Fake Survivor 3

Chapter 3

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Edited by: Kanaa-senpai

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 It was when I decided to prioritize making armor over creating a usable weapon, even if it meant putting off making something that might not be reliable.

 Of course, I wasn’t thinking of heavy metal armor, but rather something light like what’s used in sports. But when I tried making something that would fit my arm… a black something covered my right arm.

 The black something that covered my right arm in an instant didn’t feel heavy, and even though I could feel it with my sense of touch, it didn’t hurt when I scratched it. It was a mysterious sensation.

 However, it seemed that the black thing continued to consume magic power even after it was created, and when I scratched it, the amount of magic power consumed increased temporarily.

 I suppose magic power is needed to maintain its shape.

 It’s painful to think that the magic power consumption will increase, but I thought, “I can use it,” and tried to cover my entire body with it… but it only spread up to my right hand.

 Is it due to a lack of magic power?

 I’d like to cover my entire body someday, but it’s unclear whether my total magic power will increase.

 Well, I’ve heard that there are few magician, but if there are people who are said to be that powerful, the possibility of increasing my magic power is high.

 Since I made this armor with magic power, I’ll call it “Magic Armor (fake)” for now… hmm, “fake”?

 Just then, I realized something, and I jolted slightly, as if a horse had stepped on a stone.

 Clunk!

 Thud!

 ”Ah!”

 I lost my balance, accidentally creating a huge noise when my right hand, covered in black armor, hit the floor. It created a loud nouse and I had to come up with an excuse for the villagers if they come here again.

 Still, did my strength increase or something? But this is…

 ”Gugigi…”

 The goblin in front of me is looking at me with a doubtful expression, as if wondering how I’m managing to hold its stick branch with one hand….

 ”You’re saying a kid like me can block this with one arm? I think it’s unbelievable too, but… somehow, I can move as I think, and I can even fix it in place. It has nothing to do with physical strength, okay?”

 Bung!

 ”Gee!?”

 Rustle, rustle!

 As I said that, I swung my right arm and sent the branch flying out of the goblin’s hands and into the grass.

 And then, I expanded the range of my Magic Armor to my right hand, using the momentum from my swinging arm to land a punch without feeling any inertia.

 Boom!

 ”Ugh! Wh-what?!”

 After feeling the pain in my shoulder, I was surprised by the unexpected result.

 The goblin’s face, along with its head, flew off after receiving my punch.

 I did punch it with all my might, so I guess it was bound to happen…

 Thud!

 The goblin lost its head and collapsed to the ground once again.

 At the same time, my magic power ran out, and my Magic Armor disappeared.

 It seems that the Magic Armor I created using “Imitation” is different, and I can’t recover the magic power used to make it.

 That means… the magic power consumed when I put on the Magic Armor isn’t a material cost, but a construction cost.

 ”Ugh…”

 I feel a headache and nausea, is this what happens when my magic power runs out?

 It’s like I got motion sickness or something… but I guess it’s because I suddenly used up a lot of magic power.

 ”Uh… yeah, that’s right.”

 I’ll quickly turn the trap back into magic power and recover them.

 Then, my headache and nausea started to feel a lot better.

 ”Whoa, this is tough both magically and physically. I thought my shoulders were gonna come off…”

 I’ve only moved a short distance, so I guess I got off easy.

 It seems like the Magic Armor ignores physical laws, and it doesn’t move according to my physical strength.

 The signal from my brain isn’t transmitted through my nerves, it’s like it’s being received directly.

 But the amount of magical energy consumed changes depending on how fast or strong I move.

 I used up all my magical energy in that attack that defeated the goblin, and it made me feel terrible.

 If I had this much power, I could’ve created a sword or spear with “Imitation”, but the parts not covered by the Magic Armor are still just my 5-year-old body.

 If I flail around with the Magic Armor, I’ll end up seriously hurting myself somewhere.

 In this situation, I want to avoid getting hurt and hindering my movements as much as possible.

 Well, I learned how to control my strength a bit in this battle, so maybe I can use a small weapon next time.

 The reason I could withstand the goblin’s attack is…I don’t really get it.

 When I try to move from a fixed position, I consume more magical energy to maintain that position.

 In that sense, it’s like the Magic Armor is canceling out the damage I’m supposed to take with magical energy.

 Both of them resist force and maintain their state, so….

 With the ability to move to any position I want, I can even float in mid-air, so I might be able to escape from strong enemies by flying away.

 Of course, since my own weight is a burden, my magical energy consumption will increase dramatically.

 If I can maintain my magical powers, it’s not like escaping from this forest is going to be that difficult.

 But, if I immediately head back to the village, there’s a possibility that my survival will be reported to my family.

 ”…”

 I took a look around.

 As expected, all I saw were trees and plants, and I noticed the goblin lying on the ground.

 I’m sure it has a magic stone around its chest.

 It’s a lump of magical energy, something that can be used in magic tools to generate power, and I’ve seen villagers collecting them before.

 A lump of magical energy… I wonder if I can recover it like the one I made with “Imitation”?

