After learning the name of that old man, Kazuma learned some more things from the events that occurred until now. First, that man’s name was Zoukar the Mad, which somewhat gives justice to his personality.
Another thing he contemplated was his arrival in a strange world where magic exists and some weird people wield them. When that magic circle activated in his classroom, Kazuma, due to his blunder, lost his soul to nothingness, from where this capable and senile black magician caught him and transmitted his soul to a lifeless animal.
His enslavement was another subject to drive. However, he tried to feign ignorance towards that thing since that's what he usually did all his life. To live and learn, he had to obey the magician until he was capable enough to achieve freedom.
Now the question arose as to where the hell was in the cave that the old man summoned him to. Other than darkness and some weird rumblings after slight periods, he could infer nothing from that place.
"Can you invoke some flames, Astroth?" the magician Zoukar asked.
"Wh-what? Who is Astroth? Ah! I forgot I'm named Astroth by this freak, " Kazuma thought inwardly.
However, that man’s order seemed strange to Kazuma since he had never used magic earlier. Even if that man used some sort of scroll to unlock flame magic in his body, someone should explain to him how these things work.
"Are you not even that intelligent to call forth mana around you? Were you some useless beast that died early before learning anything in your past life? Most of the beasts in the world are capable of feeling the mana around them," Zoukar said while rubbing his chin.
"What mana? No one gave me a brochure of this world before activating a summoning circle unexpectedly," Kazuma rebuked him.
"Let's see, focus on the environment around you and there must be a feeling of something besides air shrouding around you. That's mana!" The magician Zoukar explained and resumed, "Anyone can at least feel it, even if they don't know how to use it properly."
Kazuma closed his eyes and concentrated on meditation. For the first time since his belief in these things like yoga and meditation gradually disappeared with time or he thought these things were subjects of the rich, he actually received faint results.
He felt some transparent and untouchable substance around him with the pure essence of nature. That substance calmed his jumbled and disturbed mind to peace. With that feeling, he tried to remember the feeling of those flames emerging from the scroll and finally succeeded in summoning some small fierce flames.
"Haha... you're not as useless as I thought. Your flames have a destructive essence bound to them. Are you someone who died with some anger issues or guilt in your heart? Well, what guilt could a beast have other than dying with an empty stomach or something?" Zoukar said with a hysterical laugh.
From his eerily snickering, Kazuma was somewhat depressed because his statement had dismayed his heart from remembering all the suffering and hardships he had endured in his previous life. Despite that bitterness, he resolved to live a great life after someday escaping this bastard.
"How much would an old man live anyway? Don't tell me this son of a bitch has a way of those typical black magicians to increase his lifespan," Kazuma pondered in worry.
"Well, now that you know how to use mana, we can proceed further into the crucial task. I want you to learn basic fire skills for my needs, which was the reason I called you out," Zoukar resumed.
"Why don't you use that on your own and release me now?" Kazuma thought inwardly while squealing externally.
The magician frowned and rubbed his chin. "If you're trying to ask why I need you, then it's because I'm a black magician loved by undead elements, so I cannot learn flame elements. That's why I need you, but wait, why do I need to explain it to you? You're just a mutt." he chuckled again.
"At least I got some crucial information from his babblings. First, one cannot usually learn more than an element unless it's loved by that element. If he’s asking me to learn flames, it must be because my affinity with flames could be better," Kazuma pondered with a grin.
That magician again picked another scroll and ripped it, targeting Kazuma. Another bright gleam appeared in the training of some magic formula in his head. Despite some pain this time, Kazuma faced it firmly.
"What the hell did he do this time? It's some magic related to flames. I can feel it," Kazuma thought.
"I gave you another one of my hard-earned money scrolls, only to get you to learn some basic magic ability. Now practice that magic and say [Fireball] while summoning the mana like previously," magician Zoukar suggested.
"..."
"Well!" Zoukar resumed his explanation, "This magic provides an ability to produce and throw small fist-sized balls of fire. You can also increase the size of these fireballs by putting more concentration and power into your casts. Well, I'm not hoping you can understand what I said, but due to our link, you can at least know whatever I said. The rest is up to you."
