbaric method.”

“How do elves obtain the Mage class?” I ask as I stop moving to look closely at Arya, even though I haven’t yet regained my normal body temperature.

“You don’t need to know…” says the elf evasively.

“… It’s not a method that works for you. Judging from what I’ve seen, you’ll never be able to acquire any class related to magic.”

“I don’t care. I want to know anyway. I have no intention of ordering you to tell me, but I think you owe me at least that information…” I say, trying to gain her trust, although the reality is that, if necessary, I will force her to tell me the secret.

Before, I merely suspected that elves had a different way of obtaining the Mage class.

Now that I know for sure, there’s no way I’m backing down.

“…I helped you find a solution to your vision problem. I think it’s only fair that you help me now.”

When I found out about Arya’s visual impairment at the end of the auction, a solution to her problem quickly came to mind.

Eagle Eye, the only skill granted by the Sniper class, temporarily sharpens the user’s vision to extreme levels.

What would happen if a person with vision problems acquired the skill?

Would the skill simply make that person’s vision problems disappear, or would it ignore them and increase that person’s visual capacity to compensate for their disability?

The second option seemed more likely to me, but either possibility would have worked equally well for Arya.

That was the solution I came up with.

Unlike half of my new skills, this theory gave me satisfactory results.

When Melisa began to show signs of fatigue, we went to the no man’s zone for a few minutes.

This way, I could train the elf while the farmer rested.

Then I started asking Arya to repeatedly attack the monsters from an increasing distance until she finally got the class.

After Arya got the Sniper class, we went back to the lower floors so Melisa could continue leveling up safely.

But thanks to my experiment, Arya now doesn’t need to use her glasses as long as she keeps Eagle Eye active.

Something she can probably do all day without any problems, thanks to the amount of MP points she has and the low mana cost of the skill.

According to her, the skill increases her visual capabilities far beyond the vision she has with her glasses.

Just as I had imagined.

“Hmt… I guess you’re right… I never thought the day would come when a human would point out to me what’s right and what’s wrong…” Arya says reluctantly.

“… The way to obtain the Mage class is not complicated, but it is not something a person can usually achieve on their own. It’s simple. It’s so simple that most elves acquire it without much difficulty. You just have to learn to perceive and direct the magical energy in your body.”

“If it’s as simple as you say, why do you say it’s not possible to obtain the class without outside help?” I ask, puzzled.

“Because even though it’s simple, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. If a person tries to force magical energy through their body and out of it using something like a magic scroll, there’s a high chance that person will end up magically crippled…” Arya says with a snort of exasperation.

’That means that I…

No…

It can’t be.’

“… Yes, I figured that was the reason. That’s precisely why I’m saying it’s no longer possible for you to get the class…” Arya says, seeing the expression on my face.

“… People’s bodies have thousands of tiny internal magical channels. You can think of magical energy as an invisible river flowing through your body. Manipulating magical energy through those channels is how complex spells are performed…”

’I can’t be that unlucky…

There must be another explanation for the fact that some of my new skills don’t work.’

However, despite my rebellious attitude toward Arya’s words, it makes no sense for her to lie to me.

In fact, it’s very possible that she can’t even do so, depending on the fundamental commands that were given to her when she was made a slave.

“… But you have severely damaged your internal channels, and that’s why the spells you’re trying to cast can’t be channeled out of your body but instead bounce around inside it somehow. In fact… you could have died trying to cast them. I imagine you have a really high magical resistance, and that has mitigated most of the adverse effects.”

“Are you sure what you’re saying is correct? Humans acquire the class using grimoires…” I ask, realizing what is probably happening.

“… If it’s almost impossible to obtain the class without someone else’s help, how is it that human Mages exist?”

’Arya is surely mistaken, but she doesn’t know it…

In fact…

Perhaps the method of obtaining the class is different depending on the person’s race…

Yes…

That makes sense.’

“It’s certainly not thanks to that crazy ritual you told me your race apparently performs to acquire the class. Being a Mage has nothing to do with homicidal babies…” says Arya with a mixture of contempt and mockery in her voice.

“… A person’s age is irrelevant to obtaining the class, just as killing another person with magic is. Besides, grimoires are different from magic scrolls…”

’I guess that’s why I haven’t been able to get the class no matter how many times I’ve used scrolls…

Although I don’t know how much Hypnosis Scrolls and Scrolls of Silence count as magic…

After all, what they produce is more like an illusion than real magic.’

“… External help does not necessarily have to be provided by another person. A grimoire is a magical object that has the ability to gently guide a person’s magical energy in the right direction to perform certain specific spells. Using a grimoire, a magically healthy person has a very high chance of quickly obtaining the Mage class…”

’ – That is precisely one of the original reasons why humans began to attack us… To steal our grimoires… Until we had none left… So many lives lost because of that stupidity… Damned and inept humans.’

“… And if that person did not acquire the class on the first few attempts, they could still keep trying as many times as necessary until they acquired the Mage class…”

’If that is really the case…

Why is our knowledge of the methods for obtaining the Mage class so distorted?…

It’s almost as if it were intentional.’

“…A magic scroll, on the other hand, forcibly sucks the magical energy out of the person to cast a single spell. The process is so violent that the magic scroll self-destructs when used.”

’Arya’s explanation makes sense, but it has a flaw.’

“So, assuming you’re right, if the help of an object or a person is strictly necessary… how is it that some people acquire the class by chance?” I ask skeptically.

“It’s not impossible for a person with great talent for controlling their own magical energy to acquire the class on their own, but it’s incredibly difficult to do,” Arya says with a dismissive snort, clearly annoyed that I’m questioning the veracity of her statement.

’If she’s right…

I see…

The safest way to obtain the class is through the help of a Mage or a grimoire…

But grimoires are under strict control by the nobles, so logically most Mages are nobles…

That being the case, the only thing the nobles would need to do to prevent commoners from trying to obtain the class…

Now I understand where my distorted knowledge comes from…

That’s the best way to ensure that the Mage class remains largely exclusive to nobles…

And I suppose the detail about the age limit was an additional measure to ensure that people didn’t start experimenting to discover the real methods for getting into the class…

The question that arises now is, why did the nobles decide to do that?…

Was it to maintain public safety, since the Mage class gives people too much destructive power?…

Or was it simply to maintain a clear advantage over the commoners?…

I imagine it’s a little bit of both…

In any case, I’m not interested in the nobles’ motives…

In fact, my assumptions may be entirely wrong…

The only thing that matters is that I’m pretty convinced that what Arya just told me is true…

And that means I’ll never be able to get the Mage class…

Or any magic-related class, since Mage is the most basic magic class…

Haa… Well…

At this point, I guess it wouldn’t have benefited me much anyway…

Yeah…

Being able to shoot fire or ice from your hands isn’t really that amazing…

F***ck!’

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