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CHAPTER 15: AN UNAVOIDABLE BATTLE
Just what part of an encounter like this is any different from the hostile reception I got earlier? The number of people who had gotten mad at him as well as the reasons for their anger were in a different category altogether from earlier, and yet he felt like this situation was repeating itself time and again. The pair were openly hostile, venting their anger on an innocent victim, leading the victim in question – Suimei – to sigh. The chancellor, the receptionist, and now these two. Today was apparently his day to be immersed in hateful glares.
From what he’d just heard, Lefille’s opponents during her ranking a.s.sessment had been these two. One was the warrior named Raikas, and the other a magician named Enmarph.
The ranking a.s.sessment was also meant to be a time when Twilight Pavilion adventurers could ask for pointers on battle technique. Originally, new recruits were to select a single opponent against whom to compete. Lefille, however, had instead fought them both one after another.
The result was obvious, and could be determined with a quick glance. If you ignored Lefille’s slender sword and finely-crafted light armor, then what was left was a young lady with the beauty of a b.u.t.terfly or flower. Given their poor att.i.tude toward a girl of such nature, their loss must have been appalling indeed.
Dorothea and the pair finished speaking, their consultation having come to an end.
“—So it’s my turn now, right?” Suimei asked, somewhat rudely.
If they were going to treat him like this, then he had no need to be polite.
“Yeah,” Raikas replied.
“What kind of battle is it going to be?”
“The guild doesn’t set any guidelines with regards to that. There just needs to be a battle, and then we give our a.s.sessment. End of story.”
Whether because he found the question annoying or because he was in a bad mood, Raikas’ answer had been both short and sharp.
The grim look on Raikas’ face notwithstanding, Suimei asked another question.
” ‘There just needs to be a battle’ – that means a straightforward battle should be just fine, right?”
“Yeah. The only rule is that real weapons can’t be used during the a.s.sessment. Since you’re a mage, that means you use a magic staff. Hmm… Well, if you have one on hand, just use that. Just remember that regardless of what kind of magic you use, you’re not allowed to cause major injuries or kill anyone. It’s not like you could do something like that with us as your opponents anyway, though. Ain’t that right, Enmarph?”
“…Not a problem.”
In answering Raikas’ question, this was Enmarph’s first time speaking. He was probably originally a man of a taciturn nature, but the look on his face was was identical to Raikas’ – that of utter self-confidence.
Suddenly, an unknown voice taunted, “You say that, but didn’t you just get your b.u.t.ts kicked?”
It was Dorothea. Surprisingly, she was a pretty daring young girl.
“Shut it! No one asked you anything!” Raikas roared.
A wordless rage could be felt emanating from his person. Dorothea responded by sticking out her tongue and scratching her head. This girl really likes to fan the flames, doesn’t she…
“So? Who’s it going to be? If you don’t choose, then we’re going to decide between us.”
“…”
“And? What’s it going to be?!”
“Well…”
…Maybe there wasn’t really any point in thinking too hard about this.
From the time he’d arrived in this world until now, he hadn’t really fought an opponent without magic. He’d seen Reiji and the knights engage in mock combat many times, but watching something and taking part yourself were two entirely different things. Plus, he’d thought to himself on more than one occasion that he’d love to take part in just such a battle. With that in mind, this training field match was the perfect opportunity. Lefille would leave soon enough, and that’d leave him alone with them. He already knew how we was going to clean up after himself once the battle was over.
Moreover, if he were to take care of things here, then he might just be able to muddle up accounts of what had occurred earlier, at the reception desk.
That makes this a real opportunity, doesn’t it?
In an instant, Suimei concluded that even if Dorothea hadn’t added fuel to the fire by making provocative statements, the end result would still be the same.
“Although this is probably asking a bit much, but… I want to fight both of them. At the same time.”
“—Ohh?”
“What?!”
Lefille’s interest seemed to have been piqued by his answer, while Dorothea shouted in surprise.
The expressions of the other pair, the ones he had just challenged, also changed.
“…Huh? You want to fight us at the same time? You punk, are you really serious?”
“Hmph. I hate jokes that aren’t funny.”
Unsurprisingly, Suimei’s calm words only served to worsen Raikas’ already extremely foul mood.
“Maybe if you had the strength of that woman, but a weak little mage like you thinks you can beat us? Don’t tell me you let sending that guy flying earlier go to your head?”
“…”
Enmarph’s gaze was piercing, easily a match for Raikas’ visible outrage. Suimei had already antic.i.p.ated this reaction. For adventurers as confident in their abilities as these two were to be challenged by a green brat blowing hot air, of course things had taken this turn.
However, they’d been showing him disrespect since the very beginning. As such, this was nothing more than giving them a taste of their own medicine. Perhaps an outsider would have seen such a choice as despicable, but he had his own goals to achieve, and in light of that, he wasn’t going to place that much emphasis on worrying about how other people felt.
Sensing the tension in the air, Dorothea, unable to control her voice, asked, “Um, Suimei-san. Are you really sure about this?”
“Ah, yeah, this is what I want. I have to go look for somewhere to stay after this, so I’d like to take care of things as quickly as possible.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“You have the confidence to beat us quickly, do you?” Raikas interrupted, cutting Dorothea short.
“Yeah.”
“What a ridiculous claim.”
“It’s not really that big a deal. Just like you guys have confidence in your abilities as adventurers, I have pride in the path I’ve walked to get here. Excessive modesty isn’t good for my mental health, after all.”
“…You little brat. If you continue to overestimate your own strength, then you’ll be beaten to a pulp. Take back this stupid joke and choose your opponent. You can still be forgiven.”
Raikas again threatened Suimei, warning him to take back his words. Suimei, having said this much already, wasn’t about to give up so easily though.
“No. I will not. And I have no intentions of seeking your forgiveness.”
“…You’ll regret it.”
“I appreciate the warning.”
“Hmph. Enmarph, we can’t let this little punk look down on us like this. Let’s crush him!”
“…Got it.”
Suimei’s uncaring shrug enraged Raikas beyond all reason and provoked a furious response from Enmarph. Raikas, meeting his partner’s eyes, sent a murderous glare Suimei’s way. Enmarph’s gaze was no less penetrating. In this manner, the two walked over to the center of the training field.
(…)
…He’d been the target of their anger from the very beginning. That said, he had also ignored their goodwill, and stubbornly boasted of his own ability. By the time he’d noticed, things had already gone past the point of no return. If he kept this up, then eventually there would come a day when his actions would come back to haunt him.
The circ.u.mstances of where he was had also contributed to the current situation. As a magician, he wasn’t the least bit worried, but it was also the truth that the current situation was exactly what his opponents wanted. As men, they couldn’t bear to lose to an immature brat. Suimei was distinctly aware of all of this, but he couldn’t help but follow this train of thought nonetheless.
As the situation grew more serious yet, a voice called out from behind him.
“Suimei-kun. Those two are pretty strong. Are you sure this is okay?” Lefille asked as he approached the training field.
Is that because she’s worried about me fighting them at the same time or because she’s probing my true strength?
Suimei nodded in her direction.
“Yes.”
“You have the confidence to face them at the same time?”
“Sadly, it’s pretty hard to imagine given how ordinary I look, isn’t it?”
As he mocked himself in answer, Lefille unexpectedly smiled.
“It certainly is.”
“—You answered so fast! How cruel.”
So that’s how she saw him. Her blunt words caused them both to erupt in laughter.
“Hehehe…”
“Hahaha…”
Surprisingly, they seemed to be quite compatible indeed. The G.o.ddess Arshuna’s guidance sure is miraculous, Suimei mused to himself.
“…Anyway, fighting them both at once is in line with my aims. This works out perfectly.”
“…I see. Alright then. I won’t say any more.”
