Chapter 26 – I wanted to use the fire attribute properly

15/11/2022PC

Since she said it would take some time to prepare for the experiment, I rented a room at the guild for the night. The next day morning, I headed to the shop once again. Reaching the entrance, I found the words, “Closed for the day” hanging there, so I went around the back and rang the bell, and was soon greeted in by Annie.

I was lead to a different room today. There were experimental tools and things that looked like medicine or chemicals set up. Vinette was wearing a red robe. I was pretty sure that was her lab attire, there were various stains decorating it.

I frowned seeing the few syringes that were lined up on the desk.
“Are those the Animium alloys?”
“Yes. An alloy of Animium and Iron. I’ve kept the proportions identical to the ‘Spirit’s Blood’. With this, you should be able to use the fire attribute. If my hypothesis is right, that is.”

Vinette then picked up one of the syringes and instructed, “Take a seat. I’ll administer it soon.” Just hearing the word ‘Administer’ made me recall that day, freezing me in place. But I psyched myself up by saying that this was for the sake of magic, and sat on the chair.

“All good? I’ll give you the injection then.” Vinette stabbed the needle into me when I nodded in assent. Ugh! this feeling of something cold flowing into me. I could see the room around me rock and sway. I lost my sense of balance and was about to keel over. “Annie! Brace him!” When I heard such a voice, my fall was interrupted by something soft. I felt that it was much softer than when I hugged Allison. Though she’d probably get really mad if I mentioned it… While thinking about silly things like that, my vision gradually darkened and I fell unconscious.

When I woke up, I found myself lying on a bed. I guessed it was around noon when I saw the sun shining almost straight down outside the window. I rose from the bed and tried moving my body. Nothing felt off, it felt the same as usual.

When I left the room, Vinette noticed me and sprang up immediately.
“You’re up, thank goodness. How do you feel?”
“No problem. How long was I out?”
“Around an hour.”
Considering that I was out for two days after that shitty father injected me with Animium, I regained conciousness much sooner. Looks like my body has really adapted well to Animium.

“Well, how about the fire attribute? And the water attribute?”, asked Vinette. I hadn’t tested that yet. I focused and tried forming a clear image of fire, but the magic showed no signs of manifesting. Thinking that the procedure didn’t work, I tried imagining a ball of water. The water ball that had always appeared, didn’t manifest either. Huh? Haven’t I simply lost my only attribute?

“I am not able to use the water attribute either!”
“I told you that your natural attribute would be erased right? But the fact that it has disappeared proves that the alloy had some effect. I think you’re just not used to it yet, you should be able to use the fire attribute soon. A child born with the fire attribute will need time to reach its first grade. You’re in the same position now.”
I’ll pray that is indeed the case.

After my physical exam was over, she asked me to come by everyday, and I acknowledged. It would be the worst if I were to be abandoned when the experiment was still ongoing after all.

After I left the shop and was walking for a while, I was suddenly called by someone. “Oi, you! Stop.” Turning around, I found two well-built beastmen standing there. One man had horns like a bull and the other one had dog ears. Both of them were carrying swords. Behind them stood Annie’s fans, whom I’d seen in the store yesterday.

“Um, what is this about?”
“You, what are you to our angel Annie.”
“Not only her, you seem to be angling for Ms. Vinette too.”
The accusations of the two beastmen made me recall the words of the guild receptionist. “—be careful when you go there.”

I doubt I could have avoided this even if I was being careful.
I haven’t even done anything!
“I am just a customer.”
When I said that, the men behind the beastfolk warriors opposed it vehemently.

“Stop spouting lies! Even though the shop was closed for the day, you came out the back didn’t you?”
“Even yesterday, Ms. Vinette actually smiled at you! Not only that! She held your hands and…aaaaaaaaaah!!” He screamed madly, unable to say more.
Ah, this is annoying.

“It’s nothing like that. I am just cooperating with her for her research.” I tried to leave after saying that, but was stopped by the bull beastman’s vice like grip on my shoulder.

“Ow!”
“Hold up, you still need to feel the weight of justice’s hammer.”
…justice?

Suddenly, the bull beastman cocked his arm back. I panicked and used Body Strengthening to jump away from him. His swing only caught air.
“That was close.”
“Oh, so you can dodge that. You seem to have good reflexes. However, do you really think a human like you can stand up to us in Alcorada?”

It turned out that he hadn’t noticed me using Body Strengthening just then. What do I do? Should I run? But if I run now, this will probably just repeat tomorrow.
Ah, this is really such a pain.

While I was still pondering my course of action, the bull beastman came at me readying another swing. Maybe he’ll be satisfied if I let him hit me once. Thinking that, I donned myself with an Aura. If I have this it won’t hurt. It should be fine.

…But I had forgotten.

When one tries to don an Aura, they release mana all over their body, similar to casting a water ball, and activate it by reinforcing that mana like body strengthening1.

And right now, I am supposed to possess the fire attribute. But I can’t use it well enough yet because I haven’t trained with it. While it didn’t manifest in Vinette’s shop, she’d told me that, “The fact that the water attribute has disappeared is proof that the alloy had some effect.”

The bull beastman’s fist approached me. Thinking that I had donned my Aura, I didn’t try to dodge. In that instant, my magic went haywire. My body was engulfed in flames. Looked like I had inadvertently charged my Aura with the fire attribute.

Hot!! I tried to reduce the flames reflexively but I was a beat too late. The bull beastman had already completed his swing, plunging his fist into my fire charged Aura. The flames around me went out. But the beastman’s body was thrown backward, engulfed in flames. The rebound sent him rolling along the ground. Thanks to that, like a miracle, the flames were extinguished, and the beastman came to a stop facing the sky.

Seeing the beastman lying there spread-eagled, Annie’s fans looked at me, terrified. The people around us seemed frightened too. “Oi! What the hell was that?!” When I turned towards the source of that cry, I found several beastfolk knights. They had their swords out and pointed at me. I lifted my arms up unconsciously.

“You did that right!? You’re under arrest!!”
Why!? I am not to blame here!!

T/N Notes:

Chapter 13 For reference. This is where he learns how to don an Aura. From now on, it’s beastmen when I refer to male beastfolk, beastwoman for a female, and beastfolk in a gender neutral situation. Not sure that this warrants a note, but it was bothering me when I was mixing it up. So, there you have it, in case it bothers you too.