Ep 63. Get A Life, Will You? (3)
“Got your sap?”
“And a coat.”
Patrick replied to Ilias in a muffled voice through his newly acquired scarf and coat, walking down the wide market streets beside the red dragon. He hadly expected himself to go on a shopping spree for winter clothes in the middle of summer, but it was what it was; after all, it ractically winter all-year round in Inosis.
The enforcer spared a brief g the leather sack over his shoulders, bundling a number of bottled ethensia saps within. Easy ingredient was off the list.
‘Time for the tough one. Although…’
When Patriervously looked towards the red dragoeps were as light as ever – which was odd, because her bare legs seemed like they would freeze any minute now. Except they didn’t.
Ilias remained indifferent to the cold. Her only focus was on their destination – she’d looked forward to meeting these supposedly-dangerous-monsters in person.
“Alrighty, time to get that crystal! Where were these golems again?”
“From what I heard, the is in Inosis are usually spotted on ftter areas east of town. They’re pretty big, so they gravitate towards terrains that don’t have any obstacles.”
“Ooh, that’s useful. You know a lot!”
“I mean, I just asked around while I went shopping. Though…out of curiosity, what were you pnning to do if I wasn’t here?”
“Probably fly around until I find one?”
Patrick squinted his eyes at the dragon’s answer.
“…Wait, fly around? The entire mountain, you mean?”
“Yeah! Why?”
“…Nothing. Never mind.”
Patrick himself would probably take weeks to even make a brief s around the entire mountain. When one could zip around the air and ighe cold, not so much.
“Well, anyways…it shouldn’t take that long to get to where they are. Merts were saying that they’re not too far away from the town gates, so we-“
Before Patrick could finish, Ilias abruptly ed her tail around the enforcer’s waist, lifting him off his feet. He ractically dropped into a bridal carry as the red dragon’s wings spread open to take them into the air.
“Why walk when you fly?”
“Because I didn’t WANT to fly! you at least transform bato a dragon or something?!”
“Oh psh, that’s a waste of energy. I carry one person in this form just fine! I used to fly all the time like this with Light!”
“That’s not the poin-“
The enforcer’s defense fell silent as Ilias kicked off the ground, taking into the air again with the mage in tow. A siear streaked down Patrick’s face while the ountain air rushed past him.
‘…I hate it here.’
At least only a few people were there to see him being carried off.
Only a few.
? ? ?
Serenis beed the professor over as she stopped at the middle of the woods. trary to the crow’s expression, she seemed indifferent as usual.
Karas relutly followed as he pushed against the brushes blog his path.
“…Serenis, is this necessary?”
“Knowing the strength of your allies is the first step to every war.”
Or so she heard – a rather long time ago from a particurly war-crazed acquaintance of hers. When Karas hesitantly stood some distance away, she also added:
“You’ve nothing to worry about. I’ll only defend.”
“Wouldn’t that be unfair?”
“…Would you rather I attack, then?”
“…”
Karas sidered himself a vetera came to war. The experiences he’d accumuted in his previous occupation offered vast knowledge in battle, far superior to an average person’s.
Serenis was not an average person.
A few images quickly fshed by Karas’ mind – of Serenis’ duel against the institution headmaster, specifically. When the professor realized what he was suggesting, he quickly shook his head.
“Good point. No.”
The professor briefly looked down onto his hand, gripping it into a fist before loosening it again. Before embarking on this trip, he’d fully expected having to fight something to defend themselves in the forests – but Serenis wasly the oppo he imagio be standing oher side. He’d expected a wild boar or another monster, not a dragonlord.
“But…as your instructor, I do feel obliged to say that I’m quite far from an actual mage when it es to bat. I may be disappointing if you were expeg an orthodox mage like Gio.”
“How kind of you to let your enemy know such things.”
“…”
Instead of a respohe professor briefly bent down, pig up a broken branch from the ground.
It was an unremarkably simple stick, just about the length of his forearm. But as Karas held it upwards, thin mana threads coiled around the branch, yering on top of one another until the branch was reshaped into an eerily glowing shortsword.
“Serenis. From what I recall, you’re familiar with mana reinfort. Yes?”
The dragonlord returned a brief nod back. She’d dispyed such whehrown Gio single-handedly. However, she could clearly see that the on in Karas’ hand wasn’t just a mana-reinforced stick; he’d seemingly reformed its structure altogether.
“…But what you’re doing isn’t reinfort.”
“It is, actually. But it’s certainly not the traditional way to do it.”
