Chapter 5: Rapid Growth

In this world, I learned that a month has thirty days, and a year has three hundred and sixty days.

"Alright, I leveled up."

Ike said it happily, so I appraised him.

【Name】 Ike Bryant
【Title】 -
【Rank】 Human - Commoner
【State】 Good
【Age】 7
【Level】 9 (+7)
【HP】 44/49
【MP】 104/312
【Strength】 30 (+20)
【Agility】 25 (+14)
【Magic】 16 (+12)
【Dexterity】 14 (+8)
【Endurance】 27 (+17)
【Luck】 10
【Special Ability】 Swordsmanship C (Lv 3/15) (2→3)
【Special Ability】 Spearmanship B (Lv 2/17) (1→2)
【Special Ability】 Fire Magic C (Lv 3/15) (1→3)
【Equipment】 Iron Sword

Part of it was leveling up, but his stats really did jump when he turned seven. My hypothesis that stats increase with age after six might be correct.

His vanguard abilities had been polished, and he was currently mowing down goblins equipped with a lightweight iron sword he had custom-made at the blacksmith, featuring a slightly shorter blade. He said the Salamander Sword was still a bit too heavy, so he wasn't using it yet.

Also, Ike had learned 《Fire Arrow》, which was listed in the Beginner Fire Magic Grimoire. 《Fire Arrow》 was a spell that made 《Fire》 track the enemy.

One reason Ike's Fire Magic level rose significantly was that he could use Fire Magic to his heart's content outside, and because he burned the monsters with 《Fire》 after defeating them.

Thanks to that, when he used magic two or three times in front of Maria after returning home, his MP would deplete, so his max MP had also increased.

The reason he used Fire Magic in front of Maria was so she could quickly extinguish any fires with her Water Magic if something went wrong.

However, it seemed that depleting MP didn't guarantee an increase. Ike depleted his MP every night before bed, but there were days it didn't go up. This might be a matter of talent as well.

As for me:

【Name】 Mars Bryant
【Title】 -
【Rank】 Human - Commoner
【State】 Good
【Age】 4
【Level】 5 (+3)
【HP】 20/25
【MP】 2720/3424
【Strength】 17 (+11)
【Agility】 18 (+11)
【Magic】 38 (+16)
【Dexterity】 33 (+13)
【Endurance】 16 (+10)
【Luck】 30
【Unique Ability】 Heavenly Gift (Lv MAX)
【Unique Ability】 Heavenly Eye (Lv 5) (3→5)
【Unique Ability】 Lightning Magic S (Lv 0/20)
【Special Ability】 Swordsmanship B (Lv 2/17) (1→2)
【Special Ability】 Fire Magic G (Lv 1/5) (NEW)
【Special Ability】 Water Magic G (Lv 1/5) (NEW)
【Special Ability】 Wind Magic A (Lv 10/19) (8→10)
【Special Ability】 Holy Magic C (Lv 3/15) (2→3)

My stats had gone up quite a bit, and with Maria's help, I managed to learn Fire and Water Magic. The talent rank was G, but considering my talent in my previous life was probably below G, I could work with this.

The biggest news this time was that my Heavenly Eye reached level 5.

Since the Heavenly Eye leveled up, I could now see details of skills and equipment.

For example, when I appraised the Lightning Magic I’d been debating whether to use:

【Unique Ability】 Lightning Magic
Magic granted by the Heavens. Its power permits no other magic to follow in its wake. Requires considerable training in mana control to wield.

It said something pretty scary.

When I appraised the Salamander Sword:

【Name】 Salamander Sword
【Attack】 35
【Special】 Magic +2
【Rarity】 B
【Details】 A magic sword made of Mythril Silver. Enchanting the sword with Fire Magic increases attack power.

It was a cheat item.

My Wind Magic also reached level 10.

The performance of 《Sylphid》 improved, and the activation speed of my Wind Magic became faster. As for 《Wind Cutter》, the spell manifested instantly, and its range had increased.

Also, the healing amount of 《Heal》 increased. Before, when I healed Zeke and Maria's injuries, it only recovered 15 HP, but when Ike took unexpected damage and I cast 《Heal》, it recovered 29.

When I healed Zeke before, my Magic stat was 10, and I healed 15 HP. In other words, I could infer that the healing amount for Heal was 10 + (Magic / 2).

And today, I intended to tell my family about Appraisal, but I decided to call it "Appraisal" instead of "Heavenly Eye."

The Heavenly Eye seemed like it would become an even more incredible ability in the future, after all.

It was an ability imbued with the Demi-God's power, to boot.

As usual, after dinner was over and the family (minus Lina) was gathered around the table, I began to speak.

"Dad, Mom, Ike-nii. There's something I want you to hear."

Everyone looked at me.

"Actually, it seems I've become able to use Appraisal a little while ago."

Everyone looked at me in surprise.

"Does that mean you know everyone's stats, Mars?"

Zeke asked for confirmation.

"Yeah. I know everyone's stats. And I also know that the Salamander Sword is a very amazing weapon with hidden abilities."

