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Chapter 136: Heading to Keplan

Zion, who had maintained an intimidating posture until the end, only collapsed into his seat after the trainees disappeared.

"Ugh!"

Zion continued to rub his flushed forehead with a leaf.

"What are you doing?"

"When did you get here, Commander?"

"Yesterday. Instead of training like you\'re supposed to, you\'re just showing off in front of the trainees."

"What are you talking about? I learned it all from you."

Instead of answering, I wrapped fire spears around both hands and launched them at Zion.

As soon as the startled Zion rolled on the ground to dodge, I opened four circles of my heart.

Wheeeng—

"Ouch!"

I wrapped my whole body in wind armor and charged into Zion\'s chest with a body slam.

Thud— With the sound, Zion bounced off, rolled in the air, and opened his mana.

"This damn Commander, really!"

"Watch your language."

I raised my index finger and pointed at Zion.

Wind pressure wrapped around my fingertip, forming a wind blade.

As soon as he saw my move, Zion pointed at me with both index fingers in the same position.

Following that, a chant erupted from Zion\'s mouth.

"Wind that pierces a single point, Piercing Air."

The wind blades collided.

With the sound of air exploding in the air, the surrounding leaves were torn to shreds.

Crackle—

I kicked the ground hard with my heels and leaped into the air.

As soon as I looked down from the sky, burning stones suddenly filled my vision.

Zion had thrown them in the meantime.

The moment I wrapped my hand in coldness and deflected them, Zion\'s face appeared right in front of me.

A powerful heat swirled around his right arm.

"Flames that wrap around the skin, Fire Arm."

I immediately formed an ice barrier.

Frost Barrier.

Zion struck the ice barrier with his flaming arm.

Crash—

His arm was embedded in the ice, and smoke billowed up.

Hiss—

I instantly gathered wind in my other hand and struck Zion\'s face.

Zion, who dodged with a nod in the air, was about to chant again when...

"Shoot!"

Suddenly, a look of dismay spread across Zion\'s face as his pants slid down.

I didn\'t miss the opportunity and chanted the Forehead Slingshot spell in the air.

"Haa—"

Thwack—

Zion crashed to the ground.

The gravity magic I had secretly cast on Zion\'s pants worked perfectly.

Zion grabbed his forehead and rolled on the ground.

"Come on! Why\'d you hit the same spot?"

I closed my circles and pointed at Zion.

"You\'ve reached 4 circles."

"Of course."

I couldn\'t help but laugh seeing Zion trying to maintain his composure.

Looking at my expression, Zion burst into laughter as well.

We stared at each other\'s faces and laughed for a while before stopping simultaneously.

Zion spoke.

"You\'re late, damn Commander."

"Things came up."

"I heard you were living the good life. Take me with you next time."

"Where are the others?"

Zion replied, holding his forehead.

"Makan is almost always meditating in the upper basin, and the others are nearby. I haven\'t seen Pig around though."

"Gather them."

"Here?"

I thought for a moment and said,

"To our old training grounds."

***

After a long time, I climbed the cliff and headed to the old training grounds.

The old training hall where the Crazy Mage Squad used to live remained the same.

Going inside, it was cleaner than I expected, with less dust.

Who\'s been maintaining this place?

When I entered the room I used to use, there was a chair I had never seen before.

It was a wide chair that looked comfortable at a glance.

I wondered who had brought such a thing here.

I sat down on the chair for a moment and leaned back.

It was more comfortable than I expected. The gentle rocking motion made it perfect for taking a short nap.

...But why is the chair pink?

\'Hmm?\'

I must have dozed off.

I woke up to the noise coming from outside.

I removed the blanket covering my knees and went out to the training grounds to find familiar faces gathered.

"Is everyone here?"

I didn\'t bother with greetings.

That\'s not the Crazy Mage Squad\'s way.

After exchanging glances, I shouted without further ado,

"Prepare!"

Everyone, with determined expressions, simultaneously rotated their circles.

Fwoosh—

As expected, the first one to catch my eye was Makan.

He was already rotating four circles, and another strong energy emanated around him. It seemed he had already completed his Manacore to 4 stars.

It seemed the cultivation technique I gave him was quite effective.

Everyone else was also rotating four circles.

"Looks like you haven\'t been slacking off."

I looked at Zion and said,

"Where\'s Palge?"

"I looked for him, but I couldn\'t find him."

"Did he go out to eat?"

At that moment, Zion pointed behind me and said,

"Oh, there he is."

I turned around to see a bulky figure walking out of the training hall where I had been.

His arms were raised high in the air, doing a "banzai" pose.

His fingers were spread out identically on each hand: three fingers extended on each.

Thumb, index, and pinky.

I was about to curse involuntarily, but Zion spoke first.

"I told you not to do that, Pig."

