I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 123

“The tournament is held every four years in Stormberg.” The drunken Hedgeman explained. “It exists to help families recruit promising youth as well as allow their children to display their prowess. There are technically three competitions. The martial competition, the alchemy competition, and the forging competition, but when people speak of the tournament, they most concern themselves with the martial aspect.”

“This world does seem to enjoy fighting,” I muttered.

Even the thugs I had encountered, as dumb as they were, seemed to have some kind of combat training. I had noticed something off with them back when they faced Destiny. They seemed to be using stances and their attacks seemed almost choreographed. She had still overwhelmed them, but they were more than simply thugs. This was at least one of the reasons I had shown interest in following them, thinking they might be connected to some hidden experts.

I had turned out to be both correct and incorrect. During my time as a drunk, I had begun to understand this world more and more. This was a world of battle. Everyone learned how to fight. Everyone tried to get stronger. The thugs were trying to evolve just like everyone else, and fighting was the best way. They were given weapons almost as soon as they were born and told to get stronger. Those who chose a life of peace were left as mortals and mostly excluded from any level of governance.

“Why wouldn’t we?” The Hedgeman laughed. “This world is governed by strength. The higher your strength, the greater your power. Whether you’re a champion, a lord, or an emperor, that all depends on your attainment.”

He spoke of this as if it were common sense, but that was only because he grew up in a world where this philosophy had never been considered. On one drunken night, I had tried to convince him that it made more sense for leaders to be intelligent, but he pointed out that intelligence typically increased when one evolved, so the higher your attainment, the smarter you’d be too. I couldn’t argue with that logic. After all, my ability to disseminate information had exploded since I had evolved too. Skill like Transcription allowed me to memorize entire books in minutes. Plus, I could recall everything in detail, including every book I had previously transcribed.

“Aren’t alchemists given a lot of respect?” I asked.

His expression grew a bit serious. “Fighting leads to injury, and injury needs medicine. It’s not surprising that alchemists gain a lot of respect. Most of them are quite wealthy too. However, you have to be very intelligent to be an alchemist. It requires memorizing millions of plants and herbs, their appearance, and their uses. I looked at such a book once and it gave me a headache.”

“What about forging? I suppose you mean blacksmithing?”

“Blacksmithing is only one part of a blacksmith’s job. The second part is called circuitsmithing.”

“Circuitsmithing?”

He nodded, pulling out his blade and putting it on the table. “There is a difference between mortal weapons and conductors. A conductor has a circuit that allows the movement of wattage. As long as I direct energy into it, I could cut any mortal weapon in two.”

He pushed a bit of mana from his hand through the blade, and I could see it circulating. It did appear to follow a complex circuit, and I presumed that circuit would change how the blade functioned. If wattage was just a measurement of the amount of mana, then this would be the equivalent of a magic sword.

“These things must be expensive.” I mused, my mind still thinking about ways to make more money.

“Well, It’s the best I could afford. This sword is a low-wattage conductor.” He shrugged. “It isn’t just the quality of the circuit, but the materials and technique too. Some specialize in circuit work, some in metal work, and true experts merge the two, using blacksmithing and circuitsmithing in tandem. Well, that’s the extent I know about it. That’s another skill that would take a lifetime to perfect. Unless you have some skills you’ve been hiding from me, I think that you’d want to sign up for the martial competition.”

“What makes you so convinced I’m capable of fighting?” I asked.

He smirked, downing the last of his beer. “A hunch.”

I was about to upon my mouth to deny it, but that’s when I felt a warning. My expression immediately changed. The Hedgeman seemed to notice my change as well. He glanced at me questioningly.

“It seems something has come up. I need to go.”

A flash of disappointment appeared on his face, but he covered it with a smile. “You’ll be back tomorrow?”

I hesitated for a second, but then I nodded. “Should be.”

“In that case, the name is Sammy. I’ll see you soon.” He held out his hand.

I took it and we shook. “Spirit.”

I parted ways with him, stumbling out into the night. However, as soon as I was out of sight of the bar, I cleared my body of alcohol and then leaped onto the rooftops. I then began to move at an incredible pace, crossing the city in moments. There was a family complex that was looking somewhat derelict. There was a single guard at the entrance. I flew over the wall and passed him.

