Another Step

Ryu stepped back, leaving shocked and confused Jack on the floor. Carol was shocked to see her party leader, the strongest swordsman in the town according to her, struggling against the frost,

"Jack!!" she shouted as she sat down beside the jack with a concerned face.

Snow and Aiena were staring at Ryu, who was being hugged tightly by Lina from behind.

'Ryu did that!?' Aiena thought, still shocked,

As Snow and Aiena moved towards where Lina and Ryu were standing, Jack stood up, shouting

"What the hell was that!? This kid was it you?"

He was shocked beyond belief by what just happened. It was just 5 mins at most, but there was water everywhere around his feet that froze in a snap and he was pinned down to the ground by a 9-year-old kid,

'You would've bled if not for mom' Ryu thought as he put the dagger back in his pocket,

"Why visit my home!?" Snow asked Jack in a cold voice as cold as the ice jack was trapped in before.

'Great save!!' Ryu thought as now he wouldn't have to answer to Jack,

"I came to free you, Snow. Your place is among us. A mage like you needs to reach further," Jack answered, trying to appeal to Snow's emotions.

To this Snow shouted at him with a voice full of grudge,

"Who gave you permission!?"

"Please listen to him Snow, he is right don't you see what that child just did?" Carol said with a pleading voice to Snow,

In her 14 years as an adventurer, she hasn't seen a 9-year-old doing this kind of glyph control, especially the killer intent she could see inside Ryu's eyes when he had Jack pinned down was something that looked developed over many life and death battles,

"He is the abnormal one, even at the contest, even today," Jack took the moment to speak,

Both of them didn't know blaming Ryu was just getting on Snow's nerves,

"Ryu's not at fault," Snow spoke in a clear voice,

"But how can this child do high glyphs at that age?" Jack asked with a confused look because he thought Ryu used a single glyph.

"Taught him for self-protection," Snow answered instantly unfazed by the question.

"Snow I did this all for you. Come with us. Our party needs you and you need it too," Jack said with a resolved voice,

"Snow, Jack is right. You can be a Grand mage," Carol added,

"Get out!!" Snow said as she looked at Carol and Jack,

"But Snow I did all this for you, your brother disappearing was not your fault it was all…" before Jack could speak a chill went down his spine, he remembered what Ryu asked him earlier he found himself unable to continue as he saw that child's eyes staring at him,

'Try saying it again' he thought that was what Ryu was saying. A strange pressure was emitting from the child's body,

"In any case, don't you want to be a Grand mage?" Jack asked.

"Get out!! My answer won't change," Snow spoke as she chanted a small icicle on Jack, which he dodges,

"I love my family," Snow said, and then looking towards Carol with a scary look she said,

"You people are stupid!!" Jack's pride has risen from being attacked,

"We are the only A- ranked party in this town. You should be grateful we go to these lengths to recruit you," Jack said, pointing towards Snow,

"I didn't ask," Snow replied with a frown, which angered Jack further

"Leave our home for once, if Geld or Village chief come back you will be sorry," Lina said. She wished from the depths of her heart she could attack him right now,

"Fine, we will leave, but know you will regret not choosing to come with us when Evil God will strike again," Jack said, and then putting a hand on his head, he spoke

"It is just because I am affectionate of you Snow, last chance is you coming or not. If you say yes, I will take care of your family matters and will still welcome you as a member,"

Snow was beyond frustration right now and just spoke

"Leave" was her final answer

Irritated at her answer, ashamed from being pinned down by Ryu earlier, but still full of pride, Jack spoke as he left,

"Do what you wish!! When the hero will be finally be summoned after 9 years, you won't even get a glimpse of him."

'Is it me or he just said something very important' Ryu thought even though he can't focus properly at the moment,

Only Carol was left behind. She looked towards Snow she knew making her was impossible at this point, so she did the next best thing

"I am sorry Snow, please forgive me," she said in a pleading voice, but Snow just looked at her and spoke

"Just leave for now"

Carol said sorry once again before she left. The ice had all melted and the floor was now wet. Snow had many things she wanted to ask Ryu, but she knew what had happened and what is Ryu's condition right now.

