Chapter 250

Chapter 250

Splash!

Diving headfirst into the sea, Simon straightened out like a fish and tore through the waves.

"Oh~"

Rick, who was swimming alongside him, looked at him in surprise.

"This hillbilly can swim pretty well, huh?"

"...Don't look down on me. Mountains have rivers, too."

"Hahaha, right, right!"

Simon glared at Rick before taking a deep breath and diving down into the water.

As he went under, the world around him changed.

There was no sound except for the crashing waves. He felt relaxed, like he was in his mom's arms.

But there was no time to dwell on that comforting feeling.

"Now that I'm in the water, let's start with offensive magic.

Simon squeezed the jet-black into his palm and drew a magic circle.

"Ah!"

However, it wasn't easy to draw a magic circle underwater.

The magic circle collapsed at the edges before it could be finished. The jet-black turned to ink and scattered, dispersing all throughout the water.

'It's collapsing from the base, so I don't even have time to add the bonding formula.'

Creating a magic circle underwater was a whole different problem than creating one in air. It felt at least ten times harder.

For now, he just kept trying and trying again, collecting data about what worked and what didn't.

'I need to streamline making the magic circle much more. Even if I have to sacrifice power or injection speed. That stuff doesn't matter if I can't finish the spell.'

After failing time and time again, he barely succeeded once. He realized that he couldn't use what he created in the real world.

However, he decided to fire it while he was at it.

He aimed his magic circle at an octopus swimming by, hoping it would be their lunch for the day.

'Jet-Black Torpedo!'

Splash!

Bubbling out of the magic circle, a jet-black projectile sliced through the water.

Simon cheered inwardly as it flew faster than he expected.

Pow!

However, it didn't hit the octopus, instead impaling a nearby rock. Startled, the octopus scrambled to hide behind a different set of rocks.

Gurgle...

Simon, now out of breath, swam quickly to the surface.

"Phew!"

As he surfaced, it was as if time had suddenly resumed after being frozen under the waves.

He could see the cloudless sky and hear students laughing and chatting on the sandy beach before him.

'One more time!'

Simon raised his hand above his head. And a magic circle began to form with a speed incomparable to making one underwater.

'Hmph, why is this easy formula so difficult underwater?

When he finally finished, he slammed his palm down.

"Jet-Black Torpedo!"

With the activation of the magic circle, a torpedo launched out of the water and into the sea.

The bubbling projectile was quite fast. He felt confident enough that even Kizen students would be hit with it.

'I wish I could make it underwater while bringing out this much power.'

Next up was the breathing circle he had been working on all day with Meilyn.

It would take 5 minutes to cast. After meticulously perfecting the circle, Simon activated the runes, and with a whoosh, the air around him was sucked in.

"It works!"

Just as he was focused on testing it out.

"Simon! Simon! Look at me!"

Next to him, Rick was carelessly flopping around wearing a pair of flippers he invented.

"I know I made these, but they're the bomb!"

Mana continued to shoot out of Rick's legs as they stretched out in front of him.

"This is great. I'll be hella rich if I sell these to others right before the exa— Woah!!"

A hole probably formed in the flippers, as the mana exploded like a booster, sending Rick flying through the air.

He flew in a graceful arc through the air, over the ocean, above the sand, and then...

Crrrash!

He landed headfirst into a sandcastle some little kids were building.

The children's smiles fell as they watched their sandcastle completely collapse.

After wobbling his legs for a moment as he pulled with all his might, Rick's head popped out, and he stood up, spread his arms, and laughed.

"Voila! I am the princess who lives in the sand castle!"

The children burst into tears.

'...Good grief.'

Wiping away a tear of laughter, Simon turned his head and looked at the magic circle in his right hand.

As determined in the formula, there was an hour hand in his hand that moved from left to right. That meant it was fully charged.

Simon immediately covered his mouth with the magic circle and jumped into the sea.

Splash!

'It works!'

The air leaking out of his hands allowed him to breathe safely.

'Ugh, but...'

The air and water came in together since he didn't make a proper seal between his mouth and nose.

Said Meilyn, stepping out of the shade.

