Chapter 13: The Bear Practices Magic

I woke up early in the morning, ate breakfast, and then headed outside the town.

Today, I planned to practice magic that I couldn’t use inside the inn.

“Oh, it’s that strangely dressed young lady from before. Heading outside?”

When the gate guard saw me, he came over.

He was the same person who helped me when I first entered the town the other day.

“Yes. Here’s my guild card.”

I showed him my guild card and held it over the crystal plate.

Even when leaving the town, you have to show your card and present it to the crystal plate.

This is to check for criminals at the gate.

If someone commits a crime inside the town, and the culprit is identified, the information is registered in the guild’s database, and when checked at the gate, they get caught.

“So you became an adventurer. Hm? What’s this—your occupation is ‘bear’?”

He asked while looking at my card.

“Please just ignore that part.”

“Well, it’s not exactly wrong.”

He said that while patting my head.

“Oh, this bear feels really nice to the touch.”

“Hey, stop that.”

I brushed his hand away.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Be careful out there. It’s dangerous.”

“I’m just going out to practice some magic.”

“I see. Well, as long as you don’t go near the forest, you won’t run into monsters. Though sometimes strays wander out, so stay cautious.”

“Okay, got it.”

I took back my guild card and left the town.

After walking for a while and confirming there was no one around, I started.

First, I tried the body enhancement magic described in the book.

It didn’t seem that difficult.

Apparently, I just needed to circulate magic power throughout my entire body.

Back in the game, this was a skill used by combat classes like warriors and swordsmen.

The duration was short, but since it boosted strength, it was a popular skill among fighters.

I let magic flow through my body.

Then I tried running.

Wow, that’s fast.

I tried jumping.

“Waaahhhhhh!”

I easily jumped over 10 meters.

When I landed, it didn’t hurt.

That must be thanks to the body enhancement.

I tested various things.

With and without body enhancement.

Dashing, jumping, Bear Punch, Bear Kick.

The power had definitely increased.

I checked my status.

Name: Yuna
Age: 15
Level: 8
Skills: Otherworld Language, Otherworld Writing, Bear Dimensional Box, Bear Appraisal Eye
Magic: Bear Light, Bear Body Enhancement

Equipment:
Black Bear Gloves (Non-transferable)
White Bear Gloves (Non-transferable)
Black Bear Boots (Non-transferable)
White Bear Boots (Non-transferable)
Bear Suit (Non-transferable)
Bear Underwear (Non-transferable)

…Bear Body Enhancement?

Bear?

Bear Body Enhancement
By channeling magic power into the bear equipment, physical enhancement can be performed.

I silently closed the status screen.

I decided to pretend I didn’t see that and moved on to practicing the next magic.

Alright, this spot should be fine.

Ignoring the bear issue, I searched for a place to practice attack magic.

Near the entrance of the forest.

In this world, the way to use magic is:

Gather magic power
Form an image of the desired magic
Chant

In the game, it was:

Gather magic power
Chant

The game version was simpler.

You just gathered magic power and said the spell.

Just saying “Fire” would activate the magic.

But in this world, you need to visualize it.

Still, visualization is no problem for me—I’ve played plenty of games and read lots of manga and novels.

I gathered magic power in my hand.

I imagined a blazing fireball.

“Fireball.”

Yes, that was easy.

A fireball appeared… held in the bear’s mouth.

It wasn’t hot.

The bear didn’t burn either.

I extended my arm and imagined launching it.

I aimed at a rock about 10 meters away.

The fireball shot out of the bear’s mouth, hit the rock, and shattered it.

I tried again, creating a fireball using only visualization without chanting.

I confirmed it worked without chanting.

However, saying “Fireball” out loud made it easier to visualize and faster to activate.

Just like in the game, chanting helped with casting speed.

Next, I tried water magic.

“Water Ball.”

Just like before, a sphere of water appeared in the bear’s mouth.

I launched it at the rock.

When it hit, the rock was slightly damaged.

It seemed weaker than fire.

So I tried freezing the water.

I imagined a sharp tip and launched it at the rock.

A spear of ice shot out of the bear’s mouth and destroyed the rock.

Fire can’t be used in the forest, so ice is convenient.

After fire and water, next would be wind and earth.

I wrapped wind around the bear’s hand.

“Air Cutter.”

A blade of wind flew out.

The rock was sliced clean in half.

Next was earth magic.

Earth magic is probably defensive.

In the game, it was used to create walls from the ground to block attacks.

