INFINITE - 28
Juro suddenly grabbed the massive tail with one hand before casually lifting it over his shoulder without any visible struggle.
"Alrightttt," Juro said with a grin. "Let's have a quick snack break hehe."
Marc's eyes immediately lit up again, curiosity completely overtaking the earlier tension as he stared at the Grud tail.
He was already excited to see what a creature like that tasted like.
-----------
Juro eventually found a large tree nearby, its wide branches casting enough shade to comfortably rest beneath.
"Alright," Juro said as he dropped the massive Grud tail onto the grass with a heavy thud. "Marc, Bell, go gather some stones and sticks around the area."
Marc quickly nodded.
"Okay!"
The two immediately split up and began gathering materials scattered across the grassy field.
Marc picked up smooth flat stones one after another while Bell quietly gathered dry sticks and broken branches nearby.
After collecting enough, the two returned and began arranging everything together.
The stones were carefully placed in a neat formation on the ground, forming a stable flat surface almost like a makeshift table, while the sticks were stacked nearby for a campfire.
Juro glanced over the setup before giving a satisfied nod.
"Mmm not bad."
He then looked toward Marc.
"Mind washing the stones for me, kid?"
Marc smiled brightly.
"Okay!"
Marc reached his hand toward the arranged rocks and stones.
Mana instantly flowed out from his palm.
A second later, the flowing mana transformed into clear streams of water that gently poured over the stones.
Marc's eyes sparkled seeing the spell work properly as the water washed away the dirt and dust covering the rocks.
He carefully continued rinsing all of them one by one.
Once he finished, Juro looked toward Bell.
"Bell, mind drying them?"
Bell nodded silently.
Still leaning against the tree behind him, Bell casually raised one hand toward the stones.
Mana flowed out calmly from his palm before transforming into streams of wind.
But it didn't stop there.
The temperature of the wind gradually rose, turning into warm air that flowed across the stones and quickly dried the remaining water.
Within moments, the rocks were completely dry.
Juro grinned.
"Mmm! Good!"
He then lifted the massive Grud tail and carefully placed it across the cleaned stones, using them like a table to keep the meat from touching the grass.
Juro looked toward the hardened boulder-like tip at the end of the tail.
"Alright… let's cut this part off first."
With a swift slicing motion of his finger.
SHHK.
The hardened tail tip instantly separated cleanly from the rest of the tail.
Marc watched with admiration.
"Oooo."
Juro walked over before grabbing the heavy boulder-like piece with both hands.
Then he calmly incanted…
"Taza."
The hardened stone suddenly began cracking apart on Juro's hands.
CRK… CRRCK…
The entire boulder slowly crumbled and reshaped itself before finally settling into three perfectly formed stone cups resting neatly in his palms.
Marc's mouth slowly opened in amazement.
"Woaaaa… you made cups from that boulder?!"
Juro laughed as he placed the three cups down onto the stone surface.
"Yup. And you already know who made that magic."
Marc instantly grinned.
"The Greatest Mage!"
Both Marc and Juro laughed together while Bell quietly stared at the stone cups resting on the stones.
"Hahaha… I literally made that magic just for convenience sake…"
Bell looked away slightly, before smiling a little.
Taza.
An original magic created thousands of years ago by The Greatest Mage within the continent of Demanas.
A simple but useful spell that allowed the caster to break apart and reshape whatever material they were holding into cups.
Stone.
Wood.
Metal.
Even gold.
Though the tougher the material was, the more mental focus and mana strain it required from the caster. And if the object being reshaped was too small, only a single cup could be created from it.
Meanwhile, Marc continued staring at the cups with genuine fascination.
Juro glanced at the massive tail lying on the stone surface before smiling.
"Now then…"
He stretched his arms slightly.
"Let's slice up some meat!"
Marc's eyes sparkled immediately.
Juro casually motioned a finger through the air.
And thin invisible cuts instantly appeared across the creature's tail.
Slice.
Slice.
Slice.
The cuts were so clean and precise that Marc could barely even follow them.
Juro continued moving his finger casually through the air.
A few moments later..
The scales, skin, bones, and meat were all perfectly separated and neatly organized on the stone surface.
Marc stared in complete awe.
The control Juro had over mana looked absurdly smooth.
Juro exhaled afterward before smiling proudly.
"Alright! Now that everything's separated and cut properly…"
He clapped his hands once.
"Let's eat!"
Marc immediately raised both hands excitedly.
"Yeah!!!"