"One of us has to stay here to keep an eye on our things. Who's up?"

"Me! Me! I'll keep watch. I got so tired from playing with little kids."

Said Rick, dropping into a chair.

"Same here. I'm a bad swimmer, so... I think it's best for you two to go!"

With that, Simon and Meilyn headed out to the beach.

Until they reached the water, they didn't say a word to each other.

'I don't know where to put my eyes.'

Simon was blinded by her outfit. That kind of swimsuit was way too exhilarating for him.

'...When will his clothes dry?'

Meilyn was just as self-conscious of her partner.

When they finally reached the water, she spoke up.

"You go first, Simon."

Meilyn brushed her light-blue hair back and prepared a magic circle. Simon nodded and dove into the water first.

As he swam swiftly through the water, he saw Meilyn drawing circles around her feet and leaping into the air.

{Ice Road}.

Swooooooooosh!

Ice poured out from beneath her feet, letting her shoot out across the waves.

Simon's jaw dropped open. She was running across the ocean using ice.

'That's amazing!'

Her sense for ice elemental magic was so high that Simon wondered why she hadn't trained it before.

If she hadn't been so self-conscious about Serene's proficiency with fire, she would've been able to reach a much higher level far sooner.

"Achoo!"

Of course, there was the problem of her feeling cold, though.

She cleared her throat, then stopped her ice road and dove into the water.

Underwater, she activated a magic she had prepared in advance. As Simon watched the ice shoot out into the ocean, he internally marveled,

'She was so upset that she dropped in the rankings on the last BDMAT. Looks like she's using all her rage to prepare for this one.'

He couldn't lose. Simon pulled out a skeleton from the subspace.

"!"

He tried to use Bone Armor, but the skeleton came out and floated up, unable to do anything.

He couldn't use Overload, either. Underwater, he couldn't use his left foot to stomp on the ground, which was the trigger for the subspace in the first place.

Still under the waves, breathing from his hand, Simon pondered as he watched Meilyn practicing pouring more and more ice inside the water.

'What's the best way for me to fight underwater?'

* * *

"Yaaaawwwwnnn."

A man was lying on a sunbed under a parasol. He had dark skin, and he wore a white cap on his head.

He rubbed his eyes and grunted.

"Why did we have to come all the way to the ocean to train?"

His friend on the opposite sunbed answered the man's question, smiling.

"Cut us some slack. It's our loss if groupmates get expelled from Kizen."

"That damned group work. And what more practice do we need when we're fighting in the ocean anyway?"

His friend smirked and shrugged.

"You wouldn't understand since you're an S.A. and a water combat specialist, but we all flipped out when we realized the theme of the third exam was the sea."

The man quickly adjusted his white cap.

"Is it really such a big deal? Sea or land, the fight is just more of the s— Huh?"

The man looked out over the ocean to see a clear line of ice in the middle of the sea. Sitting up, he grabbed the brim of his cap and pulled it up.

A girl with light blue hair in a swimsuit was speeding across the ice.

"She's gorgeous. Do you know who she is?"

His friend laughed out loud.

"...You really don't know anyone except a few kids in our class, huh."

"I haven't even memorized my group member's names yet."

He had a seriously selective memory, forgetting people he'd seen ten minutes earlier if they weren't of interest to him.

"Hahaha! She's kind of famous. Meilyn Villeneuve from the Ivory Tower."

Whoosh!

The man lying on the opposite sunbed suddenly flew sideways. His friend, who had been grabbed by the man in a split second, coughed and shouted,

"L-Laheim? What's the meaning of—!"

"Say it again. Say it again clearly."

His eyes flashed.

"Who in the Ivory Tower? What's her name?"

The friend looked puzzled. They'd been hanging out all semester, but this was the first time he'd ever reacted to a person's name.

"M-Meilyn Villenne!"

"Wasn't the new girl from the Ivory Tower this year Serene Aindark?"

"I-I don't know! They said she's also from Ivory Tower!"

With that, the man released his friend. The friend landed on his butt in the sand, coughing.

Laheim's expression turned serious.

'I didn't expect to hear that name here.'

——