Hours passed, and Luz continued swinging his sword even though the sun had already gone down and the moon shone brightly over the sky as the burning torches lit up the place.
By now, every muscle of his body was aching, and even lifting his sword was a challenge to Luz. Entrenched in sweat, Luz gritted his teeth before swinging his sword against a tall wooden statue again.
"So tiring," stuttered Luz while leaning himself against the statue with closed eyes.
Unfortunally for him, some people enjoyed seeing others suffer, which is why it was no wonder that Alice immediately took the chance to whop his ass with a broom.
"No rest for you, darling,~" she commented with a grin before shifting her gaze towards the fight happening between Francis and Lewis that was still going on.
What happened up to this point were unserious spar fights.
Upon shifting focus to the males, Luz got immediately shocked. These two had their weapons coated in elements?
'Wasn't that Lewis utilized seconds before I gave up?' thought Luz in amazement as Anne commented casually, "These two are merely using gimmicks because the author needs fancy fights."
"Anne, what the hell are you talking about?" asked Alice. "These two coated their weapons with elemental spells. It may be stupid in fights since spells are more potent than mere coating one's weapon, but you completely disregarded why they are doing it."
"Well, why are they using it then?" Luz asked, and Alice immediately explained it to him while floating on a broom, "Well, they are training elemental control. You see, during a fight, you move very fast, and if you can keep your coating perfectly on your weapon while it clashes against another elemental, your fine control should be way above others."
With sparkling eyes, Luz watched how Francis coated his club with a small sheet of fire while Lewis coated his sword and shield with a small layer of water.
But what surprised Luz the most was how unusual Francis's coating behaved. 'Shouldn't fire be an unruly element, trying to expand everywhere, like it has its own will? Why the hell does it behave so calmly like Lewis's water coating!?'
Amazed by what he had seen, Luz wanted to give it a try and immediately raised his weapon while commenting, "Can I try it too?"
Yawning, Alice looked at Luz as she was curious to see if the young man could succeed on his first try, like most fantasy MCs. He should have a cheat skill, right, right?
"Give it a try, Luz. Remember, the proof of the pudding is in the eating," commented Anne in encouragement while giving him a thumbs-up.
Nodding, Luz narrowed his eyes while muttering, "[spatial distortion]," while focusing on his weapon.
Upon realizing that Luz was trying to wrap his weapon with space magic, Alice's black grimoire appeared in front of her. Horrified, she immediately summoned tens of barriers around Luz's weapon as it got shredded into thousands of flying projectiles, penetrating the barrier.
One … Two … Three … Four barriers broke before the projectiles came to a halt.
Shocked by what had just happened, Luz gulped before taking a step back and avoiding glancing into Alice's face.
The latter took a deep breath while trembling in shock. If Alice had acted even a second too slowly, all three of them would have died due to projectiles.
Before Luz could even utter any apology, Alice grabbed Luz's collar with a single hand before raising him up.
'Wait… HOW THE HELL HAS THE GIRL SUCH A STRENGTH!?' shot through Luz's head as he forced a smile upon his face before apologizing, "Sorry."
"Sorry, my ass. No offense but how stupid must you be to try it with space magic? HAVE YOU NOT BEEN TAUGHT THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER TRY USING NEW SPACE MAGIC SPELLS WITHOUT THE SUPERVISION OF A HIGHER RANKING MAGE!?" Alice yelled at him furiously while lowering Luz so that the two were of eye height. Her eyes were wide open in anger as Luz saw the darkness of the void in her eyes.
Scared shitless, Luz stuttered, "I'm sorry, but I never had a magic teacher till now."
Hearing his answer, Anne only grew more shocked. What kind of monster is Luz that he is still alive, without having lost a single finger while practicing space magic without supervision.
Shocked by Luz's statement, Alice let Luz fall to the ground before taking a seat.
"Hehe," commented Luz while looking down. 'That's right. Fear me, mortal. My talent is way above yours,' thought Luz while a smile going from one ear to the other plastered on his face.
