Chapter 43

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 43

Chapter Title: The Pull of a Very Small Sun

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I examined the magic formula that CantDoThisEither had posted.

"Hm."

Just as they said, it was an incredibly simple magic formula.

A tiny circle almost like a dot. And above it, a wavy line coming down from up high.

It almost looked like a single strand of hair pulled out root and all.

What the hell are they going on about? Suddenly spouting hard-to-understand philosophical crap.

No matter how I looked at it, pinpointing what this simple magic formula represented exactly wasn't easy.

It was just a dot and a squiggly line combined.

Even if this was some profound magic, there was plenty of room for interpretation.

Wasn't this basically telling me to interpret it however—like, if it's on your ear, it's an earring; on your nose, a nose ring?

"They wouldn't mess around with something like this."

No way that was it.

The archmages wouldn't pull some petty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prank like this.

I cleared my mind as Meditation King suggested and focused entirely on the magic formula itself.

A single, very small dot.

And a curve bending three times as it fell toward it.

Let's focus just on the meaning of the dot and the curve themselves.

I had a feeling I knew what this three-bending curve signified.

It looked just like flowing water. Thinking about it, water-related spells always had curves bending in this proportion.

So then, what did this dot mean?

Did it represent a single point in space?

Nah, that didn't seem right. If it was just a spell to splash water, there'd be a completely different formula.

"...No clue."

Ah, screw it.

I'd figure it out by drawing it. That's all there was to it, right?

I drew the tiny dot-like circle very slowly, then conversely sketched the water stream at high speed.

The calculations were perfect. But still, I had no idea what would happen next.

It felt uncomfortable, like black noise was fuzzing out my head.

The moment the two components met, mana was consumed, and something happened.

Plip-plop—

A few thick water droplets fell.

My head and shoulders got a little wet, like I'd been caught in an unlucky drizzle.

"...Ah!"

With that cold pat on my head, a realization flashed through my mind.

A dot. Another way to say it: a massive concentration of something in one spot.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

And in this vast universe, we ourselves were just one such dot.

So tiny we might be overlooked entirely,

yet packed with infinite possibilities in that small point.

Sploooosh—

In that eureka moment of Got it!, something cold came crashing down on my head with a sploooosh.

"Guhp— Gubuhp—"

It was a waterfall.

Like someone dumping a bucket over my head.

I didn't even have time to feel annoyed at being soaked through.

The sudden mass of ice-cold water shocked me wide awake.

I'd clearly been visualizing straight ahead, but the waterfall hit me dead-on.

For a split second, I thought What the hell kind of spell is this?, but an even bigger realization dawned.

In this spell, the dot represented an "existence."

And I myself was one such "existence."

Thinking back, the formula for Five Rays of Brilliant Flash—the first spell I'd used—also had a part that was dotted emphatically like a point.

And this spell had fallen precisely on me, as if guided.

Just like how all the projectiles in Five Rays of Brilliant Flash were homing shots.

"Ah...!"

So in magic formulas, this "dot" shape designates an existence—the target.

That's why homing spells always had those dotted parts.

So this was visualization. It wasn't limited to just imagining the spell's image.

By fully imagining and drawing the magic, you grasp the meaning each component holds.

By starting with the small things, you can fully visualize the entire spell.

I understood what it meant to "understand the meaning."

But that's beside the point—these bastards deliberately dropped a waterfall on my head.

The gallery users piled on the comments like they'd been waiting.

I shook off the water with a wind spell and left a reply.

This time it was a problem from MagicIsNotHard.

Unlike before, it was 3rd-order with slightly more complex components.

Of course, not to the point I couldn't calculate it. But figuring out the meaning was still tricky.

"Just in case, I'll set up a training bot first."

Before diving into full visualization, I spawned a practice bot with the training room system.

With a target present, I wouldn't end up getting hit by another waterfall or whatever.

One of the components had a dotted part again.

Now I examined the formula in earnest.

A circular something made of squiggly lines.

And a thick parabola bending a few times. But this parabola had something unique.

The end of the line had a dot attached. A component that swept the parabola and then pressed down firmly at the end to dot it.

The last was a zigzag line covering the remaining two components. Unlike the lightning shape Orgasm had shown, it looked like straight lines of even thickness connected together.

Like a sturdy wall.

"What the heck is this..."

I had no idea what it meant.

The shimmering circle and parabola suggested launching something, maybe.

But that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠overlying zigzag was a mystery.

From feel alone, maybe a destructive attack spell?

I calmly examined each component one by one, like I was meditating.

First, I thought I knew what the shimmering circle was.

It resembled the fireball orb from the 2nd-order spell Accelerating Fireball.

