NOVPUB“Jump from here?” Alfoy asked, his voice trembling. “Are you saying we should just give up and die faster instead of agonizing over it?”
He was clinging to the basket, barely able to keep his eyes open as the hot air balloon plummeted faster and faster. The thought of voluntarily jumping from the balloon terrified him.
But Kaor, not wasting any time, quickly explained, “We can’t see how far we are from the ground from inside this thing! Even if you use magic at the right moment, we could get tangled in the air chamber, and that’ll only make things worse! It’s safer to jump out and cast the spell!”
It made sense. If they got tangled in the balloon while falling, it could make things even more dangerous.
“Fine! Should I jump alone, then?”
“Are you crazy? I’ll jump with you. Just do what I say!” Kaor grabbed Alfoy by the waist and, without hesitation, leaped from the balloon.
The sheer terror of falling from such a height without any safety measures was overwhelming. The powerful wind slammed into them, and Alfoy, eyes tightly shut, screamed again.
“Ahhh! Help!”
“Shut up! Just shut up and listen! I’ll keep an eye on the distance. When I give the signal, use your magic! Got it? Stop squirming, and watch where you put your hands!”
“O-Okay!”
Kaor focused intensely, his eyes wide open.
There was no room for error. At the speed they were falling, even a Sword Master wouldn’t survive if they hit the ground.
He didn’t need to wait until the last second—just until they were close enough for his body to handle the impact.
After all, with the training he’d gone through recently, his abilities had improved enough to withstand most falls, even from a considerable height.
Whooooosh!
As they neared the ground, the fall accelerated. In the blink of an eye, the distance to the earth shrank rapidly.
When Kaor calculated they were close enough, he shouted, “Now!”
At his signal, Alfoy, who had been squeezing his eyes shut, thrust his hands out and unleashed his magic with everything he had.
He had never cast a spell with such desperation before.
Although magic often failed when concentration wavered, Alfoy, being the heir of the Tower of Magic, managed to cast it successfully, driven by his will to survive.
Thunk!
Their rapid fall suddenly halted mid-air.
“Ugh!” Kaor grunted.
“Ahhh!” Alfoy cried out in pain.
The abrupt change in momentum hit them like a hammer, causing excruciating pain as if their insides were being crushed.
But it was better than hitting the ground and shattering their bodies.
Sensing they had survived the worst of it, Kaor began to gather his mana.
Now, all he had to do was shield himself from the remaining impact when they hit the ground.
Whoooosh!
But before they could stabilize, they started rising rapidly again.
“What? Stop! Stop, you crazy fool!”
In his panic, Alfoy had overcast the spell. His eyes had been closed, and he hadn’t noticed how close they were to the ground.
In his desperation, he had poured all his remaining energy into the magic, propelling them upward.
“I said stop, you idiot!”
Kaor’s shout snapped Alfoy out of his daze, but by then, they were already ascending too high.
“I-I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to... I just panicked...”
“Forget it! Just focus. We were close to surviving, so we’ll try again! I’ll give you the signal...”
“I’m sorry... but I’m out of mana...”
“What?”
“I used too much during the earlier demonstration... and then I overdid it with the spell... I’m all out of mana...”
Tears welled up in Alfoy’s eyes, his voice filled with defeat.
Kaor seethed with rage. Their one chance had been ruined, and now they were both doomed.
“You idiot! You should’ve just slowed us down enough to stop, not send us flying!”
“I was too scared... but at least we won’t die alone... Let’s go together...”
“Shut up! I’m not dying here!”
Kaor gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on Alfoy.
‘I didn’t survive this long to die now!’
He had just started mastering the Mana Surge Technique and improving his swordsmanship—dying here would be an absolute waste.
But they were already too high. If they hit the ground at this speed, both of them would be obliterated.
He had to make a choice: either both of them would die, or one of them might survive.
‘Damn it!’
Kaor briefly considered using Alfoy as a cushion but quickly abandoned the idea—not out of sympathy, but because Alfoy was too weak to absorb the impact. They would both die anyway.
‘You idiot! You can’t even use magic properly! Even Vanessa is smarter than you!’
After silently cursing Alfoy, Kaor adjusted his stance.
He could strengthen his body with mana. If he landed first and absorbed the impact, there was a chance Alfoy could survive.
‘There’s no point in both of us dying. If you can survive, then live. You’re an idiot, but at least you’re more useful than me.’
As he resigned himself to this decision, he glanced up and saw people running toward them in the distance.
But what could they do? No one could help them in this situation.
Seeing Ghislain, Belinda, and Gillian at the front, Kaor mentally said his farewells.
‘Ghislain, it was fun fighting with you. I improved thanks to you, but I won’t get to use my skills... too bad.’
Resigning himself to his fate, Kaor closed his eyes, a tear slipping down his cheek.
‘Grandmother... I’ll be seeing you soon.’
Just as he gathered the last of his mana to brace for impact and save Alfoy, he heard Ghislain’s voice echoing loud and clear.
“Kaor! Relax! Stop using mana!”
‘Why? What for? Does he want me to just die?’
Although confused, Kaor instinctively followed Ghislain’s command. After all the beatings he had taken from him, his body obeyed without hesitation.
Flash!
Ghislain stretched his hands toward them, releasing threads of mana.
At this speed, catching them required immense power. Activating his third-stage core, Ghislain unleashed all his strength to pull them back.
Snap!
The mana threads began to tear under the strain, but the descent slowed significantly.
“Kaor! Throw Alfoy away!”
As soon as Ghislain shouted, Kaor hurled Alfoy aside without a moment’s hesitation.
