Vol 4 Chapter 5

"No."

As Kapros shook his head, Kran's eyes widened in surprise.

"Huh? But you just used a 6th circle spell... and you used Inferno earlier when they were swarming us, didn't you?"

Although he had certainly become much better at grasping how to use them compared to before, Kapros often got headaches, perhaps because deeper concentration was needed to apply them freely like lower circles.

Especially with Superior's magic, if he approached it carelessly, the magic would immediately disobey, so he had to grasp a delicate touch in handling it. This task felt arduous even for Kapros, who was already accustomed to magic grinding. In fact, even now, although his mana hadn't decreased much, he felt considerable mental fatigue from using Inferno.

"I'm far from it. ...How many more places did you say were nearby?"

As Kapros asked while pressing his temple, a smile of resignation appeared on Kran's face.

"Well... We've already gone through twelve dungeons. After thoroughly clearing out 3-floor dungeons on average, you still want to do more, so I just have to follow. I saw that if we go a bit further in this dungeon, there's a Giant Ant dungeon in the underground tunnels."

"Then let's go there."

"...A-alright. But let's rest a bit first. We'll have to fight another round to go down from here."

Kapros could feel Kran's gaze following him, as if saying 'Aren't you being too hasty?', but he didn't want to stop this enjoyment yet. Even though he complained about headaches, Kapros enjoyed using magic separately from moving his body.

'And now...'

A smile spread across his face as he felt the familiar scabbard at his waist. He had visually confirmed most of the monsters that appeared and their attack patterns on the way up here. If that was the case, it should be fine to try using the sword, which was still at a beginner level in MIST.

As soon as they went down to the lower floor, undead monsters wrapped in rags, the Sagwi, appeared again as if they had never died, screaming and rushing towards them.

"Kiaaaaa!"

Immediately, Un-o drew his bow, and two reddish arrows pierced through the heads of two Sagwi in quick succession.

"[Holy Protection], [Holy Bestowal]!"

Simultaneously, Kran cast skills on Kapros and Un-o in turn, then drew his sword and moved to check the ones rushing in from the side.

"Haah!"

The sight of the Sagwi, who couldn't feel pain even as their bodies were cut off with sharp sounds amidst the chaotic clashing, still clinging and spilling bodily fluids, was somewhat frightening. However, for them who had already cut down hundreds of these creatures on their way in, they were nothing more than targets to be dealt with, no longer seeming special.

Usually, Kapros would have used a large-scale magic here and stepped forward, but now it was time to try something else. He gripped the sword tightly and lowered his eyes slightly, concentrating. If his mind wavered even for a moment, old memories would seize the opportunity to intrude, so this was more important to him than anything else.

'...'

Now he would enjoy the game properly as a game, refreshingly, without needing to be bound by past memories. Thinking this, he pressed his lips tightly and recalled the basics of magic swordsmanship that the elf Ilumine had taught him, the first step.

'Pushing mana into the sword.'

Woong!

As he drew his sword and pushed mana into it, a transparent, shimmering energy began to rise from his hand, surging up the blade. Seeing the energy rise without hesitation, it seemed to have worked well despite not having done it for a long time. After briefly looking at the sword tip with satisfaction, Kapros decided to try the method he had been thinking about for how to use the sword swiftly, even with a mage's slower movement speed compared to others.

Calming his pounding heart, he first looked around and spotted one monster that wasn't following the group well, spinning around in circles in a suitable spot.

'That one.'

"Blink!"

In an instant, hearing the swoosh of space changing through his ears, Kapros swung his sword fiercely without even looking properly.

'Right now!'

Slash!

"Ugh!"

Immediately, along with the feeling of cutting something, the surrounding space became clear, and reddish bodily fluids poured out. Surprised by its body being cut off in chunks, the Sagwi couldn't even scream properly as it turned around, and Kapros swung his sword again, pushing in more mana. The feeling of cutting through bone was very satisfying.

Although the Sagwi was undead, its bodily fluids had no other toxicity, and while not tough, it was a monster with tenacious vitality. If that was the case, he thought it would be enough to attack relying on the Ma-Rakian Swordsmanship passive skill that compensated for a mage's weak strength, and it seemed he was right, as the Sagwi, nearly half cut, staggered backward.

"Tsaaak! Tsaa!"

Just as the surrounding Sagwi were about to swarm in at the sound of the surprised, screaming Sagwi, Kapros thrust his sword deep into the center of its rags and quickly opened his mouth to shout.

"Prison Strike!"

In his mind, he imagined ice spikes forming a circle around him and shooting out in all directions. The strongly imagined image soon became magic, and as the surrounding air suddenly cooled, ice spikes that had just formed began to shoot out mercilessly in a radial pattern.

Bang! Boom! Boom boom boom!

As soon as the sound of explosions from collisions rang out, Kapros felt his back tingle with a refreshing sensation and his hot face cooling in the cold air. After the ice powder and shockwave had swept through, he slowly straightened up, feeling the Sagwi impaled on his sword and pinned to the ground disappear.

In the brief moment the shockwave had passed, Un-o's arrows had turned quite a few monsters into porcupines, targeting only vital points, and those struck by Kran's sword energy, which was like a natural enemy to the undead, lay fallen with blackened scorch marks.

Unlike Un-o, who had attacked from a distance at leisure and suffered no physical damage, Kran and Kapros were covered in reddish bodily fluids, looking messy.

In Kapros's case, as he usually enjoyed burning or freezing through magic, it was his first time directly cutting and stabbing, but it didn't feel too bad. However, the bodily fluids now splattered and flowing on his face and hands felt a bit uncomfortable.

"A sword...?"