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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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“Hmph!”
In the game, the warrior served as both a tank and a melee damage dealer. While their tanking ability was inferior to that of a knight, their various crowd control skills, like Sword Wind, their taunting shouts, and defensive skills like Stone Skin, allowed them to be even better tanks than knights, depending on the player’s skill.
As a veteran player, and now accustomed to this world, I could easily fill the warrior’s role.
Even without my ultimate skill.
“Muscle!!”
I used Sword Wind to keep an Ice Elemental at bay, then slammed Moonlight into the ground and struck a pose.
Muscle Barrier, a skill befitting the muscle-worshipping warrior concept.
“Haah! Hah! Haaah!”
The three poses created three barriers. An Ice Wolf, charging at me, was sent flying back. The Ice Elemental’s ice bullets shattered the first two barriers, but failed to break the last one.
“Let the light settle here!!”
While I drew aggro and absorbed the enemies’ attacks, Veronica’s attack struck the Ice Elemental. The Ice Elemental, struck by a spear of holy light, shrieked and recoiled.
“Fire Field!!”
Flames engulfed the clustered enemies.
Oh, that was an advanced spell. It seemed Lucille had a talent for fire magic.
“Haah… haah… haah…”
Was it because she had pushed herself to use an advanced spell, despite being at an intermediate level? Lucille, her face pale, collapsed as the enemies melted away.
She seemed to be out of magic. After confirming there were no more enemies with my Enemy Detection skill, I said to Veronica,
“Let’s rest.”
“Already?”
In the game, fighting increased your stress. And managing your mental and physical health was essential.
Of course, high-level characters could just chug potions and power through a dungeon without resting.
Veronica and I were experienced enough to handle the dungeon without any problems, but Lucille was still a novice, so we had to accommodate her.
“Tsk.”
Veronica clicked her tongue, seemingly annoyed that Lucille was holding us back. But she didn’t argue, so we were able to rest for a while.
“I- I’m fine…”
“There’s no need to push yourself.”
We were in this dungeon to improve Lucille’s skills. If she pushed herself too hard and ended up getting knocked out, or worse, it would defeat the purpose.
I placed a hand on Lucille’s head.
“Let’s see…”
“What are you doing?”
“Mana Transfer.”
Mana Transfer, an alchemist skill, was the only skill in the game that could restore mana.
Of course, I could have given her a mana potion, but those increased your stress, so this was better for a novice.
“B- But, Tutor…”
“I’m fine.”
As a Sage, my stats were higher than those of other characters, but I still had my limits.
Lucille seemed surprised that I was willing to share my mana.
“Just stay still.”
I placed my hand on Lucille’s head and used the skill. As I stroked her soft, silky hair, mana flowed into her. The color returned to her cheeks, and…
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…No reason.”
Veronica narrowed her eyes, her expression dissatisfied.
“Are you low on mana too?”
If the healer was low on mana, I had to help.
There was nothing more important than taking care of the healer in a dungeon.
“T- Tutor?!”
“Yes?”
“What are you drinking…?”
“Ah, this?”
I showed her the glowing blue potion I had pulled from my bag.
“It’s a mana potion.”
I uncorked it and downed the blue liquid. The horrific taste made my tongue curl, and a wave of pain, a side effect of the mana restoration, shot through my body.
“H- Hyun-woo?!”
“Guh…”
But I was used to this kind of pain.
My mental fortitude and stress resistance had probably increased quite a bit, but this was nothing.
“Phew… alright.”
“N- No, you’re not alright!!”
“Tutor! Are you okay?!”
As I recovered from the side effects of the mana potion, the two of them rushed to my side, their voices filled with alarm.
Of course, I was fine.
“Alright, Veronica, it’s your turn for a Mana Trans—”
“A- Are you alright?!”
It was much worse when we were fighting the Demon King.
And the penalty for drinking a mana potion was a small price to pay to avoid failure.
“…How… how bad was it…? Tutor…?”
“…I heard it was quite severe… the journey to defeat the Demon King.”
At Veronica’s words, Lucille looked at me, stunned, then lowered her head.
“I’m… sorry.”
“Yes?”
“Because… because I’m not good enough… If I were better at ice magic… you wouldn’t have to suffer like this, Tutor.”
“Your Highness.”
I smiled at her dejected expression.
“A student is supposed to rely on their teacher until they’ve grown.”
“B- But.”
“If you grow as a mage, a princess, and as my student… nothing would make me happier.”
“But…”
“That’s all I want.”
Yes, that was all I wanted from Lucille. To grow properly and help me achieve the S-Rank Tutor achievement.
I took Lucille’s hand and spoke earnestly. She stared at me, then gave a small nod.
“I’ll work hard.”
“Good.”
This should speed up her growth. Seeing Lucille’s renewed resolve, I turned to Veronica.
“Hey, mana…”
“…I don’t need it. I can recover my mana on my own.”