He had wanted to get rid of him for a while now. That guy was an absolute nuisance.
Ghislain continued releasing mana, gradually slowing both Kaor and Alfoy’s fall.
“Gillian! Belinda!”
At Ghislain’s command, Gillian and Belinda leapt into the air.
Gillian caught Kaor and immediately hurled him to the ground to disperse the impact.
Thud!
“Argh! Old man, you...!”
Kaor howled in pain as his body slammed into the ground, while Gillian chuckled, landing safely with his mana-infused legs.
Belinda, however, had a harder time with Alfoy.
As one of the most fragile people in the entire estate, Alfoy was as delicate as a glass fish. If she slammed him down like Kaor, he would likely die on the spot.
“Ugh!”
With an annoyed grunt, Belinda caught Alfoy, spinning several times mid-air to dissipate the force before landing gently.
Alfoy collapsed to the ground, gasping in relief.
“I-I’m alive! I survived! Thank you, housekeeper! Hahaha! I’m alive!”
“Hahaha! Our lord really is something else! Well done, old man! Cough, cough!”
Both Kaor and Alfoy lay flat on the ground, laughing in sheer relief. They had narrowly escaped death, and the joy of survival was overwhelming.
After catching his breath, Ghislain approached the two men and asked, “Are you alright? What happened up there?”
Both Kaor and Alfoy pointed at each other, speaking simultaneously.
“It’s his fault! This idiot can’t even use magic properly!”
“He’s the one who wanted to go higher! He’s the real scumbag!”
Ghislain, after hearing their explanations, shook his head.
It seemed the balloon had failed to withstand the high-altitude winds or perhaps overheated the air chamber.
While it wasn’t entirely the balloon’s fault, since they had gone beyond the agreed-upon safe altitude, the two fools had brought the danger upon themselves.
Still, accidents could happen anytime. Given the risks at such heights, safety would need to be reinforced.
A little later, the dwarves, who had been inspecting the downed balloon, timidly approached Ghislain.
Having taken such pride in their creation, they now seemed deflated after the incident.
“What was the problem?” Ghislain asked.
“We’re not sure... It could’ve been the high-altitude winds or perhaps the air became too hot. The seams of the air chamber tore, and the fabric split,” Galbarik replied humbly. The once defiant dwarf was now much more deferential in the face of their failure.
Ghislain nodded thoughtfully and said, “We confirmed it can fly to the desired height, but we’ll need to reinforce it. Make the air chamber three layers thick, and cover it with a net for extra protection. Strengthen the other parts too, so it’s sturdier and safer.”
“Yes, my lord,” the dwarves responded.
Having assigned the dwarves to reinforce the balloon, Ghislain looked around and spoke to the gathered crowd.
“Well, despite the little accident, you all saw the balloon can fly just fine. These two caused the trouble by pushing it too far, but as long as you stay within the proper altitude, it’s safe. So don’t worry. If anyone wants to try it next time, just let me know.”
The crowd laughed awkwardly, shaking their heads. None of them wanted to go near that dangerous contraption.
With that, the atmosphere grew tense, and everyone gradually dispersed, eager to get back to their work.
As they walked back to the manor, Claude muttered to Wendy, “I guess dwarven craftsmanship isn’t perfect after all, huh? Seems kinda overrated, don’t you think?”
“Uh, Claude? Hold on a second...”
“Maybe the whole ‘dwarves are great craftsmen’ thing is just a myth. Like, ‘Sure, you’re short, but at least you’re good with your hands!’ You know, something like that... Hey! Don’t push me! My legs are sore!”
Wendy hurriedly pushed Claude away, hoping to avoid further embarrassment, but the dwarves had already overheard his snide remarks.
“Ugh... That hurt my pride,” Galbarik muttered, biting his lip.
Their first major project in the estate had failed. While Kaor and Alfoy had pushed the limits, the dwarves had no excuse for not foreseeing the risks.
It was an unforgivable mistake for proud craftsmen like them.
“Alright, let’s get back to work. We’ll stay up all night if we have to, but this thing will be perfect.”
The other dwarves nodded resolutely.
This wasn’t just about completing the job anymore—it was a matter of dwarven pride.
Ghislain hadn’t scolded them too harshly, knowing full well how driven dwarves were when it came to their work.
As they made their way back to the workshop, Galbarik kicked at the ground, grumbling, “Look at all this dust... Someone should water this place down. It hasn’t rained in ages.”
Recently, the weather had been unusually dry. It hadn’t rained for some time, but no one seemed too concerned.
“Why does it keep getting hotter?” Galbarik muttered.
As a dwarf used to working with fire, he was more sensitive to temperature changes than most.
The north was supposed to be cool, but it was feeling more like a desert lately.
“Ugh, how did people even live here? And now I’m stuck here too... I hate it.”
Having come from the warm, pleasant south, Galbarik found it hard to adjust to the harsh northern climate.
“This place is awful. The weather sucks, the work sucks, and that steward... he’s the worst.”
Grumbling all the way, Galbarik finally reached the workshop with the other dwarves.
While the dwarves resumed their work on the balloon, Ghislain approached the resting knights and said, “You’ve all had a nice break, right? Well, now we’re starting a new training regimen. We don’t have much time left.”
The knights blinked in disbelief. They had barely rested, and now he was talking about more training?
They wanted to refuse.
A few brave souls raised their hands and shouted, “We’re fine! We still have plenty of time!”
But Ghislain just smiled and shook his head.
“No, I’m the one who doesn’t have time. Assemble now.”
The knights, groaning and near tears, reluctantly dragged themselves to their feet.
