After that, we reach our destination, where a monster is already waiting for us. It’s a giant black crab, walking sideways on the sand.
“An armored slasher?”
Lela tilts her head with a question mark over her head.
“Its color is a little different… And isn’t it about twice the normal size?”
“Yes. Loyd Loyd, that’s an armored slasher, right?”
“That’s the superior version, full metal king armored slasher.”
“Full metal king armored slasher?”
“Let’s just call it king slasher for short.”
It’s a highest rank monster, and the superior version of the slasher type.
They have a surprising defensive power, that turns most physical and magic attacks into something that takes one point of damage. It’s also a super rare monster. From the looks of things, it doesn’t seem like Lela and Mars have ever seen one.
I tell them about its features, and emphasize its high defense.
“Hm, so it has super high defense.”
“It looks like trouble.”
“If it’s too hard for you, I’ll take it down.”
“No, leave this one to us!”
“We’ll show you how strong we’ve gotten!”
Lela says as she grips her staff and steps in front of me.
Her blonde hair stretches almost to her waist, like an untied turban, and Mars unsheathes his sword and holds it with both hands.
“You two are full of energy… You can take it then.”
They seem raring to go, so I let them take the king slasher.
“Mars! Let’s use that special move!”
“Royal Magical Conflict Lightning Cross Clash!”
So they’re using that move with the long name again.
This is a combo attack, where each handles a role in unleashing an enchanted attack.
Mars isn’t good with magic, but is good with a sword. Lela is bad with a sword, but good with magic.
The idea is to focus on what they’re good at, and have the other do what they can’t.
“Mid rank wind magic, Air Storm!”
Lela swings her staff while yelling the name of the spell, and a small tornado concentrates on Mars’ sword, creating a big sword of wind.
“Super Slash!”
Yells Mars while swinging, hitting the king slasher right on the head.
There’s a loud explosion, but the king slasher’s surface doesn’t have a scratch on it.
“What!? Our attack didn’t work at all!?”
“I-it can’t be. It’s the most powerful technique devised by us!”
Both are shaken, unable to accept the reality in front of them.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not! Our power of friendship magic being broken is very shocking!”
“Power of friendship? Is that a new magic element?”
“Grrrrrr! I wanna punch you in the face again!”
Stop it with this violence! Scary!
From an objective point of view, the problem was that Lela’s magic was mid rank. Mars’ sword compensated for that lack of firepower a little, but it still wasn’t enough to break the defense of the king slasher.
“If the first attack doesn’t work, we just have to attack until it does!”
Clink clink clink clink clink clink!
“Hyper Slash!”
Clink clink clink clink clink clink!
Mars keeps swinging his sword at the king slasher, but there’s no sign that his attacks will work.
The focus of the technique is good, but the power isn’t there yet.
It looks like I won’t be leaving Minerva for a while.
“That’s enough you two. We can’t play around during a quest.”
Mars and Lela step aside, and I cast the highest rank spell Lightning Storm.
The king slasher is scorched, and lets out its last yell.
“W-wow…”
“It went down so easily, when we couldn’t put a dent in it.”
“That’s highest rank magic for you. Lightning Storm has the power to go through that defense.”
“Hmph, I don’t feel like I can beat Loyd’s magic…”
Says Lela, pouting like a kid.
“It’s not that hard to beat me.”
“But seeing magic that great made me lose confidence.”
“It’s not like I could use that at the start. I had to fail again and again, and improve slowly.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“…”
Lela silently faces down.
“Lela, don’t feel so reserved about magic with me.”
“Eh?”
“You’re too serious. You could just ask directly, but you’re trying to steal my magic by looking at it because we’re not master and pupil, right?”
“Uu…”
Looks like I hit the nail on the head.
“You’re a dear friend to me, and you’ve taught me a lot. Let me repay you for that.”
I say plainly, and her eyes moisten before she looks away.
She’s frank, but also very serious in strange places.
She’s always observing my magic closely, but never asks about it.
I think the idea of learning techniques by watching is very ingrained in her, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s true that learning something on your own rather than having someone teach you helps it take root better.
That’s why I’ve never said anything about it. I respect her way of doing things.
But after hearing her say that she wants to fight with me after I become a master rank, I feel like I should give her more advice.
That’s why I’m telling her this.
“I really want you to become a master rank mage.”
Lela wipes under her eyes with her hand. She has a big smile on her face, with tears of happiness running down her cheeks.
“If you tell a genius like me a thing or two, I’ll surpass you right away.”
I nod with a smile.
I’m trying to be the world’s strongest mage, but I think I can share that title.
I want to talk about this dream with another mage walking the same path.
“That’s nice, Lela! You’re finally his pupil!”
I never said she would be my pupil, but I guess that’s what it looks like.
“Yes! Mars, I’ll wait for you on the rank above.”
“Shut up. Then I’ll ask Sephilia too.”
Sounds like Mars made up his mind to ask Sephilia to be his master.
Both are very motivated.
Nothing much happens after that, and our monster extermination is safely completed.
Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the beach is peaceful, and our fun day of work is over.
We go to the hotel and hang out. The food here is very nice, and the open air bath is the best.
I’m feeling good today, so I think about stargazing before I go to bed.
I decide to head to the same viewing platform where I met Queen Undine, and go out by myself.
But then, I see a red light on the horizon.
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