Going Home

After running nearly five kilometers from the shoreline, everyone was so exhausted they were gasping for breath. Teacher Bradycond also woke up.

I told her about our current situation, and glossed over the effects produced when I had previously cast Abyssal Eternity with a spring-and-autumn brushstroke.

Though it had been extremely dangerous, this adventure could still count as a complete success. All the objectives had been achieved. As for the elves' Cangming, we could only wait for the elves to recover it themselves.

Because we had been washed ashore by the waves, we were currently lost. We could only confirm, by the Red Dragon Mountains faintly visible in the distance, that we should be somewhere south of the Biheril Kingdom.

For now, we could only head north. Fortunately, everyone was a fairly professional adventurer. Water magic could replenish our water, and the Demonic Beasts along the way could be used to fill our stomachs.

We walked like that for roughly a month before we barely managed to find a village.

Using the gold coins I had hidden in my socks, we bought four horses to ride and headed for Forest Song City.

After I used the elves' sacred artifact, "Silver Flow Spirit Pivot," to cast magic, it seemed to have merged into my arm.

This was really awkward. I had not planned to pocket this sacred artifact either. But Teacher did not seem worried. Perhaps she knew some secret.

Another three months passed before we finally returned to Forest Song City, travel-worn and covered in dust.

After receiving notice of our return, Federico brought eleven other elves to welcome us.

This should be Forest Song City's highest decision-making body, the Elder Council.

After Isolte and the others went back to the inn, I was led by the elf elders into a resplendent hall.

When I looked at this hall from outside, I already found it somewhat familiar. After entering the hall, I became even more certain.

This was the "Spirit Light Sanctuary" from the bottom of the sea. Or rather, this was a replica of the Spirit Light Sanctuary. The female mage who entered the hall holding a staff and wearing a robe, the elven archer in a cloak and tight-fitting warrior garb, and the elven swordsman carrying a greatsword and wearing magnificent armor were all exactly the same as the sculptures in the undersea Spirit Light Sanctuary.

"Dolin, you should have seen this sanctuary at the bottom of the sea, right? This was modeled after the sanctuary in our elves' homeland."

"Yes, I've seen this sanctuary. Then is there that Magic Guidance Hall here?"

"Haha, you jest. Sculptures like that, which can use ancient elven magic, cannot be made by people without the talent for chantless casting. Naturally, there are no such sculptures here. If it is convenient for you in the future, I still hope you can come over and replicate those stone statues here."

"All right! But I don't have the time right now. Let's wait until later! Then is this the purpose of bringing me here?"

"No. You'll know in a moment."

After walking for about another twenty minutes, we arrived at our destination this time.

After entering the room, I could tell the purpose at a glance. There was an altar identical to the one in the Spirit Light Sanctuary—the one from which I had previously pulled out "Silver Flow Spirit Pivot."

"Please insert 'Silver Flow Spirit Pivot' into this altar."

I condensed "Silver Flow Spirit Pivot" in my hand and walked up to the altar.

To be honest, I felt somewhat reluctant to part with this sacred artifact. But I did not choose to betray our agreement. Some things, once done, could never be made up for.

I inserted the "Silver Flow Spirit Pivot" in my hand into the altar.

In an instant, the entire altar emitted a fierce radiance. Countless magical elements flowed through the air into my body, then passed through me and poured into the altar.

Under these circumstances, the flow of magic continued for ten minutes before it finally stopped.

I let go, and "Silver Flow Spirit Pivot" remained on the altar.

"Thank you, Dolin Prodia Greyrat. You will forever be a friend of the elves. We will remember your kindness."

"Now the sacred artifact has returned to the elves' new home, but the artifact spirit of the sacred artifact remains within your body. As the user of the sacred artifact, we hope you will treat the artifact spirit well."

"Artifact spirit? What is an artifact spirit? How come I didn't know I had an artifact spirit on me?"

...All the elves looked at one another.

"The final user of the sacred artifact died five thousand years ago in the Second Human-Demon War. I do not know exactly what an artifact spirit is either. The records say the artifact spirit is the soul of the sacred artifact, and it can communicate with its user. It should already be inside your body. If you need it, you should be able to communicate with it. If you obtain its recognition, it can also fight for you."

"Why is there nothing communicating with me? I don't know anything."

After a pile of donkey lips failing to match horse mouths communication, I returned to the inn. This was truly baffling. I looked inward at my body and did not find anything different.

