Chapter 76
"W-what was that?"
"Kain exploded!"
"Is it already over, then...?"
"If you get hit properly by something like that, the protective artifact would break in one go, wouldn't it?"
"Is he really okay...?"
The disciples froze, mouths agape, at the explosion that had just unfolded before their eyes.
"No, look closely! Kain's over there!"
"Huh?"
Just then, someone pointed beyond the smoke.
Kain, who hadn't been easily visible from their direction, came into view.
He was in a low stance from quickly dodging, and his breathing was a bit ragged, but his condition itself seemed perfectly fine.
"His protective artifact isn't even scratched yet."
"How did he dodge that?"
One can tell how much mana is left in a protective artifact by looking at the crystal in its center.
And Kain's artifact was still fully saturated with mana from bottom to top.
"It's Body Reinforcement."
At that moment, Anias, who was also from the same floor and waiting her turn to observe, spoke up.
"Body Reinforcement...?"
"A mage uses that?"
"Now that you mention it, Kain trains his physical strength a lot normally. Is it related to that?"
Most of the disciples were learning for the first time that Kain could use Body Reinforcement. This was partly because they had never seen Kain in real combat.
"Oh ho. Kain, you dodged that?"
"Yes."
"So, I'm the first to make you move in a spar? Haha!"
This was also because Kain had never once moved his feet in any spar he had had within the clan until now.
In spars with disciples including Bolio, and even in the spar with Hayden conducted in front of everyone, Kain had suppressed them using only magic, without moving an inch.
"..."
Meanwhile, Kain looked at Rowen, who was smiling without letting his guard down.
‘He's coming out strong from the start.’
The magic Rowen used at the start of the spar was Flare, a 4th-circle spell.
It was the first explosive spell of the fire attribute that could be cast without mixing in an additional 'Explosion' incantation.
Rowen had instantly cast it without incantation, before Kain could even finish his own chant.
‘No, to be precise, it wasn't a complete non-verbal spell.’
Just before casting Flare, Rowen made a flicking motion with his finger.
This meant he had created his own unique trigger.
‘Even incantations, in a broad sense, can be seen as a type of standardized trigger.’
A trigger for creating the same outcome in any environment, and for imaging and instantly recalling a process internalized through countless repetitions.
If one puts in the effort to create it, this allows for faster spell activation than incantation, while being more efficient than non-verbal casting.
‘If the habit is read, the effect is halved, and it's difficult to freely alter, so it's not a preferred method...’
In the case of Flare, it was a simple yet powerful single-shot spell, making it quite suitable for using a trigger.
Although the floor one was assigned to teach and an instructor's skill level were supposedly unrelated, even this alone allowed Kain to surmise that Rowen possessed a superior skill among instructors.
"If you're not coming, shall I go for one more?"
As Kain showed signs of trying to lead into a more standard exploratory battle, unlike his previous spars, Rowen immediately flicked his finger once more.
However,
KABOOOM—!
"…!"
This explosion did not occur where Kain was.
It didn't mean Kain had moved first to avoid the spot.
The explosion occurred in the center, between Rowen and Kain.
"What? Why did the explosion..."
"Did the instructor miscalculate the coordinates?"
The disciples were puzzled, but Rowen wore an impressed expression.
"To tamper with it mid-flight with Fire. Your eye for mana and your ingenuity are indeed excellent."
Flare.
One of the reasons this spell is tricky is that it can be immediately detonated at a set coordinate, unlike Flame Spear, which is first cast in the air and then launched as a projectile.
‘However, to do that, you first have to send mana imbued with the spell to those coordinates.’
In essence, though invisible to the naked eye, it can still be considered a projectile in that mana is being shot.
‘And this process of sending mana cannot bypass obstacles.’
While a projectile can change coordinates and curve in the air to avoid obstacles, Flare, as an immediate activation spell tied to designated coordinates, is almost impossible to bypass an obstacle if one exists in its path.
So, the moment Kain saw Rowen's finger flicking motion and the mana being fired, he laid down a handful of Fire in the direct path between himself and Rowen.
It was just a tiny flame, but Flare could not pass through it and exploded right there.
‘I've overcome two consecutive attacks. In that case, this time.’
Kain reached out his hand first.
"Flare."
Mana, unleashed with the incantation, surged towards Rowen.
"Oh ho."
It was fast.
Faster even than the Flare Rowen had cast.
Even if it was an incantation spell versus a trigger-activated spell, Rowen had cast a spell two circles below his own, while Kain had used his highest-tier magic. For Kain to surpass him in speed itself was remarkable.
However,
‘A somewhat emotional attack, then. Fire.’
Rowen had expected Kain, with his level of mana control, to attempt to slightly alter the Flare's mana trajectory and bypass his spell.
‘While it's fundamentally not a technique that should work, if one can perfectly maintain the spell's form while bypassing, it's not entirely impossible.’
The process would reduce speed and cause mana loss, significantly weakening its power.
However, if he succeeded in catching Rowen off guard, he could still land a hit.
But the mana Kain had just shot was flying at full speed, literally.
Bypassing it in that state would be impossible even for Rowen.
Rowen cast a Fire spell without incantation into the path of the clearly visible mana mass.
