Survival Strategies of a Struggling Aristocrat

The following day, Dennis made his way to the beach in the early morning, eager to put the Mana Art to the test. Conveniently, there was not a soul in sight along the shore.

According to the book of the Mana Art, it outlined a method for perceiving the essence of magic energy as a foundational principle. The process began by turning one’s attention internally, honing in on the rhythmic flow of blood coursing through the heart and veins.

He tried as the book instructed, but he couldn’t sense any magic energy at all.  He knew exactly why this was the case—the True Name he possessed pertained not to “Magic Energy” but rather to “Magic Essence.”

“…As I expected,” 

It was something he had anticipated. Following that, Dennis decided to try directing his awareness outward instead of within his body. After all, it was said that a magic source resided in the atmosphere.

Taking a deep breath, Dennis calmed his mind and summoned his concentration. He first focused on his skin’s senses, trying to perceive the wind. He felt the sea breeze brushing against his body, gently rustling his slightly longer hair.

At that moment, Dennis sensed something in the midst of the wind. It was a fleeting sensation, but undeniably real. He extended his consciousness into the breeze.

“…”

He captured a sensation unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was the unmistakable touch of magic essence. He could sense the magic essence colliding with his awareness, then bouncing away.

Dennis stood on the sandy beach for about two hours, lost in thought. And just as his concentration was beginning to wane, he eventually acquired the ability to perceive the magic essence.

“It feels almost like being touched by tiny droplets of rain. But just sensing it isn’t enough to do anything.”

If he had obtained the True Name of “Magic Energy” he could enhance his physical abilities simply by circulating it within his body. However, “Magic Essence” existed in the surrounding air. Moving it around wouldn’t increase his physical power.

“Is there something else I can do?”

It seemed that the magic essence Dennis could detect only existed within a radius of about five meters. He decided to try gathering it.

Dennis focused his mind and exerted the power he had acquired from the True Name of “Magic Essence” onto the magic essence that he perceived. This power seemed to be a form of weak control.

The drifting magic essence began gathering in Dennis’s right palm. Due to his unfamiliarity, his brain felt as if it were overheating, almost to the point of burning.

The mass of magic essence formed a ball about the size of a golf ball. The floating magic essence ball came to a halt right in front of Dennis’ eyes. He realized that he could move it up, down, left, and right using the power of his will.

“Amazing, it’s moving! When I can manipulate it like this, it’s truly awe-inspiring.”

A shiver of excitement ran down his spine, causing him to involuntarily breathe heavily.

“But… what can I do with this?”

It was possible to move the magic essence ball using his willpower. However, its movements were slow, and its practical use seemed limited.

Dennis summoned all his willpower to envelop a small stone lying at his feet with the magic essence, attempting to lift it. The stone wobbled and gradually started to rise.

“Phew, I guess that counts as a success. With some practice, it might be useful… although it doesn’t seem likely. It’s faster to move things with my hands.”

He returned the magic essence to its original ball form. It appeared slightly smaller than before, perhaps due to the energy consumed in moving the stone or some loss of control.

While fiddling with the magic essence ball, Dennis decided to try rotating it. Surprisingly, the magic element ball started to move perpendicularly to the direction of rotation. The higher the rotation speed, the faster it moves.

“When it rotates, it generates kinetic energy for movement… How intriguing.”

Dennis held the magic essence ball in front of his eyes and gave it a clockwise rotation. In that instant, the ball burst forth towards Dennis, hitting his cheek.

“Ouch!”

Instinctive tears welled up in his eyes as he pressed his reddened cheek, enduring the pain.

“Why did it recoil… could it be that the direction of rotation was incorrect?”

The magic essence ball that had hit his cheek vanished into thin air. Dennis gathered the magic essence once again and formed it into a ball, this time rotating it counterclockwise. As planned, it flew forward.

The magic essence ball plunged into the sea, creating splashes of water. Dennis confirmed the results and pondered.

(“So, when the magic essence ball rotates counterclockwise, it flies forward. If I could rotate it even faster, would it increase its power?”)

Feeling mentally exhausted, Dennis decided to put a halt to his experiments with the Mana Art and head towards the labyrinth. He returned to the mansion and prepared some bread for lunch, along with his weapon. On the way, he stopped by the general store to sell some zinc. After receiving two silver coins, he left the town.

By the time he arrived at the Rock Mountain Labyrinth, the sun was directly overhead. Before entering the labyrinth, he sat down, ate his bread, and took a break. Ten minutes later, equipped with his Nail Rod, Dennis entered the labyrinth.

Right from the moment he stepped inside, he noticed that the concentration of magic essence within the labyrinth was much stronger. Outside, he had only sensed occasional encounters between the magic essence and his consciousness. However, within the labyrinth, it felt more like a heavy rain pouring down on him.

“If the magic essence is this dense…”

As an attempt, he decided to create a magic essence ball inside the Laybrinth, and to his surprise, it grew to the size of a softball. It was a stark contrast to the golf ball-sized magic essence ball he had previously created on the beach.

