CH 9

Strength··· It was overflowing!

It didn’t even feel like it was my body. So light!

I felt as if even the slightest swing of my fist would release a wind pressure.

Magic power was overflowing beyond control.

I think I can get rid of that demon.

「Ice Divergence (Ice Attribute, ★1)」

A cold chill flowed through my entire body. Wrapping my entire body in cold air increased subsequent ice magic output.

It was a level of mastery that I could never hope to achieve if I were the ordinary Isaac, but with the current me, it was possible.

[Hmm!!]

The demon,[Pernicus of Contemplation], emanated a keen sense of vigilance. He poured out his magic and created a black [Ice Spear] in the air.

「Ice Spear (Ice attribute, ★4 )」+ 「Black Ice (Ice attribute, ★5 )」

= 「Black Ice Spear (Ice Attribute)」

A huge [Ice Spear] menacingly ripped the air and the target was me.

Despite its incredible speed, avoiding it was futile.

The [Ice Spear] had a limited attack area. Its purpose was to be sent flying and stabbing with its tip. When facing huge monsters, it was a useful tool.

But, Pernicus used the [Ice Spear] for interpersonal use.

Obviously, if I avoid the [Ice Spear], I will use the tactic of blasting the ice pieces in all directions by blowing up the dark attribute mana planted in the [Ice Spear] in advance.

It was an attack pattern that was difficult to avoid.

But what about me now?

‘I am a thug limited to demons’ and the [Ice Spear] doesn’t hurt.

I spread my palms and generously poured mana forth. As the skill tree increased to +10, I was able to use magic that I couldn’t usually use.

I swung my arm. Let’s do it.

──Dead deed deed deed—!

Following the movement of my hand, a massive [Ice Wall] spread out.

「Ice Wall (Ice Attribute, ★4)」

Kaang—!!

The [Ice Spear] failed to pierce the solid [Ice Wall].

After hearing the sound of the two magic colliding, I jumped off the cliff.

Vroom-! {it’s a sound imitation of something flying}

“Oh!” ( (Good job!)

My body leaped like a ball. For a while, it was like floating in midair.

Exciting…! This dizzying feeling, like bungee jumping…!

As adrenaline and dopamine were released, the feeling of excitement surged.

I canceled the [Ice Wall]. The gigantic ice wall instantly quickly disintegrated into powder that flew away while emitting blue light. The blue light that had engulfed my surroundings was simply spectacular.

In it, I was flying toward Pernicus.

[Hmm?!!]

Just from his expression, Pernicus seems surprised.

He hastily attempted to use his magic, but it was too late.

As I flew towards him, I poured ice mana into my right hand.

A blue magic circle appeared in front of my palm, and mana began to condense as I reached out my hand in Pernicus’ direction.

When I finally reached the enemy’s nose, at last, the Mana condensed together and erupted.

─────────「Ice Explosion (Ice Attribute), ★5」

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa────!!

Ice exploded in all directions and surged toward him.

Ice Attribute Nation Magic, [Ice Explosion].

A misty cold air spread and the explosive flood of ice engulfed Pernicus.

The enormous block of ice created by the [Ice Explosion] initially appeared to cover the Delphine Forest before rising off the ground and extending pointedly and diagonally toward the sky.

I landed softly on the ground and rose.

“Whoa.” (purr···.)

My sigh became a cold chill that permeated the air.

I lowered my hand and turned to face Pernicus, who was trapped in the ice block. Trapped inside a block of ice, he seemed to be in pain.

Slowly, I clenched my right hand.

crackling sound—-

Kwajajak-!

Then, the huge block of ice shattered.

It dissipated into a beautiful blue powder before the fragments flew around and Pernicus fell to the floor coughing up blood…

[Huh…, um…]

…with the expressions of a failed philosopher who couldn’t find the answer he wanted no matter how much he repeated his thoughts.

Pernicus turned to gray powder and scattered away in the wind.

“…….”

It is done. I succeeded in preventing the bad ending.

I felt such a strong wave of relief that it made my entire body shiver.

I’m glad…

A system window then appeared in front of my eyes.

This time, there wasn’t any special achievement, but there was one other thing.

A black, finger-sized, spherical jewel fell on the spot where Pernicus turned to grey powder and vanished. It was the reward for defeating Pernicus.

I picked it up and put it in my pocket.

[You have obtained the loot [Remnants of Darkness]!]

[Remnants of Darkness]

: It gives dark mana to the user’s basic elemental magic to learn new elemental magic.

Rating: Tier 1

Remnant of darkness, it was mine now.

The Main Character?

Why would such a pathetic bastard need something like this?

Anyway, his level has significantly increased. On the day of the entrance ceremony, he was level 32… Because he is the main character, his growth rate was fast.

He chose Fire as an attribute other than Light. I’m glad it didn’t overlap. …No, if my second attribute is Fire, it will overlap. I can only hope that I am not of the Fire attribute.

After obtaining Hilde’s Frost Scythe, I will need to acquire the final weapon of the second attribute that I will learn later. It was better if it didn’t overlap with Ian.

…Ah, now my body is getting heavy. It seems that I have returned to my normal state.

It was as if I had been wearing a sandbag all the time, and then took it off for a very short time and refilled it while enjoying the sense of freedom.

It seems my skills have returned to normal…

No. My total magic power increased by 10, and [Elemental Firepower] increased from D to D+.

Apparently, my stats had improved while dealing with Tristan Humphrey and [Pernicus of Contemplation].

