Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.39 Invasion of Widia (5)

The short-haired woman looked displeased at the sight of Arpina.

Up until now, her only memories of Arpina were of running away from her.

Even among those at the same high level of Mystic, there was a difference in skill.

And Arpina was equally displeased.

She had been accompanied by several Mystic-level magicians but had rushed over upon receiving a signal that Ria was in danger.

The longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it was for Arpina.

To be honest, it was the worst-case scenario.

While confronting the Mystic-level black magician, Arpina learned that Laidra was dead.

She also realized that their route to Meira had been completely exposed.

In that situation, she could have escaped alone if she wanted to survive.

But how could she abandon Ria and flee alone?

‘I need to finish this quickly and escape.’

As soon as she thought that, the short-haired woman changed her expression and let out a coquettish laugh.

“Oh dear… now it seems you’re the one being chased.”

Arpina understood why she said that.

Someone was approaching with a sound that seemed to tear through space.

“Hahaha! Lavella, you got all scared meeting your nemesis!”

“Shut up, Rodrick!”

A man with long black hair, riding a silver broomstick, appeared and landed next to the short-haired woman.

He lovingly stroked the broomstick before letting it float behind him.

Arpina bit her lip.

She could somehow handle Lavella alone, but that man was the problem.

He was someone she couldn’t guarantee victory against, even if she faced him alone.

In this situation, there were two choices.

Fight and die, or send Leon and Ria away and hold them off until death.

Arpina’s deliberation was brief.

She glanced at Leon.

It was a signal to take Ria and run.

Leon, holding Ria, flapped his golden wings and lifted off the ground.

“The sight of you sacrificing for your disciple is tear-jerking.”

“Disciples.”

“Huh?”

Rodrick, tilting his head, created a crow on his palm, while Lavella spread her fan wide.

“Let’s see how desperately you hold out for your fleeing disciple.”

Ignoring the simple provocation, Arpina summoned all her familiars.

Six colorful familiars floated around her.

A phoenix, a wind cloud, a blue fish, a brown golem, an electric wolf, and a deer with flowers blooming on its horns.

Each familiar had a different attribute.

The tension was so high that it wouldn’t be surprising if a battle broke out immediately.

“Go quickly!”

Arpina, frustrated that Leon was still hovering behind her instead of fleeing, raised her voice and her hand.

The familiars around her lunged forward.

Lavella swung her fan, and Rodrick split his crow.

Then Leon spoke softly.

“Kito.”

At that moment, something brushed past Arpina.

A long bird darted past her and opened its mouth wide, swallowing Lavella whole.

From Lavella’s perspective, she had been caught off guard while focusing solely on Arpina.

“Aaah!”

Lavella’s scream echoed from inside the bird’s mouth.

Inside, the flow of complex mana intertwined.

Then, at some point, Lavella’s voice stopped, and smoke began to seep out from between the bird’s sharp teeth.

The smoke continued to billow out.

Rodrick and Arpina stared at the scene in a daze.

“A… monster bird?”

Rodrick was the first to regain his senses and retreated.

The flock of crows densely flying around him followed suit.

“Ugh.”

Kito opened its mouth and exhaled the smoke all at once, then soared high into the sky.

Enveloped in light, it transformed into the shape of a very small person.

The female figure with gray wings lay down on top of Leon’s head.

It was a nonchalant gesture for someone who had just incinerated a person inside its mouth.

“Keep your promise…”

Kito said in a sleepy voice.

Leon nodded.

“I’ll find it within a month.”

Left alone, Rodrick looked at Kito, who had fallen asleep on Leon’s head, and chuckled.

“Have you decided to cling to a human after losing your entire clan? And…”

The man’s gaze turned to Leon.

“Was it you who disrupted our plans? A mere beginner Arcane… brat…?”

His words trailed off towards the end.

Even he found it strange.

“How old are you?”

“Arpina.”

Leon, having placed Ria and Kito behind Arpina, ignored Rodrick’s question and called out to her.

Arpina was just as flustered, but she regained her composure and gathered her mana at Leon’s words.

Rodrick, too, quickly brushed his hair back and smirked.

“Oh… a cocky brat. I like it. That confident face, thinking you can do something despite being a mere beginner Arcane magician, is quite charming.”

He knew that the monster bird couldn’t exert any more power.

