Volume 1 - CH 8

Non-attribute Magic

[Thunderlight Giant]

Voices overlapped as the whole army of wizards chanted at the same time. It was like a chorus of melody as a tribute to heaven.

The mana tributed to the heavens became a whirlpool of magical power and transformed into a gate of another world that threatened to suck Arum inside of it.

A chill that Arum had never felt before ran through his spine.

‘Something is coming… !’

“What’s is this…!”

His premonition soon became a hard reality. After all, that was the very essence of magic. It transformed imaginations into reality.

*Thump* *thump*

A deafening thumping sound resounded that caused the ground to shake.

The space in the building tore open as a giant like monster about eight meters long in size. It seemed to have a humanoid structure but its form was hardly visible, as sparks of lightning flew in all directions from it adorned with an armor of thunder.

Thunder ran like veins in the vessels of the giant, and it made Arum realize that the giant was the magical manifestation of thunder itself!

“Oooo… Gooooooo!!”

The giant roared causing some to cover their ears in fear.

The giant was an heirloom of the Orrick family.

It was a bloodline spell that was a privilege and trump card of the Orrick family itself. Only the ones having the pure Orrick blood flowing in their veins could use this ability.

The giant who had stood against the clan’s enemies in many a war had now emerged on this battlefield to crush Arum’s hopes and dreams.

“Bloodline Magic! Oh my God.”

“It was indeed worth to come to see…”

“He really used it!”

The gallery burst into hustle and bustle. Indeed they too were excited at the appearance of the thunder giant. After all, most of them had a tiny bit of urge to see it. But they knew that against a battle with a worthless commoner Lux would never have to use it. As such they could only gasp their breaths at the emergence of the thunder giant.

While the crowd had burst out into cheers, Lux had a frown on his face. He was dissatisfied with the result.

“… It’s a little small but it can’t be helped.”

The muttering of his was terrifying in its own right. It proved that the already prominent threat that rival a plethora of enemies on the battlefield was not at its full strength. That could only leave one wonder how strong the Thunderlight Giant would be at full scale.

“So this is Bloodline Magic…” Arum whispered in awe.

Arum who had only learned about magic from a single master can’t help but be ignorant of a plethora of spells. In fact, it was more reasonable to not know about Orrick’s bloodline spell since it was something exclusive to the Orrick family.

But so what?

Arum had a vast pool of knowledge about the nature of mana itself! He might not know a few exclusive spells but his vast knowledge only made up for what he lacked.

From the very beginning, Arum could only use non-attribute magic. That led him to be super curious about the magic of other forms. He was hungry for knowledge and he was a magic nerd. He had absorbed all the magic knowledge that was bought to him by his master and also from the book that his master brought for him like a dry sponge that absorbs water.

Indeed he was not just a sponge, rather he was a ‘dry’ sponge. His crippled state that didn’t allow him to use magic other than non-attribute was what had made him ‘dry’.

‘Of course, I don’t know about bloodline spells because I only have the knowledge that can be found in books.’

The bloodline magic.

It is a clan only magic that the wizards have passed down from generation to generation.

Unlike the many magics passed down to the public by books, this form of magic was a proof of the clan and was only passed down to the successor.

It was a trump card for wizards and only bloodlines could activate it.

No matter how much mana one uses, one can only create similar products. And no one else can truly reach its glory.

Bloodline magic is inherited.

Unlike the magic that the wizards of today’s age cast and created. These magics exist from ancient times and will continue to exist for the clan since it was cast by their ancestors.

Civilizations might pass. Countries might fall. But as long as the clan exists and has someone with the blood flowing in their veins, this magic too would continue to exist

Born from the existence of a single clan it was something that was considered magic while at the same time some disregarded it as magic altogether. It jumps over the frame of magic and appears in reality as a breathtaking existence.

“Do it!”

The giant lifts his right arm in response to its master’s voice. THe giant’s arm was stronger than Lux’s arm could ever be even when imbued with his [Lightning Knight] Spell.

“Ku…!”

The floor which had only scratches from Lux’s previous spell was mercilessly crushed.

The strength of the spell is determined by its influence on reality and Lux’s bloodline spell had quite the influence here.

The Orrick family bloodline magic was first cast 600 years ago. the magic that had been chanted more than 6 centuries ago had endured quite a lot of beasts and numerous wizards alike and had survived the assault of time. It stood as an unshakable solid existence that could be threatened by none. Throughout the 600 yeras, numerous wizards of the Orrick family had modified and only improved the power and efficiency of the spell.

A spell that had such a long history, how could it be simple?

The huge arm that had threatened to kill Arum was an ancient disaster that was chanted by Lux casually.

This was one of the reasons why even the greatest of scholars could not copy the bloodline spells.

