Chapter 106

Today, the peaceful lakeside of the Evergreen Forest.

The sunlight sparkles on the gentle waves, and a warm breeze blows through the leaves.

After eating the sandwich Revena carefully made, Ariel asked Rakia if she could teach her magic.

“Of course, I can teach you! If that’s what you want, Ariel!”

Rakia smiled brightly and nodded.

“What kind of magic should I teach you? Should we start with something light, like Meteor Storm? Or Blizzard? Hmm, Giga Thunder or Explosion….”

Rakia, swept up in enthusiasm, began listing off high-level spells one after another.

Each one boasted tremendous destructive power.

“Ah, the most useful would definitely be Rain of Apocalypse! If you want to conquer the continent, mass destruction magic is a must! Something like Hurricane Tempest to blow away the human Empire in one go….”

“Rakia.”

Ariel quietly spoke up.

“…I just want to learn basic elemental magic.”

“B-basic elemental magic?”

“Yeah. I don’t really plan on conquering any continents.”

“Ah….”

Rakia scratched her head awkwardly.

“O-of course, I can teach you basic elemental magic too!”

Rakia quickly changed her tone.

She was worried Ariel might decide not to learn magic after all.

And so, Ariel began learning basic elemental magic from Rakia.

Once again, there was no need for complicated processes.

Just by listening to the incantations and principles, Ariel was able to understand and control all elemental magic.

After a while, Rakia asked.

“Shall we try some practice now?”

“Sure.”

Ariel walked closer to the lakeside.

Revena, Ghost, Black, and Ash, who were sitting under a nearby tree, watched Ariel with interest.

Ariel, standing by the lakeside, stretched out her hand and drew in mana.

Then, a small droplet of water began to form in front of her palm.

“Ah, you’re doing great, Ariel! That’s it!”

Even though it was a very basic elemental spell, Rakia exaggeratedly praised her.

From Rakia’s perspective, she didn’t feel like she had actually taught anything, so she was just showing off.

Meanwhile, Ariel stared at the droplet of water forming in front of her palm with a sense of wonder.

To think she could create water out of thin air.

Magic truly was amazing.

With this, she could wash herself or quench her thirst anytime, anywhere.

Ariel decided to make the droplet bigger.

As she drew in more mana, the droplet quickly grew to the size of a fist.

Then, with more mana, it soon became as large as a person.

Ariel moved the mass of water to the center of the lakeside and continued to pour mana into it.

The mass of water grew larger and larger.

Ariel decided to spin it.

Whoosh!

A massive water pillar shot up from the center of the lakeside.

The towering pillar of water, reaching for the sky, continued to grow, becoming overwhelmingly powerful.

“Ahhh! That’s it, Ariel! That’s the one!”

Rakia jumped around excitedly, while Revena, who had been petting Ash nearby, looked bewildered.

‘How is that basic elemental magic…?’

The water pillar Ariel had summoned was far beyond basic elemental magic.

It looked powerful enough to swallow a human city in an instant.

Soon, Ariel dispersed the water pillar into the sky, and rain began to fall over the Evergreen Forest lakeside.

Ash ran around excitedly, while Revena cast a Holy Shield to keep her saintess robes from getting wet.

*

The lakeside, now clear of rain, was filled with the fresh scent of grass.

Having tested water magic, Ariel decided to try fire magic next.

From what she had just experienced, it seemed that as long as she could control mana to wield magic, there was no need to learn high-level spells.

She could adjust the power of magic through application alone.

Of course, this was a basic concept of magic. No mage was unaware of it.

However, the mana loss during application was significant, and controlling magic wasn’t easy, which was why learning high-level spells was more efficient.

Ariel stretched out her hand again, preparing to cast fire magic.

Just then, a frantic voice called out from across the lakeside.

“Sister! Sister, sister!!”

Roo was flying over at high speed.

In her hands was a book larger than her own body, likely carried using Flying Powder.

Otherwise, Roo wouldn’t have been able to lift such a heavy book.

“Here, take a look at this book!”

In an instant, Roo flew up to Ariel and opened the book to a page.

The book was [History of the Giants] by an adventurer named Eras, and the page Roo opened contained details Eras had discovered while exploring the southern jungle.