Lefille nodded, before unexpectedly turning to Dorothea.
“Excuse me, but can I watch this from the sidelines?”
“Wuh?”
Completely and utterly shocked, something that wasn’t even a word unwittingly left Suimei’s mouth.
“That’s not a problem, but Suimei-san, you probably don’t want someone watching you, right?” Dorothea asked, after straightforwardly giving her a.s.sent to Lefille.
“Oh… No, it’s okay.”
“If it’s okay, then why does your face look like that?”
“Oh, this has nothing to do with that. I was just really taken aback is all.”
“Really?” Dorothea asked, c.o.c.king her head in confusion.
Having received permission, Lefille nodded delightedly.
“Great. Let’s see what you can do.”
Lefille seemed fully intent on watching. His upcoming battle against both opponents at once seemed to have stirred her warrior’s spirit.
His magic was about to be seen by others. Although he already knew how he was going to take care of that, he couldn’t help but tsk inwardly even as he walked over to the center of the training field.
And then—
“Alright. Is everyone ready?”
“…Yeah.”
“…”
“I’m all good here.”
Raikas pulled his sword from its scabbard and Enmarph s.h.i.+fted into a combat stance, pointing the gemmed tip of his staff toward Suimei.
As they had, Suimei expressed his readiness to begin, simultaneously pulling his Divergent Gloves over his hands and extracting a vial from his pocket.
Raikas, not comprehending what he was seeing, asked, “What’s that?”
“Nothing special. It’s just my weapon.”
“…?”
Under the surprised and confused gazes of those around him, Suimei removed the stopper from the vial and poured its contents onto the floor. This was, of course, the same thing he’d used in the White Wall, the handiest of the magic weapons within his possession.
Because of the extreme novelty of the vial’s contents, Lefille frowned at the glittery, silver substance.
“Silver… water?”
“This is mercury. You’ve never seen it before?”
“Yeah, this is my first time,” she answered, squinting.
“Um, Suimei-san, intentionally dirtying the floor is kinda…” Dorothea said weakly.
“…Oh, no. I’m not dirtying anything.”
“That sure is what it looks like, though…”
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he’d poured a liquid onto the floor. That much was undeniable, however…
“You’ll understand soon enough.”
“Hah…”
“…Hmm. Is that some kind of drug?”
“Nope—”
By the time he’d answered Lefille’s question, the contents of the vial had completely transferred themselves onto the floor. Next, as this extremely dense liquid slid along the floor, he concentrated his mana, and spoke the incantation that would alter its form.
“―Permutatio Coagulatio Vix Lamina (Trans.m.u.te, solidify, become power.)”
His incantation spoken, with the mercury on the floor at its radius, a magic circle spread outward.
A magic circle that radiated with a soft red, magical light.
“—!”
“Wha?!”
“Eh?”
“…!?”
As he operated his magic, four different exclamations of surprise reached his ears. They were probably surprised by his ability to construct a magic circle without drawing it first, much as Felmenia had been.
“Alchemy…” muttered Enmarph, the mage.
It seemed that he understood what Suimei was about to do. Under the direction of the light emitted by the magic circle, the mercury pulled and drew itself upward like so much clay, before finally landing in Suimei’s hands in the shape of a sword.
“—This is my weapon.”
Sure enough, this had answered Lefille’s question. Suimei then focused, readying himself for the battle ahead. There was no room for retreat here. With his gloved hands, Suimei took up his sword of quicksilver and s.h.i.+fted into a combat stance, meeting Raikas’ doubting eyes.
“…Hey you. Weren’t you a mage?”
“You saw my magic just now and you still don’t believe?”
“Because you’re a mage holding a sword. …Actually, do you even know how to use that thing?”
Raikas’ question reminded him that Felmenia had wondered the same thing. It seemed like the idea of a magician warrior was unheard of in this world. Their “common sense” reminded him of a game or a story almost, where magicians took up positions in the rearguard and warriors served as the vanguard. Then again, seeing as magic and close combat were two entirely different domains, it was probably natural to think that way—
“Well, I know a thing or two.”
“I see.”
Suimei smiled unworriedly at Raikas, who didn’t respond, seemingly fed up with talking. Seizing the opportunity, Dorothea raised her arm.
And then—
“Begin!”
At Dorothea’s command, the offensive began. Raikas’ first attack was easy to follow. Racing forward, he slashed diagonally at Suimei.
Suimei mirrored his action.
“Ha—”
Snorting in laughter, Raikas couldn’t see anything special about Suimei’s attack. The difference in their arm strength could be seen with a glance, just looking at their relative arm sizes would tell you as much.
Suimei could read from Raikas’ cold smile that he believed he’d obtained victory, but the final result was something that only he had foreseen. Just as their swords were about to cross, Suimei sidestepped to the left, let the strength go out of his arms, and allowed his sword to follow Raikas’ backwards. Seizing the opening thus created, he spun a full circle and from his new position, to the southeast of where he was originally standing, he slashed at his opponent once more.
“Wha?!”
Raikas’ reaction was a moment too late, and he lost his opportunity to correct his stance, instead being forced by the momentum of both his body and his sword to stagger forward.
What had just happened was completely unexpected. It had been a marvelous technique which specifically targeted an opponent’s attack and destroyed their balance, causing their attack to fail.
This move turned things around completely. Suimei didn’t let the opportunity go to waste. With a flip, he unleashed an attack at Raikas’ defenseless back. Raikas, on the other hand, was slow to react. He seemed to regret the price for his carelessness. Suimei, however, realized that he would not have the opportunity to finish his opponent.
That was because there was still someone glaring at him from behind, like a predator eying its prey.
“—O wind. Focus thy eternal power which crushes all before thee. Unleash thy wrath upon mine foes! Wind Fist!”
“Secundum Excipio! (Second bulwark, local activation!)”
Abandoning his attack without the least hesitation, Suimei activated a defensive magic to stop the progress of the enormous gale blowing at him with all the force of a giant’s punch.
The magic he’d used had been the resplendent, golden fortress wall. It was a defensive technique which specialized in magic defense.
“Wha—!?”
A shout of surprise, its source unclear, entered Suimei’s ears. Suimei, keeping his sword pointed directly at Raikas, had stretched out his left arm behind him, a golden defensive magic activating with his palm at its center. The cannonball of compressed air struck his magic circle dead on before dispersing without causing any damage to his magic whatsoever. Moments was all it had taken for this offensive magic of terrifying power to be rendered useless.
His expression twisting at the thought of his carelessness, Raikas seized the moment, pulling back and fixing his posture before speaking.
“Hmph. Your swordsmans.h.i.+p’s pretty strange.”
“I picked it up from a dojo near where I live.”
Just as Suimei delivered his response with great composure—
“What the h.e.l.l was that?! That magic?!” Enmarph screamed, his expression having changed drastically.
Taken aback by Enmarph’s look of shock, Suimei narrowed his eyes.
“…My defensive magic?” he asked, surprise in his voice.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that before! You, just now, you…!”
“What? Something strange about it?”
Suimei couldn’t figure out what Enmarph was talking about, all the more so because the latter was so startled that he wasn’t able to speak properly.
The brilliant golden fortress was a type of defensive magic. It was a masterpiece of his own creation, designed to be effective against any kind of attack, an unyielding frontal fortification. That said, it was nothing more than a defensive magic, however brilliant; if it wasn’t the magic itself, was it perhaps the sudden appearance of the magic circle that had so amazed Enmarph? No, they’d already seen him do that moments earlier.
So why had he cried out like that?
“It’s not just weird, it’s—”
Enmarph’s shock so complete that he was apparently no longer capable of finis.h.i.+ng his sentences, Dorothea took over explaining on his behalf.
“But Suimei-san! That magic just now, you activated it without a property?!”
