Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 139 (Part 1)

Larry, catching his breath repeatedly, struggled to steady his rough breathing.

Bianca had long since retreated into the carriage and was now practicing her mana cultivation technique.

Rodin, now that the surroundings had quieted down, inspected the corpse of an orc that Karis had brought back.

“Killing the giant Minotaur and thinking the situation was over was a mistake.”

Only one of the exceptionally large creatures had been defeated, yet the situation remained unresolved.

“At this rate, a massive beast could reappear at any moment.”

“That’s true. Hmm, the troll we saw before didn’t grow, right?”

“Yes. It was about the size described in the records.”

Although it wasn’t as large as the giant Minotaur, the orcs were also unnaturally big. Not just one, but two such mutated creatures appearing naturally was practically impossible.

“So why was this one so much bigger? Could it have consumed a Magic Stone much earlier? Wind blade.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll do it. Karis, Jena, you’re not servants or guards, are you?”

“Ah! Yes.”

Rodin personally slit open the orc’s belly and extracted a Magic Stone. It was lodged tightly against the stomach wall, so he had to pull and tear it out.

“It does seem older than the troll we saw before. We’re close to where we encountered that troll last time, right?”

“Yes, it’s nearby. We passed through the destroyed village two days ago.”

The village had been completely destroyed by a massive beast a few months ago. Its residents were still working on rebuilding, so they hadn’t stopped there this time.

“If the troll appeared in that area and it came from over there… it seems like it all started somewhere beyond that point. I think we’ll need to investigate.”

“I’ll prepare immediately.”

“No, let’s set up camp here tonight and move out tomorrow morning. Larry and Bianca are both pretty worn out.”

“Understood.”

It didn’t feel right to simply move on.

Whether it was an ancient artifact that had been accidentally released or the result of someone’s conspiracy, leaving the matter unresolved gave him a sense of foreboding. Of course, there was also the pure curiosity of a magician at play.

“Larry, are you feeling a bit better?”

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

“You worked hard.”

“It’s all thanks to you, brother.”

When the battle ended, Larry had felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. His chest swelled with pride, and despite being physically drained, he didn’t feel the exhaustion.

Typically, a second-grade swordsman could take on five to six first-grade swordsmen alone. A fully matured second-grade swordsman might even defeat ten first-grade opponents.

Yet he and Bianca, a first-circle mage, had together faced off against a second-grade swordsman. On top of that, they had also dealt with two first-grade swordsmen beforehand.

“Were you injured?”

“No, I fought safely.”

It wasn’t just a simple victory. They had achieved a flawless victory without any injuries.

Though it had taken a long time, there wasn’t much they could do about that. The swordsmanship Larry had mastered emphasized defense, with him blocking the opponent while Bianca took care of finishing them off.

“Let’s rest here. Is that okay?”

“Yes. I’ll set up the tent.”

Bianca was still immersed in her mana cultivation and couldn’t come out yet. This was the key difference between a swordsman and a mage.

Even if a swordsman ran out of aura, they still had their trained physical strength to rely on. They could either continue fighting or retreat using their stamina.

However, a mage needed mana to be able to do anything. Without mana, a mage was no different from an ordinary person.

“There’s no need to rush.”

“Even so, it’s better to have a place to rest so we can feel at ease.”

Rodin, Larry, Karis, and Jena worked together to quickly set up camp. They pitched two tents and built a campfire between them.

“Looks like I’m the cook again.”

“We’ll eat it without complaints.”

“That’s exactly the problem. Mealtime should be a joy, not an exercise in patience.”

Once again, Rodin was in charge of cooking. Fortunately, this time, the food turned out reasonably decent.

“Bianca’s late. Did she use up a lot of mana?”

“No, she finished her cultivation earlier. She must have been so tired that she fell asleep right after. Go wake her up.”

“She’s sleeping?”

“Yeah, go check.”

Larry went to the carriage and returned after some time, carrying Bianca on his back. He had tried to wake her, but when that didn’t work, he had no choice but to carry her out.

“Here, eat something.”

“Yes. Bianca! You need to eat.”

“I’m sleepy.”

“Then are you going to skip your meal?”

“No, I don’t want that.”

Bianca reluctantly opened her eyes and began eating. Fortunately, the food seemed edible enough, as her expression wasn’t entirely displeased.

That night, Larry and Bianca fell asleep early. Larry even skipped his usual night training session.

—

The Next Day

The next morning, after eating breakfast, Rodin stored the entire carriage into his subspace. Each person mounted a horse—Rodin, Karis, and Jena had one horse each, while Larry and Bianca shared one.

“Where are we heading?”

“This way.”

It was off the main road, a path the carriage couldn’t have taken.

“We’ve got enough time for this, right?”

“What? The commission? We’ve got plenty of time. Worst-case scenario, I can rush back on my own.”

“Let’s just go.”

The group pushed forward, cutting through the forest for quite some time. While there wasn’t a path for a carriage, the terrain was passable for their horses.

“There are two beasts up ahead. They both look like orcs.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Jena leapt ahead and soon returned empty-handed. The life signs of the beasts had already disappeared.

“As expected of Jena. You’re so strong.”

“Oh-hoho, this much is nothing.”

The group resumed their journey.

Occasionally, beasts appeared during their travels, but Rodin always spotted them first. When he did, Karis or Jena would move ahead to handle them.

Thus, as they moved forward, they frequently encountered the corpses of beasts that Karis or Jena had slain.

“Rodin, all we’ve seen so far are orcs.”

“This area has always been an orc habitat. The troll appearing here before was a really unusual case.”

Initially, Bianca had been horrified by the sight of beasts. But by now, she had grown desensitized, having seen so many beast corpses.

“Hold on. Stop for a moment.”

“Brother, why? Is it another beast?”

“No. I need to check the mana reaction.”

Rodin, naturally sensitive to mana, could heighten his perception even further by closing his eyes and focusing. In this state, he could detect the faintest fluctuations in mana from dozens of meters away.

Rodin closed his eyes and began sensing the mana around them. By analyzing the subtle distributions of mana mixed into the air, he could predict the movements of beasts.

“This way.”

Once again, Rodin led the group forward.

After traveling for a while, they spotted an area teeming with orcs. It was an orc village.

The size of the orc village was overwhelming, with thousands of orcs living there.

“Hmm, this is troublesome. Killing all of them would be a hassle.”

“Young Master, is it deeper inside?”

“Doesn’t seem like it. The orcs over there look ordinary. I don’t sense any that seem to have consumed a Magic Stone. I think it’s probably on the other side of that orc village.”

The orc that attacked yesterday had consumed a Magic Stone somewhere beyond the village on the other side. After that, it lived among the orcs in the village for a long time, behaving like a normal orc.

However, as the energy of the Magic Stone gradually grew stronger, it became increasingly difficult to control its wild instincts. At some point, it reached a state where it could no longer suppress its impulses and attacked humans, driven by instinct.

“What should we do?”

“Let’s take a detour. Killing them all feels bothersome.”

Hyung_Otaku2

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