Episode 119

“Spring forth.”

As the incantation was repeated, masses of water took shape and materialized.

The spell did not simply end with allowing the mage to perfectly understand the space around them.

It also provided additional effects in ranged attacks like this.

Originally, the number of water orbs one could control was limited, since you had to manipulate each one, but now the number could be greatly increased.

Combining and linking spells in this manner was also a mage’s skill…

“……”

“……”

…but this was only possible if you had the magical power to back it up.

Dergyu and Giselle forgot to charge at Bikelintz, instead watching the water orbs with faces full of wonder and incredulity.

No matter how you looked at it, there were just too many.

‘Astonishing!’

Bikelintz also forgot to counterattack and just stood there.

Giving a powerful mage extra time was one of the biggest taboos in battle. With just a brief incantation, the entire situation could be overturned.

But Bikelintz simply watched instead of interrupting.

The display was just too impressive to break the flow with an attack.

No matter if these were students of Einroguard, a first-year casting magic on this level?

“Professor Ingerdel. Do all the first-years at magic school use magic like that?”

Bikelintz asked.

If it was true, he was going to scold the Baekyangmok Order’s mages.

If a mere first-year could do this, what about the mages in his own order?

“No.”

“Not at all.”

“Absolutely not.”

Not only Professor Ingerdel, but Dergyu and Giselle also answered dead-seriously.

Swish!

At that moment, Ihan’s assault resumed.

The water orbs that had formed in the air zipped around at different trajectories and at different speeds.

Even if Ihan didn’t want to admit it, the scene resembled Professor Voladi’s signature magic arrow control.

Launching a mass of projectiles so aggressively, it was inevitable that he’d start to emulate the classic style Voladi showed.

‘I need to have a word with Professor Voladi about this.’

Watching, Professor Ingerdel frowned in concern.

He’d heard from several professors that Ihan was learning magic combat under Voladi.

-Did you hear, Ingerdel? Compared to Professor Baegregg, I’m nothing. So don’t ever mention me anywhere—especially to His Majesty the Emperor.

-Ha… Why… Ihan learning under Professor Voladi… I didn’t realize talent could be poisonous… Oh, forgive me. That wasn’t a complaint for you, Professor Ingerdel…

The professors at this magic school, being mages themselves, had a certain fierceness.

Learning from professors like that, Ihan was turning out the same way.

A freshman was already floating this many water orbs in the air.

Even with his vast magical power, focusing on controlling all those orbs must take a tremendous amount of mental effort.

Professor Ingerdel seriously considered going to Professor Voladi to ask a favor.

Was it really safe to have him casting so many water orbs at once?

‘I’ll have to mention it very carefully.’

At this school, Professor Ingerdel was the only one who could protect the students from the teachers.

• * *

Ihan felt chills down his spine.

‘He’s strong!’

Such power shown by a knight who’s attained mastery could truly instill fear in others.

Of course, there was another reason for his chills, but Ihan himself didn’t know that.

If he had, he would’ve run to Professor Ingerdel and begged, “Please, don’t say anything weird to Professor Voladi!”

But right now Ihan had no room for anything else—he was wholly focused on Bikelintz.

Even with Dergyu and Giselle flanking and attacking, and with the water orbs raining down, Bikelintz showed no disturbance at all.

Bikelintz slashed down every water orb charging at him and deflected both student swordsmen.

‘Not even would get through this…’

The reason the three students were still holding out was because Bikelintz wasn’t attacking proactively.

If he started going on the offensive, their concerted attack would collapse instantly.

They had to do some real damage while Bikelintz was still being relaxed—but that was easier said than done.

Ihan hadn’t planned to win with the water orbs, anyway. They were just a ruse to throw off and create an opening.

If an opening appeared, he’d launch a solid attack using a spell like …

But not a single gap appeared.

‘Why did Professor Ingerdel have to bring a knight like that…’

Gripes or not, his body moved.

He aimed for the best possible method right now.

“I hide in the night.”

Ihan chanted quietly. As he murmured while ducking behind an illusion, his body turned invisible.

Being at a fair distance, and with multiple illusions of Ihan made by , Bikelintz didn’t notice.

‘This is as close as I can get.’

Even after casting the invisibility spell, Ihan could not get much closer.

He was scared of the knight’s senses.

He’d learned firsthand in Professor Voladi’s class.

A skilled mage could block out sight and still detect surroundings using only magical energy.

Surely a skilled knight could do the same.

The moment he got too close, invisibility or not, he’d instantly be discovered.

He had no choice but to settle for this.

Ihan drew in a breath and steeled himself.

From here on, it was a race against time.

‘I’m counting on you, Perkuntra!’

“Gather and unleash, o lightning of Perkuntra!”

Magic power erupted from Ihan’s core and shifted to lightning-attribute mana.

A 1st-circle spell like couldn’t store up this much power, but in this casting, lightning energy was rapidly amassed and roared as a sphere, launching forward.

It was the fastest Bikelintz had been surprised today.

