Chapter 14

After returning from their fishing trip, Meline switched gears and began studying the contents she had copied. Linda would take a look at the book every time she had spare time. Kade couldn't read ancient Heria letters, so he read the contents from Meline's notes.

“So, how's it going?” Kade asked, setting down a warm cup of black tea in front of Meline.

“Thank you.” Meline took a sip. “Well, for one, the application method is very complicated. It lacked the simplicity of modern ways of magic utilization. It's ancient, even.”

“Well, they do call it an ancient book.”

Kade sat down in front of Meline, taking a sip from his own cup. Inside him, he could feel the swirl of emotions inside of her, even though faintly.

Her eyes were locked onto the letters, her mind working hard to make sense of what she read. She wasn't the only one working on this mystery book, though. After her first copy, she made another copy, which wasn't as exhausting nor took as long as the first one. She sent this to her mages, hoping they would be able to find something.

“Wha… none of this makes sense…” she murmured. From the notes Kade read, he, too, found it hard to believe what he was reading.

There were multiple ways one could apply a will, or even a soul, onto an item. Yet, the method described in this book was very different. Some techniques even conflicted with the current ways of magic application.

“If this turned out to be some huge nonsense, then I would be very pissed.”

“Maybe that's why it's in the fiction section?”

“I hope not, oh, she's back.” Meline turned her head toward the door. It clicked open, revealing a tired-looking Linda.

“I'm back.”

“Welcome home, Miss Linda.” Kade got up and went to prepare another cup of tea. Linda set aside her belongings and fell to the couch, heaving a sigh.

“How come you're this sloppy the second you return?” Meline shook her head in disapproval.

“Oh, give me a break. How's it going?”

“I haven't made much progress. It's so difficult.”

“Let me see.”

Linda reached out and grabbed the note Kade was reading. She winced after flipping the first page.

“Did you write this?”

“I simply copied everything I read… well, not everything, but you get the idea.”

“It feels like you're leaving a lot out.”

“You're free to take a look at yourself, you know.” Meline put a bookmark in-between the pages she was reading, then handed the book over.

“Nope, never mind, this is way too complicated.” Linda returned the book after just one glance and lifted both of her hands.

Meline watched her with a smug smile. “See?”

“Yeah, yeah… Still… Anyway, we need to put this on hold for now- Thank you.” Linda accepted the cup of tea and took a sip. “Anyway, we’ll be going nature training next month.”

Kade sat next to Meline, looking at his professor. “Nature training?”

“Yep. It’s a common thing in our university.”

“Would we be fighting in dungeons?” Meline asked. Back when she was young, Meline would be taken into dungeons to train. Fighting monsters that lurk within was a common way to get stronger.

“Yep, there’s a large dungeon network nearby, although that won’t be all you do.”

Seeing her words pique their interest, Linda continued, “Some professions of mages would need to visit the wilds often, which is dangerous. You’ll be taught basic survival in the days leading up to it, so be prepared.”

Many of the students came from large cities and lacked any survival instinct. Some have never even killed a monster before. This would be a first for many.

“It’ll be easy for us,” Meline said with confidence.

“I know.” Linda nodded. “Still, you should be careful.”

“Of course.” Meline nodded.

•••

Kade looked through the storage of his house, looking for his old sword. It had been a while since he last utilized it. Since he couldn't use magic, he needed something to protect himself. Meline gave him a sword and taught him how to use it. He could still remember the impressive moves she showed her, despite the sword not being her preferred weapon.

After moving some boxes belonging to Linda, he finally reached the weapon. It was wrapped in cloth, stored away in a corner.

“How is it?” Meline asked after seeing him return from the storage. He set the weapon down on the table and unwrapped its cloth, revealing a sheathed sword. It hadn’t been in storage for long, although Kade had not expected to use it again so quickly. Meline unsheathed it and examined it. She then strengthened the magic.

“This reminds me of when I first gave it to you. You were excited. Very excited, I tell you.”

Kade's cheeks blushed. “I- I mean… It's a gift from you.”

“Excuses.” Meline laughed. “You're excited to finally get your own weapon, right?”

That was also a factor Kade couldn't deny.

“Do you want to try it out?” Linda asked, appearing from the second floor. It was a Sixthday, and there were no classes at university.

“Sure. Should we go and take a quest?”

While Meline technically hid her identity, her capabilities were undeniable, so she had a high ranking in the guild. The same thing could be said about Linda. They couldn't just take any quests, though. Unlike them, Kade was low-ranked.

He didn't have that much combat capability, and his sword was more of a way to protect himself instead of actually fighting. Little practice would be better than no practice, however.