“…Well, yeah. I didn’t give it a property, after all. It’s a defensive magic; adding a property would be meaningless, wouldn’t it?”
Indeed, magical properties were meaningless when it came to defensive magics. If you wanted to stop an opponent’s offensive magic, you had to suppress it with a defensive spell, and so they were an integral part of every magician’s repertoire. While some had debated the efficacy of adding an elemental property to your defensive magic – making it doubly effective against a magic of the opposite property – that would require adapting your spell to the one being used, something that took time. A moment’s carelessness would spell your end.
Having reached a consensus on the matter, it was the opinion of the community at large that a property-less defensive magic was the superior choice.
However—
“That’s impossible! Like something as insane as that could possibly happen! Magic is created by using a property as a medium! Something like a magic without a property can’t possibly exist…”
“Huh…? What? Property… as a medium?”
What the heck? Suimei couldn’t understand what they were saying at all. You can’t activate magic without using a property as a medium? What the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean? A property is just a way of categorizing magic, not an essential component in using magic. It’s not needed.
Although it wasn’t necessary per se, but, perhaps—
“…Suimei-kun. The magic of this world requires the power of the elements in order to manifest. It’s impossible to use magic otherwise. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to be. How is it that you’re able to use magic that defies common sense?”
Lefille’s added commentary was the missing piece of the puzzle Suimei needed to understand.
In other words…
“—Aaaaaaaah. Ha, so that’s how it is. Now I get it… The magic of this world doesn’t bestow an elemental property upon a constructed magic but rather requires using a property as a catalyst for creating magic. ”
With this, the question that had continually been on Suimei’s mind ever since his arrival was finally answered. Why did the mages of this world always imbue their spells with a property? This question had finally been resolved.
From the beginning, Suimei had always incorrectly a.s.sumed that the mages of this world were pract.i.tioners of nature magic.
Nature magic, incidentally, was magic that borrowed the forces of nature. More specifically, it was magic that reproduced phenomena found in nature – more than that need not be said.
From what he’d seen, the magic of this world belonged to this category.
And so the misunderstanding had been born. But finally the riddle had been answered – the magic of this world bore but a superficial resemblance to nature magic.
Taking the hero summoning magic as an example: were the door to have been opened with nature magic, then it would simply require using magic to invoke and then control the attraction force found in nature.
In order to call upon the power of the wind, pouring your mana into the air, with its infinitesimal ma.s.s, was horribly inefficient.
Or rather, that would be the case if you were using nature magic.
Simply put, because they did not do this, the magic of this world was not that which called forth the powers which existed naturally. If you didn’t use the “elements” of which they spoke, more specifically, if you didn’t directly borrow the power of one of the eight elements, then magic could not be activated. For this reason, the magic of this world always bore the distinctive mark of one of the elements.
Using the eight elements as a medium for magic could be considered rather convenient, and so it wasn’t like the magic of this world was completely ineffective. That said, in pretty much every other way it was a problematic way of doing things.
…Was this due to something inherent to magic itself or was this merely a byproduct of the culture of this world? The answer to his former question had given birth to a new one.
“Having to rely on the power of a property – sorry, element, magic here sure is a pain in the a.s.s. Integrating that into the magic construction process just adds unnecessary steps, not to mention the fact that it makes things way more complicated for no reason whatsoever. How amazingly stupid.”
“What kind of c.r.a.p are you spouting…”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Defensive magic doesn’t require you to imbue it with a property; that’s simply inefficient.”
It looked like the magic of this world didn’t follow the procedure for construction used in his own. Instead, the stages of mana injection and spell construction had an extra step added after the latter – channeling an element. It was likely for this reason that incantations here were so drawn out, and subsequently, that others were so surprised when he used magic without one.
Even if this way of doing things was harder, it wasn’t something that could be helped. This was the fault of the originator of magic in this world.
It went without saying, however, that as a modern magician, what he sought was efficiency. That said, how was it that Suimei had had such a fundamental misunderstanding of the magic of this world?
…Including the fight with Felmenia, Suimei had yet to investigate this world’s magic. More correctly, he hadn’t had an opportunity. Although, naturally, the palace library had included books on magic, Suimei had not read a one.
Why? Well, that was because back in Suimei’s world, a grimoire was essentially a book of secrets. These were not books for beginning magicians starting at square one, but rather manuals intended for those already capable of wielding magic. There were many different varieties of grimoires, including those that were themselves magic.
Accordingly, trying to learn magic from a grimoire was impossible. The basics of magic were never written down, and instead had to be pa.s.sed down from one’s master. Without this foundational knowledge, the contents of a grimoire would be all but unreadable. Moreover, depending on the book in question, there were even dangerous grimoires capable of eroding readers’ minds or which were enchanted with magics of an indeterminate but deadly nature.
If Suimei had paid closer attention, perhaps he would have noticed that the common sense of his world did not apply here. If he had known that grimoires here were anything but dangerous, he would have long since studied a copy. However, since Reiji and Mizuki had studied under Felmenia directly, he’d instead incorrectly a.s.sumed that the grimoires of this world were identical in nature to those back home.
For that reason, Suimei had never attempted to understand the inner workings of the magic of this world. He’d mistakenly thought that understanding their world’s magic would require a substantial investment of both time and energy, and that without a foundational understanding of this world’s origin, nature magic, and the traditions via which magic was pa.s.sed down, he’d never make any headway.
Instead, he’d devoted his time to acquiring general knowledge about this world as well as a.n.a.lyzing the hero summoning circle, and had foregone the opportunity to learn more about the magic system of the world he was now in.
Finally, it had to be said that, in his heart of hearts, he also looked forward to fighting mages without knowing beforehand what their magic was like.
He, who earnestly desired to personally discover the keys to mysteries he had yet to understand, looked forward to the opportunity to encounter new mysteries with great excitement.
…And that very same antic.i.p.ation, which he had held on to ever since arriving in this world, had turned out with this kind of result: there wasn’t a single redeeming quality to the magic of this world.
“…Forget it. Let’s just continue. I’m just as shocked as you guys are, so that makes us even, right?”
“Tch.”
“Simply put, your guys’ magic is way too undeveloped, whereas mine is quite modern. That’s pretty much all there is to it.”
“Un— Undeveloped? What are you saying…?”
“Well, yeah. It’s super primitive. Compared to the level of mysteries we deal with back where I come from, I can only say that it’s so backward that I want to cry.”
Enmarph was infuriated by Suimei’s sigh of regret.
“Hmph. Like not needing to use the elements is anything to be proud of! That kind of thing, I’ll crush it with power and numbers!”
“Well, I can’t deny that that approach works, but… Do you really have the strength to do what you say?”
The words of an incantation met Suimei’s taunt.
“—O wind! Focus thy eternal power into a formation of battle, a vicious formation! Let its strength leave all in ruins. Annihilate our enemies with its just power! Noise Tyrant!”
The incantation’s activating keyword was “noise tyrant.” In an instant, a whirlwind began to swirl around Enmarph, with similar vortexes appearing in his vicinity. This was very different from the isolated attack he’d used earlier, a formation formed of barrages using the air itself, boasting the power to tear down Suimei’s boast with force.
However—
“Secundum Perfectus! (Second bulwark, strengthen!)”
The tyrannical tempest winds howled as they attacked in succession. Each individual strike far surpa.s.sed Suimei’s compressed air explosions in destructive might, not to mention there were more than ten or twenty in number.
Time and again the storm slammed into Suimei’s newly strengthened, even more brilliant barrier.
—Consecutive shots (Rush).
As the name suggested, within a moment’s time, attacks poured down like rain.
The winds struck his bulwark magic, resisting for a moment before disappearing. This scene repeated itself over and over, though Suimei remained completely unharmed, his defensive magic as unyielding as a mountain.