A great scholar of magic might be able to imitate it to a certain extent and cast a thunder giant of similar form. But the effectiveness and power won’t be the same.

A single generation of scholars can’t make up for the trial and error that a single spell had gone through more than 600 years!

The true threat of the bloodline magic is the improvements it had received through time. It was almost t like the bloodline spells matured through time and gained superior strength.

“Amazing! That’s cooler than I had expected it to be…!”

Arum gasped as he couldn’t hide his sense of surprise and awe anymore.

The arm that had crushed the floor didn’t hit Arum. Rather it hit empty space. Lux intended to show Arum the difference in strength and crush his dreams. He didn’t believe that Arum would able to dodge this spell of his if he were to go all out.

Because of the specific rules of the academy, Lux was refraining from killing the commoner. Had he met with Lux somewhere else? Lux wouldn’t have hesitated at all! The death of a mere ant doesn’t count as any loss to society.

“You should surrender already since you can’t win this. If you prolong the match any further, the only destruction awaits you.”

Lux calmly spoke as he looked at Arum with disdain.

A worthless commoner.

A cripple who can’t use attributes.

A cheat who came into the university through unfair means dishonoring the nobles.

Those were the labels he had for Arum.

But Arum smirked.

“Only time will tell… it’s still too early for you to decide.”

With reinforced legs, Arum jumped to the gallery upstairs. No one could guess what Arum was planning next as they mocked and scoffed at him.

He aimed his fingers at Arum.

“[Mana Bullet]”

‘This is getting fun.’ Arum thought.

Lux didn’t know. That due to the effect of Arum’s spell [Stand By] Arum’s power was increasing every moment.

Five magic bullets formed on Arum’s five fingers.

“Go!”

*swish* *swish*

The crowd mocked as they watched Arum shoot his magic bullets again. But unlike the others, Lux squinted his eyes.

‘That direction…’

The body of the giant was essentially controlled using Lux’s own body. The direction from which the mana bullets came was such that if he wanted to destroy them, he would need to move his body in such a way that his very movement would cause a chain reaction and the giant would be crushing Lux under its arms.

*sigh*

Lux sighed.

It was a good move that others might have not been able to predict but Lux was different.

One must not that Lux was the successor of the Orrick family. Being in such a situation it was only natural that he would be trained in battle tactics from a young age.

“It’s useless…”

The move would have been fatal had Lux been a spoon-fed noble like the others. But Lux had seen through it and wouldn’t act carelessly.

“It’s your turn,” Arum claimed with a smile.

*crack*

Lux cracked his fingers as he stared at Arum with disdain.

The distance between Arum and the giant was still far off.

Arum knew how far the giant can go when he swings his arm down. Arum had to just stay out of the giant’s range to avoid being crushed like a bug.

“Gooooooooo!!”

The giant roared as it betrayed Arum’s expectations. Mana concentrated around the giant as it kept surging higher and higher making the air concentrated with it.

“Now…!”

Then suddenly all of that mana was as if released from its restraints as they charged towards Arum of their own accord.

An unexpected attack that was quite different from the ones the giant was launching. It was a blast of the magical power of the lightning attribute

Had Arum known of the existence of such a phenomenon, he would have dodged the attack.

But alas! He was unaware that the giant could do magical attacks at well.

Arum had been dodging around the giant’s physical attacks ever since the beginning and hadn’t expected a magical attack out of nowhere.

One must note, that although Arum knew about most forms of magic portrayed in books, he knew almost nothing about the effects of the bloodline spells making Lux’s surprise attack successful.

“Ugh…!”

The spell of the thunder attribute mercilessly struck Arum. Only wizards can use spells created by them. The very fact that the giant could use spells of itself despite being just a manifestation was a miracle in itself!

A sharp pain rushed through his body as the electric forces ripped his body apart.

‘Damn’

But Arum was somehow able to survive the attack as he gasped for breath.

‘If I hadn’t used Lightning resistance from beforehand, my body would have been numb enough for me to lose the match.’

The three auxiliary spells that Arum had cast one after another.

All three of them aided him to resist the lightning attribute. They were spells that were best suited for it. Through the years of knowledge acquired through books, Arum was well aware of the compatibility of the spells.

“Wow, that giant has a long range attack too….!”

While stretching the stiff muscles of his body Arum exclaimed in awe and amazement.

As long as the giant uses its long range attack the distance between them wouldn’t matter anymore.

“So cool…”

But his voice was soon interjected.

“Arum, please surrender!” Misty cried.

Her patience had reached its limits. No one had any faith in Arum from the beginning. No expected anything from a peasant. But at least she did. But her trust had crumbled to dust.

She knew how the battle would end up like.

