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Chapter 168: Each One’s Dawn (2)
40th Floor Training Room.
After changing into comfortable training clothes, the two met in the designated room.
Oscar spoke first, addressing Veronica, who was doing light stretches.
"First, let me ask you something. What exactly do you want to learn from me?"
"…Like, my direction going forward."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
‘Hmm, her confidence seems to be at an all-time low.’
Oscar didn’t even need to ask why—he could already guess.
It was undoubtedly because of Fran and Kilian.
Their common trait was that they had a clear understanding of what they needed to do.
‘Kilian knows the strengths and weaknesses of tattoo magic. Because of that, he's not impatient. He’s progressing slowly but surely toward his goal.’
Fran was the same.
Ever since mastering Wind Spirit techniques at Saint Hill, he'd found a clear direction for his training.
In other words, even if they moved at a slow pace, they weren’t lost.
‘But she's different.’
Veronica Fricks.
She had the extraordinary talent of ultra-fast casting, yet she must have been feeling her own limitations.
‘Not just her abilities, but the biggest reason is probably…’
It was because she was surrounded by too many exceptional mages.
Given her personality, she was bound to feel impatient.
Since she saw everyone in the Special Operations Division as rivals, she must have thought she was falling behind.
‘If at least she had a clear milestone to follow, she might feel less anxious. But she doesn’t even have that.’
Simply put, she was like a drifting ship.
Floating endlessly across the sea, carried by the wind.
She didn't know whether she was heading in the right direction—or even where she was supposed to go.
"Okay. Problem identified."
Oscar nodded.
Now that he understood the situation, the solution was simple.
"Basically, you want to know how to get stronger, right?"
"Yeah."
"I can definitely teach you that. But I won’t lie—it won’t be easy."
"That’s fine."
Veronica responded firmly.
Her sharp eyes showed not even a hint of hesitation.
"At the very least, I won’t quit just because it gets hard."
"…Good."
Her resolve was solid.
Oscar smirked slightly and nodded.
"Starting now, what you need to do is—"
Gulp.
As he watched her swallow nervously, Oscar tapped his temple with his fingers.
"You need to train your thinking skills."
"…Are you saying we’re going to fight?"
"No, no, that’s not what I meant."
Seeing her gaze suddenly turn icy, Oscar quickly added an explanation.
"To be precise, I mean imagination. Yeah, training your imagination is a better way to put it."
"Imagination?"
Veronica furrowed her brows, clearly not understanding.
"What does that even mean?"
"It sounds complicated when I say it like that, but you’re already doing it."
Clap!
Oscar clapped his hands lightly.
"Alright, close your eyes."
"…Okay."
She obediently shut her eyes.
"Now, visualize a spell in your mind. Let’s keep it simple—try Wind Cutter."
"…Got it."
"Now, actually cast Wind Cutter and open your eyes to check the result. What do you see?"
Veronica opened her eyes and examined the Wind Cutter she had conjured.
"Well, it looks the way I imagined it. But what kind of training is this supposed to be?"
"No, take a closer look."
Oscar’s voice grew more serious, and Veronica listened carefully.
"Is that exactly the Wind Cutter you imagined? The length, the shape, the thickness, the sharpness—do they all match?"
"Well… they don’t."
"Exactly. Your first goal is to make them match perfectly."
"…"
Veronica pressed her lips together tightly.
She didn’t say anything, but Oscar could tell what she was thinking.
"You're doing it just because I told you to, but you have no idea why, right?"
"…Was it that obvious?"
"No, it wasn’t. I just know your personality."
People with strong opinions like her needed a clear explanation.
If they didn’t understand why they were doing something, they wouldn’t be motivated.
"Let’s take a quick history lesson, then. Veronica, do you know when the first Spell Shooter with ultra-fast casting appeared?"
"About 700 years ago."
"Correct. Before the Magic Tower was even established, they burst onto the scene with unprecedented speed."
Even though their magic was weaker, they compensated by casting a huge number of spells at speeds their opponents couldn’t react to.
This simple yet devastating tactic shook the magical world at the time.
As a result, fast casting speed became a necessity, and that mindset still persists today.
"Next question. What’s the strength of a Spell Shooter?"
"Literally that—they can unleash a huge number of spells extremely fast. That gives them overwhelming firepower."
"And their weakness?"
"…Since they use so many spells, they burn through mana quickly. Also, certain types of magic counter them."
"Bingo."
Oscar made a gesture as if to say, well said.
"That certain type of magic you mentioned—it’s probably high-tier magic, right? The ones that take a long time to cast."
Veronica nodded.
Even though ultra-fast casting was possible, it didn’t mean they could skip incantation steps.
They just completed them at extreme speeds.
But high-tier magic required preparation time, even for them.
"High-tier magic is on a completely different level in terms of power. Even Spell Shooters with ultra-fast casting need a long setup. The moment they start preparing a high-tier spell, they lose their biggest advantage. So how did other Spell Shooters compensate for this weakness?"
