Volume 1 - CH 9

Climax

“It’s fine if someone mocks me for not being able to use attributes. I am aware that I can’t really do it. But I won’t allow anyone to belittle my master!”

As Lux was subjected to Arum’s intense glair a sudden realization dawned upon him. He hadn’t realized it before but now that he actually knows that Arum was a cripple the reality of the matter little by little became clear to him.

Arum’s words at the gate in front of all the nobles weren’t meant to challenge him, neither were they a show of arrogance. After all, how can a cripple ever be arrogant of his crippled magic?

‘I see, so he was aware all along.’

‘He must be wanting to prove his skills through this battle to prove because he wanted to prove that he is not inferior despite being a commoner. He wanted to prove his skills.’

Lux jumped to his own conclusions.

He believed that it wouldn’t make much sense otherwise.

But a sudden scream brought him back to the world.

“You don’t have the right!”

And at the same time, he realized that he had stepped into forbidden territory.

“Well, I apologize. It was my mistake,” Lux claimed.

He had his dignity on the line.

Arum shook his head.

“No, don’t do it yet.”

Arum said something strange causing Lux to raise his brows.

Arum didn’t want to receive Lux’s apology.

“I am sorry for using weak magic. But I can’t let you disrespect those big boobs! I will demolish you here and now.”

Arum said something even stranger.

“What are you saying? Don’t you only use non-attribute magic…”

Arum interjected Lux not allowing him to complete.

“You have crossed your line!”

Arum didn’t want to hear any reason. He would definitely not allow anyone to disrespect his master.

“… Well, that’s fine. I will apologize to you and your teacher.”

“Do you think I care?”

“Ah…”

Arum’s line of sight intersected with Lux.

Lux was stunned while at the same time he received a piercing gaze from Arum that told how serious he was.

Arum descended from the gallery to the stage under everyone’s sight. It was like a completely different person had descended that caused them to choke on their own mockery.

“[Stand-By]”

A towering monster of thunder stood against him. The true battle had thus commenced.

Lux’s eyes widened for Lux knew the nature of the magic used now,

The Spell [Stand By] was not an attack in itself but it was only something used in the preparation of an attack. It was a preset spell.

Arum’s chant of such a spell was like a declaration of his attack pattern. It was like he had changed his tactic from defensive to a more offensive one.

“Accumulation,” Lux whispered under his breath.

Mana from the surroundings began to accumulate from his mana vessel for him to charge the very next spell.

Accumulation itself was no magic process. Rather it was one of the four foundational blocks of magic namely, “Accumulation”, “Mana Conversion”, “Transformation” and “Release”. “Accumulation” was a process that was usually done subconsciously and was the most underrated to the point of often being ignored.

But not for Arum, who took this process seriously. For some reason, unlike the others, he had to chant it in the same manner as spells were chanted. Others mostly could do it without chanting at all!

Mana erupted from Arum’s body. The fuel that slept in the depths of Arum’s body began to channel in his veins creating a mystic aura around him that was never seen before.

“What the hell…?”

Lux gasped at the sudden surge of vast amounts of mana around Arum. It was like mana was leaking out from him unable to be contained.

Lux shook his head as he gained back his composure.

‘No matter what you do. You cannot match me.’

There was no way that Lux could have lost from Arum by any means. But now that he had used his bloodline magic it was only natural that he would win.

How many generations did his bloodline magic pass through?

How many battles had his bloodline magic won?

There was no way he was going to be pushed back.

Lux awaited Arum’s next move and also pitties him for getting in his way.

Lux at least felt a bit of guilt for insulting Arum’s teacher in an ‘unethical’ way. And that’s was exactly why Lux was willing to go through Arum’s cheap pretend to be a wizard at his heart’s content, no matter how much time it took to make Arum realize.

“Is it okay for you to not defend yourself?” Arum asked.

Lux was standing completely defenseless without any defensive spell cast on himself. It was clear as a day that Arum was going to attack. Then why not defend it?

“Oh, I don’t believe that your magic would harm me in any way. And with your worthless spell, it would be proved and you would realize that my words were indeed true.”

“Hmm”

Arum nodded with a pinched expression. His face looked grim as he stared at the cracked floor.

Soon a realization dawned upon him causing his lips to arch to a smile.

“In that case…”

“Hmm?”

He reached an amazing conclusion.

“Then I can prove that everything you said is rubbish if I defeat you..”

Lux raised his brows. Lux didn’t make any reply.

But Arum didn’t expect any reply. Arum’s body trembled at the number of things he could prove here. There was not just one mockery that he had received. He had received a plethora of them! He had a chance to prove all of them were rubbish and prove that he was right all along.

