Frost Nova

"Don't mind it. Please forget my somewhat rude behavior just now. Could you teach me a few more spells tonight, Teacher?"

Cain let go of the embrace and smiled as he breathed a sigh of relief, placing the magic book in Roxy's hands.

"Sure. But in return, I hope Cain can show me some swordsmanship."

Seeing a faint blush on Master Roxy's face and her slight smile, Cain readily agreed. Yeah! I can gain more magic proficiency again!

"No problem."

But Cain realized there was a problem: how was he supposed to demonstrate his swordsmanship to Teacher Roxy? An ordinary Advanced Sword God Style swordsman's slash was already incredibly fast, while a Sword King wielding the Sword God Style seriously could swing so fast that it was practically invisible to the naked eye.

And he was a Sword God. Forget swinging a sword—even being able to see when he drew it would already make someone an impressive Sword God Style swordsman. But if he did it in slow motion... Hmm, that would feel strange. Still, it should make it more watchable, right?

"Scattered droplets dance in the air, let flowing water blanket all things!"

"Water Vapor!"

Outside the city, Roxy raised her faintly glowing staff in the snowy field.

As the intermediate spell Water Vapor activated, a thin layer of water covered Roxy's body, while a vast number of water droplets floated through the surrounding area.

Behind her, Cain held the magic book and widened his eyes slightly.

Another new spell. He had thought water magic could only turn into Water Cannons and blast people, but he had not expected it could be used like this!

"Watch carefully, Cain."

Roxy looked at Cain's curious, admiring gaze behind her. The corners of her lips rose slightly as she felt a little pleased with herself—and somewhat expectant.

Her genius disciple could cast ordinary single-target spells with Chantless Casting, so he would surely learn them quickly. He probably would not even need to recite the chant once. But what about composite magic formed from several spells? How long would it take her disciple to grasp that? She was looking forward to it.

With that thought, Roxy smiled faintly and waved her staff.

"O azure goddess who descends gracefully from the heavens, wield your staff and freeze this world!"

This was the chant for Frozen Domain, an Advanced-class water spell. But when combined with the intermediate spell Water Vapor, it became a composite Advanced-class water spell with greater power and a wider range.

"Frost Nova!!"

As Roxy completed her chant, the area twenty meters ahead and around them instantly became a glittering world of ice and snow.

All the snow around them turned to ice, and even the snowflakes in the air became ice crystals as they fell.

"So cool..."

Cain's eyes sparkled behind Roxy. In his eyes, Roxy turned around amid the frozen landscape, adjusted her magic hat slightly, and smiled happily at him.

So beautiful.

"Cain, give it a try."

"O-Okay..." Cain took the staff from Teacher Roxy's hand.

Roxy clenched her little fists slightly. Her smile carried a trace of worry, and her heart was uneasy.

If her disciple Cain used composite magic on his first try, she really would not have the face to keep calling herself Cain's teacher.

But it seemed that the more she worried about something, the more likely it was to happen.

Cain calmly raised Teacher Roxy's staff, and a vast number of water droplets slowly appeared within nearly a hundred meters around him.

Of course, he had to exclude Teacher Roxy from the spell's range to avoid accidentally hurting his adorable teacher. That was Cain's first thought, and then he did not even chant.

He skipped the chants for both Water Vapor and Frozen Domain, merely saying one phrase.

"Frost Nova!"

As ice crystals formed from the water droplets and continuously fell from the sky, Roxy's mouth opened slightly, her widened blue eyes trembling.

This was no longer an Advanced-class spell. That phenomenon... was it King-class? No! Was it the Emperor-class spell Absolute Zero?!

Roxy stared in shock at the changes around her.

As a wave of frigid air swept through, the area several hundred meters around Roxy and Cain became a glittering sheet of ice, like a massive skating rink. Aside from Roxy and Cain, everything in that area had frozen.

With sharp cracks, the evergreen trees that had turned into ice sculptures shattered into fragments. A huge boulder in front of them split in two with a crisp cracking sound, its interior thoroughly frozen through.

[Successfully cast Emperor-class ice magic: Absolute Zero]

[Proficiency: +3854 points]

[Reward: Ice magic casting speed greatly increased, ice magic mana consumption -25%, total mana +5%, ice magic power +10%]

Hmm, even though ice magic and water magic belonged to the same category, the system still distinguished between them?