No, it wasn't quite a fireball.

The texture of the shimmer felt more like it was extending outward.

If I had to compare, the sun.

And the parabola had details upon closer look.

It started as a thin line like a light pen stroke, gradually thickening before converging to a point.

It seemed to represent a change in speed. Or output.

The final zigzag, I had no clue on the exact meaning.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

From feel, it seemed like it was blocking the shimmering orb.

But why would it block its own attack?

There was something like this in defensive spells.

Thinking about it, there was a similar defensive spell.

Not a shield-like defense, but one that canceled out the opponent's attack.

At that thought, a possibility flashed through my mind.

Shimmering orb, thickening parabola, and cancellation.

Putting those three together sparked an idea.

Create a fireball—no, something like the sun.

Then lightly fling that sun whoosh.

The thickening line wasn't speed. It expressed the process of reaching an existence, ending in that single point.

So what happens after reaching the existence?

The speed cancels out and slows.

I thought it was a simple projectile spell,

but upon impact, it slows and sticks to the enemy, dealing continuous damage.

Wait. But this isn't just a simple sun...

The moment I thought the spell was complete, another step-forward possibility emerged.

This orb shimmering like it symbolized the sun.

But pondering deeper, it wasn't the sun.

Even if called the sun, it's ultimately a "star."

If I expanded it beyond sun-specific to the broader "star"—

Shiiiik— An orb emitting tremendous light flew toward the training bot.

And the star that hit the training bot precisely slowed upon impact and clung to it.

Crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle—

The training bot melted away under the star with a pitiful sound.

Its radiance scattered everywhere, filling the training room with brilliant multicolored light.

"Ugh... Is this supposed to be this blinding?!"

Eye-searing bastard! What 3rd-order spell shines this damn bright?!

Oh right, video. Gotta upload proof to the gallery.

I squeezed my eyes shut and recorded the training bot melting into the little star I'd made.

The light finally faded only after I forcibly canceled the spell.

Afterimages lingered, making it hard to see.

Checking the video, the light was so intense nothing was properly visible.

Still, you could vaguely make out the spell and the burning bot.

This should count as proof.

But then, to my surprise, unexpected comments started pouring in on what I thought was no big deal proof video.

What? What the hell suddenly? It was just the spell you guys gave me.

What's so impressive? Don't go talking in your inside jokes again.

"Freshman?"

But just as I was about to comment asking what they meant, someone called out to me.

It wasn't Elrim. A voice I'd never heard before.

The voice was ethereal and crystalline, as if it changed the very atmosphere of the space.

Like snowflakes drifting in the air.

"Yes?"

I turned, and there stood a woman of unreal beauty, with snow-white skin and long silver hair cascading to her waist, gazing at me.

Elrim was fidgeting restlessly behind her, going hoeeek.

Who was this woman? She looked familiar, but damn, she's gorgeous.

"That spell just now. Did you calculate it?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Your family?"

"I'm a commoner?"

At my answer, the beautiful woman's delicate features twitched and frowned for a moment.

"Who are you?"

"Hey! You clueless idiot! It's the president!"

Elrim startled and flailed from behind, shouting.

Ah. Right. The one who gave the speech at the entrance ceremony. Student council president Harisha Whitepost.

"Ah. Ian Isaac."

"It's fine. Freshmen wouldn't know. Could you tell me what you were just doing?"

"Practicing visualization. Calculating hard-to-get magic formulas."

"Visualization... practice?"

Harisha's features twitched again.

First time seeing someone practice visualization? Even as president.

"...Could I see the spell you were practicing?"

What? Does she want to try it too?

I asked the gallery if it was okay to share the spell.

The comments were still going wild among themselves, but they scrolled too fast to read mid-conversation.

I only caught that the first one, [Waterfall Only on Living Beings], wasn't originally developed by the archmages themselves, so it was fine to share, then closed the gallery screen.

Like before, when they got excited among themselves, they never explained nicely to me.

Whatever it was, I'd check the gallery once the hype died down.

"This is the one from earlier, so I'll start with the easy one."

I sketched the magic formula quickly on the training room paper and handed it to Harisha.

Not much to sketch, it was so simple.

But Harisha's expression soured again as she took it.

"How long did it take you to succeed in visualizing this...?"

What? Mad it's too easy?

Someone at student council president level must be leagues above regular cadets.

She'd probably solve it instantly.

I'd taken about 50 minutes.

Almost an hour—it was kinda embarrassing to admit.

"Um, it took me around 50 minutes."

"...What?"

But upon hearing that, Harisha's face crumpled even more, now in outright shock.