Finally, the tempest magic gradually came to an end. It had likely been an area-of-effect magic, as smaller whirlwinds continued to dance nearby.
Formerly at the center of the storm, Suimei’s bored gaze fixed upon the speechless Enmarph.
He continued to grip his staff, but could only stare dumbly in disbelief, as if there was nothing left for him to try.
Suddenly, Raikas leapt at Suimei, standing with his back to him, with full strength.
“Don’t get too…!”
Gripping his two-hander, he flew at Suimei like a bullet. He’d perfectly timed his ambush for the precise moment when Enmarph’s magic had ended, but from Suimei’s point of view, his attack could only be seen as slow.
Suimei flipped around, his arm hanging loose. Following Raikas’ movement with his eyes, he activated his first bulwark.
“Primum Excipio!”
“Full of yourself!”
Sword and fortress wall collided, causing the high-pitched, metallic screech of metal sc.r.a.ping against metal. Looking more closely at the point of impact, there was the material blade that had come swinging in, and the immaterial fortress wall many grades its better. Neither gave way to the other, and sparks flew in all directions as they crashed into one another.
Nevertheless, Raikas’ attack proved every bit as futile as attacking a real fortress wall with a sword would. The fierce collision hadn’t affected the magic wall in the least, but the same could not be said for Raikas’ sword, from which shavings had fallen.
“It’s impossible for an attack of that level to touch me.”
“S-s.h.i.+t…”
—Suimei merely stood in place, calmly awaiting the next attack while he watched his opponent’s full force attack with contempt, as if he were watching a comedy sketch unfold. Catching sight of Raikas’ dejected expression, he determined that it was a perfect opportunity to attack. Seizing upon the moment when Raikas’ abandoned his ineffective attack, he suddenly stepped to the left.
As Suimei casually strode forward, Raikas swept his blade across.
Suimei calmly adjusted his direction, watching Raikas’ attack out of the corner of his eye as he activated another defensive magic.
“Quartum Excipio! (Fourth bulwark, local activation.)”
Blocking Raikas’ desperate attempt to the reverse the situation was the fourth fortress wall. This fourth bulwark was designed to reflect any and all external attacks.
This fourth defensive wall’s terrifying reflective power sent Raikas flying toward Enmarph.
“Uwa—”
“What—?!”
A flying figure, the sound of collision and surprise. Suimei wasn’t the least bit moved. This magic, easily capable of fully reflecting physical force, had of course effected this result.
Before his opponents could rise to their feet, he began an accelerated attack.
“Nutus Mult.i.tudo Decresco… (Decrease ma.s.s, reduce gravity.)”
In a flash, the acceleration generated by each step had increased several tenfold. Under the effects of this latest magic, Suimei approached with the speed of a gale-force wind, but Raikas managed to react in time. s.h.i.+fting his sword to his left hand, he prepared to meet Suimei’s attack with his right fist.
Not a bad response. Looks like he’s got some ability after all.
His opponent wasn’t the only one who could react to the circ.u.mstances, though. Gripping his quicksilver sword in his right hand, he stuck out his left hand as a s.h.i.+eld.
“Like h.e.l.l that’s gonna do it!” Raikas thundered angrily.
Faced with the heavy weight of Raikas incoming fist, Suimei had opted to use his hand to defend himself. Raikas’ angry roar had likely been in response to this action, thinking it impossible that such a slender hand could possibly block his attack. And indeed, if it were merely a matter of wrist strength, then Suimei had not the slightest hope of defending against this attack.
—Were it merely a matter of wrist strength, that is.
Just as right fist and left hand were to meet, Suimei’s gloved hand – originally inevitably set to meet the incoming attack – instead suddenly brushed past the attacking fist.
—Divergent Gloves. These were a magic tool that created a “divergence” with physical objects they came into contact with. As the two sides touched, they created a gap through which he was able to dodge.
Afterward, Suimei stabbed his sword into the floor, simultaneously grabbing hold of Raikas’ collar like a judoka. Combining the force generated by his opponent’s strike with the momentum generated by his forward velocity, he threw Raikas.
Without so much as glancing at Raikas, he changed direction, heading straight for Enmarph, who had just gotten up. Taking advantage of the momentary lull in action, he raised his staff, and desperately chanted an attack magic.
“Is that really okay? Your magic won’t have any power like this, you know?”
Suimei’s words pressured his opponent heavily. That Enmarph’s magic was incapable of harming Suimei was something they had already seen. The latter’s defensive magic had completely stifled his entire offensive.
Suimei’s words. .h.i.tting the bullseye, Enmarph’s expression twisted bitterly.
“Hmph, even so—!”
Even so, he wants to continue anyway, huh? As if declaring that he wanted to end this with magic, his determination burning like a raging flame, Enmarph began to chant once more.
“Buddhi brahma. Buddhi vidya. (Awaken, power, alongside great knowledge.)”
“—O wind. Focus thy eternal power and rage!”
The two spoke their respective incantations as one. All else being the same, victory would be decided by the speed of the incantation. However, Suimei was a pract.i.tioner of the Hebrew Kabbalah which employed the Notarikon. His opponent, on the other hand, was a pract.i.tioner of a magic system which required the additional step of channeling an element in order to activate magic. For him to try and compete on speed was the height of stupidity. The moment he’d made that decision, this battle had been decided.
—All that a.s.sumed, of course, that both spells were of the same level.
“Gale!”
The first to finish their incantation was not Suimei, but Enmarph. His unexpected speed was the result of a shortened incantation not even lasting two or three phrases. As a result, however, its offensive capabilities had been weakened considerably. An attack of this level was simply incapable of harming him.
So why had he used this magic?
The answer was soon apparent.
That was because the summoned gale came from behind his back.
Not too shabby.
As a chill ran down his spine, his mouth curved upward as joy mixed with a smile. This was what he had been pinning his hopes on, not magic battle itself, but what magic could push you to do. Suimei couldn’t help but want to applaud Enmarph, who had thrown his all into such a thing.
That’s why Suimei had chosen this magic. Its incantation: Buddhi, brahma. Buddhi, vidya. Buddhi, karanda—
“Buddhi karanda trishna! (And thus, abandon yourself to temptation’s sweet voice!)”
—trishna. A term roughly equating to “thirst.” This was a word from Sanskrit, a central language for more than five religions’ rituals, and thus a fairly powerful one from the perspective of magic. Suimei had just used this in his magic.
Next, as if a direct manifestation of this word’s meaning, a draining magic circle appeared beneath Enmarph’s feet.
“It’s not over yet!”
As if mirroring his fighting spirit, a flood of mana burst forth from Enmarph’s body.
His goal: to suppress Suimei’s magic with raw power. This could be described as a magician’s last resort. When faced with a magic of an unknown nature, this wasn’t a bad choice for a countermeasure.
Unfortunately, the magic Suimei had chosen had a draining effect – Kalavinka’s Sweet Voice. Draining an opponent’s mana was precisely this spell’s purpose, in other words—
“Wha— aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
With a blood-curdling scream, the rate at which Enmarph’s magic surged from his body raged out of control. Within moments, he sank to his knees, drained dry.
“Uoooooooooooh!”
Raikas roared from behind. Although he’d been thrown, the fact that he was able to close in this far was undoubtedly thanks to Enmarph’s a.s.sistance.
Not that it mattered to Suimei, who was unruffled. Gracefully, he stretched his arm out and took up the sword he’d thrust into the ground, and fluidly spun around.
The speed of Suimei’s slash surpa.s.sed that of the flash of light reflecting off Raikas’ sword as he attacked. In an instant, he’d closed the gap.
“Ugh…”
Just as his swing was about to take his sword straight to Raikas’ throat, he stopped his motion.
“—And it’s a victory for me. Agreed?”
