Book 1 Chapter 20
Episode 19
“Watch closely, young master. After you submit your withdrawal letter, you’ll never have a chance to see something like this again in your life!”
Logan slightly loosened the bandage tightly pressed against his chest, revealing the magic circle intricately drawn on his heart.
There were three magic circles.
Each magic circle had a secret rune entered into it, beautifully flickering according to the owner’s heartbeat.
“Chaihak School’s Secret Art, Body Hardening.”
Gertrude Fenton gasped briefly, raising his left eyebrow.
“It seems he intends to finish it in an instant.”
As Logan placed his hand on the magic circle and channeled magic into it, the magic released from his fingertips awakened the magic circle in his heart, causing a halo of light to rise.
“It has begun, Gin-type combat magic.”
Wibert of the Lohwihnum School, leaning against exit 4 and watching the magic duel, stroked his chin.
“The measure of a Gin-type mage’s proficiency is the speed at which they activate body enhancement magic…”
The light of magic, starting from Logan’s heart, spread throughout his body via his blood vessels, and soon the magic circles covering his entire body began to emit light.
‘Gin-type magic’s biggest risk, if there is one, is the burden placed on the body.’
Professor Caroline rested her chin on her interlocked hands, looking at Logan with interest.
‘Since it forcibly enhances physical abilities, even a slight lapse in magic control can dislocate bones or rupture internal organs… Indeed, it shows speed and stability worthy of being considered a prodigy of the Chaihak School.’
Logan, with the power of Body Hardening surging from his entire body, was surrounded by a swirling current of magic, his hair flying wildly.
“I’ll finish it in 10 seconds.”
A single, momentary advance.
Propelled by leg power amplified by magic, his foot left a deep imprint on the marble floor, closing the distance to Rein in an instant.
“What is that speed?!”
“It’s practically martial arts level?!”
He had already closed in to within one step. Lightly thrusting his front foot, twisting his waist backward, and delivering a straight punch that contained inertia and centrifugal force in one spot.
‘I’ve created a barrier by confining magic to the body’s surface through Body Hardening.’
Not to mention defense, even when attacking, this magic barrier explodes at the point of impact immediately after striking, allowing for additional magic-infused blows.
‘Reaction is impossible; I’ll end this with one strike.’
He caught him perfectly off guard. So fast and perfect that there would be no way to respond from that unprepared stance—
—Thwack.
A sudden something pierced his solar plexus, causing his vision to turn yellow with pain and disrupting his breathing.
“──?!”
The sensation of all the power flow, inertia, centrifugal force, recoil that had been concentrated throughout his body, reversing and piercing through his lungs.
“Is that, could it be…?”
Professor Owen stared blankly, mouth agape, at Logan, who was propelled away from a perfectly lethal range and floated in mid-air.
“Osarius-style Staff Arts?!”
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the broom Rein was holding. Magic shimmered bluish along the broom’s grain.
‘The staff art devised by the Archmage Lynn, who, 300 years ago, elevated the Osarius School to one of the Eight Great Schools through overwhelming achievements…!’
A staff art established with the help of the hero Rista, who was said to be proficient in all weaponry, based on the idea that mages also need the power to engage in close combat due to the nature of chaotic battles.
‘How did Ludwig’s successor get that…?’
Professor Caroline couldn’t help but raise both eyebrows.
After the Rista party’s expedition ended, staff arts using staves became the basic armament of the Osarius School. Although called a basic armament, it was a unique technique of the school.
It was both a tribute to Lynn and an acknowledgment of its efficiency.
‘No, is it just an imitation of Osarius-style staff arts?’
But even if it’s merely an imitation, infusing an object with magic to harden it is proof of tremendous magic control skill.
Normally, if a body wrapped in Body Hardening were struck with such a cleaning broom, it should be brutally shattered.
“Hoo…”
Regaining his posture from the thrusting stance, Rein skillfully twirled the broom he had thrust out, retrieved it, and rested it on his shoulder.
“Wow! What was that, just now?”
“Did Logan really get knocked back?”
“Huh? What? How?”
