38 – Knights (1)
The characteristics of elemental magic are defined by intuition and destructive power.
While mastery is difficult, the introduction itself is easy, and with the variety of elemental types, it is relatively easy to find one’s own talent.
Therefore, it is the field of study that most people choose within the Magic Tower, but at the same time, it has its drawbacks.
Namely, due to its intuitive nature, the composition of spells is simple, and it cannot inflict much damage other than physical impact.
From my perspective, as someone who had to learn magic from scratch, most of them were grateful practice partners.
“Haat!”
Fire ran through the hands of the magician as he touched the ground.
‘Flaming Blaze.’ It was the fire magic of the Meteor faction that tracks the target and burns them from the legs up.
I immediately changed its nature by digging into the head of the serpent-like formation of the spell.
Interference Device – Kaechan (改撰)
The fire, which was approaching at a rapid speed, gradually lost its light and turned into a snake with blue scales, passing between my legs.
The moment I successfully interfered with magic that corresponds to the third rank without using a curse spell for the first time.
I heard a small exclamation from behind and turned around to see Sera, the representative of Glaecia’s attendants.
It seemed that she realized that I had visited the Meteor facility and was using the training room.
“Damn it, those cursed sorcerers are all the same…!”
The angry magician who threw a fireball unexpectedly during the sparring session missed me effortlessly.
Since my senses were constantly focused on the opponent, in fact, without magic, they were no match for me.
The guys I had encountered as an adventurer generally only used deadly or highly lethal magic.
Poisoning or turning the ground into a mud pool, the distinction between factions was almost meaningless.
“You’re just a novice with no proper offensive magic, playing around with other people’s abilities… You can’t win like that!”
“Why can’t I win?”
“What?”
“It’s as simple as this.”
In an instant, she approached the exhausted magician who had used magic beyond her limits and smacked her head magnificently.
She had already countered all the magic he could use, so there was no point in practicing interference anymore.
After easily claiming victory, Sera was waiting outside with a cup of coffee in hand.
Since leaving the Great Labyrinth, Sera and Arthur had started to treat me more comfortably, unable to withstand my elevated speech.
“Amazing, isn’t it? Completely blocking the opponent’s magic. Meeting an exceptional sorceress would be hell for a magician.”
“Is that so? I still fail more often, so I’m not sure.”
“Even so, this place is filled with only Meteor School’s subordinates. How did you improve your skills so quickly?”
“Well… Gallantry?”
Sera made a face of incomprehension, but she was sincere.
I was incorporating the feeling of gallantry into the three techniques of the interference device.
Soma (消魔), which eliminates the opponent’s magic, was like erasing words. Goro-shi (逆化), which reflects it, was similar to reversing. And Kaizen (改撰) was a principle similar to fabricating a post.
Of course, it was all just a trick, and the real reason for my improvement was probably the help I received from the three people who promised to give me magic whenever they had time.
Every time I absorbed the essences that make up the ritual and magic from them, it felt like a new corner of my mind was awakening.
To challenge the trials of the Training Level, I couldn’t neglect my practice, so I was about to go bother Mariel again.
Unlike Sian, who was busy with the lectures at the Banana Information Department, she was the most free.
“Oh, speaking of gallantry, Arthur seems to be addicted to location notes these days.”
“Really?”
“Yes, even when I go to the cafe with just the two of us, I can’t stop looking at it all day. It’s like I’m possessed, just like now with Clerk.”
“Why are you two going to the cafe together?”
Is it so common for representatives of two opposing factions who can’t stand each other to have something to discuss?
Even going so far as to come to the lounge of the Meteor Association, it seemed that Sera had feelings for Arthur when I looked closely.
Checking the posts in the gallery, there were indeed several times when she posted relationship advice on the secret bulletin board recently.
“Could it be that you’ve got a girlfriend? I sometimes see you contacting Clerk, do you happen to know?”
My inner Goblin, “Prinana,” pushed aside the innocent soul of Joo-Ddak and whispered, “Should I switch to being a curse magician after all?”
