Chapter 176
Chapter 176: Starting New Training (1)
Jumping down from here? Does that mean I should just hasten my death instead of stressing about it?
Alfoy asked with a trembling voice.
“What? Why? Why jump?”
The speed of the fall was increasing rapidly, making it hard to even open my eyes.
I was gripping the basket tightly, afraid I might bounce out at any moment, and now they wanted me to jump voluntarily!
I didn’t want to do something so terrifying.
But Kaor, as if there was no time to explain, spoke quickly.
“If we stay in here, we can’t see how far we are from the ground! If the timing is off when casting magic and we get tangled with the air pocket, who knows what could happen? It’s safer to cast it outside!”
That did make sense. Getting tangled with the balloon could be way more dangerous.
“Ah, fine! Then do I jump alone?”
“Are you insane? I’ll jump while holding you, so just do what I say!”
As soon as Kaor finished speaking, he grabbed Alfoy’s waist and jumped out of the balloon.
Jumping from high in the sky with no safety devices brought immense terror.
The strong wind hit Alfoy like a hammer, and he squeezed his eyes shut and screamed.
“Uwaaaaa! Save me!”
“Shut up! Please just shut it! I’ll check the distance, so when I signal, cast the magic right away! Got it? Stop flailing around! Where are you touching?”
“Uwaaaaa! Got it!”
Kaor narrowed his eyes and focused.
There could be no mistakes. Even a Swordmaster would struggle to survive from such a great height.
There was no need to endure until the last moment before hitting the ground. Just getting to a height that he could endure was enough.
His proficiency had risen during this training, so he could withstand a fair height with mana alone.
If all else failed, he was ready to accept a broken arm or so.
Bwoooom!
As they got closer to the ground, their falling speed picked up even more. Just blinking once made the ground come rushing up.
Kaor, having meticulously calculated the distance, yelled as soon as they reached a survivable height.
“Now!”
Alfoy, who had been tightly shutting his eyes, heard Kaor’s signal and extended his hand, unleashing his mana.
He really put his all into it. Since learning magic, he had never cast it with this much desperation.
The probability of failing increases when concentration wavers, but like the heir of the Mage Tower, Alfoy succeeded, risking his life to do so.
Thud!
The bodies of the two suspended in the air suddenly came to a halt.
“Gah!”
“Ewww!”
With the direction of the force abruptly changing, there was no way their bodies felt fine. They screamed as they endured pain like their heads had been smashed with a hammer, and their insides felt crushed.
But it was better than hitting the ground and getting smashed.
Feeling a sense of success, Kaor pulled every bit of mana he had.
Now, he just needed to brace for the impact with the ground using his body as a shield.
That should work, but…
Bwooooom!
The two of them were being propelled back upward at speed.
“Huh? Huh? Hey, stop! Stop it, you crazy guy!”
Alfoy felt his mind slipping due to the shock hitting his body.
Since he had his eyes shut, he had no idea how far they were from the ground.
Casting magic with all his might to save his life turned out to be the problem.
“Stop it! You idiot!”
At Kaor’s shout, Alfoy suddenly came to his senses. But they had already risen to an incredible height.
“S-sorry… I accidentally put too much power into it…”
“Enough! Get your head straight! We almost succeeded, so let’s do it again! I’ll signal again…”
“Sorry… I’m all out of mana now…”
“What?”
“I used too much mana during the demonstration earlier… Now, I’m too strained to cast magic… Kugh…”
As he hung his head, tears streaming down his face, Alfoy sounded like he had already given up on survival.
Kaor seethed with rage. It was infuriating to waste their only chance like a fool.
“Hey! You idiot! You were supposed to just hover at the right speed and stop!”
“I’m sorry… It was too scary… But at least I’m not alone, so I don’t feel so lonely on the way down… Let’s die together…”
“Shut your mouth! I’m not dying!”
Kaor gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on Alfoy.
‘How did I survive until this point to end up here like this!’
He had just barely learned the Mana Circulation Method and swordsmanship, and it felt so unjust to die now.
But they had risen way too high. If they crashed down like this, their bodies would be nothing but bits.
