So I’m a Fish, So What?

Today’s the day I’m finally putting all my training into practice.

A couple of months ago, I gave up my previous plan and started learning magic on my own.

Even if it isn’t safe, I realized I couldn’t just waste entire years of my time before beginning my real training.

Coupled with the skyrocketing strengths of Shun and Sue, I fully decided to give up on the previous deal with my father.

There was also the revelation about Shun’s earth wyrm pet, Feirune turning out to be another reincarnation, Mirei Shinohara...

You see, each reincarnation has a unique skill we call a Reincarnation Skill.

Shun’s skill is called Divine Protection.

In my opinion, its effect is the true definition of a cheat skill.

Although Shun might not be able to glean much from its description, I understood how terrifying it was as soon as I heard the part about gaining the desired results in any situation.

‘Any situation’, as in anything related to the system.

This includes gaining experience, acquiring skills, and even leveling skills.

Not only can he ignore all affinities, but the required proficiencies also decrease by a lot.

Basically, Shun can do whatever he sets his mind on as long as he puts in some effort.

This explains why his strength is a lot higher than mine even though I’ve been working harder in private.

However, as if to mock all my efforts, his skill even affects his sister, Princess Suelecia!

Even a native of this land can become as talented as or even more talented than a reincarnation because of Shun’s skill.

I can’t help but imagine how ridiculous the effect of skill would be if Shun actually becomes a king one day.

Maybe its effects would be extended from him and Sue to the scope of the entire kingdom...

It’s quite scary to think about.

Then there’s little Feirune.

Not only did she get a reincarnation skill, but she also acquired a race-specific skill as an earth wyrm.

The only reason why we can currently beat her is that she’s spending her time just lazing around and enjoying the food in the palace.

She’ll quickly surpass all of us as soon as she gets over this phase though.

Sadly, I’m the one who got the short end of the stick, as my reincarnation skill is basically useless.

Trading skills for skill points seems like a very stupid thing to do, especially when the return rate is actually lower than the original.

Every single skill out there is useful in some way, so I’d never give up any skill unless I encounter a pressing situation.

I don’t know if our other classmates are alive and what skills they might’ve acquired, but I may be the only one who has to train from zero without any shortcuts.

Coming to such a conclusion, I redirected most of my time to studying magic through the books placed in the Duke’s library.

Luckily, my highest affinities lie in spatial and heretic attributes magic that can be used stealthily.

It took me nearly a year to get them both up to a barely functional level and unlock some offensive spells.

After which I acted cute for a bit while asking my father to take me on a trip around the kingdom in which I recorded the spatial coordinates of everywhere I went.

And today will be my first attempt at sneaking away and fighting monsters.

I’ve been preparing the level 9 Spatial Magic spell, Long-Range Teleport for ten minutes and it’s finally ready.

Making sure I placed all my luggage in my Space Storage and lowering the hood of my cloak, I activate the spell.

Suddenly, my surroundings change, as I find myself at the periphery of a forest near the royal capital.

The first thing I do is hide behind a tree and observe my surroundings with Presence Perception while preparing another Long-Range Teleport spell.

A few minutes later, I leave my hiding place after replacing the spell in my offhand with it.

Delay Cast is a very useful skill I stumbled upon about a month ago

Its effect can be summarized as having a completed magic construction ready without requiring conscious effort from the user to maintain.

The downsides are that more complicated spells require more levels in the Delay Cast, and having a spell in your offhand disables.

I had a Heretic Magic skill called Hypnosis charge stored before coming here.

That one took over twenty minutes to prepare, but it’s the best I currently have in terms of safety.

If I teleport next to a monster, I can just control it with Hypnosis and then slice through its throat with my sword.

Don’t underestimate my physical strength!

I’ve been training with those two living cheats for a while now!

Seriously though, I tried my hardest to get Shun’s skill to also affect me during our training sessions, but it just refused to work...

Well, even if my strength turns out to be lacking, my sword should compensate for it

It’s a magical sword I snuck out of the Duke’s treasury, so high damage output is guaranteed.

Luckily, there are actually no monsters in my perception range, just a couple of animals.

It’s the best-case scenario, thank god!

Phew...

This entire situation gives me a feeling similar to when you do something wrong behind your parents’ back—Oh.

That’s exactly what I’m doing, huh?

Well... I won’t stop though, my future depends on it.

However, no matter how much I mentally prepare myself for the upcoming task, it’s a still fact that my previous life memories have a great influence on me.

Modern society highly discourages any form of violence, especially in a peaceful country like Japan.

The closest thing to a real fight I’ve ever seen was that time we were harassed by child molesters, leading Tomoko to beat up every single one of them unconscious.

