Ch. 40
“This is all or nothing! Undine! Ador!”
[Yes, Master.]
[You’re calling me quite often today, Master. I like it.]
As Ador appeared, the surroundings brightened slightly.
I turned my gaze back to the ogre.
I hadn’t properly tested this before, so I couldn’t guarantee its effectiveness, but I was the only one here with magic.
And it was a known fact that magic was more effective against ogres than physical attacks.
The problem was that I was ten years old!
“Undine! Aqua Ball at the ogre!”
Splash!
After repeated practice, Undine’s casting speed had improved slightly.
Aqua Ball zipped through the air, leaving a trail of tiny water droplets before striking the ogre’s forehead.
I never expected this spell to deal any real damage.
The ogre completely ignored the Aqua Ball and continued trying to tear Kenta apart.
“I don’t want to watch that! Undine, keep firing!”
The sudden Aqua Ball barrage startled the mercenaries, causing them to step back.
The ogre, annoyed by the water assault, finally tossed Kenta aside and turned its single, gleaming eye toward me before charging straight in my direction.
“Ugh! This is exactly why I didn’t want to do this…! Undine, keep going!”
Three more Aqua Balls shot through the air, but the ogre didn’t bother dodging, taking them head-on as it stomped toward me.
The attacks thoroughly drenched the upper half of its body.
“Ador! Your turn!”
The mercenaries, who had started to raise their weapons again, quickly retreated at Shavel’s signal. I clamped my hands over my ears.
[What shall I do, Master? I’m ready anytime!]
“Dump all remaining mana! Shock!”
I didn’t have much mana left, but even if the spell failed, the mercenaries would have my back. Worst case, I’d go flying from a massive ogre slap.
Crackle!
A golden spark flashed through the soaked ogre’s body as Shock surged along the water.
“Graaaaagh!”
The light was so intense that my vision turned white, and even with my ears covered, the deafening boom left them ringing.
Did it work?
The ogre froze mid-charge, but I couldn’t be sure just yet.
“…….”
Everyone held their breath.
A cold wind blew from somewhere, and at that moment—
The ogre staggered heavily before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
The earth shook beneath its weight, and dust flew up all around me.
“…Did we win?”
Even I couldn’t believe it.
With my mana completely drained, Undine and Ador were forcibly unsummoned, and a wave of nausea hit me.
I had burned through my mana too quickly, leaving me feeling sick, like I was experiencing motion sickness.
My blurry vision made the charred ogre look surreal.
“We did it!”
“That was amazing, Geenie!”
For what felt like an eternity, silence lingered—until the mercenaries erupted into cheers.
The tension in my legs melted away, and I collapsed onto the ground.
“Uoooooh!”
“Geenie! Geenie!”
Anel rushed over and helped me up.
The mercenaries swarmed around me, their rough hands ruffling my hair.
My head was being shaken in all directions, making me dizzy, but I couldn’t stop grinning.
“You’re pretty impressive, kid!”
“What was that flashy thing?”
“…My spirit!”
“I don’t know much about magic, but that was incredible!”
“It’s a spirit, I told you!”
With all my mana depleted, my body felt hollow, but the thrill of victory filled that emptiness.
This was my first real win.
Before I knew it, I was sitting on Kenta’s shoulders. From this height, the ogre’s body on the ground seemed smaller than before.
[Masterrr… How could you forget me… Sob.]
“Rai?”
Oh, right—Rai! The last time I saw him, he was clinging to the ogre’s wrist!
I finally turned my gaze toward him. He was still latched onto the ogre’s arm, but his once gleaming scales were in terrible shape.
I climbed down from Kenta’s shoulders and picked Rai up. When I touched him, blackened soot crumbled onto my hands.
“Ugh! What happened to you? Did your shell melt?!”
[It’s your fault, Master!]
“Sorry… What do we do now?”
[I may look like a snake, but my body is entirely metallic.
My shell is made of replaceable iron, but the impact was too great. I’ll have to make a new one.]
The mercenaries stared at me talking to a snake with weird looks, but I was used to that by now. It didn’t bother me.
“Then let’s go for something really durable.”
[Durable?]
“Something heat-resistant and pretty.”
[There are many options… What are you thinking?]
“Something classic—like diamond.”
Might as well make a real adamant snake while I was at it.
[That would require a lot of mana.]