Unbeknownst to him, Kazuma was a human with a great head even in his previous life. He learned the mana use within seconds. He understood whatever the magician explained to him and was content to learn a new magic spell.
"Yes! I can at last use magic which can be used to throw fireballs and stuff. I’ll suck everything slowly from this magician," Kazuma snickered inwardly.
He closed his eyes again to focus on his newly gained magic ability. While concentrating his mana around him, he gradually chanted in his thoughts, "[Fireball]"
Suddenly, some warmth appeared within his mouth and began increasing even further. He focused on his paws to release the magic, but he had no idea that the flames would light in his mouth.
"Open your mouth and release that damn spell," the magician Zoukar screamed.
Kazuma opened his mouth towards the cave wall, releasing the flames from his jaw, alarmed by that command. A small fireball swiftly shoots from his mouth and smothers the wall, black from burning.
"Was it supposed to come from my mouth? Ah! I forgot I'm a freaking beast now. Bye-bye, my human days, here comes a reptile!" Kazuma sighed.
"Brilliant! Brilliant! You're perfect for my journey ahead. I thought you would be useless, but now I have hopes of surviving this damn dungeon," The magician chortled in ecstasy.
After hearing the compliment, Kazuma flushed for a moment. However, something caught his mind and he frowned, "wh-what? Did he just say we’re in a dungeon?"
That revelation slipped the ground underneath Kazuma's feet. The dungeon, a topic among fantasy-loving teens, is used in all fantasy novels or webtoons. A place where monsters stroll around and adventurers eliminate them for some rewards. "Is this the same dungeon I'm thinking of?" Kazuma sweated profusely. Although he couldn't ask for the magician's knowledge through words, he tried to crawl around and jump to attract attention towards him.Unfortunately, his actions had the opposite effect on the magician. He scowled and yelled at him, annoyed with his ignorant actions. He thought Kazuma was an ordinary beast and was delighted to live once again with some skill.His nickname 'The Mad' has some reality and meaning behind it!Furthermore, he even kicked Kazuma and activated some restraint magic on his soul, marking the beginning of a striking pain in his head. That pain somehow tried to split apart his existence."No! Stop it, you bastard. I get it! I get it!" Kazuma screamed in his
The bustling sounds came a lot closer to Kazuma and Zoukar, but Zoukar wasn't the one to feel panicked or frightened; it was Kazuma who had his brows wet. He squinted his eyes to get a closer look at the incoming enemies.Two massive silhouettes appeared out of nowhere as he focused his gaze. Their aura and crackling sounds were more explicit than before. Now the vague rumbling was crystal clear.Furthermore, their silhouette had lots of giant limbs with numerous jointed attachments and tentacles. Those creatures stepped forward. They looked like black giant ants with long tentacles and sharp teeth, which freaked Kazuma out of his wits.Their large pointed teeth could easily grind him, and their long legs could serve as a cage to catch small creatures. They could easily bind and gnash any small being at their leisure."Wh-what the hell are those damn scary ants? Am I supposed to fight them with this small ass body?" Kazuma stuttered in his head.His brows became wet as he frowned with
Kazuma wriggled and squirmed around, slithering his way through their appendages. He crept behind them and took a deep breath before the ants could again try to trample him. He attempted to concentrate on his back while narrowly dodging their pounding strikes.The ants crackled together as if talking their way to each other. Those sounds clutter Kazuma's head, forcing him to lose focus. Gradually, he had to concentrate on only defending rather than flying.However, the ants strategized a way to encircle him and jumped around, trapping Kazuma in between the two of them. Their enormous legs resembled a large cage, built for rhinos or something.Kazuma swallowed as his mouth dried due to fear. Now all his progress has been halted by those giant beings. Continuing down Kazuma's path, they again crackled in loud noises, as if mocking the tiny reptile to crawl and beg for its life.Meanwhile, Kazuma felt his head blank in those bustles. His life was nearing its end, whether he would beg or
