The World's Strongest Wizard Becomes Manaless Read online

  Isabelle nodded.

  “I know, but I think you’re strong enough. I doubt people could recognize you since you’ve changed so much,” she added.

  “But what about you? Aren’t you coming with me?”, Zephyr said as he continued eating.

  “What? Why?”, Isabelle asked

  “Well, I can’t get past any gates since I can’t identify myself. I don’t have mana so I can’t use my card you know.” Zephyr answered while giggling a bit.

  Isabelle completely forgot; to enter a kingdom, you have to show your card to the guards on the kingdom’s gates. Since Zephyr lost his mana, he would be denied entrance since people would think that he is a criminal who got his card confiscated.

  She couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

  “You have to come with me you know, I also can’t use magic bags so you’ll have to use them for me.” Zephyr laughed at the thought that Isabelle would become her luggage carrier.

  “Alright then.” Isabelle agreed.

  Zephyr stopped eating in shock. He didn’t expect Isabelle to be willing to follow him, especially since they have to pass through Stalta. “A-are you sure? I was just kidding you know.” Zephyr scratched his head while letting out an awkward laugh.

  “You have to follow your dream. You want to be the strongest, don’t you? Then you have to do this. You are my master, so I will follow you.” Isabelle said while she continued eating. She acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  Zephyr couldn’t help but smile.

  “Thanks.”, he said while looking at Isabelle.

  Isabelle blushed. Zephyr rarely shows his cool moments.

  “Idiot.”, Isabelle commented while she continued eating.

  “What? What did I do?”, Zephyr got confused. He thought this was one of her sudden mood swings again.

  “Go to bed! We’re leaving tomorrow.”, Isabelle got up and went straight to her room.

  Zephyr got left behind in the dining area. He was confused as to what just happened, but he shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.

  “Guess it’s one of her bad days again.” Zephyr muttered to himself while silently laughing.

  Chapter Three

  On the road going to Stalta, a horse-drawn carriage was being chased by a group of thugs riding horses. “Sir! They’re about to catch up to us!”, the coachman exclaimed.

  “Just give up and hand over all your merchandise! We might even let you live!”, the bandit leading the group said while laughing maniacally.

  “Keep going,” the man inside the carriage calmly ordered the coachman.

  “Y-yes!”, the coachman responded as he tried his best to make the carriage go faster.

  “Father, I think we should just give it up! If we get caught, they might take our lives since we made it harder for them…”, a woman’s voice came from the carriage.

  “You fool! If they catch us, not only will they take our merchandise, they will also take you!” The man angrily responded. “Also, they’re bandits. They won’t honor their words and will take our lives anyways…”, he added.

  After a while, the bandit leading the group caught up to the carriage. He drew his sword and swung it, hitting the wooden wheels of the carriage. The carriage lost balance and flew to the side while rolling around due to the speed they were going.

  “Ah, I told you to just give up,” the bandit laughed at the wreckage he caused.

  The woman who was in the carriage crawled away from the wreckage and pulled out the other two who were unconscious. “Good thing I deployed the barrier in time…”, the woman muttered to herself. The man who appeared to be her father had a few bruises all over his body. The coachman was bleeding a bit, but he didn’t seem to be in a critical condition.

  “There should be some potions in the carriage!”, the woman said, but as she was about to turn towards the wreckage, the bandits were already ransacking the remaining goods.

  “Wow, there’s a survivor… and she looks pretty fine!”, one of the bandits pointed at her. All of the bandits turned towards her.

  “Oh wow. I guess we’re gonna have a bit of fun tonight… hehe…”, the bandit’s leader slowly walked towards the woman. The woman shot a fierce look towards the bandit. The bandit only laughed.

  “Good! I love feisty women the most! Struggle as hard as you can!”, the bandit said as he kept laughing maniacally. The woman wanted to retaliate, but she did not know any offensive magic. This was the first time she had run into trouble like this.

  She closed her eyes and bit her lip out of frustration. She felt so powerless.

  The bandit held her wrist tightly and pinned her down.