In the unexpected situation, Logan’s body automatically entered a defensive state. He forcibly spun his body, which had been flying through the air, and slammed both feet onto the ground.
Chijijijijik──!
Leaving a long scorch mark, his body, forcibly braked, slid back about five paces before stopping.
‘Just now, what was that?’
Logan exhaled a huge breath, almost dizzyingly, and quickly caressed the area where the impact had occurred.
‘The Body Hardening barrier… was broken?’
Did he mean that he precisely pierced the location of the Body Hardening’s vital point? How? Then, a sleepy, yawning voice was heard.
“That’s odd. 10 seconds passed, but it’s not over yet?”
“…!”
“Bullying promising juniors isn’t fun, so I’ll finish you in 6 seconds. Grit your teeth.”
* * *
“Grit my teeth?”
How absurd, with just one stroke of luck… Yes, I admit it. I tried to take it too easily. It’ll hurt a bit, but I have no choice but to use my full power.
KWAANG──!
As he stomped on the ground as if throwing his foot, two sections of the marble floor shattered, and the impact’s recoil caused them to erupt into the air.
‘First, put in a long-range skill for deterrence!’
Then, he rotated his body around his heel and kicked the marble. The shattered white fragments formed a barrage of stones that rushed towards Rein.
“He’s getting serious now.”
“There’s no way he can beat Logan just by using a staff!”
And now.
Taking advantage of the obscured vision from the long-range deterrent, he would definitely get behind him with his footwork and cut off his breath… Huh?
‘My feet…?’
He was about to take a decisive step, but Logan was astonished by the heavy, sticky earthen power that clung to his ankles.
‘What the…?’
The dirt floor, revealed as the marble floor disappeared, had become a quagmire, a swamp-like mud, at some point.
“That’s a magic spell to level the field before rice planting, what was its name again? Anyway, it’s a 1-star magic. Quite useful, isn’t it?”
That voice came from far above. It was a giant earth mountain that had risen, collapsing the marble floor. Rein was standing on top of it.
“And this is a magic to create a temporary levee in case of a flood. It’s 2-star.”
The silence that captivated the audience in that single moment was profound and heavy. Everyone could only hear each other’s breaths and the sound of swallowing in the stillness.
“What was that magic calculation speed just now?”
“Two spells simultaneously…?”
“Remediere type? Was he hiding a magic circle? Where?”
Amidst the commotion, a smile born of bewilderment played on Professor Owen’s lips.
‘To elevate the ground he stands on, thereby blocking the enemy’s attack without obstructing his own vision.’
And not stopping there, he even prevented the transfer of the right to attack to the opponent by binding the feet of the attacking party.
‘These two spells were cast so quickly that the students mistook him for a Remediere type.’
Professor Caroline narrowed her eyes.
‘This atmosphere, where no one thinks it was done by mental calculation, is not unreasonable.’
Just as the audience was immersed in such shock, something even more shocking occurred: Rein raised his broom above his head and leaped from the earth mountain.
“…?!”
“…?!”
“…?!”
His feet were stuck in the mud, making his foothold unstable, but such a clumsy attack could be reversed to seize victory.
“What is that idiot doing?!”
Christa, utterly exasperated, abruptly stood up from her seat.
“He could just cast a single long-range spell and finish it…?!”
Logan clenched his fist.
Squeezing magic from his main meridian and dantian, he concentrated the widely spread power of Body Hardening solely into his right fist. The magic, amplified to its limit, intensified his concentration, stretching the flow of time.
He could see it clearly with his own two eyes.
The trajectory of the broom flying in a wide arc, aimed at his crown, and Rein’s face beyond it.
This, now, with a straight punch carrying all his magic, he would shatter the broom and strike the face beyond it, ending the match.
The magic-swirling straight punch advanced. It completely pulverized the broom, passed through the scattered wood fragments, and easily struck Rein’s face.
“…?!”
Yes, it should have struck him.
But his fist, for some reason his body, the fist that had come right before Rein’s eyes, did not move at all.
“And this seems to be a magic that temporarily breathes life into dead plants. It only lasts about 10 seconds, but you can use it like this.”