"It\'s an expression of respect."

"Shut up."

Zion hurled fireballs at Palge with both hands.

Surprisingly, a white aura flickered in front of Palge, and the fireballs Zion shot disappeared in an instant.

Palge smiled contentedly.

I shook my head and said,

"Enough. Why are you coming out of there?"

"How is it?"

"How is what?"

"The chair. I made it myself. I had a feeling you would come."

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

"Have you reached peak comfort?"

"Shut up!"

"I even put a blanket on you."

My body reacted first.

The circles of my heart rotated automatically.

I kicked off the ground and flew towards Palge in an instant, throwing a punch.

Swift and decisive.

As soon as I saw the aura burst in front of him, I forcibly broke through it and punched him in the forehead.

"Oof!"

"Get up, Pig."

Palge got up with a mournful look and chanted a spell.

Surprisingly, with a flash of light, Palge\'s wound healed instantly.

Palge, who had suddenly become quiet, joined the Crazy Mage Squad\'s ranks without a word.

I looked at the members and said,

"How long has it been since you guys last fought?"

As soon as I said that, they paired up, facing each other.

Perhaps they had reached the point where they could understand with just a few words.

I nodded and shouted,

"Let the duels begin!"

***

Even among mages of the same circle, skills vary greatly.

This is even more true for higher circles.

The level of understanding of combat directly affects one\'s capabilities in actual battles.

That\'s why a solid foundation is essential.

Without a foundation, even a high-ranking mage is only half-baked.

To put it bluntly, they become weaklings who hide behind knights and cast spells.

I watched the duels until dawn and evaluated the fools.

Now everyone had a solid understanding of the basics of combat.

Zion especially caught my eye.

This guy resembled my past self.

Objectively, his abilities were among the lowest, along with Ain\'s, but he overcame that with his instincts. When at a disadvantage, he would somehow look for an opportunity to turn the tables, and once he gained the upper hand, he would attack like a madman.

But as expected, Zion was similar to me. Just by looking at his expression, I could tell he wasn\'t satisfied.

It was because of those guys.

Makan and Palge, who were continuously engaged in a duel on one side.

Makan was as expected.

He was using both his circles and core simultaneously.

As expected of Tycoon\'s descendant, he displayed decent spear skills with the spear in his hand. The earth magic swirling around him added to the force of his spear techniques.

However, what I didn\'t expect was Palge.

"Oof!"

What kind of training had this pig been doing?

He was constantly being pushed back by Makan, yet he stubbornly held on.

The way he endured was quite chilling.

Whenever he got hurt, he would chant a light attribute spell to heal his wounds while fighting.

Moreover, his chanting was incredibly fast, sending shivers down my spine.

Oof! Oof! Oof! Oof!

Every time a scream erupted, a white aura enveloped Palge\'s body.

Should I say he has good endurance? Or should I say he\'s good at fighting?

Either way, it was a frustrating tactic for the opponent.

It was astonishing.

"Stop!"

After observing the duel for a while, I gathered the members in one place once I had grasped everything.

"Is it over already? Are we done?"

"You fools have trained hard."

Everyone was drenched in sweat.

Unlike in the past, no one was slacking off.

Only after my permission did the members finally collapse to the ground, catching their breath.

I looked up at the sky for a moment. The sunset had passed, and it was getting dark.

Whoosh—

Just like old times, we set the surrounding scarecrows ablaze like a bonfire and sat in a circle on the ground.

Only the crackling sound of the fire could be heard.

Meanwhile, Palge, who had disappeared for a while, brought ice water from somewhere and distributed it to the fools.

"Where did you get that?"

Palge pointed at the training hall and grinned.

"It\'s my secret hideout. There\'s a room for the Commander too."

"Not interested."

The sweat-soaked fools gulped down the ice water, and I also had a cup.

It was refreshing down to my core.

"Ah."

The wind was cool, and the fire was warm.

I looked at each member, making eye contact.

Their personalities were clearly revealed in their eyes.

No matter how much you train, your nature doesn\'t change easily.

Makan was dull-witted, Zion was full of malice, Iron was cowardly, Ain had low self-esteem, and Palge was a pig.

However, what was different from before was that they all had experienced overcoming their nature, even for a moment.

Because they had experienced going crazy.

"Everyone, get ready to move out."

At my words, everyone\'s eyes changed, and their attention focused on me.

"It\'s real combat now."

The members didn\'t ask any questions.

Instead, the first emotions that spread among them were excitement and anticipation.

I quite liked their reactions.

After all, this was the attitude the Crazy Mage Squad should have. It was also proof that they had been training well.

If you train like crazy for a long time, you\'re bound to get eager to go out into the field.

"Where are we going?"

"We\'re going to Keplan."

Zion exclaimed,

"That far? Are there guys there we need to punish?"