  “Did you already give up young miss?”, the bandit said while licking his lips.

  “I’d rather die than be defiled by the likes of you!”, the woman exclaimed.

  As she was about to bite her own tongue, the bandit who was pinning her down suddenly flew to the side. The trees he collided with snapped in half from the impact.

  “W-what just…?”, one of the bandits asked in confusion.

  The woman got up and looked at where the bandit flew.

  ‘He definitely didn’t survive that… but what just happened…?’ As she thought to herself, a tall man started walking towards the bandits. He seemed to have come from behind her. “You guys shouldn’t be doing this in the middle of the day…,'' the man said as he sighed.

  He was wearing a cloak. His face was covered by a mask that resembled a human skull.

  As the man approached the bandits, they started shaking. They felt that the man was not someone they should mess with. The more they looked into the mask, the more fear they felt.

  “H-he’s alone! Let’s get him!”, one of the bandits shakily shouted.

  The bandits seemed to have gathered enough courage.

  “Oh! They seem brave. Or maybe having no mana weakened the fear that the mask applies…,” he man mumbled to himself. The bandits charged towards the man.

  “You have to get out of here!”, the woman warned the man.

  “No worries.”, the mysterious man reassured her.

  He pulled out the sword which was kept in the scabbard hung on his belt. The blade was darker than anything the woman had ever seen, but the light that reflected from the sun was absurdly bright. She could tell that the sword was not something to be scoffed at.

  The man was definitely someone powerful.

  The man pulled back the arm holding the sword, as if he was preparing to swing it. The air around the sword started feeling heavy. The woman who was behind the man felt the immense pressure and was in awe. ‘Who is this guy?’ , the woman wondered.

  He did not look like a normal adventurer. He was definitely someone powerful!

  Even though the bandits were not yet inside the man’s range, he swung his sword and immediately put it back in its scabbard. The movement was so quick that the woman was barely able to see it. If she had blinked, she would definitely have missed what had just happened.

  As the sword fully went in the scabbard, a violent gust of wind blew towards the bandits. The wind was so strong, the woman could clearly see the area it was concentrated in. It looked like a thin crescent. It was as if the man’s sword sliced through the wind.

  “What… what kind of spell is that?”, the woman couldn’t control her shock and muttered what was supposed to be in her thoughts. The bandits in front of them flew backwards due to the violent wind.

  The woman went towards their bodies to inspect them. Their torsos got deep cuts on where the wind hit them, but the wounds didn’t seem to be deep enough to have killed them, but it was enough to render them unconscious.

  “Don’t worry, I used the back of the sword. We still have to turn them in,” the man said as he started walking towards her. From a distance, a loud voice could be heard. It sounded like a woman screaming. “Master! Why did you just leave me behind!”, a woman came from the thicket of trees behind them. She was wearing a big bag and
seemed like she was tired after chasing the man.

  “Oh, Isabelle! I had to take care of some thugs here,” the man waved at the woman who was running towards them.

  As Isabelle walked towards them, she took a look around to see what happened.

  Looking at the scene of destruction that was before her, she couldn’t help but shake her head.

  “Master… you overdid it...,” she sighed.

  “U-um excuse me!”, the woman who was inspecting the bandits’ body suddenly spoke up. She bowed her head. “My name is Irene Bellridge! I am from the Bellridge Trading Company! Thank you very much for saving us!”, the woman expressed her gratitude. She kept bowing over and over again.

  “It was nothing!” The man scratched his hair and laughed while blushing. He hasn’t received any good compliments for a few years. Isabelle shot him an angry look, which made him stop laughing.

  “We will surely repay you! May I ask the name of our savior?”, Irene looked at the man.

  The man took off his mask. Underneath the mask was a face that was very familiar.

  ‘This man looks like…’ , the woman had a hunch on who he was, but the man immediately proved her guess to be right.

  “I am the Grand Wizard, Zephyr Chronis.”

  Irene’s eyes started shining. “A-are you really?! The one in the legends?!,” she subconsciously started approaching Zephyr. She could hardly believe it! Standing before her was one of the strongest magic users in all of Osbard!

