The Mist Vol 3 Chapter 20

Vol 3 Chapter 20

"Hey... Kap, do I really, absolutely have to do this together..."

'...Mana injection.'

Woong!

As Kapros completed the mana injection, which had become easier to use since learning the technique, he felt a slight drain of energy from his body, and the blade was enveloped in a shimmering, transparent aura. To fully understand the effects of this mana injection, which looked like a very thin film of water coating the sword, Kran had been acting as Kapros's opponent since yesterday.

"Sigh..."

As Kapros wiggled the mana-infused sword as if to say 'what are you doing?', Kran, who had regained his original complexion after turning pale and sighing deeply, gripped his sword tightly.

"Alright. Let's just do it. Come on!"

Soon, Kran's sword was enveloped in a white aura with a resonant sound. In fact, when they first faced off yesterday, he hadn't produced such an aura. It was based on the judgment that a mage like Kapros wielding a sword wouldn't actually deal much damage.

But the moment they clashed, according to Kran's description, he felt a pressure that was no joke and made a fuss about his grip feeling like it was being torn apart. After that, he began to face Kapros seriously with his aura activated.

"Here I come."

Kapros slowly approached Kran, who was holding a sword that shone as if it could be used as a flashlight in the dark. Since he wasn't attacking with full force but wanted to experiment with various effects of this skill, there was no need to rush.

When Kapros struck Kran's sword with normal force, he felt a small splash at the point of contact, like a stone hitting water, and both of them were pushed back slightly with a 'pang' sound.

"This is almost the same as a normal aura. The repulsive force and such."

"Hmm..."

After that, Kapros tried striking again without mana injection, but this time Kran's sword easily deflected his without any pushback.

"Ugh."

Additionally, Kapros felt a slight pain in his hand holding the sword.

"Are you okay?"

Kran, who had slightly winced when Kapros struck despite it being nothing serious, asked while looking at Kapros's hand. This guy was asking the same thing today as he did yesterday. It was just a playful movement for the sake of experimenting, but Kran kept asking every time, and now Kapros didn't even want to bother answering out loud.

Kapros nodded his head vigorously to indicate he was fine, then opened the Magic Sword Mastery section of Superior's Ma-Rakian swordsmanship again.

The strength supplementation and shock absorption aspects had been sufficiently proven by yesterday and today's experiments. The moment Kapros held the mana-infused sword, there was almost no difference in power when clashing swords with Kran, and he felt almost no shock. Moreover, he could easily stab the sword into the ground or rocks and pull it out with just a little force, so it had resolved many issues even excluding the stamina disadvantage.

It was truly an amazing power. Although Kran grumbled that it was a cheat skill, it wasn't something that could be used easily all the time. The initial injection required much more mana than expected. Feeling the energy drain from his body was almost similar to continuously casting 5th circle spells. Also, in this state, it was very cumbersome to maintain concentration and use magic simultaneously.

That point was something that could be somewhat resolved with practice, but...

While thinking this and slowly clashing swords with Kran at a leisurely pace, when Kapros felt he had gotten a good feel for it, he signaled to stop. Kran, looking relieved, withdrew his aura and plopped down.

"Whew... That was tough."

Kapros asked with a smirk.

"What was tough for you?"

Kran also grinned, showing his white teeth.

"It really was tough. No matter how slow, when you attack, I reflexively want to strike back, and do you know how hard it is to hold that back? I have to restrain the strength in my arms."

Hmm... Is that so?

As Kapros was nodding, Kran, who had been sitting down, suddenly raised his head and spoke with sparkling eyes.

"By the way, Kap. You seemed to swing without hesitation today, are you in good condition?"

"Huh?"

Turning his head at the unexpected words, Kapros saw Kran wearing a somehow happy expression.

"You've been hesitating a lot until now. Your expression wasn't good either. But today, there's none of that."

"..."

Kapros was at a loss for words. Should he say Kran was quick on the uptake? Kran had very lightly caught on to the change in Kapros, who had taken a big step forward in exchange for facing a crisis. He wouldn't even know what had happened.

"Ha..."

Finally letting out a laugh as if deflating, Kapros extended his hand to Kran. Kran carefully took it and stood up.

"You're right. I've changed."

Kran nodded at Kapros's words.

"I told you. As expected, my eye for..."

"...And I'll keep changing in the future."

"Huh?"

Kran asked again, probably not having heard properly because he was rambling, but Kapros didn't feel the need to repeat himself.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing..."

"It wasn't nothing!"

As Kapros tried to walk away, ignoring Kran's voice calling out while following him, suddenly the voice he had heard before, sounding as if it was resonating in his head, rang out.

[Descendants of heroes.]

'Ilumine...!'

Kapros stopped walking and listened to the voice, and Ilumine continued.

[If you heard that, the path is open again, so come quickly.]

"..."

"...That person always has such a different tone between the first words and what follows, doesn't she?"

It was a statement that couldn't be denied at all.

The cave was wide open as if it had never been blocked, just as Ilumine had said. As they entered, Ilumine opened her mouth calmly, with a face devoid of even a hint of a smile, as always.

"You're here."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry about earlier. Something sudden came up, so I had no choice but to close it."

"It's alright."

Kapros had decided to remain indifferent to Ilumine's eccentricities from now on.

At his response, Ilumine nodded slightly, then pointed her finger in front of her. Assuming it meant to sit, Kapros took a seat, and immediately an out-of-the-blue statement flowed out.

"I raised this forest."

"...Pardon?"

As Kran asked in bewilderment, Ilumine narrowed her eyes.

"I said I raised it."

"Uh..."