Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 22

The boy tried to send away the bear again and again, but the bear followed the boy every time. The boy made a decision at the continued behavior of the bear—he accepted the little bear as family. It didn’t really change the boy’s daily life. He spent most of the day learning magic.

It was just that the time spent staring at the sky or lying down had disappeared.

“Fool, stop it, stop!”

Something hit the boy who was lying on the grass. The boy pushed away the mysterious attacker, but the attacker wasn’t easily pushed back. The size was small, but the strength was much higher than the boy’s.

“Ugh!”

The boy barely pushed away the attacker, rose from his seat and gasped. The attacker did what he wanted without caring about the boy’s reaction. He grabbed the boy’s thigh and shook it back and forth.

“Stop it, I’m going to fall.”

The boy stopped the attacker, the little bear, with both hands. However, the weak boy’s physical abilities weren’t enough to stop the bear. Finally, the boy lost his balance and fell back on the grass again.

“I can’t stand it anymore.”

The boy released his pent-up anger. He grabbed the bear and rolled around on the grass. The boy wrestled with the bear for a long time before stretching out like he had completely lost his strength.

“I can’t do any more.”

The boy shook his arms when he saw the bear. The bear’s eyes widened when he saw the action. Then he carefully entered the boy’s arms.

“Oh, so heavy.”

The boy’s lips twitched at the bear’s heavy weight, but he wrapped his arms tightly around the bear.

‘It is cool...’

The wind blowing was so cool. At the same time, his body spread out lazily. The boy’s eyes closed.

***

“I’m sorry, Teacher.”

The boy standing in front of the old man bowed his head and couldn’t raise it again. He was ashamed of himself.

“It is good to rest. It is also good to play. However, why sleep there? How many times have I said that it is dangerous?”

The old man’s words contained deep concern. This made the boy unable to lift his head even more. Meanwhile, the bear standing next to the boy made eye contact with the boy as if wondering what was going on.

“What is so good that you are smiling? This is all because of you, you fool,” the boy murmured softly with gritted teeth.

“Why are you scolding him for nothing?”

“It isn’t that...”

“Uh-huh!”

“I’m sorry, Teacher.”

The boy pouted as his head remained lowered. He felt resentful.

‘If only I wasn’t tangled up in that guy...’

He didn’t like that guy’s smiling face for some reason.

“Bah!”

The boy pushed the bear away. The bear was slightly pushed by the boy’s unexpected power, but he soon clung to the boy again. The boy frowned and applied strength to his hands again.

“Stop and go in. I think you need to learn more magic today.”

The old man bent down and separated the boy and the bear.

“Magic?”

The boy’s expression changed rapidly. His irritation disappeared and only his sparking eyes remained.

“I’ve prepared a new magic book for you.”

“Really? I love you, Teacher.”

“Do you like it that much?”

The old man laughed when he saw the boy’s expression. It was a completely different expression from just now.

‘He really can’t hold it in when it comes to magic...’

The old man felt complicated. It was a good thing that his only disciple was interested in magic. However, he couldn’t just like it. It was because he saw the future of the boy who would become frustrated at the wall of talent that would come one day.

‘Still… he will be happy until that day.’

Therefore, the old man couldn’t stop the boy. He couldn’t make the boy give up just because of the trials that hadn’t come yet.

‘I’ll break that wall for you.’

The old man clenched his fists.

“Let’s go in. The wind is cold.”

There was a smile on the old man’s face when he looked at the boy.

***

Time passed like running water.

Five years passed since the boy and the bear became a family. It was a time that could never be called short. It was such a long time that the boy, who was a beginning to magic, could serve as a proper magician.

“Pepe! Pepe! Where did you go again? This fool.”

The boy loudly called out the name of his only friend, but his friend didn’t show up anywhere.

“He couldn’t wait to go out again...”

The boy frowned. He told the bear to wait because he was definitely going to do magic training.

“It has been an hour longer than promised, but... he still can’t do this.”

The boy pulled out the staff at his waist and raised his magic power. Then he lightly tapped the ground a few times with his staff. Blue magic power spread in all directions around the boy. It was the detection magic he learned from his teacher.

‘It isn’t this one. It isn’t that way either.’

The boy accepted the information that the magic power was imparting to him, but there was no information about his friend.

“Where did he go?”

The boy raised his eyebrow. At the same time, more magic power slipped out of the boy’s body.

‘I found him.’

The boy consumed half his magic power before he succeeded in finding his friend.

‘By the way, over there...!’

Urgency flashed on the boy’s face. His friend was in danger.

“Don’t go there, you fool.”

The boy quickly kicked off from the ground.

***

“Gasp gasp.”

The boy ran for a long time without a break. He was out of breath and he couldn’t stop. It was for the sake of his one and only friend.

‘Over here.’

The boy stopped in front of a cave that a gloomy energy flowed from.

