Chapter 38:

“Five thousand” Cort offered back as a counter.

“Three” Phil’s father retorted.

‘This is why I hate merchants,’ Cort thought, sighing.

Several hours later he left the store with conflicted emotions. ‘Did I just get ripped off?’

Technically he succeeded in getting what he wanted, it would arrive after a couple of days, but still, he felt cheated.

He wondered if his weakness for merchants stemmed back from his days in Root where he was restricted from doing any transactions. His one and only job back then was simply to complete his mission.

‘I should pick up some books regarding trading,’ He thought mildly as he headed towards the Red Foot gang’s headquarters.

‘I wonder what Rine’s up to.’

…………………………………………

“{Fireball}!” Rine’s now desperate voice sounded as pushed another wolf away. Not letting this opportunity pass, Calvin dashed after it and ended its life with a well-placed attack. Their coordination was improving by the second, and Calvin was growing better at hunting, but that meant nothing in the face of their foes’ greater numbers.

“{Windblade}! What do we do?” Amelia said frantically as she arrived by the two’s side.

Surrounding the three were 6 wolves, each more vicious than the last.

One wolf alone was not much of a challenge, but the difficulty increased with each joining member. This was mostly due to the fact that they had stellar teamwork abilities, a fact made abundantly more clearer to the trio with each passing moment.

“Agh!” Calvin grunted as he bashed a wolf’s face away.

Intending to follow through with his attack, he chased after it but before he could get too far, another wolf attacked him from behind.

The two struggled for control as the wolf kept attempting to bite him.

So preoccupied was he that he failed to notice the other wolf sneaking upon him.

Seeing this perilous scene Rine shot off another spell, foiling the attack while simultaneously warning Calvin.

Adrenaline now coursing through his veins from the sense of danger, Calvin clasped his sword and bashed the wolf with its hilt out of desperation. Finally, the two were separated.

Calvin now remained on his knees panting, with Rine and Amelia standing guard. Oddly, the wolves made no other advances and merely kept encircling them.

“What are they doing?” Amelia asked.

“They probably want to tire us out; they’d receive less damage that way,” Calvin replied between breaths.

Rine furrowed his brows. As if coming to a conclusion, he said “You two leave, I’ll distract them.”

He stepped forward, shielding the two.

“R-rine…”

“Don’t be a dumbass,” Calvin said as he struggled to stand. “It’s my fault we’re in this situation, so I’ll be the one to get us out of it. Amelia, go!”

Frantically shaking her head, she replied: “No, I’m staying too.”

Despite the situation, Rine couldn’t help but recall the last time this happened.

He smiled faintly.

“What are you smiling about? Got a plan?” Amelia said sharply.

“Nope, not a clue” He replied laughing.

“Tsk, crazy bastard,” Calvin chipped in.

The wolves’ encirclement tightened

“Amelia, what spells do you know?” Rine asked.

“O-oh me? {Windblade} and {Windshield}, why?”

“Calvin, how are you holding up?”

“I can fight.”

“Ok, I have a plan.”

…………………………………………

‘Is he stupid?’ Amelia thought worriedly as she listened to Rine’s plan. It was simple but dangerous.

Basically, all she and Calvin had to do was buy time.

“Ready?” Cort asked.

“Let’s go,” Calvin replied.

Amelia nodded her head and shook away her skeptic thoughts. Remembering Rine’s willingness to sacrifice himself, she felt a warmth in her heart. The least she could do was trust him this time.

“Now! {Fireball}!” Rine chanted as the trio dashed toward one side of the circle.

The two wolves stationed there evaded by quickly separating, causing the spell to hit the ground between them.

‘My turn’ Amelia said as she unleashed a wind blade, further pushing one wolf away. In the background, she could hear the other wolves close in on them. She remained cool and began chanting the words to another spell.

Calvin did his part as well and with a swing at the other wolf, the trio managed to break free from the imploding circle of wolves.

Amelia turned behind her and witnessed the hair-raising sight of six wolves charging together.

“{Windshield}!” Her voice sounded as a light green light coalesced in front of her. The shield was only large enough to cover herself, but that was enough.

“Good luck, you two,” Rine said as he passed by her.

Calvin stood in front of her in a defensive stance while Rine stood behind her with his eyes closed as he muttered a chant.

‘Half a minute,’ Amelia thought as her eyes hardened. ‘Let’s do this!’

The first contact was made as Calvin’s sword met the swiping paw of the leading wolf.

As the two struggled for control, another wolf took advantage of his momentary weakness and attacked his side.

‘Nope!’ Amelia thought as she rushed to it, blocking the attack with her shield. It cracked under the pressure and Amelia hurriedly supplied it with more Origin to mend it.

As they struggled, Amelia caught a glimpse of another wolf that chose to ignore them and head toward Rine.

“Calvin!”

“I know,” He replied as he kicked the wolf he was facing away. Desperately running towards Rine, he brandished his sword and swung it at the beast’s head.

Amelia wasn’t faring any better as she was forced to take on the attack of four wolves combined. Her shield came close to cracking multiple times and wounds started appearing throughout the length of her arms.

Amelia and Calvin continued their desperate struggle, each realizing how close to death they were.

But despite the constant onslaught of attacks, the two persevered until finally-

“Both of you! Get out of the way!” Rine’s strained voice commanded.

