Cough! Cough!
Illya coughed hard. Her body, already pushed to its limit, trembled violently on Fyar’s back. Her face was deathly pale, as if drained of blood. Cold sweat soaked her forehead.
Shit... did I make her use teleportation magic too much?! Fyar muttered inwardly.
He turned slightly back, even though his neck was stiff.
"Illya? Are you alright?" Fyar asked. "I’m sorry, Illya... I’m sorry... I made you use teleport magic too much."
Illya hugged Fyar’s neck tighter. She kissed the young man’s back and buried her face there, seeking comfort.
"I’m fine, Fyar. It’s just normal exhaustion," Illya whispered, her voice weak. "I’ll recover in a bit."
"Are you sure? You’re not saying that to calm me down, are you?"
"No, I’m fine," Illya replied.
"Then rest for a moment on my back... only after that will we pick up Cyhas," Fyar said.
"Eh? But I pity her waiting up there alone," Illya said. She lifted her head slightly, her face worried.
"She understands. She definitely understands," Fyar sighed. "You want to force yourself now and fainting up there?"
"Yeah, it’s fine, I guess. The view up there is more beautiful than here... I can wait, and faint comfortably up there," Illya replied, leaning back again.
"Fyar!!"
Zaefal’s shout was heard. He ran limping towards Fyar from behind a mound of crystals. His black sword was already sheathed.
"Good work!"
"Good work, Zaefal!" Fyar replied with a nod.
Zaefal arrived in front of Fyar. His breathing was still ragged, but his eyes shone with relief. He patted Fyar’s shoulder. "You saved us again."
"No, no. In the end, it was you guys... who killed them," Fyar demurred.
Zaefal shook his head firmly. " without your tactics... we might have died."
"Your power... is truly... amazing, Fyar." Zaefal laughed lightly. "I might lose if I fought you now."
"No, don’t exaggerate, Friend. Don’t exaggerate," Fyar smiled awkwardly.
"WOOOOO???? THIRTY!!!! DUDE, THIRTY!!"
A hysterical scream broke their conversation.
Rasie ran towards them, jumping for joy like a child who got a present. She held her Adventurer Card high.
"Level thirty!? Level thirty!! Ahahah!"
"Thirty?" Illya said softly. Her eyes widened.
Zaefal’s pupils dilated. He quickly reached into his pants pocket, taking out his Adventurer Card.
He stared at the numbers displayed there.
Zaefal
Age: 28
Level: 32
Status: Active Hunter
Class: Hunter
Level up status: 89%
Requirement to reach level 50: Win a duel against an adventurer of the same level or higher
Zaefal’s hand holding the card trembled slightly.
"Thirty-two..." he muttered.
Level up? Wasn’t the requirement to kill four dungeon bosses on the same day? Why am I at level thirty-two now? Is it because of killing that monster earlier? Did that monster count as high level, so killing one is equivalent to four low-level dungeon bosses? Zaefal muttered inwardly. His analysis spun rapidly.
"Did you level up, too, Zaefal?" Fyar asked.
"Zaefal, did you go up to thirty?" Illya asked, smiling faintly.
"Y-yes.." Zaefal answered a bit hesitantly. He was still staring at his card in disbelief.
Zaefal turned to Fyar. "Did you too?"
Fyar nodded. "Yeah... earlier, before helping you guys, thirty-five..."
"Thir... thirty-five?!" Zaefal was shocked. His mouth opened slightly.
"Y-yeah... maybe because I killed two?" Fyar answered with a stiff smile.
"I’ll check again."
Fyar took his card from the pocket of his coat, which was stained with blue blood.
When he saw the numbers displayed, Fyar froze. His expression went blank.
"F-f-fyar?!" Illya, peeking over Fyar’s shoulder, covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide with shock.
Zaefal raised one eyebrow, curious. "Fyar? What level are you now?"
Zaefal took a step forward and looked at Fyar’s card.
"Oh..."
Zaefal’s face changed into a comically shocked expression. His eyes bulged, his mouth forming a small ’O.
"Guys, what’s with you?! Huh, why do you look like you’re about to be executed?" Rasie said, walking towards them with a wide smile on her face.
"Hm? Purple Hair? Hah, you leveled up too! How much, how much?" Rasie immediately snatched Fyar’s card to look.
"What the fuck!!"
Fyar
Age: 26
Level: 38
Status: Active Hunter
Class: Hunter
Level up status: 89%
Requirement to reach level 50: Win a duel against an adventurer of the same level or higher
"Th... thirty-eight?! Damn it!! Thirty-eight?!?" Rasie shouted in shock. "Bro?! What the hell!"
Damn, thirty-eight?! Wasn’t it thirty-five earlier? Is it because I killed two additional monsters just now?! But damn, thirty-eight?! A few hours ago, I was twenty-nine, now thirty-eight?! Calm down, Fyar, calm down,
"C-congratulations, Fyar..." Illya said softly, patting Fyar’s shoulder.
Zaefal laughed lightly, shaking his head. "You... you really... You really never stop surprising me..."