Even if one of them was beaten half to death that time, most of the injuries were actually internal, so I didn’t even see blood.

... She was the only one who bled back then.

Let’s stop thinking about bad memories in the middle of the open wilderness, shall we?

Anyways, I didn’t even witness a real-life gruesome injury throughout both of my lives not to mention killing a living creature.

The plan is to start by targeting small critters and gradually increase the size and strength of my opponents, all while getting used to the sensation of killing.

I’ll gain a couple of levels along the way as well, two birds with one stone.

 

My first target is a venomous snake that’s using a tree branch as camouflage.

I’m not sure if it has already detected me as animal senses are different than normal when skills enter the picture.

To be on the safe side though, I start preparing a long-range Spatial Magic spell, Spatial Slash.

This one’s the same as any Wind Blade spell out there but with space attribute damage instead of wind.

Since it’s a spell that’s normally used mid-combat, the preparation time is conveniently about 10 seconds as opposed to the extremely time-consuming nature of other spells.

It’s the first time I launch a magical spell that actually requires aiming, so I move a little closer because I don’t trust my aim.

Quite a stupid thing to do, I know, but I’m not proficient enough to do otherwise.

Closing the distance to about five meters away from the snake, I hold my breath, stabilize my body, then launch the spell at my target.

Nothing happens at first which makes me nervous, but the results are soon visible.

The snake, along with the branch it was using as camouflage, and the entire tree suddenly get a clean cut running through them.

So, Spatial Slash is a silent but slow kinda spell, huh?

It’s also quite sharp as it cuts through space itself, unlike its wind counterpart which physically cuts through the opponent’s defenses.

Well, good and bad always coexist.

Even if it’s perfectly silent with high damage, any creature with a couple of levels in Danger Perception would easily avoid it due to the low speed.

Wind Blades are much faster, but do less damage instead.

Moments later, blood started spurting out of the snake’s body section, dying the still-standing tree stump red.

The smell was honestly unbearable, but I did my best to refrain from vomiting.

Other animals or even monsters will probably be here soon after smelling the blood, so I quickly evacuate the area.

 

Finally putting a safe distance between me and the scene of the crime, I promptly search for another target.

A few moments later, I locate a suitable animal.

It’s a lucky find actually. A weak and injured wolf separated from its pack.

I’ve decided to slay it directly with my sword this time.

Since I’ve already made up my mind to get used to killing, I should cover all its aspects!

Honestly, I’d like to wait until the wolf drops its guard, but I’m pretty sure it will catch on to my scent in practically no time.

Fortunately, I started preparing my next spell as soon as I left the snake’s immediate vicinity, I can launch it any time now.

Clenching the handle of my sword, I charge at my opponent.

Although it’s stunned by my sudden appearance, the wolf quickly recovers and growls while rushing towards me as well.

Unlike my smooth and swift movement however, the wolf’s movement is accompanied by an obvious limp due to its injuries.

As soon as I get close enough, my Spatial Hold spell activates, restricting all of my opponent’s movements, leading it to trip and fall face first.

Spatial Hold restricts movement for nine seconds at my current strength.

The duration may decrease depending on the target’s Space Resistance, but it’s obviously impossible for a normal animal to have such a skill.

Staring at the unmoving wolf, I start hesitating for a bit, but then I squish any thoughts of retreat.

Gritting my teeth, I open my eyes wide before putting all my power into the sword and slitting the wolf’s throat.

 

<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Karnatia Seri Anabald has increased from LV 1 to LV 2.>

<All basic attributes have increased.>

<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Magic Power Operation LV 6] has become [Magic Power Operation LV 7].>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Presence Perception LV 1] has become [Presence Perception LV 2].>

<Skill points acquired.>

 

The smell of blood soon fills the area, as my figure can be seen hunched down beside the wolf’s corpse.

The sensation of cutting through a living creature by hand is a lot more vivid than using a spell to do it.

I couldn’t hold back this time, as I vomited whatever I had for dinner today.

It’s okay, the first step is always the hardest...

The feeling brought about by leveling up is satisfying enough to distract me for now.

It’s quite strange that my MP has recovered after the level-up...

I’ve never heard or read about such a thing anywhere before.

It should either be a unique ability of mine or one shared by all reincarnations.

Hopefully, it’s shared by all of us.

That would highly increase everyone’s chances of survival.

Activating the Long-Range Teleport in my offhand, I appear in the mansion’s bathroom.

Taking off my cloak, I burn it with a simple fire magic spell, then submerge my body into the water.

I stay in there until the bloody smell fades away from my body then use a Short-Range Teleport to go back into my room and get into the sheets.

There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep after today’s events, but I wouldn’t want to get discovered.

It’s gonna be a long night...