The expedition was going smoothly - or at least a lot smoother than at the beginning.
However, it wasn't like obstacles ceased to exist.
The main problem was the lack of information about the monster Ace had to slay.
The more obscure monsters Tarkuazi brought up in hopes for triggering thereaction and got nothing, the more it looked as if Ace's monster slaying urge wasn't a quest but a wishful delusion, after all.
But then, in the tenth night of the journey proved to be a turning point.
Things started innocently, just like all the previous times their group set camp for the night.
Alas, as soon as the sun has set over the horizon and darkness befell the area mountainous area, the howls of monsters began to be heard.
And not just a few or a dozen, but what sounded like hundreds, if not even more.
Those with keen ears could even tell that it wasn't just canine-types either as there were cheers of various gobins and orcs too, maybe even something else.
Long story short, the kids were scared.
"...sh-should I cast another concealment barrier…?"
Tarkuazi, who was amongst the older ones amongst the reformed juvenile bandits, asked while trying her best to act bravely to show the other kids that everything was okay.
Still, desptiite her attempts to appear unphased, she couldn't stop herself from instinctively seeking the safety of Lazurii's figure.
"Good thinking, but it will not be necessary this time."
"...~"
The blue-haired young mna nodded his head and the girl blushed a bit feeling reassured already.
"Detect life."
Without wasting for the situation to progress on its own, Lazurii spoke an incantation, and a dome of bluish light expanded from his hand into a colossal size that seemed to encompass the entire mountain range and even some areas beyond it.
"Over or under a thousand?"
Ace trotted over to his blue-haired friend and asked with a tense expression.
"Over. Quite the arrangement of monsters, too… Say… when you were researching what kind of monster you have to kill, did you check ones corrupted by demons?"
"...demons? So deep within the continent…?!"
Lazuri breathed out and answered with an indifferent expression before raising his brow and inquiring, causing not Ace but Tarkuazi to let out a shocked gasp.
"I'll take it as a no. Ace. How does Demon-crowned Wolf Lord sound to you?"
Lazurii nodded with understanding before turning to his green-haired friend.
"...!"
The change in Ace was immediately visible even in the flickering light of the fire accompanied by the dim light of Lazurii's magic - the green-haired young man straightened his back, his mouth hung agape in a gasp of realization, and his eyes widened as if he experienced some divine enlightenment.
"I'll take it as a yes,"
Lazurii let out a cheeky scoff and raised one hand.
"That said, as you are now, your skills should be on par with it, but your level and, therefore, stats are not. Therefore I apologize for going back on my word, I will directly help you level up while you will do nothing. Magic link."
He added, opening his palm from which thin stands of pale blue light slithered out, connecting not only to Ace but to Tarkuazi and all the kids in the camp.
"L-Lazurii?! What is this?! How are you doing that?! It's a party link but for almost twenty people!? The limit is five!"
Tarkuazi gasped in confusion mixed with awe after realizing she could sense the HP and MP of everyone in the camp as if they were in a single adventuring party.
"It's so that Ace would not hate me for making him too strong without deserving it. Also, I was thinking about sending those kids their own way so it could be taken as my parting gift to them."
Lazuri answered her question, but his eyes were focused on the silent Ace clenching his fists.
"King Ace Adonis, I speak as a member of house Fenrioette. Think about it as the world returning the favor for always refusing to kill bandits and intelligent monsters that could be convinced to change their ways."
"!!!"
The blue-haired young man declared, and without waiting for an answer and without speaking the incantation out loud, he launched thousands upon thousands of magic missiles straight into the sky, creating a pillar of light visible from the settlements dozens of miles away while its glow was visible from hundreds.
With the light of the magic being so bright it turned the night into a bluish-hue day, no one could take their eyes off it.
Once reaching the height far above the cloud level, the missiles forming the pillar of light spread around like branches of some holy tree to then drop down in a flickering shape, imitating the drooping branches of the gigantic weeping willow.
It was hard to put into words. Anyone standing next to it had no other choice than to feel minuscule and utterly insignificant in the face of the spectacle that felt almost… divine.
"...!"
"...eh…?"
"L-level up?!"
Some kids that weren't paying attention to the exchange the trio had let out confused gasps and cries of shock while the man-made meteor-shower-like experience continued.
The howls and battle howls of monsters turned into yelps and dying cries, which honestly were even more terrifying, but only the silence of death caused Lazurii to cease his attack.
"Wh-what's the name of that spell…?"
Tarkuazi was the first one to speak after the night claimed the area once more.
"Hmm? You're saying you didn't recognize it? It was a basic magic missile. What else? Only in bulk."
"..."
Lazurii raised his brow and answered with a lighthearted shrug, which caused Tarkuazi to gulp down her saliva and close her mouth.
***
"....Nii, are you okay…?"
A bit in the back, a girl younger than Tarkuazi tugged on a freckled girl's sleeve and asked with concern, seeing her frozen in place and staring blankly at the blue-haired youngster.
"His MP… his mana… it… it feels like it didn't deplete at all… but… but how…? He was casting so many spells and… it cost him basically nothing…?"
Nii did break out of her state, but she was still so bewildered that she had trouble putting a proper sentence together.
She was one of the few people within their group who had some talent for magic. She could use magic missiles and even some healing magic that she learned for the sole purpose of helping their group, so she had gained a fair amount of understanding of how mana works—and that was exactly why she had such a hard time comprehending what had happened.