Breaking the melancholy and solemn heart of Kazuma, a voice echoed in the caved dungeon, "Let's go, Astroth! We have to move faster to conquer the dungeon sooner or the ants will gather after hearing the crackle of those dead ants."Kazuma turned to Zoukar and stared at him for a while. From his statement, he could infer this dungeon had a lot more monster ants than he thought. However, he had yet to believe everything Zoukar said since he had never witnessed his might other than the soul binding.Keeping his faith in Zoukar aside, they marched forward while carefully sneaking their way further into the dungeon. Even so, nothing contrasting or particularly strange crossed their path; everything was the same dark cave.While on their way, Zoukar suddenly began speaking to Kazuma, "This dungeon had lots of ants around. Even the cave is larger than one could think. If you felt we were at the beginning of the dungeon, then you’re outright wrong. We’re in the middle of nowhere in the ant h
With a slight incline, Zoukar scrutinized the chamber from the entrance. He squinted his eyes and then said, "We can attract the whole ant army if we can somehow blaze this chamber filled with their beloved offspring."An intense gaze and a smile crept onto Zoukar's face as he glanced at Kazuma and the ants. He was ready to cut the corners on this strategy. Even Kazuma had shivers down his spine.Zoukar snorted and commanded, "Astroth, you have to smolder this chamber into ashes and bits while I'll distract the soldiers and worker ants with my magic.""Huh! At last, he'll show me something worthwhile. Let me see what magic he can display to distract those monsters," Kazuma hummed and chuckled.Zoukar pointed to the eggs and said, "Swiftly go and do the deed when you find the opening."He closed his eyes and concentrated the mana around his skulled staff. Don't know how, but Kazuma could also feel the mana concentration increasing around Zoukar, maybe due to him being a beast or whethe
Kazuma glanced around and resolved to again dive into enemy territory. Although this whole dungeon was the ants' home, Kazuma and his so-called master black mage, Zoukar, invaded that home of theirs.However, their attempt wasn’t limited to invading; this time they were going to massacre ant offspring, who could rise against the enemies as workers or soldiers. With a deep sigh, Kazuma resolved his heart to steel over his next action.He stepped forward into the chamber while the ants were involved with Zoukar’s undead soldiers. A loud pumping sound could be heard from the tiny heart of his small reptile body. He swallowed as a chill trickled down his body.Gradually, he closed the distance between him and the eggs, but the black ants were still protecting the eggs with their lives. Someone had to attract the attention of those ants for Kazuma to use his trick.As if Zoukar realized what he was doing, he summoned more of his undead and directed them at the black ants. Meanwhile, the re
While Zoukar chuckled hysterically, Kazuma felt nauseous and repugnant watching the massacre he brewed on the orders of an insane mage. However, he understood such events would be a common occurrence if he had to live with Zoukar and survive his insanity.In his reverie, he heard the loud shriek of those burning ants left in the blazing fire. That scream echoed in the whole dungeon cave. That sound startled Kazuma and even Zoukar to some extent.With a hurried concerned voice, Zoukar exclaimed, "Shit! Even in that heat, these giant shitty ants could transmit their intentions far to their kin. We have to run and hide before the terrible ant waves march on us and smash us down their limbs!"Zoukar swallowed after completing his sentence and gave a short glance at Kazuma. The upcoming fight even frightened him, or he had already seen what was about to come after hearing the cries of the burning ants.Suddenly, some rumbling began in the dungeon, and the whole cave shuddered. That tremble
Zoukar invoked some magic while grabbing Kazuma with his hand. He stuck to the cave wall as firmly as one could. Zoukar prepared Kazuma to feel stuffy in that congested setting. Yet Kazuma had no idea what and why Zoukar's behavior meant.Still, he had some inkling that Zoukar had not planned to abandon him yet. However, his breath stuck in his throat when the cave shook more fiercely than before. That trembled Kazuma's heart, and he let out a squeal in that state.Unfortunately, this fickle sound enraged Zoukar, and he clenched Kazuma's neck tightly. He gradually tightened his grip and whispered in his ears, "You bastard, are you trying to make us all die here by the horde? If I hadn't invested much in you, then I may have thrown you out as bait. Shut your trip and watch that."Kazuma tried to endure the choking and glanced at the cave. He noticed some mana around them, maybe some shield or something else, but he also noticed some shadows or silhouettes of something coming towards th