EWH Chapter 64

Just as Nathan was awkwardly smiling, unable to do anything else…

Bang!

“Damn it, I lost!”

It seemed the sparring match between the two had ended. Ramiya roughly wiped away her sweat with her sleeve and conceded defeat. That loud noise must have been from her dropping her sword.

‘Wow, how can a sword make such a noise when it falls…?’

Nathan had thought the greatsword she was swinging looked quite heavy at a glance, but that sound was intimidating. His gaze suddenly turned to her forearm, exposed by her forcefully rolled-up sleeve. He could see veins bulging prominently on her arm, which had nicely tanned skin and well-defined muscles. Nathan unconsciously rubbed his own comparatively scrawny forearm.

“I feel like I should be able to beat you at least once by now, but why do I keep losing?”

“You’ve still improved since last time.”

“Oh, are you trying to console me?”

“…Raya. Choose your words more carefully.”

After retrieving her fallen sword, Ramiya walked towards where Nathan and Ali were sitting. When Ali looked up at her with uneasy eyes, she grinned and patted his shoulder.

“Move it, Ali. It’s your turn.”

Laughing wickedly, Ramiya stole Ali’s chair and forcefully pushed him away. Ali, moving as if being dragged to a slaughterhouse, slowly reached Azar. Without a word, he instinctively dodged the sword swung at him and let out a shriek.

“Eek! Shouldn’t you give me time to summon a spirit?”

“That’s what this sparring is for, Ali! Don’t whine!”

While dodging Azar’s swinging sword, Ali tried his best to summon a spirit. However, it was impossible for a spirit to be summoned in such a distracted state. As his summoning attempts repeatedly failed, Ali’s face gradually contorted as if he was about to cry.

Sparring without being able to summon a spirit was a completely disadvantageous situation for Ali. But even without any weapon in hand, Ali was quite nimbly avoiding Azar’s sword. Although he was occasionally hit by the flat of the blade.

‘…But this seems less like sparring and more like Azar one-sidedly beating Ali… Or is it just my imagination?’

This time, Ali took a direct hit to the forehead with the flat of the blade. Seeing tears welling up in Ali’s large eyes, Nathan felt as if his own forehead was hurting. At that moment, Ramiya spoke to him from the side.

“Despite how it looks, frustratingly, Ali is the only one among us who can match Azar’s skills. His physical condition is different from ordinary humans from the start, and he was born with exceptional talent. He’s already a high-level spirit summoner at that age, which says it all. What do you think, Nover?”

In this world, spirit summoners and magicians were similar occupational categories. That’s probably why Ramiya was asking Nathan this question. But while they were similar, they were certainly not the same. Their methods of use, the scale of their power, and the range of applications were all different. So Nathan didn’t have much to say.

“…It was amazing. Actually seeing the ground being overturned like that, I can only say it was incredible.”

Those words were sincere. In this world, job rankings were simply divided into high, middle, and low, and at this point, Ali already belonged to the high-level spirit summoners. A high-level spirit summoner was practically a walking natural disaster. With a single gesture from them, the earth could be overturned, tsunamis could occur, storms could arise, and a small spark could turn into a conflagration that reduced everything to ashes.

But as powerful as they were, the number of spirit summoners was incredibly small. In this kingdom, Aurora Academy was the only academy that included a Spirit Department, and even within that department, there were barely five students including Ali.

Moreover, low-level spirit summoner was the limit that humans could reach as spirit summoners. But even being a low-level was enough to make a living as a spirit summoner. This was considered fortunate, given that 100 years had passed since the elves who taught spirit magic had disappeared.

In fact, even among elves, high-level was extremely rare, and Ali was an exceptionally special case.

Nathan recalled that day. The day Ali overturned the ground and caught the mercenaries by their ankles. There were clearly two magicians there, but even they couldn’t match up to one high-level spirit summoner. Given that Nathan’s skills were barely in the middle range, and Berry’s skills were similar, this was perhaps an expected outcome.

Moreover, spirit summoners didn’t need what’s commonly called casting or channeling time. Because they could communicate with their contracted spirits through thoughts, if they could successfully summon without issue, what followed was terrifying. The spirits would follow the summoner’s will with mere thoughts. Unlike magicians, they didn’t need to prepare magic circles or chant spells.

That’s why the protagonist’s group recruited a magician last, all for this reason. Spirit summoners were more specialized for combat than magicians, each of their attacks was powerful, and spirit summoners could do most of what magicians could do similarly.

In reality, they didn’t need to be in the group, but after running through a few dungeons, they realized there were some dungeons where a magician was necessary, so they had no choice but to recruit one. There was no other significance. That’s why Nathan never even considered that Berry might be that caravan master’s daughter.