She moved towards Ryu in Lina's arms and spoke

"Sleep will talk later" and as soon as she said this, Ryu let his body loose he was finally relieved never once before Ryu used all his mana at the same time in this short period, it took a toll on his body he was forcing himself to remain awake in front of Jack and Carol,

Ryu was falling asleep; he didn't know what was going to happen next or what kind of questions he would be asked, but all he could think was

'I will deal with it after waking up,' and fall deep into slumber,

When Ryu was asleep, Lina and Snow had a chat, and Aiena was looking over Ryu. Once Snow saw the number of glyphs, she was a bit surprised, but also had a feeling that she was right

'The mana level Ryu was showing were fake' thought Snow, for powering 5 glyphs of intermediate create water glyph and advance frost mark glyph. The mana Ryu was showing was nowhere nearby,

'Maybe, I will have to teach him more than I anticipated' as she sat beside Aiena who was looking over Ryu sleeping.

"Snow sister, how did Ryu do that?" Aiena was surprised, even she who was learning Miracle attribute magic for 4 years know that it was something that can't be done by a 9-year-old,

"He was learning, he overdid" Snow just answered, not knowing how to explain it,

For hours Snow and Aiena kept looking at Ryu, Lana came back and was informed about what happened from Lina. Hina too came inside sensing the troublesome situation all of them were waiting for Ryu to wake up.

'Ahh it was a nice sleep'

"Good morning, everyone," Ryu said as he woke up yawning,

'Wait for a second, everyone!!!' Ryu wanted to shout as he became aware that literally, everyone was in the room.

Geld, Hina, Lina, Lana, Aiena, and Snow, everyone was looking at him as he woke up,

"Ryu here have some water," Lina said as she hands him over a glass of water,

Ryu thought as he was drinking water

'It is time for Q and A session. I am trapped'

"Ryu how? From where?" Snow asked him first thing. Everyone else was staring with curiosity too because this was an answer every one of them wanted,

"I am sorry, I used to try it from the drawing in your book," Ryu said looking toward Snow,

'It is a half-truth,' he thought,

"Ryu, it is not safe you will be punished for it later," Snow said with a concerned look. It was hard for Snow too. She never wanted to punish Ryu. but for his good, she needs to do it,

There is a condition known as mana disturbance that happens due to wrongly learning and performing magic. It is kind of similar to how people who exercise the wrong way end up developing physical problems.

Mana disturbance can cause a variety of problems to health and also cause magic cast by the affected person to be messed up,

That is why Snow feels the need to instill in Ryu that he should not experiment on glyphs just by seeing pictures.

No one questioned anything else as they knew that Ryu was still exhausted from what happened and they were more concerned for him than curious about his glyph use so they did not ask questions like since how many years he was doing it or when did he set up those glyphs near Jack,

"Ryu, do not worry, those of Phoenix's Gate party are leaving town tomorrow," Geld said

"That is good, Geld big brother," Ryu answered,

One by one everyone checked on Ryu and then left as Snow had already discussed with them to give her time to chat with Ryu in private,

'What is she going to ask?' wondered Ryu as he looked towards Snow who was patting his head while sitting beside him on the bed.

Snow seemed to have got the meaning of Ryu's gaze as she said

"Show me,"

Ryu knew what this meant, there was nothing else she could be asking, so he turned off the altering he set up for his mana in front of appraising skills. Snow looked at Ryu for a while sensing his mana as she spoke

"By the amount of mana, already above apprentice mage"

"I am sorry for hiding," Ryu said while lowering his head at being found out he thought she would be angry or disappointed, but he felt that Snow again started patting him and spoke with a concerned voice

"Do not worry Ryu, I understand" she thought 'if he roamed with that mana level at that age, he would be surrounded by all types of recruiters from parties or even other places'

"From tomorrow, I will teach you chanting and proper glyph use… no unauthorized practicing promise me," she said with a resolved look. She had decided to teach Ryu the proper way of magic chanting and glyphs,

"I promise Snow," Ryu replied instantly. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Ryu to learn chanting from Snow, another step towards growth and his goal.

'I will keep my promise' Ryu resolved even though he used glyphs a lot in the forest and new ones could be a huge help in it, but he decided not to use chanting or glyphs taught by Snow in the forest until she permitted him.

That night everyone had dinner at their house Grandpa chief and Jue joined too, and the sweet served was Fel custard, which was enjoyed by everyone.