Learning Magic

Roxy's face was red enough to boil a kettle. Watching Cain seriously explain himself with his arms crossed, she relaxed slightly.

That had scared her to death. When Zoldat put it that way, Roxy had really thought Cain had some other intentions toward her. So it had been another false alarm.

"Is that so? Hehe, looks like I misunderstood."

"Anyway, we still need seven Mud Dragon Beast tails. We're willing to pay two silver coins. That's not a low price, right?"

Two Asura Silver Coins were already an ordinary family's monthly wages.

Roxy and Cain exchanged glances, then nodded slightly.

"Alright, deal."

After paying the two silver coins, Zoldat, Brook, and the others came over and began cutting off the Mud Dragon Beast's tails.

Once they had collected them all, Zoldat helped Roxy and Cain transport the remaining sellable parts of the Mud Dragon Beasts back to the guild for public sale as an apology.

At the guild, Roxy stared wide-eyed at the thirteen silver coins in the two small bags in her hands.

"Thank you, Mr. Zoldat. You really helped us out."

"Ah, it was nothing."

Zoldat rubbed his nose and slung an arm around Cain's shoulders beside Roxy, seemingly quite pleased by the praise.

Including the agreed payment and the reward for completing the request, Roxy and Cain received a total of thirteen silver coins.

Roxy received seven silver coins. Since there was also the fee for magic lessons, Cain took the remaining six. After counting the money pouch, his total assets were now one Aras Gold Coin and six Asura Silver Coins. Cain put the pouch away, then pursed his lips at Zoldat, who still had an arm around his shoulders.

This grinning guy was unexpectedly a good person. Still, Cain felt that Zoldat had his own motives. Was he trying to poach Teacher Roxy? After all, Roxy's magic was outstanding.

No! He absolutely could not allow that! He still needed to learn magic from his teacher.

"Want to go have a drink at the tavern, handsome?"

At that moment, a purple-haired mage with a great figure walked over and gave Cain a sweet smile.

"This is Rina, the mage in our adventurer party."

With his arm around Cain's shoulders, Zoldat introduced her with an amused grin.

"Hello, but sorry, I have something to do. Teacher Roxy is teaching me magic tonight."

Cain kept his gaze straight and his expression calm, paying no attention to Rina's slightly seductive tone or the way she pulled down the zipper at her chest.

"Cain, over here."

At the entrance of the guild, Roxy raised her staff and smiled as she waved at Cain, who was leaning against the counter.

"Excuse me."

Cain nodded slightly, adjusted the Demon Blade: Instant Void at his waist, and walked toward Roxy with a faint smile as she waved at him from the adventurers' entrance, her face slightly flushed.

"Ah, looks like the honey trap didn't work."

Zoldat crossed his arms and smiled at Rina beside him.

"Well, that's normal, isn't it? He's a young man with the title of Sword God, after all. He's so captivating." Rina licked her lips, desire in her eyes.

Zoldat pursed his lips and set down his wine cup.

"You should forget about it. If we want to recruit him, we'll probably have to recruit that Roxy into the party too."

"Th-that probably won't work..." Rina's expression turned serious again.

"Our adventurer party doesn't have any vacancies, and we already have a full roster of mages and priests. Adding more people would cause problems."

After all, the reward for a request was only so much. The more people there were, the less money each person received. Of course, there were other reasons as well. It was not just about profit; there was also teamwork, division of duties, and adapting to each other's habits and behavior.

Zoldat thought for a moment, then smiled faintly and waved his hand.

"It's fine, it's fine. If that Sword God, Cain, is willing to join, I'm fine with being his support."

"Hehe, true. As the second Sword God of the Sword God Style, he could probably serve as the entire party's front line by himself. We wouldn't even need a vanguard."

The dwarf Bruce pursed his lips at that, feeling slightly offended.

"Hey, we still need a vanguard, right? At the very least, someone has to protect the mages in the back."

"Sorry, sorry." Zoldat had forgotten that Bruce was the vanguard.

"Hmm... but if we want to recruit him, it seems we'll have to recruit that mage too. But then we would need to form another adventurer party. Who told us not to be the first ones to invite him?"