The three of them sat down beneath the shade of a large tree while the wind gently flowed through the endless grassy fields around them.
Juro grabbed several sticks nearby and passed some to Bell and Marc.
Then he looked toward the pile of wood, preparing to ignite it.
But Marc suddenly spoke first.
"Teacher Juro! Can I do it?!"
Juro looked at him for a moment before laughing.
"Go ahead."
Marc grinned brightly.
Then he pointed one finger toward the pile of sticks.
Mana immediately swirled around his fingertip before slowly taking the shape of a small flame.
Marc carefully lowered the flame toward the wood.
Fwoosh.
The pile of sticks ignited gently.
Marc smiled proudly at the fire he created.
Soon, the three of them began preparing skewers and roasting the freshly cut meat over the flames.
The scent quickly spread through the air.
The vast fields stretched endlessly before them while the tree shaded them from the sunlight and the breeze blew softly across the grass.
For a while..
They simply ate peacefully together.
Then while chewing his food, Marc suddenly looked toward Juro.
"Teacher Juro…"
Juro glanced over while munching.
"Hm?"
"Before that creature appeared earlier…" Marc tilted his head curiously. "Weren't you about to say something?"
Juro paused for a moment while thinking.
"Hmmm…"
Then his eyes lit up slightly.
"Oh!"
He swallowed his food before continuing.
"I was about to tell you more about the continent of Enlia."
Marc immediately leaned forward with interest.
"Ooooo."
Bell also quietly listened while eating.
Juro continued,
"Well, Enlia looks very different from the continent of Demanas."
"They have these massive groups of buildings called cities."
Marc blinked.
"Oooo… cetees?"
Juro laughed.
"Cities."
Marc repeated carefully.
"Hmmm… cities!"
Juro nodded with a grin.
"Yep."
"And their entire power system works differently from ours too."
Marc tilted his head immediately.
"Power system? What's that?"
Juro simply smiled casually.
"I'll explain that stuff more in the future."
He scratched his cheek slightly.
"Topics like power systems get really complicated once you dive deep into them."
Bell silently agreed while listening.
"He's right…"
Bell calmly looked toward the fire.
"The deeper you study power systems, the more absurdly complex they become."
"Trying to fully understand every layer behind them can fry your brain if you're not careful."
Juro took another bite from the cooked Grud meat before casually continuing the conversation.
"They have something similar to our magic over there," Juro said. "But instead, they call them skills."
Marc listened even more curiously while continuing to nom on the piece of meat on the stick.
"Oooo…"
Juro chuckled at Marc's focused expression before continuing.
"And those skills have something they call cooldowns."
Marc blinked.
"Ooo so like… they get exhausted?"
"Mmmm… something like that," Juro replied thoughtfully. "But instead of their body being on cooldown, it's the skill itself."
Marc slowly nodded while trying to process it.
Juro continued explaining, "And those skills revolve around something they call a system."
Marc tilted his head for a moment.
"Hmmm… I think I kinda understand it now."
Juro simply smiled at him.
"Well anyways, you'll understand it better in the future once we all go there together, the three of us."
Marc immediately smiled brightly.
"Yup!"
Juro then grabbed the steel flask inside from his belt pouch before gesturing toward Bell.
"Bell, pass the cups for me."
Bell quietly picked up the stone cups and handed them over one by one.
Marc's eyes lit up the moment he saw the flask again.
"Ooooo it's that steel flask from that day when we were in the forest!"
Juro nodded proudly.
"Yup! Hehe."
He tilted the steel flask and began pouring water into the cups.
Clear water flowed smoothly from inside the flask, filling each stone cup.
But after a moment, the flow stopped.
Marc watched curiously as Juro casually placed his palm against the flask and poured mana into it.
The steel flask absorbed the mana.
and immediately began producing more water again.
Marc stared in amazement.
Juro then handed the cups over to Bell and Marc.
Marc carefully took his cup with both hands.
"I'm always so amazed seeing in-person magic items made by dwarves!…"
Juro chuckled before taking a drink himself.
"That was a pretty good snack. Do yall feel energized now?"
Marc quickly drank his water before standing up with renewed energy.
"Mhm! I feel all powered up now!"
Bell also stood up before lightly stretching his arms.
Then he glanced toward Marc with a small smile.
"Hey Marc. Wanna go train our dodging?"
Marc instantly smiled.
"Sure! Let's go!"
Without hesitation, Marc immediately ran toward a nearby open field a short distance away from the tree.
