DH : [48] Magic (Patreon)

"Thank you." Aiden smiled at Ais, who was closest to him, then nodded towards Riveria not far away.

Aiden didn't sheathe his Roman short sword or choose to wipe away the bloodstains on it. Instead, he continued to hold it in his hand, letting the crimson trickle down the blade.

He then turned to face the two men behind him, thanking them for their support. "Thank you. Let me introduce myself. I'm Aiden Sparda." It was like introducing oneself at the beginning of a college semester, stating who you are and where you're from.

"We should be thanking you. I'm Dunn Mitchell, and this is Wade Wilson. We're both members of the Ganesha Familia." Dunn smiled and then gestured to Wade beside him.

Dunn, who appeared to be in his forties, had a high nose bridge, and his deep blue eyes seemed as bottomless as the ocean. However, his receding hairline significantly lowered his level of attractiveness. Plus, being chased and injured by the infant dragon earlier left his silver-white armor somewhat damaged, making him look a bit disheveled.

Compared to Dunn, the young man known as Wade seemed rather ordinary.

Unlike the powerful and flamboyant Wade Wilson, this Wade was neither mighty nor flashy. Although he wasn't visibly injured from being chased by the infant dragon, he appeared somewhat weary. After introducing himself, he remained silent.

"I'm a member of the Hestia Familia." Aiden replied with a smile, while inwardly scoffing, Wade Wilson? With a longsword as his weapon? What's with this déjà vu? Could it be... Deadpool?

How's your healing factor? Ready to banter? Or maybe break the 4th wall?

Of course, neither Dunn nor Wade were aware of Aiden's internal mockery. Upon hearing Aiden mention the Hestia Familia, their immediate reaction was, "The Hestia Familia? Is there such a Familia?" But they tacitly refrained from asking.

After the introductions, led by Riveria, the Loki Familia's women's group also approached Aiden.

"I'm Riveria Ljos Alf. You're the one who made a bet with Loki to surpass Ais, right?" Riveria smiled at Aiden and also introduced herself.

"Yeah, I'm Aiden Sparda of the Hestia Familia." There was a strangely familiar tone in his voice. Ah, this was the same as Artoria's voice. Could it be that Riveria's voice actor is also Ayako Kawasumi? While silently pondering, Aiden also smiled and introduced himself.

Although he appeared nonchalant on the surface and thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of pretending in front of this group of beautiful and strong girls, as well as taking the opportunity to ridicule Riveria's voice, the truth was, after the battle ended, with no adrenaline from fighting and no distractions, Aiden, who had never been so severely injured before, had been thinking about one thing all along... when they would leave?

As for why not sheathing the sword? Because after a month of practice, Aiden still couldn't accurately and efficiently sheathe the sword solely based on feeling.

It would seriously affect his current status as a genius and his swagger. After all, being cool is a lifelong commitment.

"Congratulations, it seems Ais is going to have a rival."Riveria sighed, watching the infant dragon horn and magic stone drop on the ground.

Although it was almost certain that Loki would lose, Riveria remained as composed as ever and did not speak ill of Aiden.

"Although I heard from Tiona and the others about your bet with Loki, today I realized that you're a genius who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Ais."

"At the time, I had just become an adventurer and was still young and immature." Aiden said with a smile, but he didn't deny the aspect of standing shoulder to shoulder with Ais.

As Aiden finished speaking, the lively Tiona waved her hand and introduced herself, "Hey hey, I'm Tiona Hiryute, we met the other day."

Then she gestured towards her sister Tione, who had a big heart, and introduced, "This one next to me is my sister, Tione."

Tione also smiled, "Hello, we met the other day too."

Next was the girl dressed in pink, Lefiya. "I'm Lefiya Viridis, we also met the other day..."

Pausing for a moment, she asked, "Um, Aiden-kun, are your injuries okay?"

'Ah, she's like an angel. Finally, someone mentioned my injuries. I almost couldn't hold back. So, Riveria, please use your invincible magic to heal me.

Aiden almost shed tears at the thought.

"Thank you, Lefiya-san, for your concern."

It seemed like Riveria heard Aiden's inner call, as she proposed, "Let me use magic to heal you."

In too much pain to refuse, Aiden didn't have the time or mood to politely decline. Instead, he went along with it, saying, "Can you really? That would be a big help, Riveria-san."

"No need to be polite." Riveria said as she began chanting her magic.

Because Aiden's injury wasn't actually severe, she used a short incantation. As Riveria finished her chant, a faint green glow flew out, and Aiden could feel the pain in his right hand rapidly diminishing, finally stopping at a tolerable level.

Having never received magical healing before, Aiden didn't know that his right hand was actually already healed. The reason it continued to hurt was something else entirely.

Aiden clenched and then unclenched his right hand, then waved it around.

Most of the people Aiden had encountered so far were low-level adventurers. Experiencing magic for the first time, he marveled at its wonder. His expectations for magic soared, even though as a true Sparda, he could regenerate lost limbs after transforming into a demon, and although the Sparda family had an excellent tradition of chatting and laughing with a sword through their chest, it was still not as awe-inspiring as experiencing it firsthand.

Aiden thanked Riveria again, lowering his head slightly, "Thank you, Riveria-san."

Seeing Aiden's expression, as if witnessing magic for the first time, Riveria smiled, "No need to be polite."

After this, Aiden didn't bring up the bet again, and from Riveria's words, it was clear she had seen that he was about to level up. Moreover, having accepted her magical healing, he didn't want to arrogantly bring it up again. Both sides understood the situation without further words.

After exchanging pleasantries, the Loki Familia prepared to head back to the city.