I told everyone about the family's abilities.

Ike was happy about the Salamander Sword's stats, but Zeke and Maria were even happier than he was.

That was because Lina had talent for Water and Earth Magic.

According to Zeke, among the four major attributes in this world, Water and Earth Magic were particularly strong.

"I have something to say too. Shall we discuss the investigation of the west side of Almeria again? We've been hunting goblins for a whole year, but there's no sign of them decreasing at all. Rather than other monsters settling in and driving them out, I think the number of goblins is clearly increasing abnormally. And unbelievably, Ike and Mars aren't lagging behind even against goblins."

"You're right. Only a year has passed, but for Ike and Mars, it's been a whole year of growth. Their levels have gone up, and their combat seems stable, so I think it's okay too. I'll warn you two, though: there will come a time when your level suddenly becomes hard to raise, so be prepared. Also, you stop leveling up if you keep defeating weak monsters."

Maria responded to Zeke's proposal, and then Zeke asked us.

"How about you two? Do you want to go?"

""Yes.""

"Alright! I'll accept the nominated quest tomorrow, so Ike and Mars, go to sleep early. Okay?"

Asked again by Zeke, we replied ""Yes"" and crawled into bed early to prepare for tomorrow.

The next day, Ike and I woke up very early.

While we were training with swords in the garden, Zeke and Maria woke up looking very refreshed.

Number four is coming soon, I thought, looking at them, but they averted their eyes.

"Now then, let's eat, get ready, and go investigate. We might return late, so let's take more potions than usual. Especially Magic Potions; those are essential."

I had drunk a Magic Potion once. It was a medicine that gradually restored MP. Honestly, it didn't taste very good.

After preparing as usual, we headed to the Adventurer's Guild, where Zeke accepted the nominated quest.

Coming out of the Adventurer's Guild, Zeke said:

"Just accepting the nominated quest got us a lot of gratitude. They said if we succeed, come to the Master Room. They'll call you two in then as well."

Ike and I jumped for joy.

We had both wanted to enter the Adventurer's Guild for some time.

And apparently, the guild was providing a carriage this time as a special favor.

Since the Guild Master thought Zeke was heading out to investigate alone, he arranged it so he could escape immediately if anything happened.

They said we could even use the horse as a decoy, which significantly lowered the danger level.

We were one kilometer from Almeria's west checkpoint.

The goblin encounter rate was abnormally high, as expected.

What would have happened if we hadn't been hunting them?

We had defeated about thirty by the time we reached this point.

Since we came by carriage this time, there was no burden of walking or carrying luggage, which was very comfortable.

The horse was scared of the goblins at first, but after watching us hunt them down right in front of it, it stopped being so afraid.

Usually, we would hunt goblins around here, but today we aimed further west.

Zeke was on the driver's seat, and I was sitting perched in front of him.

Whenever I spotted a goblin, I chopped it up with 《Wind Cutter》.

Ike watched outside from inside the carriage, ready to deploy if things got dangerous.

Well, there probably wouldn't be a chance to deploy for a while.

On the way, I asked Zeke something.

"Dad, what's there if we keep going west?"

"There's a mine to the west. Apparently, the mine was already exhausted and abandoned before I was born. The village at the foot of the mountain was also abandoned when the mine closed."

The further west we went, the higher the goblin encounter rate became.

Continuing to defeat goblins as we proceeded west, a settlement that appeared to be the abandoned village came into view in the distance.

Zeke told me I could use up my MP, so I had been activating magic without thinking about the consequences. I was about to run out of MP and fall asleep. After all, I had been doing everything alone, from taking down goblins with 《Wind Cutter》 to burning them with 《Fire》.

The reason was that the plan was for Zeke and Ike to protect the carriage while I slept, and once my MP recovered and I woke up, we would explore the abandoned village.

I was probably the most suitable for hunting goblin trash anyway.

Using the last of my MP, I leveled up. Since I didn't even have MP left to appraise, I decided to just sleep.

When I told Zeke my MP was out and I was going to sleep, he took me inside the carriage and laid me down, while Ike switched places with me and went outside.

When I woke up a little past three hours later, Zeke and Ike were chatting outside while keeping watch.

I immediately appraised myself.

I hadn't leveled up in months, so I was excited.

【Name】 Mars Bryant
【Title】 -
【Rank】 Human - Commoner
【State】 Good
【Age】 4
【Level】 6 (+1)
【HP】 25/30
【MP】 3426/3427
【Strength】 20 (+3)
【Agility】 22 (+3)
【Magic】 42 (+4)
【Dexterity】 36 (+3)
【Endurance】 19 (+3)
【Luck】 30
【Unique Ability】 Heavenly Gift (Lv MAX)
【Unique Ability】 Heavenly Eye (Lv 5)
【Unique Ability】 Lightning Magic S (Lv 0/20)
【Special Ability】 Swordsmanship B (Lv 2/17)
【Special Ability】 Fire Magic G (Lv 1/5)
【Special Ability】 Water Magic G (Lv 1/5)
【Special Ability】 Wind Magic A (Lv 10/19)
【Special Ability】 Holy Magic C (Lv 3/15)

The low HP was concerning, but ability-wise, I had become quite strong.