As the professor aowledged Serenis’ jecture, he wove his shortsword in the air. Several more strands of mana whisked along its edge ao the ground, yering on top of various stones and leaves.
“Traditional reinfort does not ge an object’s structure; it only fuels them with mana tthen their make. However, the more modernized method is to physically build on an object’s structure to a desired strength and shape. Like…this.”
Karas then proceeded to swing his shortsword high into the air. This time, dozens of mana strands exploded outwards from his hand and coiled around the on again, reshaping it into a monstrous bck hand that reached above Serenis’ head.
Without warning, the looming shadow cwed downwards at the dragoh. Still, Serenis refused to move; only her eyes remained fixed on the oning attack.
Moments before the cw’s tip reached her forehead, an equally giant mass of ice burst forth from the side, smashing into the shadowy limb and knog it into a tree off to the side.
Both spells faded as Karas’ branch returo being the unremarkable stick it was before. However, the professor was already running towards Serenis, this time with a handful of dried leaves.
“Traditional reinfort is a rept of energy to mana; it ot incorporate elements. But in the modern way, it .”
Karas flung the leaves in his hand. Instead of haphazardly dang about in the air, eae began to take different, solid forms, reshaping into bded forms of id fire that shot across the air towards their target.
Serenis deflected the flurry of elemental leaves with a bst of wind, throwing the projectiles off their path. But when the leaves powerlessly fell to the ground in their inal shape, Karas was almost upon the dragonlord with another bran hand, this time being held with both hands.
“Lastly – traditional reinfort and modern reinfort be used in jun.”
The bran his hands was rapidly reshaped into a t greatsword. Karas raised the on high into the air as streaks of mana fshed across his arms and the bde’s surface, strengthening their structures before sshing downwards.
At first, Sereed several metal pilrs to bar the bde’s path. A thunderous noise rang throughout the forest as they cshed.
But the dragonlord narrowed her eyes wheals began to crad shudder. She the backwards as Karas’ on crushed through the iron bars and iy soil, cutting deep into the earth.
Ohe ouro being a simple stick, the professor tossed it aside, shrugging at his unharmed student.
“And that, is how hunters engage in bat.”
Mages could not skip calg and formuting when using spells. Even Gio, despite his expertise as an archmage, could irely skip such procedures.
Oher hand, active hunters faced lethal dangers in the form of monsters as; their lives were often decided within split seds, and because of this, they’d devised ways of using mana without calg. That was reinfort: using mana to fuel their physical bodies, which was readily avaible without having to be calcuted or formuted.
What Karas had just demonstrated was a step further. Instead of using the readily avaible physical body, the professor had used sticks and leaves as mediums; none of whieeded calg, but avaible heless.
Still, Serenis quizzically tilted her head. The real question, was…
“…Aren’t you a mage, Karas?”
“I am. But no man is limited to being only ohing at a time.”
Admittedly, Karas had suffitly demonstrated reinfort’s practicality to her. Serenis had initially po not move a siep from her inal position – she had truly meant to ‘only’ defend. Making her physically avoid an attack was already a remarkable feat.
And it wasn’t just the dragonlord who was aware of this. Karas gave another shrug towards his student.
“And, quite frankly, I didn’t see a point in testing you as a mage. At least this way, you’ve learned something useful in your workshop. Yes?”
Serenis wore a light smile as she nodded back.
“I suppose.”
“Good. Now, if you’d like, I also teach you how-“
Thwack!
A sudden thud interrupted Karas as a twig flew across the air, smag right into his face. He fell to his knees with a pained grown, rubbing the part that had just been hit by the branch.
“ARE YOU TWO FIGHTING?!”
Light emerged from the brushes to approach Karas following the high-pitched scream, holding a basket of limen leaves in one hand. Her other hand was already holding onto another branch she’d picked up on the way here, though it was yet to be thrown. For now.
Karas quickly raised his hands defensively, shaking his head.
“No no, you misuand, Light. We’re not fighting.”
“Then what was all that noise? I swear I heard something break and explode.”
The half girl gnced around the area. Clear signs of destru were evident in numerous pces – especially the ground before Karas, which had a huge cut running across.
“Don’t lie, professor! I mean, just look at the pce!”
“I was…teag magic to Serenis.”
“Wh- but not me?! That’s even worse!”
Karas darted his gaze towards the dragonlord for help. Unfortunately, the only help he got was a shrug.
The professor slowly turned back to face his angry student. If he told Light the actual reason behind their little sparring, then he’d have to tell her their whole venture about challenging the deity of death – which was NOT going to happen on his watch.
Karas practically sighed out his answer.
“…You’re right. We were actually fighting.”
