69. The Mulren Tribe (3)
69. The Mulren Tribe (3)
Two weeks.
Two weeks had passed since Yuma's party set foot in the territory of the Mulren tribe.
Yuma hadn't had much to do.
Considering he'd come here for work, it felt like the first time in a very long while that he could completely clear his head and get some real rest.
It might have been because Melkus, the terrestrial fruit the Mulren tribe ate, suited his palate better than expected.
Yuma spent most of his days wandering around the island.
Because Tisha, the daughter of the Mulren King, and Cloné were always practicing magic out on the sea.
And in the clearing near the back mountain, Bel was always training in close-quarters brawling techniques.
Hestia, with her sky-high sociability, had already become so close with the Mulren people that they were on friendly, brother-sister terms.
Yuma felt time flying by just watching them from a step away.
Yuma watched Bel, who was engaged in a close-combat spar with Tornos, a high-ranking warrior of the Mulren tribe.
Chwaaak!
The two warriors' arms crossed fiercely.
The fist of Tornos of the green-skinned Fishmen Tribe clashed with Bel's fist.
Jjeok-
Crushed atmosphere.
Shockwaves scattered thickly.
After a single direct hit.
Their arms crossed countless times. A murderous fist wind grazed their faces. The brawl continued.
A blue battle aura overflowed across Bel's entire body.
A red battle aura also flowed across Tornos's green body.
This wasn't the first time they'd sparred while operating their battle aura. From the start, Tornos, being a Fishmen, possessed a superior physique, and to fully match that, Bel had no choice but to rely on battle aura.
Bel had thus been learning, in a short time, how to handle the Fishmen Tribe.
Next, Yuma turned his attention to Cloné, who was out at sea.
Cloné's right hand, holding a dark-colored staff, rose simultaneously with the right hand of Tisha, the sky-blue-skinned fishman.
Tisha looked at Cloné.
'I guess it's impossible after all.'
For two weeks, Tisha had observed Cloné's magic, which showed little sign of improvement.
To even call it 'little improvement' was a stretch.
Of course, because it was a nearly impossible task.
Leaving an existing mana circuit intact while trying to pioneer a new one and make it usable in a short time was nearly impossible.
The Mulren tribe's mana operation method used circuits that were fundamentally different from those used by human mages.
'A mana circuit designed from the start for the bodies of the Fishmen Tribe.'
The mana operation method itself was incompatible with the human body.
Even after being told that fact, Cloné hadn't given up on engraving the <Mulrene>—the unique mana operation method of the Mulren tribe—within her body.
Next to the golden mana circuit created by <Akarne>, the high-level mana cultivation art Cloné had originally mastered.
A single strand of an ultramarine-blue mana circuit was forging a path.
And she had been continuously polishing it for two weeks.
A golden mana current flowed through the magic staff Cloné held.
Tisha looked at the surface of the sea, where Cloné was submerged more than halfway up her waist.
The sea remained still.
'A failure again this time?'
Tisha stared at that sea with a stiff face.
It was a moment later.
Chalrang...
A ripple arose on the previously still sea.
The circularly expanding wave didn't stop at just that anomaly.
Tududuk...
Water droplets rising from the sea.
Dozens of water droplets.
Cloné's golden eyes and Tisha's blue eyes both turned toward the droplets.
"Wah... It worked!"
Cloné's dazed expression brightened up brilliantly.
The water droplets were surging up.
And those droplets gathered, forming a stream of water.
A stream of water around which a clear, limpid light hovered.
The sea began to respond
to the spell formula of the <Ripple Spiral>.
Chwareureureuk─
The water stream drew a circle in front of Cloné.
The spiral-wrapped circle created a single shield barrier.
The veil was infinitely thin,
and though it was a degraded version, smaller in size, its form was unmistakably the Ripple Spiral.
A clear success.
"Ack...!"
However, the <Mulrene> mana circuit within Cloné was still far too narrow.
Cheolsseok-
The spiral shield that had bloomed from the sea seeped back into it.
"I did it!"
Cloné laughed brightly, a radiant smile on her face.
Tisha, watching Cloné smile so brightly, managed an awkward smile in return.
"Congratulations."
"I... should keep at it, right."
Cloné wiped her face, which was drenched in water, with her white hand.
Chalrang-
And then she began to slowly raise the water path again.
Tisha thought Cloné still didn't fully realize just how incredible what she had just done was.
To have completely constructed the <Mulrene> mana circuit, which was akin to the inherent authority of the Fishmen Tribe.
If the great mage of Mulren who taught Tisha magic were to see it, they would be astonished.
"Well done."
Cloné turned her head at the familiar voice she heard beside her.
Yuma was standing there.
"Lord Yuma!"
Cloné smiled brightly and approached Yuma.
"I saw it just now. You drew water from the sea and created a shield."
Yuma took the hand of the purely delighted Cloné and led her out from the sea onto land.
The water had risen to around her knees, but he paid it no mind. They were wearing shorts anyway.
Yuma wiped the moisture covering Cloné's head and face with the towel he was holding, then handed the cloth to Cloné. Meaning she should wipe the rest herself.
"Training is fine, but you have to eat while you're at it."