That damned magician who was ignoring the Haesoo faction earlier, and those bastards who were trying to love each other against their families’ wishes, they were all human figures who deserved to be cursed.
However, with a soul purer and nobler than anyone else, I barely held onto my sanity at the edge of madness.
It was because I happened to check one post that came in as a report.
—–
[Joo-Ddak!! What should I do about these bastards spamming Perry memes!]
(Link)
What the hell, are these people in the gallery or the zoo!?
And even “Boksilieahoga?” The nickname sounds familiar, isn’t that the Meteor faction guy?
— Ah, Arthur is a ‘dog lover,’ so please don’t criticize him~
ㄴ And please don’t call him a bastard~
— He’s from the Summoning faction
ㄴ No, he’s from the Alchemy faction
— It looks like they’re having a great time, lol.
ㄴ Ah, my preferences have been exposed to the whole class, lololololol.
— Booooing… We’ve been behaving ourselves lately…
ㄴ Booooing… These fluffy kids don’t know their limits.
—–
“Maybe you should use magic to make cat ears or something.”
“Pardon?”
That was the only advice I could offer her.
*
After parting ways with Sera, I went down to the first floor.
Since I was still in charge of dormitory supervision, there were tasks that needed to be done.
Fortunately, most of the trainees who had moved beyond the beginner’s floor had left, so the dormitory was much quieter than it was a few months ago.
After finishing cleaning and a few other tasks, the dormitory manager called me as I was about to go to Mariel.
“Clark, come here for a moment.”
He only had something to say to me when he wanted to share food or give me work.
This time, it seemed to be the latter as he tore a scroll and a large chest fell from the sky.
The sound was so loud that it echoed through the corridors of Maryland Manor, hurting my ears.
Inside was a piece of iron mesh coated with black dye.
He said it was an item with perception interference and defense magic that prevented anyone from seeing inside, and he told me to hang them on the first floor of the dormitory.
From Noble mtl dot com
“We decided to entrust the dormitory maintenance to the Student Affairs Department after the recent power outage. But we can’t afford to rebuild the entire aging building, can we? It has its own history, you know.”
“So you’re suggesting we install security bars?”
“It’s for our safety… I’ve heard that outlaws have been installing and roaming around recently. Other factions are also paying more attention to security.”
The term ‘outlaws’ referred to those who entered the Tower without permission during the period when they were not accepting apprentices.
Since climbing itself was possible just by writing their name on the monument, it happened almost every year.
Most of them were mercenaries who coveted the resources of the Tower or adventurers with bad intentions.
They had enough numbers and skills to climb high, so if left unchecked, they would constantly cause incidents and accidents on the lower levels.
“We should be able to install them all within three days.”
“I’m counting on you. I’ll let the other dormitory residents know as well and come back.”
First, I moved the cabinet in front of the supervisor’s office and took out a black iron grille.
Then I headed straight to Mariel’s room.
Since her room was on the first floor anyway, it made sense to install the bars while I was there.
When I opened the door, there was a blonde woman rolling around on the bed, as usual.
She no longer bothered to hide her identity and didn’t even hide the location note when she suddenly came to see me.
Her thin blanket revealed a glimpse of her slender waist, tightly wrapped like her golden hair.
Seeing her busy with paperwork and handling complaints, I couldn’t help but think she wasn’t a lady, but as a pafak, she passed with flying colors.
“Welcome.”
“I came to put something on the door. And also to practice with the jammer.”
“You do whatever you want. You’re going to do it even if you don’t like it, right?”
“Then excuse me.”
I stepped on the bed and went out the window.
I removed the existing security bars and replaced them with new ones, tightening the screws.
When I tapped the now opaque window with my hand, I could clearly feel a different resistance compared to before.
When I returned to the room, Mariel was still in the same position.
“Are you practicing well?”
“I made three spells and I’m taking a break.”
“What about studying? The exams are coming soon, you know?”
“I’m a genius, so I don’t need to sit at a desk to pass exams.”
“If your grades are bad, you won’t be able to face trials. Don’t come crying to me later asking for help…”
“Oh, come on! Are you my mom or something!?”