Bell simply walked behind him at a calm pace.
Once the two reached the clearing, both of them raised their hands and began drawing spells in the air in front of themselves.
Marc trained using a spell set at twice the speed.
Meanwhile Bell calmly trained against his own spell moving at three times the speed.
The two trained differently.
but both were steadily improving in their own ways.
Back beneath the shade of the tree, Juro quietly leaned against the trunk while sitting on the grass.
He took another slow sip of water from the stone cup as he watched the two kids training in the distance.
A small smile rested on his face the entire time.
..
…
Time passed.
Eventually, Marc and Bell returned to the large tree where Juro had been relaxing while watching them train.
Marc still had several wet spots across his clothes and hair, while Bell looked relatively dry aside from his slightly damp hair.
Juro looked toward the two of them with a grin.
"So? How'd training go?"
Marc immediately smiled proudly.
"I'm slowly getting the hang of the 2x speed now!"
Juro laughed.
Then he reached a hand toward them.
Mana flowed out from his palm before transforming into a gentle stream of warm air that wrapped around both Marc and Bell.
A few seconds later.
Their wet clothes and hair were completely dry.
Marc looked amazed again.
"Woaaah…"
Afterward, Juro motioned for them to sit down beneath the tree.
"Come sit for a bit. You two need some rest."
Marc nodded.
"Okay!"
The two sat down beside the tree.
Then suddenly.
Grrrrrrr…
Marc awkwardly held his stomach.
"Ah… I guess that intense training made me kinda hungry… hehe…"
Bell nodded slightly.
"Yeah, same here."
He glanced toward the sky.
"I think it's around lunchtime now."
Juro smiled before standing up and patting his hands together.
"Then how about we have seafood for lunch?"
Marc's eyes widened instantly.
"Oooooo! Alright!"
Both Marc and Bell stood up.
But Bell soon asked,
"Where exactly are we supposed to hunt sea creatures?"
Juro casually pointed toward the distance.
"While you two were training earlier, I looked around and found a decently sized lake nearby."
Marc immediately became excited.
"Alright, let's go!"
The three of them left the shade of the tree and headed toward the lake Juro discovered.
…
Once they arrived, Marc looked around the clear water curiously before suddenly realizing something.
"Wait, Teacher Juro…"
He blinked.
"We don't even have fishing rods."
Juro simply smiled.
"We're not fishing today."
Marc tilted his head.
"Eh?"
Juro grinned wider.
"We're going swimming."
Both Marc and Bell reacted at the exact same time.
But with completely opposite expressions.
"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH????!"
Marc looked thrilled.
Meanwhile Bell looked deeply uncomfortable.
Juro burst out laughing after seeing the contrast between them.
"Alright, alright." He pointed toward Bell. "Bell can stay above and watch an eye at the surface while me and Marc go dive down and catch some fish."
Marc instantly agreed.
"MHM!"
As Marc excitedly started pulling off his shirt.
Juro stopped him immediately.
"Pffft— kid, you don't need to take your shirt off."
Marc froze mid-motion.
"Eh?"
He slowly let go of his shirt.
Juro walked over before crouching in front of him.
Then he placed a hand against Marc's chest area and softly incantated,
"Manteau."
A faint blue glow briefly spread across Marc's shirt, pants, and shoes for a single second before disappearing completely.
Marc looked down at himself in shock.
"WOAAAAA…. what was that???"
Juro stood back up before placing a hand on his own chest.
"Manteau."
The same blue glow briefly covered his own clothes.
"It's a magic that keeps your clothes dry while swimming."
He pointed casually at Marc.
"Your skin and hair will still get wet, but your clothes themselves stay perfectly dry."
Marc's eyes widened dramatically.
"Woaaaa.."
He immediately looked toward the lake.
"So I can just jump in now?!"
Juro nodded.
Marc instantly backed up a few steps before sprinting forward and jumping into the lake.
SPLOOSH!
The water splashed everywhere.
A few seconds later, Marc resurfaced while touching his shirt in disbelief.
"WOAAAHHHH!"
"My clothes are actually dry!!!"
Juro laughed loudly before jumping into the lake himself.
Soon both Marc and Juro were swimming around while laughing in the water.
Meanwhile Bell remained sitting near the shore while quietly watching them.
Marc eventually looked back toward him.
"Cmon, Bell! Join us!"
Bell awkwardly laughed before waving one hand dismissively.
"Hahaha… it's fine."
"I prefer staying dry."
Marc simply smiled.
"Okay!"