Thereafter of An Exiled Magician - CH 78

“Why do you think blackwolves have the fire-attribute?”

“Because I found scorched grass today. This is a material used to make fire element extract, and can’t be found other than those places which have strong fire-attribute. At least that’s what I remember reading somewhere.”

Kili looked at me insecurely.

I’m guessing she didn’t have much confidence, based on how she put it.

“…Correct. I also think blackwolves have the fire attribute.”

“That’s a relief.”

Kili pats her chest.

“You did well deducing that, even though plants with different attributes all looking the same.”

“The method to distinguish them was written in your book.”

It certainly was written, but since it appears in the middle of the text, you had a high chance of skimming over it unless you read closely.

At the time, the books weren’t made specifically for foraging, but rather as encyclopedias, so knowledge specific to that wasn’t written in too much detail.

It’s not something you’ll find right away, so I’m surprised at how carefully she had read it.

“In any case, we’re dealing with fire-attribute monsters this time, right?”

“The one that appeared outside the village seemed to be a mutant which is why it didn’t spew fire, but things won’t be the same inside the Demon Forest. In case you’re attacked by its fire, be sure to protect yourself using magic.”

“””””Understood.”””””

The scariest thing about elemental monsters is that they will use sorcery against us.

Unlike magic, this is pure sorcery so if we dealt with our opponents based on their looks, it wouldn’t end well for us.

That’s why we have to properly defend ourselves with magic, even if it seems exaggerated.

“In particular, Milia’s support and Reno’s enemy search will be more important than ever.”

“Understood.””Got it!”

The scariest point about sorcery is being caught off-guard with it.

If they used magic to defend themselves, they could easily attenuate most of the attack that way.

Even with just Milia’s [Blessing], this can have a great effect.

Well, once you get used to it, you could simply maintain the overflowing magical power from your body onto its surface, achieving the same results.

Though that might be too stressful for the five right now.

“From now one you’ll have re-cast your blessing on everyone each time there’s a battle. Further, if anyone gets attacked, you have to check if they’re blessed and call them back depending on that.”

“Understood.”

She has more things to keep in mind now, but Milia should be able to manage.

“Lain nii-chan, what about me? What about me!?”

“Reno has to search for enemies with even more caution now. You have to be careful not to get attacked by monsters yourself, okay?”

“Yeah!”

Up until now, Reno had managed to escape by running around, but from now on the enemy will most likely use ranged attacks.

I knew that Reno would somehow manage even that, but I still felt like warning her.

Recently, she seems to have figured out my search range as well, so it’s been tough for me.

Right now, I’m barely managing to stay above by sheer difference in mana, but who knows what might happen in the future.

It’s quite difficult having a student that surpasses you.

Well, sour grapes I guess.

I suddenly became stronger by staying on top of the dragon vein, so that might have some effect, plus the past can’t be changed now so whatever.

“Everyone, prepare yourselves accordingly for tomorrow’s exploration.”

“””””Roger.”””””

***

“Kili, there’s something like that here as well.”

“Ah, those are fire herbs. You see that small black seed in it? That means that it’s a fire herb. We’ve collected enough now so it’s fine. Thank you Aria.”

“Kili, this too, is fire herb?”

“That’s scorched grass. Notice how not only its leaves, but its stem is also red, right? So this was growing here as well. Let’s get some of it, [Collect].”

The next day, we had arrived at the new area.

Last night, Kili had stayed up late and had gone over the reference books. As a result, she had collected quite a variety of materials.

So that’s how you differentiated between fire herb and scorched grass.

I ultimately converted everything I saw into extracts or catalysts so I collected anything that seemed useful.

So that’s how it was.

Since I used to do it roughly, my alchemy used to suffer as result.

During training, the ingredients to be used are always specified beforehand.

That’s because the materials other than those required also work in their own ways.

“With this, I can make fire stones now.”

“Hm, so you can even make fire stones now?”

“Eh? Didn’t you watch from the side yesterday?”

“You seemed to be in high spirits about something, but I never got the chance to ask you about it.”

Magic tools like “fire stones” or “water stones” are gem-type magic tools, which you can’t differentiate from normal ones at first sight.

Fire stones serve the same purpose as the magic spell [Ignite].

Unlike water stones, fire stones explode if their production fails.

I gave up after my 3rd failure.

Even if you could fix an alchemy pot using magic, it’s not like you could build it back from scratch if it gets destroyed.

You could also get hurt.

“Since you said “Amazing” so many times, I though you knew what I was doing.”

“Well, I’d consider anything you made as amazing you know? You’ve long since reached a level which I never could after all.”

As someone who sucked at alchemy, Kili was already in another dimension.

“…You would be just as capable once your curse gets lifted.”

“Naah. Well, who knows…”

Kili says that, but regardless I think I’m ill-suited for alchemy.

I’d still give it a try, but I’m sure I’ll just find it hard.

“In the first place, it’s questionable whether we’ll be able to break the curse…”

“We’ll, break it.”

Sui looked sharply towards me and declared so.

Aria and the rest also nodded multiple times.

Ever since they found out about my curse, their motivation towards learning magic has increased.

They genuinely want to break my curse.

“That’s right. We have to break it!”

The girls are all doing their best, so the person in question, me, can’t be seen slacking either.

I recompose myself.

“Hmm?”

“? What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing big.”

Reno, who had been spinning around us like a satellite until now, had come to a stop.

She might have found something.

After a while, she starts heading towards us.

She’s truly something.

“Reno seems to be coming back, so let’s wait for her here.”

We waited for her return.