Book 13 Chapter 35

Boy, Passing the Imperial Examination (少年登科),

Appearance in the Magic World (5)

"Then, continuing from yesterday, we will begin the second round of the [4-Star Selection]."

Northern District [4-Star Selection], Day 2.

Beijing <Snowstorm>.

Contestants entered from both sides of the Grand Sage's Garden. One was young, and the other was a boy.

"…It's Ken Sherman!"

"…A genius who is opening new horizons in virulent magic!"

"…And the Sherman family has a secret magic specialized in combat magic!"

But the cheers for the other side were even louder, certainly not quieter.

"…Is that the genius magic boy?"

"…Yes, the Magic Lord praised him immensely yesterday!"

"…They say he even used multi-computation of four types of magic during the Bandoran (1-Star) test?"

The young magician and the boy magician stood facing each other in the center of the arena.

The bodies of the chairman and the contestants are protected by the powerful magic of the supervisors.

However, pain sensation functions normally, and any physical damage is immediately reflected by illusion magic.

However, there had never been such a fierce battle in the Glados (4-Star) selection where such elements were highlighted.

Usually, after each contestant displayed three or four of their best spells in their current situation, the match concluded, and the supervisors debated the superiority.

"Hey, kid, where are you from?"

Ken Sherman asked.

Lin replied.

"Osarius."

"Osarius School? What kind of trashy name for a school is that? The dean isn't famous either, so you must be a good-for-nothing trash magician, right?"

Only the Glados (4-Star) magicians present at that moment felt the magical energy in the atmosphere violently stirring.

Magical energy is shaking…?

What's going on…?

At the center where the magical energy seemed to tremble in fear was Lin. His characteristic bored, expressionless face was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, are you confident?"

Only his eyes, chilling to the bone, remained.

"What did you just say to me, a lowly commoner?"

"I'm asking if you're confident you can beat me, you son of a bitch."

"Ha, ahahahaha! Confident? Yes, I'll answer that with the ultimate virulent magic, something a minnow like you will never get to use in your life."

As all eyes in the magic world were on the [4-Star Selection], most of the key figures from the major magic families and schools of the Northern Magic World were seated in the audience.

"As expected, he brought it out immediately, Dean. The Sherman family's virulent poison."

Ron, the dean of the Belsedel School, famous for the Northern Ice Palace, narrowed his eyes, stroking his white beard.

"We shouldn't have let the Sherman family take the initiative. The Sherman family's poison is not to be underestimated."

The Four Minor Elements are elements established by extracting only the practical aspects from the Four Major Elements, and among them, the virulent poison attribute is far more focused on lethality than other Minor Elements.

"…Yorhen-type casting of 2-Star magic, it's natural to lose the initiative. As expected of a strong candidate for the Northern representative of Glados (4-Star)."

"…The poisonous fog instantly covers the arena thickly."

"…It's only 2-star, but such dense poisonous smoke is coming out?"

Ken Sherman could discern the concentration and density of the poison just by its color.

'A midpoint between blue and red, an eye-stinging acridity, perfectly done.'

Ken immediately opened the grimoire hanging from his waist, flashing a meaningful smile.

'Poison isn't just about causing damage through direct contact. Indirectly destroying the opponent's sensory nerves is more effective.'

This toxin disrupts sight and sound.

A magic 17 times stronger than poppies will be unfolding grotesque hallucinations before his eyes.

Now, for at least 30 seconds, his vision will be like darkness. The next magic is a composite magic of Earth, Wind, and Virulent Poison attributes.

'Magic tier is 3-star.'

The runes etched on each attribute are Dust (塵), Encircle (圍), and Ignite (燃).

'Dust created by Earth magic covers him, and then virulent poison reacts chemically with that dust to amplify its flammability.'

With this process, he's effectively trapped in an explosive wall that he can neither avoid nor block.

'For a perfect finish, I've chosen a 4-star magic that overlays four triangles. The insane destructive power of a blast created by overlaying only four fire attributes will be amplified tens of times by the dust.'

Vulcan whistled as he watched Ken's continuous magic casting.

"It's a combination of 2-star, 3-star, and 4-star magic, but the continuous casting speed is incredibly fast. Although it was a Remediere-type using a grimoire after the first spell."

Ulan Page was also assessing Ken Sherman's talent with no small amount of admiration.

"Even if it's mental calculation magic, that speed is never easy. To use it, one must retrace the calculations in their mind and find the coordinate values, isn't that right?"

What upholds Ken Sherman's magic can be said to be his genius understanding of the virulent poison attribute.

Mostly, when secret magic is confined to one attribute, magicians are often bound by that attribute and don't show great talent in others.

But Ken is different.

His research into other attributes that can maximize the power of virulent poison is also top-tier.