A choice had to be made. Should they both die, or risk saving at least one of them?
‘Damn it!’
He thought about using Alfoy as a cushion to endure, but he quickly abandoned that idea.
Not out of pity, but because Alfoy was too weak and couldn’t even serve as a proper cushion.
Trying wouldn’t make a difference; Alfoy couldn’t withstand the impact, so they’d die together.
‘Stupid bastard! Can’t even use magic properly! Dumber than Vanessa!’
Cursing internally, Kaor adjusted his posture.
He could strengthen his body with mana. His skills had improved since, and if he fell while absorbing the shock, Alfoy might just survive by some stroke of luck.
‘There’s no need for both of us to die. I was thinking of going down together, but if you can live, then do it. You may be an idiot, but you’d still be more useful than me.’
Resolute, he raised his head and noticed people running in the distance.
But what good would it do? There was nothing they could do in a situation like this.
Seeing Giselle, Belinda, and Gillian leading the charge, Kaor silently bid farewell.
“Butler, I’m sorry for bothering you every day. Take care of yourself. I don’t have any money, but you can have the leftover alcohol in my room. Consider it a parting gift.”
“Old man, I wanted to have a round before I left, but it looks like I can’t after all. You know I’d win if we fought, right?”
“My lord, it was fun hanging out. I’ve improved a little, but it looks like I’ll die without even using it.”
“It’s a pity, but I have no regrets. It was somewhat fun.”
His body was about to crash into the ground and be completely obliterated.
Kaor closed his eyes. A single tear glistened at the corner of his eye.
“Grandma, I’ll be seeing you soon.”
As he gave up on living and focused on raising his mana to try and save Alfoy, Giselle’s voice rang out loudly.
“Kaor! Relax! Sink your mana!”
‘Why? What for? Just tell me to die?’
Confused but instinctively obeying Giselle’s command, Kaor acted on the conditioning from getting beat up by her countless times.
Swoosh!
Giselle extended her hand toward the two, unleashing a thread of mana.
With acceleration in play, her strength would be insufficient to catch them. Instead, she unleashed all her might, exploding to the third core level to catch the two.
Thud!
He felt the threads of mana strain and snap under the pressure. But the speed of their fall had clearly slowed.
“Kaor! Toss Alfoy!”
At Giselle’s shout, Kaor flung Alfoy away without a moment’s hesitation.
He had wanted to do that all along, so there was no second-guessing. That guy was practically begging to die.
Giselle continued to pour out mana with both hands, reducing the descent speed of Kaor and Alfoy.
“Gillian! Belinda!”
As Giselle finished her words, Gillian and Belinda leaped into the air.
Gillian caught Kaor and immediately threw him to the ground to disperse the shock.
Thud!
“Keck! Old man, you!”
Kaor screamed as pain struck his entire body. Gillian chuckled and landed safely, surrounding himself with mana.
But Belinda had a harder time handling Alfoy than Gillian did.
Alfoy was one of the weakest in the territory. At his level of frailty, simply crashing down like Kaor might very well kill him.
“Ow!”
Belinda snapped, grabbing Alfoy and twirling them both in mid-air several times.
After relieving some of the impact, she landed, and Alfoy sank down, shouting.
“I-I survived! I’m alive! Thank you, Butler! Hahaha! I’m alive!”
“Hahaha! My lord is truly amazing! Well done, old man! Cough!”
Kaor and Alfoy lay sprawled on the ground, laughing without a care in the world. How could they not be joyful after escaping death?
Giselle let out a sigh of relief and approached the two, asking.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
Kaor and Alfoy pointed at each other as they spoke.
“It’s that idiot’s fault! That stupid bastard can’t even do magic properly!”
“That guy suggested we go up first! He’s such a bad guy!”
As she broke up the squabbling, Giselle shook her head after hearing the situation.
It seemed that as the altitude increased, the air pockets of the balloon had failed to hold.
Since they had gone above the agreed-upon safety altitude, it couldn’t be said to be solely the balloon’s fault.
Those two were the ones who had recklessly invited danger.
But accidents can happen anytime, anywhere. Given the height, if something went wrong, the risks were severe, so safety measures needed to be reinforced.
