Fwip!

“These bastards…!”

Aestrea clenched the hilt of his sword.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, ready for whatever came next.

With a quick jump back, he barely avoided the swipe of a vine— Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

But another one shot out from behind him.

Instinctively, he twisted his body, using a Fosbury flop move to dodge the attack.

He landed hard on the ground, and then his eyes glowed intensely.

“Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art…”

He bent down his body…

『 Third Move! (✦ Moonlight’s One Flash ✦) 』

FWOOP!

In the blink of an eye, he vanished into thin air.

Then—

SPLURT!

“GURAARGGHHH!”

The three grotesque creatures let out a howl of pain as a deep, diagonal cut appeared across their rotten chests.

Aestrea’s eyes lit up.

“A solid hit!”

Snap!

『 Bleed 』

SPLURT!

The wound deepened, tearing open as blood sprayed out in a violent gush, splattering the ground.

“GRAAGH!”

One of the creatures shrieked, stumbling backward as the blood flowed freely.

However, Aestrea knew that this wasn’t enough, he needed to have a solid hit on their heads to kill them.

His mana output had already increased from two to seven since he began this battle, but pushing further would be too dangerous.

So, he needed to make it quick.

“Fuuu…”

He exhaled sharply, a faint mist of ice rising from his body as he extended his right hand toward the creatures.

『 Ice Series: Soaring Ice Phoenix! (✦ 7th-Level Spell ✦)』

The mist swirled around his hand, forming the outline of a majestic, ice-blue phoenix. Aestrea’s mana drained rapidly as he channeled everything into the spell.

“Fuuu…” he exhaled again, smoke swirling from his mouth.

“Release.”

KRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

Fwoop!

The phoenix screeched as it shot forward, its wings flapping wildly, freezing everything in its path.

The moment it reached the creatures, the phoenix’s eyes blazed bright blue, and it opened its mouth in a chilling cry.

KRIII!

CHILL!

BAAAM!

The phoenix collided with the creatures, creating a massive silver-blue explosion that froze everything in a two hundred meter radius.

“Agh…”

Aestrea staggered, almost collapsing as the spell drained him.

He clutched his right arm tightly, his breathing heavy.

“Don’t tell me…”

『Judgement Eye (✦ S+ Level Skill ✦)』

His gaze shifted to his arm, and his face twisted in frustration.

“Gosh…” he muttered, glancing up at the sky as he bit his lip in anger.

He had ruptured one of his mana pathways again.

Sizzzlee!

“…More monsters?”

Aestrea quickly adjusted himself, jumping back in wariness.

But to his surprise…

“AESTREA!”

It was Ella and Lucas.

They were both covered in layers of ice.

“Are you alright?” Ella inquired, looking at his body with a worried expression.

Aestrea’s face twitched at the concern, but he quickly exhaled, forcing himself to calm down.

“Yeah… just a bit of damage to my right arm,” he replied calmly.

At that moment, Ella’s eyes immediately snapped to his right arm, noticing the faint leak of mana trickling out.

“Just a bit?! You ruptured one of your mana pathways again?! Didn’t that already happen once? If you rupture it again, you might lose that arm’s mana forever!” she scolded, her voice rising in panic.

“…Thanks for worrying. But I know my limits.”

‘…I’ll need to visit Christina later. Only she could potentially heal my arm.’ Aestrea added inwardly.

By saying, “I know my limits”, he was indirectly saying that he needed to go visit his personal healer.

“By the way… where are the others?” Aestrea asked, changing the topic.

“Oh, we found Ethan along the way,” Lucas answered, his eyes scanning the horizon. “He was badly hurt, so we left Maya and Iris to look after him.”

“Ah. I almost forgot about him.” Aestrea cracked his neck, swinging his sword into his left hand with a smooth motion.

Seeing this, Lucas raised an eyebrow.

“Are you ambidextrous? You handle that sword like it’s your main hand,” he asked, watching the effortless control Aestrea had with his left.

“Not really…” Aestrea frowned for a moment, thinking. “I just train using both hands, in case I lose one.”

As soon as he said that, the atmosphere around them froze.

Ella’s voice shot out like a whip.

“Is that why you don’t care if one of your mana pathways is ruptured?!” Her words were laced with frustration, barely held back.

Aestrea paused upon hearing her words, turning to her.

“No, I do care. But in a fight like this, stuff like this happens. That’s why I prepare for it.”

Ella’s anger simmered for a moment before Lucas nodded, understanding where Aestrea was coming from.

“Right,” Lucas said quietly.

Ella’s breath slowed, and she softened.

“Fine,” she muttered.

“Let’s go find the others. We’ve got a group assignment to finish,” Aestrea said, turning on his heel, heading back toward where they’d come from.

Hearing that, both Lucas and Ella’s faces twitched.

‘Weren’t you the one who ran off first?’

They both grumbled inwardly but said nothing out loud.

—

It didn’t take a lot of time to reach them.

“We’re back!”

Lucas shouted.

And immediately, two heads snapped towards him.

“Finally!” Maya jumped up from her spot, a big grin on her face.

“Ugh, I was getting tired of waiting…” Iris sighed, dropping her shoulders in relief.

But then, her eyes widened as she noticed Aestrea behind them.

“You guys found Aestrea?” she asked, unable to hide her surprise.

