"Can mages from the Mage Academy use healing magic as well?"

Syrenne, with an eager look in her eyes, asked Brittanya.

She looked back at Syrenne then looked up. She was quiet for a while, but then finally spoke up.

"When I was studying there, I learned that mages are those who use Elemental magic such as Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Lightning. Just to name a few. Those who can use support magic, like healing and barrier magic, are taken in by the Holy Clergy. Usually, a person who can use magic can only use one type of elemental or support magic. And as you already know, not everyone can use magic… "

Brittanya held her cup tightly as she spoke. She didn't make any eye contact with the others. She then continued after a brief pause.

"When a person casts a magic spell, colored aura envelopes their body. The color of the aura indicates the type of spell they are casting, such as red for fire and so on. I heard that there are rare ones who can use two types, while there are also others that can use Arcane type magic."

She paused again for a moment. Then, she faced Syrenne and smiled.

"But they are no match for me, because I can use all types of magic!"

Brittanya then forced a laugh and talked about other things with Syrenne. Jaegar just quietly looked at Brittanya the whole time she and Syrenne talked. Kryllo already dozed off.

---

The next morning, Jaegar slowly opened up his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He got up and sat down to look around. He saw that he was on the floor. He realized that he removed his armor. There was a pillow behind him and a blanket on top of his legs. He remembered that he slept on the floor the previous night.

Beside him, Jaegar saw that Kryllo was still sleeping. He was lying down straight, with his hands clasped on top of his stomach.

"Damn, this guy can really sleep anywhere, can't he?"

Jaegar shook his head. He then looked at his other side.

Brittanya was stretched-out on top of a long, wooden bench. Her arm loosely hung on the side while one of her legs was on top of the back rest of the bench. She was lightly snoring, with her mouth gaping open in rhythm.

"Is this what she usually looks like in her room…?"

Jaegar shook his head again.

Syrenne then walked by the area the three of them were staying in. It was the living room of the doctor's house that was connected to the clinic.

"Good morning, Jaegar. Oh, those two are still asleep. They look so comfortable."

Syrenne let out a quiet laughter so as not to disturb those who were still sleeping.

"Where did you stay, by the way?"

Jaegar looked up at Syrenne, who was standing in front of him.

"The doctor let me sleep in his room."

She smiled at Jaegar.

"W-what? You slept t-together on the first day you m-meet?"

Jaegar's face turned red as he grasped his blanket and stared intently at Syrenne.

"Oh, are you embarrassed to talk about things like this? Hmm?"

Syrenne snickered and smiled as she crouched down to look straight at Jaegar.

"N-no, it's not like that—"

"Well, you don't have to worry about anything. The doctor stayed in the clinic and I slept alone in the bedroom. I actually invited Brittanya to stay with me, but she declined and slept here instead."

Syrenne smiled as she watched Brittanya sleeping for a moment.

Suddenly, Jaegar grabbed Syrenne's shoulders with both of his hands. Their faces were now closer to each other.

"Y-you didn't have to joke about it like t-that…!"

Jaegar's face was still red. Syrenne's face also started to blush. Then, a pillow hit the back of Jaegar's head. He flinched for just a bit.

"Hey, you! Stop making moves on Syrenne so early in the morning! You're just like that knight captain!"

Brittanya threw the pillow as she was now sitting down on the bench.

"You realized that if I evaded that pillow, you would have hit Syrenne, right?!"

Jaegar slowly turned his head to glare at Brittanya.

"I knew you wouldn't evade it and let Syrenne be hurt!"

Brittanya glared back at him.

"Stop comparing me with that sleazy old man! I was just caught off guard by Syrenne's q-question!"

The staring match between Jaegar and Brittanya continued until Syrenne stood up and clapped her hands.

"Okay, guys! That's enough for now. How about we eat some breakfast first before you three head out?"

Syrenne smiled brightly.

"Let's… eat…"

Kryllo sat up quickly with his eyes still closed.