It was obvious to anyone.

“Anyway, Lavella was useless…”

Before Rodrick could finish his sentence, a massive phoenix flew in.

He placed his hand on his broomstick and quickly ascended into the air.

Only small crows were left behind to clash with the phoenix, causing explosions.

“Too slow.”

Rodrick laughed, not even paying attention to the crows.

Above his head, a black aura gathered and swelled like a balloon, forming a giant crow about three meters in size.

The giant crow then split into dozens of medium-sized crows.

This time, the dozens of crows charged at Arpina’s familiars.

Flames spewed from the phoenix’s mouth.

As the crows touched the flames, they exploded.

From the explosions, small crows split into dozens and flew towards the phoenix again.

Boom— Boom—

Small explosions occurred every time they touched the phoenix’s body.

Each familiar faced the same situation.

A bolt of lightning struck down towards Rodrick, who was floating in the air, but he easily dodged it.

A look of distress appeared on Leon’s face.

He was currently quite drained of mana after fighting five beginner Arcane magicians.

He had some mana left for the floating spell, but not enough to repeatedly cast nine spells.

“I told you to run.”

“Let’s survive together.”

Leon asked Arpina.

“If I draw the crows’ attention… can you take care of that guy?”

“…It’s possible, but don’t think about sacrificing yourself. You won’t be able to handle it when Ria wakes up.”

“I’m not sacrificing myself. I said let’s survive together.”

With those words, Leon flew towards Rodrick.

“Huh?”

Rodrick’s eyes widened, surprised that a beginner Arcane magician would charge at him head-on.

Of course, he wasn’t alarmed.

He was genuinely puzzled.

“Are you determined to die on your own? What a waste.”

Leon could roughly gauge the power of the crows.

The small crows had the strength of a beginner Arcane magician.

The medium-sized crows had the strength of a beginner Mystic magician.

Naturally, the giant crow would have the strength of a high-level Mystic magician.

The Guardian Robe Leon was wearing could withstand up to beginner Mystic-level magic.

The number of defensive magic circles inscribed on the Guardian Robe was now ten.

This meant it could withstand ten attacks from the medium-sized crows.

‘The small crows…’

Leon pulled out dozens of D-rank scrolls he had collected from his subspace.

Seeing this, Rodrick’s expression became even more puzzled.

“It’s really a shame to kill you. Can’t you stay out of the adults’ fight? I’ll play with you later.”

“…”

Rodrick’s act of licking his lips with his tongue was extremely repulsive.

Leon grimaced as much as he could.

A curse naturally slipped from his mouth.

“Let’s fight, you piece of trash.”

“Hmm…”

Rodrick’s expression remained unchanged.

This wasn’t it.

Leon spoke again.

“You’re too ugly to play with, old man.”

“…Die.”

With a fierce expression, a medium-sized crow shot out from Rodrick’s palm and rushed towards Leon.

Using the acceleration of his golden wings, Leon charged straight at the crow.

Boom—

Leon, enveloped in the Guardian Robe’s barrier, pierced through the smoke and lunged at Rodrick.

Dozens of small crows, which had split apart, followed behind Leon.

Leon threw the D-rank scrolls backward.

The small crows exploded in a chain reaction upon contact with the scroll magic.

Leon swung the wooden sword he held directly at Rodrick, who was now right in front of him.

Rodrick easily dodged it with a swift movement.

Leon hadn’t expected him to get hit.

“There’s nothing more annoying than an ugly old man pretending to be handsome.”

Leon whispered softly and used acceleration again to zip past Rodrick’s back.

“You crazy bastard…”

This time, ten medium-sized crows shot out towards Leon.

Even in the midst of this, Rodrick was keeping Arpina’s familiars in check.

Leon deliberately charged at one of the ten crows rushing towards him.

With an explosion, another defensive magic circle on the robe disappeared.

Leon realized he needed to draw more attention and immediately used a Blink scroll.

However, Blink was too easy for a Mystic-level magician to read the mana flow.

A medium-sized crow was already rushing at the spot where Leon had Blinked.

Boom—

The Guardian Robe’s magic circle shone once again.

Now, only seven magic circles remained.

Rodrick noticed that the defensive barrier around Leon didn’t end with just one use.

A black aura began to gather above Rodrick’s head.

