Tsuyokute New Saga (LN) Vol 1 Chapter 2.2

“I wonder what happened.”

The next morning, Kyle faced towards his desk and thought about the previous day’s events.

He swore he would save the world, but he had no idea how he would do it.

First, he would need to speak the truth. The entire truth.

He needed to tell everyone that he came from four years in the future, and that the people would need to defend themselves from the demons, who would launch a full-fledged a.s.sault in three years. He needed the people to hear his voice.

“…There’s no way anyone would believe me. Had I not experienced it myself, I would probably shrug it off as well.”

Rationally, it would be impossible.

Being laughed wasn’t the worst thing that could happen; he would be seen as a crazy person and would be isolated from society. The worst-case scenario is that he would be accused of being a spy for the demons by attempting to disrupt the harmony. In that case, he would be executed.

Even if a few people believed his story, it wouldn’t make a difference.

It would be of no use unless he could convince the entire human race.

The reason why the human race was driven to near-extinction was clear.

“…The initial response was terrible. The humans were completely off guard and there was no system of cooperation.”

Had they cooperated, it wouldn’t have been an easy win, but at least it would have been an even fight.

If the humans are able to strengthen their defenses and prepare for a great invasion, they would be able to avoid ma.s.s destruction.

But, given the current situation, that seems impossible.

To begin, the humans, who comprise the largest group of the human race, are not grouped well. Territorial issues among different countries, economic inequality, religious issues...there is no end to the issues that are hampering cooperation.

Small clashes have been occurring, and in fact, had the demon race not existed, the humans would be in an all-out civil war.

The other portion of the human race known as the Ajin, comprised of elves and dwarves, are also struggling to cooperate.

Grouping them together and making them cooperate won’t be an easy task.

“Instead of one big invasion, it would’ve been better if they came in frequent waves. Maybe then, the human race would have realized that there was a serious threat.”

They would realize that they needed to set aside their differences to ward off a common enemy.

Elves live for around a thousand years. In that same time span, humans would go through multiple generations. Demons have been an enemy of the humans for thousands of years, but without experiencing an actual threat, the heightened security begins to wear off.

An alternate plan would be to step into demon territory and kill the demon king, who would ascend to the throne in three years.

The great invasion was ordered by this upcoming king, so if he can be eliminated, then in theory, there would be no invasion.

“The problem with this plan…is that it’s virtually impossible to carry out.”

First, not much is known about the demon king. Only his appearance from the final battle is known. Other than that, not even his name is known. With just this much information, finding him in vast enemy territory would be impossible.

Furthermore, in the rare chance that he is found, whether he can be killed is a completely separate issue.

When the humans stormed the main castle, there was a force of at least 100 elites chosen from the human race that made it this far. Less than 10 made it to the king’s layer, and only Kyle was standing in the end.

Luck was the only thing that could explain all of this. It was a battle that was barely won, and n.o.body would do it ever again if asked.

Kyle took a deep breath, rested his head on his desk, and pondered about it.

“I’m starting to feel that stopping the invasion on my own is probably impossible…what else can I do…”
He then changed some of his ideas and thought about what he could do right now, in the present circ.u.mstances.

Kyle took a booklet that was lying on his desk into his hands.

“One advantage I have…is that my memory is above average. For that, I’m thankful.”

Indeed, the largest advantage he could ever have, is the fact that he knew everything that was going to happen.  

In the booklet, he had written all the things that were going to happen in the next four years.

Of course, he didn’t recall every little detail, but just thinking about it a little produced a lot of material.

He spent all day yesterday writing everything he could remember.

He didn’t know which information would be of use, so he wrote everything from the situation of each country, method of attacks, weather, and food. If he could make use of the information, then a lot could be accomplished.

Another advantage he had was his strength. During the battle with the demon king, Kyle was the most powerful magic swordsman…but…

Kyle glances over at his thin arms.

“I have to keep track of my health too…”

“O…Oh, hey Kyle. Good morning. It’s great that you woke up on your own today.”

Feeling hungry, he headed over to the kitchen, and was greeted by Lize, who once again had prepared some food.

Seraiya, who had already started to eat and had a mouth stuffed with food, greeted Kyle with a barely understandable “good morning.”

“Good morning to both of you. By the way mom, talking with your mouth full probably isn’t the best thing to do.”

Kyle also noted that she had jam all around her mouth.

“The food’s gonna get cold, so hurry and eat!”

Lize pulls the chair and makes Kyle sit.

“Thanks…by the way Lize, you seem absurdly nice since yesterday.”

Kyle spend the entire day holed up in his room yesterday, but Lize kept making excuses to come in and talk to him, asking if he was thirsty, if there was anything he needed, etc.

