Okami Wa Nemuranai

Episode 11.4-5

Lecan came to.

The campfire is still burning, and the meat hasn't gotten charred either.

Looks like he passed out only for a little bit. His mana has recovered a little as well, the mana recovery medicine must be in effect still.

But really, using up his mana to the point of passing out was a huge blunder on his part.

Lecan looks back at the results of this two day training regime while biting on the well done meat.

Training the basic is important after all. He felt that strongly.

Thanks to repeated practice on <Lamplight>, his left hand's mana control has seen major improvements. And thanks to the betterment in accuracy and speed by holding up his left arm to shoot <Flame Arrow>, he's now able to shoot it from his naturally bent finger.

When you want to get better at difficult and complex things, you first need to break them down to simple and basic parts after which you then thoroughly master those.

Images are also important.

Lecan had underestimated <Flame Arrows>, thinking that it was a spell that only beginners or those with little mana would use. But that wasn't the case at all. With the amount of mana Lecan possesses, there should come day where he could shot 1000 <Flame Arrows> at once for one Large Blue Potion. The mere thought of that shook him with jubilation. Though of course, since <Flame Arrow> has weak penetrating power, even 1000 of it likely won't work on magic beasts that inhabit dungeon depths. But it's effective for suppressing human opponents. His battle styles are expanding nicely. There may other ways to use <Flame Spear> as well. In any case, being resourceful at ways to use magic will gradually open up its potential.

In order to actualize his ideas, experiments and practices are also important. He can't just shoot 100 <Flame Arrows> from the get go. First he needs to try shooting it once, then works toward making it more effective and efficient, afterward he's got to polish his skill on it to make it usable in real combat.

But, putting aside experiments, he should not put too much power in these peculiar usage methods during practices. 8:2 or 9:2 should be a good ratio between basic practices and practical assessments. Focusing fully on practicing unorthodox usage would only use up his mana, and far from bettering his mana control, it would potentially make his control rougher instead. And even if that's not the case, he's a beginner at magic. He has a great need to drive smooth and reliable usage of magic into his body.

Suddenly it hit on Lecan.

All magic taught to him by Shira involve a process where he has to knead mana in his whole body that then gets converged to his arm before the magic can be cast. It applies to Light and Heat type magic like <Lamplight>, <Bright Light>, <Ignition>, <Flame Arrow>, and <Flame Spear>, Perception type like <Appraisal>, and even magic like <Draw>, <Move> and <Float>, everything. Shira herself holds up her arm whenever she uses <Move> and though she doesn't do that with <Bright Light> and <Float>, mana obviously gathers in her right arm then.

Mana doesn't gather in his arm when he uses <Floor> and <Warp> used in the dungeon, but those aren't even magic to begin with. Neither are those techniques. They're arts that can be used by those who don't even bear mana just by reciting the spell names.

But <Gust> is different.

It's an ability Lecan acquired in his former world. It's not a technique he got from practicing, but an ability he acquired in a dungeon.

Mana doesn't converge in his arm when he uses <Gust>. Neither does his mana flow in his body. It just gets activated by him simply reciting the spell.

Then maybe.

Lecan focused on an empty space in front of him.

He imagined what should occur without kneading mana in his body.

"<Flame Arrow>"

<Flame Arrow> was produced out of thin air and pierced the campfire.

The burning wood broke in two.

"That did it."

Slow casting speed.

Weak power.

And yet this might have very well been the birth of a completely new form of magic in this world.

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>

Lecan got up in the morning and began his magic practice.

He's really enjoying practicing magic right now. He feels thankful once again to have been blessed with an abundance of mana.

He didn't practice shooting a huge number of <Flame Arrows> all at once this day. As he couldn't image it well even if he wanted to.

Even though it's easy to simply utter, 100 <Flame Arrows>, he just can't imagine it in his head. How many is 100 anyway. How would it be like to have 100 of those arrows all at once. He didn't make a progress no matter how he practiced.

Instead, he practiced to swiftly shoot out <Flame Spear> from his left hand.

The really powerful <Flame Spear> capable of demolishing a <Wrinkle Man> in one shot can be reserved to his right hand just fine.

The left arm-shot <Flame Spear> will be the attack to use when he encounters deadlocks during sword combats. It will be a short-range or at most medium-range attack. It doesn't need to be that powerful nor accurate. What's important is swift casting speed and certainty. Whether a magic that should be cast gets cast or not means life or death during combats in dungeon depths.

First of all, he verifies how his left hand will move when he swings the sword in his right hand.

Next, he casts <Lamplight> on his left hand in the middle of it.

Then, he thrusts his left arm forward, supports it with his right hand and casts <Lamplight> while imagining <Flame Spear>. Over and over again. Swifter, steadfast-er.

Lecan repeated these three actions over and over again.

Then lastly, he tried casting <Flame Spear> while swinging his sword around.

The net result was quite satisfying.

Just as he was about to prepare for lunch, <Life Detection> displayed Nike's presence.