Episode 86
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“Shoot an ice bolt at me.”
Dale hesitated for a moment at Sepia’s words. Thinking back to the killing spells projected onto his Ice Bolt—no, Ice Bullet.
Immediately after that, Dale was about to shoot with the power of magic intentionally reduced.
“Don’t worry, just shoot with all your might.”
Sepia added, as if to say there was no need to worry.
“……All right.”
Dale nods and then takes some distance.
“Ice Bullet.”
He concentrated the blue magic power generated from the ‘four circles’ and fired an ice bullet.
Taang!
Even though it was ‘in its own way’ by Dale’s standards, it was incomparably faster and swifter than the 3rd circle era, and its killing power and destructive power were also incomparable. It was the essence of slaughter that even an elf’s body vision could not capture. That’s how it should have been.
“──!”
But the moment the ice bullet was about to strike Sepia, the blue magical weave that made up the ice bolt began to loosen and scatter like loose thread.
“… … !”
“In the vortex of your blue magic, I could feel the point of condensation.”
After blocking Dale’s ice bullet, Sepia continued.
“Also, judging from the ‘angle at which the arrowhead of the cold air is pointing,’ it was possible to predict which direction it would strike.”
Possible nullification because the point where the magic occurs and the path it will take were predicted.
“Before magic was created… … .”
Focus on the elements that make up magic, not magic itself. Rather than solving problems after they occur, block the possibility of problems occurring. This was a symbolic indicator of the ideas pursued by the wizards of the Blue Tower.
“Would you like to try using a slightly stronger magic?”
Sepia opened her mouth.
“… …Are you talking about the power of the 4th circle?”
“Show off your abilities to the fullest.”
Sepia smiled as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
Immediately after, Dale erected a wall of ice.
“Triple Barrel” · “12 Gauge Buckshot”.
Using the ice wall itself as a ‘cold muzzle’, he added three rows of formulas and detonated them, and dozens of shotgun shells were scattered from the three barrels. No, they were about to be scattered.
“… … !”
But nothing happened. Just a wall of ice that stood up perfectly still, and the formula Dale was projecting had no meaning.
“Think of magic as water.”
Seeing that sight, Sepia opened her mouth. As a high-level water attribute magician.
“Did you fix the magic structure and stop the projection of the formula?”
“You understand quickly.”
Sepia nodded and explained the outline of the dispel spell.
If we assume that magic corresponds to the ‘water molecules’ that make up water, then magic is water that is made up of water molecules. The formula that is projected onto that magic is similar to the personality that changes the taste of water by adding sugar or salt to it.
However, if the magic power corresponding to the water molecules itself is fixed, the movement of the water molecules will approach a state of standstill, and the water will freeze──and no matter how much sugar is poured on the ice, it will be meaningless.
‘I see why wizards hate blue towers so much.’
Although the Blue Tower is a branch of the Five-Colored Tower, it would not be an exaggeration to say that in some sense it is the natural enemy of magicians.
A long-term blue magic tower spell that completely blocks the opponent’s intentions by focusing the consciousness on the opponent’s magic rather than one’s own magic. Spell Counter.
“Now, I will show you the movement of magical power in front of you.”
Sepia immediately began teaching for the actual battle. The blue magic generated from her circle swirled and wrapped around her.
“Concentrate your consciousness on the blue current and capture the stagnation of the flow you feel there.”
The point where the blue current stops. The point where the flow of magical power stops and condenses. However, it was not as easy as it seemed to focus one’s consciousness on the movements of the opposing magician, not oneself. That was why Sepia stirred the blue current in a somewhat exaggerated manner so that Dale could easily understand it.
Dale focused his consciousness towards that point. Assuming that the opponent’s magical power was ‘water molecules’, he aimed to fix those molecules.
At that very moment, Sepia’s magical power swirled and stagnated, and as if sniping at that point, Dale fired his ‘blue particles’. It was a basic imitation of the ‘blue dissonance’ that Sepia had previously shown.
‘It might be worth considering fusing it with sniping magic.’
Dale was blandly thinking about how to use this magic.
“… … !”
Sepia gasped in surprise at Dale’s appearance.
‘It’s exactly like hacking.’
Penetrates just before the opponent’s magical power is structured, disrupting the structure.
“Well done.”
The flow of magical power created by Sepia became turbid and tangled due to Dale’s intervention.
Taang!
But at the same time that Dale’s “Blue Dissonance” targeted one magic, another magical power was concentrated within the vortex.
‘… … !’
The bolt magic was fired, and Dale concentrated his consciousness again. If he couldn’t stop it at the level of magic formation, he would block the magic itself that was shot next. Dale concentrated his consciousness again, just as Sepia had taught him.
What she fired was a basic level ice bolt.
The point where the bolt is formed ─ Predict the path by judging by the direction the arrowhead is pointing, and set up a ‘trap that breaks the magic structure’ on the path the bolt magic is shot along.
By adding the other world’s formula – “Dissolution”.
Taang!
Sepia’s bolt fired, and as expected, Dale’s dispel trap swallowed her bolt. But at the same time, another bolt was fired.
“… … !”
Dale gritted his teeth in the face of the barrage of bolts that began to fire simultaneously, two, three. There were too many of them to handle one by one.
“You missed the tempo.”
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Sepia smiled as if she had known Dale’s struggle would happen.
