Water Magician

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“Here, for lunch, we have mountain bandit roast-style bird meat and flame-grilled boar cheek meat.”

Both were grilled meats …

“Abel, black pepper also has the effect of relieving fatigue, so please eat all you can eat.”

“O-ou.”

Ryo was enjoying the bird meat that he had not had for a long time.

Compared to rabbits and boars, it was less likely to encounter bird-type monsters.

Although there were many things on Abel’s mind, eating when it was the time to eat was an essential ability for an adventurer.

For now, he focused on eating.

For a while, only the chewing sounds of the two people echoed in the clearing.

Abel, who was considerably tired from using two 『Sword Arts』, felt that he was no longer tired by the time he finished eating.

The two of them drank the water prepared by Ryo and sighed with satisfaction.

“I would be so satisfied if the time now was right before evening and we could set up camp here.”

Ryo smiled wryly at Abel’s words.

“Abel wants to join his friends as soon as possible, right?”

“Even so, this is probably going to take weeks, isn’t it? There’s no point in rushing.”

“Well, it is true that we don’t know how long it will take. That said, we can still walk for half a day, so let’s go.”

Ryo stood up while saying so.

“All right then.”

Abel replied and stood up as well.

“Hey, this is a journey to send Abel back to your friends …”

“Hey, Ryo, about that battle just now …”

As usual, Abel was in front and Ryo was at the back.

Since it was a dense forest and there was a possibility of getting separated, Ryo followed directly behind Abel.

“Yes, what about it?”

“How did you prevent the Assassin Hawk’s attack? It has that invisible Wind Magic and assault charge, right? And the charge comes at a speed which is impossible to avoid by visual reaction.”

Abel had his gaze forward as he asked Ryo while walking.

“I prevented them using Water-Attribute Magic, Ice Wall, which is a spell that creates a wall of ice.”

“Hoh, so there are such spells too?”

“Abel, look behind.”

Abel looked back as he was asked.

There was nothing in particular, with Ryo within an arm’s reach. But … he felt something was off.

“Hmm? This is …”

Knock knock

Abel noticed the ice wall and knocked on it.

“It’s extremely transparent.”

“Yeah, it’s hard to notice, right?”

(I see. Did the Assassin Hawk charge into this transparent wall and kill itself?)

“Water Magic is amazing too. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone who uses Water Magic, so I don’t know much about it.”

The magicians Abel knew were Fire, Wind, Earth, and Light. There were quite a few magicians among those four attributes, but none of Water and Darkness.

Darkness was quite special so there were almost no users in the central countries as a whole. Water was …

“I was told that Water Magic wasn’t suitable for combat, but it seems quite useful. I’ll complain to gramps when I meet him the next time.”

“Hmm? Abel, did you say something?”

“Ah, no, I’m just talking to myself, don’t mind me.”

There was something that worried Ryo.

It was the monster in the forest beyond the opening where they engaged with the Assassin Hawk.

At the very least, it was not a monster that Ryo had ever encountered.

When the battle between Ryo and the Assassin Hawk began, that monster did not exit into the clearing and eventually returned to where it came from.

From the 『Feel』, it wasn’t a large monster.

In fact, they were passing through the area where the monster was supposed to have been, but the branches were not broken. If it was a large monster, they would have been broken. It was such a dense forest after all.

(Well, there’s nothing I can do even if I think about it?)

If it’s useless to think about it, don’t think about it.

This was one of Ryo’s specialties.

“I can hear something from the front.”

Abel whispered to Ryo. Ryo nodded in reply.

After a while, the forest opened up and a wetland seemed to spread far into the distance.

And unlike the wetlands of the Dullahan … there was a lizardman there.

“Lizardman …”

Abel said with a frown.

Lizardmen lived in groups.

That meant that there was likely a lizardmen settlement in the depths of that wetland.

