The Path to the Empire

After chatting with Noel and parting ways, I came to an open space to verify the sensation I felt when defeating the monkey monster.

I stuck a wooden pole into the ground and reached out to grasp a glowing crystal from a short distance away.

The memory of defeating the monster... I remembered it clearly.

Focusing on the crystal, I felt something welling up from within my body.

The rising sensation naturally flowed toward the crystal.

Holding the crystal straight ahead, it began to glow, and strange patterns started to float in the air.

A high-frequency sound, sharper than burning, spread through the surroundings, and lines of light twisted wildly through space.

The same type of attack I had unleashed at the beast toward the wooden staff—lightning, unleashed with the same power as when I struck the beast.

The lightning instantly shattered the wooden staff completely.

A red geometric pattern is rising on the magic stone.

The pattern bursts out from the stone and spirals around the arm like a coil.

All strength drains from my body.

Stunned by the sheer impact, I stand frozen in place.

The light is a form of electricity—electricity can also be considered a form of light...

So, combining that sensation from before, I thought I could recreate it by imagining electricity flowing through me—but I never expected it to work so effortlessly.

Above all, the gemstone and the geometric pattern wrapped around the arm

"Magic."

Startled by the sudden overlap of voices, I turned around to find the captain there.

I can't help but feel uneasy seeing you come here. I followed you a bit longer. But magic—especially with this power... no wonder you were able to defeat the demon beast.

I didn't know I could use magic.

"No, I'm not saying we should eat it. I'm just curious."

When I tried to talk closely with the captain, dizziness struck me and I ended up sitting down. The captain was startled and rushed over.

"You're still not fully recovered from using that power. You shouldn't use it for a while."

"...Yes."

Several more days passed.

Everyone in the group quickly found out I could use magic, and I spent my days being bombarded with questions and overwhelmed by attention.

And soon, the day to leave this town arrived.

Looking back, so much had happened in such a short time. I would return someday. With a light heart, I passed through the town gate and stepped outside.

On the road toward the empire, there were many flat stretches, and I stayed still in the carriage, both carrying my belongings and recovering my strength.

Still, I was inevitably bored, so I decided to practice magic.

I’ve been investigating what kinds of things I can do since then.

The current focus is on how much we can reduce its power.

After trying various methods, I've come to realize this spell is difficult to use.

First, I can only unleash it at full strength up to five times per day; attempting more causes severe headaches.

Additionally, I can only roughly control its range, and it often scatters unpredictably toward other things.

Incidentally, I once accidentally hit Noël when she came too close without warning.

For a moment, I was numb. Then I got hit hard, and after that, I haven't heard a word from them in anger.

It's surprisingly difficult to use, in this way. That's why we're trying to reduce its output to make it easier to handle.

My casual experimentation with magic didn't last long.

"A wolf!"

Suddenly, a soldier guarding the group shouted. Hurrying outside, I clearly saw a dark shape approaching from afar.

The lookout was confirming it through a telescope.

"Twenty to thirty! It's a large group!"

"What's going on? We've never seen a swarm like this before."

"We can't escape. We have to intercept them."

"Intercepting that many? That's impossible!"

"Then what the hell do we do?!"

Individually weaker than the monsters, but far faster than humans and overwhelming in number.

It was more than enough to throw the group into chaos.

Yet, shouts of anger rang out among the group.

"Stay calm! Form up! Leave your belongings and block the path the wolves are coming from. Don’t scatter! Deal with them as one unit!"

The captain bellowed with his usual commanding voice. Instantly, the members began to act.

But will this actually work!? Can we really pull through!?

I desperately tried to think of something I could do. How could we possibly survive...?

Then, an idea struck me. I immediately turned to the captain.

"Alright, go ahead. This is our only chance."

With permission granted, I quickly got to work.

I scattered iron rods across the ground as far away from the caravan as possible, heading toward the direction of the wolves. The wolves were now just meters away.

"Idiot! Get back here already!"

Only after Noel's warning did I finally realize how close the wolves had gotten.

Despite my panic, I calmly cast the lightning spell as practiced.

Incidentally, the name "lightning magic" is one I made up myself.

The lightning bolt I unleashed shot across the ground, traveling along the poles and then spreading through the earth.

As soon as the wolves stepped on it, a sharp crackle echoed through the air

and the lightning surged from the ground into the wolves.

Some wolves collapsed, while others were paralyzed and convulsing.

I managed to render many of the wolves immobile.

The wolf that had been leading the charge was rendered immobile by the electric shock. However, due to inertia, the wolf's body didn't stop and collided straight into me.

The impact sent me flying backward, scraping my arm.

"Everyone. There are still living specimens. The rest is in your hands."

The members cheered and immediately sprang into action.

"Amazing—no way I thought you could do something like that. Are you alright? Your arm is bleeding."

"Yeah, it's just a scrape—I think it'll heal quickly."

The captain was surprised.

Continuing the explanation.

"I once read about a book describing how lightning that fell to the ground affected nearby animals by traveling through the earth. I thought I might be able to do something similar."

"Your magic might be worth far more than I expected."

After saying that, the captain headed toward the wolf to attend to the aftermath.

That night, the caravan advanced to their target location and came to a stop.

After finishing dinner and taking a break, Noel arrived.

Noel looked at me with a scowl and said,

"You're not strong. You just got lucky."

Then he walked away.

I couldn't help but feel his gaze had flickered—no, was he looking at my arm?

Staring in disbelief, a young combatant approached me,

"Once a new recruit arrives and becomes useful, he starts getting angry like this once a month. Well, it's only once a month, so you can cut him some slack."

Listening blankly to those words,

"Hey! You're hearing this, aren't you?" came a sudden shout.

From that day on, Noel's temper grew steadily worse.

Now, we were crossing a steep cliff littered with large rocks and gravel.

This world lacks proper road maintenance, so paths like this are common.

A cold, strong wind blew from below the cliff.

The leader muttered quietly, "It'll rain soon."

Everyone hurried to cross the cliff, but suddenly heavy rain began to fall.

The path turned muddy, and the wheels of the vehicle carrying supplies got stuck.

There was nothing that could be done at this point.

With multiple people wearing rain gear, they desperately pushed the cargo area from behind, inching forward along the cliff.

Noel, who was pushing the cargo area beside me, forcefully kicked the ground, causing it to collapse violently beneath him.

Noel fell.

I instinctively reached out and grabbed him, but humans are surprisingly heavy.

I was dragged down with him.