Chapter 191 Onwards; One Step Closer

Summoning massive formations of stone in the air, he shaped them into lances the size of trees before flinging them towards his opponent.

At last, Feiyu revealed his magecraft as his hands became enveloped in sleek, dark-brown stone that resembled steel in its seamless integrity, flawless in its form. Utilizing his reinforced gauntlets made of his own ability, Feiyu swiftly struck the incoming stone, shattering them apart.

“What–?!” Emilio was left surprised.

Before he could counter with another spell amidst the hellish storm in the arena, Feiyu disappeared again with that blinding speed of his, taking Emilio by surprise before–

A clean hit straight to the chin knocked the consciousness from his eyes before it all went black.

I…lost? Emilio thought.

—

Coming to after an unknown amount of time, he found himself sitting outside of the tower itself, leaning against the wall.

“Huh…?”

“You’re awake–that’s a relief.”

The softly spoken words were familiar to him as he looked up, having to blink a few times to clear his blurry vision before finding that the gray-haired tinkerer was standing over him.

“Jean?…” Emilio said, “Did I lose…?”

“Oh, yeah…pretty badly,” Jeane chuckled, “Your sponsor left you your coins. He also said that your contract is fulfilled now.”

As he was told that, Emilio looked down, finding a bag of coins on his lap that felt more like reparations for the unfair pounding he got in the arena.

Emilio rubbed his sore chin, wincing slightly, “Ouch…You weren’t kidding. They totally set me up for defeat.”

“That’s the way it goes,” Jeane said, sitting beside him, “The spectators love a rising star, but what they love more is to see a rising star get torn down. Not to mention a lot of bets went in your favor from your previous matches, but those betting on the champion already were certain of the outcome.”

“So, I was used, huh?” Emilio sighed, stuffing the coins in his pocket.

“Bitter?” Jeane smiled.

“Sorta, but the heavy bag of coins helps,” he replied with a chuckle.

It was an eventful day, and one that ended with a nice spoonful of humbling for the young mage; as the blue sky shifted to a warm orange with the sun beginning its goodbyes for the day, he stood up with one last thing on the agenda for the day:

I’m going to reach that brothel, he thought.

“Well, it’s about time I head back,” Jeane said, standing up as well, “You were just staying in Indasia briefly, right? This is probably goodbye then.”

“Not forever,” Emilio assured him with a smile.

“Of course. I expect you to show me a few trinkets of your own next time we see each other,” Jeane smiled in return.

As they clasped hands one last time, the two youths with lofty dreams went their separate ways. Stretching his sore limbs, Emilio rolled his stiff shoulder a few times before putting his finger against his bruised chin.

To his surprise, once again, the wounds had already healed before he could tend to them. It was jarring at times to be reminded of his ‘undying’ nature granted to him.

That Feiyu guy was super strong. I can tell he was taking it easy, too. Wakeup calls are never pleasant, I guess. I’ve got a long way to go, he thought.

Though he deflated his swollen cheek and bruised chin, he could still feel the shame of his loss throbbing in his face as he shuffled through the street, just wanting to find respite in the bosom of a cat girl.

In a fantasy world of limitless potential, this was one of Emilio’s ‘top ten wishes’ he had. Though he didn’t find himself so lucky as while he was caressing his own cheek, checking his pocket with his gaze down, he bumped into another person.

“–Ah, my bad,” Emilio quietly apologized, looking up.

Bringing his gaze up, he found it to be no accident; looking down at him was the red-haired, senior adventurer that he definitely didn’t want to bump into amidst his mission to find a brothel.

“Irk…” Emilio winced.

“Been busy, haventcha?” Roan smirked.

“How did you…?” Emilio began to ask.

Roan sighed, shaking his head, “It’s impossible not to hear about the ‘Dragonheart’ making the rounds in the Tower of Iron Magi. Heard you got walloped pretty good though–sort of wish I could’ve seen it.”

“Cut it out!” he said, turning away as Roan tried to get a look at his face.

It was definitely embarrassing to have his swift loss known to the man he held in high regard, though Roan was more playful than anything, not holding it against him as the man nudged Emilio with his elbow.

