"WHAT?!" Lana gasped, her voice climbing an octave. "A... a teleportation spell? Across that much distance? Just how old are you?!" She looked completely bewildered. A spell of that magnitude was utterly unthinkable for someone their age.
"Is it really that complicated? I don't know much about space or teleportation magic," Kida admitted, tilting his head.
"Complicated?!" Lana echoed, practically shaking her head. "That's a massive understatement! This is on a completely different level. I'm certain not even the Headmistress could perform something like that when she was our age! Who on earth would even dare to give a disciple a task like..."
Lana froze mid-sentence. Her bright aquamarine eyes locked onto Murd as a realization hit her like a thunderbolt.
"Your... your teacher... it's Headmistress Cynthia!" Lana looked like she was about to faint on the spot. It was the only logical explanation. No normal mentor would demand something so absurd from a student—only her.
"Uh, yeah. She's my teacher," Murd muttered, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.
"T-That... actually explains a lot," Lana breathed, trying to steady her racing heart. Then, a spark of intense, childlike curiosity replaced her shock. "Please, can I watch you cast it? I have to see if you can actually pull it off!"
"Sure, I don't see why not," Murd shrugged. Then he turned to the red-haired boy. "You want to come too, Ki—"
"I'm in," Kida cut him off immediately, not wanting to miss the show.
"Alright, cool. Let me just grab some food first and we can go. I haven't even had a chance to talk to the guys yet."
Murd scanned the grand hall, searching for Amelia. When he finally spotted her, he saw her walking back with a plate in each hand, both piled high with a thick cut of meat glinting with a golden, honey-like glaze. Seeing him, Amelia beamed and quickened her pace.
Spotting a golden opportunity, Kida decided to turn the tables and tease Murd the exact same way Murd had mocked him earlier. Nudging Murd playfully with his elbow, Kida smirked. "So... you too, huh?"
"No," Murd cut him off instantly, his expression deadpan and completely serious.
The sudden gravity in Murd's voice startled Kida. "Ugh, fine, fine. Don't get all moody on me," Kida muttered, raising his hands in defeat.
Amelia arrived at their side, her focus entirely locked on Murd. "Here it is—the best food you will ever taste in your life: Tira de Queriom," she announced proudly, completely oblivious to the other two standing right there.
"It... looks... incredible," Murd murmured, his mouth practically watering.
"Right? It's amazing. We should find a place to sit down and eat. I actually know a little trick that makes it taste dozens of times better." Her enthusiastic pitch brought a bright sparkle to Murd's eyes.
Amelia finally took notice of Lana and Kida.
"H-Hello," Kida offered awkwardly, breaking the ice.
"Good evening, Lady Astrea," Lana said, offering a graceful, polite bow.
"Good evening, Lady Fligher," Amelia replied smoothly.
Murd noted internally that they already seemed to know each other. Amelia then turned her attention to Kida, offering a polite greeting. "Good evening."
"G-Good evening. I'm Rose Liu, a friend of Murd's."
Well, at least he used his actual last name, Murd thought, hiding a smirk.
Amelia's eyes blinked in surprise. "You're Murd's friend? Wait... are you from the other world too?"
"Uh, yeah..." Kida rubbed the back of his neck, growing noticeably nervous under her gaze.
Sensing his friend's discomfort, Murd stepped in. "Maybe we should go find a table. We can talk better if we're sitting down." He quickly scanned the banquet hall until his eyes caught a specific group. "There they are," he whispered. "Found them. Follow me."
Meanwhile, at a large table nearby, Churn was staring blankly at Huis. "Yeah, look, maybe we should grab something to drink first. Because I honestly don't understand a single word coming out of your mouth right now," Churn sighed.
Huis had been frantically trying to explain the finer mechanics of water magic. With a resigned sigh, he let the glowing chain of runes floating above his palm dissolve into thin air: [ᛚρρᛚρρᛚρρᛚρρᛚρρᛚρρ].
"It's honestly pretty simple, and the dual shields it creates are incredibly useful," Huis muttered, rubbing his temples. He glanced over at Verju, who was meticulously copying the runic sequence down on a piece of parchment. "Man, we really are a bunch of weirdos."
"You certainly look the part," a smooth voice chimed in from their left.
Huis looked up to see Murd approaching. A mocking grin instantly spread across his face. "Well, well. If it isn't the greatest genius in history? The grand Primus himself?"
"Shut up," Murd grumbled, which only made Huis laugh harder.
Huis noticed the group trailing right behind Murd, immediately recognizing Kida. Grinning, Huis waved them over. "Ah, Master Kida! Please, take a seat. You ladies are welcome to join us as well."
Kida shot Huis a sharp glare, which only fueled Huis's smug amusement. Murd chuckled at the silent warfare, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to Churn.
"Did you get to eat anything?" Murd asked, offering Churn a casual high-five.
"Yeah. It was actually pretty good," Churn replied in his usual calm cadence.
Murd set his plate down, ready to finally dig into his food, when Amelia's voice suddenly cut through the air.