  She saw plenty of pictures and statues of him, but there was definitely something different. He seemed taller and more muscular than what the stories depict him as. There was another thing that bothered her. He was known to be the strongest in terms of magic, but all of his other stats were average. How was he able to swing his sword as fast as he did earlier? Did he use magic to amplify his physical capabilities? And also, didn’t he use a staff instead of a sword? Many thoughts started to swirl around her head.

  She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice that she was still staring at Zephyr.

  “U-um… should we go now?”, Zephyr felt awkward as Irene kept staring at her.

  Irene immediately snapped out of it.

  “Oh! My apologies!”, Irene apologized and bowed her head again.

  “Let us at least thank you! Wait for a moment,” she said as she rushed towards the man who was lying unconscious and started shaking him. “Father! Wake up! We have to thank our savior!”

  The man groaned as he woke up. He looked around and had a slight clue on what had just happened. “Thank you for saving us! I am Wilson Bellridge of the Bellridge Trading Company,” the man bowed in gratitude. Irene also bowed together with her father.

  “No problem!”, Zephyr had a big smile on his face. Compliments seemed to make him quite happy.

  Irene whispered in her father’s ears.

  “Father, that man is the one from the legends. The Grand Wizard!”

  Wilson’s fatigue was immediately washed away from his body. The man before him was a legend! He could feel that befriending the man would bring many benefits, and the most important part of it all… He could smell money.

  The merchant’s blood within Wilson started boiling from excitement. Being on the good side of an influential figure would bring so much benefits to him. The excitement he felt made him give out a smile on his face.

  He looked around and saw the wreckage from the carriage.

  There seemed to be some stuff that were still in tact.

  “Sir Zephyr! Please! Let us thank you!”, Wilson said as he ran towards the wreckage and brought boxes towards them. He also pulled out what seemed like a flare and shot it towards the sky.

  He opened the boxes and in them were plenty of potions.

  Looking at them, Zephyr could tell they were all of very high quality.

  Zephyr was embarrassed. He wasn’t used to dealing with people personally. Before, everyone was afraid of him. He thought that his enormous mana could be felt by people around him, so no one dared to approach him. Now that he had no mana, someone had actually approached him.

  Isabelle saw that Zephyr didn’t know what to do, so she responded on his behalf.

  “We appreciate the thought, but we can’t accept this much.”, Isabelle bowed her head towards Wilson.

  “Don’t worry! This much is nothing! We were just about to sell these to adventurers over at Stalta anyways!”, Wilson said as he let out a loud laugh.

  Zephyr looked at Wilson. “Are you on your way to Stalta as well?” He asked.

  “Yes sir!”, Wilson immediately responded.

  Zephyr whispered to Isabelle. “I thought of something so we could slip in and out of Stalta without anyone knowing that we were there.”

  Isabelle immediately caught on Zephyr’s plan and gave him the thumbs up. Zephyr nudged his head towards Wilson, as if signaling Isabelle to tell them the plan. “Ehem”, Isabelle cleared her throat. “We don’t need these gifts, but we do have a favor we would like to ask of you.” Isabelle said.

  “Oh? What is it?”, Wilson seemed willing to hear them out.

  “When you enter Stalta, could you hide us in your carriage and sneak us in?”, Isabelle asked.

  Wilson was curious as to why. Isabelle could see curiosity in his eyes.

  “We don’t get along well with the nobles inside Stalta, so we would like to pass by peacefully.”, she continued, as if to answer Wilson’s questions. Wilson gave them a smile.

  “If that’s all, then it's not a problem. I shot a signal earlier asking for help. They should be here by tomorrow afternoon.” Wilson happily agreed while giving them a thumbs up.

  “Thank you very much!”, Zephyr gratefully said while bowing his head.

  “Sir! You don’t have to bow your head towards us! It’s the least we could do for our saviors!”, Wilson hurriedly tried to lift Zephyr’s head.