Mariel’s head turned abruptly and then returned to its original position.
Meanwhile, I wrote a post on the announcement board saying ‘Ding Dong!’ and sent a notification before immediately deleting it, annoying the Bell Tuybeom that was bothering me.
I sent the 58th Funtang account to a safe place and sat on the bed, attempting to interfere.
What I was trying to break through was one of the spells Mariel had given me, ‘Overlapping Casting’.
It was different from ‘Multiple Casting’, which simultaneously casts multiple spells.
It was a technique of storing one spell as a ‘stack’, then turning back time and launching it simultaneously with the next spell.
Not only could it confuse an opponent with unexpected attacks, but it could also overlap spells in the same coordinates to induce new effects.
To be able to create three of these in such a short time.
Regardless of the deceptive nature of time-based magic, it seemed she had enough skill to say she didn’t need to study.
“….”
Unlike Vinna, the Elemental Mage, Mariel’s magic had no specific target.
The phenomenon is led by her, the one who cast the spell.
That’s why it happened in such close proximity.
Although our bodies didn’t touch, her scattered hair on the bed was annoyingly caught on my fingers.
I was unraveling the most important element of the spell.
Because of the mystical nature she utilizes, there must be a “principle” to manifest this magic.
I’m trying to find it myself since it loses its meaning when heard from her, but it seems that it’s not easy to find.
Even if I repeatedly rub the part where the golden thread is tangled, like a lock that seems to wear out, I couldn’t find any clues.
“…Ugh!”
I turned my head when I heard a small moan from behind.
Instead of legs that were stretching up towards the sky, I saw cute little toes that reached their limit.
Although her eyes were still looking at the position notes, her hand, which mechanically deleted posts, had suddenly stopped.
As time passed, she buried her face in the pillow and her waist trembled.
“Are you okay?”
“Eek!?”
Thinking that her condition might be bad, I lightly tapped the blanket, causing her body to jump up like a cat.
Her gaze, as she breathed heavily, looking at me, seemed far from her usual nonchalant attitude.
That’s why students of the Haeju School don’t have any friends.
Mariel, who belatedly noticed her expression reflected in the mirror, lowered her head and murmured.
“The worst, it’s really the worst….”
“What happened?”
“Ugh, sigh… It’s so persistent, this impatience.”
“Yes?”
“Forget it! To think that I, the enemy of the Holcroft family, would be caught and become a target! This is the greatest humiliation of my life!”
I can’t help but think that the greatest humiliation of my life is being stuck doing the cleaning and occasional underwear organizing in a younger girl’s room.
Anyway, before Marie, who has regained her energy, starts teasing me again, I prepared to leave.
If things continue like this, I would have to listen to stories about her family’s honor and the pride of her ancestors for over an hour.
“When I was seven years old, if the Silver Wings Knights of the Holcroft family, who clashed with the army of the dead in the Battle of Prusona in the Great Plains, were still intact, this kind of disgrace wouldn’t even…”
“Here we go again. It’s almost dinner time, so get ready to eat.”
Tsk tsk, in my prime, I was an adventurer who wielded a spear.
Now, I’m just guarding someone else’s house without any security bars on the windows.
Originally, who knows what will happen in the world.
But when I got caught up in the glorious past of the Holcroft family and tried to save her before drowning.
Through the location note, a message arrived.
—–
— Marine141: Marriel, are you Marriel Levancia by any chance?
— Marine141: Yes, this is Douglas, the vice commander of the Silver Wings Knights.
— Marine141: I heard late that you went into the Mausoleum with the deceased to rebuild the Viscount’s family. Where are you now?
—–
“Ah! If only it were Douglas…”
Seeing the name that came out of Mariel’s mouth, I wondered if I had mistakenly taken her location note and checked it again.
However, the message sent by the fluid ID, Marine141, was indeed received in my account.
More precisely, it was the “Superconductor Golden Smile Girl” account that was created to tease her and had been active until recently.
She approached me, thinking that I was really immersed in acting.