Deep into the night, rain kept drizzling outside the window.
Clouds blanketed the stars, leaving the sky pitch black. The occasional flash of lightning lit up pools of water on the ground in little glimmers.
"Pitter-patter..."
Beneath the curtain of rain, Orario was utterly silent. Aside from the scattered lamplight of distant taverns, the whole city seemed to have drifted off to sleep.
Leon sat on the stool by the bed, staring blankly at the sheet of rain outside the window. The only sound reaching his ears was the soul-soothing patter of the rain, and his mind had gone blank.
In this rare stillness, only the faint, mosquito-soft breathing of the person on the bed could be clearly heard.
"Creak..."
The guest room door was pushed open gently. Leon looked up at the sound and saw Rose, changed into soft loungewear, tiptoeing in.
"Shh..."
He was about to speak, but Rose got there first, pressing her index finger against his lips to signal him to keep quiet.
Having stopped him from blurting anything out, Rose smiled faintly, leaned down beside his ear, and murmured softly, her warm breath brushing his skin.
"I'll take it from here. Jeanne will relieve me later tonight. Go rest."
Leon nodded. "Thanks, Rose."
"The elixir worked. Every wound healed. Even the severed arm and leg."
"Good."
"That was our only Holy Elixir, and now it's gone. So don't you dare take chances in battle. That's being irresponsible with your own life, and with your companions'."
"Fighting to the death isn't that simple. You only get one life. Once you're dead, that's it. There's no taking it back."
Rose met his gaze and nodded.
He pressed a light kiss to her cheek, pulled her into his arms for a moment, then headed back to his room to rest.
...
But life seldom goes as one hopes.
Accidents always come unannounced.
Regarding Kureha's injuries, everyone, Leon included, had assumed that with the miraculous Holy Elixir she would wake up within a week at most.
After all, her physical wounds had been perfectly healed.
The result was the exact opposite.
Kureha's coma lasted a full month.
For the first week, everyone still managed to go about their routines. Training, studying, reading, keeping up with outside news, enriching themselves while quietly waiting for their new companion to wake.
But once ten days had passed...
Leon and the others realized Kureha probably wasn't going to wake up any time soon.
So apart from rotating one person each day to look after her, everyone else gradually returned to their normal schedules.
On this particular day, in a corner of the small courtyard, at Leon's personal magic practice ground.
"Frost Nova!"
As Leon called out the name of the spell, pale-white frost burst out in every direction with him at its center, sweeping outward in an instant!
"Crack-crack-crack!"
A dense, piercing chorus of freezing sounds rang out.
The nearby stone paving, the dirt, even the corners of the house walls, were all coated in a thick layer of frost in the blink of an eye.
Waves of biting cold turned into visible white mist, and in the middle of summer it suddenly felt like plunging into an ice cave.
Caught in the cold mist first of all, Leon gave a violent shudder.
"Ah... choo!"
He wrapped his arms around himself, trembling all over, teeth chattering.
"This... this is way too cold! Is it a freezing effect...?"
"True to its name... it really is F-Frost Nova!"
"But... wait, something's not right here?"
"Why does it affect the caster too?!"
Rubbing at the goosebumps that had instantly sprouted across his skin, feeling his body stiffen from the cold, the corner of Leon's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"Damn it... use Fireball wrong and you scorch yourself. I've already burned the hem of my clothes several times."
"And now the ice magic isn't any better. Not even I'm spared from the chill..."
"Thank god the combat outfit made from fire-sprite cloth arrived ages ago. Otherwise practicing this spell would basically mean tying my own hands."
I get it now. Finally I understand why those mages' robes are all woven from mana-infused thread.
Before I used to wonder why a mage would bother with Magic Resistance gear. Isn't a full set of high-defense armor better?
Turns out the whole point of those Magic Resistance robes is to keep you from being caught in your own spells!
"Damn it!"
While muttering his complaints, he half-scrambled, half-rolled out of the frost-covered zone.
Only once he was back under the summer sunlight, with warmth wrapping around him again, did Leon let out a long sigh of relief.
The spell hitting me this hard has a lot to do with the fact that I just learned it and haven't gotten the hang of it yet. Once I can use it fluently, I should be able to dodge these side effects to the greatest extent possible.
By then it'll be just like Fireball is now, totally under my control!
Once he'd worked out the key point, confidence returned to Leon's face.
Now then. New spell learned, archive intel all reviewed. It's time to head into the Dungeon.
"Leon? What on earth are you doing?!"
Just as he was brimming with confidence, itching to run off to the Dungeon and test his skills, Jeanne's voice came from behind the window.
She'd arched a delicate brow and was glaring at him with a distinctly unfriendly look. Combined with the icy white mist drifting in through the window, Leon instantly grasped the situation.
The corner of his mouth tugged up, and he lifted his chin at Jeanne.
"Nothing much. I just finally got the hang of Frost Nova!"
Jeanne folded her arms, tilted her head, and watched him in silence.
Leon took one look at the frost crawling in through the window behind her and pivoted.
"I'm sorry!"
"Hmph!"
...
Come dinnertime.
Everyone gathered around the table again, sharing the day's happenings as they enjoyed the meal.
"Big sis Jeanne, let me tell you!"
Laurier waved her fork excitedly, her face full of mystery.
"You guys don't even know, the Dungeon was so lively today!"
Leon was tearing into a chunk of roasted meat, his mouth glistening with grease. Seeing how worked up Laurier was, he knew another good show was on the way.
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