Ep 64. Get A Life, Will You? (4)

  Hunting is with Ilias was teag Patrick lots of things.

  For starters, he’d realized that he fortably cast Sno; it wasn’t as apparent before, but the growth of his mana reserve was extremely noticeable in bat. Though he would’ve struggled to handle even one golem on his own before, the enforow found himself well and fier hunting three.

  The sed thing he was learning today was that, apparently, ice catch fire – which didn’t make all that much sense, but eh, what did he know.

  Patrick watched as another k of the golem’s torn ice armor crashed into the frozen ground, soon dissipating into bits of mana. Bits of snow pelted at his face, dreng the mage in water.

  ‘…Right. THIS is what actual dragons are like.’

  When Raizel and Ilias had fought every single day back at their lodge, Patrick had thought them to be oddities for pung and breaking things. Serenis, who always seemed calm and collected, came across as a typical dragon to him.

  However, atrick hadn’t fully perceived was that Serenis, despite her identity, was currently human; she possessed her former heart, but not the rest of her former body. Naturally, the dragonlord’s physical prowess wasn’t anything remarkable.

  Simply put, Raizel and Ilias were normal. Serenis was the weird one who always relied on magic.

  Patriarrowed his gaze once more. In the distance, an i youngling was seemingly having the best time of her life.

  Ilias was attached to a golem’s arm, her ughter eg throughout the snowy field. She plunged her bzing hand into the monster’s chest, melting through the frozen armor with a violent sizzling noise.

  The golem groaned, stumbli and right in pain while trying to tear off the tiny dragon with its other arm.

  In all fairness, Ilias was barely the tenth of the golem’s size in her human form: it seemed all too easy of a task to tear off the tiny youngling from its body. But instead, the golem’s arm would never make it to Ilias.

  Noting the t arm behind her, Ilias swuail to ly break off the limb reag for her. A massive, arm-shaped block of ice itched across the sky; hopefully, it’d dissipate before crashing down unto a poor tree.

  Ilias let out another pyful ughter as she tio ‘hunt’ the golem. Though, Patrick could swear she was t it on purpose.

  ‘It’s almost like watg a cat pying with mice…except the sizes are reversed.’

  Soon, the dragon climbed the golem to its shoulder, poking her finger into its head. The monster began to panic as molten hollows formed on the side of its frozen helm from the dragon’s heated fiip.

  Unfortunately, predators rarely cared for their prey’s panic.

  Finally driven to its wit’s end, the golem pulled back its head and smmed it into its own shoulder, breaking off its remaining arm iirety – shoulder and dragon and all.

  As soon as Ilias was off, the armless golem immediately turned and began to flee.

  The red dragon nded onto the snow beside Patrick, brushing the bits of snow that had spshed onto her clothes.

  “Wow, he’s smart! Even knows how to run away.”

  “…Ilias, I don’t think you realize how terrifying it is to have a dragon attag you.”

  “But Raizel attacks me all the time though. Violently, too.”

  “You know what? Never mind. Look! It’s getting away!”

  “ht!”

  Ilias pulled back her right arm, her fingers curling into a cw-like shape. Three streaks of fire sparked into bzing spears above the red dragon, readying themselves to be thrown.

  When she swung her arm in a throwing motion, the fming spears uhemselves straight across the air – towards their fleeing target.

  The golem never made it far, given its usual slowness and the snowy terrain. The bzing spears ly struck its back, skewering the monster pletely before exploding from within to reduce the golem to smithereens.

  Its hulking figure crumbled apart, soon dissipating into faded mana. Only bits of white crystals were left in the explosion’s wake.

  Ilias excitedly ran over and picked up her prize. She momentarily admired the fke-like crystals before waving them towards Patrick.

  “Got two more! This is fun!”

  “…Yeah. Sure was.”

  Patrick made an audible gulp as he swore o cross Ilias in his life. Ever.

  ? ? ?

  Light was skipping forward in lighterides back towards the . Serenis and Karas followed behind her, with Serenis occasionally sparing worried goward the professor.

  Karas was busily rubbing the feathers on his head, shriveled from all the pulling and poking that had happened only moments ago. It was a sorry sight, to say the least.

  “You could’ve defended yourself, Karas.”

  “…Unfortunately, that only results in worse sequences iure.”

  “Worse sequences?”

