“Huh?!”

Covering the gap between both rooftops, the girl in the blue scarf leapt to the other building, glancing back at him and teasing him with another slip of her tongue past her lips.

“Grrr…!”

He was definitely getting frustrated, resulting in him not hesitating to pursue her further as instead of covering the several meter gap with a straight leap, he manipulated the winds once again to launch himself.

This time, he decided to use a lot more power behind his speed-augmenting winds, bursting towards the girl.

“–!” She looked back with surprise embedded in her sapphire eyes.

I’ve…got you! He thought.

With an extension of his arm, he swiped his hand, allowing his fingertips to graze her scarf, but narrowly missing as the girl escaped his grasp.

Crap! He thought.

He landed on his feet with a stumble, having to roll over and catch himself as the speed boost from the wind was a bit too much for his body to keep up with.

This tumble resulted in the girl gaining more distance on him, but he countered by raising his staff and invoking magic._.

Water Bind! He thought.

It was multides more difficult to accurately utilize the spell from a distance, but he did so anyway, summoning the ropes of water around the nimble, lithe girl in an attempt to ensnare her.

Come on…! He hoped.

He picked himself up to his feet and ran towards her while focusing the spell, but it failed to bind her limbs, but it did manage to trip her up as one of the tendrils of clear aqua swept against her ankle.

“Gah!” The girl let out.

Though the nimble thief managed to seamlessly catch herself, flipping back onto her feet, the momentary trip was enough for him to catch up as he used a few short bursts of wind to cover the distance between them.

Before he could reach her, the girl managed to narrowly escape his grasp again with almost inhuman swiftness, flipping back and leaping to the next building before running off.

He stopped, not chasing further as he exhaled with a drawn-out sigh.

–

Racing off, the golden-haired girl looked back, noticing she had completely lost the magic-wielding young boy as she smirked to herself, leaping a few times before stopping in a tucked-away alley.

“That was a cinch–rich boys like him are so easy!” The girl celebrated to herself.

As she reached to her belt for the sack of coins, she found nothing there.

“Huh…?”

She began patting down her entire body, finding no pack of coins on her body. It was a quick realization for her–she trusted herself enough to know she didn’t simply drop it while running.

“He…he got me…!” The girl let out in frustration.

–

“…Victory,” he mumbled with a cheeky smile.

On his hand, he bounced the bag of money on his hand happily as he sat down atop the roof for a minute, catching his breath as he lounged beside a chimney.

I knew there was a chance my ‘Water Bind’ wouldn’t grab her, so I made sure to at least aim one of the water tendrils for the bag of coins. She was so focused on evading the bindings that she didn’t think about that, he thought.

After securing his money once again, he kept it tucked away in his pocket with it always on the back of his mind as he hopped down from the roof safely, using a small concentration of wind to lower himself.

“Phew,” he exhaled quietly.

Luckily, the city of Elsia seemed less than worried about his own side adventures as it was likely not such a rare occurrence in the bustling stretch of the city.

Alright…where to, now? He thought.

As he glanced around, he didn’t recognize any of the buildings around him–there was a tailor, a tavern, and even a store for adventurer equipment, but this certainly wasn’t where he remembered being last.

…I guess I got a little overzealous in that chase, huh? I don’t know this city at all! Oh, well…Maybe I can find something in this place? He thought.

His sights were set on the adventurer-aimed store that displayed gear in its front windows: leather armor and metal greaves. The sign on the front showed its name: “McGrooves’ Arsenal.”

The money he had nearly lost was burning a hole in his pocket by now, after having saved it for some time, so he ventured into the store as a small bell jingled with his arrival.

“Welcome to ‘McGrooves’ Arsenal’! Have a gander!”

–He was immediately greeted by the shopkeeper; a tall, middle-aged man with a braided beard and slicked-back, blue hair that matched his facial hair, displaying his bulk arms with his sleeveless vest worn.

He nodded his head with a smile, “Thanks.”

It was definitely a new experience for him–shopping independently, that is. On occasion he’d be given the responsibility of going into town to buy some produce that his mother sent him to get, but that was it.

This was an entirely new field; it was his own money and his own choices.

Even before…In my first life, I didn’t have this kind of independence. Isn’t that sad?…I was a grown man, but I couldn’t even choose my own clothes or buy my own food. I was just a parasite, leeching on without providing any worth…He thought.

With such thoughts in his mind, he shook his head to dispel that haze, seeking to avoid any memories of his life before as he browsed the store.

It smelled of fresh pine and a hint of lavender, which was likely due to the candle that sat atop the shopkeeper’s desk. The store itself was made out of dark-brown, oak planks; neat and furnished.

As he looked around, perusing the items on display without any particular desire in mind, there was something that caught his eye.

“Oh, interested in that?” The shopkeeper asked with a smile.

What had gained his attention was something similar to a scabbard, but made for mage staffs like the one he held. It wasn’t anything fancy–just a light-brown, leather holster for a catalyst that wrapped around one’s torso, but he nodded.

“Want to try it on?” The man asked.

He glanced back, “…Yeah, sure. Please.”

The affable man who ran the store helped him put it on, placing the wrap around his green cape and sliding the wooden staff into the sheath so that it was neatly situated on his back.

“How’s it feel?” The shopkeeper asked.

He moved his arms around a bit, walking in a circle before hopping up and down, feeling that the staff was tightly secured in its hold before smiling, “This is perfect!”

The man laughed, “If you buy that, I’ll throw in a caster glove for free!”

“Really?” He sounded excited but then curious, “Wait, ‘caster glove’?”

It was the first he had heard of such a thing, but the blue-eyed shopkeeper seemed more than willing to show him as he retrieved the so-called item, picking one that was a fitting size for his hand.

“Go ahead–try it on,” the man said.

He nodded, taking the black-leather glove and sliding it over his hand. It was a fingerless glove with a magical seal etched onto the back of it, holding the symbol of a great tree.

“You’re a mage, arentcha? You really haven’t heard of these?” The shopkeeper asked.

As he squeezed his palm to feel out the glove, he shook his head, “No. They don’t have these where I’m from–Yullim.”

“That’s it, then. These are the newest, hottest things on the market for mages!” The bearded man laughed.