novelraw Chapter 106 : The Person I Had Been Waiting For (2)
Chapter 106 : The Person I Had Been Waiting For (2)
Chapter 106: The Person I Had Been Waiting For (2)
I had gone through all the textbooks I received from Nylon as well.
Since any magic that overlapped with or had similar properties to the magic in the textbooks would be disqualified, I had to avoid that.
The purpose of the 5th Class student ability evaluation was to judge whether one possessed the ability to develop innovative new magic or not.
It wasn’t about determining whether the developed magic was strong or weak.
“Show me. I’m curious.”
It was the moment when a spell capable of intriguing me—someone who had mastered all elemental magic—would reveal itself.
“Hoo…….”
Fwoosh!
Hei curled his finger into a circle and blew on it, and a small flame like a piece of bubble gum floated gently in front of his eyes.
Then he promptly swallowed the flame.
“My goodness! Hei! What are you doing?”
“…….”
Kiena was startled and couldn’t hide her shock, but I merely examined Hei’s condition.
‘Turning magic into something like a pill, and swallowing it to put it inside the body…….’
What a uniquely strange idea.
He’d always had a big appetite, but to think he’d even put magic into his mouth.
Right after swallowing the flame, Hei’s body was engulfed in fire, as if his entire body itself had become a wick.
It looked as though someone had set Hei’s body on fire.
The symptoms were far too similar to a magic I already knew.
It could be said to be the fire-element version of the 6th Circle Flewd armament magic Invisible Arm that Banshi had shown me in the 1st Class auditorium.
“Hei, this is already an existing magic. 6th Circle Fire Arm. An armament magic that protects the body.”
“Of course I know! It’s a spell that’s even in the Ed Family grimoire. But my effect is a bit different. That one is literally just an armament magic that protects the body, right?”
Hei answered confidently.
I decided to listen a bit more and merely nodded.
“This one maximizes physical abilities! It’s not just about defense! Look!”
When Hei lightly took a running start, his body shot upward as if it were about to pierce through the ceiling.
On top of that, his speed wasn’t even something the eye could follow.
It was like a burning comet performing acrobatics right before my eyes.
“Wow! That’s awesome!”
“…….”
Hei’s physical abilities had already been outstanding compared to others his age.
No, his body was abnormally sturdy—something that couldn’t even be called a mage’s physique.
He had even passed the swordsman academy entrance test.
This magic could be said to draw out his strengths to the absolute maximum.
‘It’s definitely…… not an existing magic.’
Would a mage, who hated moving their body, ever even think of magic that maximized physical abilities?
All the magic I used involved keeping my body perfectly still.
After finishing his acrobatics to his heart’s content, Hei stood before me again and made a suggestion.
“Artel, try attacking me with your magic. I can flick everything away with my hands!”
Since he said it maximized physical abilities, it didn’t look like just his speed had increased—his strength, defense, everything seemed to have skyrocketed.
I lightly sent a few fire-element spells at Hei, but he knocked my magic away with his hands far too easily, like swatting away annoying flies buzzing in front of him.
“…….”
Honestly, it was a bit shocking.
“Hmm, is it because it’s the same fire-element magic? I didn’t think you’d block it that easily. Artel, try it with the dark element too!”
Even though the magic I used had very little power behind it, it wasn’t something that should have been deflected that easily.
At this point, I started wanting to test just how far Hei’s defensive capabilities went.
“Is it okay if I get serious?”
“Of course!”
Starting with the very simple dark-element spell Dark Ball, all the way up to the 3rd Circle Wave.
Hei blocked everything without a single anomaly.
‘Even if the spells I used were low-circle magic, I still packed quite a bit of mana into them…….’
This time, I decided to try a slightly stronger spell.
It wasn’t a magic I particularly liked, but it was one I thought was perfectly suited to measuring Hei’s limits.
The magic Tyrant had developed, and the one he used to attack me from the summit 300 years ago.
The Black Spike—that spell.
“Artel…… you can even do something like this?”
Kiena spoke in a voice filled with envy, but I didn’t pay it any mind.
‘To think the day would come when I’d implement this magic with my own hands…….’
This was solely for measuring Hei’s limits.
I thought there was no more suitable spell among dark-element attack magic for this purpose.
I directed all thirty Black Spikes I had manifested toward Hei.
It looked as though a black downpour were pouring down toward him.
But Hei showed no sign of fear, rapidly moving and knocking away the descending Black Spikes using his hands and feet.
He even had enough leeway to grab one spike with both hands and snap it in half like breaking a wooden club.
‘This magic…… is at the 8th Circle level. It’s not something you can break with your hands.’
Hei’s growth had reached a level that was impossible to explain.
To be able to utilize a magic he had just developed to that extent while currently being in the 5th Class.
This time, I decided to increase the number a bit more.
I increased it from thirty to one hundred and attacked Hei in the same manner.
“Whoa, that’s a lot?”
He was still moving at high speed, but his voice remained relaxed.
Just like that, Hei broke all of my Black Spikes as if snapping thin twigs, without taking much time at all.
“So? Wouldn’t this be a pass? There wasn’t any magic like this, right?”
“…….”
I couldn’t say anything.
This shock was even more numbing than when I had personally witnessed Kiena’s abnormal growth speed with my own eyes.
Clap clap clap clap clap!
“Wow, Hei! That’s such an awesome magic! I want to use something like that too!”
Kiena, who knew nothing, was nothing but praise filled with envy.
“I was able to develop this magic thanks to you, Artel!”
“……Because of me?”
I had never taught him a magic like this.
