At that time, winter was almost here—estimated to arrive in about two weeks—but the cold atmosphere had already set in. It made me too lazy to go outside. I closed my bedroom window because the sunlight was too blinding.
Tok... tok... tok...
The sound of knocking disturbed my sleep. I thought it was probably the innkeeper telling me breakfast was ready.
"SORRY SIR, I'M NOT JOINING BREAKFAST!" I shouted, wanting to go back to sleep.
But the knocking continued, which made me annoyed. I got up and threw my pillow at the statue in the room. When I opened the door with a groggy face, there was Indradewi standing in front of me. I panicked and slammed the door shut.
"Why are you here so early?" I asked from behind the door, too embarrassed to face her.
Indradewi pushed the door open and entered forcefully while saying, "Did you forget what Mr. John told us last night? You're supposed to accompany me to buy supplies today. And look at your room—it's a complete mess and you're not even ready yet. Don't forget, we have to continue our journey later this afternoon."
I had forgotten all about going shopping with Indradewi. I quickly got ready while she cleaned up my messy room. We then went to a supply store to buy armor for Indradewi and some magic books she needed to further study magic. After that, we met up with Mr. John who was walking around, asking the locals about Mount Marverland. Since we were together, Indradewi and I joined him as we strolled through the village, enjoying the atmosphere while asking about the mountain.
After buying our gear and walking around, we returned to our rooms to prepare for the departure later that evening. We had agreed to meet at the front gate once we were ready.
I didn't pack much—just my sword and karambit as my weapons. After about half an hour, Indradewi arrived, but for some reason, Mr. John was taking forever to show up. I wondered what was keeping him.
"Indradewi, do you know where Mr. John went? He's taking so long."
"Just call me Dewi. If I knew, I would've gone after him already."
"Are you the type to fight using magic or a sword?"
"I prefer sword fighting. Magic only boosts my sword's attack power. I also prefer to kill silently."
"Oh, so magic can be channeled into weapons? I didn't know that."
"Curious? Want to try it?"
"Let's fight!"
"Sure."
"No problem for me. I've got some free time anyway."
We got into our fighting stances. As I took a deep breath, I dashed toward Dewi to attack. She quickly dodged. Then, she chanted a spell and her short sword turned blue, as if it had become water. Her attacks became incredibly fast—almost hitting me. I tried to deflect her blade, but it felt slippery, making it difficult to block.
Then, her sword changed again—this time into earth. The weight of her swings made it feel like I was fighting someone wielding a huge axe. But her moves became slower, making them easier to read. Just when I was about to strike her, she changed her sword once again. It turned green, and I was blown back by what felt like a strong gust of wind.
We were now standing 5 meters apart, and she launched a long-range slash. I sensed danger and dodged. The slash created a wind blast that cut in the direction of her swing. It was dangerous to keep our distance, so I closed in. Just as I suspected, her long-range attacks didn't work well at close range.
I launched my attack. Suddenly, she blocked it with a fire blade. This one was dangerous too. It wasn't as heavy as the earth sword but still strong, and it could send short-range slashes up to two meters away. I could only block every strike—completely overwhelmed by her barrage of attacks.
But I had one trick left. When I saw an opening, I kicked the hand holding her sword, knocking it away. Without wasting a moment, I went in to strike.
I stopped my sword just before it touched her neck. The fight had lasted about 15 minutes, and I was exhausted.
"You're not strong, but you're very clever," Dewi said with a smile, noticing I nearly grazed her throat.
I pulled back my sword and said, "An old man once told me that in battle, it's not the strongest who wins, but the smartest and most cunning."
We sat down to rest, both worn out from the fight.
"What kind of magic did you use on your sword just now?"
"I just added standard elemental magic to it."
"That was just standard?"
"Yeah."
"Dang, if that's standard, how the heck am I supposed to beat someone at an advanced level?"
"That's why you need to train more. If you fight someone with professional-level elemental sword magic, you could die in one strike."
"I mean, I won just now, so I should be good enough to fight an expert." I proudly showed off to Dewi.
"Hey, I was just testing you earlier. If I really wanted to kill you, I could've done it in one swing."
"Alright, alright. Hey, I wanted to ask—does the white magic your race uses count as elemental magic?"
"I'm not sure, but from what I've read in magic books, white magic is categorized as master-level magic."
"Can it be channeled into a weapon?"
"As far as I know, no. White magic is mainly for healing."
"So what's the difference between that and regular healing magic?"
"They're different. Normal healing magic can only heal light wounds and takes time. But white magic can heal wounds, cure any illness, and even remove curses or blessings."
Just as she finished explaining, Mr. John arrived holding a map.
"Sorry I'm late. I was looking for a map showing the location of the Nine-Petal Flower."
After that, we immediately began our journey to Marverland. As we walked, I kept thinking about white magic. Dewi's explanation gave me a bit of insight. If white magic is that powerful, then what about the dark magic used by the Dark Destroyer? It might be just as powerful—or even stronger.