SWOOSH—

Raine Town completely lost its color in an instant.

Immediately after.

BOOM!

A flash of black and white suddenly exploded!

Then, a powerful shockwave blasted outward!

The devastating shockwaves thundered again and again, slamming into a wall of emerald light!

BOOM!

The entire impact was confined within the wall of emerald light.

Kumironi stood between the two, her expression uncharacteristically grave. "That’s enough!"

An emerald glow enveloped Lu Cang.

The once-impenetrable Training Ground was now nothing but ruins.

The entire area had become a large, spherical crater with a radius of 500 meters.

Lu Cang stood in mid-air, treading on a barrier.

Meanwhile, Iz floated in the sky.

The two of them spoke at almost the same time, "Who won?!"

Even Kumironi couldn’t help but have a vein pop on her temple.

But she still answered, "No one won."

Afterward, Kumironi turned her head to look at Izparut.

"Iz, were you just trying to kill Lu Cang?"

Iz replied in a poetic tone, "Oh, Kumironi, this was a contest to determine the strongest. Would you have me hold back in such a battle?"

Kumironi asked, "Without any regard for the consequences?"

"You nearly destroyed Raine Town just now."

Iz spread his hands, a carefree look on his face. "But isn’t that why you’re here, Kumironi? As long as you’re around, everything will be fine."

Kumironi opened her mouth, but then hesitated.

’*Elemental Void* is powerful, but it’s ultimately just a Tier Two Spell. I can defend against it easily enough.’

She then turned to Lu Cang and said, "Lu Cang, you were too reckless just now as well."

But Lu Cang replied earnestly, "In a battle with Master Iz, I wanted to go all out."

However, the result of going all out was a draw.

This left Lu Cang feeling quite dissatisfied.

’Iz clearly paid no price to cast that Skill, but my price was one hundred and fifty thousand souls.’

’I’m running low on souls.’

Kumironi sighed inwardly.

’Sigh, is this what they mean by ’like master, like disciple’?’

’I feel like Little Lu Cang has also become quite a handful.’

’He forced Iz to use his Root Magic before he’s even grasped Root Magic himself... If he truly does grasp Root Magic, perhaps he really will surpass this magic maniac.’

"Well, with the Training Ground in this state, we can’t practice anymore," Iz said, looking at the hollowed-out surroundings.

"Let’s call it a day."

...

Iz went to pay for the damages.

He paid the owner 500 Gold Coins, helped him fill in the massive crater, and all that was left was to rebuild the Training Ground.

「Adventurer’s Guild」

"Did you hear?"

"Lu Cang beat Izparut in a same-tier sparring match."

"What? That Iz, he actually lost?"

"Is Little Lu Cang’s Talent really that insane?"

"I heard Iz only managed a draw with Lu Cang after learning his Beyond Magic. I got the inside scoop from the Training Ground’s owner, let me tell you all about it..."

「Raine Town Grand Hotel」

"Iz, I heard you lost."

Chi Cheng had heard about the matter and came specially to mock—oh, no, to check in on him.

Iz looked up from his Magic Book. "I recall locking the door."

His gaze fell on the broken doorknob in Chi Cheng’s hand.

"Oh, I figured you wouldn’t open the door if I knocked, so I just let myself in."

BOOM!

A Fireball shot out.

Chi Cheng dodged it with a tilt of his head.

The Fireball left a scorched mark on the wall.

"Actually, I won," Iz replied, his eyes back on his book.

"But the word on the street is that you lost."

Iz fell silent.

"Ah, don’t worry about it. In the Celestial Sea, the new waves are always pushing the old."

"I always knew this day would come, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon."

"It’s fine. He used two Professions against your one. You only fought him as a Mage, so you were basically going easy on him."

At some point, Chi Cheng had sidled up behind Iz, draping an arm over his shoulder.

If he couldn’t feel the smug grin on his face,

Iz might have actually believed he was here to comfort him.

Besides...

’I don’t need any comfort.’

’Because I didn’t lose at all.’

’No, to be precise, I should be considered the winner.’

’In terms of the fight itself, if Kumironi hadn’t intervened on that last strike, Lu Cang would have died first.’

’My magic defenses probably would have held out a little longer.’

’As for factors outside the fight, I was the one who taught him the Magic Enhancement Technique.’

’And as for the matter of Beyond Magic...’

’I said I would fight him using Tier Two Magic. A Tier Two Beyond Magic spell is still Tier Two.’

’Fine, I’ll count that as his win.’

’But I can use *Elemental Void* repeatedly, whereas his Sacrifice requires a large number of souls...’

Izparut compared their respective wins and losses point by point in his mind.

Finally, he sighed inwardly.

’Forget it.’

’Just as Kumironi said, let’s call it a draw.’

’I also relied on my seasoned combat experience in this fight.’

Iz couldn’t help but wonder.

’If I had really fought him at Level 2, as an equal, what would the outcome have been?’

’But one thing is certain: in terms of Magic alone, Lu Cang as a Level 2 Mage was definitely not my equal.’

’And back then, I didn’t have a master as good as myself.’

...

Lu Cang chose a restaurant with pretty good food.

During his time in Raine Town, Lu Cang had also done some culinary exploration.

Compared to Earth, the food in the Otherworld had its own unique charm.

Perhaps because of the abundance of Demons, the variety of dishes was also extensive.

"Yo, Little Lu Cang!"

Luo Si was the first to arrive. She still wore her hair in twin ponytails, but this time her attire was clearly different from her adventuring gear.

She wore a low-cut black dress that looked rather luxurious and was probably worth quite a bit of money.

It actually made the restaurant seem a bit low-class by comparison.

For this get-together, Lu Cang hadn’t chosen a particularly high-end establishment. It wasn’t about saving a few coins; the friendly atmosphere was more important.

"Luo Si, you’re here so early!"

Trende, the Level 3 Defender, was the second to arrive.

Next up was Meizer, who had been beaten half to death for two-timing.

’Oh, his injuries healed quickly. A world with Healing Mages is pretty great; you can recover this fast even after getting beaten up like that.’

Meizer’s bandages were all gone now. Aside from his face still being black and blue, he seemed to have no other problems.

As the acquaintances took their seats, everyone began to chat animatedly.

Before long, Run En the Level 4 Defender, Bais the Level 4 Mage, and Acrifa the Level 4 Warrior had also arrived.

They had all helped him during the Beast Tide.

Bais had taught him how to create his own Self-created Spell, and Acrifa had helped him deal with the Assassin right away.

’Although I could have held that Assassin off on my own, if it came to capturing him alive for questioning, I don’t think I could have held back so easily. Besides, out of caution, and not knowing what tricks the enemy had up his sleeve, I had no intention of fighting him to the death alone.’

Run En, in particular, had saved his life, so there was even less need to say more.

He had already paid him a visit at noon to express his gratitude.

Whether it was a great debt of gratitude or a small favor, Lu Cang kept it all in mind.

On the other hand, it was also to expand his network of contacts in this world.

As a newcomer, it was always good to make more friends. At least for now, it seemed these people were all of good character.