‘…Come to think of it, if things continue like this, will a magician be needed as planned?’

As he was vaguely thinking this, Nathan quickly shook off his reverie. Ramiya, who was slouching in her chair and gulping down tea like water, glanced at Nathan and spoke casually.

“That’s right, that’s why I’m sometimes surprised. That such power is held by such a flighty child. But that level is very simple for that kid. If he could just summon spirits at the right time, he might even be stronger than Azar. Of course, it doesn’t look like that’ll happen anytime soon!”

After speaking seriously, Ramiya suddenly burst into hearty laughter, lightening the mood.

“And Nover, Ali is a young elf born after a long time even among elves, so he was raised more indulgently than you might think. There were only elderly elves there, so there were no young elves like Ali. What I’m saying is, you don’t need to worry too much even if he acts like that.”

As she said this, Ramiya winked mischievously. Nathan felt awkward and rubbed the back of his neck while lowering his eyes. He thought they wouldn’t notice because of the sparring…

“It’s all an act anyway. He can’t stay upset for even a day, he’s just pretending because he wants attention. Just wait a bit. I’m sure he’ll come back, unable to bear it, and start fawning over you again.”

“I hope that’s the case, but it might not be. I did make a mistake…”

“I won’t do it!”

At that sudden exclamation, Nathan and Ramiya stopped talking and looked at Ali. Somehow, Ali had already fled to their table. Seeing Ali’s attitude, Azar sighed.

“Ali, I’ve told you many times. You need to be able to summon spirits even in unexpected situations. Won’t you come here?”

“No, you’re going to hit me again! Raya!”

“Why are you calling me? Azar is right. Ali, you should be able to summon spirits even when under attack by now.”

“And I’ve been healing you continuously.”

“You think healing makes it all okay? It still hurts when I get hit!”

Realizing he had no allies, Ali stamped his feet and rubbed his reddened forehead, then quickly ran to Nathan and clung to his back.

“Nathan, say something to them for me!”

Nathan patted Ali’s arm around his neck and looked at Azar. Honestly, Nathan agreed with Azar and Ramiya. Spirit summoners could only use their powers after summoning spirits, and without summoning spirits, they were no different from ordinary people. Of course, Ali was an elf, so his physical abilities were extraordinary. Still, this kind of practice was necessary. It was necessary, but…

Nathan decided to take Ali’s side for now to improve their relationship.

“Um, how about we call it a day, Azar? He dislikes it this much, and forcing him might not be helpful…”

“But Nathan. That guy hasn’t changed at all in two years.”

“…That is a problem.”

“Nathan! You should be on my side till the end!”

Seeing Nathan start to take his side but then get persuaded by Azar, Ali panicked and quickly grabbed Nathan’s shoulders, shaking him left and right. As a result, only Nathan suffered. Nathan’s paper-thin body swayed helplessly as Ali shook him.

“Ugh, stop, stop shaking me…!”

For a moment, the world spun, and Nathan groaned, holding his head. Just from that little shaking, his body was protesting in pain. A headache suddenly struck. Feeling dizzy as if seasick, and nauseous, Nathan pressed his temples firmly, waiting for the headache to subside.

Suddenly, someone put their arm around his shoulder and pulled him forward. His forehead bumped against something solid. At the same time, a wave of heat and the smell of sweat hit him, and Nathan slowly opened his eyes. Right in front of his nose was a wrinkled shirt hem. Confused, he shifted his gaze around and saw a hand grasping his opposite shoulder, crossing over his own shoulder.

“That’s enough. How long are you going to act spoiled?”

“But…!”

Yes, Azar had approached without notice and pulled Nathan’s shoulder, separating him from Ali.

“You made a promise with us when you left the forest. Or do you want to go back to the forest?”

“…”

“You said you wanted to go on adventures with us. At this rate, we won’t be able to keep taking you along, Ali. The power you have will only harm everyone if you can’t control it properly. And you’re not even trying to fix your fatal weakness…”

The conversation happening above his head wasn’t really registering. Nathan was just so flustered by the current situation that his eyes trembled involuntarily. Nathan was sitting, and Azar was standing, so their posture was a bit odd.

Realizing that he was practically burying his face in the other’s waist area, his embarrassment doubled. Moreover, why was the hand gripping his shoulder so hot? As if that heat was transferring to him, the air suddenly felt warmer. His face felt hot on its own. As a result, his already dizzy head became even dizzier as the heat rushed to it.

Soon, his vision briefly blurred and then returned to normal, but for a moment, he felt a strange sensation inside his nose. But it was quite familiar, so Nathan quickly came to his senses and fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief. With his free hand, he hastily pushed Azar away, but that didn’t loosen the arm around his shoulder. As soon as their bodies separated slightly, his nose started bleeding, as usual.