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Emerging from the gigantic Ice Cave, I was greeted by an overwhelming silence. The snowy mountains, devoid of even the slightest breeze, resembled a painting, frozen in time as if it had halted altogether.

The blizzard that had obscured my vision had also vanished. I looked down at the vast snowy expanse. The golden sunlight pouring down from the cloudless blue sky slid across the pure white ice, like a smooth gliding.

It was the adventurers, covered in the white frost of the fallen snow, that had begun to bask in the sunlight. They were frozen in position, as if they were decorations inside the large Ice Cave, likely unaware of their grim fate.

As the golden light illuminated the newly born ice formations, a Cold Chill brushed against my cheeks. The wind that had seemed to freeze along with the snowy mountains had returned.

At that moment, I heard the sound of crunching snow not far from here. It was not the presence of the boy who had introduced himself as a remnant of Kashpa. That Giant Presence had already vanished from these snowy mountains.

Then, who could it be?

I turned around, my partner Nightmare at my side.

“Haah…”

A puff of mist escaped the man’s lips. A rather young man, he approached slowly with a weary expression.

He was dressed not for ascending cold snowy mountains. He bore no sword on his back or waist. If asked if he had any other weapons, the answer would be no.

It seemed he needed no ordinary weapon. After all, this man, who had now revealed himself, was a Wizard.

A thin veil of mana enveloped his body, pushing away the surrounding Chill.

“Golden-haired like threads, green eyes shining, and a girl smaller than a boy of the same age…”

As I closed the distance between us, he began describing my features.

“May I ask, are you Seris?”

A strange hostility emanated from the man. Even if I denied it, he seemed already convinced I was Seris. I placed my hand on the sword at my back and questioned him.

“Who are you?”

“An Imperial Wizard from the Mage Tower. I’m Leonis.”

“Imperial…?”

As Leonis continued speaking, he brushed off the snow clinging to him and retrieved a cigarette, placing it between his lips. In that moment, a small light flickered at the tip of the cigarette, and it ignited naturally.

The white smoke from the cigarette melded with his breath. When the mixed mist was carried off by the wind, he opened his mouth.

“They say someone impersonated a Mage from the Tower?”

“That is…”

“Will you come along quietly?”

They say a long tail gets caught, right?

I swallowed hard and drew my sword. With a shrill sound, the sword reflected sunlight, scattering a white glare across the snow.

It was awkward to say otherwise. In truth, I had been impersonating a Mage from the Tower. I spun the mana circle in my heart and asked Leonis.

“What kind of experience should I expect if I comply?”

“Do you truly intend to follow quietly?”

“If my treatment isn’t bad, I might consider it.”

“How brazen.”

“I apologize for impersonating a Mage from the Tower. But I really am a Wizard, you know?”

“Save your excuses for the Tower. There’s no Mage named Seris among them. Moreover, there’s no Wizard as young as you.”

I cautiously patted Nightmare, who was huffing beside me. It seemed he was reacting to Leonis’s hostility and getting agitated.

“This is my last offer, Seris. If you don’t want to get hurt, come with me quietly.”

“No way.”

At my refusal, Leonis’s eyebrows twitched violently. The smoke rising from his mouth began to scatter in the wind again.

A strange silence filled the air as tension rose. Keeping an eye on Leonis, I took the chance when the white smoke obscured his vision, quickly jumping onto Nightmare’s back.

I figured if I fled on Nightmare, I could easily shake off that Wizard named Leonis. It seemed Nightmare understood my intentions, as he stomped powerfully on the ground.

With a loud pavabakh!, the snow and ice beneath us shattered, creating a white snowstorm.

At that moment, a sharp sound pierced through the air, and a flash flew towards me from below Nightmare’s feet. Simultaneously, the flow of mana felt around us drastically shifted.

An inexplicable foreboding washed over me, and instinctively, I leaped off Nightmare.

Paarak!

Just as I jumped from Nightmare’s back, a blue barrier surged up from the ground, forming a pyramid shape that trapped Nightmare.

Hee hee hee!

I landed on the white snow and watched Nightmare closely. Trapped on all sides, he was frantically raising his front legs and pounding against the mana barrier.

But the barrier, covering every side, remained unmoved by Nightmare’s attacks.

“You’re perceptive.”

I exhaled softly and glared at Leonis. He frowned while holding a small iron rod in his hand.

That rod seemed to be the item used to capture Nightmare. A quick glance at the ground revealed another one of the same kind lodged there.

That was the moment I took my eyes off Leonis. Suddenly, a gust of wind slapped my cheek, and Leonis’s figure, once distant, was now right in front of me.