“Lizardman … a monster that lives in clusters in swamps, and when it grows up, its tail molts and is used as a spear. They can’t communicate with humans and would attack unconditionally when they see humans. That’s because our internal organs are one of their favorite foods.”

Abel looked at Ryo in surprise.

“You know about them well. Have you fought Lizardmen before?”

“That was just written in the book 『Monster’s Encyclopedia: Beginner’s Edition』 that I had at home. I have never fought them.”

Ryo shook his head and answered.

“Lizardmen do not use magic but they are pretty annoying opponents in the wetlands. And because they form clusters, there are always a large number of them so I’m reluctant to fight. Let’s take a detour.”

Of course, Ryo didn’t disagree with that.

And so the both of them headed to the west, which was also downwind.

After walking a considerable distance away from the wetlands, they started walking north again.

To be honest, they didn’t know how big the wetland was, but they both wanted to stay as far away as possible from the wetland.

But … that wish was soon crushed.

“Abel, it seems that the Lizardmen noticed us.”

“Seriously? Will they attack us here?”

It was a dense forest. At least, it was not a wetland, so if it was a lone Lizardman, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

“Abel, you can fight without worrying about me.”

“Oh, okay. Don’t overdo it. Make use of that wall you showed me before.”

Abel somehow felt that Ryo would be okay.

(He lived alone in this forest. I just have to beat the monsters in front of me, attract their attention, and prevent them from going past me as much as possible!)

The vanguard of the Lizardmen appeared while they were communicating.

“As long as I don’t know the number of enemies, I’ll save on using Combat Arts.”

He stepped in on his own and mowed it down with his sword in a horizontal line. The lizardman died with that single blow.

Then, he continued with a thrust at the enemy to the right and killed the second one.

Even after that, Abel moved deftly to prevent from being surrounded and defeated the Lizardmen without taking too much risk.

Even without using Combat Arts, Abel was an excellent swordsman.

(Abel is amazing. He’s not in danger at all. Those sophisticated movements are definitely not self-taught and he probably received proper training from a young age …)

Ryo was honestly impressed.

That was the figure of a first-class swordsman who had piled on training and effort.

However, even Abel couldn’t handle them all, and about two of them headed toward Ryo.

“I’m okay!”

Ryo shouted to Abel.

Abel glanced at Ryo and immediately began dealing with the Lizardmen around him.

“<Icicle Lance 2>”

The two ice spears fired from Ryo’s hand pierced the Lizardmen’s foreheads without missing their mark.

“It feels like I shot Icicle Lance for the first time in a while.”

When he thought that it was about to end, he sensed something different was approaching.

“Abel, something big is coming mixed with Lizardmen.”

“What?”

Without a chance to rest his hand used to defeat the Lizardmen, Abel saw the Lizardmen incoming.

The big thing that was coming …

“Lizard King! Why would such a big shot appear? Just laze at the back of the settlement!”

Lizard King … it was the 『Higher position』 of Lizardman, of which only one exists in a settlement.

It does not refer to a change that could be called an evolution of the species such as a 『Higher rank』but was more of a manager. Its equivalent would be the 『King』 and 『Village Chief』 in the human world.

However, the individual who becomes a Lizard King has a larger body and above all, greater fighting power.

Such an individual becomes the king.

“There are four remaining Lizardmen and the King? That’s a little troublesome.”

“Abel, please kill the King. I will defeat the rest with magic.”

“No, but Ryo’s staff …”

“<Icicle Lance 4>”

The four ice spears that came out of Ryo’s hand pierced the foreheads of the four Lizardmen other than the King, just like the previous two ice spears.

“What?”

Abel was stunned.

“Just now, he shot out four, but … I think I recall Rin saying that there are no spells capable of simultaneous invocation … No, perhaps there are such spells in Water-Attribute Magic? Or it’s possible because it is not simultaneous? Hmm?”

“Abel, the Lizard King is coming.”

Abel came back to his senses with Ryo’s warning.

“I’ll think later. First, defeat the King.”