“Yup. He was indeed in the place where there were more monsters.” Lucas couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head.

“Pfff…!”

Maya snorted, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh.

Iris, though, just shook her head, trying not to laugh herself.

“Where’s Rose?” Aestrea asked surprisingly.

“Rose…? Oh, I think she’s by the river,” Iris thought for a second, pointing off in the distance.

“I see…”

Aestrea nodded before heading in that direction.

“Ooooohh… is he going to make a move?” Maya couldn’t help but whisper to Iris, her eyes lighting up.

“Probably—Wait! Weren’t you cheering for our princess? What happened to that?!” Iris raised an eyebrow at Maya, clearly teasing her.

“…Was I?” Maya blinked, suddenly unsure.

“Yeah.”

“I forgot.”

“You’re so freaking stupid,” Iris groaned, slapping her forehead.

“Hehe,” Maya chuckled, clearly enjoying teasing Iris right back.

Lucas watched their interaction, frowning slightly but a smile tugging at his lips.

“Where’s Ethan?” he asked, his voice shifting to something more serious.

“Oh! He’s over there, healing himself.” Iris pointed, and Lucas followed her gesture to see Ethan resting against a tree, sipping a potion.

“That’s good.”

Lucas nodded.

Meanwhile…

The soft rush of water was the first thing Aestrea heard when he reached the riverside.

His boots crunched softly against the wet ground as he walked closer, his eyes searching the area.

And then, there she was.

He saw Rose.

Rose, sitting by the water’s edge, her velvet red hair loose and flowing down her back. The sunlight hit it just right, making it seem like it was glowing.

She was carefully washing her hair, the strands twisting gently under her fingers, but the curls were gone.

Instead, it hung straight and flat, dripping water down her back in steady streams.

“Mhm… this…” Rose muttered to herself, sounding distracted as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Her gaze remained fixed on the water, completely unaware of Aestrea approaching.

Tsss!

She squeezed the water from her hair, the droplets splashing on the ground.

‘Pfff…’

Aestrea couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

He stepped closer, his footsteps light, but it was hard to go unnoticed.

The moment he was close enough, Aestrea reached out, gently grabbing her hair.

“Ah! Who—”

Sniff…!

Rose stopped mid-sentence, sniffing the air as if something familiar caught her attention.

Her voice trailed off, and a soft frown crossed her face as she slowly turned her head toward him.

“…Aestrea…” she whispered quietly

He blinked, taken off guard.

“Oh? How did you know it was me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, genuinely curious.

Rose shifted her gaze down for a moment, clearly embarrassed.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and mumbled:

“…You’re the only one who would actually dare to do something like that.”

Aestrea laughed at her words.

“Haha… that does sound like me,” he smiled as he released her hair, watching her face turn even more red.

She crossed her arms, still blushing, but he could see the faint curve of a smile tugging at her lips.

Without saying anything, Aestrea conjured a comb made of mana.

The faint glow of blue light reflected off the water as he gently worked the comb through her hair, untangling the wet strands.

His fingers moved carefully, as if he didn’t want to upset her but still needed to adjust her hair just right.

Rose tilted her head slightly to the side, her eyes half-lidded, obviously trying to keep her cool despite the situation.

“Don’t act like you’re doing me a favor,” she muttered, her voice light but with a hint of annoyance.

“Oh, I’m not.” Aestrea grinned, his fingers still working through the strands.

“I’m just trying to help you out. Don’t want you to look like a wild animal, do I?”

Her eyes flicked to him, narrowing in playfulness.

“I look fine.”

“Sure, sure,” he teased, running the comb through her hair again.

“But a little help never hurt anyone, right?”

“Right,” she grumbled.

Despite her reaction, Aestrea could tell she didn’t mind the attention, even if she tried to act like it.

After a moment, he used a little more of his mana, his fingers pulling at the strands and gathering them into a messy ponytail.

A faint shimmer of magic surrounded his hands, as he worked to make the ponytail tight enough to stay but not so tight it would cause discomfort.

“Here,” he said, giving her a satisfied look as he finished the job.

“All done.”

Rose reached up, her fingers running through the ponytail he’d made, checking the feel of it. She seemed satisfied with the result, but her face still carried a hint of her usual indifference.

“Not bad,” she muttered, still trying to act cool but failing slightly with the blush on her face.

Aestrea leaned back slightly, watching her reaction.

“I knew you’d like it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rose muttered, brushing her hair back with a wave of her hand.

“I’m not the type to care about these things.”

“Sure,” he said, smirking.

“That’s why you’ve been standing here for who knows how much time trying to make sure every strand is perfect, right?”

Rose blinked, her expression faltering for a second before she crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I wasn’t trying to make it perfect,” she shot back, though there was an edge of uncertainty in her voice.

“Right…pfft!”

Aestrea laughed, not buying it for a second.

“Tsk…”

Rose clicked her tongue, turning her face away from him.

However…

In the distance, Ella’s eyes were completely locked on the scene before her, her fists clenched so tightly that blood dripped down her palms.

She bit her lip hard, her aquamarine eyes trembling with fury.

She couldn’t hear anything from where she stood, but the sight of them—Aestrea and Rose, standing so close—sent a spike of rage shooting through her chest.

The fire in her eyes flared up uncontrollably.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep