Track 02. I Am Strange (Part 3)

Though it seemed calm now, the Siskiya Mountains were inherently dangerous. They silently agreed not to stray far from the campsite.  

‘Why does even the wind feel heavy here?’  

She thought a walk might cool her down, but it only made her feel hotter.  

‘Maybe I should’ve just stayed in my tent.’  

This was also a chance to practice controlling her mana without Kanin. Even if she retired as a mage, she would still have to live with her turbulent mana.  

‘Yes. This is a good opportunity, so I shouldn’t complain and just endure.’  

As she steeled herself, Kanin, who was following behind her, called out in a cool voice.  

“Vivi.”  

“Hmm?”  

She turned around. With the blazing red sun behind him, Kanin’s expression was obscured. He extended his arm toward her and held out his hand.  

“Give me your hand.”  

Vivian instinctively reached for it but clenched her fist midway. She shook her head firmly.  

“No.”  

Kanin remained silent for a moment at her refusal. But he didn’t withdraw his outstretched hand. In a strangely subdued voice, he asked again.  

“Are you planning to collapse from exhaustion?”  

It was a cruel temptation. She knew that holding his hand would free her from this desert-like torment.  

But that path was not one she could take while dragging an unrelated person along.  

‘Especially someone who plans to promise their life to another.’  

Vivian shook her head resolutely.  

“I’m practicing. Practicing living normally without you.”  

So don’t tempt me.  

She clasped her hands tightly together, silently thinking this. But Kanin, not understanding her resolve, tilted his head in confusion.  

“Why do you even need to practice that?”  

“T-that’s because…”  

The reason she needed such practice was entirely because of him.

‘I’d love to say it outright.’  

Vivian frowned. But she hesitated, fearing that Kanin might feel uncomfortable if she revealed she already knew something he hadn’t told her.  

‘Then I’d have to explain about the risqué message he sent me.’  

And that would lead to explaining why she hadn’t confronted him about it.  

‘Ugh! I can’t. I just can’t.’  

The thought of explaining the situation to Kanin made her face flush. As her body temperature rose again, Kanin’s eyes narrowed.  

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”  

“I-I…”  

Vivian hesitated. She felt a pang of resentment toward Kanin.  

For dating someone. For not telling her about it.  

For the fact that the always composed and clean Kanin could send such passionate messages.  

For the fact that she had found out so late.  

‘But how could I express these feelings?’  

The words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat, stubbornly demanding to be spoken. As she stared at him with a face on the verge of tears, she finally opened her mouth.

“Kanin, I…”

“Screeech!!”

The scream shattered the silence of the forest. Both Vivian and Kanin turned toward the direction of the sound.  

“What happened?”  

“It’s coming from the camp! Let’s go, quickly.”

The scream had come from the campsite. Vivian and Kanin hurriedly ran toward it.  

The campsite was in chaos. Kanin, with a tense expression, asked the Deputy Commander, who was directing the situation from a distance.

“What’s going on?”

There was no need to wait for an answer. A massive shadow cast itself over their heads.

It was a terrifying monster, smaller than a dragon but with less intelligence.

“It’s a wyvern!”

The enormous flying reptile spread its wings, covered in leathery membranes. Its spiked tail writhed menacingly.

“Cast your spells quickly!”

“Watch out for its tail! The spikes on its tail are venomous!”

Even though it was only one, it was incredibly threatening. Its yellow eyes scanned them.

“Magic Arrow!”

Blinding lightning formed into arrows and struck the creature. However, its thick hide wasn’t even scratched.

Although they expected it to counterattack and prepared defensive magic, the creature simply rolled its eyes without retaliating.

“What is that thing after?”

It was clear that it was searching for something. As everyone nervously watched the wyvern, it happened.

“Ahhh!”

Suddenly, the ground caved in. It happened right where Ain was standing. Her green hair fluttered as she fell straight down.

“Ain!”

The members screamed as they rushed toward her. At that moment, a massive slug-like monster emerged from the hole, writhing as it tightly grabbed Ain.

It was a Great Slime.

“Ahhh! Over here too!”

“My leg is stuck!”

Ain wasn’t the only one. With some delay, similar monsters appeared all over the place, capturing mages. Someone muttered nervously, sweating profusely.

“It was a distraction? Monsters can cooperate?”

“Who cares?! It’s happening right in front of us!”

It was clear that the wyvern had drawn their attention while the Great Slimes appeared.

“It’s going to dissolve and swallow whole!”

“Someone, attack it!”

Instead of teeth, the Great Slime dissolved its prey with its mucus before consuming them. It seemed to target mages to devour the mana flowing through their bodies.