“Transform”

Arum activated another one of the foundations completely skipping onto the “Mana Conversation” step. It was another non-attribute spell indeed. For Arum this was the most important step as this was the one that manifests his mana.

“What?”

But this time he had a noticeable change compared to the other spells that he used before.

Magic should not have been released yet. The process of “release” had not been executed. But contrary to what one might expect, Arum’s veins bulged with a white glow. The others would not have noticed it if not for Arum’s torn shirt. The torn shirt along with his white veins gave him a wild appearance never to be seen before.

There was a perfect balance in his veins. The mana had not been released yet and neither was it leaking out due to an excess.

The white lines stretched from his right arm and then from both of his feet unnoticed by anyone covered by his trousers. The white mana branched off like a waterway with him as a source as they eventually drew something like a magic circle on the floor.

“Misty stay away”

“Huh?”

Misty tilted her head in confusion.

“This is a bit dangerous. There might be some backlash.”

Arm advised Misty as he glanced at her with the corner of his eyes behind his shoulder. His mana surged as he prepares for his spell

‘I know what my magic is like.’

“Move!” Arum shouted at the top of his voice ordering her.

“Yes!”

She squeaked as she moved as far away as she could.

“Good luck!”

Misty and the other girl retraced along as they said their wishes. Arum’s ears twitched as he heard the voice of someone he hadn’t heard before.

“A summon…?”

Lux observed Arum’s spell and muttered. The only spell in which a magic circle is deployed before activating the spell is the magic circle.

‘But something like that should not be possible.’

The summoning magic was also an attribution-based spell. The attribute of the magic depends on what is actually being summoned.

Take Lux’s Lightning Giant for example, while it wasn’t summoning magic by its very nature and Lux didn’t have to use a magic circle either. It indeed portrayed well how the summons represented the user’s attributes. Someone like Arum with crippled magic shouldn’t have been able to do summoning magic.

Arum was doing something that Lux had no idea about.

But lux wasn’t worried. No matter what Arum does, in the end, it would be another non-attribute magic. It was unlikely to be powerful enough to be a threat to Lux.

Because of the lack of “Mana Conversation” non-attributed magic can only manifest itself as auxiliary magic. Auxillary magic only strengthens certain parts of the body and does not actually exert any magical power. That is why it is not even considered magic.

Its defenses themselves were fragile, not to mention that the attack was non-existent. The act of simply applying the mana without any conversion had been sent to the dust of history and wasn’t able to find its place in the realm of magic.

“History would not be overturned by your efforts alone.”

A long history of magic. It was also a barrier for Arum to cross. He not only had to make up for the defects of his own magic but also the years of strength that Lux’s bloodline magic had accumulated.

“History would not be overturned by your worthless efforts!”

“We will see that…!”

Arum spat on the floor, with his spit mixed with a bit of blood thanks to the earlier damage he had taken from Lux.

The white vein of mana that had extended from Arum’s body had finally formed into a complete circle. A part of the same had formed a circle on his right palm as well.

Arum stretched his right palm as he reached out for the heavens in the same manner that Lux had.

It was then.

The circle began to glow in a majestic white light.

Surprisingly enough the mana used by Arum had the same magical properties as the magic stone that Lux had used while entering the building along with the others.

“Fixed conversion formula”

Tradition? History?

‘Oh, that must be certainly important’

One should be proud of the pain and sufferings their ancestors had gone through to accumulate knowledge and resources. It’s a precious privilege that not many have.

A magic spell is judged by its power.

Bloodline magic. It is an irreplaceable resource that brings the clan name, fame, and also money.

‘I don’t know anything about history but the power of the giant in front of me speaks for itself. The history that the giant has accumulated over the years is sure to be something prosperous.’

‘But, it does not determine the outcome of the match. I refuse to believe that. It might be something that might bring fame to the house but it’s not an unshakable existence.’

Arum glared at the towering giant as he said his vows. The giant was a wall that he ought to destroy. Even in the face of absolute power, Arum had refused to give up hope. He had refused to cower in fear. It was either nothing or everything.

‘There is no reason why magic without history cannot surpass bloodline magic!’

Arum glared at Lux.

“Did you see something like this for the first time?”

“…what?”

Arum smirked.

“Feast your eyes because you won’t see something like this anywhere else.”

It turned out the mana was driven by emotions.

Arum was excited to show his own version of magic. His own card. Mana rushed to the white veins making its brilliance rise a notch further.

A torrent of mana was ready to be released any moment. Lux could only watch in apt silence.

One must note that Lux and Arum were just exchanging pointers. In a real life battle, one would hardly give the others room to breathe.

The mana rose further and further as the rate of rising only accelerated further.

‘Everything for the giant in front!’

Lux held onto his chin as he pondered for a moment all the while taking not of Arum’s piercing glare.

