Chapter 247: 2nd Semester (5)
Chapter 247: 2nd Semester (5)
After Iona finished drinking all the blood, we decided to stop by the professor-only training room for a moment before heading back to the dormitory.
While there were private training rooms inside the dorms, and public training rooms that students shared...
The problem was that the student facilities were all designed for low-grade magic. They were a bit too flimsy to go around blasting intermediate magic.
For that reason, ever since I became an intermediate magician, I had been frequently borrowing the professor-only training room from Iona. Carla and Elisha usually tagged along as well.
Iona, who had opened the door to the training room for us, waved her hand energetically, seemingly having no intention of coming inside herself.
"Good luck! Work hard! I have some things to take care of, so I'll be going now! There's quite a bit to prepare for the second semester!"
"Yes. ...Wait a moment, Professor! What happened with the private training room I mentioned last time?"
"That? The Chairman gave his approval! It's just going to take a little time to build!"
"Aha? Then I just have to wait. Thank you, Professor."
"No, no. An intermediate magician in their first year is basically the greatest genius in the history of the Academy! No one dared to object!"
For some reason, Iona looked quite proud of herself as she strutted away. I chuckled at her retreating figure before turning my gaze toward the interior of the training room.
It was a vast, empty space. However, the fact that it was the size of a small athletic field and the entire facility was reinforced with anti-magic coating changed the perspective entirely.
"Carla, Elisha. How should we decide the order?"
"Please decide as you wish, Master."
"Well... wouldn't it be best if you went first? Be honest. You're a little excited to test out your new staff, aren't you?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"I wouldn't say it was obvious... but if you look closely, it's easy to tell. Right, Carla?"
"Yeah. Master's eyes are sparkling more than usual. Of course we noticed."
Carla and Elisha nodded in unison. I expressed my gratitude by patting both of their heads before stepping into the center of the training room.
I pulled the new staff from my inventory. The moment I gripped it, a strange sense of unity washed over me.
With a relaxed smile, I slowly aimed it forward.
Let's see... what magic would be good? Should I start with something standard?
I poured the mana I drew from my core directly into the staff and spoke.
"The kalpa-fire that incinerates all creation. Pillar of hellfire. Imprisoned nightmare. This is your final journey."
Whoosh.
With the sound of something igniting, embers began to rise from the floor of the training room. The way they swirled in a large circle was far from ordinary.
I hadn't used this in actual combat yet, but I had practiced it enough that the deployment was swift.
Since this was just a warm-up, there was no need to go all out. Without using resonance and keeping the mana input moderate, I uttered the next words.
"Rise. Fire Pillar."
Triggered by the activation word, the mana that had been calmly arranged began to fluctuate wildly. Then, a pillar of fire erupted from the floor in an instant.
BOOM!
The momentum was so fierce that even though it was just fire rising, it produced a sound akin to an explosion.
Fire Pillar. An intermediate flame attribute spell, and a classic area-of-effect magic.
It had the advantage of being powerful and maintainable as long as mana lasted, but its drawbacks were that the caster couldn't move during the casting and the initial location was fixed—meaning an enemy could simply run away.
It was similar to Thunder Calling, but a bit stronger and a bit more inconvenient.
Since it continuously consumed a significant amount of mana, there was no better spell to gauge the staff's performance.
And as expected, the rate at which mana was drained had decreased significantly. It wasn't precise, just a gut feeling... but was the efficiency about 1.2 times better?
It might not seem like much, but for someone like me with overflowing mana, it would make a substantial difference.
After that, I continued to test the staff's performance by using various other spells.
I tried reaching maximum output through resonance and mana overcharge, cast multiple low-grade spells simultaneously, and even modified spells through element combination.
Whether it was thanks to the staff or just because I was in good condition today, everything felt better than usual.
...Would it be okay to try that now?
Feeling my core moderately emptied from the barrage of magic and my circuits pleasantly heated, I closed my eyes.
I sharpened my mind. At its tip, I engraved the image of a phenomenon that shouldn't exist.
Fire becomes solid, rocks shimmer, and lightning flows like liquid.
Various elements. The fundamental units that make up the world. Or more accurately, the things perceived as such.
Within me, they swirled endlessly, mixing and splitting repeatedly.
It was pure chaos. Perhaps this was what the world felt like before heaven and earth were divided.
From here, I had to take these concepts—stripped naked and dismantled to reveal their raw faces—and clothe and assemble them according to my taste.
I sank my consciousness even deeper.