‘Ain has an earth attribute!’

Looking closely, all the captured members had elemental attributes that would appeal to the Great Slime.

‘That means it won’t come for me.’

Fire-attributed mana was too destructive, and static monsters like the Great Slime would only be harmed by it. Vivi bit her lip tightly.

‘This might actually be a good thing.’

She needed to release the overwhelming mana inside her body at least once. She drew up her mana.

As she prepared to cast an area-wide spell, the swirling mana caused her hair to whip wildly around her.

“Fire Blast!!!”

A massive pillar of fire engulfed the area entirely.

Boom!!!

With an enormous sound, several Great Slimes were completely reduced to water and spilled onto the ground.

“Wow, as expected of Vivi.”

“Amazing firepower.”

Her companions clapped for her, but Vivi staggered after releasing such a large amount of mana.

Wobble.

‘Ah, I must’ve used up more mana than I expected.’

Earlier, she had already expended a significant amount of mana while searching for a mana hole.

‘I can’t collapse here.’

For a moment, her vision blurred, and afterimages made people appear doubled. Just as she shut her eyes tightly and shook her head,

Screeech!!

The sharp sound of something cutting through the air rang out. Before she could even open her eyes in surprise, her body was suddenly lifted into the air.

“Ahhh!”

It was none other than the wyvern!

‘Does it think I’m some kind of chicken or rabbit?!’

The wyvern had grabbed her with its talons and taken off, seeing her as an obstacle to the group.

As she tried to gather strength in her hands to cast a spell against the wyvern, something heavy gripped her hand tightly.

“Vivi!”

“Kanin!!”

Her eyes widened. The one holding her hand was none other than Kanin.

“Kanin, it’s dangerous!”

With the wyvern now carrying two adults, it began to shake violently. Kanin, his face unusually flustered, raised his free hand while gripping hers tightly.

“Wait!”

He was preparing to cast a spell to bring the wyvern down. However, the wyvern acted faster than Kanin could complete his magic.

“Graaaah!”

“Ahhh!!”

With a fierce roar, the wyvern swooped down toward an area lower than their campsite.

“At this rate, we’ll crash into the trees! Kanin, let go of my hand!”

But Kanin didn’t release her hand. Instead, he cast his spell.

“Ice Arrow!”

A sharp ice arrow struck the wyvern’s leg that was holding Vivi. The wyvern loosened its talons.

“Ahhh!”

“Vivi!”

As she fell through the air, Kanin grabbed her tightly with his strong arms. The two of them, now a single mass, were about to collide with the ground when—

Graaaah!

The wyvern roared ferociously, opening its jaws. From its sharp mouth came an immense blast of cold air, piercing through Kanin, who was holding Vivi.

* * *

She didn’t even know how they hit the ground. Maybe they rolled, or perhaps they got caught in a tree.

That wasn’t important now. Vivi patted Kanin’s shoulder, who was lying beside her.

“Kanin! Kanin, wake up!”

The moment her hand touched Kanin’s body, an icy chill, like touching frozen metal, seeped into her palm. Vivi bit her lip hard.

“Damn it, I didn’t expect to encounter an ice-attributed wyvern in the Siskiya Mountains.”

wyvern breaths could vary in type, but of all things, this one was ice. For Kanin, who was naturally cold due to his water attribute, it was the worst possible match.

“Kanin! Kanin, no! Wake up!”

No matter how much she shook him or held his hand, Kanin’s pale, blue lips didn’t regain their color.

“Damn it.”

It was clear that he had taken the Ice Breath directly.

‘If this keeps up, Kanin will freeze to death.’

There was only one way. Vivi cupped Kanin’s face in her hands and gently tilted his chin upward. His lips instinctively parted.

“I’m sorry.”

She apologized to Kanin’s unconscious self and to his unknown girlfriend. Then, closing her eyes, she pressed her lips to his.

Lick.

Her soft tongue cautiously slipped into Kanin’s mouth. A sharp chill surged through her.

‘It feels frozen.’

With her breath, she sent her mana flowing into Kanin’s body. Like a stream searching for a mana hole, her mana coursed inside him, circulating through his veins until it reached his heart—the center of his mana.

Even that was frozen solid.

‘What should I do?’

This wasn’t something that could be resolved with a single kiss. Vivi slowly pulled her lips away. Seeing his pale face, anxiety overtook her fear.

‘I didn’t want to go this far, but…’

At this moment, she was the only one who could save Kanin.

‘I have to do it.’

She unbuttoned the collar of her shirt and then unfastened the buttons of Kanin’s uniform.