The guardian protecting the core was strong.
Whether it was because hundreds of evil spirits had merged into one, or because it was fighting by burning its own soul— it boasted strength equal to or even surpassing a living Aura Master.
It unleashed a Soul Blade similar to an Aura Blade for over ten meters, and since it was ghostly with no weight, its movements were insanely nimble.
For ordinary testers, having no weight would be a fatal weakness, but not for this evil spirit. As long as it possessed a blade imbued with the divine power to cut through anything.
‘This is fun.’
Kail smirked as he watched the evil spirit swing its sword at him. The surroundings were all enemies; even the ground he stood on was part of the evil spirit, hindering his movements.
After being hindered like that, the guardian’s blade would immediately target his body. To fight in such a situation required a new level of creative combat.
He kicked off the ground, created footholds in midair using Aura, stepped on the ceiling, and executed three-dimensional aerial techniques where up and down didn’t exist.
After a few minutes of dueling, Kail managed to defeat the guardian and successfully cut out the core.
─……I will never forget this.
“Oh, you’re coming again? Next time, come stronger.”
Leaving behind the cursing guardian that disappeared, Kail sliced through the collapsing void wall and escaped back to reality.
The real-world situation was quite serious too. The moment he cut out the core, a super-giant evil spirit began toppling forward.
In other words, Kail was plummeting from dozens of meters in the air.
“Damn─.”
As he collided with the ground, bracing himself by emitting Aura all over his body, Kail realized there was surprisingly little impact and slowly opened his eyes.
A pitch-black curse fired by the High Witch enveloped him, shielding him from the shock.
Kail turned his head toward the High Witch who had protected him. She was smiling ever so slightly.
Seeing her smile, he gave a thumbs-up, and upon seeing this, the High Witch cautiously returned the gesture.
Only Sera, standing beside her, tilted her head, unsure what was going on.
* * *
─You, how could youuuuu!
Returning to the hut with a satisfied expression after successfully exorcising the final evil spirit in the High Witch’s forest, the High Witch was met by Kail and Sera asking what she planned to do next.
“High Witch, what are your plans now?”
“Hmm. Well, the curse binding me has been lifted, so I’m thinking of traveling.”
“Traveling…?”
“Yes. Traveling.”
With Sera having a meltdown at the mere mention of a witch traveling, Kail cautiously expressed his concerns to the High Witch.
“You’re wanted, right? If you have nowhere to go, why don’t you come to the Academy? A Master-level sorcerer is always welcome.”
“It’s alright. I don’t feel like affiliating with anyone yet. And even though I’m wanted… no one knows my face, right?”
“Oh, right.”
When they first met the High Witch, neither of them knew Rizelotte was the High Witch. Considering she was wanted across the entire continent, it was quite strange.
In a way, it made sense. Though the High Witch was wanted, her face wasn’t known, so the wanted posters were entirely based on people’s imaginations.
Unless Rizelotte herself went around proclaiming she was the High Witch, no one would know.
“Here, take this.”
“Huh?”
Hearing that she was traveling, Kail quickly tossed a pouch from his pocket. It contained cash.
The High Witch looked at Kail as if to ask what this was, seeing the money-filled pouch. Kail shrugged nonchalantly and replied.
“You need money to travel, right? That’s enough for an ordinary person to live on for a whole month. Don’t get scammed and spend it wisely.”
“Oh my, thank you.”
Rizelotte stored the money pouch in her void space, then started rummaging inside her hut, feeling like she couldn’t just receive something without giving back.
After a while, she pulled out two very transparent and radiant orbs, and upon seeing them, Sera gasped.
“Th, that’s─!”
“Do you know what this is?”
“Of, of course! Essence that raises your level just by eating it…!”
“No one should know about this since I made them myself.”
“─Ah.”
Realizing belatedly that she had blurted out game knowledge, Sera clamped her mouth shut. But the High Witch, seemingly unconcerned, extended the two orbs to the two of them.
“Here, take these.”
“Is, is it really okay to accept them?”
