Chapter 17

Massimo's submitted research paper was recognized, and he officially became a magician. Not only that, but he also joined the Magician's Association and was selected as a researcher in the Refinement Bureau.

The Refinement Bureau is a special department where only the most outstanding members of the Magician's Association are assigned, which shows how highly his research paper was evaluated. However, some researchers are assigned due to the power dynamics between factions, so not all of them are necessarily outstanding. Generally speaking, the typical researcher is indeed very capable.

Patrick also passed the magician certification exam and started working at the Magician's Association.

He returned to Delb to collect his belongings and came to say goodbye to Ricardo.

"Next spring, you'll take the exam, right? I'll be waiting. When you come to the capital, visit me."

"Got it. I'll definitely come."

After saying his goodbyes, Patrick left for the capital. Massimo also moved to the capital, so Alessandro's study became freely available to him.

It was summer, and during this season, the temperature in the Kingdom of Romanus often exceeded 30 degrees, making it so hot that sweat dripped just from breathing.

In the morning, he would go hunting while it was still cool, and in the afternoon, he would enjoy napping in the shade of a well-ventilated tree. He changed to a seemingly elegant lifestyle.

He tried to find a spell to lower the room temperature but found only dangerous spells that seemed impractical for indoor use.

When the sun set and the temperature dropped, the night became cool. He used this cool time for reading, borrowing books from Alessandro's study one after another and reading them all over three months.

He took notes on important information from history books, stories, biographies, philosophy books, and research on magical beasts.

In the fall, he began memorizing history books and the "Compendium of Magic." He read the "Compendium of Magic" multiple times, analyzing it thoroughly to understand the principles of magic and the magical language.

He made two discoveries. One was that the elemental words were not just the five known ones—'Fana,' 'Shena,' 'Esna,' 'Amril,' and 'Glory'—but there were others.

These words were described in the "Compendium of Magic," and he wondered why other magicians hadn't noticed them. It turned out that the five elemental words introduced by sages had become a fixed notion, and no one questioned the existence of others.

The newly discovered elemental words were 'Fasnal,' 'Amsnal,' and 'Borygem.' 'Fasnal' and 'Amsnal' were for composite magic, while 'Borygem' was for lightning-specific magic.

While 'Fana' could also be used for lightning magic, 'Borygem,' being specialized, could produce more powerful lightning spells.

Additionally, changing the incantation of the composite magic "Melt Flame Bullet" from 'Fana' to 'Fasnal' increased its power.

The second discovery was related to production magic. He found the magic words 'Kujureura (Float in the Air)' and 'Movafar (Rotate)' among the words related to earth magic. 'Kujureura (Float in the Air)' made objects float, and 'Movafar (Rotate)' made objects rotate. When combined, they could serve as a substitute for machinery.

He immediately tried using them to process a rod. He picked up an unprocessed branch of the magical tree Tril, infused it with magic, and cast the spell while sprinkling a catalyst.

"Amril, Kujureura, Movafar"

The unprocessed branch began to float and rotate. Ricardo held a chisel he bought from a tool shop in the city and pressed the blade against the surface of the branch. The branch was shaved, and wood chips flew.

After about eight minutes, the branch stopped rotating, and the rod processing was mostly complete. He cast the same spell again to sand it, and the rod was finished.

The quality of the rod was far superior to those he had previously made by hand. The spell he named "Magic Lathe" proved very useful.

He continued to hunt and practice combat magic. He moved his hunting grounds from the mixed forest near the east gate to the territory of the magical tree Tril across the stream.

In the forest of the magical tree Tril, there were also Crowned Lizards and Human-faced Spiders. The Crowned Lizards were large lizards about three meters long with a crown-like horn on their heads, and the Human-faced Spiders were large spiders about a meter long with paralyzing venom.

Ricardo fought a Crowned Lizard and found that as long as he was careful of its tail attacks, he could take it down with "Flying Spear." The Human-faced Spiders lurked on tree branches and launched surprise attacks from above. The first time, he was surprised when one hit him from behind. He counterattacked with his magic rod and drove it away, but after that, he made sure to always use "Magic Perception" when in the forest to avoid surprise attacks.

Of course, he couldn't go hunting every day. On rainy days, he practiced magic control in the attic, successfully bringing his consciousness to within four steps of the source gate.

He then achieved complete magic control from six steps away. The power he could receive from six steps away from the source gate was equivalent to the amount of magic needed to cast a mid-level lower magic.

He tried processing a branch of the magical tree Tril into a rod and performing magic coating from six steps away from the source gate. The rod's surface cracked halfway through, indicating that the material of the magical tree Tril couldn't withstand the increased magic power.

The season changed to winter.

His studies progressed, and he gained confidence in history and the basic principles of magic. One day, Alessandro asked him to deliver a message to the capital.

He was asked to deliver the "Compendium of Magic" copied by two new disciples to Massimo.

Sending a ten-year-old child alone on a journey that would take several days was highly unusual.

Alessandro must have done this because he had begun to dislike Ricardo's presence. Thinking that Ricardo would refuse, Alessandro offered a condition.

"Recently, you've been studying hard. If you deliver this to Massimo, you can take the Magician's Association exam next spring."

Ricardo was surprised. Alessandro had previously said that taking the exam next year was too early.

He found it suspicious but decided to accept Alessandro's offer. He received a gold coin as travel money and was set to leave the next day.

Alessandro, realizing that sending a child alone was unusual, instructed him to travel with a merchant caravan heading to the capital.