Roo pointed to a picture on the page.

“This, this picture, Eras found it in the ruins of the Giant Race deep in the southern jungle. I deciphered it. Turns out, it’s a code!”

Rakia came closer.

“What’s that book? Isn’t that the boring book Lionel used to read? Where did you find it?”

“Under Lionel’s bed.”

“Under the bed? How did you even get there?”

“Well, you know, there’s a lot of interesting stuff….”

Roo awkwardly brushed off the question and pointed to the page again.

“More importantly, this! This code! I deciphered it, sister!”

Ariel quietly looked at the picture.

But it didn’t look like a code at all.

It just looked like a picture.

“This picture, it turns out, is a code left by the Giant Race!”

Roo said excitedly.

“According to my deciphering, ‘Only those who seek the truth can open the gates of Azgrad…’ What do you think?”

Ariel tilted her head.

“…Azgrad?”

“Yes! Azgrad! That Azgrad!”

Just as Ariel was about to ask what Azgrad was, Revena spoke up from behind.

“Azgrad is a hidden world where the ancient Giant Race is said to live. It’s not confirmed, but it’s said to contain the culture and wisdom of the Giant Race.”

“Exactly!”

Roo nodded vigorously.

“The ancient Giant Race created their own sanctuary and hid it away so no one could find it, and that’s Azgrad.”

Roo pointed to the book’s cover.

“The author of this book, Eras, spent his life adventuring across the continent in search of Azgrad. But in the end, he grew old and had to stop his adventures. The last place he explored was the ruins of the Giant Race in the southern jungle, and the picture he found there is the code I just deciphered. It’s certain, sister, the secret to reaching Azgrad is hidden in the southern jungle!”

Roo’s eyes sparkled as she asked.

“So, sister, how about our next adventure being to the southern jungle?”

*

The southern jungle is quite a distance from Elysion’s Lair.

Moreover, the vast Caldoran Desert lies in between, where dangerous monsters like griffins and hydras roam, and water and food are scarce, making it a place not just anyone can cross.

But beyond that desert lies the southern jungle, and deep within it, the ruins of the Giant Race.

Roo was suggesting they embark on an adventure to that place.

“Alright.”

Ariel agreed immediately.

The thought of crossing the desert and venturing into the unknown depths of the jungle was thrilling.

“But, Ariel….”

Rakia spoke up.

“If it’s the south, I can’t go with you. That’s the territory of the Dragon Lord.”

Dragon Lord.

The leader of all dragons on the continent, the most powerful dragon.

“The Dragon Lord rules the entire southern region, so if another dragon enters without permission, it would be a breach of the pact.”

Dragons each have their own territories, and unless there’s an urgent matter, they can’t invade each other’s domains.

Usually, like Elysion, they claim a mountain range as their territory, but the Dragon Lord, being greedy, has claimed the entire southern region as his domain.

“Hmm….”

The mood grew somber.

Both Ariel and Roo wanted to adventure in the southern jungle, but they didn’t want to leave Rakia behind.

“Maybe… I’ll look for another place. There must be other ruins of the giants. If we look through this book, maybe there’s somewhere other than the south….”

Roo tried to sound cheerful as she flipped through the book.

But in truth, Roo had already read the book several times.

There was no other place.

The ruins of the Giant Race were only deep within the southern jungle.

“No, it’s okay.”

Rakia shook her head.

“I don’t have to go. Mother hasn’t fully recovered yet, and I have to take care of the wolf cubs too. Ariel, you and Roo go ahead. I’ll stay in the Evergreen Forest with Revena.”

Revena also couldn’t join the adventure.

As the Saintess, she had to return to the sanctuary at night, and with all the events happening at the Cathedral lately, going on an adventure was out of the question.

“Next time, we’ll all go on an adventure together. As long as it’s not the south, it’s fine.”

Rakia smiled bravely.

Ariel reached out and patted Rakia’s head.

“Thank you, Rakia. I’ll bring you a gift this time too.”

“…Something shiny?”

“Sure.”

“Great!”

Rakia hugged Ariel tightly, and Roo and Revena watched them with warm smiles.