As their journey progressed, the three travelers continued to encounter an increasing volume of demonic entities the closer they drew to the village. Every skirmish ended in the same manner.
The demons perished from the encounter, and Geehrt successfully copied their specialized spells and intrinsic magic with a single glance.
In these battles, Geehrt developed a habit of utilizing the very spells he had stolen from his enemies against them.
This poetic irony often left the demons wearing expressions of sheer bafflement in their final moments, as they could not comprehend how a human boy could instantly master the arts they had spent centuries perfecting.
Ever since Geehrt had been transported to the World of Frieren, he found himself undergoing a fundamental shift in his mentality. He was shedding his past perspective for this new, colder one.
Perhaps this change was due to the rigorous lessons Wehrlos had instilled in his mind over the years of training, combined with Kanone's strict teachings.
Alternatively, perhaps the knowledge that demons lacked true compassion or feelings was the source of his growing indifference.
Whenever Geehrt extinguished a demon's life, he did not view it as ending the existence of a living being.
To him, they were merely personified mana devoid of humanity. It was the same with monsters, for he saw them only as direct manifestations of corrupted mana that plagued this world.
'I wonder how I will react to my first kill of a human in this world. Hopefully, that day does not come soon,' Geehrt thought to himself.
He stood silently, gripping the throat of a demon that was slowly evaporating within his hands.
The creature was already dead. Kanone and Frase watched from a short distance, both wearing looks of pride regarding the way Geehrt handled his enemies.
Ever since their first real fight, Geehrt no longer played with his opponents, though he did allow the demons to fire the first shot of magic against him.
This was a tactical choice that allowed him to analyze their techniques and copy them before delivering the killing blow.
"How many days remain before we reach our destination, Grandmother?" Geehrt asked Frase.
She was walking near him with Kanone flanking her side. Both women still wore calm and collected looks on their faces, as neither of them harbored even a sliver of doubt that Geehrt would be defeated.
"We will arrive tomorrow. The demons are getting more and more concentrated in this part of the region, and we should expect a lot more resistance when we arrive," Kanone answered.
Since she was the one directly responsible for the logistics of their travel, she knew the specifics better than anyone else.
Geehrt just nodded, and he thought for a moment before turning back towards his grandmother.
"What is the magic that you managed to copy this time?" Frase asked as she looked at her grandson. She knew his spell list was growing larger with every demon they encountered.
After the fight against the Briar Magic user some time ago, Geehrt was able to copy sleep magic.
The demon had tried to use it against the group, but was killed when Geehrt beheaded it after it fell asleep from Geehrt using its very own magic against it.
Furthermore, Geehrt had also obtained light arrows and a volatile explosion spell. The explosion magic was beneficial, as it would turn an object into a bomb that activated upon a single touch from the demon.
Once the user touched the victim, it could be activated remotely or whenever the caster wanted, just as long as the user was still felt within the range of mana detection.
Now, regarding the one he had just killed, he was able to copy a spell that would allow him to conjure physical constructs made out of pure mana.
The reason he did not use it against the demon immediately was that he wanted to test how strong its defense was compared to the shield spell he had been using.
During that test, Geehrt had fired a thousand arrows per second for more than ten minutes straight.
The relentless barrage eventually broke the defense and killed the demon, who died in shock that Geehrt was able to maintain such a high output for that long.
Geehrt noticed something interesting during the assault, as the demon did not move despite being fired upon.
It seemed the sheer pressure of the attack had pinned the creature in place.
"This is the magic that I have copied today," Geehrt said to Frase.
He directly used the spell, his mind completely envisioning the Susanoo ability of the Mangekyo Sharingan. The mana construct began to take shape, transforming into a dark blue entity that hovered around him.
Currently, it was just the skeletal ribcage and spine. Geehrt immediately felt the drain of the spell.
It made a significant dent in his entire mana reserves, despite his supply constantly growing from his automatic mana absorption from nature and from the demons he had been killing.
Geehrt also realized the weakness of the spell immediately. He was not able to move his own body effectively while the heavy spell was activated around him.
To counter this, Geehrt envisioned the spell creating four large arms. As it continued to drain his mana, Geehrt commanded the extra two arms to lower themselves and function as legs.
He made the arms move with his mind, and the construct began to walk, carrying him along with it.
'Not a very practical spell. It seems to be mainly designed for demon use, as they have a larger natural mana pool than humans.
If not for my Six Eyes optimizing the usage, this would directly drain my mana reserves dry. It requires constant and perfect control, or else it would waste a massive amount of mana while constructing the entire figure.' Geehrt thought as he looked at the pseudo-Susanoo he had created based on the anime Naruto.
'I do not think I see any reasons for using this in a duel unless I am fighting against an army,' Geehrt added to his thoughts.
Kanone and Frase looked up at the skeletal mana figure that had enveloped Geehrt. They could feel the terrifying density of mana radiating from the skeletal figure.
Frase believed that Geehrt's mana capacity was already much greater than hers, simply judging by his ability to maintain this spell.
"Geehrt, let us go," Frase called out to her grandson.
He deactivated the figure, and the skeletal construct began to break down. It began to dissipate rapidly, and much like what happens when a monster dies, the construct returned into mana particles that faded into the air.
Geehrt returned to the carriage that they had been utilizing for the past three days. He rested, for he knew that by the next day, they would likely be fighting against an entire army of demons.