“Of course. Thanks to you two, I can finally escape this dreadful forest.”
“Th, then while we’re at it, can I eat one now? Could you watch over me?”
“Go ahead.”
Upon hearing Rizelotte’s words, Sera immediately swallowed the orb and sat down to meditate.
Watching her, Rizelotte chuckled softly, then turned her body toward Kail.
“I prepared an extra gift for you.”
“Eh? For me?”
“Yes. Here.”
Kail tilted his head, looking at the pitch-black piece of paper handed to him by the High Witch. It was imbued with her thick magic power.
Wondering what it could be, he stared intently. Rizelotte carefully wrapped her hands around his and smiled.
“As long as you have this, I can find you anytime. When you want to talk to me, just infuse it with Aura.”
“Like a Viber card?”
“Viber… what?”
“There’s something like that. Anyway, never mind.”
Kail cautiously looked at Rizelotte. Her near-black purple hair, her emaciated face showing centuries of hardship, her bony limbs, her pathologically thin figure.
Even if Kail had been a man desperate for women, he’d hesitate at her appearance. But he wasn’t particularly desperate for women, especially with a beautiful fiancée who had a great chest waiting for him. He had no intention of cheating with the High Witch.
“Um, I have a fiancée.”
“What? Ahaha-! You think I’m seducing you now?”
“Isn’t that what’s happening?”
“The age difference… Even if you had a grandson my age, it wouldn’t be surprising.”
Realizing his rudeness, Kail felt ashamed. Of course, she hadn’t tried to seduce him, a guy hundreds of years younger than her.
Slightly bowing his head, Kail tucked the paper into his pocket and thanked her.
“Then this is purely goodwill. Thank you, I’ll treasure it.”
“That’s right. Call me when you’re in danger. Just as you saved me, I’ll save you too.”
“How often I’ll be in danger, I don’t know, but alright.”
Tucking the paper into his pocket, Kail asked just in case.
“About the essence you gave earlier, does it guarantee a level-up no matter who eats it?”
“Not exactly. It works only up to 3-star magicians. For a 4-star magician, their magic power will increase slightly, but they won’t reach Master level.”
“Right, otherwise Sera would’ve eaten two of them if eating more could make someone a Master.”
But Kail learned one thing. A 3-star magician could aim for a level-up by consuming it. And coincidentally, there was a magician struggling at the 3-star level around him.
‘…Her birthday is coming up soon.’
A perfect birthday gift. Thinking this, Kail waited for Sera to wake up.
* * *
“Wow, woww- wooooow!”
Sera woke up, showing shockingly excellent growth. The 2-star magician had become a 4-star magician after consuming just one essence.
Of course, this was considering only her magic power. Whether she could actually fight and win against a 4-star magician was another story.
She might have a fifty-fifty chance against a 3-star magician.
‘Impressive, whether in a good or bad way…’
The essence Sera consumed was extracted from the grudges of millions of evil spirits. In other words, millions of lives were sacrificed to create just one 4-star magician.
Considering that a 4-star magician could never defeat even thousands, let alone millions, this was inefficient garbage.
The Expert barrier. With Sera now close to becoming a magician, her nose shot up in arrogance, and she started ordering Kail around.
“Kail! Alright, next─.”
“Oh, I’m heading back home now.”
“……Eh?”
“Yuri’s birthday is coming up. I’ve already got her present. I need to patch things up with her. Time to head back.”
“……Wh, what about our affinity?”
“Huh? Isn’t this enough?”
Sera, once a 2-star magician, had become a 4-star Expert-level magician.
The High Witch, who had every reason to turn hostile, remained sane and became a reliable ally instead.
What greater affinity could there possibly be?
Unable to refute him, Sera muttered under her breath and nodded.
“…Well, I guess there’s nothing left for me to gain here anyway. Doesn’t matter.”
Sera pouted, clearly showing her dissatisfaction, but I paid no heed and climbed onto the carriage.
Heading home. Thinking of the people I haven’t seen in a while, I smiled faintly.
‘Private tutor, you’re screwed.’
