16 – It’s a Crime to Help (4)
Since the birth of the Magic Tower, the left end of the first neighborhood cafeteria was an implicit “solo dining zone.”
If you sat at one of the four seats at a table, it was an unspoken rule that no one else would join you.
In that space, people without friends to eat with would sit two meters apart and enjoy a peaceful lunchtime.
Today, I mercilessly trampled upon that long-standing tradition and sat in front of Prina, who was eating alone.
The expression on her face, as she received the resentful glares of the solo diners, was truly overwhelming.
“Oh, you’re here, senior. I’ve been looking for you for a while.”
“You…! I specifically told you to come after lunch!”
“I have a special lecture on advanced magic by the Grecian School of Magic in the afternoon. I don’t need to eat, so as soon as you finish your meal, let’s go.”
There wasn’t much time until the Magic Festival started, so I had to learn the magic of the Haeju School as soon as possible.
Even though I didn’t have any friends to go with, the fact that I, who had just become an apprentice, was paired with Faina was a great handicap for her.
At the very least, I needed the enthusiasm to learn diligently if I didn’t want to hold her back.
Faina seemed to be impressed by my dedication, as there were tears welling up in her eyes behind her bangs.
“Sob…!”
“You can eat slowly, you know? I’ll wait while looking at the location notes.”
“Fine, let’s go now… Ugh, I can’t sit here anymore.”
Or maybe it was because of the despair of having to pack a lunchbox and go.
The public training ground on the first floor.
Amidst the magicians shooting magic at the scarecrows in their respective lines, Faina explained the basics of the Haeju School to me.
“I’ll teach you two things. One is how to use mystique, and the other is interference techniques.”
“Interference techniques?”
She could only speak when she didn’t make eye contact with the other person.
Since I was almost always looking at the location notes, it made me feel somewhat relieved.
Sometimes, I wondered what she was working so hard on, but it was a characteristic of nerds that they never revealed it.
I didn’t have the courage to ask, as I knew I would feel awkward and self-conscious if I got an answer like, “I was messaging my girlfriend.”
I couldn’t bear it, so I pretended not to know, but it was obvious that I was pretending.
“It’s the basics of Haeju’s magic, where you can peek at the opponent’s magic and change the structure of the spell.”
“The technique to penetrate magic, huh.”
“You said you were taking an advanced magic class, right? Then you should be familiar with it. Find the weak point in the connection between spells and twist it.”
The explanation was simple. However, upon closer inspection, the technique was not as easy as one might think.
All magic is difficult to infiltrate from the outside because it manifests under the control of a mage.
Even if you manage to approach the spells, the interference you can have is limited by the skill and stability of the caster.
If you have an overwhelming difference in magical power, you can skip the complicated process and simply destroy the magic itself.
But if the power gap is that significant, it would be easier to summon a hammer and strike the opponent’s head.
“A high understanding of spells, intuition to predict the timing of manifestation, and creativity to transform interfering magic are also necessary. Normally, it’s impossible for someone at your level to learn and use it…”
“It’s different when using a curse, right?”
“Y-yeah. If you cover your opponent with a brute force of a curse, it becomes easier to find the gaps.”
“How should I use the curse?”
Prina conjured a small flame at her fingertip.
And she explained how to activate the curse by pressing her robe tightly.
“Awaken yourself in the target’s perception. Secretly, skillfully, imply that my existence dominates everything inside your mind.”
“Hmm…”
“Titles, actions, appearances, anything that brings to mind events or memories engraved in their minds will do. The moment you make the symbol representing you known to the opponent, the mystery of Aether will open its eyes.”
“…”
“Don’t quite understand? Curse spells are not meant to be applied in a short period of time. Anyway, give it a try. This, this is just a first-tier magic.”
Combining Prina’s explanation with what I learned from the curse sorcerers outside the tower, I had a rough idea of the technique.
To use the curse, I needed to make the opponent perceive my existence as an overwhelming presence.
It’s fine even if it’s an extravagant fantasy; what’s important is the message.
When rumors spread like smoke, distorting the accident and mixing fiction with truth, fear spreads like a wildfire.
To think that I would end up using the abilities of the curse sorcerers I once beat up like catching mice. Indeed, the ways of the world are unpredictable.
So, what hint could awaken the feeling that Prina, right in front of me, is being dominated by me?
The answer ultimately lay in my curse name, ‘Judak’.
—–
ID: Prina
Posts: 27734
Comments: 143879
List of Written Posts:
[Collecting points to go on a date with Judak]
[I’m going out in person for this magical event, so all you Gonic who plan to meet me, be prepared to die]
—–
Tap!
I closed my notebook after silently watching the flickering flame for quite a while.
Then, taking a step towards her, I spoke up.
“I know everything about you, senior.”