Neither of his opponents had any room to disagree.
Just what part of an encounter like this is any different from the hostile reception I got earlier? The number of people who had gotten mad at him as well as the reasons for their anger were in a different category altogether from earlier, and yet he felt like this situation was repeating itself time and again. The pair were openly hostile, venting their anger on an innocent victim, leading the victim in question – Suimei – to sigh. The chancellor, the receptionist, and now these two. Today was apparently his day to be immersed in hateful glares.
From what he’d just heard, Lefille’s opponents during her ranking a.s.sessment had been these two. One was the warrior named Raikas, and the other a magician named Enmarph.
The ranking a.s.sessment was also meant to be a time when Twilight Pavilion adventurers could ask for pointers on battle technique. Originally, new recruits were to select a single opponent against whom to compete. Lefille, however, had instead fought them both one after another.
The result was obvious, and could be determined with a quick glance. If you ignored Lefille’s slender sword and finely-crafted light armor, then what was left was a young lady with the beauty of a b.u.t.terfly or flower. Given their poor att.i.tude toward a girl of such nature, their loss must have been appalling indeed.
Dorothea and the pair finished speaking, their consultation having come to an end.
“—So it’s my turn now, right?” Suimei asked, somewhat rudely.
If they were going to treat him like this, then he had no need to be polite.
“Yeah,” Raikas replied.
“What kind of battle is it going to be?”
“The guild doesn’t set any guidelines with regards to that. There just needs to be a battle, and then we give our a.s.sessment. End of story.”
Whether because he found the question annoying or because he was in a bad mood, Raikas’ answer had been both short and sharp.
The grim look on Raikas’ face notwithstanding, Suimei asked another question.
” ‘There just needs to be a battle’ – that means a straightforward battle should be just fine, right?”
“Yeah. The only rule is that real weapons can’t be used during the a.s.sessment. Since you’re a mage, that means you use a magic staff. Hmm… Well, if you have one on hand, just use that. Just remember that regardless of what kind of magic you use, you’re not allowed to cause major injuries or kill anyone. It’s not like you could do something like that with us as your opponents anyway, though. Ain’t that right, Enmarph?”
“…Not a problem.”
In answering Raikas’ question, this was Enmarph’s first time speaking. He was probably originally a man of a taciturn nature, but the look on his face was was identical to Raikas’ – that of utter self-confidence.
Suddenly, an unknown voice taunted, “You say that, but didn’t you just get your b.u.t.ts kicked?”
It was Dorothea. Surprisingly, she was a pretty daring young girl.
“Shut it! No one asked you anything!” Raikas roared.
A wordless rage could be felt emanating from his person. Dorothea responded by sticking out her tongue and scratching her head. This girl really likes to fan the flames, doesn’t she…
“So? Who’s it going to be? If you don’t choose, then we’re going to decide between us.”
“…”
“And? What’s it going to be?!”
“Well…”
…Maybe there wasn’t really any point in thinking too hard about this.
From the time he’d arrived in this world until now, he hadn’t really fought an opponent without magic. He’d seen Reiji and the knights engage in mock combat many times, but watching something and taking part yourself were two entirely different things. Plus, he’d thought to himself on more than one occasion that he’d love to take part in just such a battle. With that in mind, this training field match was the perfect opportunity. Lefille would leave soon enough, and that’d leave him alone with them. He already knew how we was going to clean up after himself once the battle was over.
Moreover, if he were to take care of things here, then he might just be able to muddle up accounts of what had occurred earlier, at the reception desk.
That makes this a real opportunity, doesn’t it?
In an instant, Suimei concluded that even if Dorothea hadn’t added fuel to the fire by making provocative statements, the end result would still be the same.
“Although this is probably asking a bit much, but… I want to fight both of them. At the same time.”
“—Ohh?”
“What?!”
Lefille’s interest seemed to have been piqued by his answer, while Dorothea shouted in surprise.
The expressions of the other pair, the ones he had just challenged, also changed.
“…Huh? You want to fight us at the same time? You punk, are you really serious?”
“Hmph. I hate jokes that aren’t funny.”
Unsurprisingly, Suimei’s calm words only served to worsen Raikas’ already extremely foul mood.
“Maybe if you had the strength of that woman, but a weak little mage like you thinks you can beat us? Don’t tell me you let sending that guy flying earlier go to your head?”
“…”
Enmarph’s gaze was piercing, easily a match for Raikas’ visible outrage. Suimei had already antic.i.p.ated this reaction. For adventurers as confident in their abilities as these two were to be challenged by a green brat blowing hot air, of course things had taken this turn.
However, they’d been showing him disrespect since the very beginning. As such, this was nothing more than giving them a taste of their own medicine. Perhaps an outsider would have seen such a choice as despicable, but he had his own goals to achieve, and in light of that, he wasn’t going to place that much emphasis on worrying about how other people felt.
Sensing the tension in the air, Dorothea, unable to control her voice, asked, “Um, Suimei-san. Are you really sure about this?”
“Ah, yeah, this is what I want. I have to go look for somewhere to stay after this, so I’d like to take care of things as quickly as possible.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“You have the confidence to beat us quickly, do you?” Raikas interrupted, cutting Dorothea short.
“Yeah.”
“What a ridiculous claim.”
“It’s not really that big a deal. Just like you guys have confidence in your abilities as adventurers, I have pride in the path I’ve walked to get here. Excessive modesty isn’t good for my mental health, after all.”
“…You little brat. If you continue to overestimate your own strength, then you’ll be beaten to a pulp. Take back this stupid joke and choose your opponent. You can still be forgiven.”
Raikas again threatened Suimei, warning him to take back his words. Suimei, having said this much already, wasn’t about to give up so easily though.
“No. I will not. And I have no intentions of seeking your forgiveness.”
“…You’ll regret it.”
“I appreciate the warning.”
“Hmph. Enmarph, we can’t let this little punk look down on us like this. Let’s crush him!”
“…Got it.”
Suimei’s uncaring shrug enraged Raikas beyond all reason and provoked a furious response from Enmarph. Raikas, meeting his partner’s eyes, sent a murderous glare Suimei’s way. Enmarph’s gaze was no less penetrating. In this manner, the two walked over to the center of the training field.
(…)
…He’d been the target of their anger from the very beginning. That said, he had also ignored their goodwill, and stubbornly boasted of his own ability. By the time he’d noticed, things had already gone past the point of no return. If he kept this up, then eventually there would come a day when his actions would come back to haunt him.
The circ.u.mstances of where he was had also contributed to the current situation. As a magician, he wasn’t the least bit worried, but it was also the truth that the current situation was exactly what his opponents wanted. As men, they couldn’t bear to lose to an immature brat. Suimei was distinctly aware of all of this, but he couldn’t help but follow this train of thought nonetheless.
As the situation grew more serious yet, a voice called out from behind him.
“Suimei-kun. Those two are pretty strong. Are you sure this is okay?” Lefille asked as he approached the training field.
Is that because she’s worried about me fighting them at the same time or because she’s probing my true strength?
Suimei nodded in her direction.
“Yes.”
“You have the confidence to face them at the same time?”
“Sadly, it’s pretty hard to imagine given how ordinary I look, isn’t it?”
As he mocked himself in answer, Lefille unexpectedly smiled.
“It certainly is.”
“—You answered so fast! How cruel.”
So that’s how she saw him. Her blunt words caused them both to erupt in laughter.
“Hehehe…”
“Hahaha…”
Surprisingly, they seemed to be quite compatible indeed. The G.o.ddess Arshuna’s guidance sure is miraculous, Suimei mused to himself.
“…Anyway, fighting them both at once is in line with my aims. This works out perfectly.”
“…I see. Alright then. I won’t say any more.”
Lefille nodded, before unexpectedly turning to Dorothea.
