Shin Translations
patreon
Early NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 3 Part 4
🕑 Added 2024-11-23 13:01:59 +0000 UTCFull title: People Made Fun of Me For Being Jobless but Its Not Bad at All
Note: This part has not been TLCed yet, and might slightly differ from the public version. If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.
Translator: Airis
____________________________________________
About an hour after arriving at the fourth floor, Reito and his friends finally found another resting spot.
“Oh!! We're in that hall again!! Now we can rest!!”
“Thank goodness... I'm so exhausted.”
“...It seems there's no one else here.”
It seemed to be a different place from the first one they visited, but the same pattern was engraved on the ground and there was no sign of monsters around.
Tired from fighting monsters one after the other, Reito and the others immediately sat down to rest.
“Ahh... it's tough. I don't remember how many times I used magic.”
“Dain was the one trying the hardest.”
“That's right. Dain's shadow magic is really useful, that it is.”
“I think it's really amazing when it comes to neutralizing the opponent.”
“As expected of Dain.”
“What, what's with that all of a sudden…”
Dain looked embarrassed at the praise from everyone and looked away, but his expression was far from flattering.
This was because he had used up a lot of magic power, and although he had used potions to restore his magic power several times along the way, he had not been able to completely eliminate the fatigue he felt when using magic.
“Even so, we fought quite a lot to get here. Insectoids, brick dolls, goblins, orcs, sand dolls... I feel like we got quite a lot of materials and experience stones just today.”
“It's useful to have someone who can use storage magic. Thanks to you, we were able to collect the materials.”
During this exploration, they were getting accustomed to it, so they retrieved a lot of materials. The monsters inside the Great Labyrinth were more dangerous than those outside, but the materials they got were more valuable. If they sell them, they'll be able to get a fair amount of money.
“We've accumulated quite a lot of experience stones.”
“So that's how many monsters we defeated…”
“We can expect to make a reasonable amount of money.”
They spread a cloth on the ground and lined up the experience stones they had retrieved. Although they were all different sizes, there were nearly a hundred experience stones lined up.
With this many, a level 1 human would be able to gain enough experience points to reach level 15. If someone here were to destroy all the experience stones by themselves, they would be able to raise their level considerably.
“Now that I think about it, how much has everyone's level increased?”
“My level hasn't increased. I'm still at level 48... well, I've only been helping out.”
“What? Dain-sama, you're a mage, but your level is that high? My level has increased to 52, that I am.”
“I'm 45... I should point out that this isn't about age.”
“I'm 54. What about you?”
“I haven't increased either.”
Reito's level had reached 65, which was quite high for a support magician. Even Maria was at level 74. There had only been a handful of people in history who had reached this level at his age. Reito didn't think anyone would believe him if he told them the truth, so he chose not to mention his level.
~
After everyone had rested for a few minutes, Shizune looked down at the ground and asked Reito a question.
“...Reito, do you remember the ground of the first resting spot we visited?”
“Eh? The ground?”
“The ground there was definitely a gray stone pavement... but the ground here is made of brick.”
“““...!?”””
Everyone turned their eyes to the ground after hearing Shizune's words.
There was a pattern engraved on it, but the material of the floor was definitely different from the first resting spot they visited. It could simply be that the material was different, but the feeling of unease was undeniable.
“Aren't you worrying too much? You can't sense anything either, can you Hanzo?”
“At least I don't sense any monsters around here... but there was the incident with the brick doll, so I can't say it's absolutely safe, that I can.”
“But this pattern is the same as the one carved in the resting spot, you know?”
“Yes, the shape of the pattern is definitely the same. But…”
Shizune frowned as she touched the pattern on the floor.
The pattern on the floor at the first resting spot they visited had been scraped off and painted over. But the pattern at this place, although the shape was the same, had only been painted over and not scraped off.
“This might not be a resting spot. But I might be overthinking it…”
“Hanzo can't sense anything, right?”
“That's for sure. At least there's no reaction at a distance I can sense, that I am sure of…”
“I'm not doubting Hanzo's senses, but if this isn't a resting spot, I wonder why the monsters aren't coming near. Let's investigate a bit.”
