Chapter 14

“Fire Arrow!”

Three arrow-shaped flames formed around me simultaneously and flew towards Master Elara, but three well-placed barriers intercepted them right at their point of impact.

I kept sliding on the ground using the Skate spell to reposition myself while continuing to press my attack.

Aiming at her, three cone-shaped stones formed around me and spun at high speed.

“Stone Bullet!”

The spinning stones shot forward, tearing through the air in front of them as they flew towards Master Elara. Another well-placed barrier intercepted them, but this time I had a surprise for her.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The moment those three Rock Bullets hit her barrier, the high pressure I stored inside them was released and caused an explosion. I could hear the sound of her barrier cracking as dust and smoke covered her figure.

I’m not done yet!

“Snare!”

Threads made of mana spread and bound her feet in place. Now that the preparation was complete, I could use my finisher.

A Fireball formed on top of my palm, and it kept growing hotter as I fed more air into it without allowing it to expand, increasing the pressure inside.

This is my current limit.

“Fireball!”

I shot the Fireball at her, fully intending to actually kill her.

Not like she’s going to die just from this.

KABOOOM!!!

Heat and shockwaves could be felt even from where I was standing following the explosion. My knee buckled, and I fell bottom-first to the ground as my mana was completely empty, but I kept my eyes on her location.

As the smoke and dust settled, a figure of a beautiful, red-haired foreign woman walked out unscathed, a very solid-looking barrier covering her like a ball.

“Haha… What a monster.”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MONSTER!?”

SMACK!

“That hurts! Why are you attacking a downed opponent!? Have you no shame, Master!?”

She grabbed me by the jaw, her grip like a vice.

“You have the gall to say that after using an attack with full killing intent against me, you brat?”

“Now wike wits woing wo workw won wou!” (Not like it’s going to work on you!)

I couldn’t speak properly with her grabbing my jaw, but I still did my best to talk back.

“Ho? You still dare talk back? Looks like I’ve got to teach you what it means to respect your master.”

That marked the end of today’s Magic Combat lesson. As usual, I got back to the estate after getting beaten up, but today’s beating was even worse than usual.

…

“Another beating again?”

“Shut up.”

Dinner time. Both of my family and Seolhwa’s family, along with Master Elara, were having dinner together as usual.

My whole body hurt. Not only from muscle pain, but also from the spots where Master Elara had been hitting me. They throbbed every time I moved.

I’m already in pain right now and also pissed because Master didn’t bother to heal me completely after beating me up, and she just has to ask me that.

Seolhwa looked confused as to why I glared at her just because she asked me that. She didn’t bother to pursue the matter and just took a seat.

“Ahem. Now that everyone is here, let’s start the dinner.”

Once my father, the clan’s Patriarch, said that, everyone picked up their utensils and started eating.

“How’s the search going, brother?”

“We searched every part of Anhui and put up the sketch in places with a lot of traffic. We also asked the Namgung Clan and other martial families in Anhui for cooperation, but so far, we have nothing.”

“I’ve also asked my parents to search for him using their connections as merchants, but so far, nothing has come up, Patriarch.”

“I see.”

Uncle Seong-Ho was tasked by my father to search for Edmund Blackwell, the Dark Mage Master Elara had been chasing all this time. Aunt Hwa-Yeon also helped by asking her parents, who owned one of the three biggest merchant houses in Anhui Province.

“How about you, brother? Have you contacted the Alliance about this?”

“I’ve sent a messenger to the Alliance’s Headquarters, but haven’t heard any response yet.”

“How slow. Can’t they understand just how big a threat that Edmund guy can potentially be?”

“The Alliance, the same as most of Murim, has no knowledge about magic, so suddenly being told that there’s a man who can destroy China hiding in this country would be hard for them to believe.”

My father glanced at Master Elara and continued.

“Honestly, if Lady Elara wasn’t here, even I would dismiss it as nonsense.”

What my father said did not come out of nowhere. In the six months since Lady Elara became a guest of the clan, whenever she didn’t have to train me or go out searching for Edmund Blackwell, she helped out with the clan’s affairs.