“Excuse me, but can I watch this from the sidelines?”
“Wuh?”
Completely and utterly shocked, something that wasn’t even a word unwittingly left Suimei’s mouth.
“That’s not a problem, but Suimei-san, you probably don’t want someone watching you, right?” Dorothea asked, after straightforwardly giving her a.s.sent to Lefille.
“Oh… No, it’s okay.”
“If it’s okay, then why does your face look like that?”
“Oh, this has nothing to do with that. I was just really taken aback is all.”
“Really?” Dorothea asked, c.o.c.king her head in confusion.
Having received permission, Lefille nodded delightedly.
“Great. Let’s see what you can do.”
Lefille seemed fully intent on watching. His upcoming battle against both opponents at once seemed to have stirred her warrior’s spirit.
His magic was about to be seen by others. Although he already knew how he was going to take care of that, he couldn’t help but tsk inwardly even as he walked over to the center of the training field.
And then—
“Alright. Is everyone ready?”
“…Yeah.”
“…”
“I’m all good here.”
Raikas pulled his sword from its scabbard and Enmarph s.h.i.+fted into a combat stance, pointing the gemmed tip of his staff toward Suimei.
As they had, Suimei expressed his readiness to begin, simultaneously pulling his Divergent Gloves over his hands and extracting a vial from his pocket.
Raikas, not comprehending what he was seeing, asked, “What’s that?”
“Nothing special. It’s just my weapon.”
“…?”
Under the surprised and confused gazes of those around him, Suimei removed the stopper from the vial and poured its contents onto the floor. This was, of course, the same thing he’d used in the White Wall, the handiest of the magic weapons within his possession.
Because of the extreme novelty of the vial’s contents, Lefille frowned at the glittery, silver substance.
“Silver… water?”
“This is mercury. You’ve never seen it before?”
“Yeah, this is my first time,” she answered, squinting.
“Um, Suimei-san, intentionally dirtying the floor is kinda…” Dorothea said weakly.
“…Oh, no. I’m not dirtying anything.”
“That sure is what it looks like, though…”
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he’d poured a liquid onto the floor. That much was undeniable, however…
“You’ll understand soon enough.”
“Hah…”
“…Hmm. Is that some kind of drug?”
“Nope—”
By the time he’d answered Lefille’s question, the contents of the vial had completely transferred themselves onto the floor. Next, as this extremely dense liquid slid along the floor, he concentrated his mana, and spoke the incantation that would alter its form.
“―Permutatio Coagulatio Vix Lamina (Trans.m.u.te, solidify, become power.)”
His incantation spoken, with the mercury on the floor at its radius, a magic circle spread outward.
A magic circle that radiated with a soft red, magical light.
“—!”
“Wha?!”
“Eh?”
“…!?”
As he operated his magic, four different exclamations of surprise reached his ears. They were probably surprised by his ability to construct a magic circle without drawing it first, much as Felmenia had been.
“Alchemy…” muttered Enmarph, the mage.
It seemed that he understood what Suimei was about to do. Under the direction of the light emitted by the magic circle, the mercury pulled and drew itself upward like so much clay, before finally landing in Suimei’s hands in the shape of a sword.
“—This is my weapon.”
Sure enough, this had answered Lefille’s question. Suimei then focused, readying himself for the battle ahead. There was no room for retreat here. With his gloved hands, Suimei took up his sword of quicksilver and s.h.i.+fted into a combat stance, meeting Raikas’ doubting eyes.
“…Hey you. Weren’t you a mage?”
“You saw my magic just now and you still don’t believe?”
“Because you’re a mage holding a sword. …Actually, do you even know how to use that thing?”
Raikas’ question reminded him that Felmenia had wondered the same thing. It seemed like the idea of a magician warrior was unheard of in this world. Their “common sense” reminded him of a game or a story almost, where magicians took up positions in the rearguard and warriors served as the vanguard. Then again, seeing as magic and close combat were two entirely different domains, it was probably natural to think that way—
“Well, I know a thing or two.”
“I see.”
Suimei smiled unworriedly at Raikas, who didn’t respond, seemingly fed up with talking. Seizing the opportunity, Dorothea raised her arm.
And then—
“Begin!”
At Dorothea’s command, the offensive began. Raikas’ first attack was easy to follow. Racing forward, he slashed diagonally at Suimei.
Suimei mirrored his action.
“Ha—”
Snorting in laughter, Raikas couldn’t see anything special about Suimei’s attack. The difference in their arm strength could be seen with a glance, just looking at their relative arm sizes would tell you as much.
Suimei could read from Raikas’ cold smile that he believed he’d obtained victory, but the final result was something that only he had foreseen. Just as their swords were about to cross, Suimei sidestepped to the left, let the strength go out of his arms, and allowed his sword to follow Raikas’ backwards. Seizing the opening thus created, he spun a full circle and from his new position, to the southeast of where he was originally standing, he slashed at his opponent once more.
“Wha?!”
Raikas’ reaction was a moment too late, and he lost his opportunity to correct his stance, instead being forced by the momentum of both his body and his sword to stagger forward.
What had just happened was completely unexpected. It had been a marvelous technique which specifically targeted an opponent’s attack and destroyed their balance, causing their attack to fail.
This move turned things around completely. Suimei didn’t let the opportunity go to waste. With a flip, he unleashed an attack at Raikas’ defenseless back. Raikas, on the other hand, was slow to react. He seemed to regret the price for his carelessness. Suimei, however, realized that he would not have the opportunity to finish his opponent.
That was because there was still someone glaring at him from behind, like a predator eying its prey.
“—O wind. Focus thy eternal power which crushes all before thee. Unleash thy wrath upon mine foes! Wind Fist!”
“Secundum Excipio! (Second bulwark, local activation!)”
Abandoning his attack without the least hesitation, Suimei activated a defensive magic to stop the progress of the enormous gale blowing at him with all the force of a giant’s punch.
The magic he’d used had been the resplendent, golden fortress wall. It was a defensive technique which specialized in magic defense.
“Wha—!?”
A shout of surprise, its source unclear, entered Suimei’s ears. Suimei, keeping his sword pointed directly at Raikas, had stretched out his left arm behind him, a golden defensive magic activating with his palm at its center. The cannonball of compressed air struck his magic circle dead on before dispersing without causing any damage to his magic whatsoever. Moments was all it had taken for this offensive magic of terrifying power to be rendered useless.
His expression twisting at the thought of his carelessness, Raikas seized the moment, pulling back and fixing his posture before speaking.
“Hmph. Your swordsmans.h.i.+p’s pretty strange.”
“I picked it up from a dojo near where I live.”
Just as Suimei delivered his response with great composure—
“What the h.e.l.l was that?! That magic?!” Enmarph screamed, his expression having changed drastically.
Taken aback by Enmarph’s look of shock, Suimei narrowed his eyes.
“…My defensive magic?” he asked, surprise in his voice.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that before! You, just now, you…!”
“What? Something strange about it?”
Suimei couldn’t figure out what Enmarph was talking about, all the more so because the latter was so startled that he wasn’t able to speak properly.
The brilliant golden fortress was a type of defensive magic. It was a masterpiece of his own creation, designed to be effective against any kind of attack, an unyielding frontal fortification. That said, it was nothing more than a defensive magic, however brilliant; if it wasn’t the magic itself, was it perhaps the sudden appearance of the magic circle that had so amazed Enmarph? No, they’d already seen him do that moments earlier.
So why had he cried out like that?
“It’s not just weird, it’s—”
Enmarph’s shock so complete that he was apparently no longer capable of finis.h.i.+ng his sentences, Dorothea took over explaining on his behalf.
“But Suimei-san! That magic just now, you activated it without a property?!”
