Banished from the herd, I was actually a member of a very rare species. ~With the unique skills that only I can use, I can grow and evolve quickly. I will become an unrivaled monster~ - Episode 57: Spatial Attribute - Second Class

Episode 57: Spatial Attribute – Second Class

“Whoa, are you okay?”

“Ugh…”

Just after Paula unleashed a mysterious slash, she began to collapse, her face pale. I quickly caught her with a flick of my whip.

With a |Speed| over 500, I had more than enough time to react after seeing it.

“This looks like… |Mana| depletion. Hang on a sec.”

Using another whip, I grabbed a Mana Fruit.

Since Paula didn’t seem to have the strength to eat it, I crushed the yellow tomato-like fruit, squeezed out the juice, and finely mashed the flesh.

As she gulped it down, her face gradually regained color.

These Mana Fruits were scattered all around this area, but they’re quite potent |Mana|-restorative fruits.

The size and ripeness of the fruit vary, but even one can restore at least 100 |Mana| points with considerable immediacy.

According to Ergo, these fruits are valuable enough to be traded for gold coins. Though, I don’t really get the whole gold coin thing.

“Phew… thank you, Katsu. Sorry for needing your help again.”

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, what were you saying earlier?”

“Yeah, I’ve {Sublimated}.”

{Sublimation}. That’s the phenomenon where a magical attribute evolves, akin to the {Evolution} of magical beasts. If I recall correctly, that’s what it is.

I had heard it happens when your magic reaches a certain level, but I didn’t expect it to occur so suddenly.

“Was that slash possible because of your {Sublimation}?”

“That’s right. Katsu, you often talked about manipulating actual space. It looks like I can do that from the Second Class now.”

“I see…”

Each Class of an attribute determines what can be achieved.

For example, in the case of the water attribute, the ability to control ice usually begins at the second tier.

Similarly, for spatial attributes, maybe in the First Class, Paula could only manipulate alternate spaces.

Perhaps that’s why she couldn’t tear or distort space until now, no matter how much she tried.

“Alright, let’s figure out what we can do with Second Class space magic from here on.”

“Yes! Oh, but can I have another Mana Fruit? It seems my total |Mana| increased after sublimation, and one fruit wasn’t enough to fully recover.”

“Oh, gotcha.”

Paula ate the second fruit and fully restored her |Mana|.

“First, let’s test that slash again. Try it on that tree over there.”

I pointed at a fruitless tree a bit further away.

Then we both—well, one person and one being—moved in front of the tree.

(Note: Ekhem. Basically when the MC says “both”, he uses “二人”. The “人” is specially for human)

“Alright, here I go—[Space Slash]!”

She inhaled, exhaled, and swung her dagger in a reverse diagonal motion.

The blade of the dagger barely grazed the trunk.

—Ssshhh…

A few seconds later, the trunk began to silently shift along the line of the cut. Eventually, it crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

“I did it!”

“That’s some insane cutting power…”

But it wasn’t just about the sharpness.

The blade length of her dagger was obviously much shorter than the tree’s diameter. Yet, she felled the tree in a single strike.

It clearly defied logic.

“What in the world…?”

“You mean the range?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s because [Space Slash] is an advanced version of [Wave Slash]. I’m projecting the magic that ‘cuts through space’ onto the slash itself. This method makes it easier for me.”

I see. The initial movements did resemble [Wave Slash].

I’ve heard magic depends a lot on imagery, so she must be using the familiar [Skill] as a medium.

“So, I understand why the attack range extended. But can you also limit the range to match the length of your dagger?”

“Probably… [Space Slash]! There, I did it!”

“Impressive. How’s the |Mana| consumption?”

“Well, let’s see… Yeah, it’s lighter now. It took about 30 |Mana| before, but now it only used up around 10.”

After several tests, we discovered that the |Mana| consumption was proportional to the area cut.

Fine-tuning the range to avoid unnecessary |Mana| expenditure would be a future challenge, but Paula excels at adjusting |Mana| flow, so I’m not too worried.

For now, we should investigate the nature of this magic further.

“Hey, is it possible to use that magic without swinging your dagger?”

“Hmm, that would be difficult… I think I could do it, but it would be much harder and use more |Mana|. By channeling it through the dagger, I’m saving energy. Interacting with real space is quite tricky.”

“I see… Then, next, let’s check what happens to the space you cut.”

As I spoke, I extended my whip toward the diagonally cut stump.

I traced the edge of the cut, but the whip didn’t snag or stop unnaturally. It seems the space that had been cut was already restored.

“No need to check, really. With my [Spatial Awareness], I can confirm that the rift in space closed instantly.”

“Is that so?”

It seems that spatial rifts don’t persist for long.

“Then, is it difficult to keep a slash suspended in place as a trap?”

“Yeah, if I increase the output, the energy efficiency gets worse…”

“Output…? Do you really need to change the output just to tear space?”

“Ah, yeah. It’s hard to explain, but to break physical objects, normal output isn’t enough. Remember when we tried using the edge of [Space Hole] to cut things?”

“We did that, back in the day.”

The result was failure.

When objects were brought into contact with the edge, it was the edge that got damaged.

“The reason it didn’t work back then was because the output was too low. With [Space Hole], you can’t overcome the spatial strength of physical objects. The magic lost out. But air seems to be different. When I cut earlier, the sensation was that air was much weaker.”

“Spatial strength… Is that different from physical toughness or spiritual resistance? Can you tell what things are tougher?”

“I’m still not sure about that… Oh, but your body was completely unaffected by the slash, Katsu. Way more resistant than air or even wood.”

Hmm, maybe it has something to do with whether something is living or non-living?

We’ll need to investigate further.

Also, now that Paula’s Class has increased, there should be other things she can do.

We’ll have to thoroughly explore those as well.