Our gazes locked in midair. The heavily drawn fist of Leonis glimmered with blue mana, signaling the impending action.

Our eyes met in the void. The small girl reflected in Leonis’s eyes raised her sword with a flustered expression.

His swiftly approaching fist aimed at my chest, but I managed to block the attack with my hastily lifted sword.

Thunk!

The impact was substantial, making me frown in disbelief. As my body was slightly pushed back by the immense force, fine threads of mana began to weave a thin barrier around me.

This was an unexpected attack method. I had assumed Wizards in this world would naturally resort to long-range bombardments; however, Leonis took an entirely different combat approach.

Even now, at this moment, Leonis did not cease his advancing attack. With explosive speed, he charged forward again, his fist swinging furiously.

Reacting to him, I also thrust my fist forward. The mana enveloping my body enhanced my physical strength, and just before our fists collided, the emblem of the great warrior activated, fortifying my power once more.

Daaang!

In the split second our fists met, I realized my strength was greater. Witnessing Leonis’s startled expression as he was slightly pushed back, I couldn’t help but smile in victory.

However, in that moment, a sudden shock slammed into my head. My vision blurred and I momentarily lost strength. Leonis seized the opportunity.

With no hesitation, both of his fists lunged at me. Although they aimed at my defenseless self, I quickly recovered from the shock. I tilted my head up and swiftly launched my body backward.

Fwaam!

Leonis’s punches swung through the empty air. His mana-infused fists glowed bright blue.

He rushed forward like a relentless storm. As I stayed a step back, judging his power, he too exhaled sharply while eyeing me.

At that moment, mana began to concentrate around Leonis’s left and right sides. The formed construct resembled elongated sticks.

They say there’s nothing new under the sky…

Sighing briefly, I rubbed my aching head. That bizarre jolt from before must have been that Magic Missile.

I aimed my sword and gathered a small amount of mana in mid-air. Starlight Mana crystallized, taking on an elongated shape. From it, I conjured a spell that I named Magic Missile.

Leonis’s eyebrows twitched. It seemed he was quite surprised that I created a spell resembling the one he used.

“What a suspicious fellow…”

In the moment Leonis’s voice scattered into the air, he shot forward rapidly. The white snow exploded around him. In that instant, Leonis and I swung our respective swords and fists at each other.

Narrowly avoiding the wildly swung sword, Leonis lowered his stance. I immediately unleashed my mana, twisting the trajectory of my sword.

Clang!

At the moment our sword and fist collided, a surge of pressure erupted forcefully. Right after, two Magic Missiles created by Leonis zoomed swiftly toward me, seemingly targeting my position. Simultaneously, I also sent forth two Magic Missiles I had conjured.

Bang!

The separate streams of mana clashed, creating a tempest of blue mana. As the two spells perished, the resulting wind brushed against me just as a new mana projectile flew in from the gap.

It was the third attack spell that had gone unseen. I too quickly conjured a new Magic Missile to counter it.

Bang!

Leonis, who had been stoic, finally showed a shocked expression, but I realized that his surprise was not genuine. Behind the fading mana afterimage, I could feel the emergence of yet another Magic Missile.

This guy naturally deceives the opponent and conceals his true abilities while doing so. Immediately, I pulled forth a new stream of mana in response to the Magic Missiles Leonis created.

The fourth and fifth Magic Missiles collided and disappeared. Yet even amidst this magical duel, the physical clash did not relent. Fists and swords rained down upon each other while cutting through our mana barriers. At that moment, the final fifteenth Magic Missile extinguished.

Behind the scattering blue mana, Leonis’s frozen expression became evident. He seemed unable to conjure a new Magic Missile, while I still retained my composure.

Mana began to coalesce in mid-air, giving rise to the sixteenth and seventeenth Magic Missiles. Soon enough, they grew to twenty altogether.

Fwoosh!

As the rapidly flying Magic Missiles battered Leonis’s body, the blue mana barriers began to break, forcing his body backward.

Not wasting a moment, I extended my hand toward Leonis’s chest. The small palm of my gauntlet made contact with his chest, sending a surge of mana flooding into him.

When two differing kinds of mana intersect, they clash vigorously. This instance was no different.

Boom!

With a loud thud, Leonis’s body was sent reeling back, scattering thin streams of blood. Watching him fly away, I instinctively realized it wasn’t over yet.

The moment I registered this, I dashed after Leonis, igniting blue lightning in both hands. As the lightning left my fingertips, it poured down upon Leonis’s body.

Crackle!

 

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