Protection!

Making our way over to a tiny hill with the most nappable grass you could ever sleep on, we stopped procrastinating and finally formed some sort of fighting strategy.

The girls showed me how they usually went into fights and how I could stay in the back and support them.

The lesson was brief, with Augustina raising a finger to remind me that, “Nothing will ever go the way we plan it, so always be quick on your feet and prioritize safety.”

“Wow, spoken like a true knight,” I told her, which got Augustina to puff her chest out with a little smirk.

“It certainly was,” Mia said. “You must’ve thought you were sooooo cool while saying it, weren’t you, August?”

“I was not!” August snapped.

Woah.

That caught me off guard. I didn’t think Augustina was the kind of person to get all flustered over a comment like that.

***

Moving on, I took out my adventurer’s card while Ophelia showed me that I could actually swipe on it so that it could see me to another page where my current skills and skill tree were.

“There’s no way!” I yelled when I first saw it.

It’s just like out of a video game!

Was the author trying to work in the games industry at some point? Because everything in this world points to it.

I read through a few of the basic skills I had as a healer until something caught my eye.

“Hey, Ophelia.”

“Mhm?”

She came closer to me as I pointed to my adventurer’s card.

“Is this right? It looks like I can use magic that isn’t just healing.”

“Y-yes, that’s correct. You can cast support spells that’ll help us out a lot, like Protection for example.”

She pointed to the skill ‘Protection’ that I already had unlocked.

“Wait, so if I get enough skill points, could I learn some crazy strong magic attack?”

Ophelia shook her head.

“S-sorry, but the healer class doesn’t have the ability to do that.”

“So you’re saying that I’m stuck with buffs and healing?”

“Mhm,” Ophelia nodded once more. “Unless you change your class to mage, like me. Though by doing so, you will have to unlearn your current class skills and start at the bottom of the mage’s skill tree.”

I pursed my lips.

“Well, that sucks,” I said.

“But look at the bright side,” Augustina said. “Your support magic would help me out the most, and in turn, help all of us out in staying alive.”

I thought about it for a second.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said, cheering up.

I stared at my card a bit before saying, “Hm. I want to test out these skills and see how good they are.”

Mia, who was lying on the grass, jumped to her feet without even needing to use her hands. It was crazy. I only saw that move in movies. This was the first time I had ever seen it in person.

She strolled her way over to me and got really close, placing her hand on my shoulder and pushing her face closer to mine to get a good look at my adventurer’s card.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Mia chuckled. “What skill do you want to try out first?”

I stared at the skills I had unlocked.

“Hm. I guess Protection.”

“Cool!” Mia said, stepping away and giving back my personal space. “I can help you test if it’s any good or not!”

I turned my head.

“How?” I asked, though I really shouldn’t have.

Because the next thing I knew, Mia lowered her stance, winding up a mean punch to my arm, sending signals to my brain to start freaking out.

“Ow! What the—Owwww!”

I backed away from Mia and started rubbing the spot she had just hit.

“Why’d you do that?!” I yelled.

Mia chuckled.

“Sorry, Tai, but I did it so we can see if casting Protection on yourself would make my hits hurt less. Think of it as a before and after experiment.”

I get where she’s coming from, but…

“Did you really have to go all out though?!”

“Sorry to say, but yes,” she said with her cheeky smile. “If I held back, it’d be hard to tell how useful Protection is.”

“Sure, you’re right, but geez,” I said, continuing to rub my arm. “Just how strong are you?”

“I’m about as strong as a ruby bear,” Mia boasted, flexing her biceps.

Was that a joke, or was she serious? Did ruby bears have the same strength as a human? I’m thinking it’s a joke, but I couldn’t be 100% positive in this fantasy world.

“So, Ophelia,” I said, turning to her. “How would I cast spells?”

She was surprised I didn’t know, since I was already level 6. I should’ve had the basics down, but she still gave me the rundown for spell-casting despite that.

For a spell to work, I needed to visualize it and use a chant to help better the visualization of a spell, though a chant wasn’t necessary if you’ve mastered the spell.

“Hm…”

It was a simple explanation that I’ve read in a couple of light novels before, but there’s just one thing:

How on Earth am I supposed to just visualize, chant, then have magic pop out of my hands?!

It didn’t make sense to me! Maybe it was because I lived in a place of science, but the process of spell-casting was easier said than done.

I took a deep breath.

Calm down, Tai.

I needed to remember that there are some things in this world that I just needed to look past and accept.

And look on the bright side; at least the concept of magic is familiar to me.

I took another calming breath.

“Okay,” I said, putting my card away and clapping my hands together. “I’m gonna cast Protection now. Mia, could you please punch me after I cast it?”

She stood on my other side, eyeing my frail, uninjured arm.

“With pleasure,” she chuckled.

With pleasure?! Why’d she say it like that with that evil grin!

I raised my head to the clear blue sky.

Oh, please, to the angel I saw before plopping into this world, please have this thing work!

A calm breeze blew over us, helping me concentrate as Ophelia and Augustina stood by and watched.

I tuned out all the noise coming from carriages and kids screaming their lungs out while playing tag with each other.

Alright.

I placed my hand over my chest, though that wasn’t necessary. I could’ve kept my hands together and chanted the spell, but I thought I’d look cooler in this sort of pose.

After all, I was gonna use magic–and magic is cool–so I wanna to look cool while using it!

I closed my eyes and visualized the spell. I conjured up this image of a thin aura that would envelop and shield my entire body.

After that, I opened my eyes.

I was ready.

“Protection!”

A small light went around the outline of my body before fading. I felt my energy being drained at the same time, as if I had just gotten down and done 10 push-ups.

“Did it work?” I asked.

“Mhm!” Ophelia nodded, hiding behind her staff as always.

“Seems like it,” Augustina said, looking impressed as she held her arms crossed.

“Well then,” Mia said, lowering her stance and winding up her mighty punch. “Let’s see just how good this spell is!”

She lunged towards me.

“Huragh!” she grunted as the hit connected.

“Ow~! That still hurts!” I yelled, rubbing my arm. “But…it didn’t hurt as much as before.”

Mia jumped back after the punch, shaking her hand.

“I also felt a bit of pushback from my punch,” she said.

I winced. Her punches hurt, but it wasn’t anything life-threatening, or to where my body would scream for me to either dodge or run away.

“I guess this is only good in hand-to-hand combat, like kicks or punches.”

Sharp weapons would still do major damage.

“Still, this is perfect for defending important areas such as our face and stomach,” Augustina said.

“That’s true,” I said, with an agreeing nod.

“So,” Mia said, leaning towards me as she poked the area she just hit, “why don’t you test out your healing skill?”

“You mean use it on my arm?” I asked, looking at it.

Mia nodded.

“I could, but there’s no bruise or anything on it,” I said.

“Well, it doesn’t have to be a bruise,” Mia said, reaching for her dagger. “You could always try it on a cut~.”

She had that cheeky smile on her face again, and out of reflex, I jumped away.

“I’m not letting you cut me!” I yelled.

Mia giggled.

“I know~ I’m just messing with you~.”

“That’s your idea of a joke! I thought you really wanted to cut me!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she bowed. “It was tasteless, and I’ll try not to make a joke like that again.”

“Well…alright then,” I said.

My face scrunched up. Mia was still smiling about the situation, but at least she looked sorry. She didn’t even pull out her dagger, so I could let the poor ‘joke’ slide.

Meanwhile Augustina sighed.

It seemed like this wasn’t the first time she heard a joke like this…