Anne wasn't shocked, in the slightest, by what just happened and was rather excited upon finding out that Luz got so far without any teacher.
Her eyes were filled with greed as she saw all the potential opportunities for what the group could use Luz. 'That man… he is our gold mine… No, hehehehe. HE IS MY GOLD MINE. Wait. I gotta act otherwise.' went through her head as she slowly stood up.
With a big fat grin, Anne shouted to the two fighting parties, "FRANCIIIIIS!!!! MASTER BRIAN CAUGHT A LEGENDARY POKEMON. WE NOW HAVE A SPACE MAGE. WE CAN TRAIN HIM INTO OUR TELEPORTER."
"Really?!" shouted Francis while swinging his giant club towards Lewis, who jumped over it.
"YES!! DO YOU WANNA HEAR WHAT HE JUST TRIED," shouted Anne as she tried suppressing her laughter.
"Tell me, Anne. I'm curious. Did Luz try a new spell?" shouted Francis back while swinging his shield towards Lewis, who blocked it with his own one. But unfortunally, the physical difference between the two was immense, and Lewis got forced back.
"He tried coating his weapon in space magic," Anne shouted loudly, and the two were so baffled that they dropped their weapon before laughing.
"Luz. Space magic is one of the hardest things to tame/gain control over. Even Master Brian and Master Simon are struggling to have it fully under control," shouted Francis back before shaking his head at Luz's stupidity.
Afterward, the group chilled for another hour before Lewis and Luz left. To Lewis's surprise, Francis, the most unruly of their small group, was even ready to give Luz a few basic magic lessons.
On their way, Luz's body was aching from swinging the sword for the whole day.
"And was harassing me with stupid basic magic spells worth swinging your sword till night?" Lewis asked in amusement while seeing how Luz struggled following him on their way home.
"Yes, hehehe," yawned Luz with a smile while leaning against the wall. His whole body was trembling, and he was near his end.
"Anyway, if you can't keep up with me, I'll leave you here," commented Lewis before increasing his tempo.
Horrified, by his past experience of being alone in this city, Luz hastily stammered, "WAIT, you can't leave me here alone, Lewis, my dear brother."
"Well, what happens if I leave you here?" retorted Lewis, fed up with Luz's slow speed.
"Master Simon will kill you personally," laughed Luz with a grin while raising his chest.
After sighing, Lewis gave in and carried Luz via piggyback. "You really got no shame, blackmailing an innocent child with the heart of a maiden."
Shameless as Luz was, he replied with a frank, "Yes," before quickly adding, "After all, I gotta save my ass somehow. no matter what."
"Anyway, you gotta explain to me in depth what kind of experience you underwent, bro," Lewis remarked while carrying a man older than him on his back.
"Unfortunally, I'm not allowed to disclose anything that happened," replied Luz while winking with one eye.
"Stop lying," sighed Lewis before adding, "You probably just took some boring medicine, and that was it."
The two continued bickering till the duo reached the estate.
Meanwhile, even Lewis got tired, and the two immediately collapsed on the floor of their room upon opening the door.
"I like the cold," muttered Luz as the last ounce of strength left his tired body.
here is another chapter. Unfortunally the next few chapters will be about Luz working, or I might write about a chapter about the group hunting a few monsters before doing that.
Also, as always, thanks for any comments and powerstones. It seems like I'm no longer the top contributor to mah book, which I find cool hehehe.
"Wakie-Wakie, you two should be sleeping in your bed," whispered a feminine and seductive voice into Luz's ear.
After groaning in pain due to muscle soreness, Luz immediately rubbed his eyes before yawning loudly, "Lemme continue sleeping, Liv."
A chuckle escaped Deline's lip, and she sighed, "Fine. You two leave me no other option," before using a simple water spell, spraying water onto them. The two immediately woke up with bloody red eyes while staring at the head maid. The two haven't yet processed what just happened, and Deline used the moment to leave the room.