“The most important thing in blocking an opponent is to gain an advantage in tempo.”
“Like Mr. Sepia scattered the “Blue Dissonance”?”
“That’s also a type of act of setting the tempo.”
Seize the tempo. In a fight between wizards, it meant having the advantage of speed to take proactive action.
“Then what do you think is the most basic thing to keep the tempo?”
“well.”
“In interactions with others, it is always about getting a favorable exchange rate.”
Sepia said.
“I quickly fired a bolt spell and went on the offensive with a low-cost spell.”
Low cost. Quick and easy to cast. Dale did not have the ability to turn each and every one of them into nothing.
“For example, if we assume the cost of dispel magic is 5, the cost of a bolt is only 1.”
The easiest and most popular basic magic.
“If this 5:1 exchange were to happen repeatedly, which side would benefit?”
It was a question that had no answer.
“The Blue Dissonance you showed me was wonderful.”
Sepia answered.
“But its value is too great to stop a single bolt spell.”
“surely…….”
When he explained the value of each magic and the advantages of being able to act proactively in the interaction of magic, and further explained ‘how to set the tempo’, even Dale could not hide his wonder at the profound realization.
“You must maintain a situation where you can take the initiative and move ahead of your opponent from beginning to end.”
Sepia’s subsequent explanation was the very definition of ‘the appearance of a pure magician’. Unlike Dale, who could be called an evil spirit, Sepia’s enlightenment was to thoroughly walk the right path of magic.
“Then from now on.”
Sepia opened her mouth.
“From the lowest cost nullification spells to blocking the spells of high-level magicians.”
It was quite easy to see how a high-ranking blue wizard would approach battle.
“Let’s find out together slowly.”
“Yes, Miss Sepia!”
Thoroughly control the tempo of the battle, and never give in to the enemy’s pace. Block, block, block, block, and block again. Until the opponent’s mouth starts swearing “blue XX” and their mind breaks down.
‘In a way, it’s truly vicious.’
However, if used properly, it is a natural match for dealing with wizards. At the same time, understanding blue magic is like learning how to deal with blue wizards. For Dale, it is the best learning without any flaws.
“I’m already looking forward to the fruits of your learning.”
Sepia said with a smile, as if there was still a mountain of things left to learn.
The essence of magic built up by the Blue Tower. It is not something that young magicians of the 3rd or 4th circle can imitate. Regardless of talent, properly understanding ‘nullification magic’ requires more than that.
However, he copied that high-level magic just by looking at it and made it his own.
“As expected, he is my disciple.”
“Because I have the best teacher.”
At Sepia’s words, Dale laughed as if it were someone else’s business. The fact that Dale had attained the realm of the Fourth Circle had special meaning.
Just as Dale wasn’t your average 3rd circle wizard until now, what he needed to advance to the next level was definitely not ‘average enlightenment’.
A realm that cannot be reached without the enlightenment of the magician, beyond talent or skill.
Even though Dale was a wizard who pursued the Apostles, the enlightenment of the Fourth Circle that he ultimately obtained was not like that.
The secret of the blue magic tower that can only be obtained after reaching the 4th circle. In other words, it meant that it was an unknown area that even the world’s Dale could not understand before reaching the 4th circle.
What will Dale, who has taken possession of this unknown territory, achieve with his new enlightenment? In front of the amazing talent Dale is showing, what once again stimulates Sepia’s heart is passion.
Not only did the Warlock acquire blue magic as a secondary attribute, but he also truly hoped that this child would obtain the essence of blue magic.
Sepia was no longer a tutor teaching a mere rookie. Just as the Black Lord had once accepted Dale as his ‘rightful successor’, there was now a ‘worthy successor’ who inherited the spirit of the elder of the Blue Tower.
* * *
Kaang!
Swords clashed with swords. Not as the Shadow Blade’s sword, but as a swordsman holding the hilt purely.
Dale’s knight sword clashed with the man known as the Seven Swords of the Continent.
Although he does not use aura and strengthens his body with acceleration magic such as haste, he is still no match for the Seven Swords of the Continent who use aura.
“Your Majesty! How about surrendering now!”
Each and every swing of the sword is absurdly heavy and fast at the same time. Speed and weight. For knights of a certain level, speed and weight are not concepts of choosing between the two. However, every time they clashed swords, Dale was steadily projecting ‘thoughts’ onto his sword.
The sword of the warrior, Peacemaker. That very ‘sword memory’.
Even though he couldn’t directly project the shape of the sword, what makes up a sword is not just its appearance. The material of the blade, the magic it contains, the history embedded in its body. He was secretly projecting that sword and awakening the memories of the sword and the warrior.
Now, through the knight sword in Dale’s hand.
At the same time, Dale’s sword blocked Sir Helmut’s subsequent strike.
‘… … !’
It wasn’t a trick or a dodge. He blocked the vertical slash of the Continent’s Seven Swords with his own sword without even an aura.
‘I get it now.’
Even though it is not a sword that can be swung with full power, its weight can never be underestimated.
“how……!”
Sir Helmut held his breath, unable to hide his astonishment.
“Didn’t I tell you, Sir Helmut?”
Dale, who had opened the distance, smiled and adjusted the handle of his sword.
“──Just because it’s called the ‘wizard’s sword’, don’t underestimate it.”