A moment later, as the dwarves who had landed the balloon approached timidly to inspect it, it was understandable they’d be feeling humbled.
“What went wrong?”
“It’s unclear if it was due to the wind at the high altitude or if the air was too hot… But anyway, the connecting joints of the air pockets tore, and the fabric ripped too.”
In response to Giselle’s question, Galbarik answered respectfully. He had gone from being confrontational to humble now that the situation was unfavorable.
Giselle nodded several times before continuing.
“It’s confirmed that we can reach the desired height without issues, but it’s still better to reinforce it. Make air pockets in triplets and wrap the outside with nets as a precaution. Think of ways to make other parts stronger and safer as well.”
“Understood.”
After delegating the balloon reinforcement and additional production to the dwarves, Giselle looked around and spoke.
“Alright, there was a minor accident, but you all saw that flying is still okay, right? These two just pushed it too far, so no need to worry if you ascend at a safe level. If anyone wants to ride next time, feel free to say so.”
The people shook their heads, laughing. No one wanted to try anything so dangerous.
Amidst the awkward atmosphere, those who had finished the cleanup began to leave one by one.
They had wasted too much time watching the balloon incident alongside their already busy work.
Claude returned to his office, chatting animatedly with Wendy.
“Dwarves don’t make things perfectly, do they? Don’t you think so? This seems kind of crappy, right?”
“…Chief Officer, wait a moment.”
“Isn’t the dwarven reputation just a bubble? Like, ‘You guys may be short, but you’re handy’? They’re just trying to package the race as a whole… Ah, why are you pushing me! Walk slower! My legs hurt!”
Wendy shoved Claude and quickly left the area. But the dwarves had already overheard all that bickering.
“Ugh… It’s so humiliating.”
Galbarik bit his lip several times.
The first creation made in this territory had failed.
Of course, it was true that Kaor and Alfoy had gone too high, but it couldn’t be denied that they hadn’t predicted such risks after several safety tests.
This was a mistake that could never be forgiven for skilled dwarves, a deep-seated error.
“Come on, let’s hurry and go. We need to make it perfect, even if we have to work all night.”
At Galbarik’s words, the dwarves resolutely nodded.
At this point, it wasn’t just about the amount of work; it was about their pride as dwarves.
Giselle didn’t scold the dwarves too harshly because she understood their temperament well.
On the way back to the workshop, Galbarik aimlessly kicked at the ground.
“Ugh, look at this dust. We need to sprinkle some water. Does it ever rain in this town? It’s dirt dust everywhere.”
The weather had been feeling exceptionally dry lately. It seemed like it hadn’t rained for quite some time, yet nobody seemed to care.
Even when asked, most people said it had worsened a little compared to before, but there wasn’t a significant change.
“Why is it getting hotter?”
Accustomed to the temperature, dwarves were especially sensitive to weather changes.
They had heard the north was cool, yet it felt nothing but hot and dry. It was no different from desert weather.
He knew the land was barren, but it felt oddly worse than when they first arrived.
“Tch, I don’t know how everyone has been living here. Ah, but I also have to keep living here. I really hate it.”
Galbarik, who’d come from the warm, pleasant south, was struggling to adapt to the northern environment.
“Sigh, the weather is filthy, the work is filthy, this really is a wretched place. Ah, the Chief Officer keeps getting more annoying the more I think about it.”
Galbarik’s grumbling didn’t cease until they reached the workshop.
In reality, it wasn’t so much the weather that bothered him but the bitter disappointment from failing with the balloon.
He had no place to vent his frustration, so he just used the weather as an excuse.
As the dwarves resumed making the balloon, Giselle sought out the resting knights.
“Did everyone rest well? We’re starting new training now. There isn’t much time left.”
With that, the knights doubted their ears. Had they even rested long enough to start training again?
To be honest, they really didn’t want to.
A few brave souls raised their hands and shouted.
“We’re fine!”
“We have plenty of time!”
Giselle grinned and shook her head.
“No, I’m not fine. We don’t have time. Everyone gather up.”
‘If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have taken up being a knight.’
The knights stood up tearfully, moving sluggishly from their spots.
