Chapter 86
Chapter 86
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: The Tempo of Battle
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* * *
“Fire an Ice Bolt at me.”
At Sephia’s words, Dale hesitated for a moment, recalling the lethal formula he had projected onto his Ice Bolt—no, his Ice Bullet.
Just as he was about to intentionally reduce the spell’s power and fire…
“There’s no need to worry. Use your full strength.”
Sephia added, as if to reassure him.
“…Understood.”
Dale nodded and put some distance between them.
“Ice Bullet.”
He condensed the blue mana generated from his ‘four circles’ and fired the bullet of ice.
*Bang!*
Even though Dale had held back by his own standards, the spell was incomparably faster and swifter than anything from his 3rd-circle days, its lethality and destructive power on another level entirely. It was the essence of slaughter, impossible to track even with an elf's kinetic vision. Or so it should have been.
“—!”
But the moment the bullet of ice was about to strike Sephia, the weave of blue mana comprising the Ice Bolt unraveled powerlessly, like a thread coming undone, and scattered.
“…!”
“Within the vortex of your blue mana, I could feel the single point where it condensed.”
After neutralizing Dale’s Ice Bullet, Sephia continued.
“Furthermore, based on the ‘angle of the arrowhead of cold,’ I was able to predict which direction it would strike.”
A nullification made possible only by predicting the point of the spell’s origin and its subsequent path.
“Before the spell is even generated…”
She focused not on the spell itself, but on the very elements that composed it. It wasn’t about solving a problem after it occurred, but about blocking any possibility of the problem arising in the first place. This was a symbolic indicator of the philosophy pursued by the mages of the Blue Magic Tower.
“Why don’t you try a slightly stronger spell?”
Sephia spoke up.
“…You mean my full 4th-circle power?”
“Feel free to display your abilities to your heart’s content.”
Sephia smiled as if there was nothing to worry about.
Immediately after, Dale erected a wall of ice.
“Triple Barrel. 12-Gauge Buckshot.”
Using the ice wall itself as a ‘muzzle of cold,’ he added a shrapnel formula to make it explode, and dozens of pellets scattered from the three barrels. Or rather, they were about to.
“…!”
But nothing happened. The perfectly formed wall of ice simply remained fixed in place. The formula Dale had projected was rendered meaningless.
“Think of mana as being like water.”
Observing this, Sephia spoke as a high-level water-attribute mage.
“Did you freeze the mana structure to prevent the formula’s projection?”
“You’re a quick learner.”
Sephia nodded and proceeded to explain the principles of Dispel magic.
If one assumed mana corresponded to the ‘water molecules’ that constitute water, then a spell was the water itself, formed by a collection of those molecules. Projecting a formula onto a spell was like adding sugar or salt to water to change its taste—an act of personalization.
However, if the mana itself—the water molecules—was frozen, the movement of the molecules would approach a standstill, causing the water to turn to ice. And it was meaningless to pour sugar on ice.
‘I see why mages hate the Blue Magic Tower so much.’
Although the Blue Magic Tower was one of the Five-Colored Magic Towers, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that, in a sense, they were the natural enemy of mages.
The Blue Magic Tower’s specialty was the Spell Counter, a technique that completely nullified an opponent's intent by focusing entirely on their magic, not one’s own.
“Now, I will show you the movement of mana before your very eyes.”
Sephia immediately began her instruction for practical application. The blue mana generated from her circles swirled, enveloping her.
“Focus your consciousness on the blue current and pinpoint the stagnation in the flow you feel there.”
The point where the blue current stopped. The point where the flow of mana halted and condensed. However, focusing one’s consciousness on an opponent’s movements instead of one’s own was not as easy as it sounded. So, Sephia deliberately made the blue current fluctuate in an exaggerated manner to make it easier for Dale to grasp.
Dale focused his consciousness on that point, assuming the opponent's mana was like ‘water molecules’ and intending only to freeze those molecules.
Just then, Sephia’s mana raged and stagnated. As if sniping that very point, Dale fired his own ‘blue particles.’ It was a basic imitation of the *Blue Dissonance* that Sephia had shown him earlier.
‘It might be worth considering fusing this with sniping magic.’
As Dale calmly contemplated the application of this spell…
“…!”
Sephia gasped in surprise at Dale’s display.
‘It’s like hacking.’
Infiltrating the opponent’s mana just before it structured itself and disrupting that structure.
“Well done.”
The flow of mana Sephia had generated became a muddy torrent, tangled by Dale’s intervention.
*Bang!*
But just as Dale’s *Blue Dissonance* sniped one spell, another concentration of mana formed within the vortex.
‘…!’
A bolt spell was fired, and Dale focused his consciousness once more. If he couldn't stop it at the formation level, the next step was to block the spell itself. Just as Sephia had taught him, Dale focused his consciousness again.
She had fired a basic-level Ice Bolt.
He predicted its path based on the point of the bolt’s formation and the direction its arrowhead pointed, then set a ‘trap that shatters mana structures’ along the bolt’s trajectory.
He added a formula from another world—Dissolution.
*Bang!*
Sephia's bolt was fired, and just as expected, Dale’s dispel trap consumed it. But at the same time, another bolt was fired.
“…!”
Two, three—Dale gritted his teeth as a volley of bolts began to fly at him all at once. There were too many to handle one by one.
“You’ve lost the tempo.”
