-1642- Truly pitiful

Legrue Corridor

Just as Leafa had previously described, there was absolutely no light here.

Darkness wrapped around everything, making it impossible to see anything or gauge any sense of distance, let alone travel through this environment. Moving forward in such conditions would be impossible.

Fortunately, in this world, there are not only all sorts of tools but also the power of magic.

"————≤·∑·⊥————"

In the dark cavern, as this incantation echoed, a light emerged from a slender hand, illuminating the surroundings just a bit.

"Phew." Leafa exhaled softly and said, "At least now we can see a little."

Leafa held up the light in her hand, speaking to Rozen behind her.

"Really?" Rozen commented indifferently, "Even with this magic, the range of visibility is still quite narrow."

The light emanating from Leafa's hand could only illuminate a few meters around them; beyond that, everything was still hidden in darkness, making them nearly as blind as before.

In other words, even with magic, it was only marginally better than holding a torch.

"Stop complaining." Leafa rolled her eyes and said, "Wind attribute magic isn't exactly suited for places like this."

Due to various characteristics among the races, while Sylphs can use wind-based magic for a wide range of purposes—offense, defense, illusion, support, or healing—its effectiveness tends to be moderate in each category, lacking in power compared to other elemental magics.

For example, in healing magic, Sylphs can only use intermediate-level healing spells, while Undines can wield higher-level ones.

In the same way, although Sylphs can use magic to light up their surroundings, the effect is minimal.

"In this terrain, only Spriggans, who excel at treasure-hunting and deceiving enemies, or Imps, who can fly and possess dark vision, can see everything clearly. Gnomes aren't too bad at it either, but Sylphs are only barely suited for it. If you're unsatisfied, you could always work on your magic skill."

Leafa explained with confidence.

However, learning magic is not just a matter of race; it also depends on the proficiency level of one's magical skills.

Although each race specializes in certain elemental magics, if their skill level is high enough, they can still learn magic from other elements.

With a high enough skill level, learning illusion, dark, or earth-based spells would be very helpful in this kind of environment.

Of course, as mentioned, there are limits to what each race can achieve with spells from other races' specialties, so excelling in another race's magic is almost impossible.

Besides, Rozen's other skills were nearly maxed out, yet his magic skill level was still quite low, allowing him to only cast basic wind spells and no other magic.

"That's pretty unfortunate."

Rozen sighed.

In the real world, by now, he would have learned every spell possible, right?

To be precise, it would be called "magecraft," as true "magic" refers to miracles beyond human capability, involving mysteries that cannot be achieved by mundane means. Even in Chaldea's world, there are only five "true magics," none of which Rozen knows; they are worlds apart from the magic of this world.

That said, with Rozen's mastery in magecraft, even the legendary magus wouldn't be able to match him.

Yet, here he was, once hailed as the "Mage King," now reduced to only using basic spells. Truly pitiful.

That said, this environment posed no real obstacle for Rozen.

With the extraordinary "Mind's Eye" skill, Rozen could sense his surroundings as if with sight, relying on sound waves, atmospheric currents, and data fluctuations. He wouldn't be limited by mere visibility.

If he could use "Heaven's Eye," it would be perfect.

Unfortunately, in this world, Rozen only retained "Mind's Eye" and the neural enhancement from the Virtual Ether.

"Maybe it's time to work on improving my magic skill."

Rozen thought as he walked ahead.

"Haven't you already memorized all the incantations? Then hurry up and level up your magic skill! It'll make a huge difference in your combat ability!"

Leafa caught up and scolded him.

"Yes, yes, I know."

Rozen waved his hand dismissively.

"What a response."

Leafa pouted.

The two continued bickering as they advanced, with the atmosphere remaining rather lighthearted.

Several times along the way, half-orc monsters, as Leafa had mentioned before, charged at them with roars, only to be easily dispatched by Rozen as he practiced his spells, gaining valuable magic experience in the process.

Until a certain moment...

"..."

Rozen suddenly stopped.

"Huh?"

Leafa paused in confusion.

At that very moment...

"————±·∧·∏·∈·⊥————"

Rozen swiftly turned around, extended his hand behind him, and chanted an incantation.

"Zing!"

Magic symbols appeared before Rozen, erupting into a burst of light and unleashing countless blades of wind, tearing through the back of the cavern.

"Boom boom boom boom...!"

The wind blades struck the cavern walls and floor, causing explosions.

One blade, however, produced a different sound.

"Splurt!"

Amid the ripping sound, a wind blade cut through a living creature.

It was a small animal resembling a bat.

Caught off guard, the bat was sliced in two, shattering into polygonal fragments.

Upon seeing this, Rozen hadn't yet reacted before Leafa noticed it and her face changed instantly.

"That's... an advanced fire-type familiar...?!"

Leafa gasped.

"A familiar?"

Rozen narrowed his eyes.

In this context, familiars are not like Saichou or Hanachou in Sword Art Online*l, which accompany players and fight alongside them as pets, but rather magical constructs used specifically for tracking and scouting.

Most races skilled in combat use this type of magic, creating magical creatures to locate prey and map out the terrain.

A fire-based familiar, of course, is a magical creature created by fire magic.

And this was not a low-level familiar, but an advanced one.

What does this imply?

"A player capable of advanced fire magic is tracking us?"

Exactly that.

And the only race capable of advanced fire magic is the Salamanders.

In other words, Rozen and Leafa had encountered Salamanders.

"Quick... let's run!"

Leafa immediately grabbed Rozen.

But Rozen shook his head.

"No, it's too late."

As his words fell...

"Boom boom boom boom boom...!"

Ahead of them, firelight erupted, and a barrage of fireballs shot toward the two, engulfing them.