It was small, but it felt good.

“···Who are you?”

“Huh?” (Greung?)

I forgot. There was Luce here too…

She was glaring at me with a wary face.

“Are you a monster?”

I’m sure I look like a dangerous monster right now, but she still calmly asked what my identity was.

No matter what answer I gave, she would only hear ‘Greung’ or ‘Guwaak’.

It was best to run away quickly. Now that the big job was done, I needed to collect a little more mana grains.

I was going to collect as many mana grains as possible till the end of this class assignment evaluation.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to be concerned about being looked at suspiciously even though a Grade E student like myself made it through the lengthy class assignment evaluation. Who survived and the scores were kept a secret.

Unless someone like Tristan was bragging about it.

Luckily, he’s got a lot of pride, so he won’t go around bragging about how he was robbed.

I turned my back on Luce and started running quickly.

“Wait a minute!”

「Water Creation (Water Attribute, ★1 )」

“Whoa!” (Guwak!)

Splashh-!

Tuk─

A pillar of water sprang up at my feet. I was taken aback by surprise.

It was Luce’s magic. I didn’t know that she would try to tie my feet…

“Name···. What is your name?”

“…….”

Why are you asking a grunting monster for his name?

“Greung.” (Greung.)

It was going to sound like ‘Greung’ or ‘Guwaak’ anyway, so I just answered with a cry.

Then I started moving my feet again. Fortunately, Luce didn’t stop me anymore.

“…Greung.”

For some reason, Luce kept replaying the sound of my cry.

I ignored it and continued to run into the pitch-black jungle. I had to get out of here and search for the mana grains.

When I had run quite a distance, I removed my magic camouflage.

Now, if I put this camouflage suit into the magic pouch, it was evidence destruction.

Every time I saw this large piece of clothing fit into a small pocket, I was amazed. They say it’s a storage spell, but I don’t know the principle. Anyway, the magic pouch was a really convenient item…

…where did it go?

‘Where did the magic pouch go?’

It wasn’t there. My clothes had no magic pouch, no matter where I looked.

I took a deep look at my memory. Probably… before running away from Luce, when she used the [Water Generation] magic, I heard a ‘tuk’ sound…

Was it then…!

‘Ah, I have to go again.’

Darkness filled the sky, and the place where I briefly stopped because of Luce’s magic was on the dark side. That’s why I probably didn’t notice the magic pouch falling…

How do I go back and pick it up?

Is Luce still there? If she is, would it be better to go back in camouflage and pick up the pouch?

No. That’s unnatural. The monster that fled after defeating the demon returned to retrieve something. It was strange. Luce would undoubtedly find it odd.

Besides, I wondered if she would let me go. If I get caught by my ankles, then it’s my end. There’s no way I can resist her questioning, and it’s only a matter of time before she finds out that the clothes I’m wearing are magic camouflage.

If that’s the case, it’s a bit of a risky gamble…

I have no choice but to go as Isaac and pick it up naturally. Falling down pretending to be surprised, sneaking back, secretly picking up the magic pouch, and running away.

According to my memory, Luce doesn’t touch Ian. This is because she had already accumulated enough points, and her head was filled with thoughts about the demon.

Besides, she was a person who had no interest in other people. She didn’t even know who was the student with Grade E magic power and didn’t even try to find out until the story of <Marchen’s Magic Knight> was over.

She wouldn’t have any doubts about the fact that I, a Garde E, still survived.

In other words, it was worth betting that she didn’t care about weaklings like me.

I hid the magic camouflage suit I had taken off in the grass and headed back to the place where I fought Pernicus.

━─━─━━─━「₪」━━─━─━─━

Luce required some time to collect her thoughts and stand still.

A monster that just left. He was strong enough to crush the demon who was the cause of Luce’s hardships with one strike. In common sense, she shouldn’t have caught or chased a monster that strong.

If the madness and hostility he exuded had been directed at her, it would have had irreversible and disastrous consequences.

But Luce mustered up the courage to stop the monster once and for all. She wanted to ask for his name.

For a moment she regretted why she had done such a foolish thing. Anxiety swept over her that she might be fighting the monster.

But the monster quietly left. It was a relief.

“Greung…”

Luce recalled his answer.

Greung. It was called Greung.

Of course, she knew it was just a cry. However, not knowing what to call it properly, she decided to call it ‘Greung’.

‘What is his true identity…?’

Luce posed a question At this point, the answer was unknown.

She then heard the grass rustling. It was the direction that the monster took when it vanished.

Could it be that ‘Greung’ has returned? Luce took a look quickly in the direction of the sound.

“Crap!”

···It wasn’t. It was an ordinary male student.

A man with silver hair and red eyes with a slightly bluish aura under the moonlight.

As soon as he saw Luce, he fell backward in surprise and fell down on his butt.

Luce couldn’t hide her disappointment.

She had already earned enough points. Because no one could match her.

Probably this guy was also a trivial type.

Besides, her head was full of thoughts about the demons and the Greung. She didn’t have time to worry about a frail-looking guy.

“To-, Top…!” {T/N:- He was trying to say Top Seat}

It’s noisy, don’t make a fuss and just go. Luce frowned.

Did he notice her frowning expression? The student with blue-silver hair crept back with a terrified face as if he had seen a ghost.

Then, he quickly got up and started running.

“…….”

Luce looked at Ian, who was still unconscious.

He looks like he’ll be fine. She walked away, leaving Ian unattended.

– – – End of Chapter – – –