The Embryonic Form of a Team

It was the seventh day since Kraft left, and also the second week that Serie and Rhode had stayed in this village.

"There seem to be more and more people."

Before the campfire at night, Serie and Rhode sat together.

Whether it was her imagination or not, ever since her brief disappearance last time, Serie felt that her distance from Rhode had actually shrunk a bit.

In the past, she would keep a certain distance from him, not sit directly by his side like this.

The two were very close. A breeze blew, lifting her golden hair, which brushed against his arm, tickling slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Rhode was a bit confused by Serie's sudden remark.

"Our adventure companions seem to have increased."

She had thought that her and Rhode's two-person adventure would last a long time, but she hadn't expected that in just over a month, it had already developed into a full five-person team.

For an elf like her, that was completely in the blink of an eye.

"True. It's a shame we're missing a monk or a priest to make it perfect."

In Rhode's view, a team without a healer was always lacking something.

But the current setup was already good.

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

The first stop was the Dwarven Ruins.

However, with their current combat power, they would probably have to start by slowly exploring the outer areas.

They would hone their strength while exploring.

"All the Sacred Codices are monopolized by those priests of the Winged race. Only they know Healing and Blessing magic."

The Winged race was a race created by the goddess. The life and death of this race were entirely controlled by the goddess.

If one day the goddess disappeared from this world, this race would vanish along with her, and the Sacred Codex with them.

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

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

But he failed.

It felt as if some invisible restriction had been placed on this type of magic, and even the golden finger he had brought as a transmigrator couldn't break through that limit.

"I do." Serie's answer was straightforward. "Can you create it?"

Rhode shook his head, indicating he couldn't.

Serie wasn't surprised by this. She simply explained, "Healing-type magic originates from the Sacred Codex, and the power of the Sacred Codex itself comes from the goddess's own power. It's normal that you can't create it."

"Hmm, this so-called Sacred Codex—can other races interpret it?"

At Rhode's question, Serie was momentarily stunned.

She had never actually considered this issue.

Because the Sacred Codex had never appeared outside the Winged race. Even their kind, the Elves, who nominally believed in the goddess, had never received a Sacred Codex bestowed by her.

"I can't answer that. No one has ever tried."

"So there's a possibility, then. Looks like we can add this to our adventure checklist."

Explore the Dwarven Ruins, obtain the sacred relics.

Delve deep into the Land of Fallen Gods to acquire a method to kill a god.

Now there was another goal: obtain the Sacred Codex.

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

But each of these dungeons was harder than the last, almost on par with clearing the Demon King's Castle.

"The goddess is not someone easy to talk to."

Serie didn't believe in the goddess. Even Kraft, who had already left, didn't really believe either, though he hadn't shown it as openly as Serie did.

If someone like Rhode went swaggering up to ask the goddess to bestow the Sacred Codex, the most likely outcome was that the goddess would slap him to death.

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

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

No matter how arrogant a god might be, when faced with magic that could kill them, they would have no choice but to show their soft belly for others to stroke.

"Yes! That's exactly right." Serie smiled too.

Finally, this human shared the same goal as her.

She felt very happy about that.

But her smile quickly faded, and she resumed her usual cold expression.

Only Rhode could pick up on the subtle changes in Serie's mood from the small details.

"But did you skip your herbs today?" Rhode suddenly changed the subject and asked.

These days, he had been feeding Serie a Magic Recovery Potion every day, and he even packed some before leaving the village.

If Serie ever showed signs of mana depletion again, he'd pour a bottle down her throat.

Of course, he'd also increase the concentration—it would be more bitter, but that was a necessary sacrifice!

Hearing Rhode bring this up, Serie's small face visibly soured: "I don't need it! My mana has already recovered a lot."

"Be good! Listen to me! What if it leaves aftereffects?"

Rhode's tone was like coaxing a child—perhaps, from a certain perspective, a pouting Serie really was the one who needed to be coaxed.

In the end, after Rhode's repeated persuasion, Serie reluctantly drank the bitter Magic Recovery Potion.

And Rhode pressed his advantage, saying he wanted to bring some along on the road to handle any emergencies.

Hearing this, Serie's small face froze, her golden eyes carrying seven parts panic, two parts helplessness, and one part resistance.

Don't ask how he could tell—ask instead how long he'd taken care of Hachimi. One look and he knew whether the cat was about to hiss.

Seeing Serie make such an adorable expression, Rhode couldn't help but laugh.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Serie stretched out her leg and kicked him, but not too hard.

For a moment, time stood still.

Rhode suddenly wished he could stay in this moment forever.

"Congratulations, you're both mages now."

In the third week, Norn and Erik could proficiently cast Light Arrow, though its power was only about a third of Rhode's.

Looking at the innocent little tree that had been snapped in half, Rhode clapped his hands and congratulated the two.

"It took us this long just to learn the most basic spell—if we wanted to learn that move of yours, Rhode, who knows how many years it'd take," Erik said with a roll of his eyes.

He'd been dying to learn that powerful spell Rhode had used before, especially after Serie learned it and cast it herself—he wanted it even more.

The spell Serie unleashed was even more terrifying; the space around everyone plunged into absolute darkness for a full second.

From the outside, it looked like all the light in that area had vanished, as if a black hole had appeared out of nowhere.

And the destructive range of her spell was even larger than Rhode's. Good thing they'd gone outside the forest to test it, or the whole forest might have been stirred up.

Though the fairies had already left this world, this was still their homeland, and their village had thrived here for over a hundred years—they ought to take good care of it.