“What was that?” He glanced up, only seeing the motion, but not me.

After a moment, he seemed to decide it was his imagination and put his weapon back down. By that point, I was already at the window. Seeing a woman in her nightgown standing anxiously with an item broken in two in her hand, I couldn’t help but feel some complex emotions. It took me nearly as long to knock on the window as it did to reach her place, but over from the moment she triggered the device until my appearance, only about forty-five seconds passed.

As soon as she heard the knock, she spun. Seeing me, her eyes brightened as she raced to the window and opened it. It was only then I realized that she had tears in her eyes.

“Spirit!” Mara cried, throwing her arms around me.

“Hey… hey…” I gently patted her head. “What’s wrong?”

The object she had broken was one of the many protective talismans I had sent her. It naturally contained my cells, and when she broke it in two, I’d feel it becomes damaged. This would instantly tell me it was an emergency and she needed my help. That’s why I had left suddenly, she had triggered the emergency signal.

“P-Priscilla told me that you died.” Mara wept. “They said you went into the hills and were eaten by an infernal wolf.”

I instantly understood why she was upset. I had left with Destiny and Shui on the day we parted, and then the pair would have returned and reported me dead. Since returning to town, I had kept my face hidden. I had changed my face when I encountered Grandmaster Bai and otherwise had my hood up to hide my appearance. Probably only Sammy had seen me closely enough to be able to pick me out of a crowd since then.

After three weeks, news of my death must have reached their household. Perhaps, it had reached it sooner and Lady Capala had chosen to suppress it. Yet, employees always overheard things and gossiped no matter how much someone tried to hide the truth, and it seemed to have finally reached Mara’s ears.

“Do you take me for someone who could fall so easily,” I asked, suddenly feeling like teasing her.

Her face turned red. “N-no… brother is really strong… but you left for so long! My heart would never be easy if I didn’t see you for myself!”

She gave me a challenging look with her eyes rimmed with tears. I didn’t know if it was because she chose that moment to call me brother, or if it was how upset she looked, but I couldn’t help but feel a grip on my heart. I even started to regret my actions. Had I been too hasty in leaving before? Having spent so much of my current life in solitude, I hadn’t hesitated to return to such a state the first chance I got.

However, Mara was like a sister to me, and the one thing I feared the most was repeating the mistakes I made in the past with my original sister. Perhaps, that was why I was working to find the people who killed Mara’s parents. If it just came to her father, it was enough that she was able to live the rest of her life safely, but it was Mara who wanted revenge. Thus, I would do what was needed to get revenge for her.

My features softened, and I gently held the back of her head. “Is that the only reason?”

She seemed to relax, pressing her head against my chest as I held her close.

“There is one more.” She mumbled into my chest. “I found a way brother can join the Capala family?”

“Oh?”

Initially, I realized I wasn’t welcome in the home. Since I preferred freedom and didn’t want to take Mara into any dangerous situations, I left her behind. After all, after being swallowed by the Schrodinger’s box, I realized there was still far too little in this world I understood. I wasn’t confident I could keep her safe if she traveled with me, so it only made sense to leave her behind.

However, I hadn’t spent the last month doing nothing. After making a request, listening at the bar, and especially my conversation with Sammy, I had a much better grasp on the things that made this world tick. I was more comfortable standing out a bit more.

“There is a tournament next week.” She explained. “There will be many contestants traveling from everywhere in the Prefect to participate. The top twenty are almost guaranteed an offer to join one of the houses. If you can get one of these spots, the Capala household will have to offer you a chance to enter the house.

“I see…” I had known about the tournament being used to recruit, but I didn’t know that the top twenty were almost guaranteed offers.

“But…” She clinched me harder. “You absolutely can’t get first place.”

I blinked. “Huh? I was planning to aim for the first place though. The first place offers 50,000 kilojoules.”

“Ah, re-really?” She didn’t seem to know that, but she still shook her head. “Even so, you can’t.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

At that moment, the door opened, and a woman stepped in. It was none other than Lady Capala. She had entered without noticing us, but as soon as she lifted her head, she froze.

“O-oh…” She got those words out.