EP14. To Calderon (8)
Levy looked at the fluffy fur gloves covering his hands, then turned around in place and spoke to Sean.
“Very warm!”
The winter clothes were so good that I could barely feel it even after I stopped the warming magic I was using to test the performance.
Sean couldn’t help but admire too. Of course, the cold was felt in parts of his face that his clothes couldn’t completely block, but it was tolerable enough.
Elsa, on the other hand, looked down at her disapprovingly, as if she didn’t like her winter clothes that covered her body.
“Still, it would be better to use magic. If you start climbing the mountain, it will be colder than it is now.”
“Looking at it, Elsa-san seems to know a lot.”
“If it’s knowledge within the kingdom, I tend to want to know most of it.”
After Levi used Elsa’s warming magic again as suggested by Elsa, he pointed to Mount Calderon in front of him and shouted.
“Then let’s go!”
***
Finally, this journey came to an end, but that did not mean the end.
About 3 weeks by carriage from Henerd to Leboram.
It took about two weeks to walk from Leboram to Calderon.
Climbing the mountain is the shortest time out of a total of over a month, but it was clear that it was an important and difficult moment.
“····How much time left?”
As expected, Levi was the first to get tired. No matter how strong she was, she wasn’t far off from her normal level after all. Rather, it was the fact that she had followed so well.
“Levy. She is still only 3 hours old. Even if I can’t do it, I think I will have to go up all day today.”
Clearly, Levi felt that more than 10 hours had passed, but in reality, it was only a short period of time, not even half a day had passed.
Sean looked anxiously at Levy’s struggling face and then proposed to Elsa.
“How about taking a break at this point and then going?”
“Yes. I guess that would be good. If you go up a little more, the snowy mountain area will begin in earnest.”
Even now, all sides are covered with snow, but according to her words, it is still ambiguous to call it a snowy mountain area.
The place called Calderon was a considerably rougher area than they thought.
The three sat down for a while and talked while resting. Feeling the warmth of the bonfire lit by Levi’s magic, Elsa spoke first.
“They say there is always a strong blizzard up here. It will probably be much more difficult than it is now.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice for Levi to use her magic too?”
All three of them knew that this would happen. That’s why Shawn suggested it even before climbing the mountain in earnest. Levi, whose physical strength is relatively weak, said that it would be better to use magic.
But after thinking about it for a while, Elsa shook her head and gave a skeptical answer to Shawn’s plan.
With the words that it would be better to save Levi’s power as much as possible, because she does not know what dangers she will face while climbing her mountain.
The arguments of both sides had some truth. In the end, her choice went to Levy, and she decided to follow Elsa’s suggestion.
No matter how excellent Levi was, if she continued to use magic during the entire day of climbing, there was a good chance that she would not have enough magic power to use in battle or other urgent situations.
Levi’s thoughts were still the same.
“No. Get some rest and you’ll be fine. Magic should be used as a last resort when it really seems like it won’t work.”
“……Okay. Instead, tell me right away whenever you have a hard time. If you keep your mouth shut, it could be more dangerous.”
“Of course. Do you think I’m as stupid as Shawn?”
Still, she seems to be okay, judging from her jokes. Sean didn’t get angry, he just laughed and passed it over.
“Then let’s start soon.”
“Yes. I see.”
After turning off the campfire, the three started climbing the mountain again. Sean, who climbed from the back and looked around, soon noticed something in the distance.
Sean narrowed his eyes, trying to make out his shape. Something looked like an animal.
And soon I let my guard down when I realized that it was a little fox with fur as white as her snow.
“Shaun! What’s the matter?”
“No. It’s just because there is a fox.”
After answering Levy’s question, Sean immediately followed them.
The fox kept watching Sean’s party from afar.
***
The snow, which had been falling on my head and shoulders little by little, grew thicker before I knew it and rained down from the sky as if it were attacking me.
The bitter snowstorm didn’t just affect the cold. Because it caused a serious problem that paralyzes many senses.
“Levy! Do you still have enough magical power!?”
Even though he was right behind him, Sean had to yell at Levi. It was because the blizzard blew, deafening and consuming all nearby sounds.
Hearing Sean’s shouts, Levy shouted, holding on to the hood that kept peeling off in the wind of his sword.
From noble mtl dot com.
“Yes! No problem yet!”
