Ch.51Chapter 51. Side Effects (2)

“You.”

“Yeah. What?”

“…Hmph. Nothing.”

Cain seemed like he was about to tell me something but stopped himself.

If it had been anyone else who started to say something and then stopped, I might have asked them to continue, but I didn’t particularly feel like doing that for him.

‘Sigh.’

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve sighed today.

In the end, I ended up coming to the Training Forest as part of a team with Cain.

The teams Professor Amillion assigned were exactly as I had expected.

Cain and I as one team, Elaine and Agnes as another, Emily and Marie as the third.

Cynthia, who didn’t have a partner, agreed to accompany Professor Amillion.

Everyone seemed so unmotivated about this activity that no one even raised any objections.

We all just wanted this activity to end as soon as possible.

“I look forward to working with you.”

Of course, even in this situation, Elaine was a bit different.

She was the only one showing enthusiasm, politely greeting Agnes, her teammate.

Well, it’s fortunate that at least Elaine has some motivation.

I hope she quickly finds that glowing stone or whatever it is so we can end this ridiculous activity.

“Alright, let’s begin now.”

Professor Amillion announced the start in a somewhat serious voice.

With her words, everyone awkwardly began moving in different directions.

“Let’s go this way.”

“Huh? Oh, sure.”

‘What’s going on? Why is he being so cooperative?’

Honestly, I thought he might just sit down at the start and refuse to do anything, but surprisingly, Cain moved enthusiastically from the beginning.

He even suggested where to go first.

I wondered if getting beaten up a few times had finally knocked some sense into him.

Thud- Thud-

Cain’s steps grew faster.

‘Does he actually enjoy treasure hunting?’

At a glance, he looked like an eager child desperate to find the glowing stone before anyone else could.

It almost seemed like Professor Amillion’s method was working.

After walking for some time, we had ventured quite deep into the forest.

Despite how far we’d come, we hadn’t found a single glowing stone.

“This should be far enough.”

“What? Do you see something?”

“Yes, I see it.”

“Oh?”

I looked around at Cain’s words.

I thought he might have spotted something I missed, but there was nothing around us.

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing here.”

“Hmph. To think you’re actually looking for those stupid stones. How typical of a commoner.”

‘Ah, I thought he was being too cooperative.’

With that one sentence from Cain, I realized my hope that he might have come to his senses was completely misplaced.

Of course.

People don’t change that easily.

“Heh.”

Cain suddenly took a drink of something, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled sinisterly.

“So what do you see then? Huh?”

“I see you lying dead.”

“Oh, come on.”

His comment was so ridiculous it was almost cute.

“You lying dead.” Really?

It’s so pathetic I don’t even know how to respond.

Whoosh-

‘I knew it.’

As soon as he finished speaking, flames erupted from Cain’s hand.

The flames were much larger than last time.

Doesn’t he feel the heat?

“Today I’m finally going to kill you.”

“…Hey, you really think that’s going to work?”

Cain’s words were dripping with sincerity.

I could feel his genuine killing intent toward me.

At first it wasn’t quite killing intent, but somehow his emotions had deepened to this point.

Whoosh-

Seeing Cain summon fire, I likewise stirred up the wind around me.

He got beaten just a few days ago, yet he thinks he can win using the same approach.

He doesn’t look that stupid, but it was a foolish choice.

Whoosh-

“Oh.”

Well, it seems he wasn’t just blindly charging in like last time.

When Cain gestured, flame birds floated up around him.

There were three of them a few days ago, but now there seemed to be twice as many.

Several flame birds fluttered their wings behind Cain, filled with heat and flickering as they stared at me.

‘So he wasn’t going all out a few days ago.’

Cain had summoned a total of eight flame birds.

Moreover, each one looked larger and more intricately formed than the ones that flew at me days ago.

“Die.”

Whoosh-

With Cain’s command, the eight flame birds began flying at me from all directions.

‘Uh…’

I had expected maybe three or four birds to come at me, so I was a bit taken aback when such a large number came flying at once.

I wonder if I can defend against all of this with just magic.

As a novice magician at the academy, I’d prefer to counter magic with magic.

Whoosh-

While quickly checking the direction of the flame birds flying toward me, I prepared my magic as fast as I could.

I gathered air, shaped it into blade form, set the direction.

Then I released it.

Whoosh- Bang- Bang-

With the sound of wind rushing past and air exploding as wind collided with flame birds, noises erupted everywhere.

Bang- Bang-

I managed to burst four of them.

‘Whew, this is tough.’

But the remaining four flame birds withstood my wind and were still flying toward me.