The next morning, he went to the inn where the merchant caravan was staying, and three merchants were preparing the wagons.

"Are you from the Alphano Trading Company? I'm Ricardo, Alessandro's disciple."

A sturdy merchant replied.

"Yeah, I know. You're heading to the capital, right? Leave it to us, and you'll be fine."

The merchant's name was Orso Alphano, the head of the Alphano Trading Company. He had a cunning look despite his smiling face.

Ricardo loaded his belongings, including his change of clothes and items he didn't want to leave in the attic, onto a cart. He also brought his usual pouch, a leather bag containing the gold coins from selling his magic rod, and a black leather notebook.

The cart was quite heavy, and he wished he had the storage crystal that Bernard had.

As the wagon started moving, there was nothing to do but sit at the edge and look at the scenery. Occasionally, Orso would talk to him, but the three merchants often discussed women they had met on their travels, making it hard to join in the conversation.

The first day passed without incident, and they stayed overnight in Morta, the capital of the Lyosen territory. The next day, they headed for Burg, the capital of the Cogats territory.

However, it started raining, so they had to stay overnight in a small village.

There were no inns in the village, so they rented a farmer's shed for the night. After eating black bread bought in Morta for dinner, Ricardo said he was going to the toilet and left the shed.

In reality, he was suspicious of Orso and the others, so he hid by the entrance and watched.

Soon, Orso and the others started whispering.

"We promised to take that magician to the capital, but what are we going to do?"

"Are you stupid? We can't go to the capital where we're set up."

"Then what are we going to do with the kid?"

"Obviously, we'll dump him in a river and take his belongings."

Ricardo shuddered. These guys are criminals.

Did Alessandro know their true identities? If he did, he must be a ruthless and untrustworthy man.

Ricardo went to the wagon, took his belongings, and fled. The rain had stopped, and the moonlight made the road visible.

The moon in this world was larger and redder than the one in Japan.

He had no choice but to head back to Morta or toward Burg. Ricardo left the village and headed for Burg.

After walking for about an hour, he heard voices behind him. He hid behind a large tree by the side of the road and watched.

The footsteps grew closer, and three figures appeared. Orso's face, holding a portable lamp, was visible.

"How far did that kid get?"

"Maybe he went back to Morta?"

"No, the kid's destination is the capital. He must have headed for the port town of Burg."

"Why did he run?"

"Obviously, he overheard our conversation."

Orso added,

"Damn, I thought this would be an easy job. We should have taken care of him and taken his belongings earlier."

Ricardo started to get angry. Did he really need to run from these guys?

Calmly thinking, he realized he had no reason to fear these non-magician, non-magical beast hunters.

Ricardo activated a new spell. The catalysts were earth and water, and the spell was called "Mud Bind."

"Amnsnal, Hyuzinasca, Graszbayz"

Suddenly, water seeped from under Orso's feet, turning the solid road into a muddy swamp.

Orso and the others sank into the mud. Their portable lamps floated on the surface.

"Hey, what's this?!"

"We can't get out!"

"Damn it!"

They were submerged up to their necks and couldn't escape.

Ricardo walked up to them.

"Orso, what a coincidence to meet you here."

Orso glared at him.

"It's your doing, isn't it? Bastard, get us out of here."

Ricardo tilted his head.

"What will you do if I do?"

Obviously, they would attack him as soon as they got out.

Orso and the others fell silent. Ricardo glared at them and started to leave.

"Wait... If you get us out, I'll give you a treasure. It's in the pouch hanging from my neck."

Orso shouted, and Ricardo turned back, carefully reaching out to Orso's neck. He pulled the string and found a small bag. He brought the portable lamp closer and saw four purple crystals about the size of marbles.

"What's this? Purple crystals?"

"No, they're Purple Tree Fruit Crystals."

They sounded like the Purple Tree Fruit Crystals he had heard about from Bernard. However, he didn't know what they were used for, so he wondered if they were really a treasure.

"Why do you have these?"

"..."

Orso looked away. Ricardo turned to the other fake merchant.

"We attacked a traveling merchant, and he said they were treasures and scattered them to escape. We hurried to pick them up and chase him, but..."

The merchant had escaped. These guys were incompetent criminals. However, such people were more dangerous because they could harm others without much thought.

"Get us out of here."

Ricardo realized he hadn't thought about how to get them out. Their hands were also submerged, so it was impossible to pull them out with a rope or stick. The water would eventually drain, and the mud would dry, but he would have to dig them out.

As he was thinking, he heard the growl of animals.

He looked around, drew his magic rod from the sheath on his back, and slowly backed toward the large tree where he had left the cart. He planned to fight with his back against the tree.

The portable lamp revealed the identity of the enemies: Horned Wolves.

The noise at night had attracted the magical beasts.

Two wolves attacked. Ricardo infused his magic rod with power and struck one on the head.

The wolf let out a cry and rolled on the ground. The other wolf, perhaps because its companion was killed, kept its distance and looked for an opening.

A scream came from Orso's direction, but he couldn't help them.

The other wolf lunged for Ricardo's neck. He stepped to the left to avoid it.

He struck the wolf's neck with his magic rod. There was a crack, and the wolf fell to the ground.

Looking at Orso and the others, he saw two wolves thrashing in the mud, tearing at Orso's heads.

On closer inspection, the three were dead, and the two wolves were struggling in the mud.

Ricardo finished off the wolves with two "Flying Spears."

He removed the horns from the Horned Wolves and dragged their bodies to the side of the road and discarded them