Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Feeling the Growth (6)
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After that, the Nellis Party continued hunting Hughes Fog in all sorts of ways, making full use of Scarlet's magic.
Not only the new grimoire Kalt had bought her, but Scarlet was also employing attribute magics she'd only learned at the academy and rarely used in real combat.
"This time, it's this one!"
At first, it had just been an experiment, but once she tried it, she found it took down monsters far more easily than expected.
Before long, Scarlet was getting excited and having fun with it, even improvising combinations on the spot.
'Mixing lightning and fire attributes...!'
She carefully balanced the two highly destructive attributes so they wouldn't clash too badly, then unleashed it at the Hughes Fog.
A hybrid of Fireball and Lightning Bolt—her self-named Fire Bolt—struck the Hughes Fog.
Boom!
With a massive explosion, the Hughes Fog collapsed in a single hit.
"Whoa! Scarlet! What the heck was that!?"
"Huh? Th-this... Ahem! Just tried mixing some spells! No big deal for someone like me."
"That was an incredible amount of power."
Nellis and Aria weren't the only ones shocked.
"Scarlet, you said mixing... You don't mean you combined an existing lightning spell with a fire spell, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. But they're just basic spells, so no major backlash. Worth a shot."
"H-ha. Mixing spells from different attributes isn't that easy..."
As Kalt said, blending magics of different attributes was a feat no ordinary mage could pull off.
Any decent mage could cast two spells at once with practice, but fusing them into a new spell? That was the domain of true geniuses.
Even Ianna from the Mabel Party—who Kalt had fixed before—couldn't do it easily.
Kalt spoke to Scarlet with utter sincerity.
"That was truly impressive, Scarlet."
"...!"
Scarlet had always remembered every time Kalt praised her.
And this time, she could feel it was the most heartfelt praise he'd ever given her.
Not some cutesy "aww, good job" like to a kid, but genuine admiration.
Her face heated up.
The sudden rush of sincere praise brought joy and embarrassment in equal measure.
She desperately fought back the smile tugging at her lips and said,
"Wh-what's so impressive about this? Nellis was always like that, but you're making a huge fuss too!"
Nellis peered closely at Scarlet's face.
"Scarlet, your face is all red. You okay?"
"Shut up!"
"I was just worried!"
Once the request was complete and they had some free time, Kalt wandered the streets alone, mulling over his future plans.
'Today might finally be the day I take Aria's virginity.'
He'd already finished irrumatio with her.
They'd done 69 play, and he'd made her cum with his fingers multiple times.
Enough time had passed since that womb-fucking session with Angela that Kalt's lust was reaching its limit.
He could've held out longer with just handjobs or blowjobs, but after irrumatio and thrusting his hips full-throttle, it was inevitable.
Now that he knew how much better real sex felt, the desire for the real thing surged uncontrollably.
'Anyway, putting that aside.'
Kalt shifted his thoughts away from lust for the moment.
'They're all growing faster than I expected.'
The Nellis Party was keeping up even better than Kalt had initially predicted.
Take today's display from Scarlet, for example.
No matter how much you fixed someone's mental blocks, that just got them to the starting line with everyone else.
Actual growth from there depended on their own effort and talent.
And Scarlet had unleashed hers, fusing two basic spells into something rivaling mid-tier magic in power.
It wasn't just Scarlet, either.
Aria had bought a book on holy attacks yesterday and started studying it.
As a saintess candidate with a knack for holy offense, she'd master a new one in days.
And Nellis was growing impressively in Kalt's eyes too.
She followed his training without complaint, building strength and stamina. Even in light sparring, her proper form was becoming second nature.
With efficient movement ingrained, her sword strikes synergized with her growing power for even greater impact.
Above all, with her mental issues resolved, Nellis's Blessing was starting to shine.
The Barrier Blessing that earned her the title Indomitable Hero would function properly even against foes stronger than her.
They just weren't seeing it against poorly matched Hughes Fog right now.
'At her current level, Nellis could block B-rank monster attacks no problem.'
Not having to dodge or parry enemy attacks was a huge advantage in battle.
She could ignore incoming strikes and counter into their openings mid-swing.
As Nellis overcame her original flaws and her pure skill improved, her Blessing would only get stronger.
Kalt could easily picture her tanking hits from a monster with lethal power—enduring blow after blow while swinging her sword to finish it off.
'The day they'll truly have my back is coming sooner than I thought.'
This time, not with the stubborn headache Mabel, but with the obedient Nellis fighting side by side.
That thought made Kalt stop in his tracks.
"..."
The Mabel Party.
His old, ungrateful party that had exiled him.
Back then, he'd been so furious and shocked at being kicked out.
The betrayal burned deep, so he'd impulsively dispelled the hypnosis he'd cast on them and stormed off.
Looking back, he could've asked—under hypnosis—if there was some other reason they wanted him gone.
But he hadn't been that calm at the time.
Even reconsidering now, he had no regrets.
Just thinking of the Mabel Party still made his blood boil, and he didn't want to dwell on it.
'But I can't completely ignore their news.'
Love them or hate them, the Mabel Party was the most talked-about group around.
He'd hear about them whether he wanted to or not.
Besides...
'Even Mabel can't be that oblivious. She must've noticed by now. Or if not her, Ianna or Marti would've figured it out and told her.'
"..."
Kalt turned and headed for the guild.
Once inside, he went straight to the receptionist.
"Do you know where the Fastest Hero Mabel Party is right now?"
"The Fastest Hero Mabel Party?"
"Yeah, just curious where they're operating these days."
"The Mabel Party..."
The receptionist shared the most recent info she had on their location.
The Mabel Party's rising star status fueled rivalry among other hero parties.
At the same time, to reassure the public, the guild made a point of sharing promising parties' locations and real-time exploits.
And the place she named was the village with Nadia and Lunia.
'Figured they'd notice the issue and come looking for me.'
Kalt had started suspecting when he heard they'd stopped a C-rank monster flood in a dungeon.
Others might see it as the promising Mabel Party heroically resolving a crisis they couldn't ignore.
But not Kalt.
'What does that Mabel have to gain from grinding low-level trash monsters?'
Mabel preferred flashy kills—one big boss over hordes of small fry.
Still, it could've been her realizing their old issues were back and deliberately farming easy prey. So he wasn't certain.
But hearing they were in Nadia and Lunia's village sealed it.
The Mabel Party was looking for him.
'Obviously.'
Kalt figured dispelling the hypnosis wouldn't revert them fully to square one.
The hypnosis on them had been similar to what he'd done for the Nellis Party.
Not a forced fix, but guiding them to solutions with guaranteed results.
They could handle B-rank monsters fine, but A-ranks would trigger Mabel's issues hard. Prolonged B-rank fights would wear on them too.
Ianna couldn't cast beyond mid-tier spells, and Marti could handle scratches but not major wounds.
When they realized the problems were back, they'd panic and desperately search for the cause.
The inevitable conclusion?
'It has to be me.'
Problems recurred after Kalt left.
The only suspect was the guy who'd quit the party.
In fact...
'If they haven't figured that much out, they're beyond hopeless.'
The Mabel Party was hunting for Kalt.
But the Nellis Party wasn't famous enough for the guild to share their every move.
So the odds of them crossing paths specifically were low.
Meanwhile, Kalt could pinpoint the Mabel Party's location anytime.
But eventually, as the Nellis Party rose to fame, a clash was inevitable.
'Suffer all you want until then, you bitches.'
Kalt added avoiding the Mabel Party's routes to his future plans.