Disciple of Immortal

「P-Pomera… Pomera can’t move anymore. Pomera might not even be able to shoot a 《Fireball》… Pomera’s vision keeps going round and round since a while ago from nausea and fear…」

Pomera collapsed to the ground, gasped for breath.

Even though I was in charge of fending off all attacks aimed at the two of us, I let Pomera take the lead on attacking the higher leveled Dark Wolves.

Pomera’s magical power was completely exhausted.

Even though I’d given her a small batch of miracle drug beforehand, it had already been exhausted by the end of the battle.

Pomera dropped her large cane on the ground and covered her face with both hands.

「… Sorry, sorry, Kanata-san. The truth is, Pomera feels uncomfortable when she receives the miracle drug and various things from Kanata-san… now Pomera feels that Pomera is unsuited to become an adventurer. Pomera, Pomera never imagined that becoming an adventurer is so difficult. Pomera… Pomera’s confidence is…」

「Thank you for the hard work, Pomera-san! You gained six levels at once in the previous battle. Let’s do our best at this pace.」

When I struck her shoulder, Pomera raised her face to look at me.

I’d already taught Pomera about the existence of my 《Status Check》. She’d given me permission to check her status for the sake of training.

「C-Can Pomera… really persevere?」

「Yes, you’re amazing you know. In my case, my master prepared an unmoving golem to raise my level in the first phase. And yet… that alone was enough to exhaust me. That’s why I’m sure that you’re really happy when your level rose just like me.」

「E-Ehehehe… S-Somehow it’s embarrassing when you give such praise to Pomera.」

Pomera was blushing as she averted her gaze from mine.

「Ah… Sorry for missing your words a while ago… I was too excited at that time.」

Pomera’s expression stiffened the moment I spoke those words. But then, she smiled lightly and grasped her fallen cane and shut her lips tightly.

「No… it’s nothing. Pomera will persevere until the end! so… Pomera might be bother Kanata-san after this but… please take care of Pomera!」

Pomera spoke with renewed determination as she propped up her body using the cane.

I nodded in agreement as I heard her words.

「Yeah, leave it to me.」

Pomera staggered in her attempt to stand and fell back down on the spot. I caught her body right away before she could hit the ground.

「M-My apologies!」

I withdrew my hands from her body.

「D-Don’t worry, thank you very much. Sorry… M-My body feels listless…」

Yeah, it can’t be helped.

I took out another miracle drug from my magic pouch.

「Please drink this, Pomera-san.」

「Thank you… Kanata-san.」

「Let’s go closer to the vicinity of the forest after this. I think aiming for higher level opponent will raise Pomera-san’s leveling efficiency.」

Pomera blinked repeatedly before her line of sight moved to the miracle drug in my hand. Beads of sweat appeared on Pomera’s face.

「C-Could it be that… today is… ?」

「… Eh?」

I was at a loss upon hearing Pomera’s unexpected question.

「N-No, it’s nothing! Let’s continue the training! Pomera will keep up with Kanata-san!」

Pomera drank the miracle drug in one gulp.

「Uhm… if you’re tired, you can actually take a re-」

「Pomera is fine! she definitely won’t betray Kanata-san’s expectation!」

I-I see.

Lunaire was a lich and she had told me before the training that she was unfamiliar with mental fatigue. That’s why I thought that my standards for mental fatigue might’ve gotten a bit influenced by her, but I guess I have no choice but to continue if Pomera herself wants to.

Uhm.

After that, Pomera and I fought the Killer Bear that we met when picking up medicinal herbs.

The Killer Bear was a level 30 monster and designated as a C-rank monster. It was a four-armed beat with bluish-white fur.

At first, there was only one of them. But then, it suddenly called its comrade upon learning that it always got bombarded by Pomera’s magic while I kept fending off all of its attacks with 《Mana Argon》. And then the comrade that it called, called the next one and this kept repeating till I realized that we’d been besieged by seven Killer Bears so far.

Perhaps this guy was originally the kind of monster that we needed to defeat as soon as possible.

I parried all of their attacks with 《Mana Argon》 as I leapt in front of them.

「S-Spirit Magic, 3rd Rank《Sylph Sword》」

Green lights appeared around Pomera, forming a wind blade the cut one of the Killer Bears.

Pomera kept firing one magic after another with a trembling voice and tear-filled eyes.

「Spirit magic is hard to control since it borrows the spirit power to suppress the consumption of the user’s magical power. Calm yourself, otherwise, your magic won’t stabilize.」

「B-B-But… bu-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

Upon seeing that a Killer Bear’s attack was about to reach Pomera, I quickly moved in front of her and parried its attack with my shield.

The Killer Bear’s huge fingers were bent upon crashing against my shield and its huge frame retreated backwards upon the impact.

Welp, it seems I unintentionally used too much power to parry its attack there.

「Leave the defense to me. It’s okay, I won’t let any of their attack to reach you!」

「Y-Yes… I-I understand but…. but, but… HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!」

Three killer bears were rushing at once towards Pomera when she spun up a magic circle to activate her magic.

I pushed out my shield in front of us and blocked all of their attacks.

By the time we defeated those bears, the sun had almost set.

Pomera stood in her spot with an expression of someone on the verge of death with her hands still gripped her large cane tightly.

「You did it, Pomera-san! You’re level 22 right now!」

Pomera’s body crumbled to the ground when I called out to her.

「A-Are you alright, Pomera-san?」

「Kanata-san… today.. today training is…?」

「T-Today training has ended… Let’s go back to the city.」

「Right…」

Pomera’s lifeless face then broke into a smile that reached ear to ear.

「Oh no, miracle dru-」

「I-If possible, I don’t want to drink that anymore for today! Forgive me for being selfish but… I won’t drink that anymore unless during the training!」

Eyes wide open, Pomera’s hand moved at the speed of lightning and stopped my hand before I could take out the miracle drug.

「I-Is that so?」

I returned the miracle drug back into my magic bag.

As we walked back to the city, Pomera’s gait was rather unsteady.

「To be honest… Kanata-san’s training method is way too amazing(dreadful), Pomera is worried to death, wondering whether she can catch up with your pace or not. But… Pomera gained a bit more confidence after finishing today’s training. Pomera feels that she can persevere from now on. 」

Pomera told me so with a light smile on her face as she continued walking with an unsteady gait.

「Then let’s try to enter 《Distorted World of Curse Mirror》 after you’ve gained more levels.」

Pomera’s face stiffened upon hearing my words.

「I-Is it just me or… that mirror name sounds-like a dangerous name?」

「Though you might feel tired from its danger, it’s the best place to raise your level. Though your method for first leveling is different from the method that my master used on me, the second leveling method will be the same, 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》.」

Pomera stopped in her tracks, then crumbled to her knees immediately.

「P-Pomera-san?!」

「S-Sorry, Kanata-san, Pomera… Pomera is just a weak girl, afterall.」