Could I put up a good fight against Ike now?

"Dad, Ike-nii. Morning. I'll use 《Heal》."

Saying that, I restored their HP.

"Thanks. Quite a few goblins came while you were sleeping, Mars. It looks like they're coming from the abandoned village, so stay sharp for the exploration!"

""Yes!""

As we approached the abandoned village, the goblin encounter rate became even higher.

Something was definitely going on in this village.

When we reached the entrance of the abandoned village and looked inside, there were about fifty goblins. There were probably more inside the houses, so it seemed safe to assume there were a hundred in total.

We had already formed a plan.

First, Ike would fire a 《Fire》 into the center of the goblin pack.

When they noticed us, I would slash them apart with 《Wind Cutter》 from the village entrance.

If they gathered close, I could take them down in groups, increasing MP efficiency.

If I couldn't handle them all, Ike would help, and if it got dangerous, Zeke was there too.

We executed the plan we decided on.

First, hit a goblin with 《Fire》.

"Gya gya gyaaaa!!!"

Hearing the screams, the goblins spotted us, and dozens more poured out of the houses.

When the goblins charged at us all at once, I drew them in sufficiently before unleashing 《Wind Cutter》.

We fought for nearly an hour, wiped them all out, and burned the pile of goblin corpses with 《Fire》.

Only magic stones remained, so we picked them up, put them in the carriage, and were about to enter the village when it happened.

The door of the largest house, situated against the mountainside, opened.

Out came about twenty goblins and one exceptionally large goblin.

I tried appraising the big one.

【Name】 -
【Title】 -
【Race】 Hobgoblin
【Threat】 E
【State】 Good
【Age】 10
【Level】 3
【HP】 50/50
【MP】 1/1
【Strength】 25
【Agility】 18
【Magic】 1
【Dexterity】 1
【Endurance】 26
【Luck】 1

My first strong enemy.

High HP and high Endurance.

I conveyed the appraisal results to Zeke and Ike, and Ike asked Zeke.

"Dad, what do we do?"

"First, let's do as usual. If Mars can't defeat the Hobgoblin, we fight while retreating. Ike, keep your sword ready."

""Yes.""

The goblins charged, so I took down everything except the Hobgoblin with 《Wind Cutter》.

I managed to hit the Hobgoblin with 《Wind Cutter》 too, and with one more shot, the Hobgoblin fell dead.

I thought it was a strong enemy, but I defeated it way too easily. Ike wore an exasperated expression that said, "This is why Mars is..."

When we retrieved the magic stone from the motionless Hobgoblin, it was slightly larger than a goblin's magic stone. Would the value be higher too?

Having defeated the Hobgoblin, we explored the village cautiously, but there was nothing in particular.

The only thing left was the large house by the mountainside where the Hobgoblin had emerged.

We carefully opened the door of the large house.

The moment I opened it, I realized the space was alien.

It was a sensation I'd never felt before, leaving me speechless. Ike must have felt something too.

As we stood frozen, Zeke spoke.

"A Dungeon... My god. It's become a Dungeon. If goblins are overflowing from here, it's a huge problem. A Stampede from Dungeon saturation would be the worst-case scenario."

"What should we do? Dad, should we go back for now? I think it's still around 2 PM."

Ike proposed returning, but Zeke seemed intent on continuing the investigation.

"Let's explore just a little. We can report that there's a possibility the goblins are originating from here."

"Understood. Mars, let's be careful."

"Yeah!"

"Alright, I'll take point, Mars in the middle, and Ike in the rear. We don't intend to clear it, so if we find a few goblins, we turn back."

Told as such, we proceeded into the Dungeon.

The path width of the Dungeon was about ten meters.

Going straight from the door, we immediately hit a T-junction.

Proceeding to the right, there was a room. Looking inside carefully, there was one Hobgoblin like the one before, and three goblins holding staffs.

I appraised the Hobgoblin, but it wasn't much different from the previous one.

Next, I appraised a goblin holding a staff.

【Name】 -
【Title】 -
【Race】 Goblin Mage
【Threat】 F
【State】 Good
【Age】 8
【Level】 2
【HP】 25/25
【MP】 24/24
【Strength】 10
【Agility】 6
【Magic】 15
【Dexterity】 6
【Endurance】 8
【Luck】 1
【Special Ability】 Earth Magic G (Lv 1/5)

A goblin that uses magic, huh?

When I shared the appraisal results with the two of them, we decided to take them down before they could activate magic. We decided to blind the Hobgoblin before killing it.

First, we launched a surprise attack with my 《Wind Cutter》, Zeke's 《Stone Bullet》, and Ike's 《Fire Arrow》 on the three Goblin Mages. Only the Goblin Mage Ike attacked survived, but I quickly fired another 《Wind Cutter》 to finish it off.

As for the remaining Hobgoblin, I blinded it, and then Ike decapitated it. When we explored the room now devoid of goblins, there was a treasure chest in the corner.