Water Magician

Chapter 51: Difference in Strength

Extra chapter thanks to my Patreons as always!

“I managed to survive …”

The last time he was so close to death in a fight … was with the one-eyed Assassin Hawk?

For the time being, he sat down on the bench in the plaza because it was eye-catching that he was standing alone in the plaza in front of the library.

(Since the one-eyed Assassin Hawk … Now that I think about it, it used magic nullification. Behi-chan also had a magic nullification space. And now the Akuma, Leonor, could erase the Icicle Lances with just a wave of her hand … 32 or 64 lances were gone in an instant…)

“Ow.”

Pain ran through his left shoulder.

It was the spot where Leonor’s wind spear hit.

There weren’t any broken bones. Probably just a bruise.

It served as proof that the battle just now was not a dream.

But more importantly, he was surprised that the robe did not have a scratch on it.

(If it weren’t for this robe, I would have a big hole in my shoulder … I’m thankful to my teacher.)

Ryo thought of Dullahan in his heart and bowed with gratitude.

(Leonor’s magic … that was magic, right? It had ridiculous power … but above all, that movement speed … that speed at which she rushed in in an instant and the speed at which she retreated in an instant … it was probably not spatial transfer but some kind of Wind Magic … something like a breakdown rush … damn you Wind Magic!)

For some reason, Ryo’s reflection led to reputational damage to Wind-Attribute magic.

(By the way, she said the time was up …)

And the solar eclipse was over.

Ryo arbitrarily concluded that the solar eclipse was probably involved.

There were so many people around but only Leonor and Ryo were in that space.

(There are so many things I don’t understand. For now, I won’t think about what I don’t understand! All I have to do now is buy the alchemy books and collect information about Akumas when I return … But even Abel didn’t know about their existence.)

During their trip to Rune, Ryo once asked Abel if he knew about Akumas.

But Abel answered that he knew about Devils but not Akumas.

(Abel is probably the third son of an aristocratic family so … if even a person in the so-called intellectual class did not know about it, information on them probably can’t be easily collected.)

“For the time being, let’s buy the books and go home.”

There was no one in Room 10 of the dormitory.

From the window of Room 10, he could see the outdoor training ground of the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Huh? Don’t tell me they’re still training?”

Among the people in the training ground, he spotted the three people from Room 10.

“If I wasn’t tired, I would have messed you bastards up …”

Niles said with regret.

Niles, Etho, and Amon were knocked down on the ground and five men were looming over them.

“Hah! It’s even more refreshing to see sore losers.”

All five were adventurers from Room 1 of the dormitory.

Did they lose in mock combat or something?

“That’s rich coming from people who launched surprise attacks …”

Etho said bitterly.

“Hey. Then are you guys going to tell the monsters in the dungeon to say a word before they attack? Or say ‘I’m tired now so please stop’?. Don’t be a fool.”

The man from Room 1, Dan, jeered at them.

“That’s exactly right. The ones who have their guard down are at fault.”

At the same time as the voice echoed in the training ground, ice spears pierced the solar plexus of the four others from Room 1, except Dan, who was making a fool of them.

Of course, the tips were rounded so they were not injured.

All four were just in agony.

“Wha …”

“What happened? Ice spears hit their stomachs.”

Then Ryo appeared at the training ground.

“Ryo!”

The three people from Room 10, who were still lying on the ground, called Ryo’s name at the same time.

“You……”

“Don’t let your guard down. You said some good things earlier. Would you tell the opponent to say a word before they attack? … of course not, right? Sigh … Niles, and you two, you guys are slacking off.”

That said, Ryo first made Etho drink a potion.

Once the priest Etho recovers, the other two would also be restored.

“I’m ashamed …”

Niles replied softly.

“Well, you guys have been running all the time since the morning and are at the limits of your stamina so it can’t be helped. On Saturdays and Sundays, you guys will have to strengthen your stamina even more.”

“Eh …”

A voice leaked from Etho, who seemed to be the weakest of the three.

Actually, Amon who just came out of his village should be the least physically fit but … Amon seemed to somehow pull through with sheer will.

“And then, this person standing there …”

“He’s Dan from Room 1.”

Niles informed Ryo.

“Ah, you’re Dan. What are you going to do? Your companions were struck down by surprise attacks so are you going to turn tail and run away?”

“Who do you think you are?!”

Dan shouted, pulling out his sword.

Then, he slashed at Ryo forcefully.

(Too slow……)

It was an obvious swing with a huge windup!

Ryo dodged by stepping his left foot forward to the left and moving the center of gravity to his left foot.

With his left hand, he grabbed Murasame’s handle (without its ice blade) with a reverse grip, pulled it out of his belt, and slammed it into Dan’s right flank.

In boxing terms, it was a liver blow … a strike to the liver.

Moreover, the power was increased by properly twisting the legs and hips from below.

Dan’s leather armor couldn’t absorb the shock.

“… Guha.”

Dan collapsed, rolled to the ground, and fainted in agony.

(I thought that my bare hands would hurt because he was wearing armor so I struck with Murasame’s handle … It feels different from boxing after all … it’s so different just because the wrist sensation is different?)

Ryo was verifying the punch without worrying about Dan who was in agony.

“I wouldn’t want to be him …”

Niles looked at Dan rolling on the ground with eyes full of pity.

“I almost died a little while ago … so it seems that the excitement from battle hadn’t cooled down yet.”

The three people from Room 10 were surprised to hear that.

Dan wasn’t in a state to hear those words.

“Oh right, Etho, could you treat my shoulders as well?”

Ryo said and showed Etho his left shoulder.

“This is terrible! There are no broken bones but … I can tell that this was caused by an incredible impact … I mean, it would have been dangerous if it struck your heart.”

Then Etho cast a recovery spell.

“Mother Goddess, give me a healing hand <Lesser Heal>”

In a blink of an eye, the bruise marks disappeared along with the pain.

“This happened because I barely evaded an attack aimed at my heart… I’m glad I’m alive.”

“What did you fight!?”

Niles, Etho, and Amon screamed the same question.

An opponent who could threaten Ryo’s life, even though Ryo was capable of overwhelming a Swordsman with just physical skill despite being a Magician …

“I’ll talk about it next time if I get the chance.”

Ryo smiled and ended the conversation.

(Getting cornered by Leonor but showing off one-sided power against F-class adventurers … that’s not cool …)

They left the four people from Room 1 and Dan, who was in agony, lying on the ground.

Niles, Etho, Amon, and Ryo were all grimy because of all that happened, so they all headed to the public bath.

Naturally, each household did not have a bath, but there were dozens of public baths in the city.

They were like privately run public baths.

This was also possible because there was a large river on the north side of the city, a water channel that draws water from there, and a sewerage system that passed under the pedestrian walkways.

It was completely beyond the normal infrastructure of a medieval city … Ryo thought to himself.

“Thank you, Ryo. If you didn’t come, we would have ended up being ridiculed by Dan.”

“Even so, Ryo-san’s movement was amazing! Even though you’re a Magician.”

“Amon, the Magicians now can do at least this much.”

“No, that’s not true.”

Amon was impressed, Ryo played dumb, and Niles retorted.

Etho snickered as he tried to stop his laughter.

It was such a peaceful Sunday afternoon that it seemed like Ryo’s encounter at the library plaza was but a dream.