"Wait... you're the boy from the training grounds, aren't you?" Amelia asked, staring at the green-haired boy.
"Y-You..." Verju stammered, a sudden blush dusting his cheeks.
Amelia smiled brightly. "I had no idea you were friends with Murd too! What a crazy coincidence." She paused, tilting her head. "Come to think of it, I never actually got your name, did I?"
"I'm Verju. Verju Baldwin," he said shyly. Eager to make a good impression, he gently pulled out the empty chair right next to him. "Here, you can—"
"Nice to meet you!" Amelia cheered happily.
But instead of taking the seat Verju had politely pulled out for her, she walked right past him and slid into the chair directly next to Murd.
Verju froze, his hands still gripping the empty chair as his fists clenched tightly. A dark aura of pure defeat practically emanated from his body.
Huis and Churn locked eyes across the table. Simultaneously, a pair of wicked, absolutely merciless grins spread across their faces.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Lana Fligher, but you can just call me Lana," she introduced herself with a sweet smile, gracefully taking the seat next to Amelia.
Left with no other choice, Kida quietly shuffled over and sat down in the seat next to the radiatingly jealous Verju, who just stared blankly ahead, completely dead inside.
The group fell into an easy rhythm of conversation. Lana chatted excitedly with Huis, while Kida found himself deep in conversation with Amelia. Verju, however, remained utterly silent, his eyes fixed intensely on Murd and Amelia.
The absolute peak of his jealousy hit when Murd raised his fork with a piece of meat, and Amelia leaned in close to cast a small, sparkling spell over it—her promised "trick" to enhance the flavor. Verju clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached, a crushing wave of inferiority washing over him stronger than before.
As the minutes ticked by, the conversations naturally began to quiet down, kept alive only by Lana's boundless curiosity about their original world.
Murd finally cleared his plate. That really was the best meal I've ever had, he thought, a satisfied smile resting on his face. He turned his gaze to Amelia, who was dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. Noticing she had missed a spot, Murd smiled, reached over, and gently wiped a tiny crumb from the corner of her lips with his thumb.
Amelia froze. It took a full second for her brain to process the casual intimacy, but when it did, her face exploded into a blush so furious she was practically steaming. This only poured gasoline on the burning fire of Verju's jealousy, even though he knew he was being completely ridiculous.
Murd stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "I think it's about time I get going," he said.
Amelia was the first to react. "Already? So soon?"
"Yeah... I need to get back to my training," Murd replied.
"Will I still be able to see the spell?" Lana asked eagerly.
"Yeah, of course," Murd smiled.
"What spell?" Huis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Cynthia told me to return to the clan mansion using a teleportation spell," Murd explained casually.
"What...?" Huis blinked, utterly speechless.
"Want to see?" Murd flashed a playful grin. "Follow me."
The entire table quickly stood up and followed Murd, who had already pulled the glowing green mana stone from his pocket and was casually tossing it in the air as he walked.
A few minutes later, he led them out to the quiet garden courtyard, stopping right by the exact same stone bench where he had laid Amelia to rest earlier. Remembering what had happened there, Amelia blushed slightly. Verju, standing right next to her, immediately noticed the shift in her expression and frowned.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen," Murd announced, turning to face his audience with theatrical flair. "Tonight, you will witness the grand performance of a truly magnificent magician!" He patted himself on the chest proudly.
Absolute silence met his declaration. They all just stared at him.
"Tough crowd," Murd muttered under his breath.
Without any further warning, Murd crushed the green stone in his grip. The crystal shattered, and the massive reservoir of mana sealed inside erupted outward with such staggering density that the energy became completely visible to the naked eye, swirling like a fierce storm.
Murd's eyes faintly glowed as he slowly raised his hands. In an instant, the wild, chaotic energy stabilized and shifted into a brilliant, deep purple.
"It's all his now..." Lana whispered in pure awe.
Glowing characters began to materialize in the air around him.
[ᛜχχχχχᛜᛜᛜᛜχχχχχᛜᛜᛜᛜᛜχχχχχᛜᛜᛜᛜ]
The first runic sequence formed, designed to bend space and anchor the mana to his exact coordinates. Lana's eyes widened, practically shining with fascination.
Next, several identical, singular runes flickered to life: [ᚢ]. These took their place at the very center of the formation, forcing all the other runes to begin rapidly orbiting around them. Within seconds, this entire set flawlessly duplicated itself five times, forming five massive, rotating circles of glowing purple runes that surrounded Murd completely.
He looked through the floating magical rings, locking eyes with his friends.
"And for my final act," Murd grinned.
[ᛉχᚱᛉχᚱ]
Another concentrated cluster of runes burst into existence beside him, joining the hypnotic orbit.
"Goodbye," Murd said softly, giving them a casual, two-finger salute.
The five runic circles flared with a blinding purple light. A second later, the light collapsed inward, vanishing without a trace—taking Murd completely with it.
"Incredible," the group breathed in unison. Every single one of them was left utterly stunned, even Churn, who didn't know the first thing about magic.