The rate at which it was progressing made the future clear. Arum had no hope of surviving through it.

It was a worthless struggle. The pain that he was putting himself through would amount to nothing.

The other nobles were just enjoying the show. They took quite the pleasure In watching the fish squirm as it brought to the land waiting for only its death to end its squirming.

Arum had indeed come out of the waters. He should have stayed in the countryside, the place where trash like him belonged. There was no place for him on land in the circle of nobility. No place for him in the world of ‘wizards’.

But Misty wasn’t as heartless as others.

She could not watch him squirm in agony.

She felt the need to speak up.

“Lux is a wizard. The strength of the wizard is dependent on how vast their history is. It lies in studying the history and traditions of their predecessors. Did you think that a commoner like you would carry such magic and privileges history? You who have no history or tradition would inevitably be defeated here.”

Lux nodded to Misty’s claim.

Lux had no intention to cripple Arum even more than he already was. As long as Arum understands the difference between him and the nobles and walks out of the university with his tail in between his legs Lux would be satisfied. He couldn’t bring himself to be bothered with the likes of a commoner.

Lux understands that bearing a dream that can never come true is painful. It’s just a reality that couldn’t be achieved just by being stubborn. In the harsh world, the privileges received at birth were a major factor in determining what one could achieve and what one could not. And Arum certainly had no hope of achieving anything. Even a slave wizard was at a better standing than him.

It was but Lux’s conscience that led him to point out the reality of the situation to Arum. Unlike the other nobles who mocked Arum, he could only hold pity for him.

‘The sooner he gives up, the better it is for him. At least his heart wouldn’t have to bear the pain of failure even after he gave it his all.’

Lux stared at Arum’s eyes. The eyes that burned as bright as fire and gazed at his bloodline spell with awe.

No matter how much they tell him to quit, the fire in Arum’s eyes quite unbefitting for a commoner doesn’t seem to fade away.

Lux sighed.

‘It can’t be helped. I have to cut in further.’

“Do you have a teacher?” Lux asked.

“Yes I..”

“You are not bad, Arum. It is your teacher that is bad.”

“……What!?”

Lux nodded as being quite sure of his analysis, while Arum had question marks on his face.

“The teacher who didn’t tell you that you couldn’t be a wizard would definitely be bad. He gave you half-hearted hope and asked you to pursue your dreams when you have not a single speck of chance. He must have been a scam, to begin with. Your teacher should have told you from the beginning that you couldn’t be a wizard aren’t worthy to be taught magic.”

“…”

“Your teacher is a terrible scam. I don’t know what your teacher was thinking and I even doubt his credibility as a wizard to a great extent. Or maybe he just wanted to keep a fake mask of a teacher-like attitude that kept encouraging their student in the subjects they teach no matter how bad the students are at them. I don’t know. But you should know that you cannot be a wizard if you can’t do Mana Conversion. You are a cripple ad you should know that.”

Lux was definitely pointing at the sole master at Arum had. Lux had no idea what that person was like and what he was even thinking.

Non-attribute magic wasn’t even considered magic in some places without the ‘mana Conversation. A thing for the wizard’s children to play with – that was the analogy that was used for this form of magic.

If one is a teacher why won’t he mention all of this to Arum?

Lux would even go to the point that such a person wasn’t worthy to be a teacher if he had to.

“Shut up you are noisy.”

Lux was so involved in his soliloquy that he hadn’t noticed that when Arum’s face had darkened up. The air around him seemed to have turned heavy too.

Arum’s usual casual demeanor that seemed to be stricken with excitement every time magic came into play was never to be seen.

Indeed, Lux had made a big mistake.

“Hmmm?” Lux raised his brows in anticipation.

“If you are not a fool… then take back what you said.”

Lux was glad till now that he was reprimanding Arum as he basked in his own sense of righteousness, but suddenly the reality of the situation hit him.

If the one who taught Arum is a bad teacher, then a righteous and upright noble would have directed the words to Arum’s master and not to him. He would have spoken them to his master’s very face!

But what he did just now doesn’t make him any different from those ‘girls’ who do nothing but gossip behind one’s back. It might have been a different scenario if he was just a random person. But he was the successor of the Orrick household. How could he stoop so low? He felt his dignity being trampled by himself. In a sense of superiority, he had forgotten his manners.

And why wouldn’t he? The presence of a commoner could only bring emotions of disdain in his heart.

“It’s fine if someone mocks me for not being able to use attributes, but I won’t allow anyone to belittle my master!”

For the first time, a wave of clear anger was directed towards Lux. Till now Arum had just thought of the other nobles as kids who would laugh like parrots with half-closed eyes at the tune of a bagpiper. So he couldn’t care less when they laughed at him either.

But making fun of his master? That was his borderline.