The abundance of magic essence must have contributed to its significant size. Curious about its properties, he decided to test the larger magic essence ball by throwing it at a slime. The slime was sent flying, and the impact against the wall seemed to have no effect on it whatsoever.

“…It’s useless,”

 Dennis felt thoroughly disappointed. He then swung his Nail Rod around as he continued exploring the labyrinth, eventually finding a hole leading downward.

The entrance to the hole, as if carved out of the rock, was wide enough for three people to pass through side by side. With caution, he descended into the hole. The second floor of the Rock Mountain Labyrinth was known to be inhabited by slimes and poisonous bats.

In other labyrinths, it was more common to encounter large rats rather than poisonous bats. It seemed that labyrinths with poisonous bats were a rarity in the country, with only two known to exist.

The poisonous bats possessed poisonous fangs that could induce paralysis upon biting. However, the paralyzing effect was relatively weak. According to the books, the paralysis would only affect the specific area that had been bitten, rather than immobilizing the entire body.

After walking a short distance, he heard the fluttering sound of wings and the shrill cries echoing through the corridor. Dennis poised his Nail Rod, prepared for an encounter.

Though he had a war hammer stored in his backpack, he felt that the Nail Rod would be more effective. He swung the Nail Rod at the flying poisonous bats approaching him.

The bats moved swiftly, making it difficult to hit them accurately. After several attempts, he managed to strike one of the bats on its wing, causing it to plummet down. He swiftly delivered a finishing blow to the struggling bat on the floor of the corridor. It disappeared as if dissolving into the air.

“They’re tougher than slimes,” 

Despite being formidable opponents, he knew he could defeat them one by one. The challenge, however, lay in the confined dome-shaped space. There, metallic deposits coexisted with numerous poisonous bats.

Dennis reached the small dome-shaped space and peered inside. Seven poisonous bats were hanging from the ceiling. He lacked the courage to jump in and face them head-on.

Struggling against just one of them was already challenging enough, let alone being attacked by all seven simultaneously.

“I need to prepare a bow and arrows,” 

Being the son of a noble, he had received basic archery lessons from his father, although the busy Lord Egmont had only taught him the fundamentals. As a result, Dennis’ skill level could be likened to that of an amateur.

He contemplated whether to make a crossbow instead. A crossbow seemed ideal, as it offered high accuracy and power. However, crossbows had a slow firing rate.

When facing numerous enemies, a slow firing rate could pose a significant problem. That’s when he decided to give the magic essence ball a try. Although the magic essence ball had proven ineffective against slimes, it might have an effect on the poisonous bats.

Concentrating his mind, Dennis formed the magic essence ball once again, then he aimed it at the hanging bats on the ceiling. The softball-sized magic essence ball struck one of the bats, sending it flying off with a powerful impact.

Continuing to form magic essence balls, Dennis targeted the remaining poisonous bats. Some of them were still flying around in surprise from the initial magic essence ball, but there were still a few hanging from the ceiling.

He aimed at one of them and successfully hit it with a magic essence ball. By chance, he managed to hit two bats simultaneously. They fell to the floor, weakened and exhausted. The unaffected bats emitted high-pitched screeches and went into a frenzied state.

Forming another magic essence ball, Dennis realized that the magic essence seemed to replenish itself from somewhere, as it didn’t seem to run out. Perhaps the labyrinth itself served as a source of magic essence.

Although he missed a few shots, he managed to take down all seven bats. Seeing that they didn’t disappear, indicating that they were not dead, he finished them off with his Nail Rod.

Even after defeating all the bats, he couldn’t obtain the True Names possessed by the poisonous bats. Moreover, it appeared that there were no metallic deposits in this small, dome-shaped space.

“Sigh, it feels like all my efforts were for nothing,” 

However, the only harvest from this encounter was the realization that the magic essence ball was effective against poisonous bats. Wandering through the two levels of the labyrinth, Dennis stumbled upon another small dome-shaped space.

Inside, there were seven slimes and five poisonous bats. Dennis defeated the bats with magic essence balls and secured his safety by using the Nail Rod against the slimes.

He immediately began searching for metallic deposits. After thorough searching, he discovered clusters of tin metal crystals.

“Yes!”

Dennis rejoiced to the point of doing a little dance. Tin was more valuable than zinc or copper. Tin, when mixed with copper, formed bronze, which was in high demand.

He decided to dig out around ten kilograms of tin and head back. Pushing his tired body forward, he returned to the town of Beneshof. Along the way, he stopped by the general store and negotiated with the owner, Kasper.

“Oh, so it’s tin this time… How about a large silver coin?” Kasper suggested.

From Kasper’s expression, Dennis could tell that selling it at that price would yield a significant profit. It was a cause for joy both for the people of the territory and for the Lord if the residents could make a profit. Dennis agreed to the deal.