No, in the part of my hand, there was a yellow point of light. This should be the point of light that entered my body when I pulled out "Silver Flow Spirit Pivot" before. Now it was lying in the area of my finger, completely motionless. I tried using magic power to nudge it and even moved it to the area of my brain, but it still had no reaction.

Forget it, I would ignore it. I returned to my own room and lay down on the bed where Lilith was already asleep, burrowing into the warm blankets. What an arduous adventure.

The next day, our team gathered at the Adventurers' Guild. After this labyrinth, the purpose of my journey this time had basically been accomplished. After I told the other members about this, I could see that everyone was a little dejected.

Damon and Gwen planned to find another party to join in Forest Song City.

Clark and Niki planned to go south along the Biheril Kingdom toward the Conflict Zone, and Berion also planned to follow Clark. It seemed he was preparing to take Clark as his master and learn a stronger North God Style.

At present, it had already been more than three years since I had set out from home. It was Dragon God Calendar year 415. I wondered whether the Seven Star Orb existed in the sky above Roa now.

I planned to set off tomorrow and go back to take a look. If a displacement incident really was going to happen, then I hoped I could save a group of people familiar to me.

After bidding farewell to Bradycond, Isolte, Lilith, and I set out together on the journey home.

Dragon God Calendar Year 413, a certain day in June, Buena Village.

I was Rudeus Greyrat, six years old this year. I was already a Water Saint–class magician. You say I was amazing? Well, just so-so. This was all because of that traditional Japanese performing art, soul transmigration. After a thirty-four-year-old NEET got hit and killed by a truck, his soul transmigrated into a newly born child. A cliché kind of story.

With my memories from my previous life, didn't that make me a genius in the eyes of the people in this world?

Possessing powerful mana from childhood, comprehending chantless magic on my own, and being treated as a genius were all very simple. A few years ago, there was even a loli teacher who taught me magic, but she seemed to have been defeated by my talent and went out to improve herself. But in these past few years, I had gained a beautiful childhood friend too.

Want to see her? In a bit, after I finish practicing swordsmanship with Father, I'll take you all to have a look.

"Rudy, tell me... if someone told you to break up with Sylphie, what would you think?"

"Huh? Of course I don't want to."

"As expected! No, it's fine. Even if I tried to settle it with my mouth, in the end you'd just argue me down anyway."

Then he made his move. My own father dropped me in a few quick moves. Damn it, a geezer in his twenties actually launched a sneak attack on a little kid just over six like me. Then, for reasons I didn't understand, I was stuffed into a sack, carried off in a carriage, taken away by a muscular, big-breasted beastwoman named Ghislaine, and brought to the home of one of Paul's relatives. My mission was to serve as the magic teacher for the daughter of Roa's mayor, and the payment was tuition for two people at Ranoa University of Magic.

"You are Paul's son, Rudeus Greyrat, yes? I am Philip Boreas Greyrat. I suppose you could call me one of Paul's relatives! I asked you here this time so you could teach my daughter magic. If I may be so bold, what level of magic can you use right now?"

"The highest I can use right now is Saint-tier water magic."

"Oh, that's very good. I'll have my daughter come over now."

After a while, a red-haired girl whose first impression was "fierce and unruly" walked over.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Rudeus Greyrat."

"Hmph! Can you use magic that lets you fly in the air?"

"Sorry, I can't yet. But my wind-attribute magic is already at the advanced level."

"Hmph, what the heck? You're nowhere near my cousin. Father, I want to go to Ars and learn magic from my cousin. I want to learn that kind of magic that lets you fly in the air."

"Eris, you mustn't be so willful. According to your mother, your cousin has already left to train. His master told him to become an S-rank adventurer within five years, and he said that you need to reach the level of an advanced magician before you can go to Ars and learn flying magic from him."

"An adventurer? I'm so jealous! I want to be an adventurer too. Father, Father, can I go become an adventurer?"

"No. You're not even ten yet, and neither your swordsmanship nor your magic has reached the advanced level. How could you possibly become an adventurer? If you want to go, wait until your cousin comes back and ask him to accompany you."

"Okay! Okay, I'll definitely wait for him to come back and become an adventurer. By then he'll already be an S-rank adventurer, right? Then can we go challenge labyrinths together and explore all kinds of ruins? That's so exciting. Hey, brat over there, you can teach me magic up to the advanced level, right?"