I gathered magic into the bear and placed my hand on the ground.

I imagined forming a wall.

“Wall Shield.”

The earth rose up, forming a wall.

I don’t know how strong it is, but it worked.

Now I’ve mastered fire, water, wind, and earth—the four elements.

I checked my status.

Name: Yuna
Age: 15
Level: 8
Skills: Otherworld Language, Otherworld Writing, Bear Dimensional Box, Bear Appraisal Eye
Magic: Bear Light, Bear Body Enhancement, Bear Fire Magic, Bear Water Magic, Bear Wind Magic, Bear Earth Magic

As expected, everything has “bear” attached.

Bear Fire Magic
Allows the use of fire magic through magic power gathered in the bear gloves.
Power scales with magic power and imagination.
Imagining a bear increases power further.

Bear Water Magic
Allows the use of water magic through magic power gathered in the bear gloves.
Power scales with magic power and imagination.
Imagining a bear increases power further.

Bear Wind Magic
Allows the use of wind magic through magic power gathered in the bear gloves.
Power scales with magic power and imagination.
Imagining a bear increases power further.

Bear Earth Magic
Allows the use of earth magic through magic power gathered in the bear gloves.
Power scales with magic power and imagination.
Imagining a bear increases power further.

In short, I can’t use magic without the bear.

I already knew that.

I’ve accepted it.

But one line caught my attention.

“Imagining a bear increases power further.”

Imagining a bear means…

I tried imagining a flame shaped like a bear.

A blazing red bear of fire appeared before me.

“Umm…”

For now, I launched the bear at a large rock.

The rock melted.

It turned into lava.

This is dangerous.

This magic is sealed.

I poured water on it.

If it caused a forest fire, that would be bad, so I tried to extinguish it.

Normal water didn’t work, so I created a Water Bear and finally managed to put out the lava.

That was close.

As I was resting for a bit,

I heard rustling from the forest.

A single wolf appeared.

Perfect for magic practice.

Since fire might burn the forest, I used ice magic.

I gathered magic and imagined a thin shard of ice.

“Ice Arrow.”

It pierced the wolf’s head.

The wolf stopped moving instantly.

Yeah, this bear definitely has some kind of accuracy correction.

Just like with the stones before, everything hits exactly where I aim.

It’s convenient, so I won’t complain.

I approached the wolf and stored the corpse in the Bear Box.

I can’t skin it, but I have the Bear Box now.

I’ll sell it later.

“Wolf, huh…”

After thinking for a bit, I decided to go deeper into the forest.

It might be good practice for magic.

Even in the game, wolves were beginner enemies.

Using the power of the bear boots, I started running through the forest.

When I channel magic into the boots, my speed and jump power increase, and landing has no impact.

This bear equipment is too convenient!

I ran through the forest, occasionally jumping to search for wolves.

When I jumped and looked down, I saw a pack of wolves.

“That’s a lot…”

Well, if it’s too much, I can just run.

I landed in the middle of the pack.

At the same time, I created three ice arrows and fired them.

All three pierced wolves’ heads.

So three at once is fine.

A wolf attacked from behind.

“Wall Shield.”

A wall of earth instantly formed, and the wolf crashed into it.

At that moment, another attacked from the right.

“Bear Punch!”

The wolf was sent flying.

Another wolf attacked.

“Another Bear Punch!”

That one flew too.

With some distance gained, I used magic again.

My Bear Punch definitely feels stronger now.

“Wind Cutter.”

The wolf was split in half.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Yeah… that doesn’t feel great.

It still feels a bit like a game, but this is reality.

I should avoid using Wind Cutter.

Ice is probably better for killing.

Though… I’ll have to get used to it eventually.

I’ll think about unpleasant things later—for now, I’ll focus on magic practice.

There are still wolves around me.

I jumped high.

I created as many ice arrows as I could imagine.

Dozens formed.

I aimed at the wolves howling on the ground and fired into the pack.

They didn’t all hit the heads, but they pierced their bodies.

Dozens of wolves fell instantly.

I landed and punched a nearby one with a Bear Punch.

I continued alternating between magic and punches…

The battle ended.

The ground was covered with countless wolf corpses.

I stored them one by one into the Bear Box.

It would’ve been nice if they disappeared and turned into items like in a game.

I have no hesitation about killing monsters.

I’ve done it in games before.

The problem is the blood-soaked corpses afterward.

That’s what makes it different from a game.

There were about forty corpses in total.

Mentally exhausted, I decided to end today’s magic practice and return to town.