Master Elara helped out with hunting bandits when they appeared near Cheon Clan’s territory, guarding goods for a merchant affiliated with the clan, helping solve disputes, and saving a kidnapped townsperson. She did a lot of things.

But the most important part was when rain came down non-stop for three days straight, almost causing disasters like floods, landslides, and damaged crops. Master Elara simply blew the rain clouds out of the sky and forced the rain to stop.

The faces everyone made when they saw that were marvelous. Even Seolhwa, who was always expressionless, couldn’t keep her mouth closed.

What? What about me?

You want to know what kind of expression I made?

Well, of course I was also shocked, my jaw practically fell to the ground. But I was also excited. The thing I’m learning right now, magic, can do insane shit like that, and my Master is one of the Seven Archmages, the only seven people who can say they have reached the peak of magic.

“That’s how it is, Lady Elara. I’m sorry we can’t be of much help.”

My father said that and bowed a little towards her, which only made Master Elara flustered. Really, she acts like an eccentric around me, but whenever my father or other people treat her with reverence and politeness, she gets all flustered. But when I tried to act like that towards her, she just hit me on the head.

“It can’t be helped. Even my own search has borne no fruit after all. I’ve troubled you guys for the last six months to help me search for him. That’s plenty.”

Master Elara leaned back against the backrest and crossed her arms while thinking.

“Hm… If we haven’t found any traces of him after searching this much, then maybe he’s not in Anhui.”

“Patriarch Cheon, that Alliance you mentioned, the Murim Alliance, was it? How much influence do they have in this country?”

My father took a moment before answering her question.

“The Murim Alliance’s influence is only in Murim. Murim and the Imperial Government have a tacit agreement not to cross each other. Murim, as a martial artist society living in this country, also has to abide by the law, but the Imperial Government allows us, Murim’s people, a certain degree of freedom.”

“Basically, as long as we don’t become a threat to the Imperial Government or attack civilians, we can do whatever we want.”

“So, if you ask how much influence the Alliance has in this country, not much. The Murim Alliance only has influence in Murim.”

“I see. What a unique government. If it was my country, Britain, there’s no way the Royal Family would let groups of people that could become a military threat just exist. The mages in my country, as well as the mages from the surrounding countries, work for our own governments and are also part of the Mage’s Association.”

“Mage’s Association?”

“It’s basically like the Murim Alliance, but the scale is bigger because every mage on the continent I came from must join the association or they will be branded as illegal mages and hunted down.”

“Isn’t that too excessive? Hunting someone who can do magic just because they are not part of the organization?”

I chimed in at this point because I felt like the response of the Mage’s Association was too excessive, but Master Elara gave a simple reason why it was that strict.

“Excessive? You can say that after you know of someone like Edmund.”

“The reason why the punishment towards illegal mages is so harsh is to minimize the risk of a mage making a contract with a demon like Edmund did. Hell, Edmund was a member of the association and was said to be the next Archmage, but he went and made a contract with a demon, one of the Seven Kings of Hell at that.”

“Ah, I see. Well, that makes sense.”

Silence settled over the dining room for a while. Only the sounds of our utensils could be heard before Master Elara started to speak again.

“Well then, since I can’t find him after searching this much, I think it’s about time I go back to my country.”

Shocked by her statement, my head turned sharply towards her. Not just me, everyone stopped eating and looked at her.

“What? You’re going back so suddenly?”

“What’s so sudden about it? I’ve been here for six months and have been away from my country for over two years now chasing that Edmund bastard. I may not look like it, but I’m an Archmage, remember? I’ve got a lot of responsibilities back home. Can’t stay here forever, can I?”

“What about my training, though? I’ve only reached Tier 2. You said I would officially become a proper mage once I reached Tier 5, Advanced Mage rank.”

“Hwi, Lady Elara is someone important. She’s been away from her country for a long time, leaving her responsibilities behind. Don’t be selfish.”

My mother admonished me. It’s not like I didn’t understand, but still. Magic is very important to me now that I found out my own potential and left martial arts behind.

“Yeah, about that…”

Master Elara glanced at me and then looked straight at my parents.

“Can I take Hwi back with me?”