Faced with Dale’s struggle, Sephia smiled as if she had expected this.
“The most important thing in shutting down an opponent is to gain the upper hand in tempo.”
“Like how you scattered your *Blue Dissonance*, Teacher Sephia?”
“That is also a type of action to seize the tempo.”
Seizing the tempo. In a battle between mages, it meant having the advantage in speed, allowing one to act proactively.
“Then what do you think is the most fundamental aspect of seizing the tempo?”
“I’m not sure.”
“It is to always achieve a favorable exchange rate in your interactions with the opponent.”
Sephia said.
“I launched an offensive with low-cost spells by rapidly firing bolts.”
Low cost. Lower-tier spells that could be cast quickly and easily. Dale lacked the capability to nullify every single one of them.
“For example, if we assume the cost of a Dispel spell is 5, the cost of a bolt is merely 1.”
The most basic and common of spells.
“If this 5:1 exchange is repeated, which side will gain the advantage?”
The question needed no answer.
“The *Blue Dissonance* you demonstrated was excellent.”
Sephia replied.
“But it is far too valuable to be used to stop a mere bolt spell.”
“Indeed…”
Dale couldn’t hide his amazement at the profound insight as she explained the value of each spell, the advantage of acting proactively in magical interactions, and furthermore, ‘how to seize the tempo.’
“You must maintain a situation where you can move proactively, ahead of your opponent, from beginning to end.”
Sephia's ensuing explanation was the very picture of a ‘pure mage.’ Unlike Dale, who could be said to walk a heterodox path, this was the enlightenment of Sephia, who walked the orthodox path of magic.
“Then, from now on,”
Sephia began.
“from the lowest-cost nullification spells to stopping the incantations of a high-level mage.”
The way a high-level blue mage approached combat was remarkably simple.
“Let us slowly discover it together.”
“Yes, Teacher Sephia!”
To thoroughly seize the tempo of battle and never fall into the enemy’s pace. Block, block, block, block, and block again—until the opponent’s spirit breaks and curses like ‘blue bastards’ escape their lips.
‘In a way, it’s truly vicious.’
But when used properly, it was a perfect counter against other mages. At the same time, understanding blue magic was the same as learning how to fight against a blue mage. For Dale, it was the best possible lesson.
“I am already looking forward to the fruits of your learning.”
Sephia said with a smile, as if there was still a mountain of things to learn.
The essence of magic built up by the Blue Magic Tower was not something that young 3rd or 4th-circle mages could imitate. Regardless of talent, properly understanding ‘nullification magic’ required a higher level of enlightenment.
But he had copied that advanced magic and made it his own just by seeing it.
“That’s my student.”
“That’s because I have the best teacher.”
At Sephia’s words, Dale smiled as if it were someone else’s affair. The fact that Dale had reached the 4th circle held a special significance.
Just as Dale had never been an ordinary 3rd-circle mage, the step to the next level would require anything but an ‘ordinary enlightenment.’
It was a realm that could not be reached without an enlightenment of the magical arts, one that transcended mere talent or skill.
Although Dale was a mage who pursued a heterodox path, the 4th-circle enlightenment he had obtained was anything but.
The secrets of the Blue Magic Tower, which he could only now grasp having reached the 4th circle, meant that this was an unknown realm that even the great Dale could not comprehend before becoming a 4th-circle mage.
What new heights would Dale, who had now grasped that unknown realm, reach with his new enlightenment? Faced with Dale’s phenomenal talent, what stirred Sephia’s heart once again was passion.
A desire for this child to truly grasp the essence of blue magic, not just to learn it as a supplementary skill for a black mage.
Sephia was no longer a mere tutor teaching a novice. Just as Lord Black had accepted Dale as ‘his rightful successor,’ there stood a ‘proper successor’ who would inherit the spirit of an elder of the Blue Magic Tower.
* * *
*Clang!*
Sword met sword. Not the blade of a shadow, but purely as a swordsman gripping a hilt.
Dale’s knight’s sword was clashing with a man known as one of the Seven Swords of the Continent.
He wasn't using aura. Although he was strengthening his body with acceleration magic like Haste, it was still no match for that of one of the Seven Swords, who did use aura.
“Young Master! How about you surrender now!”
Each swing of the sword was absurdly heavy and simultaneously fast. Speed and weight. For knights above a certain level, speed and weight were not mutually exclusive concepts. But with every clash of swords, Dale was steadily projecting a ‘concept’ onto his own blade.
The Hero’s Sword, Peacemaker. The ‘memory of that sword.’
Although he couldn't directly project the sword's form, a sword was more than its appearance. The material of the blade, the magic imbued within it, the history dwelling in its very body. He was secretly projecting that sword, tracing and awakening the memories of the sword and the hero.
All through the knight’s sword now held in Dale’s hand.
At the same time, Dale’s sword blocked Lord Helmut’s next strike.
‘…!’
It wasn't a feint or a deflection. He had blocked a direct downward slash from one of the Seven Swords of the Continent with his own sword, without even using aura.
‘I’m starting to get it.’
Even if it wasn't a strike swung with full force, its weight was by no means something to be dismissed.
“How…!”
Lord Helmut gasped, unable to hide his astonishment.
“I told you, didn’t I, Lord Helmut?”
Dale, having created some distance, grinned and readjusted his grip on the hilt.
“—It’s best not to underestimate a ‘mage’s sword.’”
