Vol 6 Chapter 14

"I... We all thank you so much for bringing us safely outside. To be honest, I thought you were a bit scary at first... I'm sorry for misunderstanding you."

Their words made Kapros feel rather embarrassed.

He never expected such responses to the actions he had taken simply out of annoyance. After pondering what to say, he slowly opened his mouth.

"Well... My job is a mage, but somehow I ended up using a sword too. That's all there is to it, my skills aren't that amazing, so there's no need to be so curious."

"What?"

"I didn't come here to do anything great, I just want to play the game quietly, so as I said before, as long as you don't tell others..."

"O-Of course not!"

Kapros found that he didn't particularly dislike the group staring at him with sparkling eyes like four squirrels, hanging on his every word. He chuckled and decided to say something he hadn't originally intended to.

"Since I know your names, it would be unfair if only my name remained an alias, so I'll tell you before I go. My name is Kapros. I'm a mage."

And finally, he gave a slight nod as a farewell.

"Well then."

Fly! As he quietly muttered and imagined himself lightly floating up in his mind, a magic circle appeared beneath his feet, creating a wind that lifted his body. He pulled the hood that had been hanging behind his shoulders over his head and flew up into the air. When he was quite far from the ground, he heard the shouts of the four people below, who had been staring blankly with their mouths open before coming to their senses.

"We saw it before, but... he really can fly...!"

"Hey! Can I call you hyung-nim next time we meet? Huh? That's okay, right?"

"Me too! Let me call you hyung-nim too!"

"We won't tell anyone, so enjoy the game!"

Glancing down, Kapros saw all four of them vigorously waving both hands. He wasn't sure what part of his words had earned their favor, but he thought it was fortunate that this unexpected brief encounter hadn't ended badly.

It was the first time while enjoying MIST that Kapros felt a fondness for party members he had thought he would only meet briefly for a specific purpose and then part ways with.

Even after the hooded man had flown away and disappeared into the distance, Rob and his companions continued waving their hands for a long time before finally lowering their arms and smiling happily.

"Wow... He's really cool. That's how a real man should be. If I had skills like that, I'd live like that too."

In response to Chow's words, Blue Lady let out a loud scoff.

"That seems impossible for you, even if you were reborn."

"There you go again. What's wrong with me!"

"The fact that I have to explain it to you already shows how hopeless you are."

"So what's wrong with..."

"Want to look in a mirror first? Being cool only works for handsome guys who can't even hide their looks with a dull hat, you know?"

"..."

As the now familiar sound of Chow and Blue Lady's argument faded into the background, Evan approached Rob, who was just staring at the sky.

"It seems you really can't judge a person by their first impression. I'm ashamed that I've been playing the game with prejudice without even realizing it."

"Yeah. We've seen a real man today..."

As Rob, lost in inexplicable emotion, turned his gaze from the sky feeling like he might cry, Evan, whose eyes were also glistening with moisture, quietly smiled as if he understood Rob's feelings completely.

"Well, shouldn't we head back to the village now..."

Evan's face suddenly turned pale as he was speaking. Rob, who was about to ask what was wrong, also stiffened his expression as he looked around, feeling as if he'd been doused with cold water.

"Come to think of it..."

"Hey, Rob! By the way... Is the only way back from here the same way we came?"

No one could answer Chow's sudden outburst.

A cold wind blew for a long time among the four who remembered how incredibly difficult it had been to come down the cliff to get here. Blue Lady was the first to finally speak.

"No way... right?"

"W-Wait a minute. Surely there must have been a way back on this side too..."

- Grrrr...

A growling sound suddenly came from behind the now chilled group. They froze, then stiffly turned their heads to look back, and with one mind and heart, they began to run away screaming.

"Aaaaah! Three-legged Spider Warriors!"

"Run!"

- Graaah!

"Kyaaah! Help!"

It seemed unlikely that they would make it down the mountain alive.

Thanks to the dragon's blood he had received, Kapros used his overflowing magical power to fly up to a height where he could see the entire mountain range. He intended to go all the way to Torelit like this.

As he gazed down at the mountain range below his feet, savoring the view of nature that he could never see so leisurely in reality, Superior's voice, which had been quiet for a while, echoed in his mind.

[ It's been a long time since I've seen the continent from the sky. ]

"Is that so?"

[ Yes. This doesn't seem to have changed from the old days. ]

Well, nature is probably all like that.

Having nothing particular to say in response, Kapros was just concentrating on flying when Superior spoke again.

[ Watching you use my magic today, I was amazed at how well you maintained it despite using it in a completely opposite way to my intention. ]

Was he talking about Inferno and Blizzard? So what about it? Kapros glanced at the stick at his waist.

[ Using it in a way that deviates from the original intention must have required considerable mental energy consumption, so I don't know whether to call it impressive... Indeed, the path of magic is truly limitless. ]

"What are you trying to say?"

[ The reason I created Inferno and Blizzard was to protect and confuse opponents while I was defenseless, focusing on other high-circle magic. To do that, I tried to create magic that could efficiently protect the caster and attack the opponent by removing the incantation, not particularly needing an image, and just manifesting the intention as simply as possible. I really liked the saying that offense is the best defense. ]