The Regressed SSS-Rank Water Mage Wants To Live a Calm Life-Chapter 26: Into the Red Valley [1]

Vin’s eyes fluttered open, and the warm rays of the afternoon sun trickled into his spinning vision.

The mercenary blinked, momentarily stunned.

Spinning vision? That wasn’t quite right. He could see, albeit groggily.

And, at that moment, all Vin could see was the ground below him, which was devoid of grasses, cobblestones, and all other subtle notifiers of a lived-in city. It was just a red, dried-up patch of land. And, judging from the way his body moved and galloped at intervals in the air, it seemed the mercenary was in constant motion.

But that was the problem. His feet weren’t on the ground. It should’ve been impossible.

Vin, groaning softly, moved his neck to survey his surroundings. And less than a second later, he let out a relieved sigh. He’d understood that he was on Maxwell’s shoulder, and the young mage was walking, carrying Vin effortlessly, like the full-grown adult was a weightless bag or something.

Vin’s subtle scowl melted. That was good.

As Vin sighed in relief, he closed his eyes, feeling the gentle afternoon breeze wash over his face and his neck. Then, after shaking his head, he opened his eyes.

Right in front of him, a tiny blue, human-like figure with flapping blue wings, large blue, curious eyes and long ears stared at him, mirroring his every movement. Hell, the creature was even flying upside-down, mimicking Vin’s position on Maxwell’s shoulder.

Vin stared at Frilo’s round and blue, studious eyes for a little longer than a second.

He blinked. Once. Twice. The third time, his brain fully processed the shock of the strange creature, and his eyes widened as he yelped, flinching in Maxwell’s arm.

It caused Frilo to laugh, holding its belly as it floated in the air. The sound of its laughter was like a bellowing flute.

Just then, Maxwell gazed at his shoulder, spotting the awoken, terrified Vin. He smiled and spoke with a warm voice.

"Finally awake?"

Vin, calming his heart from the shock, cleared his throat.

"That potion..." Vin winced, sniffing. "How long was I knocked out for?"

Maxwell breathed in, raising Vin from his shoulder.

"Well..."

He calmly dropped the middle-aged man to the ground. Vin sat butt-first, adjusting his overall posture, rearranging his sheathed sword, and shaking the subtle dizziness away from his head as he regained his bearing.

"At least thirty minutes. But let’s just say you woke up right on time," Maxwell said, gazing at the terrain overhead. "We’ve arrived at the red valley."

Vin raised his brows, and he followed Maxwell’s gaze, staring at the terrain.

A wide, expansive desert-like environment stretched before their view. It was a red and dry land, devoid of cobblestone or grasses or even sand. The red land lacked any hint of moisture. Tall, red hills painted the view of the land. The hills looked like constructs made of clay. And on the ground of the valley, countless red rocks and pebbles lay here and there.

This was the red valley. The land of beasts.

Maxwell could literally feel the corrupted mana oozing from the valley. It felt hot and forbidden, like something a human should never absorb. The young mage chuckled, recalling that some crazy humans out there absorbed the corrupted mana of beasts to grow stronger. It never ended well for any of them, because they mutated into freaks, a lot of them. While the others just died from mana incompatibility.

Shrugging the funny thought off, Maxwell gazed at the rock formation that he stood a couple of feet away from. An ensemble of seemingly molded and perfectly shaped rock that divided the red valley from the rest of Ludia.

Studying the rock formation, Maxwell discovered that the formation stretched far and wide, encircling the entirety of the red valley.

This rock formation, as Maxwell recalled, was Archmage Linoel’s barrier.

’Jalozi’s second Earth Archmage, huh. He should be dead by now,’ Maxwell thought, caressing an invisible long beard. ’I remember it was the legendary mercenary king, Blank, who killed him.’

Nevertheless, the barrier itself was flawless. The rocks themselves seemed incapable of anything, but they had spells embedded in them that generated an invisible force field that prevented the entrance or exit of any creature that possessed and harnessed corrupted mana.

Which meant humans could enter and leave the valley at will. But the beasts couldn’t. An intricately crafted spell.

"As expected of an 8th-circle Archmage," Max remarked, nodding.

Vin gulped.

"We’re here already? That fast?"

Maxwell furrowed his brows, looking at Vin.

"Hey. Instead of waking you up, I carried you on my shoulder to let the potion do its thing. You should be happy."

Vin groaned, a frown surfacing on his face as he slowly stood up.

"Yeah... sure. I’m happy."

Maxwell smiled widely, holding his waist with both his hands.

"That’s good," he cheered. "Because you’re going to do the fighting today, Vin. I’ll cover you from behind just in case anything goes wrong."

Before Vin could react in horror, Frilo, who’d been idly floating around the whole time, gently made its way to Vin’s hair.

Vin, all dazed, annoyed and freaked out, was about to swat the spirit away like a fly, but his hand paused mid-air as Frilo sat on his hair. Feeling Frilo’s warmth, Vin felt like it was the most natural thing in the world. It even felt relaxing, and the spirit comforted him, steadily his head with its tiny hands.

This caused Vin, for the first time, to smile.

Vin raised a finger toward Frilo. Frilo, wide-eyed and surprised by Vin’s sudden act, beamed brightly, bringing its own finger and tapping it with Vin’s.

Suddenly, Frilo hugged Vin’s finger, letting out a cute, flute-like sound.

Vin chuckled softly.

Maxwell only watched this unfold with a warm smile.

Then, immediately, Vin gazed at Maxwell, and he cleared his throat as his smile almost faded, and a serious expression dawned on him. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"How am I going to fight against A-rank monsters, though?" Vin asked, genuinely worried. "The only reason I could attempt to hunt the wyvern the other day was that it was all on its own and away from its natural habitat. But this," Vin looked over at the red valley. "There are hundreds of those Slimanders in there. And that IS their adapted habitat. Don’t you remember, Max? Don’t you know that I’m corel–"

"You know," Max breathed in, looking up at the cascading bright blue clouds, especially a wavy one that reminded him of Rita’s curly brown hair. He smiled. "I haven’t told you what that potion I gave you was for. But... did you really not feel the difference? A change, perhaps?" Maxwell chuckled, looking at Vin now. "Don’t tell me you’re that insensitive to your own body, Vin."