“Let's head to the guild.”

Located near the northern walls of the city, the Adventurers' Guild occupied the top of a small hill, raising it slightly above the rest of the city. As one of the oldest buildings in the area, it was widely respected and even treated as a historical site. That said, a portion of the building was no longer in use, thanks to the ongoing repairs.

The reception room was previously close to the entrance, but some repairs forced it to be moved further back. People crowded the area underneath a large dome. The dome had paintings from the demon war era, depicting the valiant efforts of the humans in defending their homeland.

Meline looked up at that painting for a moment and sighed before looking at the various quests on display. They were sorted based on their difficulty. Difficult didn't always mean hard to beat, though. Some monsters had thick skin or special magic that protected them. While these monsters weren't deadly, a low-ranked team would take a while to defeat them.

Such monsters are perfect for Kade's group.

“How about we take on the frog?” Meline pointed to one such monster. The Hestorian Green Frog had slimy skin that could heal itself. It wasn't dangerous by any means, but impossible to defeat unless the party taking on the quest had enough firepower.

“Why do you always choose the weird monsters?” Linda asked, the memory of fighting the shark still clear in her mind.

“There's nothing weird about them.”

“I question your sense sometimes. But well, I guess that's our best option.”

The quest wasn't marked, meaning no team had attempted it or was in the middle of completing it. It reduced the risk of someone stealing their reward right under their nose.

Linda called a receptionist, and she marked the quest. After they marked the quest and had the information copied onto her card, the three went on their journey.

•••

Thanks to Meline's teleport, they arrived at their destination in an instant. A wide open plain with trees spread throughout the landscape. Not too far from them, a pack of carriage-sized frogs jumped. Those frogs were an uncommon sight around this region. They tend to live in the more swampy regions in the south.

This pack had been heading further up north, thanks to a rise of predators near their home. They damaged farmland and harmed cattle, thus the request to take them out.

“Their skin would be useful for research material. Try not to damage them,” Linda said.

“Can you even damage them?” Meline asked. Kade shook his head.

“I thought we came here to train?”

“You only have so many seconds to spend in life, might as well multi-task.” Linda prepared her staff. While Meline could channel her magic without a weapon, Linda needed her staff or other sufficiently powerful magic weapons to utilize the more difficult spells.

“Well, we’ll leave one for you to train on.” Meline prepared her spears. The frogs turned their way and attacked using their long tongues. They proved to be no threat to the group, however. Meline cut their tongues, and Linda shot a spell straight into their midst. The spell created a puff of smoke that covered the area. It lowered the frogs’ stats and confused them.

Meline sneaked in, and using her spears, she stabbed the heads of the frogs, destroying their brains. Most of the frogs in the group fell limp, leaving just one in the center, very confused. The frog tried to fight back, but without its tongue, it didn’t have a lot of offensive options.

Its body could still be used as a weapon, though, thanks to its weight and size. It jumped high and attempted to land on Kade, who looked the weakest. Kade jumped out of the way just in time.

“Kade, it’s your turn!” Meline called out. It had been a long while since Kade last fought. He gripped the hilt, trying to remember all the combat knowledge Meline once taught him.

“Here I go!” He ran straight up at the frog. The frog saw him coming and aimed its rear left leg at him. Kade dodged to the side before bringing his blade down.

The sword slid right off, doing no damage at all, but that was expected. The frog jumped high, and Kade dodged it at the last second.

“Come on, Kade! Move faster!”

“Okay!”

Kade moved around and tried to attack the frog from behind, but the frog kept leaping up to the skies. As Meline observed, Linda returned from collecting the samples for her research.

“He never complained, did he?”

“Well, no. Even then, he still has a long way to go.”

“Not everyone needs to be as strong as you, demon lord.”

“You're one to talk.”

The two continued observing Kade as he fought. He was rusty in the beginning. His movements felt slow, his swings weak. Eventually, he began warming up.

The way he fought wasn't comparable to a demon lord or a member of the heroes' party, but for the average person, he was good enough.

“Can’t we get him some kind of magical weapon?” Linda asked. Since magical engineering didn’t need the wielder to utilize magic directly, devices made with that in mind should be able to be used by Kade.

“There’s no effective weapon made with that yet.”

So far, even in demon territory, the most advanced magic weapon could only fire basic spells, hence why no one used it in battle.

A scene flashed in Meline’s mind, a small smile on her lips.

“Meline?”

Meline shook her head. “Nothing.”

She continued giving pointers to Kade, and the two helped him train until the afternoon.