Moreover, because of that incident in the 3rd Class where he had unconsciously shown that side of himself, I hadn’t even stayed close to him, so I couldn’t have given him any hints.
Not that I had intended to give him any anyway.
So what did he mean by saying it was thanks to me?
As I was making my own guesses, Hei opened his mouth.
“You turned Fire Shroud into gauntlets in the 1st Class, and turned Spear Wall into arm guards, right! I wondered if I could do something using that same principle, and that’s how I ended up making this!”
“Ah…… I see.”
There was no particular reaction.
Normally, I would have left at least some words of praise, but more than anything, I simply didn’t feel like doing that.
Now that the duration of the magic Hei had created, Physical, had ended, he returned to his original state.
Then he lay flat on the training ground floor in a spread-eagle position, staring up at the ceiling as he spoke.
“Maybe because my body isn’t used to it yet, but I get this exhausted when it ends. Still, Artel! This should be enough, right?”
“……Yeah. It looks good.”
There was nothing to nitpick.
Even by my standards, Hei’s magic was more than sufficient to pass the evaluation.
“Get some rest, Hei. I should practice now too.”
Kiena stood up, moved a short distance away from me, and casually summoned a Lycan.
Standing upright on two legs, the Lycan was roughly 5 meters tall.
Since the body varied depending on the summoner’s ability, it wasn’t at a perfect level yet.
Moreover, the Lycan’s fur was black, and its eyes were red.
“…….”
If the wolf Kiena had unconsciously summoned back in the 3rd Class had stood on two legs, it would probably look exactly like that.
“Sit!”
Kiena began training the Lycan as if it were a pet.
However, the Lycan merely stared blankly at Kiena’s face and didn’t move according to her command.
“Why won’t it listen to me……? I told you to copy this one! Pegasus! Sit!”
When Kiena summoned Pegasus—the one she had been handling since the 1st Class—beside the Lycan and gave the command, Pegasus bent its long four legs and sat down.
“Like this! Like this!”
Even so, the Lycan continued to act as if it couldn’t hear anything.
Then.
Grrrrrr-!
The Lycan, which had turned its gaze away, looked at me and bared its red gums and sharp fangs, bristling with hostility.
Grrrk-!
Now, showing its sharp claws as if fully armed, it began striding straight toward me.
“Why…… why is it doing that? He’s my friend! He’s not an enemy!”
Flustered, Kiena tried to block the 5-meter-tall Lycan with her small body.
Naturally, her strength was nowhere near enough to stop the Lycan’s advance.
She was merely dragged along, stuck to one of the Lycan’s legs like a magnet.
“Go back! Hurry, go back!”
Realizing she couldn’t stop it, Kiena hurriedly tried to send the Lycan back, but it seemed she couldn’t control even that as she pleased.
“Artel……! I don’t know why it’s suddenly acting like this……! I think it’d be better to avoid it!”
Having realized she couldn’t stop it in the end, Kiena spoke toward me.
‘I don’t really feel like doing that, though?’
My dreadful ill-fated connection with it.
Because of that, I just stood there blankly and waited for the Lycan to approach.
When it was practically begging to be killed first by baring its teeth and claws like that, was there any reason to refuse?
Kraaak-!
Having reached a point only a few steps away from me, the Lycan fully took on a combat stance.
It planted its front paws on the ground, ready to leap at any moment.
And then, a familiar presence crept up.
‘It feels like Sylarid.’
That same presence I had experienced in the 3rd Class was once again pouring out from the Lycan.
No, now it was even stronger, to the point where it felt as if the Lycan itself had become a small avatar of Sylarid.
“Kyaaak!”
The Lycan shoved aside Kiena’s body, which was blocking its way.
But if there was something slightly strange, it was that instead of tossing her away carelessly, it hid her behind its own body.
As if I were an extremely dangerous enemy, and she needed to hide behind it.
“Lycan……? What are you talking about……? Artel is dangerous……?”
I couldn’t hear anything, but it seemed there was some kind of unspoken communication possible between Kiena and the Lycan.
After listening to the Lycan, Kiena glanced at me once.
“What did the Lycan say?”
“……Yeah. A summoner can read the thoughts of the relic they summon. It never said a word to me before, but today it suddenly talked to me.”
“And it says I’m dangerous?”
“…….”
She simply nodded silently.
‘So that’s how it is.’
If it was saying I was dangerous, could it really be some kind of avatar of Sylarid?
With this, I obtained one clear answer.
That Lycan, emitting Sylarid’s presence.
Kiena, who summoned that Lycan.
Both had an extremely close connection to Sylarid.
This couldn’t be unless she was Sylarid’s hidden daughter.
And that meant the words ‘a place where the pieces gather,’ which she had muttered unconsciously in the 3rd Class, referred to the top of the main campus where Sylarid was.
My gaze shifted slightly toward Hei.
Hei, too, seemed a little frightened by the ferocious Lycan and was standing far away.
‘Then you also have some connection to Sylarid? Not Tyrant?’
Those two had muttered the same words in the 3rd Class.
Moreover, the Lycan was showing hostility only toward me.
I didn’t know what exactly was going on, but for now, Kiena and Hei weren’t going to be of any help in this situation.
‘Go to sleep for a bit, both of you.’
Using Flewd, I cast a sleep spell on the two of them.
Their eyes slowly closed, and they collapsed on the spot, falling asleep.
Grrrrk-!
Even though the summoner—the caster—had fallen asleep, the Lycan was still perfectly fine.
As expected, there was a reason Sylarid’s presence could be felt.
It continued to bare its sharp teeth ferociously.
“Close your mouth.”