---

The four of them were now eating at the table. Syrenne prepared some soup together with the bread that the doctor had in his kitchen.

"I already gave Doctor Arbent some food, so you guys can finish up everything here."

Syrenne spoke as she watched the other three eat.

"I just hope we find that monster today. We really don't know what the effects of this sickness can do to everyone here."

Brittanya finished her soup before talking.

"We just need to get rid of it and solve everything. Plain and simple."

Jaegar took a bite off his bread and chewed loudly.

---

After eating breakfast, the three of them went out toward the forest while Syrenne stayed behind in the clinic to help the doctor tend to the people still inside.

When they reached the exit gates, the guards told the party that the patrol brought the bandits to the prison. The guards also told them that Doctor Arbent went to the prison last night to give some medicine to the bandits.

"He didn't have to do that. Well, I guess that's what makes him a doctor."

Jaegar smirked as the three of them went ahead.

The party then entered the forest just outside the town of Zokahelm. The trees were tall and the bushes were lush. Still, there was some sunlight that entered the forest.

They walked a bit further away from the city and deeper into the woods. They were now in a clearing inside the forest.

"I wonder what this monster looks like."

Brittanya had her finger on her chin while looking up.

"Probably, its color is purple, since it's poisonous and all."

Jaegar was in front of the two while walking.

"So, it… really is… poison…?"

Kryllo was looking around the forest, with trees that were almost covering the skies and bushes growing everywhere.

"What else could it be?"

Jaegar answered without looking back.

The bushes in front of them suddenly rustled. The party stopped moving. They positioned themselves with their backs against each other.

"What was that?"

Brittanya alertly scanned the area. All the bushes surrounding them shook wildly. Then, one by one monsters came out of hiding.

"Slippery salamanders, wild wolves and grizzly bears? That mushroom must be one heck of an alpha to boss these guys around."

Jaegar smirked while going into a stance, ready to jump out and attack. The monsters, furious and agitated, surrounded the party.

"I guess… we don't have… a choice…"

Kryllo reached back at his shoulder, as if to grab something, but there was nothing there.

"Oh… I don't have… a bow…"

Kryllo stared at his empty hand. Jaegar then faced toward Kryllo.

"You're just going to smack it on the monsters, anyway."

Jaegar then swiftly punched and kicked the monsters one by one, sending them flying away or crashing to the trees.

During Jaegar's indiscriminate attack, a tree branch fell beside Kryllo. He slowly picked it up.

"This… will do..."

He used the branch to smack away any monster that attacked him.

Meanwhile, Brittanya grabbed a bunch of leaves from the nearby bush. She then threw each leaf one by one quickly at each of the monsters approaching her in every direction.

"Leaf-Slicing Barrage Magic that Hurts!"

Some leaves hit and buried deep into the head of the monsters, as if it were as sharp as a blade.

Most of the monsters went down due to the party's attacks, while the others started to run away. After a few moments, the monster attacks had stopped. Brittanya dropped the excess leaves she had on her hands.

"Glad that's over—"

The ground then started to shake. Loud footsteps were ringing throughout the forest. Suddenly, a large mushroom monster with orange color, crossed through thick bushes and stood in front of the party. Its short but big legs were the cause of the noise; its height was twice as tall as Jaegar.

"You finally decided to show up, huh."

Jaegar started to run at the giant mushroom while winding up his punch.

"Time to finish this—"

He then quickly fell to the ground, with his face first hitting the earth.

"Oh no, it got Jaegar!"

Brittanya crouched down to gather some of the leaves she dropped. Before she could stand up again, her body forcefully fell to the ground. Kryllo was just standing before his body dropped to the ground as well.

"Jaegar!"

Brittanya shouted because she wasn't facing in the direction where Jaegar was lying down.

"This isn't poison!"

"Yeah…"

Jaegar was grimacing as he tried to turn his head toward the mushroom monster.

"This is… magic!"