I thought I was doing well, but I must have distributed my mana poorly.

“Aaaaargh!!”

When four of the eight flame birds survived, Cain shouted as if his fighting spirit had risen.

He looked more like a berserker than a magician.

Though I felt a little sorry for him being so desperate, I naturally had no intention of letting him win.

‘Here we go.’

Whoosh-

I failed to burst the flame birds by sending wind at them, but it was simple to block them up close instead of sending the wind away.

Like Cain, I wrapped wind around both hands and threw punches at the flame birds flying toward me.

Bang- Bang-

One, two.

Bang-

The remaining two at once.

Recalling the golem hit test, I defeated the remaining four flame birds with my bare fists.

When the fire came close, it was a bit hot, but the circulating wind prevented the heat from lasting long.

That’s a relief.

“Phew. Is that it?”

“…Eeek! You coward!”

“What…?”

Cain’s face, as he shouted that I was a coward, was flushed red to a pitiful degree.

I responded to his magic with magic in my own way.

After all, this wind surrounding my hands was created with magic.

“Aaaaargh!”

Whoosh-

As Cain shouted in frustration, flame birds once again rose before him.

‘…What’s with him?’

This time there were nine birds, not eight.

I thought eight birds was his limit, but now nine?

Whoosh-

The simultaneously born flame birds flew toward me without delay.

Though they were more crudely shaped and flew on a more rugged trajectory than the ones that came at me earlier, somehow they were more powerful.

Bang- Bang-

This time I only managed to shoot down two from a distance.

The remaining seven flame birds rushed toward me simultaneously.

Bang-

And as expected, they burst upon contact with my wind-wrapped fists.

This time it was a bit close.

‘Was he always this skilled?’

After that attack, I had to reassess Cain.

I thought he was just the type to brag about being slightly better than others, but at this level, he wasn’t just “slightly” better than others.

“Hey, you’re actually pretty good?”

“…”

When all the flames around us disappeared, I could finally see Cain properly.

He was standing still with his face all scrunched up, staring at me.

That attack he just launched was probably his all-out effort.

It was quite impressive for a student.

He was similar to or even better than that Bernstein girl we met in the dungeon during the competition.

Though in terms of heat, he couldn’t match Bernstein’s flames.

“Let’s stop here, okay? Don’t keep going and end up whimpering after getting hit again.”

“…”

Cain didn’t respond to my sincere provocation.

It was different from how he had been sharply reacting to my every word until now.

Cain Hover, standing there without saying anything.

“Haha.”

‘…Huh?’

Cain stood silently looking at me, then laughed.

For some reason, it was a laugh that gave me an ominous feeling.

I had never felt such discomfort when dealing with this guy before.

With a creeping sensation, I carefully observed Cain’s actions.

Something didn’t feel right.

Cain put his flame-wrapped hand into his pocket.

He didn’t seem to care that his clothes might burn from the flames.

‘What is he…’

Cain pulled something out from his pocket.

A transparent glass bottle that maintained its form even in the flames, with a transparent liquid inside.

‘A potion?’

Though the amount was small, it looked like a potion at first glance.

Cain opened the bottle without hesitation and poured the potion into his mouth.

He moved so quickly that I had no time or thought to stop him.

“Hey, hey. That’s enough, okay?”

“…”

Cain, having drunk the unknown potion, just stared at me without saying anything.

The ominous feeling I had felt from him earlier was growing stronger.

I didn’t know what he drank, but it was definitely not good.

“Hey?”

“…”

“Hello?”

Cain still stood silently without answering me.

‘Damn, what’s wrong with him?’

Whoosh-

“Urrrgh!!”

“Ah! You startled me.”

The previously silent Cain suddenly screamed.

At the same time, the flames surrounding his hands shot up high.

Very high.

“Urrrgh!!!”

“Uh…?”

Whoosh-

Even though I was at least 10 meters away from Cain, I instinctively closed my eyes from the heat as the flames rose.

At the same time, I crossed my arms in an X to cover my face.

Whoosh-

The shockwave spread around as the flames rose.

When I quickly regained my senses and looked around, the grass around me had already burned black.

“Aaaah!!!”

‘This is dangerous.’

I instinctively jumped backward to avoid it.

When Cain, now completely engulfed in flames, shouted again, another shockwave spread out, burning everything around.

“What is that…”

It was more shocking than seeing a ghoul or death knight for the first time.

What stood before my eyes wasn’t Cain surrounded by flames.

It was just fire itself in human form.

Drip-

A bead of sweat ran down my forehead from the intense heat.