“…Well, yeah. I didn’t give it a property, after all. It’s a defensive magic; adding a property would be meaningless, wouldn’t it?”
Indeed, magical properties were meaningless when it came to defensive magics. If you wanted to stop an opponent’s offensive magic, you had to suppress it with a defensive spell, and so they were an integral part of every magician’s repertoire. While some had debated the efficacy of adding an elemental property to your defensive magic – making it doubly effective against a magic of the opposite property – that would require adapting your spell to the one being used, something that took time. A moment’s carelessness would spell your end.
Having reached a consensus on the matter, it was the opinion of the community at large that a property-less defensive magic was the superior choice.
However—
“That’s impossible! Like something as insane as that could possibly happen! Magic is created by using a property as a medium! Something like a magic without a property can’t possibly exist…”
“Huh…? What? Property… as a medium?”
What the heck? Suimei couldn’t understand what they were saying at all. You can’t activate magic without using a property as a medium? What the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean? A property is just a way of categorizing magic, not an essential component in using magic. It’s not needed.
Although it wasn’t necessary per se, but, perhaps—
“…Suimei-kun. The magic of this world requires the power of the elements in order to manifest. It’s impossible to use magic otherwise. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to be. How is it that you’re able to use magic that defies common sense?”
Lefille’s added commentary was the missing piece of the puzzle Suimei needed to understand.
In other words…
“—Aaaaaaaah. Ha, so that’s how it is. Now I get it… The magic of this world doesn’t bestow an elemental property upon a constructed magic but rather requires using a property as a catalyst for creating magic. ”
With this, the question that had continually been on Suimei’s mind ever since his arrival was finally answered. Why did the mages of this world always imbue their spells with a property? This question had finally been resolved.
From the beginning, Suimei had always incorrectly a.s.sumed that the mages of this world were pract.i.tioners of nature magic.
Nature magic, incidentally, was magic that borrowed the forces of nature. More specifically, it was magic that reproduced phenomena found in nature – more than that need not be said.
From what he’d seen, the magic of this world belonged to this category.
And so the misunderstanding had been born. But finally the riddle had been answered – the magic of this world bore but a superficial resemblance to nature magic.
Taking the hero summoning magic as an example: were the door to have been opened with nature magic, then it would simply require using magic to invoke and then control the attraction force found in nature.
In order to call upon the power of the wind, pouring your mana into the air, with its infinitesimal ma.s.s, was horribly inefficient.
Or rather, that would be the case if you were using nature magic.
Simply put, because they did not do this, the magic of this world was not that which called forth the powers which existed naturally. If you didn’t use the “elements” of which they spoke, more specifically, if you didn’t directly borrow the power of one of the eight elements, then magic could not be activated. For this reason, the magic of this world always bore the distinctive mark of one of the elements.
Using the eight elements as a medium for magic could be considered rather convenient, and so it wasn’t like the magic of this world was completely ineffective. That said, in pretty much every other way it was a problematic way of doing things.
…Was this due to something inherent to magic itself or was this merely a byproduct of the culture of this world? The answer to his former question had given birth to a new one.
“Having to rely on the power of a property – sorry, element, magic here sure is a pain in the a.s.s. Integrating that into the magic construction process just adds unnecessary steps, not to mention the fact that it makes things way more complicated for no reason whatsoever. How amazingly stupid.”
“What kind of c.r.a.p are you spouting…”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Defensive magic doesn’t require you to imbue it with a property; that’s simply inefficient.”
It looked like the magic of this world didn’t follow the procedure for construction used in his own. Instead, the stages of mana injection and spell construction had an extra step added after the latter – channeling an element. It was likely for this reason that incantations here were so drawn out, and subsequently, that others were so surprised when he used magic without one.
Even if this way of doing things was harder, it wasn’t something that could be helped. This was the fault of the originator of magic in this world.
It went without saying, however, that as a modern magician, what he sought was efficiency. That said, how was it that Suimei had had such a fundamental misunderstanding of the magic of this world?
…Including the fight with Felmenia, Suimei had yet to investigate this world’s magic. More correctly, he hadn’t had an opportunity. Although, naturally, the palace library had included books on magic, Suimei had not read a one.
Why? Well, that was because back in Suimei’s world, a grimoire was essentially a book of secrets. These were not books for beginning magicians starting at square one, but rather manuals intended for those already capable of wielding magic. There were many different varieties of grimoires, including those that were themselves magic.
Accordingly, trying to learn magic from a grimoire was impossible. The basics of magic were never written down, and instead had to be pa.s.sed down from one’s master. Without this foundational knowledge, the contents of a grimoire would be all but unreadable. Moreover, depending on the book in question, there were even dangerous grimoires capable of eroding readers’ minds or which were enchanted with magics of an indeterminate but deadly nature.
If Suimei had paid closer attention, perhaps he would have noticed that the common sense of his world did not apply here. If he had known that grimoires here were anything but dangerous, he would have long since studied a copy. However, since Reiji and Mizuki had studied under Felmenia directly, he’d instead incorrectly a.s.sumed that the grimoires of this world were identical in nature to those back home.
For that reason, Suimei had never attempted to understand the inner workings of the magic of this world. He’d mistakenly thought that understanding their world’s magic would require a substantial investment of both time and energy, and that without a foundational understanding of this world’s origin, nature magic, and the traditions via which magic was pa.s.sed down, he’d never make any headway.
Instead, he’d devoted his time to acquiring general knowledge about this world as well as a.n.a.lyzing the hero summoning circle, and had foregone the opportunity to learn more about the magic system of the world he was now in.
Finally, it had to be said that, in his heart of hearts, he also looked forward to fighting mages without knowing beforehand what their magic was like.
He, who earnestly desired to personally discover the keys to mysteries he had yet to understand, looked forward to the opportunity to encounter new mysteries with great excitement.
…And that very same antic.i.p.ation, which he had held on to ever since arriving in this world, had turned out with this kind of result: there wasn’t a single redeeming quality to the magic of this world.
“…Forget it. Let’s just continue. I’m just as shocked as you guys are, so that makes us even, right?”
“Tch.”
“Simply put, your guys’ magic is way too undeveloped, whereas mine is quite modern. That’s pretty much all there is to it.”
“Un— Undeveloped? What are you saying…?”
“Well, yeah. It’s super primitive. Compared to the level of mysteries we deal with back where I come from, I can only say that it’s so backward that I want to cry.”
Enmarph was infuriated by Suimei’s sigh of regret.
“Hmph. Like not needing to use the elements is anything to be proud of! That kind of thing, I’ll crush it with power and numbers!”
“Well, I can’t deny that that approach works, but… Do you really have the strength to do what you say?”
The words of an incantation met Suimei’s taunt.
“—O wind! Focus thy eternal power into a formation of battle, a vicious formation! Let its strength leave all in ruins. Annihilate our enemies with its just power! Noise Tyrant!”
The incantation’s activating keyword was “noise tyrant.” In an instant, a whirlwind began to swirl around Enmarph, with similar vortexes appearing in his vicinity. This was very different from the isolated attack he’d used earlier, a formation formed of barrages using the air itself, boasting the power to tear down Suimei’s boast with force.
However—
“Secundum Perfectus! (Second bulwark, strengthen!)”
The tyrannical tempest winds howled as they attacked in succession. Each individual strike far surpa.s.sed Suimei’s compressed air explosions in destructive might, not to mention there were more than ten or twenty in number.
Time and again the storm slammed into Suimei’s newly strengthened, even more brilliant barrier.
—Consecutive shots (Rush).
As the name suggested, within a moment’s time, attacks poured down like rain.
The winds struck his bulwark magic, resisting for a moment before disappearing. This scene repeated itself over and over, though Suimei remained completely unharmed, his defensive magic as unyielding as a mountain.