This, what is this…? The source of the problem was the fragments of the broom that had just been shattered.
The reanimated fragments were interwoven into sticky vines, strongly gripping Logan’s body like a spiderweb.
“I finished it with three spells, as promised. Right?”
“Ugh, ugh!”
“Alright, then let’s end this.”
As Rein raised his broom high, a chilling shadow fell across Logan’s face. The tip of the broom, broken by Logan’s punch, was as sharp as an awl.
The fear of impending pain in a completely defenseless state was enough to reduce Logan to a child.
He squeezed his eyes shut, barely letting out an unstable breath. And then, the sound of death touching his crown, *thwack*.
‘Thwack?’
There was no pain, no smell of blood. When he finally mustered the courage to open his eyes, he saw Rein’s back.
“W-what? Why aren’t you finishing it? Are you joking now…?”
“Why aren’t I finishing it? It’s already finished, isn’t it?”
“…!”
“There’s no need to get hurt over something that’s already over.”
Rein recalled Friede’s teachings and smiled sadly.
“If you understand that pain is scary, then don’t do bad things anymore and try to live a good life.”
Rein’s bitter smile and those words left a strange resonance in Logan’s heart for a moment.
He had lived his entire life in a place with corporal punishment. He had lived in a world where if you were weak and immature, you were beaten until you were on the verge of death.
In the world of magic, distinctions between male and female inherently didn't exist, and wasn't it a world where if you weren't strong, someone would devour you?
- You are a mage of the Chaihak School! What are you going to do if you can’t even do this?!
- Such an immature being! What have you done to be already panting?!
But Rein was saying.
“Ah, did magic duels end when the opponent surrendered or was knocked out?”
Huh?
He tilted his head, then immediately thrust the broom into Logan’s chest.
The magic, orbiting bluish along the broom’s grain, burst forth from the tip of the broom like an explosion, enveloping Logan. It was a torrent of magic.
Swept away by that immense wave of power, Logan rolled several times on the ground, finally collapsing far away with limbs outstretched, unable to get up.
The students watching the end of the fight were dumbfounded.
‘What was that? Didn’t he say there was no need for pain…?’
‘Why did he say that? Just for fishing…?’
‘He wasn’t a hopeless young master, but an infuriating young master…!’
Professor Theon, who had been watching the situation in a daze, finally removed the barrier and announced in a booming voice as Rein approached with a yawn.
“Victor, Rein Ludwig!”
Wooooah, exclamations born of unbelievable reality erupted from all over.
“Is this for real? The hopeless young master knocked out Logan, a prodigy of Chaihak?!”
“Did you see that? That’s the young master’s skill, you guys. Where are you running off to, bring all your silver coins.”
Gertrude Fenton blinked in disbelief, while Christa Warden nodded as if she had expected it.
And Joen, the club president, who had been watching the duel nearby with his club members, ran out, shedding tears of emotion.
“Thank you, thank you, young master. How can I ever repay this kindness…?”
Something shy, yet awkward, and embarrassing… In short, it was a familiar sight. When walking with Rista, that is.
“No, it’s not kindness.”
Rein scratched his head with feigned annoyance, shaking his head.
“Just create lots of good magic for the development of our hometown. So I have nothing to do.”
What did Rista say at times like this? No, don’t think about it. Because I’m not Rista.
I’m not the type to smile brightly and say, ‘It’s okay,’ or ‘I’m happy to help.’ Crucially, I’m not the kind of person who helps others purely out of goodwill, nor do I have that kind of impression.
It was more comfortable to think and act that way. Both for myself and for others.
“If anything, we’re helping each other. It’s not like I’m unilaterally indebted to you. Stop making people unnecessarily uncomfortable.”
However, this behavior of the former Archmage left an even stronger impression on the others present.
Strong.
Humble.
Seemingly indifferent, yet kind.
A being who seemed to embody the life of 'Mind for All Under Heaven', the first commandment given by the Dragonkind to the Imperial Nobles… The club members bowed their heads to the back of the boy who left with a yawn.
- In the world when Lynn grows up, there will be abundant forms of life. I hope Lynn will protect such lives.