As Rai moved his head, corroded metal flakes crumbled off.
“It’s fine. We can replace it little by little. How long do you think it’ll take?”
[If it’s just an outer coating… I can manage about 20 centimeters a day, working non-stop. But why diamond?]
Instead of answering, I lifted Rai and roughly measured his length. About a meter? If I changed him bit by bit as my mana recovered, it would take around a week.
“Yep! Decision made! White snakes are beautiful.”
[…That’s your only reason?]
“Honestly, I never liked the black color. It’s too gloomy.”
[If it’s just color, there are other optio—]
“Can you make him pink?”
[Diamond is an excellent choice. Very neutral. It’s valuable, too—an outstanding decision, Master.]
Rai definitely didn’t want to be pink.
I was excited about the idea of having a fake adamant snake.
Rai was easy to manipulate because he was so simple. That’s what made him cute.
—
This time’s test subject was Kirk, the cook—and one of Rai’s sworn enemies.
Kirk was preparing a meal when he noticed the water in his cauldron rising unnaturally into the air. His expression turned baffled.
He seemed about to call a fellow mercenary to witness the phenomenon, but before he could, the floating mass of water surged forward and engulfed him completely.
Kirk gurgled as the water completely engulfed his upper body, making it hard for him to breathe.
In an attempt to escape, he chose to drop face-first onto the ground, but the water blob moved with him, sticking to his torso.
Eventually, his lower half was swallowed up as well, and now completely submerged, Kirk started swimming—on dry land.
As the water rippled, his head briefly emerged above the surface, only to be dragged under again.
Kirk clutched his throat and widened his eyes in panic.
“Puh—!”
[Hahaha! Master, watching that big guy swim on solid ground is truly a sight to behold!]
I tried to hold back my laughter, afraid of getting caught, but it slipped through my lips anyway.
Rai, still sporting his half-black, half-white shell, didn’t bother suppressing his amusement either.
I rolled on the ground, laughing uncontrollably.
“Undine, stop!”
[Yes.]
As soon as Undine released her control, the water lost its shape and scattered.
Pop! It burst into droplets.
Kirk, now lying in the mud with a dazed expression, blinked in confusion at his surroundings.
He still didn’t seem to understand what had just happened.
“Cough! That’s strange… I swear… Kehh-choo! I was underwater?”
As he sneezed and wrung out his soaked clothes in bewilderment, I turned away and quickly jotted down notes to refine my experiment.
—
– There’s no need to fully encase the upper body to prevent breathing. → Cover only the face with minimal water.
– If the target resists too much, they can break free. → Increase water pressure. Compress it. Would it force water up their nose?
– It’s hard to tell when the target is running out of air. → Keep it limited to about a minute.
– The target looks pathetic and starts dripping snot. → No solution.
—
“Hmm… this should do.”
I was in the middle of developing my own special technique that would use less mana while completely restricting the opponent’s movements.
Calling it a “new technique” was a bit much—it was really just a mix of various existing ones.
“Undine.”
[Yes, Master?]
“Is compressing water harder, or is summoning it harder?”
[They’re similar, but compression takes more time.]
“Aha.”
I noted that down, too. Water, by default, had almost no offensive power unless compressed. If I wanted to use it for attacks, compression was essential.
“Good work! Tomorrow, we’ll call Ador and practice combining Aqua Ball with Shock.”
[Yes!]
Since the ogre’s appearance, our descent down the mountain had been peaceful. Most likely, weaker monsters were avoiding the area due to the ogre’s presence.
Now, only two days remained until we reached Veilan. The monster-infested regions were behind us, leaving only a comfortable hike downhill.
In the meantime, half of Rai’s body had successfully undergone its transformation, and thanks to the abundance of test subjects, my magic development was progressing smoothly.
Having a supply of healthy test subjects all around me was a great advantage.
Naturally, the mercenaries who had been subjected to my experiments were outraged. But once they realized that protesting would only increase their participation, they quickly quieted down.
My goal was to completely defeat every mercenary—except for Anel!
“Mwahahaha!”
[Mwahahaha!]
The endless test subjects brought me endless joy.
I should express my deep gratitude to the Shavel Mercenary Corps for their noble sacrifices in the name of my limitless growth.
Of course, any formal appreciation would only make them uncomfortable—so I’d keep it in my heart.