  “We should have some supplies left to be able to last a night!”, Irene said. Wilson nodded.

  “We do not need much. As our saviors, we should let you two be comfortable tonight!”, Wilson said, putting on a strong front.

  “No, it’s okay. You can stay with us, we have a lot of supplies,” Zephyr said.

  Isabelle put down the bag she was carrying on the ground and started channeling her mana to it.

  Zephyr put both his hands inside the bag. He seemed to be pulling out something huge.

  Wilson was in shock. The bag that they brought wasn’t an ordinary bag. It was a bag infused with space magic. As long as mana is channeled towards it, it could store virtually anything, but there were only a few of those in all of Osbard. He never thought of seeing one in his lifetime.

  But that wasn’t the end of the surprise.

  What Zephyr pulled out wasn’t just big. It was an entire wooden house. An even bigger surprise factor was the fact that the man is literally lifting an entire house with his two hands. Both Irene’s and Wilson’s mouth opened in surprise. They couldn’t believe the spectacle that was unfolding in front of their eyes.

  As Zephyr placed the house down, he looked at both Irene and Wilson. Both of them still had their mouths gaping open out of shock. He scratched his head and looked at Isabelle. “Ehem.”, Isabelle cleared her throat. “You should all rest, you must be tired from the incident earlier,'' she continued.

  Irene and Wilson immediately snapped out of it and started bowing repeatedly towards Isabelle and Zephyr. “Oh great masters, thank you for your concern!”, they repeatedly said in unison with their bowing.

  The strength they witnessed before their eyes was certainly from the one worthy of the title Grand Wizard. Zephyr went inside first. Wilson lifted up the coachman’s unconscious body and made his way towards the wreckage with Irene, when suddenly, Isabelle’s voice shouted. “Where are you guys going? Come in!”, Isabelle told them.

  “W-we couldn’t possible intrude!”, Irene responded in surprise.

  “It’s okay, just come in. Zephyr won’t bite.”,
Isabelle smiled at them.

  Wilson and Irene looked at each other and smiled. They were thankful that they met such nice people. They felt extremely blessed. “Then, sorry for intruding!” They said in unison as they went inside Zephyr’s home.

  They laid the coachman’s unconscious body on the cushion near the door.

  “You can take a seat over there while we prepare a meal.” Isabelle gestured them towards the dining area.

  They saw Zephyr cutting ingredients and was shocked.

  “L-let us prepare the meal for you! We couldn’t possibly intrude this much!”, Irene exclaimed.

  Zephyr turned around and gave her a smile and an okay sign.

  “Don’t worry! Just relax! You guys are still hurt from earlier.” Zephyr said as he continued preparing the ingredients. They were still surprised at how nice the Grand Wizard was. They thanked him and sat down by the dining area.

  Isabelle approached them and leaned closer. “You guys, don’t be so stiff. Act casually. That guy hasn’t conversed with other human beings for a few years. I’m sure all he wants are some friends that he could talk to casually.” she told them with a soft smile.

  Both Irene and Wilson immediately understood what she meant.

  They nodded as if to agree with her.

  Isabelle smiled at them once more and went to help Zephyr prepare the meal. Irene and Wilson watched them prepare. Wilson leaned over toward Irene. “Don’t they look like a newly wedded couple?” Wilson whispered.

  Irene nodded in agreement. “You’re right. They’re probably in that relationship,” she quietly replied.

  Zephyr looked at them and shook his head as if to tell them that they were wrong.

  Both Wilson and Irene laughed. Isabelle turned around and was confused as to what was happening. Zephyr also let out a laugh. “It’s been a while since I’ve felt this relaxed.” Zephyr told Isabelle.

  She just smiled and continued preparing the meal.

  * * *

  As the meal was served on the table, Irene and Wilson were both attacked with another surprise.

  The amount of food on the table was definitely way too much for the four of them. Even if the coachman woke up to help them eat, they both doubted that they could finish it. Another surprise was that the ingredients in all the dishes weren’t normal . As merchants, they were able to identify the ingredients used; they were all extremely hard to acquire!