At that moment, several knights in full armor stomped heavily across the floor and entered the adventurers' guild.

Zoldat and Rina, who had still been drinking and chatting, looked puzzled when they saw the soldiers entering the guild. It was not just them; every adventurer's relaxed expression changed.

The soldiers posted a notice in the very center of the guild's request board.

"What's going on? Soldiers from the city are actually coming to the adventurers' guild to post a request?!"

Zoldat squeezed his way to the front of the notice and, upon seeing its contents, his pupils contracted slightly.

The notice listed a place not far from here, along with the details of the request.

"A Red Dragon subjugation?! An S-rank request?! You've got to be kidding me?!" After reading the public request, Zoldat's mouth twitched violently. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead as he could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

That night, Roxy and Cain strolled through the streets of Sharia, the City of Magic, under the moonlight.

Roxy looked at Cain, who had his hands behind his head and was gazing up at the starry sky, and lightly pressed her lips together.

"Cain..."

"Yes, Teacher Roxy? Is something wrong?"

"There's something I have to tell you."

"Um..."

Roxy's voice was somewhat hesitant. Since Cain already called her teacher, she did not want to disappoint him.

Roxy did not dislike this polite apprentice she had just taken in, and she wanted to teach him magic. But she did not know whether Cain would be disappointed if he discovered that he lacked talent for magic, or whether he would end their adventurer partnership because of it.

After all, they had only known each other for one day, and their relationship was held together by mutual benefit.

"Phew. Anyway, I'll test your aptitude for magic first. Not everyone has the talent to become a mage, so I hope you can prepare yourself mentally, Cain..."

Roxy tightened her grip slightly around her staff and looked at Cain with a very serious expression. In her heart, she prayed that Cain had the aptitude, because then she would have an adventurer partner with Sword God-level swordsmanship, along with one silver coin in teaching wages every month.

Cain nodded slightly as a blue panel appeared before him.

[Total Magic Power: High]

[Magic Skill: Chantless Water Magic]

Well, if that counted as having no talent for magic, then there was nothing he could do about it.

Of course, even if he truly had no aptitude for magic, he would still experience adventurer life with Teacher Roxy for a few months. Teacher Roxy had far, far more adventuring experience than he did, and he would not get lost while following her.

This was also part of Cain's training. After that, he would leave for the Asura Kingdom to find the Water God, Reida, and learn Water God Style swordsmanship.

"Alright, then I'll test your aptitude for magic first."

Roxy led Cain to a quiet meadow outside the city. Since the snow was too deep, they did not go far in. They found a place where the snow was thinner, and their footsteps came to a stop.

Roxy looked around and nodded slightly. Once she confirmed that they would not accidentally hurt anyone, she raised her staff and began to chant.

"May the great blessing of water descend upon the place you seek. Cool, gently flowing water, appear here—Water Ball."

"Water Ball!"

A sphere of water appeared at the tip of Roxy's staff. It then shot out with a sharp splash, snapping the trunk of a small tree in the distance.

Cain was not as astonished as he had been when he saw intermediate ice magic that morning, because he too knew the beginner water spell, Water Ball.

"Give it a try, Cain."

"Alright, Master!"

Cain did not know that magic normally required chanting. His beginner spell had come from the system's novice gift pack. Naturally, he had long forgotten such a lengthy incantation, and even if Roxy repeated it, he still could not remember and recite it all.

So Cain could only choose to cast without chanting.

"Water Ball!"

Cain raised his left hand. Under Roxy's trembling, shocked blue gaze, magic power rapidly gathered in his palm. A water ball several times larger than the one Roxy had formed with her staff quickly condensed, then shot out with a hum!

Bang! The massive water ball blasted the entire trunk of a thick tree in the distance to pieces, scattering its leaves across the ground.

[Successfully cast intermediate water magic: Water Cannon]

[Proficiency: +153]

[Reward: Water magic casting speed slightly increased, water magic mana consumption -5%, total magic power +1%, water magic power +1%]

Cain's eyes lit up slightly when he saw the system reward. As expected, as long as he cast a new spell, he would receive bonuses.