Zaefal sighed deeply. "Even though initially you were twenty levels behind us... no, even twenty-nine levels behind Rasie..."
"Congratulations, Fyar."
Rasie clenched her jaw. "D... d... fuck... y... you... you... aghhh fuuuuckk."
"How come!? Haaaa, it’s not fair!" Rasie stomped her feet on the crystal sand.
"What level did you get to, Rasie?" Zaefal turned to Rasie, who looked annoyed.
"Hahh, thirty-two!" Rasie answered curtly. She showed her adventurer card.
Rasie
Age: 27
Level: 32
Status: Active Hunter
Class: Hunter
Level up status: 89%
Requirement to reach level 50: Win a duel against an adventurer of the same level or higher
"Thirty-two... same as me," Zaefal said.
"Eh? Your age turns out to be younger than I thought." Fyar mocked with a smirk.
"Hah? Did you say something?" Rasie asked. A vein on her temple popped slightly.
"Eh? No, I just said congratulations to you both, congratulations!" Fyar said quickly, looking at them alternately with an innocent face.
"Shut up, idiot," Rasie snapped.
Zaefal nodded. "Thank you."
He then looked at Illya, who was still being carried by Fyar.
"Did you go up too, Illya?"
"Oh yeah, I haven’t checked!" Illya’s face lit up with excitement. Her exhaustion seemed to disappear for a moment. "Fyar, you can put me down now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes... I’m better," Illya answered softly.
Fyar squatted slightly, letting Illya down.
Illya reached into her dress pocket and took out her adventurer card.
Illya
Age: 22
Level: 29
Class: Mage/Witch
Level up status: 89%
Spell usage limit: Low to medium tier
"Amazing... you went up quite... far... congratulations, Illya," Fyar praised. He stroked Illya’s green hair gently.
"Hihi.." Illya smiled proudly, her cheeks flushing.
"Congratulations, Illya..." Zaefal praised.
"Our Witch isn’t afraid of being left behind now, huh?" Rasie said with a faint smile, nudging Illya’s arm gently.
Fyar looked at Zaefal and Rasie. His face turned serious.
"What are your new abilities? You must have gotten new knowledge through your heads, right?"
As for me... creating a neutralized area for five seconds... this is truly a game changer. I can use this if I meet a witch... or meet a stronger enemy. Plus, I can choose the target whose power I want to remove.
If I meet a stronger enemy, I can use that skill and tell Illya, Zaefal, and Rasie to attack with their powers when the enemy is weak.
My physique also seems to have increased drastically. One hundred percent or maybe two hundred percent? Fyar muttered inwardly.
Fyar then chuckled. "Heh, as for me... Yes... creating an area of my power for five seconds... and maybe my physique is now far, far stronger than before."
"Creating an area of your neutralizing power? A-amazing..." Zaefal praised. His eyes widened, shocked to hear the potential of that power.
Fyar nodded. "Well... I can choose the target from whom I want to remove it. So when I use it, you guys can attack whatever it is using your powers."
Illya looked proud and happy to hear it. She held Fyar’s hand. "You... are cool, Fyar. You became that strong."
Zaefal put his hand on his chin, thinking.
This will give a huge advantage to our party. His normal power before leveling up already saved us many times. Now an area... this... can be useful... very USEFUL in an emergency , Zaefal thought. He smiled faintly.
Wait for me, Sera... I’m getting closer to you. I will soon reach level fifty and get memories of you and that bad future again, Zaefal muttered inwardly. His hand clenched tightly.
"Another cheat power, hahh..." Rasie shook her head, pretending not to be impressed.
She then smiled slyly, her eyes glinting mischievously. "Me, well... I can now turn my body into fire for twenty seconds!!! Ahahaha!"
Rasie spread her arms, and instantly her arms turned into living flames.
"Oh, my physique? Don’t ask, Boss! When I use that, my physique will go up two hundred percent!"
Fyar clapped slowly. "Cool, cool."
"Heh, good thing you noticed," Rasie extinguished her fire, then looked at Zaefal. "You?"
Zaefal sighed. He was humble. "I’m not too special... well, my physique probably went up like yours," Zaefal said in a flat tone.
"As for the new one... yes, I can suck someone’s power directed at me. And..."
Zaefal raised one hand behind him, aiming at a pile of broken crystal stones.
His hand was coated in pitch-black energy swirling to form a small hole.
Ssst!!
The stones around him vibrated, lifted into the air, then were sucked quickly towards Zaefal’s hand and disappeared into that black hole.
"A-amazing..." Fyar was amazed.
"Sucking power and sucking objects... interesting, interesting..." Rasie praised, nodding.
In the distance, on a safe hill.
Cyhas sat hugging her knees. She looked down, towards her friends who were gathering to celebrate the victory.
"They did it... they did it!"
Cyhas’s expression then softened. Her eyes were fixed on Fyar’s figure, laughing with Illya. There was a deep sadness in her eyes.
"Fyar... so cool..."
Cyhas looked down, hiding her face in her knees.
"Illya, you really are lucky..." Cyhas muttered softly, her voice lost in the wind of the crystal plain.
"you really are lucky."