Daniel groused as he slowly drew himself from the bedroll, rubbing at his back and scrunching his face. It was morning, the birds were singing, the wind gently whistled past the trees. And I stood over him with my hands on my hips. I took a deep breath.
“I said, wake up!”
“Alright, alright! I heard you the first time!”
He got to his feet and scowled.
“Can’t an injured man sleep in peace?”
undefined“You were already healed by potions. And both Cless and Sophia have been awake for over an hour. It’s time for us to go!”
“I hear you— stop yelling!”
“You stop first!”
“No… why am I even doing this?”
“Don’t ask me. You’re supposed to be the reasonable one!”
“Yeah, I guess. Wait—“
The Human man widened his eyes, staring me with a dumb look. I grinned and turned around.
“Stop being so surprised and let’s go already.”
“…I just want to sleep man.” (Author’s Note: I may or may not have been projecting through Daniel here. I had been suffering from major jet lag when I wrote this a month ago.)
He muttered under his breath. With that said, we were ready to leave a few minutes after. The other two non-lazy Humans had already packed up most of the camp— they were just as ready to get going as I was.
They wanted to find Gabriel as soon as possible because they felt like they had something to prove. And also because their former company leader was in a life or death battle against a deadly poison. I wanted to fight Gabriel quick too!
But for different reasons.
That is, I wanted to get to the Brilsum Ruins already.
—--
We traversed through the tumulous and undulating landscape of the Motharis Mountain Range. The initially dense foliage slowly lightened as we made our way higher up as a thick blanket of snow took over instead. The trees here were sparse or dead— only the rocks on the ground existed in multitudes. And both jutted out of the ground like broken teeth in the sand, visible only if you squinted and looked hard for it.
This was not one of the boreal regions of even the Human lands; it was only cold here because we were high up. Daniel told me there existed places in the Eastern Kingdoms that got to even cooler temperatures than here. I, personally, already found it very cold. So, I was walking around with [Ignition] activated, even if it drained on my mana.
While my Human companion pointed out how inefficient I was being at first, I couldn’t help but notice how much closer he was walking beside me now. The same went for Sophia and Cless, both of whom had been walking ahead to do their tracking duties, were now patiently waiting for us to meet their pace.
Another day passed, and after an encounter with a group of angry bird-like monsters that couldn’t fly, Cless decided it was time for him to use his Skill.
Defeated [Pengrasa – Lvl. 51]!
Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!
…
Defeated [Pengrasa – Lvl. 54]!
Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!
I frowned and faced Daniel.
“You took my experience! I had him— I mean, it!”
“You were burning them all by yourself, I assumed you needed some help.”
They had been very weak to fire, which I did not expect. My first [Scorching Wave] sent them running back, but the moment I stopped, they came charging at us again. They didn’t seem mindless or wild however, just very angry at us.
“I wonder why they were mad.”
“Perhaps they have a Lair nearby and were getting defensive?”
“Possibly. But even the [Rancor Mites] stopped attacking us once we left.”
Daniel shrugged, uncaring.
“We took care of them, that’s all that matters. They were a danger to any other travellers or adventurers that might pass through.”
“I didn’t even get a level…”
I complained, hunching my back and folding my arms across my chest. The Human man ignored me, instead glancing over at the two other Humans with us. Cless had begun casting his spell, however, it needed some time to take effect.
Sophia stood by his side, nothing but a dagger in her hand. Her bow had been damaged by my Refined Blazing Bolt— so she was trying not to break it. Apparently, it was a good bow.
“But you leveled twice from the [Prima Saeve]. I only leveled once. And even the Silvers didn’t level much either.”
“That’s because I defeated it!”
“Where did you even learn to create that, anyway? I know you’ve been practicing your fire creation Skill a bit, but I didn’t expect you to create something that… strong.”
I grinned and raised my chin haughtily. I opened my mouth— and he cut me off.
“Please answer the question seriously. I heard about how you confused Sophia the other day with big words, trying to sound smart.”
Sighing, he brought a hand up to his temples and began circling his fingers over it.
“Just because you read a few books…”
I replied honestly, but unhappily.
“If you must know, I’ve been practicing. I noticed how Ignavare was able to create a Medium Grade Weapon temporarily— it wouldn’t last like the Spear of Flames did, but it was just as powerful.”
“Right, I was there for that. And you’ve been practicing it?”
“It was what Saffron told me to do. Refine my magic. So, I did.”
“…you make it sound like it’s that simple.”
“And it is!”
I exclaimed and began strumming my fingers through the air. I tugged at the mana threads weaving its way through the world, a smile fixed on my face as I explained.
“Magic is quite simple, actually. It’s something you’ve just got to practicing over and over until you get it right. Remember that Fireball spell I used to burn down the [Cultists] hideout? I did that from practice. If I had a Skill, I’d be able to repeat it perfectly each time. But that defeats the whole purpose of practicing.”
“So, what, you haven’t been using your [Advanced Mana Manipulation] at all?”
“I have.”
I admitted and shied back a little bit. I brought my fingers close together as a slightly nervous expression came across my face.
“Just a little bit.”
He stared at me, judging. I protested.
“I just use it to tell me what I am supposed to do. And get the feel of what it’s supposed to be like when I do it! Then, I repeat the process over and over again until I can get what I want without the General Skill. That’s what Saffron meant when she said my mana control was unrefined. My magic wasn’t as good without [Advanced Mana Manipulation]!”
“So, what about this helped you create that Refined Blazing Bolt?”
I shrugged.
“I simply condensed even more magic into the spell in a way that made it strong without making it unstable. If I hadn’t learned the intricacies of mana manipulation, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. It’s tiresome though. Drains a lot of mana from me and requires a lot of concentration—which was why I needed to borrow Sophia’s bow to do it.”
“And I assume you’ve been doing this as we’ve been sleeping, huh?”
I nodded eagerly.
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