“I’m coming, Pepe.”

The boy took a few deep breaths before entering the cave.

‘I can’t see ahead very well.’

The cave was very dark. The visibility shortened like it was the middle of the night.

‘I still have to go.’

The boy slowly moved forward with one hand against the wall. His desperation to find his friend quickly was greater than his fear of the cave.

Did his friend know the heart of the boy? The boy was soon able to find his friend.

“Pepe!” The boy called out his friend’s name. A giant shadow appeared in the cave. The shadow was the bear who had changed to such a point that it was hard to find the childhood appearance. He was now twice as tall and big as the boy.

“I told you not to come here, you fool.”

The boy rushed in like the boy had done before, hugged the bear’s waist and shook it. The giant bear, Pepe, lowered his head and made eye contact with the boy. The size was larger, but the pure pupils remained the same.

“It doesn’t work even if you look at me like this. Let’s go.”

The boy grabbed Pepe’s leg and dragged him. He wanted to get out of the cave as soon as possible. Pepe cocked his head several times at the boy’s behavior and soon carried the boy in his arms. He quickly exited the cave. It was a boy running when entering, but a three meter tall bear when coming out. There was bound to be a difference in speed.

“It is dazzling.”

The boy frowned at the sudden sunlight. His eyes that had adapted to the darkness of the cave blinked to adapt to the bright light.

‘What?’

Meanwhile, strange things were seen in the boy’s eyes. Dozens of jewels appeared and disappeared in the bushes.

‘What happened to my eyes?’

The boy rubbed his eyes and looked again. Just then, the cries of beasts were heard from where the boy was looking.

‘It was the eyes of beasts!’

The boy realized it. The identity of the jewels that he thought he had seen incorrectly.

‘Giant wolves...’

He remembered hearing about it from his teacher. There were wolves that lived in the forest.

‘They are very ferocious...’

“They live in groups of 10 or more!”

Information about the giant wolves burst out of the boy’s mouth in a scream.

“Pepe, run away!”

The boy looked at Pepe with a desperate expression and patted Pepe on the chest. Pepe started running quickly as if he understood the boy’s words. The giant wolves also moved when Pepe moved. Around 20 wolves followed the bear with harsh cries.

‘What should I do?’

The boy squeezed the staff he was wearing at his waist with both hands. His mind had turned blank.

‘No, I will die if I do something wrong.’

The boy desperately recalled the magic he had learned.

‘What type of magic should I use?’

None of the magic that the boy learned could wipe out 20 giant wolves in one go. The proper attack magic he had was all the basics such as Fireball or Ice Spear.

‘Would the fire type be best?’

The boy’s mind spun as hard as possible.’ It was to find a solution to this situation.

Grrrrrrr!

Meanwhile, the giant wolves were right behind them. Pepe was a three meters tall bear, but it was impossible for him to run quickly as he was carrying the boy.

‘I have to fight.’

The boy could feel the breath of the wolves. He also realized that he had to fight them.

‘First of all...’

The boy started to desperately chant a spell. He was more focused than when he learned magic from his teacher. The boy’s talent, which no one knew about, appeared in extreme situations.

The giant wolves further narrowed the distance with them. Now they were really close to being caught.

Grrrrr!!!

One giant wolf leaped toward Pepe’s back. At this moment, a small fireball popped out from the side of Pepe’s head and flew toward the giant wolf. A small explosion occurred on the giant wolf’s face and bounced off. The giant wolves flinched when they saw it. It was a completely unexpected situation, but it was only for a moment. They exuded an even fiercer momentum due to their anger at the loss of their colleague.

“I did it!”

The boy unknowingly cheered. He was proud to have performed magic properly in an urgent situation.

‘It isn’t the time for this.’

It was only for a short time. The boy regained his composure. There were still a lot of giant wolves left. The boy recited a spell again and controlled his magic power.

Things became worse as the boy focused on casting magic. The giant wolf pack completely caught up with them. Suddenly, the boy and Pepe were surrounded by the giant wolves.

Grrrrrrr!

The cries of the giant wolves were heard everywhere.

‘When did they catch up like this?’

The boy’s composure was shaken. The fear of death penetrated his heart. His concentration was broken, causing his magic power to be shaken and his magic shook. Just then, Pepe raised the boy he was holding in his arms up to his neck. Then he started to gallop on all fours.

“What are you doing?”

The boy was taken aback. Yet as a result, his fear faded and his dispersed magic power returned to its place.

Pepe swung his paw at the giant wolf blocking his way. A giant wolf flew away with the sound of an explosion. In the meantime, the other giant wolves rushed to Pepe. Sharp teeth and claws flashed through the air everywhere. At this moment, Pepe turned his body to keep the boy out of the trajectory of the giant wolves. Instead, he received the giant wolves’ claws with his body.

“Pepe!” A scream burst from the boy’s mouth.

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