Chapter 233: On the Morning of the First Snow (1/2)
Awoken by the cold, I went outside to be greeted by a world dyed in silver.
“Well, this isn’t really the time to be dropping lines from some famous book somewhere, though.” [Ryouma]
This is my house, it’s located north of Gimuru and is a few hours walk, it’s also an abandoned mine.
Naturally, there’s no one else here except me.
Which also means that there’s no one else here to take care of the snow other than me.
I’d guesstimate the snow to be anywhere between 5 to 6 centimeters thick.
It’s not as bad as Hokkaido’s streets when I visited it that one time for a business trip, but it’s more than enough to be a hindrance.
“I need to get this over with quickly or I’ll be late for my appointment.” [Ryouma]
I didn’t prepare it specifically for this situation, but I do have something prepared that might just help me here. With that in mind, I quickly went out to test it.
30 minutes later…
“Well, it worked…” [Ryouma]
In a forest near Gimuru’s northern gate was me, lying on the ground.
“It only works for places I’ve been to, but with this I’ll be able to easily use Long-Distance Teleportation. I do need to be careful after teleporting, but there’s snow all over right now, so it doesn’t really matter even if I fall.” [Ryouma]
What I’ve done just now is one of things I’ve been thinking about for a while now – another way to use the weed slimes and the stone slimes. In a sense, it’s similar to the combination sand magic spell I used with my sand slimes a few days ago, but it’s not as complicated, and all I’ve really done was to leave a stone slime with a stone (for food) in the forest.
The teleportation spells under the Dimension Magic Tree are Teleport, Warp, and Gate. Teleport being an Beginner spell, Warp, an Intermediate spell, and Gate being an Advanced spell, of course, I can’t use that one just yet.
But Sebasu-san, an expert on Dimension Magic, had this to say.
“These are essentially the same spells. The only difference between them is the distance they cover and the amount of mana they consume, but the fundamentals are the same.” [Sebasu]
When Sebasu-san taught me, the most I was able to learn was Teleport, but I eventually managed to learn Warp.
Naturally, I figured I should be able to learn Gate as well.
Unfortunately, teleporting to a place I couldn’t see was more difficult than I imagined.
The beginner skill, Teleport, would at most teleport me to a few meters, but the new skills demanded that I cover a distance multiples of tens further. Even the Warp skill already had me on my knees. I might’ve been relying on my eyes unconsciously, but I can’t teleport to a place I can’t see.
I could probably do it if I just used the same concepts I use for Teleport and poured enough mana to cover the distance, but I found that too dangerous, and so abandoned the idea. It wouldn’t be funny if it turned out like that old game, and I ended up inside a stone. In the worst case, I could even die.
My solution to this problem was to teleport near a slime that I’ve placed beforehand.
Because of the Familiar’s Contract, I can still share my thoughts with my familiars even when we’re separated. And even when that’s not possible, I can still feel the direction and distance they’re in, so I figured I could rely on that to teleport.
It’s kind of like the fast-travel feature in games, where you open up a map and pick a spot to fast-travel to.
Anyway, with this, I’ve successfully teleported to the forest next to the town and have greatly shortened my travel time.
I’m sure there’ll be a lot more uses for this in the future. The day is just starting, and we’ve already accomplished something meaningful.
While I was thinking that, I headed for the northern gate.
I have some free time now because of the teleportation, so I changed my plans a bit and dropped by the laundromat.
Along the way, I saw people shoveling snow here and there. There was still a lot of time before we opened for business, but the employees were already gathered in front of the store.
“Good morning!” [Ryouma]
I called out to them, and they all greeted me simultaneously.
Carm-san asked me why I came.
“What brings you here so early, Boss?” [Carm]
Carm-san asked in surprise, so I answered him.
“The snow started falling, so I dropped by to see how you guys were doing. We’ve already spoken about what to do in case of snowfall, so it would’ve probably been fine just to leave it to you guys, but I still have some time, so I figured I’d drop by.” [Ryouma]
“Ah, sorry, that’s not what I meant. I mean what time did you have to leave the mines to get here at this hour? Not to mention with all this snow.” [Carm]
Oh, right. I better tell him about the Long-Distance Teleportation, or he’ll misunderstand and think I left the house at a really early hour.
“Ahh, that’s good to hear. I thought for sure you pushed yourself too hard again.” [Carm]
“Umm, I’m pretty sure being able to use Advanced Spells at the Boss’s age is pushing it plenty…” [Yurdum]
Yurdum-san has only been with us for a short time, so he still made a troubled face upon finding out what I’d done, but everyone else was already used to it and didn’t bother asking for the details. His reaction sure takes me back.
“Good morning!” [Zeke]
“Hey, Ryouma!” [Pauline]
Oh, it’s our friendly neighbors.
“Good morning! I see everyone is busy with the snow, huh.” [Ryouma]
“Gotta clear the road, or the customers won’t come. It’s dangerous too!” [Zeke]
“My kids are really happy, but unfortunately, this time of the year is really hard…” [Pauline]
Zeke-san the Butcher and Pauline-san the Florist. As I approached this married couple while talking, I stopped, and then turned around. There, their son and daughter, Rick and Leni, were playing with the freshly fallen snow.
“Brr! It sure is cold, huh…” [Zeke]
“Ah, Zeke-san. In that case, I have a spell that might help… ‘Sunlight’!” [Ryouma]
As I visualized the spell and chanted its name, a ball of light appeared several meters up high.
Under the light of the ball, warmth immediately filled me.
It’s been a while since I last used it, but it looks like I was able to cast it successfully.
“Oh, that’s warm.” [Zeke]
“It’s a spell that uses the sun as its image and combines the light and fire attributes.” [Ryouma]
The spell, Light, will do if a light source is all that’s needed, but just like LEDs, it can’t produce much heat. Sunlight is a spell that I came up with after trying to recreate the warmth of the sun’s light.
Alone, it can provide warmth akin to being bathed by the sun in a good day, but if I combine it with a Windbreak Barrier and a Heat Insulation Barrier, the warmth of the light can fill an area, and serve as a replacement for heating within the winter forest.
“I’ll set up a couple of these, so people can rest in them. Please feel free to use them. Too much cold really isn’t good for the body.” [Ryouma]