It was the bare minimum, a handful of Fire, just enough to block the path, similar to what Kain had done.
Because of its speed, it was blocked closer to Rowen, but it was still outside the effective explosion range.
And the moment the mana Kain had shot was about to collide with the Fire spell.
"Convert."
"…!"
The mana that had been surging directly towards the Fire spell suddenly spread outwards in mid-air, forming a ring.
And it precisely passed the Fire spell right through the center of the ring.
The mana that had spread immediately re-coalesced into the spell's structure after passing through the Fire.
In this process, its speed did not decrease at all.
"Fire Arrow."
Because he had forcibly transformed the mana's shape first instead of immediately converting it, the mana loss was considerable.
Due to this, the 4th-circle spell Flare transformed into a single 2nd-circle Fire Arrow.
But it was enough to catch Rowen off guard.
FWOOSH!
The Fire Arrow flew straight towards the protective artifact.
WHOOSH.
It narrowly grazed the protective artifact, missing Rowen.
"..."
He almost took a direct hit, but managed to avoid it by twisting his body sideways at the last moment.
Yet, it seemed he hadn't completely dodged it.
CRACKLE.
The mana remaining in the protective artifact had decreased by a very small amount.
"...Crazy."
"What was that just now...?"
"No, more importantly, I've never seen that before. The mana in Instructor Rowen's artifact is decreasing."
"Me too."
"Among all the disciples who've sparred with the instructor so far, has anyone ever even scratched that artifact...?"
"Maybe some of the 5th-floor seniors? But I've definitely never seen it."
"Me too."
Rowen, having retreated to the side, silently looked at Kain.
His expression was strange, impossible to tell if he was surprised, admiring, or angry.
"..."
Kain looked at Rowen and opened his mouth.
"Now, Instructor, you've moved too."
With those words, Rowen's expression changed once more.
"...Pffft."
"…?"
"Puhahahaha!"
Rowen burst into hearty laughter, as if he had forgotten they were in the middle of a spar.
Of course, Kain did not miss that opening.
"Flame Spear."
"Flame Spear."
Rowen cleanly nullified Kain's magic with an identical spell.
"Hahahaha. Ha ha."
Rowen wiped away tears from laughing so hard.
"Wow. To think you'd use 'Convert' there. I was completely caught off guard."
Rowen asked Kain,
"At that speed, to precisely convert into a ring shape—you planned this from the beginning, didn't you? It wasn't a speed that could be done on the fly."
"Yes. That's right."
"Haha. Indeed. You blocked my Flare in mid-air with minimal magic. And you, expecting me to return the favor, prepared a ring shape that could precisely pass through the size of a handful of Fire... That's amazing. Truly."
It was a strategy that would have failed if Rowen had safely used a Fire Wall or, at the very least, a large Fireball.
But Kain had anticipated Rowen's actions and hit his mark.
"Kain, do you know? I've never given a disciple a perfect score in this exam before."
"I did not."
"Nor have I ever given a near-perfect score. But it seems you might set a record this time. That last move significantly boosted your evaluation score."
"I will strive until the end."
"That's a good mindset."
Rowen's eyes became serious.
And then, Rowen's incantations began to pour forth.
"Fire Needles. Split, scatter, curve."
"Fire Wall. Expand, morph."
Dozens of Fire Needles instantly multiplied, blanketing the sparring arena.
The red needles, spreading from various angles, curved and flew through the air.
In response, Kain's Fire Wall swelled in size, seamlessly enveloping him and blocking all the Fire Needles.
"Flame Spear. Compress, intensify, accelerate."
A Flame Spear flew towards Kain, who was trapped within the dome-shaped Fire Wall, blocking the Fire Needles.
The Flame Spear instantaneously pierced through a point in the dome-shaped Fire Wall and entered.
"Flame Spear. Compress. Intensify."
Kain countered the incoming spell, slowing it down as much as possible, and then flung himself in the direction where the Fire Needles had already been blocked.
The moment he cancelled the Fire Wall at the last second, the remaining Fire Needles rained down heavily where Kain had been.
The Flame Spear, not fully neutralized, passed through where Kain had been and struck the wall of the arena.
"Flame Road."
Kain immediately launched a counterattack as soon as he dodged all the assaults.
Faced with the rapidly advancing flames sweeping across the arena, Rowen unhesitatingly pushed off the ground.
‘As expected, Body Reinforcement.’
The movement when he dodged the Fire Arrow earlier.
That was a movement impossible for an ordinary mage.
‘I thought I had hit him.’
It was an almost perfect ambush.
If an ordinary person had seen it with their naked eye, it would have looked like a flaming arrow suddenly appeared in front of them.
But Rowen dodged it.
He had used Body Reinforcement at the last moment.
Thump.
Rowen avoided the straight-extending Flame Road with Body Reinforcement, closing in on Kain.
And in close-quarters combat, Kain was confident in himself.
"Fireball. Amplify, expand."
Approaching with Body Reinforcement and maintaining a minimal distance, he would obscure the opponent's vision with a Fireball.
Then, preparing his next attack...
"Air Sting."
"…!"
WHOOSH—.
At that moment, an attack came from a blind spot, and Kain quickly twisted his body.
And.
CRACKLE.
Kain's protective artifact activated.
