I Will Be Unrivaled With The Skill [Sewing]! They Said It Was A Bad Skill, But With Effort, I will Make It A Hit~ - Chapter 7

Episode 7: Level Up

Seneca thought deeply.

She let go of everything for a moment and simply reflected.

Not about her skills, but about herself.

She felt the hint she sought lay within her.

“What kind of person do I want to be?”
“What kind of adventurer can I become?”

She kept asking herself these questions.

Seneca began by reflecting on her swordsmanship.

As a swordswoman, Seneca was exceptional for her age.
She couldn’t defeat Lucius, but she felt she wouldn’t lose to any other child.

Seneca’s swordsmanship relied on agility and skill.
The interplay of swift movements, controlling distance, sword swings, parries, and other techniques bewildered opponents.
She had been fighting this way since childhood.

Seneca’s father was a greatsword wielder who excelled at controlling the battlefield.
Seneca had seen her father in serious combat a few times, but she never understood why her father was so strong.

When her father struck at monsters, they seemed to freeze, as if accepting their fate.
The creatures didn’t even flinch, remaining rooted in place.

Seneca tried to imitate her father, practicing relentlessly on small animals in the forest.
But it didn’t go well. She didn’t even know where to begin.

When she asked her father for advice, her father gave a wide grin and said.

“Seneca, read your opponent’s breathing. After exhaling fully, all living creatures must inhale. That’s when their focus breaks.”

Seneca vividly remembered how her eyes sparkled as she listened.

“Next, read your opponent’s vision. When they shift their focus from the whole to a part, or from a part back to the whole, step in. That’s when they lose track of distance.”

Seneca didn’t fully understand, but whenever she sparred with her father, the sword would suddenly appear right before her.

She trained desperately, believing that mastering this would make her as strong as her father. But before she could fully learn, her father was gone.

Even though she couldn’t match her father and leaned heavily on agility, Seneca realized she had inherited her father’s style. This gave her confidence.

If Seneca were to become a renowned adventurer in the future, she would likely fight by exploiting the gaps in her opponent’s awareness and cutting them down in a single strike, just like her father.

She reaffirmed this understanding.

However, while this realization was empowering, it didn’t offer a solution to her current predicament. Balancing sewing with swordsmanship remained an elusive challenge.

Next, Seneca thought about her magic.

Seneca possessed an abnormally large amount of magical power.

Her mother, an ice mage, was said to have had a considerable amount as well, but Seneca’s surpassed even hers.

She realized that learning to harness this immense magic might be crucial.

Seneca had asked her mother for lessons and repeatedly tried to master magic.
Even after moving to the orphanage, she continued training to use magic on her own.

As a result, she could now produce a few sparks of fire—though minor, it was an achievement.

Through her training, Seneca developed a rudimentary method of controlling her magic.
Though crude, it was a remarkable ability for someone without a magic-related skill.
Her large reservoir of magic made it easier to sense, aiding her practice.

Seneca wondered if she could use magic to pierce leather.
Her intuition told her that channeling magic through a needle might work.

Once the idea struck, she acted immediately.
Seneca began tirelessly practicing the transfer of magic.

At first, no matter how hard she tried, the magic wouldn’t leave her fingers. But when she visualized drawing all the magic from her body, she managed to transfer a tiny amount—just enough to cover the needle’s surface.

Seneca leapt with joy.

Knowing Kito would discover her progress soon, she confided in her right away.
Kito, too, jumped for joy alongside Seneca.

Kito didn’t want Seneca to overexert herself, but he deeply wished for her to achieve her dreams.

After focusing on magic manipulation, Seneca became noticeably calmer.
Through concentrated effort, she began seeing gradual, albeit small, improvements every day.

Seneca decided, after discussing with Kito and the others, to return to the orphanage.

On the way back from Kito’s house to the orphanage, Seneca reflected on why she felt so at peace.

In the end, she realized it wasn’t that she hated the skill 【Sewing】 itself.
What she had resented was not inheriting her parents’ skills.

Unconsciously, she had hoped that her parents’ legacy would live on in her through their skills.