He was trying to create a giant crow.

Leon, having thrown all the remaining D-rank scrolls to block the small crows, immediately threw his wooden sword.

“Pierce.”

Rodrick, nonchalantly, blocked the wooden sword with a defensive spell created through multiple incantations.

He then realized the peculiar ability of the wooden sword.

Rodrick, who was in the middle of calculating a spell, frowned.

He had been interrupted.

But the consciousness of a Mystic magician was strong.

A brief interruption couldn’t cancel the spell.

As the wooden sword bounced off, Rodrick hurled the giant crow he had created towards Leon.

The crow rushed towards Leon in an instant.

If it hit, it would be instant death, barrier or not.

Leon grasped his orb.

As Leon disappeared from his spot in an instant, the giant crow brushed past where he had been.

Rodrick, thinking Leon had used Blink magic again, tried to read the mana flow but couldn’t find him.

He then realized that the brat hadn’t charged recklessly.

Leon, having returned to reality, looked at Rodrick and said,

“Too slow.”

Rodrick, with no trace of a smile left, mounted his broomstick.

Seeing this, Leon’s eyes gleamed.

“Now!”

Leon immediately used the last acceleration of his golden wings.

Even so, he couldn’t outrun the speed of the silver broomstick.

Before Rodrick, who had appeared behind him, could grab him, Leon grasped his orb.

Leon disappeared once again.

“…What?”

It was a magic that Rodrick couldn’t comprehend.

At that moment, a massive flow of mana began to be felt from below.

While Leon was drawing attention, Arpina had dealt with the remaining crows and was preparing a grand spell.

A giant magic circle formed in front of Arpina’s outstretched palm.

In front of the magic circle, a sphere of light with dazzling colors was growing larger.

It was clear that if that light exploded, he wouldn’t survive.

It seemed almost complete.

It was a fleeting moment, but it wasn’t a situation desperate enough to give up his life.

Rodrick had an A-rank silver broomstick.

As he hurriedly tried to escape using the silver broomstick, he was startled when Leon, who had reappeared, grabbed the broomstick along with him.

Rodrick’s consciousness flickered.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a vast, empty field.

The air he inhaled was thick with mana, and seeing the dense forest in the distance, it seemed like a forest.

It was as if this area alone had been artificially cleared of trees.

Naturally, the grand spell Arpina had been preparing was nowhere to be seen.

The reason to flee had vanished in an instant.

“???”

Just as a question mark appeared in Rodrick’s mind while looking at Leon, who was holding onto the broomstick with him, his consciousness flickered again.

When he opened his eyes, he was back at the place where Arpina was preparing the grand spell.

Confused by the incomprehensible phenomenon, the light sphere created by Arpina exploded.

Only Leon disappeared from the spot.

Flash—

The light burst forth.

A powerful explosion swept through the area where Rodrick had been.

Boom—

Even though the explosion was directed at the sky, the forest shook.

After a moment, when the aftermath of the explosion subsided, Arpina finally took a deep breath.

“Huff… huff…”

The forest in front of Arpina was erased.

The once lush forest had completely vanished, and faint heat still rose from the giant, gouged-out ground.

“…He must have dodged it, right?”

Having seen Leon disappear and reappear in an instant, Arpina felt safe to use the grand spell.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t hide her anxiety.

It had been an incredibly close call.

Arpina, carrying the sleeping Ria and the small silver-haired girl, began to walk.

After a few steps, Leon popped out of thin air.

“Phew…”

Arpina let out a sigh of relief.

“That…”

She had many things she wanted to say, but somehow, that made it harder to speak.

“You… returned the favor.”

Arpina ended up saying just that one line.

Leon seemed unexpectedly surprised, his eyes widening.

Then he smiled bitterly.

“Arpina, you did everything.”

“If it weren’t for you, I would have died.”

Arpina recalled the boy from two years ago who boldly promised to become a powerful ally.

True to his word, he had indeed become her powerful ally.

“We need to run away again quickly.”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Arpina put on a serious face.

The situation was not yet completely resolved.

“Are you going to Meyra?”

At Leon’s question, Arpina shook her head.

“Unfortunately, there’s no hope for Widia. I’m going to take Ria and head to the Derkantia Empire. I have someone there I can rely on.”

Then Arpina added,

“Let’s go together.”