Cloné smiled bashfully.
"Yes."
And she accepted the towel Yuma held out and climbed up onto the island.
Chwaak-
Cloné disappeared above.
Tisha, who no longer had a reason to be in the sea, also slowly gathered the water path and walked out onto the sandy beach.
Tisha's footprints were stamped into the sand.
"Lord Yuma."
Tisha's mystical voice seeped into Yuma's ear.
"Were you certain of it? That Cloné would pioneer the Mulren tribe's unique mana circuit."
Yuma tilted his head.
"Why do you think that?"
"Two weeks ago, when Cloné first challenged it, you seemed to believe in her."
"I had an intuition that she would succeed."
He had thought she would succeed someday.
Though he hadn't predicted it would take less than a month.
It was right after Yuma gave that answer.
Tisha opened her mouth again as if to ask something more, but she couldn't continue. Because a large, burly man came running, stamping his feet loudly.
"Lord Yuma! Tisha!"
Tisha narrowed her brow as she looked at the Fishmen Tribe man who came running, sweat pouring off him.
"What is it, Korger?"
"Those bastards. Those bastards have started encroaching on the Mulren tribe's coast!"
The servants of the Evil God.
The ones the warriors and mages of the Mulren tribe referred to as such had shown themselves after three weeks.
Following Korger's guidance, Yuma and Tisha moved to the main square of the Mulren tribe's island.
A war council was underway, centered around Yerkur, the king of the Mulren tribe.
Yerkur's yellow eyes stared straight at Yuma.
"You have come. Grand Duke Yuma."
Yuma nodded his head.
"If the enemy has appeared, isn't it simply a matter of departing right away?"
Yuma's long black coat flapped fiercely in the sea wind.
At Yuma's words, the gazes of about 50 muscular, giant Mulren warriors shot toward Yuma simultaneously.
Yerkur looked at Yuma and twisted the corner of his mouth.
"Indeed, God of War. Just as I heard, you have no fear of the battlefield."
Yerkur raised his giant frame.
"Knowing that this battlefield is not the land you trod, but the sea, and that you must fight upon that sea, you show no fear whatsoever. Truly remarkable."
Yuma thought to himself with a blank face.
'That's not quite it.'
He had actually been somewhat troubled by the point that they had to fight at sea.
He had merely been saying that sitting around having a desk discussion like this was meaningless.
"Very well, it is as the God of War Yuma says. The enemy has appeared, so we fight. That is all. Isn't that right, warriors of this Great Sea?"
The Mulren warriors shouted, pounding their respective weapons into the ground.
Kung─ Kung─!
The spear shafts ruthlessly stamped the sand.
"You are correct! Our King!"
Those with blue bodies raised their weapons high.
A fierce, valiant atmosphere spread among the Mulren tribe.
"Prepare the Silvilia!"
"Everyone, to the battlefield!"
With a resounding battle cry, the warriors and mages of the Mulren tribe scattered in all directions.
To head to the battlefield.
***
Yuma's party was also preparing to head out to sea.
Of course, Tisha was doing most of the preparation, though.
"You must ride these Silvilia to go out to sea. You've been practicing since three days ago, so you'll be able to do it, right?"
Tisha stroked the back of one of the creatures.
It was a gigantic white seahorse.
Kkiruk- Kkiruruk-
The Silvilia let out a quite cute cry.
It was greeting Tisha, glad to see her.
The overall appearance of the Silvilia was exactly like a seahorse in the modern sea.
Of course, its size was comparable to a land horse, so it couldn't be called the same based on size alone.
And its white body was as hard as a turtle's shell.
Silvilia.
The transport and friend of the Mulren tribe.
Yuma sat on the saddle of the Silvilia and grasped the reins.
Just as when he had ridden the black warhorse in the war against Pyneton and when he had first ridden a Silvilia three days ago, Yuma felt little difficulty.
Kkirururuk...
The Silvilia Yuma had mounted let out a stable cry.
This was because his cool-headed personality trait and the <Nobility> trait contributed greatly to taming mounts.
Cloné, who had spent most of the two weeks at sea, had effectively already become close with her Silvilia over the course of a week.
On the other hand, Bel and Hestia were quite flustered.
"You're a good... good boy, right?"
Bel laughed and stroked the smooth head of the seahorse.
But the Silvilia just went 'pureureu-' and slowly shook its head, along with its long snout.
Bel concluded she would need a bit deeper bond with the Silvilia.
And next to Bel was Hestia.
"Let's go!"
She was the type who believed that once they entered actual combat, the bond would form automatically.
Hestia lightly tapped the Silvilia's body with her right foot.
A signal to depart.
And according to that signal, the Silvilia Hestia had mounted started moving.
Chwajwaaaaak!!
But the speed was far faster than expected.
The Silvilia cut through the water and charged fiercely forward.
"Uwaaah!"
Hestia held the reins and barely pressed her flailing body back against the Silvilia.
In her panic, her perennially perked crimson ears drooped down.
"Heuuuk... hek."
Tisha chuckled.
"Shall we all depart now?"
Everyone in Yuma's party nodded.
The countless Mulren warriors who were already advancing far ahead.
The five followed behind them, advancing onward.