"Not guys, exactly."

"Don\'t tell me you\'re trying to enter the Demon Realm?"

"My business manager is quick-witted."

"Whoa."

Zion\'s eyes sparkled.

"Time to make a name for ourselves. I heard Keplan is fantastic."

Palge couldn\'t hide his excitement either.

"The Demon Realm is an opportunity. If we do well there, we can make our name known throughout the continent."

I looked around and said,

"Don\'t get too carried away. We\'re not going on vacation."

Iron asked,

"When are we leaving?"

"In three days. Once the Lord returns, I\'ll meet him and we\'ll leave immediately. Everyone be prepared."

After that, I explained to the members what had happened in Urgon and what I had learned about the Demon Realm.

I omitted some details, but I didn\'t leave out the important parts.

"You fought 17 against 1, Commander?"

"It was nothing."

"Wow, it was even more dangerous than the rumors we heard outside."

Everyone seemed to believe me. Only Zion seemed to be looking at me with suspicion, but I pretended not to notice.

I also briefly mentioned the demons.

Since we didn\'t know what would happen in the Demon Realm, I needed to inform the members in advance.

Suddenly, Ain murmured,

"You really went through a lot. No wonder Arin noona seems to have changed a bit."

Only then did I remember the three people I had forgotten about.

"Come to think of it, I haven\'t seen the Three Musketeers."

"Who are the Three Musketeers?"

"Taylor, Blair, and Arin."

"Ah."

"They must have returned before me. Has anyone seen them?"

Ain replied,

"Arin noona is training. It was a magic I\'ve never seen before, a bit eerie. It was all sparkly."

Iron chimed in,

"I saw it too. Her atmosphere has changed a bit. It\'s hard to explain, but she seems a bit more approachable than before."

Zion added,

"Like a madwoman, you could say."

I nodded, recalling Arin, who had endured the demonic soul human\'s self-destruction and electrocuted them.

"Arin is definitely on our side."

Makan said,

"I know about Blair. For the past few days, he\'s been meditating with me on the rock every evening. I think he\'s trying to create a circle."

Zion chimed in,

"Yesterday, I saw him coming out of the private room with Bravo Khan during the day."

"With the officer?"

"Yeah."

"Did they become close?"

Thinking about Blair\'s personality, I thought they would get along quite well.

"What about Taylor?"

This time, no one spoke.

"Has anyone seen him?"

"I haven\'t."

"Me neither."

What was this guy doing, and where?

I sighed, feeling like he was probably up to something foolish again.

Suddenly, I felt something strange and turned my gaze sharply to the left. The fools followed my lead.

Someone was approaching stealthily.

I immediately shot flames into the air, illuminating the surroundings.

The face of the figure in the darkness was revealed.

Judging by his appearance...

Wart?

"Boss!"

"Ah, you surprised me. It\'s our old officer, Bravo Khan."

Bravo Khan, who had rushed over, bowed deeply.

"You\'ve returned safely, Boss."

"Look at the state of you, officer."

"I didn\'t know the way here would be so rough."

"The path is a bit of a mess, that\'s for sure. By the way, how did you know to come here?"

"I just met with Blair. I heard the news that the Boss has returned. He said you would be here."

I asked back,

"He said I would be here?"

"Yes. Even though it\'s late, I wanted to see you as soon as possible."

"He\'s a strange one. How did he know that?"

I tilted my head and made eye contact with Bravo Khan.

"I heard the news. They say you even took care of things in Urgon. As expected of the Boss."

"As expected, the officer believed in me. Was everything alright?"

"I\'ll give you a report first. We\'ve taken care of all the troublesome forces near Khaoto. The foundation has been laid for opening the trade route between the southern and northern continents."

Suddenly, the flag hanging in Uta came to mind.

"I saw it on my way here. Is everyone doing well?"

"Of course. They\'ve been diligently patrolling and training."

"By the way, who changed the name of the Fulkhao Patrol Unit to \'Brotherhood\'?"

"Vice Commander Daisy."

"And who decided on the flag color?"

"Vice Commander Daisy."

"I thought so. Is Daisy doing well?"

Suddenly, Bravo Khan\'s expression turned strange, so I asked again,

"Why?"

"Well, that is... Vice Commander Daisy has been secluding herself lately."

"That\'s not like Daisy, is it?"

"That\'s true. Until recently, she would go out almost every day to capture nearby mercenary groups or outlaw forces."

I recalled Daisy\'s talent and personality and nodded.

"Must have been brutal."

"Yes."

"Then why is she secluding herself? Is she training?"

Bravo Khan shook his head and hesitated.

"Speak up."

"There\'s been a bit of a problem."

Bravo Khan sighed and said,

"She went out for a duel some time ago and suffered a major defeat."