Noticing that Alsten and Genler had stopped, the rest of the group turned to them.
"What is it this time?" Lana asked, concern and dread written all over her beautiful face.
Sighing, Genler looked at them and then said:
"Alsten forgot magic."
Almost facepalming all at the same time, the archer, the giant and the beast looked at Alsten with horrified, and somewhat devastated expressions.
After Genler explained the situation, the five circled together.
"So, let me get this straight," Yobu said, massaging his temples.
"You forgot that you're a mage. Then that automatically means you forgot how to cast magic!"
Alsten smiled nervously.
'Oops...'
How could he have known he was a mage? Modern media and literature had always presented these powerful, walking nuclear bombs as either an extremely beautiful, delicate woman or a wise old man with a long, white beard. Alsten on the other hand, wasn't only a handsome young man, but his physical strength alone nullifies all the need for casting any magical spells! Not to mention that he was supposed to be the strongest magic caster in the world.
'Aren't I like... pretty OP?! This guy is nuts!'
No wonder they sent him instead of an entire army.
Suddenly, Genler put a hand on his shoulder, wearing a serious expression. The hero gulped.
"Tell me, Alsten. How much do you really remember?"
The wind suddenly grew cold and their piercing stare felt suffocating. He knew that it was an honest question from the old man, wanting to receive a fruitful answer. But Alsten couldn't help but interpret it as an attack to his hidden identity.
He opened his mouth and then forced some words. Carefully.
When lying, it is important to tell the truth as well.
"I only... remember the language... I think. Everything else, I forgot."
Genler pressed on.
"How about your childhood? The place you were born? Do you remember your parents?"
Alsten nervously shook his head.
Genler was silent for a few seconds, and then he removed his hand from Alsten's shoulder before sighing. With a disheartened look, the healer said:
"It took years for you to master magic casting. It's not something you'll be able to do on the fly. Even learning to control mana alone takes years of studying in the academy..."
Genler paused, walked ahead of them and then stared into the distance, the peak of the mountain already visible from where they were.
"In other words, your magical abilities are gone. Temporarily, at least. I'm sure you don't remember this as well, so I'll tell you. You have an affinity for Wind and Light magic. You're one of the very few people who have more than one elemental affinity, but it is believed that your mana capacity is the greatest of all."
Hearing all that, Alsten couldn't help but be regretful. Indeed, it was regrettable that he couldn't even use magic in this state. Could he just study it all again?
Again?
'I would be studying magic for the first time, actually.'
Because of certain circumstances in his previous life, the idea of going to school wasn't very appealing. However, things were different now. He had strength. He had power. Injustice could no longer victimize him.
"Ugh, this sucks," Yobu remarked, stretching his back. "I was hoping we could just Star Cleaver our way out of this quest, but it seems like we're gonna have to work harder than usual."
Alsten desperately wanted to know what Star Cleaver was, but he remained silent. He could tell that he was standing on thin ice.
Some laughter and a few inside jokes later, the group got into a serious discussion once again. Someone suggested that they should postpone the quest and strategize a bit more. With Alsten not being in his normal state, their firepower had seemed to diminish quite a lot. But Lana didn't agree, saying this problem should be solved as soon as possible. After all, many innocent townsfolk had already died to monster attacks, their bodies unburied, frozen inside a cold mountain as monster food.
"Besides, Alsten always does the hard work. This time, we should complete the quest without relying on his powers," she says.
Without further objections, the group agreed to move forward.
While on their way, Alsten asked Genler to explain magic casting as simply as he could. Of course, he was ever so careful as always. It turned out that in this world, only a select few people — around a sixth of the population — receive the ability to use magic. Magic referred to the ability to use a mysterious entity called 'mana' to control certain elements.
Each mage normally received an affinity for one of the eight elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Frost, Thunder, Darkness and Light. However, there were only three known beings in this world that controlled more than one element. One of them was a human, the hero Alsten who had an affinity for Wind and Light. According to Genler, that combination wasn't the best because the two elements could hardly complement each other.
On the other hand, the Elf God who had lived for thousands of years, had an affinity for four elements which were: Fire, Wind, Water and Earth, which Genler considered to be a solid combination. The number of tricks that could be done with those elements were great enough to win the Elf God almost every fight. Though, according to Genler, Alsten's mana capacity and overall magic power far surpassed that of the ancient elf leader.
The third one who could control multiple elements at once wasn't exactly a magic caster. In fact, it was unknown if this being used mana at all... Having an affinity with all of the elements except for Light, the Demon King himself ruled half of the world. The demonic continent, Ur, lay northeast of the human continents, stretching his influence to the red sea and some rogue Islands. No creature, human and monster alike, dared to venture into those nightmarish lands.
Yet, that was exactly their main destination.
The hero gulped, feeling a growing sense of dread within his heart. Did the real Alsten feel it as well?
"So, in other words, mages were grouped based on their affinity. Depending on the situation, some combinations will work better than the others, and so, it is very important to train with mages who have different elemental affinities."
With that final remark from the healer, they'd reached the foot of the massive, frosted dark mountain. This close, the fog had covered the peak. The sky had lost its warm glow, as if this part of the land was destined to be covered in dark clouds. The air became cold and sharp to the nose, as though telling them that they'd entered a realm so unwelcoming.
Alsten gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows as he met the cold wind. He stepped into the first patches of snow with a slight fear that he couldn't shake. Meanwhile, his companions seemed to be doing just fine.
'Is it because of the vibes here? This place is creepy.'
The snow-covered path had footprints that didn't belong to humans. It seemed to lead somewhere up in the mountain. Who had created this path and why? No one knew. But it was certain that many human corpse had been brought to the troll king's maw through this path.
A few, weird-looking blue flowers were scattered around and it seemed like they were the only ones able to grow in these frozen lands. There wasn't a hint of human activity or natural life in the area, making it look like a dead, frosted desert, completely secluded from the outside world.
A few more steps later, the path slanted upward as they reached the mountain slope. They now had to ascend the mountain through this path. According to the data provided for this quest, the road should lead to the entrance to the cave of the mountain. The snow on the ground was way thicker, but the path remained visible. It was obvious that the stone road was used regularly.
Might be even daily. Because from behind the curve of the road on the mountain slope, heavy footsteps layered their own. Alsten gripped his sword and froze, his companions did the same.
"Looks like we're right on time," Yobu said with a chuckle, wielding his double daggers.
Lana pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back and placed it on the string, its body resting on the center part of the bow. Meanwhile, Genler and Hetaphar positioned in front of the group, somehow without obstructing their vision. Looking at them, Alsten was amazed by how ready and well-trained they looked. Their stance, positions, even their distance from one another seemed measured, critically calculated.
Lana turned to the hero briefly, giving him an unreadable look, before returning her gaze to the incoming foes. Was she doubtful of Alsten's ability to help? Was she worried about his safety? He couldn't tell, so he just remained alert, though terrified. After all, these were the first monsters he was going to encounter.
Then, heavy, terrifying growls resounded from behind the blind curve. The monsters had been alerted of their presence.
Hetaphar grabbed his wall shield from his back and planted it to the ground, a wide grin was present in his bony face.
"These bastards are setting off to attack again."
Those heavy footsteps turned fast, rushed and rhythmic, indicating that the monsters began accelerating towards them. The ground trembled, and after a few seconds, the abominations revealed themselves.
The hero's knees began to shake.