The Team Takes Shape

On the seventh day after Kraft left, and also the second week Serie and Rhode had stayed in this village.

"It seems like there are more and more people."

Before the campfire at night, Serie sat beside Rhode.

He did not know whether it was just his imagination, but ever since he had briefly disappeared last time, Serie seemed to have grown a little closer to him.

In the past, she would keep some distance from him rather than sit directly at his side like she did now.

They sat very close together. A breeze swept past, lifting her golden hair and brushing it against his arm, making it itch slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Rhode did not understand Serie's sudden remark.

"It seems we have more companions for our adventure now."

She had thought that her two-person adventure with Rhode would last a long time, but in just over a month, it had already developed into a complete five-person team.

For an elf like her, it had happened in the blink of an eye.

"True. It would be perfect if we had a monk or a Priest."

In Rhode's view, a team without a healer was still missing something.

But their current lineup was already quite good.

Once Norn and Erik mastered basic magic, their group would officially begin their adventure.

Their first stop would be the Dwarven Ruins.

But with their current strength, they would probably have to explore slowly from the outskirts.

They would explore while honing their own abilities.

"All Sacred Codices have been monopolized by those Priests of the Winged race. Only they can use healing and blessing magic."

The Winged race was a race created by the goddess. Their lives and deaths were all controlled by her.

If the goddess ever vanished from this world, that race would vanish alongside her, along with the Sacred Codices.

"Do you want to learn Healing Magic from the Sacred Codex, Serie?"

Rhode had once tried to use his talent for creation to create magic similar to healing magic.

But he had failed.

It seemed that magic in this area had been restricted by some unseen prohibition. Even the cheat ability he had brought with him as a transmigrator could not break through that limit.

"I do." Serie answered directly. "Can you create it?"

Rhode shook his head, indicating that he could not.

Serie was not surprised. She merely explained, "Healing magic comes from the Sacred Codex, and the Sacred Codex's power comes from the goddess herself. It is only natural that you cannot create it."

"Can other races interpret this so-called Sacred Codex?"

Serie blanked out for a moment at Rhode's question.

She truly had never considered that question.

Because Sacred Codices had never appeared anywhere outside the Winged race. Even the Elf race, who nominally worshipped the goddess, had never received a Sacred Codex bestowed by her.

"I cannot answer that, because no one has ever tried."

"Then it means it might be possible. Looks like we can add this to our adventure list too."

Explore the Dwarven Ruins and obtain holy relics.

Venture deep into the Land of Fallen Gods and find a way to kill a god.

And now, obtain a Sacred Codex.

These were the goals of his and Serie's adventure.

The problem was that each of these dungeons was harder than the last. They were practically on par with clearing the Demon King's Castle.

"The goddess is not someone easy to deal with."

Serie did not believe in the goddess. Neither did the departed Kraft, really, though he had not made it as obvious as Serie did.

If Rhode brazenly went and asked her to bestow a Sacred Codex on him, the most likely outcome would be the goddess swatting him to death.

"That's why we need magic that can kill gods!" Rhode said with a grin.

Having no sword in hand and having a sword but choosing not to use it were two entirely different things.

No matter how arrogant a god was, when faced with magic capable of killing them, they would have no choice but to expose their soft belly for others to touch.

"Yes! That's exactly right." Serie smiled as well.

At last, this human's goal aligned with hers.

That made her very happy.

But her smile soon faded, and she resumed her cold expression.

Only Rhode could tell from certain small details how Serie's mood had changed.

"But didn't you drink your herbal medicine today?" Rhode abruptly changed the subject.

During this time, he had fed Serie a Magic Recovery Potion every day. He had even planned to bring some with him before leaving the village.

If Serie suffered magical exhaustion again, he would pour a bottle down her throat.

Of course, he would make it more concentrated too. It would be more bitter, but that was a necessary sacrifice!

When Rhode actually brought that up, Serie's little face visibly darkened. "No need! My magic power has already recovered a lot."

"Be good! Listen to me! It would be bad if there were any lasting effects."

Rhode sounded as though he were coaxing a child. From a certain perspective, Serie, when she was sulking, was indeed the one who needed coaxing.

In the end, after Rhode repeatedly persuaded her, Serie reluctantly drank the bitter Magic Recovery Potion.

Rhode pressed his advantage, saying that he would bring some along for the journey in case of emergencies.

At those words, Serie's little face suddenly stiffened. Her golden eyes held seventy percent panic, twenty percent helplessness, and ten percent resistance.

Do not ask how he could tell. He had taken care of Hachimi for so long that he could tell from a single look whether she was about to hiss.

Seeing such a cute expression on Serie's face, Rhode could not help laughing.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Serie stretched out her leg and kicked him, though she did not use much force.

For a moment, everything was peaceful.

Rhode suddenly wanted to remain in that moment forever.

"Congratulations. You have become magicians."

By the third week, Norn and Erik could already cast Light Arrow proficiently, though it was only about one-third as powerful as Rhode's.

Looking at the innocent little tree that had been blasted apart at the middle, Rhode clapped his hands and congratulated them.

"It took us so long just to learn the most basic magic. If we tried to learn that move of yours, Rhode, who knows how many years it would take." Erik rolled his eyes.

He had always wanted to learn the incredibly powerful spell Rhode had cast before. After Serie learned it and cast it herself once, he wanted to learn it even more.

The move Serie cast was even more terrifying. The space around them had fallen into absolute darkness for a full second.

From the outside, all light within that space had vanished, as if a Black Hole had appeared out of nowhere.

The spell's destructive range was even greater than Rhode's. Luckily, they had gone outside the forest to test it. Otherwise, they might have alarmed the entire forest.

Though the fairies had already left this world, this was still their homeland. Their village had also lived and multiplied here for hundreds of years, so they still needed to take good care of it.