She was being nice as if she was talking to a child, sick person, or even an elderly person.

“That’s nonsense. Oh, that piece of bread is big and hard. Let me cut it for you.”

She didn’t want him to choke on the bread. It’s almost as if she was nursing for him.

Maybe she really thought blasting Kyle into the bookshelf screwed up his mind.

After he had completely woken up, Lize took him to the Our Lady of the Earth Church and had some healing magic casted on him.

“By the way Kyle-chan, are you going to stay in your room all day today too? It’s not good for your health you know?”

“Nah, I’m going to go out. I want to practice my sword skills.”

Mother knows best. He knew he had to go out.

“It’s been a while since you’ve taken a swing with your sword, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s strange that you’ve decided to go practice all on your own. What happened?”

Lize and Seraiya both seem confused.

“I just need to take a break. That’s all.”

With a piece of bread in his mouth, Kyle thought to himself about how he’s been slacking off recently.

On the ruins in the outskirts of town, Kyle was completely focused on swinging his sword.

He wasn’t just randomly swinging the sword. He mixed it up with an occasional feint, and finished with a coup de grâce. He would sometimes move as if he “received” an attack with his sword.

There was n.o.body near Kyle. But in Kyle’s eyes, he saw one target; an enemy that he intended to kill. It was a technique called Gentohō, taught to him by his master. Basically, he would cast a spell of illusion and hypnosis on himself. The result would be a phantom enemy that could also receive and return attacks.

More practice with this technique allows the user to create an enemy that closely resembles the real thing. In short, for those with magic power, this was a very effective training method.

In most cases, one would have to actually know the enemy to a great extent to cast an image that accurately reflects the enemy, but Kyle was experienced so a single battle was enough to get an accurate representation.

The enemy Kyle created in his mind was the demon king: one of the strongest enemies he has ever known.

“d.a.m.n…I’d be killed every 10 seconds if this continues.”

After a while, Kyle was running out of breath, and stopped his movements. At the same time, the illusion disappears.

The battle Kyle had with the real demon king was an intense match. Now, it was no contest. He’d lost count of how many times he’d been “killed” by the illusion.

It’s not that the demon king had become stronger; rather, Kyle had become weaker.

(In Kyle’s perspective) 3 days, ago he wouldn’t be running out of breath after such a short fight, but now, the speed at which he swings his sword had become slower, and his movements were off. His body just wasn’t able to keep up.

It was a complete lack of basic stamina. Technique and experience were unchanged, but his body had lost quite a bit of muscle, and the way he predicts, he’ll be very sore tomorrow.

In hindsight, Kyle remembered that he used to spend these lethargic days doing nothing. He neither studied magic nor moved his body much. He regretted that he wasted such valuable time.

“Let’s try *strength* *haste*!”

Kyle casted spells that increase his muscle strength and his agility.

These were the most basic spells of a magic swordsman for self-reinforcement. Magic power would run through the body and physical strength and speed would increase.

But,
“What’s happening? It’s more effective than before.”

He felt more magic going through his body than before, and as a result, a slight movement produced a noticeable effect.

The two important rules to keep in mind when using Ancient Magic are Magic Power and Magic Control.

The more magic power one has, the more times one can cast a spell. More magic power equals more powerful and effective spells.

Magic Control measures the extent to which one understands the principles of magic, and also gauges the imagination powers.

More Magic Control allows a person to cast multiple spells at once, and can abbreviate spells and movements needed to cast spells.

In terms of attacking spells, more magic control allows the user to either broaden or narrow the scope of the attack. It also allows magic power to be used more efficiently, so more spells can be cast.

These principles also apply to the other two types of magic.

After attaining a certain amount of experience, the magician would level up and would be able to use a higher level of magic.

In short, a lack of magic power limits the spells one can use, and lack of control limits their command.

If one cannot use a spell, nothing happens, but if one cannot command a spell, it either fails or goes berserk. A fire magician who fails to command fire spells would be engulfed in flames, and an ice magician would freeze himself.

Both magic power and magic control can grow through experience, magic power is mostly innate.

The highest level magic Kyle was able to use in the previous world was high-level magic.

“But now, I think I can go for the highest-level magic”

In most of the battles up until now, Kyle only used magic as a support. He would use it to strengthen himself or weaken the enemy. His main weapon was the sword.

Instead of casting some strange attack spell, he would rather strengthen himself and slash his enemies, but with the increased magical powers, he felt like he could make more use of magic.

“I don’t know why this is happening…but I think I have a larger a.r.s.enal now.”

For once, he was being optimistic.