Finally, the tempest magic gradually came to an end. It had likely been an area-of-effect magic, as smaller whirlwinds continued to dance nearby.
Formerly at the center of the storm, Suimei’s bored gaze fixed upon the speechless Enmarph.
He continued to grip his staff, but could only stare dumbly in disbelief, as if there was nothing left for him to try.
Suddenly, Raikas leapt at Suimei, standing with his back to him, with full strength.
“Don’t get too…!”
Gripping his two-hander, he flew at Suimei like a bullet. He’d perfectly timed his ambush for the precise moment when Enmarph’s magic had ended, but from Suimei’s point of view, his attack could only be seen as slow.
Suimei flipped around, his arm hanging loose. Following Raikas’ movement with his eyes, he activated his first bulwark.
“Primum Excipio!”
“Full of yourself!”
Sword and fortress wall collided, causing the high-pitched, metallic screech of metal sc.r.a.ping against metal. Looking more closely at the point of impact, there was the material blade that had come swinging in, and the immaterial fortress wall many grades its better. Neither gave way to the other, and sparks flew in all directions as they crashed into one another.
Nevertheless, Raikas’ attack proved every bit as futile as attacking a real fortress wall with a sword would. The fierce collision hadn’t affected the magic wall in the least, but the same could not be said for Raikas’ sword, from which shavings had fallen.
“It’s impossible for an attack of that level to touch me.”
“S-s.h.i.+t…”
—Suimei merely stood in place, calmly awaiting the next attack while he watched his opponent’s full force attack with contempt, as if he were watching a comedy sketch unfold. Catching sight of Raikas’ dejected expression, he determined that it was a perfect opportunity to attack. Seizing upon the moment when Raikas’ abandoned his ineffective attack, he suddenly stepped to the left.
As Suimei casually strode forward, Raikas swept his blade across.
Suimei calmly adjusted his direction, watching Raikas’ attack out of the corner of his eye as he activated another defensive magic.
“Quartum Excipio! (Fourth bulwark, local activation.)”
Blocking Raikas’ desperate attempt to the reverse the situation was the fourth fortress wall. This fourth bulwark was designed to reflect any and all external attacks.
This fourth defensive wall’s terrifying reflective power sent Raikas flying toward Enmarph.
“Uwa—”
“What—?!”
A flying figure, the sound of collision and surprise. Suimei wasn’t the least bit moved. This magic, easily capable of fully reflecting physical force, had of course effected this result.
Before his opponents could rise to their feet, he began an accelerated attack.
“Nutus Mult.i.tudo Decresco… (Decrease ma.s.s, reduce gravity.)”
In a flash, the acceleration generated by each step had increased several tenfold. Under the effects of this latest magic, Suimei approached with the speed of a gale-force wind, but Raikas managed to react in time. s.h.i.+fting his sword to his left hand, he prepared to meet Suimei’s attack with his right fist.
Not a bad response. Looks like he’s got some ability after all.
His opponent wasn’t the only one who could react to the circ.u.mstances, though. Gripping his quicksilver sword in his right hand, he stuck out his left hand as a s.h.i.+eld.
“Like h.e.l.l that’s gonna do it!” Raikas thundered angrily.
Faced with the heavy weight of Raikas incoming fist, Suimei had opted to use his hand to defend himself. Raikas’ angry roar had likely been in response to this action, thinking it impossible that such a slender hand could possibly block his attack. And indeed, if it were merely a matter of wrist strength, then Suimei had not the slightest hope of defending against this attack.
—Were it merely a matter of wrist strength, that is.
Just as right fist and left hand were to meet, Suimei’s gloved hand – originally inevitably set to meet the incoming attack – instead suddenly brushed past the attacking fist.
—Divergent Gloves. These were a magic tool that created a “divergence” with physical objects they came into contact with. As the two sides touched, they created a gap through which he was able to dodge.
Afterward, Suimei stabbed his sword into the floor, simultaneously grabbing hold of Raikas’ collar like a judoka. Combining the force generated by his opponent’s strike with the momentum generated by his forward velocity, he threw Raikas.
Without so much as glancing at Raikas, he changed direction, heading straight for Enmarph, who had just gotten up. Taking advantage of the momentary lull in action, he raised his staff, and desperately chanted an attack magic.
“Is that really okay? Your magic won’t have any power like this, you know?”
Suimei’s words pressured his opponent heavily. That Enmarph’s magic was incapable of harming Suimei was something they had already seen. The latter’s defensive magic had completely stifled his entire offensive.
Suimei’s words. .h.i.tting the bullseye, Enmarph’s expression twisted bitterly.
“Hmph, even so—!”
Even so, he wants to continue anyway, huh? As if declaring that he wanted to end this with magic, his determination burning like a raging flame, Enmarph began to chant once more.
“Buddhi brahma. Buddhi vidya. (Awaken, power, alongside great knowledge.)”
“—O wind. Focus thy eternal power and rage!”
The two spoke their respective incantations as one. All else being the same, victory would be decided by the speed of the incantation. However, Suimei was a pract.i.tioner of the Hebrew Kabbalah which employed the Notarikon. His opponent, on the other hand, was a pract.i.tioner of a magic system which required the additional step of channeling an element in order to activate magic. For him to try and compete on speed was the height of stupidity. The moment he’d made that decision, this battle had been decided.
—All that a.s.sumed, of course, that both spells were of the same level.
“Gale!”
The first to finish their incantation was not Suimei, but Enmarph. His unexpected speed was the result of a shortened incantation not even lasting two or three phrases. As a result, however, its offensive capabilities had been weakened considerably. An attack of this level was simply incapable of harming him.
So why had he used this magic?
The answer was soon apparent.
That was because the summoned gale came from behind his back.
Not too shabby.
As a chill ran down his spine, his mouth curved upward as joy mixed with a smile. This was what he had been pinning his hopes on, not magic battle itself, but what magic could push you to do. Suimei couldn’t help but want to applaud Enmarph, who had thrown his all into such a thing.
That’s why Suimei had chosen this magic. Its incantation: Buddhi, brahma. Buddhi, vidya. Buddhi, karanda—
“Buddhi karanda trishna! (And thus, abandon yourself to temptation’s sweet voice!)”
—trishna. A term roughly equating to “thirst.” This was a word from Sanskrit, a central language for more than five religions’ rituals, and thus a fairly powerful one from the perspective of magic. Suimei had just used this in his magic.
Next, as if a direct manifestation of this word’s meaning, a draining magic circle appeared beneath Enmarph’s feet.
“It’s not over yet!”
As if mirroring his fighting spirit, a flood of mana burst forth from Enmarph’s body.
His goal: to suppress Suimei’s magic with raw power. This could be described as a magician’s last resort. When faced with a magic of an unknown nature, this wasn’t a bad choice for a countermeasure.
Unfortunately, the magic Suimei had chosen had a draining effect – Kalavinka’s Sweet Voice. Draining an opponent’s mana was precisely this spell’s purpose, in other words—
“Wha— aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
With a blood-curdling scream, the rate at which Enmarph’s magic surged from his body raged out of control. Within moments, he sank to his knees, drained dry.
“Uoooooooooooh!”
Raikas roared from behind. Although he’d been thrown, the fact that he was able to close in this far was undoubtedly thanks to Enmarph’s a.s.sistance.
Not that it mattered to Suimei, who was unruffled. Gracefully, he stretched his arm out and took up the sword he’d thrust into the ground, and fluidly spun around.
The speed of Suimei’s slash surpa.s.sed that of the flash of light reflecting off Raikas’ sword as he attacked. In an instant, he’d closed the gap.
“Ugh…”
Just as his swing was about to take his sword straight to Raikas’ throat, he stopped his motion.
“—And it’s a victory for me. Agreed?”
Neither of his opponents had any room to disagree.