"Ah... I probably can. It mainly depends on your aptitude."

"Hmph, wouldn't my aptitude be number one under heaven? I'm already an intermediate Sword God Style swordsman. Have you ever seen an eight-year-old Sword God Style swordsman?"

"All right, then we'll start magic practice tomorrow."

And just like that, I began working as a magic teacher in Roa. As for that muscular woman, through an exchange with me, she taught me swordsmanship, and I taught her magic.

Every day, I studied swordsmanship in the morning, practiced magic in the afternoon, and taught myself other languages at night. I lived such monotonous days.

Three years passed like that. In the meantime, the young lady of that noble family even threw a huge tantrum once because her cousin hadn't come to attend her tenth birthday. After that, her enthusiasm for learning magic sank even lower.

Whatever. I taught her properly anyway. Her aptitude really was bad. Even now, she could only use beginner magic.

One day, Philip came to find me.

"Rudeus, you're almost ten as well, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"I hear Eris's cousin has returned. She wants to go to Ars to celebrate his fifteenth birthday. It just so happens you're almost ten too. I've already spoken with your parents. Because Demonic Beasts have been appearing frequently lately, your father doesn't have time to come here, so he wants to bring you back to Buena Village for your tenth birthday. And since Eris is going to Ars anyway, you can go home and celebrate your birthday during this time!"

"All right. Are all of you going to Ars?"

"No. I don't like Ars. There are people there I don't like. So my father, Saulros Boreas Greyrat, will take Eris to Ars. Ghislaine will also be guarding them."

"All right. Then I'll trouble you to arrange a carriage. If Miss Eris returns, please let me know when the time comes."

"No problem. When the time comes, I'll arrange for someone to pick you up."

Ohoho, I could go home and see my Sylphie. After three years, what did she look like now? Had she become a great beauty? Had she grown her hair out? Would she feel like I was a stranger when she saw me? Ah, it all made my head hurt.

And so I returned to Buena Village, back to my family. I had a happy birthday at home. Both of my little sisters had grown up, and they kept calling me big brother. Aisha and Norn were both beauties in the making, and watching them filled me with comfort. There wouldn't be any orthopedics developments in the future, right? My heart felt a little excited.

Sylphie also came to attend my birthday. She had grown up too. She was ten this year as well, right? She was so beautiful. With such a pretty childhood friend, I loved it too much. I absolutely had to maintain this close relationship with her.

After the meal, I held her hand and brought her to a quiet place, then whispered to her, "Sylphie, wait two more years. In two years, we'll go to Ranoa University of Magic together. We'll study magic together and improve together. In two years, the two of us will be together for the rest of our lives."

"Okay, Rudy. We'll be together for the rest of our lives."

It was a little ambiguous. Now that we were ten, it should be fine. It was fine, right? I secretly kissed her. Wow, she actually didn't dodge, and her face turned red. If she didn't dodge, then that meant it was okay, right? Just as I was preparing to go one step further...

From the dining table came Mother's voice. "Rudy, Sylphie, where are you? Sylphie, your father is here to pick you up."

Damn it, another clichéd plot.

Sylphie whispered beside me, "Hehe, bad Rudy. Let's continue in two years!"

Then she ran off like a wisp of smoke.

The next day, "Wuu, wuu, wuu, Mama, I want Aisha's candy."

"Norn, you already ate one. Why are you still trying to snatch mine?"

"Wuu, wuu, wuu, I just want to eat it. Mama, I still want more."

At this moment, Lilia walked over again, crouched down, and lectured Aisha. "Aisha, you must yield to Lady Norn. You have to know rank and rules, understand?"

To ease the awkwardness, as their big brother, I stepped forward. I picked up Norn and showed her water magic in front of her to stop her tears from falling.

Father Paul came home from outside.

"Honey, you're back."

"Yeah. Demonic Beasts have been appearing far too frequently lately. This definitely isn't normal."

"Honey, look. What is that?"

Mom's words drew the whole family's attention.

There was a red glowing sphere in the sky. Its light was incredibly bright, and that location should be Roa. Was someone casting magic over there?

If it could be seen from this far away, it had to be king-class magic, right?

All I could see was that sphere growing brighter and brighter. Norn held me tighter and tighter, too.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from that sphere. At a speed I had no way to react to. It swept over us. On instinct, I gripped my staff tight with one hand and hugged Norn with the other.

Then the world turned pure white.