"…By increasing their speed even further and casting an even greater number of spells."
"Correct. They completely abandoned high-tier magic. In other words, quantity over quality. That’s the fighting style most people associate with Spell Shooters."
And because of that, their golden age was much shorter than expected.
“The other mages weren’t fools. The spells that Spell Shooters scatter are flashy and dazzling, but they realized that their actual power was weaker than expected.”
As a result, defensive magic advanced rapidly.
"That’s why, in modern society, there aren’t many mages who fear Spell Shooters."
Ultra-fast chanting is undoubtedly a blessed talent.
But that talent alone isn't enough to reach the top, as the skill level of mages has become too standardized.
Any high-ranking mage could easily block dozens of intermediate spells being scattered.
In other words, the higher the level, the less valuable the talent of ultra-fast chanting becomes.
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"…I know. I know that ultra-fast chanting has its limits."
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t researched books or documents on the matter.
If anything, because it was her own ability, she had likely studied it more diligently than anyone else.
"But right now, this is the only thing I can rely on. The only thing I can truly say I'm better at than others… is this."
"Hmm, that’s true."
Oscar nodded.
"You don’t have overwhelming mana like I do, and while your chanting speed is fast, it’s not enough to compete with tattoo magic. And you don’t have a unique magic like Fran that allows you to create unpredictable situations."
"……"
Veronica clenched her fists tightly.
It was unpleasant to hear, but it wasn’t wrong.
In fact, it was precisely because everything he said was true that it was even more frustrating.
"Haa…"
Letting out a heavy sigh, Veronica lifted her chin defiantly.
"That’s right. The only thing I have to rely on is this outdated ultra-fast chanting. So what? Are you telling me to change my style because Spell Shooters have clear limits?"
"No, the opposite."
Oscar lightly shook his head.
"Don't doubt yourself. You don’t need to worry about anything else—just hone that talent to the absolute limit."
"…What?"
Veronica’s expression turned to one of shock at the unexpected words.
"But… this ability clearly has its limits…"
"To be precise, it had limits."
That was in the past.
"Just 20 years ago, the White Tower had the world’s greatest Spell Shooter."
"Magiro Wilson. The White Tower’s strategist and the White Reaper."
Veronica’s sharp response made Oscar chuckle.
Hearing that name, he couldn't help but smile.
He often spouted nonsense, but he was never boring to be around.
"That’s right. Do you know what kind of rumors surrounded his magic?"
"…I found a few war journals from soldiers who fought alongside him. They said he cast high-level spells as quickly as basic ones and annihilated demons with ease."
She shook her head.
"It’s probably an exaggeration. Soldiers were scared during the war—they could’ve been hallucinating."
"Hmm? I think differently."
Just as an emperor has a chancellor, Oscar had Magiro.
He acted like a scholar in peacetime, but on the battlefield, he was the most reliable Spell Shooter anyone could ask for.
He wasn’t called Oscar’s left hand for nothing.
"If those were mere exaggerations, the other four Great Magic Towers would have stepped in by now. They wouldn’t allow a White Tower mage to be glorified like that."
The fact that they hadn’t meant only one thing.
The rumors were true.
Veronica furrowed her brows.
"…But if that’s the case, how is that even possible?"
"I’ve spent a long time thinking about that. Especially while working on restoring lost spells."
Oscar continued with a reasonable pretext.
"The reason high-level magic takes so long to cast is simple—its formulas are incredibly complex."
Magiro focused on that obvious fact.
"He probably wasn’t casting full high-level spells."
"That makes sense."
"But, he was casting magic that was indistinguishable from them."
"…Are you playing with words?"
"Not at all."
Oscar slowly closed his eyes.
He wasn’t born with ultra-fast chanting, but his chanting speed was still quite fast.
"I told you earlier, right? What you need to train is your imagination. This is why."
Oscar painted a picture in his mind.
A massive spear.
A spear so large and sharp that it could rival the high-level spells of the White Tower.
‘If I had to summon this spear all at once, even I wouldn’t be able to do it with my current body.’
But if he followed Magiro’s method, it was possible.
‘Spell fragmentation.’
The magnificent spear in his mind shattered into dozens of pieces.
One part contained only the handle.
Another had just the spearhead.
Yet another depicted the elegant curves of the blade.
"…Fragmented summoning."
His mana drained rapidly, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
At the same time, the fragmented images he had envisioned began materializing around him.
If this were an actual battle, those fragments would be attacking enemies and blocking incoming strikes.
"Haa…"
A moment later, when he opened his eyes, what stood before him was a collection of unrecognizable ‘pieces.’
Oscar controlled his mana to pull them together.
"Magic refinement."
Swoooosh!
The individual fragments, once meaningless, swiftly merged into a single form.
And before he realized it, a colossal spear radiating an overwhelming killing intent floated above him.
‘…A promised spear of victory.’
This was how Magiro had used ultra-fast chanting to unleash magic as powerful as high-level spells.
The technique was called—
Over Craft.
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