However, upon deeper reflection, Seneca realized that her father’s swordsmanship had indeed been passed down to her.

And with the magical manipulation techniques her mother had taught her, she began to wonder if she could apply them to improve her 【Sewing】.

Even without possessing their specific skills, Seneca understood that she had inherited the strengths of both her parents.

Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face.

Now, she resolved to focus on making the most of the magical abilities her mother had passed down to her for 【Sewing】.
Once she felt she had progressed, she would refine her father’s swordsmanship next.

With this decision, Seneca took a step forward.

Suddenly, a memory surfaced.

“Hey, Dad, what’s your skill? Is it 【Swordsmanship】 or 【Greatswordsmanship】?”

“Hmm, no, it’s something less grand. But for now, let’s keep it a secret. That way, you’ll be more motivated to train. When you turn ten and get your own skill, I’ll tell you.”

“What? I have to wait until then? Can’t you just tell me sooner?”

“Alright, how about this? If you train hard enough to score a single hit on me, I’ll tell you.”

“Fine! I’ll get that hit in no time!”

This memory was from before Seneca met Lucius, during the days when she would train alone in the forest.

Later, after meeting Lucius, when he asked about her father’s skill, she felt embarrassed that she didn’t know and said it was 【Greatswordsmanship】.
Over time, she repeated this claim to others and forgot the promise entirely.

Standing before the orphanage, Seneca froze.

“If that’s the case, then what was Dad’s skill?”

She felt that there might no longer be anyone in the world who could answer that question.

Seneca pulled herself together and resumed life at the orphanage.

She saw Nord, Pique, and Mitz but only exchanged casual small talk, avoiding conversations about battles.
However, she was aware of their rigorous training efforts.

She didn’t neglect her weekly herb delivery either.
This time, she was tasked with collecting moonflowers, known for alleviating numbness, and managed to bring back an excellent batch.

Yuria praised the high quality, which made Seneca happy.

Moving forward, Seneca would handle requests for rare materials needed to make higher-quality medicines.

Seneca continued her relentless efforts to channel magic into her needle.
Though she managed to transfer magic slightly, about as small as a fingernail’s edge, it wouldn’t reach the needle’s tip.

She began to grow frustrated.

While her progress was steady, she wasn’t sure if this was the right path. She wanted to confirm whether her idea would work, even if it meant forcing a result.

So, she decided to test her technique by sewing through thin leather.
By gripping the needle closer to the tip, she realized she could extend her magic further, but it was still limited to thin leather.

Excitedly, she gave it a try, only to find the needle couldn’t pierce the leather.
No matter how many times she tried, the needle wouldn’t penetrate, and she ended up ruining several needles.

She thought her idea had merit, but perhaps magic alone wasn’t enough to sew leather.

Contemplating other approaches, she decided to give it one final, all-out effort before giving up.

Taking a deep breath, Seneca focused all her senses.
She gathered as much magic as she could into her fingertips, intending to channel every bit into the needle.

At that moment, magic surged through the needle, reaching its very tip. A brilliant flow of magic radiated from it.

“Sharpen! Sharpen!”

In her mind, she envisioned the needle becoming extremely sharp and unbreakable.

She stabbed it into the leather.

Pop!

With a burst, the needle pierced through the leather!

“I did it!!”

She continued, threading the needle through the leather.

The process required immense focus and consumed a great deal of magic, leaving Seneca utterly exhausted.

Still, she wanted to complete one more stitch to truly call it sewing.

Gathering her resolve, she concentrated her magic once more. This time, having succeeded once, the process went smoother.

Determined, she pierced the needle into the leather again.

Pop!

Once again, the needle broke through the leather, and she successfully threaded it.

“I did it!!”

As Seneca cried out in joy, her heart thumped powerfully.
Her mind went blank.

【Level 2 achieved. Skill 【Magic Sewing】 acquired. Magical interference greatly enhanced. Sub-skill 【Magic Needle】 acquired.】

The same voice she’d heard when she first obtained her skill echoed in her mind.

Though puzzled, Seneca couldn’t dwell on it as her body gave out, and she collapsed to the floor with a loud thud.