“I think you're worrying too much though…”
~
After that, Reito and the others began investigating the hall, being careful not to get too close to the walls. At times like these, Reito's “Observing Eye” ability came in handy.
As everyone was examining the floor, Dain suddenly grabbed his head.
“Uuhh…”
“Huh? What's wrong, Dain? You're holding your face and stuff... have you developed Chuunibyou*?” (TLN: middle-school syndrome.)
“I don't know what you mean by that, but you're making fun of me... that's weird, I feel tired even though I was supposed to be resting.”
“Is it the effect of using too much magic?”
“No, I was fine until just now... does everyone else feel anything?”
“I'm fine.”
“Me too…”
“I…”
Shizune stopped replying midway and looked at her palm as if she had just realized something. Reito, like Dain, also noticed something strange happening to his physical condition.
“Now that I think of it, I feel a bit tired... is it just my imagination?”
“No, it's not. I think our magic is being absorbed by this pattern.”
“Huh!?”
Everyone was surprised by Shizune's statement.
She pulled out her Four Seasons and turned her gaze to the blade, frowning. The magic sword Four Seasons was wrapped in cold air around its blade, and the cold air it released flowed onto the ground. After seeing this, Reito tried to activate the magic “Photosphere” to see what happened.
“'Photosphere'... Ah, it's true. It's being drawn to the ground on its own.”
The “Photosphere” that Reito created would normally move according to his will. However, the sphere of light automatically approached the ground, and eventually vanished as if sucked into the pattern.
Seeing this, Shizune put Four Seasons back into its sheath and stomped on the pattern in disgust.
“This place was set up with a trap to absorb magical power. Gonzo and Hanzo didn't notice because they hadn't mastered the magician's profession. I'm not sure how to put it, but they don't have so much magic power overflowing from their bodies, so they didn't experience any abnormalities in their health.”
“Oh, so that's how it is!”
“I see…”
“According to that theory, magicians are constantly releasing magic power from their bodies…”
“Rather than releasing it, it's better to think of it as wrapping itself around us. We can't see it, but we're always protecting ourselves with magic power. That's why magicians have high magic resistance.”
According to Shizune, magicians were not usually aware of it, but they always wrap a small amount of magic power around their bodies to protect themselves. This magic power acted as a barrier, giving them strong resistance against magic attacks.
“Well, it's not good to rest here! You'll keep losing your magic power, right?!”
“That's right. It's more of a conditional resting spot than a trap... At least it's a tough environment for us.”
“It's hard for magicians.”
“Just because you're fine doesn't mean it's someone else's problem…”
In the end, Reito and the others decided to resume their exploration, but Reito turned his eyes to the magic circle that was absorbing magic power and had a thought.
“......”
“What's wrong, Reito?”
“Well, there's something I'm wondering about. I'll try it out.”
Reito left the hall with the pattern and came to the passage, where he cast the magic “Photosphere”. When he was on top of the magic circle, the “Photosphere” moved as if it was being sucked into the pattern, but this time he could move it freely at will. He tried moving the “Photosphere” to the place where the magic circle was, but it wasn't sucked in. It seemed that it wouldn't be sucked in if he wasn't in the place where the magic circle was.
“Oh, look. It seems like your magic gets sucked in when you're on top of the magic circle, but if you're in the hallway, your magic won't be absorbed, huh?”
“...You're kidding, right?”
“It's true, see, see.”
Reito moved the “Photosphere” to show that it was safe as long as you didn't get close to the magic circle.
Shizune looked taken aback.
“What... Then you can just rest in the hallway. You don't sense any monsters, right?”
“That's a relief then.”
“That was a blind spot.”
“...Maybe I was a little tense. I can't believe I didn't notice something like this.”
“But I'm going to rest here.”
“Eh?”
After placing his luggage on the aisle side, Reito moved over to the magic circle that absorbed magic and sat down there.
As long as he was in the magic circle, his body's magic would be sucked out, but Reito was about to try out what Honemin had taught him on the lower level.
~