“I’m just messing with ya, brat. I heard you got two pretty solid wins–the ‘Tower’ is no joke, so good job,” Roan told him.

“Really? Is it that great?” Emilio asked.

“Well, I’d sweep through it, but if you’re able to hang around those guys, you’ll have no problem passing the Guild Foundation’s trial,” Roan assured him.

“…The trial. What is it, anyway?” Emilio asked.

Though as he posed the question to the talkative, scruffy-bearded man, he found no answer but silence to return.

“Can’t say,” Roan finally told him.

“Huh? Why?”

“It’s not that I’m holding out on ya, kid. World-class adventurers are under an oath not to speak of the trial,” Roan said, “Keeping it fair for all competitors, you know?”

“…Annoying,” Emilio mumbled.

Before he could lament the loss of vital information, he received a gentle slap on the back from Roan, pushing him along the same direction he was heading.

“Anyway, c’mon–we’re leaving,” Roan told him.

“What?! Already? You said we were going to be here for a few days, though,” Emilio contested.

Pointing up towards the sky, Roan’s tone became more serious, “There’s a storm approaching. It’s going to intercept our road to the Guild Foundation–it’s a real nasty one, too. We need to get a head start on it, lest you want to be a tin man in a lightning storm.”

“Fair point…” Emilio begrudgingly agreed.

There was no questioning the knowledge and experience wielded by Roan, who seemed to be on another level from any adventurer he’d met or seen on the streets, both in fame and power.

Still, as he climbed into the back of the carriage, sitting across from Melisande, who had bought herself a new, snow-white blouse and azure dress, which she flaunted happily, Emilio sulked to himself.

Again, the illustrious brothel evades me…Emilio thought.

There truly wasn’t any time wasted as Roan loaded up the carriage with their supplies for the road before setting out, soon supplying the sound of the carriage wheels and horse hooves trotting over the streets of Indasia.

“How do I look?” Melisande asked with a bubbly smile, fluffing up her silken, silver locks.

It wasn’t just a new outfit she wore, which seemed to be half practical for flexibility and half superficial for beauty, but her hair was done and her skin seemed to glisten in the sunlight.

“Huh?…Oh, you look nice,” Emilio told her.

“Hmm…” Melisande crossed her arms at his lukewarm response.

It didn’t take long before they left the bounds of Indasia, out into the open land of Vasmoria once more with grand forests awaiting.

As the journey began once more, closing in on the Guild Foundation at last, Emilio reconciled at the remembrance of what he obtained in his time in Indasia: the tinkerer’s journal. Since there would be a lot of downtime ahead of time, he delved into the book in hopes of learning.

To his surprise, he found the book to be on another level from what he was prepared for; in contrast to the philosophical nature of magecraft grimoires, the tinkerer’s journal felt like a calculus textbook from hell, melding mystical elements with math.

“What’s that?” Melisande asked, staring at the scrappy journal.

Emilio tucked the page he was on before closing it, “A really…difficult book.”

“Even for you? Don’t you study a lot?” Melisande responded.

“Yeah…this is abnormally complex,” Emilio told her.

After learning the complexity of the book, Melisande’s interest in it seemed to wane, leaving Emilio to concentrate on it again, though even the slight bumps in the road made it difficult to concentrate on the high-level concepts described in the journal.

“Mm…” He mumbled to himself, scratching his head while reading.

Trying to discern it for a few hours, he found himself hardly getting anywhere before he set the journal down, breathing out dramatically.

How did you make this look so easy, Jeane? Emilio questioned.

“Where are we now?” Emilio asked, sitting up as he peered out of the carriage.

It was a far cry from the dense forest at the border of Vasmoria; the carriage rolled over a valley of hills, causing them to go up-and-down like a tranquil roller coaster. Though a stretch of luscious fields went on back to Indasia, the path ahead seemed to be set on a darker, more somber territory in the near future.

Melisande had a copy of a Vasmoria map for the southern region, straightening it out on her lap as she ran her finger along it to find where they were at,”…Aha! Here we are…’Illya Road’, apparently it’s one of the most peaceful sections of wildland in Vasmoria, with only slimes occupying it.”