Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 63 (Part 1)

The journey of the group was no different from yesterday.

Except for Baker, Bron and his party were energetically chatting away. They were quite a noisy bunch.

As the sun rose high in the sky, they planned to make do with jerky for lunch once again, when raindrops began to fall from the sky.

“This is bad.”

“Is it raining?”

“Oh, I really hate getting wet.”

As the rain started, the group paused and took a moment to put on their prepared rain gear.

Rodin, however, hadn’t prepared any rain gear, so he just stood by quietly while the others changed.

“Mr. Rodin, don’t you have any rain gear?”

“I’m fine.”

“Even if it’s daytime, you could catch a cold if you get wet.”

“I’m really fine.”

Rodin waved his hand lightly. Understanding the gesture, the Undine (a water spirit) that was with him rose to his crown and diverted all the falling water.

Although Undine was a low-level spirit with limited strength, this only applied to combat. Simply manipulating water—pushing, pulling, and moving it—was as easy for Undine as breathing.

“Huh?”

“Am I seeing things? The rainwater…?”

“Could it be… a spirit?”

Ellice speculated about the cause of the phenomenon where the water was being deflected.

To Ellice’s knowledge, the only thing capable of manipulating nature without a mage’s intervention was a spirit.

“Yes, that’s right. Isn’t it cute?”

“Wow! This is my first time seeing a spirit mage.”

“Same here, I’ve never seen one before.”

“Does that mean the spirit is around here somewhere? Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Ellice. I’ll take good care of you, so why don’t you live with me?”

Since spirit mages were so rare, such a reaction was typical. Ellice’s reaction, though, seemed a bit unhinged, but it was best to just ignore it.

“With this, I shouldn’t get wet.”

“Are you going to cross the Lamaton River with the help of the spirit as well?”

“Undine alone wouldn’t be enough since she’s a low-level spirit. I’ll have to assist with some magic.”

“Ah, getting help from a spirit… I’ll have to brag about this later.”

The group mounted their horses and hastened their pace again. Perhaps because of the rain, they were unconsciously picking up speed.

“But Miss Ellice, may I ask you a question?”

“Yes, of course. Feel free to ask anything.”

“Did you choose that staff on purpose?”

“My staff? What about it?”

“The magic it holds—the Mana Circle Detection.”

Rodin had figured out the magic embedded in Ellice’s staff when they first met yesterday. He also knew that she had instinctively measured his circle when she saw him.

A mage with a strong sense of pride might have been offended, as it could be seen as an attempt to assess one’s skills.

But Ellice’s expression was so innocent, showing no ill intentions, that Rodin missed the opportunity to get angry.

“Oh, how did you know?”

“I just did.”

“Wow, so a 3-circle mage can even tell things like that. I didn’t know that. Ah, about the staff? I didn’t buy it because I liked it. I just picked it because it was cheap, since I didn’t have much money.”

The group often talked about money while traveling with Bron, but in truth, it was the same for all mercenaries. Since they risked their lives to take on jobs, few mercenaries were financially well-off.

“Can I take a look at your staff?”

“My staff?”

“Yes. Ah, would you like to see mine?”

Rodin handed over the staff he had obtained from the underground vault of the Elrov’s mansion. It was just a wooden stick, devoid of any orb, but it was still a staff.

As Rodin handed over his staff, Ellice also passed her staff to him.

“Hmm.”

Rodin read the magic embedded in the staff as they moved on horseback.

The materials used to make the staff weren’t of particularly high quality. The method of inscribing the mana circle measurement spell wasn’t efficient either.

On top of that, the staff had been so roughly handled that cracks had formed in various places. At this rate, even without any external impact, it might not last a few more months just from using magic.

“It looks like it could be repaired.”

Fortunately, the mana stone used in the staff was of decent quality. It still had enough capacity to hold one more simple 1-circle spell.

“Hmm. Should I try… hmm?”

Rodin suddenly pulled the reins tight, alarmed by a strong warning from Undine. As Rodin stopped, Bron and his party halted their horses with puzzled expressions.

“What’s wrong?”

“There are people up ahead.”

“Really?”

“About a hundred on either side of the path.”

As he relayed this information, Rodin looked at Undine with a new sense of amazement.

This time, the source of the information wasn’t Jito, nor was it Rodin’s keen senses. It was Undine, who had been sitting on his crown, shielding him from the rain, that had alerted him to the ambush ahead.

“A hundred? That many?”

“It doesn’t seem like they’re targeting us. There’s no killing intent. It feels like they’re just watching.”

“Then, what on earth are they…? Oh! The merchant group.”

Bron remembered the merchant group that had likely set out a little later than they had.

A single wagon, guarded by as many as fifty mercenaries. It might have seemed like an excessive force, but perhaps they were there to fend off the ambushers ahead.

“What should we do?”

“Do you think we’ll be attacked?”

“No, I don’t think so. The merchant group isn’t too far behind us.”

From the ambushers’ perspective, if the distance had been greater, they might have dealt with one group first and then waited for the next. There would be no reason to leave witnesses.

But Bron’s party and the merchant group trailing behind were too close to each other.

It would only take about ten minutes on horseback, and not much longer on foot.

“So, you think they’ll just watch us pass by?”

“Probably. If not, we can always fight.”

“Understood. Let’s proceed cautiously.”

The swordsmen, Bron, Malon, and Baker, drew their swords and urged their horses forward slowly. Behind them, Ellice retrieved her staff and prepared a spell.

“Hmm.”

Rodin had already assessed the strength of the ambushers hiding behind the rocks ahead. Their numbers were twice that of the mercenaries guarding the merchant group, and they were more skilled.

“Their mages are stronger, too.”

The mage riding with the merchant group’s wagon was also a 3-circle mage, competent enough. And with two of them, they could significantly bolster their side’s strength.

However, among the ambushers, there were five mages. One of them was even a 4-circle mage, stronger than those with the merchant wagon.

“This doesn’t concern me.”

Even as he passed through the ambush, Rodin remained composed. He was confident he could take on all of them if it came to that.

For now, he was more interested in Undine than in the ambushers.

“Undine, are you about to grow?”

Undine shook its head.

“Even with the rain, isn’t your detection range a bit too wide?”

Undine nodded.

“This is unexpected. I thought you’d never grow.”

It wasn’t yet time for Undine to grow, but it was close. This fact puzzled Rodin.

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