But he was so happy! The magic he had cast was not the Advanced-class Frost Nova, but the Emperor-class Absolute Zero?! He was truly so happy.

Cain's body trembled with excitement, and he failed to notice that his teacher Roxy had become somewhat dejected. She was crouching on the ground, poking the ice beneath her feet with a finger, her eyes filled with disappointment.

Her disciple was a super genius. She had never expected him to succeed on his first attempt—and not merely succeed, but achieve such a tremendous success. He really could become a Water God in the future.

But if she still called herself Cain's teacher, was that not a little too shameless...?

Roxy crouched there dejectedly, unaware that Cain's magical power came from the system.

Roxy had become an adventurer because she had fallen out with her own teacher. Back then, she had smugly believed herself to be a genius. But after meeting her first disciple, Cain, she realized how laughable the talent she had once been so proud of truly was.

Compared to her genius disciple, she was probably just an ordinary mage who needed to chant in order to cast magic...

"U-Um, Teacher Roxy... are you okay...?"

Cain sensed something and turned around. Seeing Teacher Roxy crouched on the ground, drawing circles on the smooth ice with her hand and looking utterly dejected, the corner of his mouth twitched.

This is bad. I shouldn't have cast the spell at full power. Teacher Roxy looks really upset.

"U-Um, Master Roxy, how about we go get some late-night snacks? My treat."

Cain scratched his cheek. He still remembered that when he had first used Chantless Casting, Teacher Roxy had said something about being jealous of his magical talent.

They walked around the streets with Teacher Roxy for a while, but Roxy still looked downcast. Just as Cain pursed his lips, intending to perform a sword dance for her—

He noticed Roxy staring blankly at a shop on the street ahead.

"Hmm, Teacher Roxy, do you want to eat that?"

Cain looked at Roxy, who was gazing absentmindedly at the cake shop across the street, the corners of his lips rising slightly.

Of course, the desserts in a cream cake shop like that were rather expensive. Usually, only nobles could afford them.

"We earned a lot of money this time, Teacher Roxy. Would you like to go try some?"

"T-That would be too wasteful..."

Roxy pursed her lips and swallowed, trying her best to look away from the neat rows of delicious-looking pastries inside the cake shop.

But when she turned back, she saw a hand. It was somewhat slender, with a thin layer of calluses on the palm. It was her disciple Cain's small hand.

"It's fine. Teacher, do you want to go eat? I'll treat you."

Cain smiled and extended his hand in invitation. Besides, now that they were right in front of the cake shop, it would be ridiculous to get lost again.

"Mm, it really is too expensive. We..."

But this time, before Roxy could finish, Cain smiled and gently took the small hand she had instinctively extended before drawing it back. Since Teacher could not make a choice, then he, her disciple, could only help her choose.

Roxy's face reddened all the way to her ears. She blinked her azure eyes and looked at the hand Cain was holding. For some reason, she did not want to shake him off. She did not resist, either. Instead, she lightly tightened her grip in response. She felt that this was nice.

Because she really did want something sweet. Of course, if Cain was treating her, then going in for a little while was not... impossible.

O-Of course, she would not fall for this idiot disciple of hers. Mm, she definitely would not. She just liked desserts, that was all.

Besides... she was his teacher! Though she was an incompetent teacher he had already surpassed...

Cain happily held Roxy's hand, glanced at the unfamiliar words on the sign above the shop, and walked into the cake shop. The owner was a middle-aged Dogfolk man. Seeing the two enter, he rubbed his hands together and revealed a somewhat kindly smile.

"You two are a couple, right? We have a promotion here—couples get cakes at half price."

"Huh? A c-couple?!"

Cain's face reddened as he looked at the beastman uncle's certain expression, then at Roxy beside him, whose cheeks were equally flushed. The corner of his eye twitched slightly.

"Wait, wait a second. Isn't this just an ordinary cake shop? Why is there a promotion like that? Besides, we aren't..."

Roxy pursed her lips and tightened her grip on Cain's hand slightly. She blinked her shy azure eyes, gave Cain a look, then looked toward the owner.

"Y-Yes, that's right. Can we choose our cake now?"

The cakes in this shop were not cheap. Roxy did not want to spend extra money. Mm, that was all. Still, she did not particularly object to pretending to be Cain's girlfriend...

Right, it was only to save money.