Frilian: The Adventure of the Hero

Post-dinner entertainment time.

Frillie began a debriefing session based on Philon's recent performance in the battle.

"First of all, no matter how awful the smell is, you must not turn your back on the monster."

"..."

"Secondly, the monster didn't attack you just now, so the practical training wasn't effective enough. Next, I'll help you practice [Defense Magic]. Are you ready?"

Before Philon could even reply, Frilian unleashed a magic beam.

Swah——

Xia En felt like her eyes were about to be blinded by the light.

A wide, deep trench was blasted into the ground from in front of Frilian to behind Philon.

Philon stood in the center of the deep ravine, a pale blue magical shield firmly held in front of him, completely unharmed.

"Not bad, very skilled, and the reaction is quite fast."

"Then, let's try this next."

Frilian adjusted the magical power she was shooting out; the originally thick beam of magical light became as thin as a thread, shooting straight towards Philon.

Philon remained firmly in place, maintaining his magical shield.

Just as the ray approached the magic shield, Frilian's staff moved slightly, and the thin line, as if fluttering in the wind, instantly slid past the edge of the magic shield, bypassing the defensive magic and completing its circling attack.

!!!

Ultimately, the attack stopped just one centimeter from Philon's neck.

Philon was terrified.

After a moment of stunned silence, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

"I targeted your defensive vulnerabilities; if it weren't for the simulation battle, you would already be dead."

Seeing Philon's expression, Shane felt a little guilty, but seeing Frillie's serious look, he ultimately said nothing.

When a mother is educating her child, the father should ideally not interrupt.

boom--

Boom boom boom boom boom—

A series of magical explosions echoed through the depths of the forest.

From fixed-point defense to all-around defense, from stationary defense to mobile defense, Frilian subjected Philon to grueling training.

"[Defense Magic] is very powerful, but it consumes a lot of magic power. If the range of its deployment is too wide or the duration is too long, the magic power will be exhausted within a few tens of seconds."

"The correct approach is to deploy locally and precisely defend the area the moment an attack is launched, right?"

"That's right."

"You seem quite concerned about my mastery of [Defense Magic]."

"After all, it's about survival rates."

Philon nodded. "Indeed, as long as you can successfully cast the [Defense Magic], you can defend against most attacks. This magic is so powerful that it gives you peace of mind."

Frillie frowned.

"Philan, you didn't read the magical history documents I gave you properly, did you?"

Upon hearing Frilian's accusation, Philon pursed her lips and turned her head away.

From her expression, Frillie knew that not only did she not look, but she was also very unwilling to look.

Phyllen disliked lengthy and verbose historical documents, a fact that Frilian discovered when teaching her the ancient Elvish language.

In that case...

"Shane".

"?"

"Come and accompany me in my studies."

"..."

Xia En, whose name was called, silently put away the sunflower seeds in his mouth.

He understood what Frillie meant.

Philon's ideas are too academic.

No magic is absolutely invincible.

Moreover, [Defense Magic] has an extremely fatal flaw: while it does defend against attacks, the additional effects of those attacks are difficult to defend against.

For example—

Xia En drew his sword from his waist, walked up to Philen, and very gentlemanly reminded her, "Don't be nervous, Philen, I'll be very gentle."

With that, he activated [Speed] and charged straight ahead.

Faced with Shaen's rapid approach, Philon instantly erected his defensive magic, leaving no opening. However, it seemed that Shaen was not there to find an opening at all.

Bang!

A loud bang.

Shain's longsword struck the magic shield in a simple and unadorned manner.

"what!"

Philon screamed, his knees buckled, and he was forced to kneel on the ground by Shane.

The magic shield did indeed defend against Shane's attack, but when the longsword struck the magic shield, the shield suffered a massive slash due to the bonus from the [Heavy Strike] attribute.

【Heavy Strike (Blue Excellent)】: Your normal attacks become heavy slashes comparable to a giant axe, each one hurts.

The immense impact was transmitted to Philon, who was mercilessly struck.

Shaun didn't continue his attack. He retreated, creating some distance between himself and Philen. After Philen had calmed down a bit, he reminded him again, "Can't take it already? I'm coming again."

Then, he pulled out a kunai shuriken, very obviously and deliberately showing it to Philon, and brazenly aimed it at her.

Philon frowned. This time, she learned her lesson and did not rush to use [Defense Magic]. Instead, she began to seriously consider Frilian's teachings, preparing to deploy a localized defense the moment she was attacked.

whoosh-

Xia En made his move.

Swah——

Philon Defense.

"what!"

Philon screamed in agony.

She once again accurately defended against the shuriken's attack, but another item on the shuriken, the "Flashbang" ability, blinded her!

Philon covered his eyes and knelt down once again.

Xia En smiled.

I had a chance to test out the improved Flashbang, and it's pretty good. It works much better than when it's on a longsword.

After her eyesight was restored, Philon lost the composure she had shown when she fought Frilian.

She stared intently at Shane, gripping her staff tightly, and began to rethink Frilline's lesson. Unlike simply listening to a lecture, this practical experience with Shane had made her truly "take it all in."

This was also the reason why Frilian had Shane "accompany" her in her studies.

"I understand, Ms. Frilian. Defensive magic is indeed powerful, but it cannot perfectly defend against the impact of physical attacks, as well as auxiliary attacks such as blinding and poison. In actual combat, we cannot rely too much on defense."

Frillie nodded in satisfaction.

"Because [Defensive Magic] has an extreme defensive capability against magical attacks, recent magical research has begun to focus on matter control magic, such as earth, water, and fire. You must not be careless when defending against these new types of magic."

After the educational activity ended, the three of them headed to their next destination.

On the way, Philon raised a small question.

"Ms. Frillian, when you said 'recent years,' what exactly are you referring to?"

Upon hearing Philon's question, Shane couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Philon looked at him with a puzzled expression.

At the same time, Frilian, who was walking beside her, said quite naturally, "About a hundred years ago."

More than a hundred years!

Philen was speechless, but instantly understood what Xia En was laughing about.

"Didn't that start a long time ago...?"

"It's only been a few years."

"..."

"If you could tell me the specific time next time you teach, I believe I would understand it more quickly. That way, Mr. Shane wouldn't have to trouble himself to tutor me."

Xia En interrupted.

"It's okay, I'd be happy to."

"Thank you, but you don't have to be so willing."

As they chatted happily, a village slowly came into view ahead.