  “A cease in my precious supply of coffee beans. pared to that, a scratch or two is nothing.”

  “…”

  Serenis then stared at Light, who seemed to have been somehow energized after lecturing (or, t) her professor about why he shouldn’t use magi his students. She’d poked and pulled on his feathers tless times in the process – seemingly out of fun – though the half girl had insisted it was to reprimand him.

  Hopefully, it was in good spirit. Hopefully.

  After awkwardly clearihroat, Serenis ged the subject at hand.

  “So, Karas. Were you a hunter before? You seemed rather aced.”

  “Not…quite. I learhe practice from…”

  Silence befell as the professor trailed off. His eyes drifted towards the half girl up ahead, gazing inture for quite some time before he answered Serenis.

  “…An old acquaintance.”

  “…? Does that acquaintance happen to be Light?”

  “Haha, no, not at all. She’s since passed away.”

  Serenis opened her mouth to inquire further, but soon closed it back. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything with the somber look drawing over Karas. They walked the rest of the way in silence, with Serenis refleg on the professor’s drive for reination research.

  Whehree finally made their way back, Light swung the door open with a hearty greeting. She quickly sed the interior to find Otoka stirring the cauldron’s tents once more.

  “We’re back! Mr. Lairaff, I got your leaves!”

  “Hmm? Ah…fiiming.”

  The archmage momentarily stopped his stirring, being Light over to his side.

  “My back was just starting to hurt. You take the dle again then.”

  “Bye!”

  An immediate response came from Light, as following suit. She dropped the basket in hand and took a few steps back, smming the door shut behind her. Serenis and Karas awkwardly remaianding, looking towards the closed entrance.

  ‘…Well, that was quick.’

  Slowly, the professor likewise reached for the knob – before he’d get dragged back to work too. However, vines sprouting from the floor ed around his a him towards the cauldron, with Otoka giving a rather menag gre towards the crow.

  “…She leave, but you o stay. I’ll he fire again soon.”

  “…Of course. I wasn’t thinking about leaving. At all.”

  The dragonlord watched the professor being dragged back to work, w if it’d be better for her to repce him. However, the st time she’d offered, the archmage had adamantly refused – mostly because Aldrid had looked at the old man with a I-dare-you-to-make-her-wre when it happened.

  This time, Aldrid’s eyes were pressuring for a pletely different reason. The deity was wearing a sullen expression as she weakly greeted the dragonlord’s return, being her over.

  “Lord Serenis, could I speak to you for a moment? In private.”

  “…? Of course.”

  After exiting through the backdoor to gain suffit distance from the others, the deity apologetically lowered her head.

  “Sorry. There might be a problem.”

  “Has something gone wrong in the craft?”

  “No, that’s proceeding apace – making the ward won’t be a problem. It’s just…I haven’t been able to locate Master Felicir at all.”

  Serenis’ expression harde the news.

  “You sounded rather certain that you’d be able to find him before.”

  “I did. I ormally find him quite easily. Wherever he goes, deaths tend to occur through rather…unnatural means. If I but focus, I sense such loss of life quite easily. But retly…nothing like that has happened.”

  “…”

  The deity of life had been the only lead she had in log this ‘Felicir’; even Iris hadn’t sounded like she knew where her brother was. If Aldrid couldn’t locate Felicir, then there basically wasn’t any lead as to where their target may be.

  However, Serenis couldn’t afford to let her disappoi show. Not when Aldrid had been of substantial help already.

  “Raise your head. It’s nothing to apologize for.”

  “But…I promised I’d help you, and…”

  “You’ve beey of help already, child. Ohe ward is pleted, I simply look for him myself.”

  When Aldrid raised her head as told, she could see a reassuring smile on the dragonlord’s lips – whily made her feel sorrier for the failure.

  “I ot say for certain, but it may be that he’s with the other deities. There really isn’t much else that would occupy him...”

  “Is it not a good thing if he’s too occupied to kill lives as he pleases?”

  “Well…you see, whehers call for Master Felicir’s prese’s usually to sult him about strange individuals – ohat they deem a threat to themselves, necessary for removal. Like…”

  Aldrid audibly gulped as her eyes filled with worry. She hoped that it wouldn’t be the case, and she evehat Felicir had no way of knowing about Serenis’ retur – but somehow, she couldn’t shake off the ill feeling that the deity of death was already alert and aware.

  “…You.”