My reference was the magic Iris had shown back in the scenario dungeon.
Recalling the sight of that day, I calmly wove together my own image.
And the moment I realized the desired form was vividly engraved in my mind's eye, I finally opened my eyes and looked ahead.
I raised my staff. Glaring at the empty air beyond it, I spoke.
"O ember. I breathe life into thee as a breath. This is one birth and the end of many. Bloom within the darkness. Soar from the ashes."
A small flame flickered above the spot I was staring at. However, as the incantation continued, it swelled in size, growing larger and larger.
It was about as tall as I was. Uniquely, the fire was fixed in a perfect sphere, scattering flames rhythmically as if it were pulsing.
As if it were an egg. As if something was about to be born.
At that ominous sight, Carla and Elisha, who had been chatting idly, turned their attention toward me all at once.
Pouring in the rest of my mana without reservation, I brought the incantation to an end.
"Awaken. Fire Phoenix."
Crack.
Vivid lines were etched across the sphere of flame, which then split into countless fragments. And then.
Shatter!
Small fragments of fire scattered in all directions as the sphere broke apart. However, the heat became even more intense than before.
In the center of the training room where the embers fluttered, a bird of prey with its wings spread wide stood where the round egg had been just moments ago.
With a smoldering gaze and a body that burned incessantly, the giant bird made of fire—every single feather composed of flames—stared intently at me.
At the sight of the creature that truly resembled a phoenix, just as the spell's name suggested, Carla and Elisha rushed toward me in shock.
"Ma-Master! That! Look at that!"
"A phoenix?! Did you seriously create a phoenix?! With magic?!"
"Calm down, both of you. There's no way that's the case, right?"
While extremely rare, phoenixes were actual living creatures.
However, because their numbers were small and they lived in harsh environments like volcanoes, their way of life wasn't well known.
Thanks to that, many false rumors circulated... one of which was that the phoenix wasn't a natural creature, but an artificial one created by someone.
Well, that was completely false.
"Though their abilities vary, phoenixes are phantom species like dragons. They are born with mystery; they aren't something someone can just make."
"Then what is that?!"
"A simple imitation. I just mimicked the form. It has no self-awareness, and it only moves when I directly control it."
Shrugging my shoulders, I swung the staff from left to right. The firebird flapped its wings and moved to the right.
When I swung it to the left, it returned to its original position.
I showed off various maneuvers: making it spin in place, having it sprint to the other side of the training room, making it headbutt the wall, and having it scatter feathers like a bombardment. Only then did Elisha nod in understanding.
But for some reason, Carla was blinking her ruby eyes repeatedly, looking a bit skeptical.
"Carla? What's wrong? Is something weird?"
"Umm... Master. This is an element combination using intermediate magic, right?"
"Yeah. It's a combination of fire and wind attributes."
It was easier said than done, and it certainly wasn't a simple task.
Fire and wind were attributes with great synergy, but the problem was that if you mixed them normally, they usually became explosive, one-shot spells.
For example, scattering tiny embers over a wide area like the wind so they explode the moment they're inhaled.
Or just making a damn big and beautiful firestorm.
But this magic was different.
Just as one cannot control an arrow once it has left the bow, it was normal to let a spell fly once it was fired.
However, the Elemental Burst Iris showed me before was different.
She used the wind attribute not to assist the fire, but to control the magic itself. The Fire Phoenix was an attempt to replicate that.
As for the flashy appearance—perhaps because it was a combination I hadn't tried before, the fusion wasn't holding well, so I overlaid it with the familiar image of a phoenix.
It was much easier to imagine a burning bird wreaking havoc and running wild than it was to imagine moving fire exactly as I intended.
As I nodded with a sense of pride, Carla continued in a very cautious voice.
"Don't you think the power is a bit weak for a combination of intermediate spells?"
"...Ah."
"With low-grade magic, the power increased by at least two times, and for some spells, even three times. But this... the firepower is similar to or even slightly weaker than a normal intermediate spell."
"......"
"I wonder if it might be inefficient compared to the effort put in..."
Yes. I knew. This magic was significant only in that I succeeded in a combination at the intermediate level; it was lacking in many areas.
In particular, I was well aware that the power had decreased because I had to suppress some of the flames for the sake of control.
However.
"What does it matter if it's inefficient!"
I pointed at the Fire Phoenix, which was scattering sparks, heat, and an intense presence all around.
"It looks cool, so it's fine!"
Looking cool is a top priority.