Chapter 2: Isolation

It had been two months since Yuuki reincarnated as Yuu. In terms of his life, he wasn't sure if it was harsher, just as harsh, or less harsh then before. But he had learned a number of things.

First off, he didn't think he was growing right. Likely because he was malnourished for six years, he was shorter then what he should be at this age. When he finally looked at his reflection, he realized he looked closer to four then six.

Secondly, he seemed to possess great magical ability. He probably had no hope as a warrior due to his stunted development, but he had great hopes as a mage. So that was good.

Third, the power that protects him resides within his shadow. It can emerge from any shadow he projects. However, it does not attack any and all living things. So far, it has only attacked creatures that attack him, and creatures that try to take something from him. Although, if his life is counted as his as well, then that means it just attacks anyone who tries to take what is his. If an animal goes near him without the intention to take something from him, it will not be attacked by his shadow.

Furthermore, if he willingly gives it something of his own volition, the shadow wont attack as well. He tested that by gathering some seeds and feeding birds. Thanks to this, he now knows the power does not have a mind of its own, its not sentient, but an automatic defense. Given the boy's lack of empathy, and paranoia towards others, it might as well be the perfect power for him.

That said, it was not entirely perfect. One stronger looking wolf...or maybe a monster that looked like a wolf, was able to dodge the first few attacks from the shadow. It was the toughest creature he faced so far, but eventually with some attacks from Yuu, it went down.

Either way, he was now building his base of operations. He was nice and lucky for a change, finding a natural sulfuric spring to make a hot springs bath. He decided to leave it as an outdoor bath, and built a wonderfully sturdy home made of stone. At the moment, it was built into the mountain, with the hot springs just a bit away. There was no one else living around here, so it was fine to simply bathe whenever he wanted. Of course, he couldn't allow his base to be so easily entered, so the entrance was built into the middle of a mountain cliff. One had to climb trees, rocks, or use magic to reach it, unless they could fly naturally. He noticed that in this world, there was a lot less flat land. The forest he was in was filled with small valleys, cliffs, mountains. It made it easier to hide for sure, and more maze like, but in exchange, it also made ambushes far more likely to occur. There was also a lot of creatures that seemed capable of using magic, or were tougher then they appeared.

It was a very dangerous world. But among all the creatures, one of the most annoying and stubborn ones, as well as the weaker ones, were Goblins.

Because of that, he had tried to learn to fight with weapons like spears that he made, but it all ended horribly. He could do okay with a stone dagger he fashioned, but his magic was far more suitable.

Inside his home, he had built some things. His bed, or bedding really, was some especially soft leaves he found from a tree. They were unusually dense, and almost like pillows. As for clothes, at the moment he had the ones he was wearing, however he was at the age where he would grow fast. He would need new clothes soon, or better yet, make his own. Perhaps he could use the wolf pelts or something...

He had used Earth Magic to shape some wood into furniture, giving him a dining room table and chairs. After some trial and error from finding sand, he was finally able to create a mirror and a very thick window. The mirror was a bit tricky due to some missing ingredients, but using magic, he eventually got it to work. As for the window, it had to be thick. Birds kept flying into it, which was bad in its own right, but then a monster bird came by and he was worried it might break through, so now it was dense enough for the birds to understand not to fly into it, while still being clear. And it was unbreakable by any monster birds, especially with the durability enchantment on it.

As for that durability enchantment, he had learned that while testing out various magics and experimenting how to use magic. It seemed he had no real restrictions, though he found water and ice magic the easiest while fire magic was the hardest.

He also tried building a skeeball contraption, which worked out rather well. In addition, he also tried making a pool table, but that was more of a two person thing, so while he had one, it didn't get used much. That was when he realized something.

"...no internet and no books...i've spent all this time working on my home and my bath, I have no hobbies".

Yes, his mind was restless.

"Well, I guess I could try and use my magic to have fun. Hmmm...I could try summoning magic, but I would need to make sure there was a way to assure my absolute dominance over its will so that it could never betray me" he blurted out, not trusting even things he summoned, or had yet to summon.

He could try making a map of the area...that involved exploring, and that could be fun.

Or maybe he could fight magical beasts?

In his old world, he would just hole up in his room and read books, and hide in the library and read books, or use the computers, and sometimes if his dad was having a bad week, he would even sleep in the library...

It was depressing, so he decided to focus on something else.

"Huh!" he bolted up, as he felt something on his mana radar. He had it up at all times, to alert him if anything unusual or powerful entered a half kilometer radius of his house. He immediately focused in on the beings moving towards his place, to confirm their identities.

And surely enough, they were humans. Four of them. He grit his teeth, and ran out the front door. He had to know, did they know who he was? Where he was? He moved to a warmer area, although it took him five days and a bit of magic. And yet, had they still followed him. Or at least, that was what he assumed. In truth he had no way of knowing if they were here looking for him, or something else.

He jumped from branch to branch, reinforcing his body with mana and using the wind to boost him forward. He was able to make good progress, moving at about 20 kmph. Eventually, he stopped at a branch, standing on a high tree from above.

"Man, do you seriously think the rumors are true? About secret trade routes through this area?"

"My cousin heard it from a reliable trader, though he did get the guy drunk first. So its gotta be true".

"So we will stick by the area, and rob anyone we see. And before we kill them, we have fun with them first".

"Yeah yeah!"

Yuu had heard enough. He was wrong, they were not here for him, but they were bandits, and clearly rapists and murderers. This meant it was morally acceptable to kill them and loot their corpses.

He snapped his fingers and created a large ice lance, and then with his other hand he created another ice lance. He shot the two ice lances at once, and pierced through both of the ones in the back. One of the bandits heard the noise and looked back, while the other assumed it was combat and ran to cover. The one who looked back reacted too late, as a third ice lance came and pierced him.

"Who goes there! We are members of the Raging Bulls, and by messing with us, you become enemies of our whole group!"

"I don't care" Yuu said, as he shot an ice lance into his back. Yuu didn't even feel anything, killing them. Of course, perhaps it was because he knew if given the change they would kill him. Or worse.

"A...brat?" he said, clinging for life.

"Weird, I thought I pierced your heart..." Yuu said, and then he checked. The man was using mana to keep his body alive and pumping blood through it. However, he soon was unable to continue and passed out, dying afterwards.

He then, without reserve, stripped the bandits of the clothes he had not totally wrecked. The two he killed first went from right above, piercing through the neck and exiting their lower bodies. So was the third guy. So the man he stabbed in the back had the only usable pants. Of course, they were too big, but he didn't know how to turn pelts into clothes yet. And he was worried his clothes might not be big enough. He could use magic to rework the threads and make it smaller, but with this, he had more pants material, and three extra shirts materials. He also took the shoes just in case, as well as their provisions, money bags, and even underwear. He took everything until they were totally bare, and then left them there.

"It seems like I will need to be more careful" he said, after taking out four bandits with one attack each. He could have used fireball and burned them all, but he wanted that material. They also had a map, so that was helpful too. All in all, a good harvest from scum like them. He did wonder about those trade routes though, but no one had come through this area yet till them. And if they saw signs of scavenging around those dead bodies, maybe they would think beasts or monsters did it. That would be the most ideal.

Regardless, he had no intention of letting any bandit get the better of him. He would be alone as long as he needed to be. He didn't need anyone...

And yet he was unaware of the chaos that was heading his way.