“Don’t be stubborn, just take it.”
I placed a hand on Veronica’s head. She raised a hand to push me away, but I caught it.
“Ah.”
Her white hand in mine, my other hand stroking her silver hair. She bit her lip, her face flushing, and finally, she quietly accepted my mana. After transferring a sufficient amount, I picked up Moonlight.
“You’ve used quite a bit of mana too. Don’t hesitate to ask if you’re running low.”
“…..”
“…”
“Did you hear me?”
“Understood.”
“Yes…”
Good. This should be enough.
Since we were resting, we might as well eat. I pulled out the sandwiches I had made this morning.
I offered one to each of them. They accepted without a word and began to eat.
“I made these myself, so eat up.”
Eating delicious food temporarily boosted your stats.
The Ice Golem wasn’t a particularly strong enemy, but in this game, a single moment of carelessness could lead to a party wipe, so it was better to be prepared.
“During the Hero’s journey… did you… do all of this, Tutor?”
“More or less.”
“It must have been hard.”
“Haha. Compared to now, yes.”
Now that I had leveled up most of my skills, it was easier, but back then, it had been quite difficult.
Just thinking about how I had almost coughed up blood, trying to level up my skills and complete achievements while the Hero’s Party was progressing through the main storyline, made my head spin.
Compared to that, this was cute.
“I see… I’m your student, and yet… I still don’t know much about you.”
“Well, I know most things,”
Veronica interjected. Lucille stared at her. But Veronica, having finished her sandwich, simply smiled and gently took my hand.
“He did go through a lot. Listening to you talk about the old days reminds me of that time. The time we slept together.”
“Y- You slept together?!”
“Hehe. When the Sage was trying to increase his holy power… hehehehe.”
Her words were suggestive, but it wasn’t what it sounded like. I had been meditating before a holy statue to increase my holy power, and Veronica had stayed with me, eventually falling asleep.
But Lucille looked slightly annoyed, her expression sour as she looked back and forth between us.
“We did sleep together, but nothing happened. You were dozing off, and I was meditating.”
“Ugh, hey! Y- You didn’t have to say that…”
“Haaaaaah…”
“Alright, let’s go.”
I flicked Veronica on the forehead and stood up. Lucille, looking relieved, sighed. Veronica pouted.
“All that’s left is the Ice Golem. Let’s finish this quickly. The strategy is…”
“While Tutor holds it down, I attack, right?”
“Yes, exactly. Let’s go.”
Defeating the Ice Golem, the dungeon boss, wasn’t difficult.
I managed the aggro carefully and kept using the Warm spell. Veronica healed and skillfully dispatched the Ice Elementals the Ice Golem summoned.
And Lucille, using her mana efficiently, fought well. We defeated the Ice Golem without much trouble.
–Rumble!
The massive ice golem crumbled. On its remains, a glowing white, hexagonal ice crystal appeared.
That was the Eternal Ice, the quest item for the Church.
I placed it in the box I had received from the Church. As the dungeon clear reward chest appeared, I pushed Lucille forward.
“Yes?”
“Open it.”
“Uh… can I?”
“That’s what we came here for.”
At my permission, Lucille cautiously opened the chest. A white light from within the chest enveloped her.
“Inside… there’s only this.”
Inside the chest was a small bracelet. It enhanced the power of ice magic.
It wasn’t a particularly valuable item, so Lucille looked slightly disappointed, but that wasn’t what was important.
“Opening the chest is what’s important. It increases your affinity for ice magic.”
“I see…”
“Now, let’s go outside and try using some ice magic.”
A small door appeared at the end of the dungeon. We stepped through it and were teleported back to the entrance. The adventurers, who had been waiting for us, shouted,
“Hey! Sage!”
What was this? This wasn’t what I had expected.
The adventurers, whom I had thought would be lazing around, were on high alert, weapons drawn.
“That’s…”
Beautiful women with long ears.
Women who looked similar to Evangeline.
Elves.
At the head of the group, a beautiful woman with purple eyes, long ears, dark skin, and revealing armor strode towards me and said with an arrogant gaze,
“Are you the Sage?”
“And who might you be?”
“I am Lorelia, chieftain of the Lightwing tribe of the Elven Forest.”
The Lightwing tribe?
That was Evangeline’s tribe.
“So?”
“Sage, I have a proposal for you.”
“Proposal or not… honestly, I’d rather not get involved with elves.”
Most elves were arrogant and had a superiority complex. Dealing with them was a pain.
Look at her, this exhibitionist dark elf, about to speak her mind without even considering my reluctance…
“A plague is spreading in the Elven Forest. Sage, you who know all things, you must know how to cure it.”
“Of course, I do. Let’s go. Let’s go.”
I hadn’t expected the plague treatment event to trigger so soon.
This was also an achievement, so of course, I had to do it.
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