Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 16 – Detox Crystal
Alyssa was a village girl, so her knowledge was limited. Even so, that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of how expensive the glowing purple crystal in her hands was.
Even the gemstones found on the necklaces worn by noble ladies were not as valuable as the one her teacher just gave her.
While the girl was having such thoughts in her mind, the glow from the purple crystal suddenly flared. Before she could make sense of what was going on, the purple crystal shattered into countless little fragments and disappeared from her hand.
“T-T-Teacher, not good!” The simple girl didn’t know that this was a normal phenomenon, thinking that she had held the crystal too tightly and crushed it. Her face paled in fright.
“Your teacher is doing fine,” Zwei replied in a huff. He nearly choked on the roast meat he was eating because of Alyssa’s scream.
“N-Not that! The gemstone! The gemstone you gave me broke!” the girl shouted in a panic.
“Oh.” Zwei, however, responded nonchalantly. He then proceeded to put some roast meat between two slices of black bread, creating a simple sandwich to improve the tough black bread.
“This isn’t a problem you should respond with just an ‘Oh!’ I broke that precious gemstone!” Nervously, Alyssa asked, “What should I do?”
“Don’t worry. That thing was originally meant to break.”
Finding his efforts to improve the black bread a failure, Zwei gave up on the bread and simply tossed a piece of roast meat into his mouth. While chewing, he explained, “That’s a Detox Crystal. You can think of it as a magic item. It can get rid of the bee venom inside you.”
Although Zwei had casually explained the matter, the girl still couldn’t help feeling anxious. She asked, “But this must be expensive, right?”
“I guess so. At the very least, it’s impossible to buy it,” Zwei replied indifferently with a shrug.
Before his transmigration into this body, his unlucky predecessor had traveled to many places on the mainland. However, never once had he heard of crystals with magical effects like the Detox Crystal. Hence, Zwei assumed that crystals like the Detox Crystal were a specialty of the Trial Gate.
“Is it really fine to use such a precious item on me? Not to mention, I only got stung by thorny bees…”
“It’s not a question of ‘is it worth it.'” Zwei resumed challenging the tough black bread with his teeth. “After all, you’re my only student. However, make sure this is the last time you mess around with something like the thorny bees. I don’t have that many Detox Crystals to spare.”
As various magic crystals had appeared among the clear rewards of every dungeon raid he had been on thus far, Zwei didn’t consider them particularly valuable. The Skill Crystal was an exception, of course. Meanwhile, rather than let the Detox Crystal collect dust in his drawer, he would rather gift it to Alyssa. It would also help prevent the venom from causing any unforeseen long-term problems.
However, Alyssa’s thoughts were different from Zwei’s. The Detox Crystal was a precious one-use gemstone. In the girl’s eyes, aside from her parents, the only other person who would use such a precious item on her was this teacher of hers.
If this world was one of the otome games found in Zwei’s original world, there should be a notice like “Alyssa’s Favorability +10” appearing in the background.
—Teaching in progress—
At this point, Zwei had basically conveyed all the basic magic theories he knew of to Alyssa. What remained now was for the girl to perceive the existence of mana.
So long as the girl could break through this stage, she would step out of the ranks of ordinary people and into the ranks of magicians. Of course, she would only be the lowest-ranked Apprentice Magician.
Originally, with Alyssa’s qualifications, sensing mana shouldn’t have been difficult. Unfortunately, Zwei’s mage tower wasn’t a real one. The density of elementals and mana present here were far from comparable to an actual mage tower’s. Moreover, recently, Alyssa didn’t seem to be able to settle down and meditate properly. As a result, she still hadn’t succeeded in perceiving mana even now.
Today’s result was similar. Alyssa ended her meditation without success.
Although Zwei didn’t know what was going on in the girl’s mind, he was in no hurry.
After all, if Alyssa really became an Apprentice Magician, her progress in magic would skyrocket. In that case, as an Apprentice Magician himself, Zwei would have trouble keeping up with her.
Meanwhile, due to the possibility of an encounter with the mysterious predator, Zwei planned to escort Alyssa to the foot of the mountain. She should be safe once she reached the farmland where other people were working. Barring another incident like when an arrow porcupine went berserk and charged into the village, no beast below Level 10 would openly attack human dwellings.
To the beasts, sneaking into the village at night and abducting a sheep from the sheep pen was already their limit.
“I wonder, how angry will Mommy be?” Alyssa, who walked in front of Zwei, wondered as she playfully stuck out her tongue. Looking at Zwei cautiously scanning the surroundings, she asked, “Why don’t you stay in our house as a guest, Teacher?”
“Hm? Why would you have such an idea?” Zwei asked absentmindedly.
“That way, I won’t have to run so far to learn magic in the future. Moreover, aren’t there beasts roaming the mountain recently? If you’re alone, you might meet with danger, Teacher!” Alyssa spoke quickly and fluently as if she had rehearsed these lines several hundred times before. “I don’t doubt Teacher’s strength, but sometimes beasts are very cunning!”
In other words, you trust my strength but doubt my intelligence… Zwei inwardly complained. He then replied indifferently, “That won’t be necessary. Magicians are constantly walking on a rough road covered in thorns while in search of the truth. If I back away from a measly beast, I wouldn’t be qualified to be called a true magician!”
Of course, it’s another matter if the beast in question has a very high level, Zwei added to himself after finishing his speech.
“As expected of Teacher!” Falling for Zwei’s bluff, Alyssa looked up at him with admiring eyes, making him feel extremely capable.
Suddenly, however, a fishy scent assaulted Zwei’s olfactory nerve, triggering his tensed-up trained spirit.
Reacting to the scent, Zwei extended his Mage Hand and dragged Alyssa behind him. He then widened his eyes and scanned the bush the scent originated from.
Alyssa also stopped speaking, probably because she was affected by Zwei’s attitude, and stared at the bush nervously.
A short moment later, the bush trembled. A wolf the size of a private car on Earth then leaped out and pounced on Zwei and Alyssa!