“It’s smart of you to use the height difference. Huh, but for a curse word that you’ve come up with, it’s pretty dull. You don’t know anything about me in the first pla—”
“It’s nice that you plan a virtual date course every morning, but choosing a location in the Dark Forest shows a lack of taste.”
“!?!!?”
The flickering flame at my fingertips went *snap* and extinguished.
In addition to mastering the curse spell, I learned that one’s face can turn as red as the inside of a small, gaping mouth.
*
—–
[Is this a magic tournament or just a masquerade? LOL]
(Tournament bracket photo)
I’ve organized the brackets by date, so refer to it.
The unnamed faction is marked in gray.
Actually, I just copied and pasted what was in the notice. It was all Lexa’s work LOL.
She managed to finish it by today. Impressive LOL.
[Recommended 18538 / Not Recommended 131]
— Oh
— It’s finally here!
— The brackets are packed again. There must be a lot of people who have been sharpening their swords for five years.
— Lexa, you did a great job, but you should get the recommendation LOL.
ㄴ I agree LOL.
ㄴ The genius blonde girl: Stop talking already.
—–
—–
[Isn’t this more like a masquerade than a magic tournament? LOL]
All the participating Gonicks have flooded the perception-distorting magic together.
Have more confidence and reveal yourself! Stand up and fight!!!
– From the moment Judak Gallnick said he would put your name up if you participate, this year has been nothing but a blur hahahahaha.
– If you’re going to expose personal information, why bother fighting?
– If you’re frustrated, just use Tenguan or Tonggyeon for direct insight~
– The Matap Administration is bewildered hahahahaha.
– The mysterious Je-ya faction is joining in en masse hahahahaha.
—–
—–
[So, there might be Judak among them?]
Just search for them, I’ll bet my fortune.
For now, let’s focus all our efforts on Fluvia in this tournament.
– Why isn’t Judak eligible to participate?
– Just to be sure, I checked all the branches I know, but there were no accounts that applied for participation.
– Fluvia, is it the water element? Both are on the 28th floor, so they’re quite high.
– They’re facing another Gonick? They’re starting the broadcast from the first match.
ㄴ Seriously? That’s awesome~
—–
From Noble mtl dot com
—–
[If you cheer for the favored Gonick ‘PLNN’, you’ll get a boost]
Of course, the cheering was just talk, and after betting on the favored player, Pluvia, the excited Marines who had lost were bitterly disappointed.
[Recommended 1138 / Not recommended 3]
– Bitter disappointment.
– I’ve already gone all in.
– Losing is part of the game.
– Seriously, how did the orthodox elemental mage, Gonic, who sacrificed his life in the gallery, defeat the Pluvia? Lol.
– Pluvia is a bigger school than Glesia, even bigger than Glesia. Lololol.
– Ice Water Dispenser Destruction Squad: School size doesn’t matter, Glesia is more skilled.
– Hi, hi.
– This is getting creepy, seriously. Lololol.
– But who is that Gonic between the two?
– I don’t know about that.
– Did they intentionally pair them as male and female? They didn’t even care about gender.
– How serious are they about this forum…
—–
A few days later, on the day of the match.
Magicians from Pluvia, the first opponent, were already manipulating the field in their favor even before the start of the match, using magic imbued with mana that had been tracked and traced.
Even among schools, there was a clear concept of compatibility, so openly revealing their true identities, unlike us who used perception-blocking magic, meant that they had confidence in themselves.
According to the information obtained from the gallery, both of them are 3rd-tier magicians currently staying on the 28th floor.
They were even one floor higher than Prina.
“Ugh, look at the dense concentration of magical power. I’ll be exhausted in just 10 minutes.”
“Is it okay to be like that even before the match starts?”
“This is the farmland next to the arena belonging to the Zine School. They said it’s time to supply water, so they’re pretending to be blind and doing some magic.”
They truly have no intention of upholding honor or dignity like knights, just like magicians.
From my perspective, I actually welcomed such an attitude.
Whether they hide their identity or do some groundwork, it’s enough to just take a picture and suppress the opponent.
When I was about to greet them and give them a poke with my spear, Prina stopped me.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll take care of it.”
“You, senior?”
I secretly had high expectations for her confident attitude.
Could it be that she has a hidden move that even I, who can’t even put out a campfire, don’t know about?
Or is it an interference device of a higher tier that can’t be compared to what she taught me?
The role of a healing magician is an unfortunate profession that has to run away without looking back when encountering someone who is ignorant of magic or can’t understand curse spells.
However, I was able to fully demonstrate the skills I had been suppressing all this time when facing magicians.
“Oh, our strategy from now on is this, this.”
Prina, who received my eager gaze, took something out of her bosom.
It was none other than a voodoo doll that seemed to be shaped like a tiny person made of straw.
“You’ll take care of defense, and I’ll attack.”
“……”
In my ears, those words sounded like, “You take on the favor, and I’ll cast the curse.”