 If it’s possible, I won’t have to worry about food, and I can even defeat monsters. And if I can collect magical energy from the magic stone, I can use Magic Armor without hesitation.

 ”…Let’s give it a try.”

 I created a survival knife with “Imitation” and put on Magic Armor on my right hand, then quickly cut open the goblin’s chest and extracted the magic stone.

 It’s about the size of a marble?

 I think the odor-removing beads I used in my previous life were around this size.

 The fact that it’s black is good, but it’s a beautiful sphere and that’s a bit of a concern… but for now, I’ll prioritize my original goal.

 And indeed, the results of the experiment came out quickly.

 Whoosh

 ”Ah.”

 The magic stone can be absorbed as magical energy, and my powers have recovered to about half of what I originally had.

 Good, I won’t have to worry about food now.

 As long as I can find a safe place to rest, that’s all I need…

 For now, I’ll leave this place.

 I won’t bother burying the goblin’s corpse… I’ll just move it a bit and leave it like that.

 Just in case the villagers who brought me here come back, if they don’t find the corpse, they’ll think I just moved to a different location, and they won’t expand their search area.

 I thought to myself, and once again, I equipped my right hand with Magic Armor and moved the goblin’s corpse. Then, I headed deeper into the forest…

* * *

 Bang!

 ”Gi…”

 ”Fuuh.”

 I confirmed that there were no other enemies around, and I recovered the hand axe as magical energy. I then created a knife to collect the magic stones from the Magic Armor on my right hand.

 This was my third battle against monsters.

 I was lucky that they were all goblins, but it was a bit of a hassle that they came in groups.

 However, for some reason, I was able to detect the goblins’ approach early on, and I was able to set up a trap and strike their heads with an axe.

 This time, there were 3 of them… but if there were any more, it would be difficult to set up traps in the limited space.

 It was possible to expand the range, but the trees would get in the way, and while I was dealing with one, the others would escape and attack me.

 I thought to myself that I needed to come up with a different method, and I recovered the trap and magic stones, and proceeded to collect them.

 Including the traps and hand axe, I was able to recover about 90% of my magical energy… but I wonder if I could absorb just one more magic stone?

 It’s a vague feeling, but it seems like I don’t naturally recover much magical energy. In fact, it doesn’t recover at all.

 That’s why I could only bring minimal food during the carriage ride, and my magical energy was almost depleted during the first battle.

 So, I want to keep my magical energy full as much as possible.

 Ssh…

 ”Hm?”

 I was able to absorb the magical energy without any problems, but it felt like my capacity was overflowing.

 I didn’t feel any headaches or nausea like I did when I was exhausted, and there were no abnormalities in my body, so… I tried absorbing the remaining magic stones, and I was able to do so without any problems.

 Hmm.

 It’s not a problem even if I exceed the capacity of magical power, because I can just absorb the excess magical power if I need more than the capacity.

 I wonder if all magicians are like that, but anyway, it’s okay because I can just absorb the magic stones.

 So, I absorbed all the magic stones I collected.

 Now, let’s get back to searching for a place to live.

 Since I’m alone, I’ll definitely die if I don’t get a good night’s sleep safely.

 It would be great if I could find a cave like one carved out of rock… but I can just block the entrance with something and make a ventilation hole, and it’ll be fine.

 If I make something with “Imitation”, I can easily get rid of it, and it won’t be a problem for entering and exiting.

 But for now, I haven’t found a perfect spot yet.

 Worst-case scenario, I might have to make a safe place to sleep using “Imitation”… as long as I have enough magical power.

 Thinking that, I continued through the forest… and saw a tall rocky mountain a little ways ahead, between the trees.

 The villagers who abandoned me went south, so I’m heading in the opposite direction, north.

 The mountain sticks out of the forest in a long, thin shape, and the tip is broken off like a bent needle.

 Hmm… the terrain at the top of the mountain might be usable.

* * *

 After 2 more battles, I finally reached the rocky mountain I was aiming for.

 It looks about 30 meters (� 98 feet) tall… but it’s thinner than I thought, and it looks impossible to climb normally.

 Since I don’t see any signs of the mountain collapsing around me, I think it might be usable as a place to live, depending on the terrain at the top. So, I cover myself with Magic Armor and float up to investigate.

 I’m careful in case there are any monsters, holding my breath and hiding my body as I peek at the top of the mountain.

 Luckily, there aren’t any monsters, not even any normal animals, so I climb up to the top and release the Magic Armor.

 It was a place with a diameter of about 20m (� 66ft), slightly tilted, but since there was no trash or anything, it seemed like not even birds came here.

 If I could just level the ground by putting something under the board, and set up a tent on top of it, that would be good.

 As for fixing it in place… using stakes on rocky ground is difficult, and it might even trigger a landslide.

 So, if I could secure the tent with ropes and heavy weights that can withstand strong winds… yeah, I can live here.

 But, I need magic to prepare all sorts of things.

 I descended to the ground and started to explore the surroundings.

 ”…Looks like something’s over there. Is this body’s intuition good or what? Whatever, I’ll take magic stones from monsters that look like they can be defeated.”

 And so, I began to move forward to survive in this world.

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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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