After the mountain fire completely died out, Roland shook the leaves and ash off his body, then walked back to Red Mountain Town.
He was very slow, because he was out of magic power. The regeneration effect provided by his equipment was not very obvious. Without magic power, he seemed much weaker.
When he returned to the bridge at the entrance of the village, he was greeted by Falken as well as a bunch of villagers.
Seeing that he was back, the villagers hailed him and asked if he was fine.
Falken reached him and cast Language Proficiency at him. Then he said with a smile, "It was quite a commotion that you caused."
Roland turned around, only to discover a black spot on the green hill in the distance. It was as eye-catching as a bald spot on a beautiful girl's head.
Roland shrugged and smiled awkwardly.
"How did it turn out?"
The other villagers looked at him hopefully. Everybody in Red Mountain Town loathed the giant spiders and hoped that someone could kill them.
"It was my first battle. I was too nervous and inexperienced, and I used too much strength," said Roland in embarrassment. "I only killed one giant spider."
After a brief silence, the villagers cheered. They hated the spiders' guts, but there was little they could do.
A few friendly villagers approached Roland and patted Roland's shoulder, inviting him to visit their houses.
Roland declined their offers politely, knowing that it was only their gesture of kindness.
The villagers dispersed, and Falken and Roland were left alone on the bridge.
The sun was setting at this moment. When the crimson sun was reflected in the lake and the waves surged, the lake seemed to be burning. It was rather beautiful.
Looking at him, Falken suddenly said, "You seem to have changed."
"Is it so obvious?" Roland was slightly surprised. He leaned on the rail and said slowly while gazing at the hills in the distance, "I just remembered my dream, or rather, what I looked forward to in the past. I thought it was an ungrounded fantasy that had been broken by reality. However, it was revived and occurred to me all over again."
Falkan noticed a strange light in Roland's eyes, barely visible but which gave off a feeling of brightness.
Once upon a time, Falken had such light in his own eyes, too.
"So, have you changed your plans?" asked Falken.
Roland shook his head. "No. I'm still going to travel and roam around."
Roland's tone was rather unfathomable thanks to the breeze from the lake.
Falken was slightly stunned. Roland's answer was the same, except that he said it with a gentler tone this time.
Yet, Falken heard determination in it.
Previously, Roland's answer was passive, as if he was forced to do it.
But right now, he sounded as if he had found a goal for himself.
Why did the same reply feel so different?
Dazed, Falken shook his head helplessly. He remembered a lot of things. He was equally ambitious when he was young.
Roland took out the staff and gave it to him. "This is yours. It was a great help."
"It's a gift for you." Falken turned around and walked away while he said casually, "If you think you owe me a favor, kill a few more giant spiders."
This should be a quest, but why isn't there any notification? thought Roland as he looked at Falken's back.
He returned to his cottage. After eating some of the bread he bought from Lake View Tavern, he studied the mathematical models of the new spells again.
Time flew when he was occupied. It seemed that only a moment had passed, but Roland was already ejected from the game.
After he left the game cabin, he copied the video of his battle against the giant spider and uploaded it to the forum.
Then, he wrote:
"Maybe Mages cannot cast a spell as easily as Warlocks can, or level up as conveniently as Priests, but Mages have their own advantages. We can analyze spells, modify them, and thereby create new spells. I've never raided in the game until yesterday, and I used full power in this vivid environment. It's just the derivative spell of level-one Inferior Fireball, but it's already so powerful. What about the spells of second rings or better? What if our levels are higher? Personally speaking, I think that although Mages are weak at the beginning, they will definitely dominate all spellcasters in the future."
After writing that, he posted his thread.
Soon, someone replied to it.
More and more replies were posted. After he refreshed the thread, there were already twenty replies.
"You said that you were not a crazy bomber?"
"This is unbelievable. How did you extract all your magic power and focus it on one spell? I am a Mage, too, but I can only deploy about 30% of my magic power."
"Uncle Sam suspects that you own weapons of mass destruction. Please go with the FBI agents."
"This is unfair. I'm a LV2 Warlock, and my Inferior Fireball can only penetrate through a seedling. By logic, the magic damage of Warlocks should be much higher than that of Mages of the same level."
"I'll delete my character and join as a Mage. The sound and visual effects of this explosion are exciting."
"Roland, do you need fans who adore you? I'll friend you…"
"Go away. You are not a real fan…"
Roland shook his head helplessly as the replies deviated from the subject.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed. He accepted the call, and his friend Schuck's voice came over.
"Bro, come to my place. My cousin has joined the game, too. According to his description, he seems to have been born somewhere near Red Mountain Town."
"All right, I'm on my way."
Roland hung up the phone and rode his bike to the cold drink bar. In their booth, he saw a young man who was around eighteen and looked somewhat similar to Schuck.
Lying on the sofa in a great mood, Schuck introduced, "This is my cousin, Betta. He has been studying hard since elementary school. My uncle never allowed him to play games, but now that the College Entrance Exam is over, he is set free."
"Brother Roland, hello."
Betta greeted Roland with a smile.