Halfawake Luz sat there and lamented why he even left Master Simon's place. 'It was so peaceful there, and I didn't even have to share my room. Also, I could sleep till midday, as Liv was a sleepyhead. Simon, that stingy mage definitely had some medicines against aching muscles.' Luz reached out to the distance and muttered in regret, 'Master Simon..... Please… save me. I miss your place,' before standing up.
Groaningly, the two changed their clothes before leaving for the canteen.
As always, Luz was amazed by the interior design of the mansion. In the end, Lewis had to drag Luz behind him by the collar as his attention was captured by every goddamn statue and portrait, no matter how ordinary it was.
"Why do I have to be responsible for such a person," lamented Lewis. His mood immediately improved the moment he reached the canteen.
Upon reaching the canteen, Luz was astonished by what he saw. He knew that Master Brian had many people working under him, but he underestimated it by a factor of three.
'Also, why are there so many females!? I haven't seen that many till now. Well, at least they look all beautiful. Wait a sec… If there are that many females… could it be that Master Brian has a harem!?' shot through Luz's head as he moved his gaze through the canteen.
Seeing Luz's shock, Lewis whispered to him: "Bro… stop staring at these girls and grab a plate. Get what you want since it won't cost you anything."
Nodding, Luz followed Lewis while staring with sparkling eyes at all the trays filled with food offered to them. 'Is that heaven?' went through his head before gulping down his drool. The smell made his stomach rumble, and foreign voices immediately echoed through his head.
Bug suddenly,「EAT」echoed through his head, and Luz merely shook his head, questioning himself, 'Am I schizophrenic, or do I hear voices cause I am tired? Well, whatever, I'm hungry.'
The two strolled through the cafeteria and picked any food that caught their interest onto their plate. The choices offered to them were enormous, as they could select between ten different types of main dishes.
Despite Luz giving his best, he failed to recognize most meals. 'From what kind of animal does this piece of meat belongs to, and what are those funny tentacle thing? What kind of vegetable is that? Also, what means vénomouse? Is that a dessert? Whatever… I'll try it,' thought Luz while picking every funny-looking dish he didn't recognize.
Upon reaching for a dish, Luz felt a strange impulse shooting through his body again. 「'THIS ONE. EAT IT.'」
Annoyed by what was happening, Luz gritted his teeth before thinking, 'I'LL LISTEN TO YOUR DEMANDS, THE MOMENT YOU PAY RENT FOR LIVING IN MY GODDAMN MIND, YOU FUCKING SQUATTER,' before picking the next thing onto his plate.
After picking a few meals, Luz realized something. The intensity of the impulses he felt varied from one meal to another. Nevertheless, Luz soon realized something interesting. The impulses he got from accepting vegetables were weaker compared to the rest.
Amused, he thought, 'Could it be that these funny voices in my head don't like vegetables?'
「'HIGH NUTRITION BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL,'」echoed through his mind. Luz shook his head at such an absurd answer. 'I LIKE YOUR FUNNY WORDS, SCHIZOPHRENIC VOICES IN MY HEAD. BUT YOU GOTTA EAT YOUR VEGETABLES."
Hearing no answer, Luz grinned before taking a portion of what the voices told him. 'Maybe the funny voices are my stomach, and that thing probably knows what it wants.'
Meanwhile, Lewis, who had been observing Luz the whole time, had one question on his mind. 'Is he retarded, or why the hell is he making weird grimaces every few seconds!?' thought Lewis before shaking his head and winking to Luz.
Luz nodded, and the two went towards a table where three familiar people were sitting. These three were, of course, Master Brian, Simon, and Liv. Nah, just kidding. Unfortunally, the three waiting for them were the trio from yesterday. Francis, the crazy giant, who gave his best to fit onto a chair, the tired emo girl Alice and Anna, who is boring, awaited them at the table.
"Luz, have you never eaten in your life, or why did you fill your plate so full? Never mind, eat as much as you can so that you can grow as big and strong as me," commented Francis with a chuckle while using a knife and fork, unlike the stereotype that one might have of a giant barbarian.
Luz chuckled before tasting the different things on his plate. 'They tasted weird… Well, I like it, so that's fine. I guess,' thought Luz as Anne asked, "Yo…I heard that you stayed in Master Simon's tower for two weeks. So what did he do to you?"
With a smile, Luz answered, "I've got used as a guinea pig for several days."
"How was it?" asked Anne in curiosity as her eyes were filled with sparkles.
"It was horrible. I hear funny voices in my head," Luz responded while continuing eating.
"Now, you even caught my curiosity. Tell me more about this experiment and what happened there," chimed Alice in.
But before Luz could even comment on it, a familiar voice replied, "Sorry, Alice. But we aren't allowed to share such pieces of information with beginner mages. But, Luz spent several days lying in a water tank with several cables connecting him to machines."
Horrified by her presence, Luz thought to himself as he continued eating, 'Calm down, Luz. Just pretend that she isn't here. If you ignore her, maybe she will disappear.'
"Liv, why are you even hear? Shouldn't you be eating with fellow intermediate mages?" asked Lewis, puzzled by her presence.
"Spoilsport," uttered Anne, in disappointment by her answer.
Liv merely chuckled before taking the seat next to Luz. "Well, I've missed my dear brother,~" she replied while rubbing a handkerchief against Luz's cheek.
"Wait, really!?" asked Luz, confused by her answer as he never expected it.
"Nah, not really, hehehe. I just came here since Luz forgot to check with Master Simon for some follow-up scans," explained Liv before grabbing a piece of meat from Luz's plate with her fingers.
"DON'T TOUCH MY MEAL WITH YOUR FILTHY FINGERS YOU BARBARIAN," Luz commented with grinding teeth while immediately nailing her finger onto the plate with his fork.
"Hehe… Luz, my favorite brother… First of all, I'm a delicate elf lady and not a brute like you. Second, has nobody ever told you that you shouldn't be hurting girls and that you should share your meals with your elders, hehe?" Liv remarked with a grin while suppressing the pain.
"Hmmm, you got a good point, but maybe try looking at it from a mage apprentice's point of view. A GODDAMN INTERMEDIATE MAGE IS TRYING TO ABUSE HER AUTHORITY TO STEAL FROM A POOR SLA-…" Luz's voice grew louder with every word, and Lewis immediately put his hand over Luz's mouth while Liv seized the moment to steal a whole piece of steak.
'NOOO, DON'T STEAL MY FOOD,' went through Luz's head as he watched the brutish elf girl gulp down that piece without a single bite. 'THAT BISH DEFINITELY DID THAT TO ANNOY ME,' he sobbed, dejected before devouring the rest as fast as possible so that she couldn't steal any more pieces.
"Lewis, I'll borrow you that young lad. Where should I drop him after I'm done with him?" Liv asked with a smile, to which one couldn't say no.
"Well, just drop him at field five, the one with the flowers whose smell you despise," commented Lewis nonchalantly while sipping on water.
"I'll don't worry," chuckled Liv before grabbing Luz on his collar and dragging him behind.
"No… please let me stay with my friends… don't you have any mercy with this poor broken man," pleaded Luz horrified as he struggled against his elf overlord.
"No bitch. You left the tower without even saying goodbye to me. You don't deserve mercy. Also, I already told you that there is no escape from me, darling,~" Liv replied in a seductive voice.
Horrified, Luz immediately shouted, "Francis… please… save me."
But the latter merely shook his head, telling Luz with his gaze, "Motherfucker I'm a beginner mage, while she is an intermediate mage… What the hell do you expect me to do against that crazy monster?"
A defeated but familiar voice screaming, "NOOOO," was the last thing the group heard before shifting their focus back onto their meal, pretending that Luz never existed.
"Today's meal tastes especially well," Francis commented, and the others nodded silently.
meehhh. As always I appreciate your power stone and comment sacrifices.