Vol 1 Chapter 38

As the Night Bear, its fur completely singed, began to stagger heavily, Kapros drew the circle of promise again to deliver the final blow. Ice Spear, the magic he had used as the finishing move during the previous party hunt, would be an appropriate ending.

Completing the circle again, he pleasantly watched the formula world extend and pushed his hand in. The spear of absolute zero, just as the incantation described, formed as frost congealed and froze at his fingertips.

Seeing the magic circle, the Night Bear seemed to sense instinctive danger and began to stumble away with thunderous steps, but it was futile.

'This is the end!'

"With that sharp cold of ice, pierce the enemy before me, spear of absolute zero. Ice Spear!"

As soon as the incantation ended, an ice spear, swirling and elongated just as he had imagined, materialized in his hand. Kapros took a stance as if throwing a javelin and lightly tossed the spear.

As before, the spear controlled by mental power silently pierced the Night Bear's back. Frost began to spread from the point of impact, crackling as it covered the target's entire body, turning it into a giant ice sculpture.

Shuaaa...

A mist-like cold air emanated from the frozen, glistening Night Bear.

'It's over.'

After watching for a moment to make sure nothing changed, Kapros turned around with relief.

However, he had momentarily forgotten that if the monster had truly died, its corpse should have disappeared, which it hadn't yet. If the creature had broken free from its ice state and lunged at him, he would have been in great danger, but that didn't happen thanks to the man who had been watching from behind all along.

Hearing the sudden sound of a sword being drawn, Kapros hurriedly turned back to see a dark blue blade that had just lightly severed the frozen monster's neck. The sword's owner, Yu-wan, revealed himself from behind and looked straight at Kapros.

A moment later, the Night Bear's corpse turned into light and completely disappeared, truly ending everything. Kapros, who had been lost in thought as if caught by Yu-wan's gaze, finally remembered his mistake and was about to open his mouth to say thank you.

"I watched with my eyes open, as you said."

Yu-wan spoke first, before Kapros could.

"If I hadn't paid the price after seeing this, I would have regretted it."

Price? His expression was dead serious as he dismissed it as merely the cost of watching magic, even though it was a situation where he could have been in danger himself due to Kapros's carelessness.

Kapros had seen that expression before.

At first, it had seemed very suspicious, and the second time he saw it, it had been irritating, but now, seeing it for the third time...

"No, I think I should be the one thanking you. I acted all high and mighty but ended up receiving help again."

After saying that and smiling faintly, Yu-wan began to smile back for the first time. Though awkward, it was definitely a smile.

"The victory of persistence. You ended up seeing my magic after all."

"I think you wouldn't have used it until the end if I hadn't closed my eyes."

"Anyway, you're a tough one too."

"So are you. You're strong."

For the first time, mutual recognition that they had only thought about internally was exchanged between them. This guy was more interesting than Kapros had thought. Without hesitation, he extended his hand to Yu-wan first.

"How old are you?"

All the ill feelings Kapros had harbored towards him had now melted away like snow. Yu-wan hesitated for a moment, then extended his opposite hand, grasping Kapros's lightly as if arm wrestling.

"Twenty-two."

"We're the same age. Speak casually. I'm not sure if you still remember my name, though."

"...I remember."

When Kapros muttered carelessly, remembering how Yu-wan hadn't remembered his name before, Yu-wan suddenly answered firmly with an awkward expression. Kapros was a bit surprised.

"Oh... Is that so."

"Kap."

No way, he really remembered?

Kapros's eyes widened slightly at the fact that Yu-wan wasn't joking but actually remembered his name. It wasn't his full name Kapros, but Kap was indeed the name he had given Yu-wan. Kapros spoke without hiding his surprise.

"You really do. But I feel a bit sorry for saying this only now, it's not my full name."

"Then?"

Yu-wan asked, squinting one eye slightly.

"It's Kapros. Somehow I'm only telling you now."

"It doesn't seem much different from before."

Hearing the somewhat dissatisfied voice, Kapros nodded.

"It's fine to call me what you knew before."

"Does that mean I can keep traveling with you from now on?"

Kapros wanted to ask why the conversation had turned that way, but at this point, he felt it didn't matter much whether Yu-wan followed him or not.

"Do as you please."

Finally letting out a chuckle of resignation as he answered, Yu-wan showed a proper smile that suited his face for the first time.

Even though it was in a game, the feeling of warmth exchanged through their clasped hands felt as vivid as reality. It was all unfamiliar, but strangely, not an unpleasant feeling.

When they properly introduced themselves to each other again, Yu-wan revealed that he was training in intermediate Sword Mastery and could therefore use aura, albeit weakly.

Sword Mastery was the basic skill for swordsmen and the first passive skill given, known to evolve and become more specialized as one trained. While attack skills were relatively easy to use as the body moved semi-automatically when executed, weapon-related skills were a bit different. There was only one condition attached - that overall training with the weapon was required for improvement - but no specific method was provided, so currently, there were hardly any who had surpassed the beginner level.

Of course, if there were beginner and intermediate levels for skills, there might be advanced levels and even higher realms beyond that, but as no one had obtained information about them yet, there were only abundant speculations.

Yu-wan explained that at the intermediate level, he could occasionally use aura during combat, provided the situation allowed and he had sufficient magical power left. As Kapros conversed with him, he found that Yu-wan was as taciturn as himself and had a face that made it difficult to guess what he was thinking, but because of this, once he got used to it, it felt more comfortable as there was no need for unnecessary talk.

As their communication became more effective with shorter and more direct exchanges, when Yu-wan occasionally pondered longer than necessary while trying to speak at length, Kapros began to wonder if his initial impression of suspiciousness might have been a misunderstanding of actions that were actually without much thought.