So far, there has been no visible problem. But why do I keep thinking that even that is just a matter of time? One thing was certain: the speed of the three was obviously slower than before.
I remembered the old man’s words that everyone is only a human being before the greatness of nature. Of course, I hadn’t succumbed to Calderon yet, but at least I could understand why he said that.
Levy, who was walking with her arms blocking the wind and snow, bumped into something and made a dainty noise.
“Ako!”
As soon as he lowered his arm to see what he had collided with, Levy realized. The fact that Elsa, who was going ahead of her, stopped her abruptly and bumped into her.
“Why is that?”
“There is something ahead.”
Ahead? At Elsa’s words, Levy snooped around her head, trying to ascertain the identity of what she said about her. However, her vision was narrowed by the raging snowstorm, making it difficult to accurately determine.
Sean, who followed, raised his alertness and spoke quietly.
“There is something.”
“What is it? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know!”
I let out a low voice in frustration, and Shawn explained for Levy.
“Yes. A very big guy.”
“Are you a monster?”
“Maybe.”
It was only then that Levi understood the situation and began preparing for battle. She showed no sign of surprise or fear in her. It is because she realized that through her adventures so far, she is really no match, and she has no opponent to match her magic.
“You did well to save her mana.”
Levi recited an incantation and used her magic before starting the battle.
“Φύση, άκου με και ηρέμησε, αποκατέστησε την ειρήνη και μείνε ακίνητος.”
As soon as I finished the chant while drawing a magic circle in the air, the change happened immediately.
The wrath of nature that enveloped the mountains of Calderon immediately began to subside.
Shaun laughed at the sudden change in the snowstorm that had been raging and the sight around him widening.
Elsa watched the scene as well, and then she whispered to Sean.
“Didn’t I tell you? Levi is greater than nature.”
“…So real.”
“Actually, I didn’t even know that something like this was possible.”
Anyway, as her magic calmed the mountain, she was soon able to discern a huge figure blocking their path.
It was Elsa who first figured out the identity of the monster. She murmured even more astonished than when she saw Levi’s magic.
“····Cyclops!”
“Yes? That guy… That monster!?”
Shawn was taken aback by her words and looked at the monster. It really was.
A monster with a huge body and walking on two legs like a human. But above all, the single eye that exists only on the face was the same as the biggest feature of Cyclops.
One-eyed monster. To meet Cyclops right now…
Elsa realized that her current situation was really bad. This was the biggest crisis of this journey.
Meanwhile, Levy, who doesn’t know much about her monsters, is puzzled and asks the two of them.
“Why? Aren’t they just like trolls?”
Of course, Cyclops and Troll are similar in size and boast a similar level of risk in a comprehensive evaluation. However, the two monsters cannot be considered similar. Rather, it was more like a completely opposite monster.
“The Cyclops is much more dangerous, at least for us now.”
“Why?”
“Cyclops have a lot of resistance to magic.”
“Ah.”
After hearing her words, Levi also understood. Of all Sean’s party, the one with the strongest combat power was definitely Levy.
If trolls are swordsmen’s enemies, cyclops are wizards’ enemies.
Because the resistance to magical power is so great, it is difficult to inflict even a scratch on it unless it is a tolerable magic.
Elsa grabbed her shield and she said to the two of them.
“It’s okay. With Sean and I fighting together, and Levy helping us, we should be able to defeat him.”
Sean agrees with her. The reason why cyclops are rated as dangerous as trolls is because they have strong resistance to magic, but they have no resistance to normal physical force.
The Cyclops, who don’t have tremendous regenerative powers like the trolls, are probably not too difficult to hunt for a party of experienced adventurers.
“But Sean…”
Sean lowered his head at Levi’s worried words. The place where his gaze is directed is the sword worn at the waist.
Yes. Sean’s sword was already at the end of its lifespan. Wasn’t the reason why he came all this way in the first place, because he wanted to continue using Luke’s sword?
Sean closed his eyes for a moment. While chewing on his rising memories for a while.
What is really important? It was nothing more than a cheap iron sword.
Remember.
What it was that saved his life and lifted him out of despair.
It was the will of his man named Luke.
A strong will to protect someone important. It was an indomitable will to protect even at the cost of his own life.
What Shaun had to protect was Luke’s will, not his sword.
So Sean drew his sword.
To cut down the monsters blocking their way.