In other words, he is a single blade.

His blade, a blade named virulent poison, sharpened to its absolute limit. Can a thirteen-year-old boy truly block such a sharp blade?

"Do something! Where did all that bravado from before go?"

Flames instantly combined with the dust, causing a vast combustion phenomenon, a dust explosion.

When combustibles are fine particles, the flames instantly devour the oxygen in the area, causing rapid combustion.

The explosion's range was vast and powerful enough to cover the entire arena. A deafening roar that seemed to tear eardrums and a blinding flash that seemed to burn retinas overwhelmed the audience's senses.

"So?"

In the vortex of that explosion, everyone expected the match to end just like that… but it didn't.

It was a counter-current of power.

It was a vortex of power.

The momentum of the explosion, which was about to engulf the boy, rotated around the ground where the boy stood as its central axis.

"Where is your ultimate virulent magic?"

The force, which had rotated once, charring the entire testing ground black, returned to its caster.

Right to Ken Sherman.

That's why the boy magician Lin was still standing in his original spot. There was not a single burn mark in his vicinity.

"…!"

"…?"

"…!"

Instead, it was Ken Sherman whose skin and clothes had horrendous burn effects rendered by illusion magic!

"Wind, it's wind magic."

Only Ulan Page could decipher the equation of offense and defense that occurred in that instant from the lingering magical energy.

"He created a wind barrier around his body with wind magic cast in an instant."

"But Lord, how can wind magic block such an explosion?"

"If you accurately calculate the explosion's angle, range, and power, there's no theoretical problem."

Theoretically, that is.

Ulan trembled blankly.

This phenomenon now is a realm that even masters of the Lohwinum School, which specializes in wind magic among the Seven Great Schools, dare not covet.

"And this wasn't blocked."

"Was it deflected?"

"No, not even that! If it were, the power would have been halved! This was flowed away. He swept the explosion with wind currents and returned it to Ken! Like a headwind!"

But is this possible with just wind magic?

No, yes, that's it…!

He subtly mixed water vapor and electromagnetism. So that the dust particles, not yet fully combusted, could easily adhere to the counter-current of wind.

'What on earth is going on? Each spell that child casts seems to be bringing a new wind into the world of magic…'

Because he is still young, he doesn't hesitate to challenge new combinations of attributes and runes. And he has a prodigious talent to support those challenges.

'To ordinary people, it might look like he simply overpowered skill with raw force, but that's not it at all. This is crushing skill with a higher level of skill.'

This match was already decided.

Ken Sherman, who was caught in his own explosion, was already close to being incapacitated.

If Ken Sherman traditionally admitted defeat, it would have been a dignified end, befitting a battle of intellects vying for supremacy.

'But… why is there no word?'

Lin took a step closer to Ken.

Two layers of magic circles were rotating on his palm. A pentagon, a hexagon, and an octagon, meaning Electric, Virulent Poison, and Steel attributes.

"How does it feel to have your lungs full of dust? Can't say anything, can you? I deliberately aimed the explosion at your mouth when I sent it back. So you couldn't do any bullshit like surrendering."

"…!"

"I've always wanted a toy that wouldn't break. Everything would shatter if I used even a little magic. But you're perfect; no matter how much I torture you, your life won't be in danger thanks to illusion magic, right?"

A steel stem shot up from the ground, piercing Ken Sherman's sole and infiltrating his body.

"The starting point is your sole, and the end is your crown. How does it feel? The sensation of melting steel spreading through your blood vessels to your entire body? Soon it will reach not only your heart but also your brain. Can you tell me what that feels like? Ah, you can't speak right now, can you?"

Ken convulsed madly in agonizing pain that twisted his consciousness, but there was no mercy whatsoever in Lin's eyes, colder than ice.

The crowd began to stir.

They had no way of knowing what cruel thing was happening with their own eyes. They just wondered why the match wasn't over yet.

"Why isn't it ending…?"

"The boy named Lin seems to be saying something…"

"Perhaps he's telling Sherman to quickly admit defeat…"

However, Ulan and Vulcan, who could intuitively assess the situation, realized they had to intervene immediately.

"Lin."

Atlantis, whose face had turned pale as she finally grasped the situation, grabbed the railing of the audience stand and stood up abruptly.

"Stop it, Lin!"

A crack instantly appeared in the boy's murderous intent, which had been like a bitter winter and seemed as if it would never break until the end of the world.

Lin flinched.

The steel ravage, which had branched out countlessly and was on the verge of violating his heart beyond his internal organs, also miraculously stopped at that instant.

"Stop! Ken Sherman has fainted, so the outcome is decided! The Northern representative of the [4-Star Selection] is Lin of the Osarius School!"