With one final, desperate push, Calvin shoved the wolves he was fighting away and rolled to the side.

Seeing this, Amelia followed suit and stopped her spell. The sudden disappearance of the shield caused the wolves to momentarily lose their footing. Using this to her advantage, she also threw herself to the side.

As her body hit the floor roughly, she turned toward Rine.

‘W-what is that?’ Her body shook as she saw a spell, unlike anything she had ever seen before.

A ball of flames half the size of Rine’s body roared with wild heat. Orbiting that was another smaller yet equally devastating fireball.

“{Fireball}! Solar Bomb” Rine roared as the spell shot forth angrily.

Amelia closed her eyes and covered her head with her hands.

…………………………………………

‘Thank Aria that worked,’ Rine thought as he watched the spell speed forward. This time, he had poured more Origin into it than he had ever done before. As a result, the moment the spell left his hands, he began to faint.

Yet even as he lost consciousness, the content smile on his face never left. This time, he had managed to do something.

'Never again...' He thought as he recalled the face of Silva

…………………………………………

Calvin braced himself as the spell collided against the bunched up wolves. The ground shook and leaves fell, shaken from their branches. Amid the chaos, the wailing of the wolves could be heard.

Looking toward the man who created such a scene, he could see Cort lying motionlessly on the ground.

‘Cort! Amelia!’ His head snapped toward the side where he could see Amelia in the same position as him.

‘No time to rest!’ He lifted his aching body and picked the nearby Amelia up. She was still conscious as made evident by her protests.

“Let go of me, I can walk,” She said weakly.

Calvin shook his head “No time, I’m faster carrying the both of you than you are carrying nothing.” she said nothing more and he made his way towards Rine.

Behind him, he could hear the stirring of the wolves who lived through the attack. He knew he had to hurry.

“Is he still alive?” His sister asked.

Feeling the faint pulse, he replied with a yes before picking Rine up.

With both magicians under each of his arms, he hurried off towards the safe walls of Phentar.

…………………………………………

“So they plan to send some more people here huh. It’s sooner than I expected.” Old man Carson said to the kneeling young girl before him. Above her, a mass of black smoke gathered itself in the appearance of a shadowy figure.

“Yes. Now, are you certain they are still in the dark?”

“Yes. As far as they know, I’m just a spirit who’s been asleep for four hundred years.”

“Good. What are your plans? This time, they seem to be sending a magician capable of expelling spirits of even the Creationist stage”

Carson ran his hand through his beard. “You know, it’s quite a shame to be sacrificing such a beauty…” He said as he studied the kneeling girl.

“Our messengers volunteered to do so, no need to pity them.”

Smacking his lips as if tasting something bitter, the old man nodded.

“It can’t be helped then. If they really do plan on sending someone capable of exorcising me then that’s that. How long do I have?”

“A month for them to plan everything out and arrive here; give or take a week.”

“A month… That should be fine then. I will impart my last student with everything I know,” He then smiled faintly as he thought of Rine.

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, I just expected you to put up more of a fight.”

The old man laughed heartily at that. “I’ve fought enough. But to appease you, an old friend, I’ll try to take one of them down with me.”

“Then that will be all,” The figure said before it began to distort.

Carson watched the figure disappear and whispered “Goodbye, my love…”

The kneeling woman grunted once before losing her life.

…………………………………………

Cort landed on the ground with nary a sound save for the landing of leaves.

‘This place is just plain unfair…’ He thought as he felt the newfound strength coursing through his body.

Not only did he heal faster thanks to the old man’s ointment, but he also grew stronger thanks to the abundant presence of Origin. No wonder most of Himmel’s people grew to become warriors. Becoming stronger was so easy.

Yet despite his happiness, he made sure to remind himself that this was temporary. Soon his body would grow to the point that the benefits he received from natural Origin would amount to nothing much. Just like every other warrior of Himmel.

Thinking as such, he pulled out a sword.

‘Aura…’ He thought as his hand traced through the blade’s edge.

Feeling the limitations of his growth, he sought a power previously unknown to him. From Carson, he learned he was unsuited to learn magic, but that was fine as warriors of this world had their own magic.

Aura was a magical form of Origin that centered around a warrior's will. The type of weapon wielded did not matter, nor did its quality.

That said, a weapon inscribed with runes that aided in Origin control was surely more useful than any ordinary blade. Furthermore, it is said that the sword is the easiest weapon with which one could learn Aura.

Nonetheless, Aura could be used with anything. Knives, spears, bows…

Standing as still as he could, Cort focused all his attention on his sword. His brows furrowed as he attempted to feel anything.

‘This is stupid,’ He thought after a few minutes of standing still. There he was, in the middle of the night, standing with a sword at hand hoping to feel something magical.

Shaking his head wryly, he packed his bag. He had just finished hunting, but Rine wasn’t around to help with making the medicine so he would do it later.

For now, he planned on heading toward the library to borrow some books.

…………………………………………

Rine opened his eyes and froze and the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling.

Hesitantly sitting up, he looked around the foreign room. The furniture was stylish, yet not expensive.

That and the sweet scent permeating throughout the room told him that this room probably belonged to a woman.

Suddenly the door burst open and in came Amelia with a tray of food.

“Good morning! Did you sleep well?”

…………………………………………