The boy of the Wodanaz family had snuck up invisibly and fired off a lightning spell from behind.

And it looked at least like a 4th-circle spell!

It was shocking enough for a freshman to cast a 4th-circle spell, but even more shocking was the speed.

Casting spells on a calm training ground was nothing like casting them amid the chaos of battle.

With the former, you could do it slowly as many times as you wanted, but in the latter, you had to overcome tension and pressure to cast instantly and fast.

A freshman breaking through such conditions and casting this fast?

It felt like he was even better than some of the Baekyangmok Order’s own mages.

‘The Wodanaz family… I’d only heard rumors, but the rumors didn’t do them justice!’

KAKAKAKANG–!!!

Purple light flashed from Bikelintz’s blade as he struck down the incoming lightning.

With an ear-splitting crash, the lightning fragmented and scattered, embedding itself into the ground and vanishing.

The scorched earth where it struck showed how much power there’d been.

But that meant nothing to Ihan.

‘…Perkuntra, I’ll never trust you again!’

His trusted spell had been blocked—what did it matter if it had been strong?

Ihan cursed Perkuntra.

Worse, this ambush made Bikelintz change his attitude.

“…I’m truly impressed.”

Bikelintz raised his blade. Traces of lightning still flickered along the edge.

He no longer intended to just stand still. No matter how young the freshmen, to just remain passive against such skill was both an insult and discourtesy.

Sincerity demands sincerity.

“……”

Ihan felt a chill run down his spine.

He could predict what came next without a word—he’d been in this situation enough before.

“I think you’re misunderstanding, sir knigh—”

Bang!

Before Ihan could finish speaking, Bikelintz stomped and shot forward like lightning.

Ihan instinctively chanted.

“Gather, condense, and detonate!”

• * *

One of the biggest misconceptions non-mages had was, ‘Can’t you just pick up a grimoire and practice magic on your own, even without learning from a teacher?’

Of course, this was nearly impossible.

A mage’s grimoire was meant not for the transfer of knowledge, but for the mage’s own satisfaction.

They made no effort to help anyone understand!

Books filled with codes, abstract metaphors, crooked scribbles, abbreviations, and references only the author understood—that was a grimoire.

So it was no wonder that even after rereading over and over, Ihan kept getting stuck on the first page.

Even though this one was actually one of the more detailed and thorough books he’d seen.

After wrestling with the book for ages, Ihan was barely able to decipher a single spell.

It’s believed no blood mage is unfamiliar with the great and awe-inspiring Magic Missile of Fibliqus. The masterful blood mage Fibliqus created this spell for future generations of blood mages; the method is as follows…

.

A rather ironic and grandiose name.

Magic Missile was an easy and basic 1st-circle spell.

So basic, that even some mercenaries would learn just Magic Missile and call themselves wizards.

But was definitely different from the original Magic Missile.

It extracted and condensed a huge amount of magic power in an instant, a scale on a different level.

The principle was simple, but for a blood mage amplifying their mana, there was no need for anything more complicated.

The same went for someone like Ihan, whose strength was his abundance of magical power.

Ihan thought this was a useful spell, so he’d studied it eagerly.

Of course, he never imagined he’d have to cast it in a real fight on his very first attempt…

Kiiiiik.

As the mana condensed and collided, an odd sound of instability rang out.

Ihan panicked.

‘What the—?’

At first, he thought the spell had failed. But it had not.

The condensed magic was still moving according to his will.

As if it might explode at any second!

‘…!’

Only then did Ihan realize.

In the incantation: ‘detonate.’

Normally, Magic Missile required an incantation like ‘fire’ or ‘launch.’

But this was ‘detonate.’

Which meant…

‘This was never meant to be a launching-type Magic Missile in the first place!’

It purposely compressed a massive amount of mana into instability and made it detonate at point-blank range!

There was no way such an unstable Magic Missile could hold its shape and fly.

This spell had discarded the act of launching entirely.

Ihan cursed blood mages and focused his mind.

Abandoning the spell now would be suicide.

The only choice was to control the explosion!

‘I’ll control it.’

• * *

Bikelintz, charging in, was shocked by the burst of mana blowing up in front.

Casting such a spell in that short moment?

“Hrgh!”

Bikelintz poured his magic into every muscle and braced himself.

It was hard to believe such destructive force could be summoned so quickly.

In his heart, he felt respect for this young opponent, even as he batted Ihan’s staff from his hands.

Once the fight was over, Bikelintz sheathed his blade and approached Ihan.

“By any chance, in the Baekyangmok Order…”

Swish!

Ihan drew his wooden sword and thrust it forward.

It stopped just in front of Bikelintz’s chest.

Bikelintz looked at Ihan in surprise, then let out a bitter laugh.

‘Still lacking. Can’t believe I made a mistake like this…’

Because he was caught up in magic, he thought it was over once he’d knocked away the staff.

Bikelintz conceded honestly.

“I’ve lost.”

Given all the young freshman had shown him, he deserved the victory.