The First Downpour

"What a beautiful city," she remarked with a serene smile. "I sure would like to live here someday."

Then, without warning, a downpour of rain suddenly crashed all over the area, disturbing the interconnected canals and the peaceful mood. Almost out of instinct, the children that were playing a moment ago packed up their belongings and hastily rushed back to their homes.

The boat that Sarah was looking after quickly began flooding. In an instant, this experience made the eccentric priestess recall the fitting name of Everrain.

'Ah, never mind...'

While thinking about how naive she had been just a moment ago, water began soaking up in her shoes. Sarah did her best to shield herself from the relentless downpour.

Just then, sounds of familiar voices echoed nearby.

"The rain has finally started," the voice of Brian emerged through the pattering noise of raindrops. "But this shouldn't be too much of a hindrance to where we're going."

"Is that so?" Leo spoke while using [Mage Shield] to prevent him and his comrades from getting drenched.

The four of them came over to Sarah, who was currently busy keeping her staff raised above her head.

"Leo..." she directed her gaze towards him with a helpless expression. "Does this boat have a roof function?"

"Uh, just wait a second." Leo hurriedly motioned for his teammates and Brian to enter the boat.

The [Mage Shield] he conjured also extended to protect Sarah from the rain.

"Ohhh, this invention looks interesting," Brian commented as he stood by to observe the uniquely shaped vessel.

"Come on, let's get in," Judy urged their employer, not wanting to waste time upon seeing Sarah's sorry state.

"Oh, right..."

Once everybody sat down inside, whilst ignoring the flooding, Leo swiftly cancelled out the rope he tied after forming it with mana and placed his hand on the boat's front hood. An instant later, the small fence lining the edges of the boat meshed together and elongated upwards above everyone's heads to form a cover against the rain.

After a roof was set up, Leo focused on getting rid of the flooding.

[Water Manipulation]

Using mana, he controlled the rainwater gathering in his boat, along with those soaked into his friend's dress robes, and tossed them up into a single mass of fluid before swiftly redirecting it out to the city's canal. During this moment, Leo could feel a surge of power in the spell he casted, causing him to unintentionally pour down the rainwater with more force than he initially intended.

Splashes erupted from the surface, with a portion of the water ironically jumping back into the boat again. The crash also produced some waves, rocking the vessel which everyone was sitting in.

"Oops, sorry about that," Leo apologized in embarrassment as he hurriedly attempted to rectify this mistake.

"It's no worries." Brian waved it off while using his own magic to dry his dripping wet clothes; the portion of the earlier splash mainly landed on him. "Stuff like this isn't too unusual around here. Besides, you can't really underestimate the presence of Everrain."

As if to accentuate that point, the rain started pouring down worse than before.

'Hm, the magical effect of this land really is quite potent,' Leo considered this fact carefully while casting the same spell again. "In terms of combative purposes, this can be extremely formidable. No wonder Everrain was so easy to defend during the past civil wars.'

Not counting the fact that many mages and knights in this city happen to mainly specialize in water magic, but the location itself can be efficiently weaponized in conjunction with certain elemental attacks. Someone with enough familiarity here can use the localized conditions to great advantage against invading forces.

"Okay, which directions should we take now Mister Brian?" Leo asked the person sitting at the last row of the boat.

"Ehehe, you can simply call me Brian; I know I'm technically older than all of you but honorifics kind of makes me feel too important." Brian rubbed the back of his head shyly. "You should go up ahead and take a turn to the nearest right. After that, I'll tell you which other signs to follow."

Leo nodded before doing as instructed. Soon, the boat set off amidst the prevailing rain.

----------

The city of Everrain contained unique characteristics that were rarely found in Bavalon. The geography of the land it was established in was stated to be surrounded by several swamps and other aquatic ecosystems. Freshwater was naturally abundant here in large part thanks to its frequent weather, and it provided both sustenance to the residents as well as a form of trade with other cities. It even possessed specific plants that managed to adapt to this peculiar environment, being sought after by many herbalists and merchants.

People would come to visit here for various reasons. Whether it was to collect some of the natural growths, or gain deeper insight into water magic, all these could be found in Everrain. But like with most good things in the world, there inevitably came certain drawbacks to the benefits that were provided by the city. Just like with the various plants that grew here, there were also, of course, the monsters which inhabited the neighboring geographical areas.

"I must say, this magic item is truly convenient," Brian praised while pushing back the rims of his glasses. "Where did you buy this thing?"

The group was currently travelling along a muddy path that hadn't yet been constructed into an official roadway.

Previously, the carrier had reached one of the outer sections of the city that branched off to the new area which Brian's organization uncovered. When they first got there, Leo transformed the boat back to vehicle form while simultaneously using [Water Manipulation] with his sword to push it out of the city's canal network.

The versatility of his invention helped speed up the progress of the research assignment, allowing the group to not have to traverse the unfamiliar landscape on their own two feet.

Keeping his eyes at the front, Leo responded to Brian's question, "We didn't actually buy it. I built this carrier myself."

"Really?" Brian's interest was peaked. "So you are an Enchanter, then? Just what kind of materials did you use for it?"

"Um, sorry. This is kind of a personal topic."

Leo tried closing off the conversation since he didn't want to reveal too much information for this newcomer. This didn't mean he distrusted the researcher, but he just felt that it was more professional this way not to disclose anything unnecessary. In addition, it was probably for the best to keep things related to the Frozen Hell a secret in the guild.

"Oh, sorry about that. I probably shouldn't have pried too much," Brian hastily apologized upon realizing that he committed a breach of privacy. "My mouth tends to blab on its own whenever I get too curious. It's a habit from my job."

"It's nothing," Leo placated his employer. "You don't need to take it too seriously."

The carrier was now moving in between some moldy trees as per the directions Brian previously mentioned. They were now on the brink of entering a looming swamp-infested marsh.

"So what exactly did your previously hired mercenaries encounter?" Judy suddenly struck up a conversation to gather more intel.

Thinking for a moment, Brian twisted around in his seat to take out some documents from the box he brought along.

"The first few days of the exploration proceeded quite smoothly," Brian revealed, flipping through some paper to read the events he had chronicled. "But it was only when we had a fight against some never-before seen monsters did they eventually want to back out."

"That was all?" Alex asked, feeling like there should be more to it.

"Um, I didn't happen to see much of what went on." Brian looked ashamed as he admitted, "The thing is, when the monsters revealed themselves, I was commanded by the leader of the group to be escorted away from the place by another one of his party members. They kind of saw me as a hindrance, you see..."

That last comment about himself was meant to serve as a subtle reminder of his lacking abilities. Brian's tone also contained a trace of quietness, which a person could interpret to be a result of inadequate levels of confidence.

"It's alright," Sarah comforted. Though she wasn't there when the researcher revealed his less-than-liked reputation among his peers, she was able to display a great deal of understanding towards the latter. "None of us have any inclinations to discriminate people based on their abilities, sufficient or otherwise. Please don't think we'll treat you the same way."

"Ahem, thank you." Brian blushed warmly in consideration upon receiving her kindness. "Uh, well, back to the exploration--," he twiddled his thumbs, "I was unable to observe the aftermath of the battle, so there ultimately isn't a lot I can reveal."

"But you did at least get a glimpse of it, right?" Leo slightly redirected his attention back while listening to the researcher's recollections.

In front of the carrier, the muddy path was now getting narrower.