36

 

Listening to Benjamin, Id felt as if his thoughts on creating a manna hall, which had been intricately tangled in his mind, had been sorted out to some extent.

 

“If the method used to make manna halls in the Mudria Wizard Tower is the same as the method used by my master, I don’t think their way of magically distorting the manna’s flow is a desirable way to create a manna hall. Anyway, no theory can be justified until I achieve the Aura Beam and confront William Cronos. As for me, I have no choice but to do my best in my own way.”

 

As Benjamin and Id both remained silent, Lara, who was listening to the conversation between the two quietly, asked Id in a slightly desperate tone.

 

“Can I also learn your manna training method? If you teach it to me I promise to treat you as my master.”

 

Looking into Lara’s eyes, Id said, smiling.

 

“Sasha learned my method of manna circulation, but he doesn’t consider me his master. We’re just best friends. You’re about the same age as us, so why don’t you be our friend? I won’t hesitate to teach my friend my training method.”

 

Lara looked back at Sasha and asked.

 

“All right. I want to be your friend. What should I do to be your friend?”

 

“If we want to be your friends and you want to be our friend, we are already friends.”

 

Sasha said without any change to his neutral facial expression. Lara spoke with a bright smile.

 

“Right. Now I got friends for the first time in my life.”

 

Id said to Lara,

 

“Good, let’s go on the road now. After the sun sets, I’ll tell you the details of my manna circulation method.”

 

At the end of Id’s words, the four packed up and departed. The journey for the next ten days was peaceful. During the day, they tried to cover as much distance as possible, and in the evening, Id helped Lara and Sasha with their manna circulation. Id taught Lara his swordsmanship as well as his method of manna circulation. Lara, who had a good foundation for martial arts and naturally quick adaptation, showed an outstanding potential for swordsmanship. Lara had a short sword, which was her father’s keepsake. The short blade was rather suitable for the use of Id’s sword techniques.

 

It was the dawn of the eleventh day after they entered the Pleo Grand Canyon. Just before dawn, it was still dark. Three young people circulated manna sitting on the ground, and Benjamin was in meditation. Benjamin was also interested in Id’s method of manna circulation, even though he did not train using the method himself. Id suddenly bounced up and ran to the mules tied to a tree. Id, who stepped on and jumped up from a mule’s back, swung his sword vertically, and there was a strong sound of iron crush. At the same time, a giant flying monster that was descending on a mule roared as it soared back into the sky. It’s length from head to tail was well over fifteen meters. The monster had enormous wings shaped like those of a bat and huge claws shaped like those of a hawk. Coming to Id side, Benjamin said,

 

“It’s a wyvern. I didn’t see any wyverns when I went to Nordburg. I count three of them flying in the sky. If they attack again, buy me some time to cast my spells.”

 

Observing the movements of the three wyverns floating in the sky, Id replied to Benjamin.

 

“Got it, but judging from their movements, I don’t think the wyverns will attack us again. It seems they have another target.”

 

After a while, three wyverns descended onto the shrub about a hundred meters away from the party and then flew into the sky, each clasping something with their claws. They were orcs who were snatched by wyverns. The orcs, a race that was typically a little shorter than humans, with broad shoulders and muscular physique, were less intelligent than other races such as elves or dwarfs, but they used their own language. Some orcs were also capable of using human language, albeit clumsily. Staring at the orcs, who were caught in the wyverns’ claws and going into the sky, screaming, Id said,

 

“They are all armed. I think the orcs were trying to ambush us. There might be a lot of orcs in the shrub, so be prepared.”

 

Benjamin mounted a mule, and three youths slowly advanced, escorting him in a triangular formation. Lifting his magic wand, Benjamin cast a spell, and after a while, he threw a Fireball toward the shrub. As the Fireball raged in the shrubbery, the dry bushes burned. Dozens of orcs ran out of the bush and fled. About a hundred orcs were hiding in the bush, a third of which were burned to death. After a while, Benjamin shouted another initiator.

 

“Aquawall.”

 

A huge wall of water appeared in front of the burning bush and slowly passed through it. As the fire was extinguished, thick water vapor spread out. At that moment, a dozen quarrels flew toward Id’s party from behind. Sasha blocked the quarrels in front of Benjamin with his shield, and Lara threw daggers, accurately striking two quarrels flying towards the loaded mule. In the meantime, Benjamin cast a spell, and Id ran out in front of the party, striking away most of the quarrels flying in his direction. Those who attacked the party with crossbows did not move for a while, hiding behind the rocks, probably wary of the mage's magic attack. Having opened his backpack on the mule’s back, Id wore his armor and told the party.

 

“Sasha, Lara, protect Benjamin.”

 

As Id moved forward alone, a man dressed in full platemail rose from behind a rock and walked toward Id from the other side. The armored man spoke in a cracked voice.

 

“I don’t have any business with you. If you hand over Lara, we’ll withdraw.”

 

“You must be from the Ur Thieves’ Guild. Lara is my friend, so you’ll have to beat me first in order to get her.”

 

Even before Id ended his speech, Lara stepped forward, shouting.

 

“Constantinus, you bastard. You poisoned my father and sent assassins after my mother. How dare you show up in front of me? I’ll cut your head off myself.”

 

Id told Lara who was approaching him.

 

“Lara, I understand how you feel, but the number of enemies seems to exceed twenty. If your fight with him here drags on, it will lead to an unfavorable situation for us, so leave this to me.”

 

As he spoke to Lara, Id was already charging at his opponent at high speed. Lara returned to Benjamin’s side reluctantly. Id tried to stab his opponent in the neck in a straightforward manner. As Constantinus dodged Id’s attack to the left, four quarrels were shot at Id. Ignoring the quarrels, Id jumped over Constantinus’ head, lifting his sword, and swung down his sword onto the opponent’s helmet. Constantinus also raised his sword, but Id’s sword cut his in half, splitting both his helmet and head. The quarrels did not damage Id at all, blocked by his armor’s spell, Anti Physical Force. At that point, Benjamin shouted out an initiator.

 

“Lightning Bolt.”

 

The four men who had shot their crossbows at Id were struck directly by Benjamin’s Lightning Bolt and burned black. Although four others jumped out of cover to attack Lara, brandishing their weapons, two of them had their necks pierced by the daggers Lara threw, and the other two were cut in half by Sasha’s longsword. Moving a few steps forward, Id shouted.

 

“If you surrender now, I’ll spare your lives. Otherwise, everyone shall die here.”

 

After a short period of silence, a dozen members of the Thieve’s Guild came out of hiding with their hands up.

 

“Forgive us. We were forced to track down Lara because of the guild leader’s orders.”

 

Lara said, glaring at each and every one.

 

“I don’t want to see you guys ever again. Take the bodies with you. If I ever see you again, I’ll definitely take your lives.”

 

The Ur Thieves’ Guild members quickly recovered the bodies and disappeared. Lara, who had been watching the scene with her jaw clenched tightly, turned around and moved forward. The others followed her silently. After the skirmish with the Thieves’ Guild’s pursuers, Lara became reticent. Even during the break, she concentrated on manna circulation without saying a word. As Lara, one of the two who initiated  most of the conversation in the party, became silent, the other, Benjamin, also started to speak less. Lara was absorbed in her manna circulation, so much so that she meditated for over seven hours, skipping supper. Watching Lara’s concentration, Sasha also increased his time in circulating manna. Benjamin had little expectation of the performance of manna circulation for himself as he was already too old. But he was interested in this new method of dealing with manna in a way that was entirely different from that of the sorcerers, so he experimented with Id’s method from time to time. Id was the only one keeping the same routine as before.