Accumulation, transformation, and release. They were things that the wizard normally doesn’t have to chant.

It was then that Lux picked up the next words Arum spoke that caused his ears to titch.

“Release”

The words caused Lux’s forehead to crease.

“No way…”

Lux’s eyes opened wide when he considers the impossible. It is its influence over the reality that determines the power of a magic spell. And what Lux had seen were just the three steps of magic channeling, there was no spell involved! Not to mention that Arum had completely skipped the “Mana conversation” process.

How can magic channeling exist without a spell? The very thought caused shivers to run down Lux’s spine.

“Then that is-!”

The white circle is drawn around Arum that had branched off as multiple veins originating from Arum was the true answer to Lux’s question. Arum was using a magical formation instead of a magical spell.

A magic formation has more influence on reality than a normal spell.

But that wasn’t what Lux was concerned about. In fact, summoning magic was also a kind of magic formation.

Usually, mana can only be released once it had been converted into one of the attributes. The magical power locks itself forever in that attributed state. You can convert mana into any of the attributes but you cannot convert the converted attribute into another attribute of a totally different nature. Neither can the attribute be converted into mana back again.

… But there was one form of magic that never involved converting mana into the attributes! It was something that existed between true magic and mana. A pseudo magical art of wizardry.

Non-attribute magic that was driven to the edge of history had raised its voice.

Indeed, the magic formation that Arum had created. Its essence was to convert the non-attribute magic back into mana.

Mana cannot manifest in reality. But if it is converted to non-attribute it can manifest and can be made to travel to the magic formation from Arum’s mana vessel. Once it reaches the circle the magic formation converts it back into mana again and stores it, ready to be released.

“Could it be…”

Lux only had a hunch. But he was seeing the impossible being possible.

The magic was once said to be trash and was labeled with inefficiency. With the mana being stored as mana itself instead of its physical manifestation, there were no limits to how much mana could be stored. Arum can go through the three magical foundations almost indefinitely to pump in as much mana as he wanted.

It was a folly that could only be done because the non-attribute, lied between true magic and mana. A simple alternative that kept storing mana instead of releasing it.

It was just a desk theory that wasn’t even practically possible! A theory that does not consider fuel depletion.

One must note that the process that was being talked about required mana to be converted into non-attribute twice!

Considering the inefficiency of the non-attribute the final output of the magic would be minuscule if one were to consider the average mage.

But there was a person who could make it a reality now!

‘Is it real? I had heard about his mana reserves but could it be so vast?’ Lux thought as he watched the impossible being possible in front of his eyes.

“Mega Transform!”

The whole of the mana stored in the formation began to transform all at once.

“[Light Beam Cannon]”

Arum finally cast his spell. The mana was already transformed and the spell did the perfect job to propel it.

“Yeah Yeah Yeah!”

Arum had become a deathly cannon with his magic barrel. The mana circle as the barrel and with him being the gunpowder himself!

With no defensive spell upon Lux’s side. Lux couldn’t help but have the lightning giant block the burst of mana with its body.

“This is-”

The lightning giant took the magic head-on. A magic attack that was only comprised of mana that was not converted into any of the attributes pierced the giant’s torso.

If such attributed magic would have been used by normal means Arum would have just been scoffed at.

But the spell didn’t end in a moment. It was a continuous attack where the barrage of mana continued. Even if the bombardment was received by the giant, by no means did it show any signs of stopping.

“That’s stupid…!” Lux stared at the sight with a terrified expression. His widened eyes refused to blink as they feared missing out on the important details.

The thunder giant took a step back as it was finally having a fluctuation in its energy.

Just the thought of having his giant take a step back was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

What was the thunder light giant? It was the crystallization of the years of inheritance of the Orrick House. Lux who faced such a situation couldn’t help but be stricken with shock.

‘Have you started to lose? How could [Thunderlight Giant] lose? With just mana alone and no attributes?”

‘That’s not possible. How much mana would be required to do something like that?’

The giant was a manifestation of magic! It was something that was created by bending reality and was a living existence in itself. Yet it was being pushed back my mere mana alone!

“Go… oh…! Ohooooo !!”

The giant screamed as it moved according to his master’s control.

Lux refused to believe that Arum had a chance against the current him. The thunder giant begins to release its own type of thunder magic towards Arum countering the spell.

The giant too was unwilling to have his master face any more humiliation than he already had.

“All hail Big Boobs!” Arum screamed at the top of his voice.

The output of his magic increased as it was affected by his fortified emotions. He stressed his body more and more to increase the output of his spell. His own physical conditon didn’t matter anymore. All he knew was that he had to avenge his master and that he had something to prove… he had to fight for a great cause.