Zeke's sleepy eyes opened to the sound of muffled cries and distant explosions. Just a few days ago, waking to such a scene would have been like a nightmare. Yet today, the sounds of battle only brought a slight smile to his lips. Instead of getting up, he stretched his arms and legs languidly before sinking deeper into his bed.

The mattress was made from white cloth and filled with a material he couldn’t identify. By all accounts, it should have been uncomfortable. However, contrary to expectations, it was the most cozy bed he had ever slept in.

The fabric was soft—even softer than the pelts of those of the Nightstalkers they’d encountered. Also, whatever the stuffing was, it gave the mattress a wonderful elasticity that did wonders for his back. Neither his bed in Arkanheim nor the one in his estate in Tradespire came close.

Zeke rolled to his side with a content smile. For someone known to prioritize work over sleep, he had been spending a surprising amount of time lazing around lately. However, could anybody blame him?

Here, in this place, for the first time in a long while, he felt completely safe and relaxed.

There was no mission, no one to threaten him, no monsters that could sneak up on him, no scheming, no hidden objectives—no nothing.

After a particularly loud explosion that even managed to shake the walls of his room, Zeke found his curiosity piqued. Without bothering to put on a shirt, he got out of bed and approached the balcony of his room. As he opened the door, the sounds of fighting mixed with the ever-present noises of the jungle.

Stepping outside, Zeke immediately felt the touch of warm, humid air on his skin. While this tropical climate might have been unpleasant for a regular human, it didn't bother Zeke. In fact, he found the environment rather pleasant.

Approaching the railing, he grabbed the piece of vine slung around his wrist to tie back his hair. Ever since leaving Korrovan, he had not bothered to cut his hair, nor had he reapplied the brown dye. This had resulted in his original color shining through again, and with every passing day, the crimson became more pronounced.

Zeke didn’t consider himself a particularly vain person. In fact, he had never taken much interest in his appearance. However, there had been a sense of wrongness whenever he saw himself in the mirror—sporting this unfamiliar, brown-dyed hair. Surprisingly, it had bothered him quite a bit, and Zeke found himself smiling every time he saw his original hair color these days.

Arriving at the railings, Zeke was just in time to see the conclusion of the fight raging in the clearing below. Gravitas, Vulcanos, and Ash were fighting Rhea, the Titan. The woman had not bothered to transform and was instead taking them on in her humanoid form.

Not that it did them any good. She dove through Vulcano’s flames and shrugged off Ash's blows without breaking a sweat. Only Gravitas was able to pose any threat to her. They had discovered that her power to influence gravity was a surprisingly effective counter against the Titan. Even in her humanoid form, Rhea retained most of her mass, making her particularly vulnerable to the pull of gravity.

Zeke watched as the two men repeatedly threw themselves at Rhea, doing everything they could to slow her down.

This was the extent of their strategy. It consisted solely of keeping Gravitas safe, allowing her to tire out the Titan. As far as Zeke knew, they had not succeeded yet—even with Rhea pulling her punches so as not to hurt them.

Vulcanos burst into flames and shot a concentrated beam of molten stone toward the Titan. However, the attack left her largely unfazed, seemingly unable to hurt her in the slightest. It didn’t matter; it was only a diversion anyway. The moment the flames let up, Ash materialized behind the woman and jabbed a spear into her neck without the slightest hesitation.

Zeke was surprised to see the weapon actually leave a mark. It was a remarkable achievement—an achievement that would have been impossible without Gravitas slowing the woman down significantly. Even so, it didn’t mean that the Titan was actually slow. The air let out a shrill whistle as she lashed out with a backward kick.

Having expected the attack, Ash was already back in his mist form by the time her foot arrived. It didn’t save him. His body rematerialized as Ash was launched with lightning speed, soaring through the air like a projectile. Blood spurted from his mouth as his back collided with a tree.

Zeke winced in sympathy. That must have hurt.

Now that the balance was broken, Vulcanos and Gravitas soon shared the same fate, lying face down in the dirt. While Rhea was laughing heartily, Snow was rushing between the three defeated Chimeroi, offering water and applying bandages. The young girl was far too weak to join the fighting, but she still did her best to support her friends.

Zeke grinned as he saw his team slowly return to a semblance of health. Despite their miserable defeat, they had made substantial progress since their first battle against the Titan. Of course, they had never even come close to winning, but that had never been the aim of the exercise anyway.

...Talking about making progress, it was time he got going.

Zeke returned to his room and put on the shirt that had been prepared for him. As usual, it fit perfectly and felt comfortable. He couldn’t help but sigh as he traced the material with his fingertips. The shirt was made of a special cotton fiber that Cassius had grown especially for him and the mere act of touching it now brought back those memories.

It had been a surreal experience…

The elf had literally grown the shirt around his body, instantly encasing him in fabric. Within moments, Zeke had found himself outfitted with a whole new wardrobe, more luxurious and comfortable than anything gold could buy.

This had been just the first of many incidents that left Zeke absolutely baffled by Cassius’ abilities. There seemed to be little the elf couldn’t create using his Growth Magic.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

At first, Zeke had thought that the restriction to natural materials would limit the usefulness of this school of Magic. However, Cassius hadn’t been idle over the last centuries. His collection of seeds, saplings, or spores appeared limitless, giving him access to many materials to work with.

The most prized pieces of his collections were anything but ordinary: wood as hard as steel but as flexible as a willow branch; fabric as soft as silk yet as tough as leather. There seemed to be no end to the wonders the elf could create, and, as Zeke had learned, many of those plants didn’t exist anywhere in nature and had been specially bred by the Mage himself. They were the results of centuries of research and probably more valuable than their weight in gold.

All the more shocking was the fact that Cassius could grow those resources instantly. Even the limiting factor of seeds was no issue, as each fully grown plant would produce an abundance of new seeds, leaving him better off than he started.

When Zeke had seen the man in action, an unfamiliar feeling had crept into his heart. Not once since meeting Maximilian had he ever wished to change his affinities—not until that moment. He was frustrated by the realization that this sense of raw creation and limitless growth was something he would never be able to achieve with his Magic. And, for the first time in his life, Zeke felt jealousy towards another’s abilities.

[Notice]

Host only has to say the word, and I will find a way to bridge that gap.