Thunder God's Magic

Thunder God's Magic was a product of imagination that could never be used in reality, one of those iconic elements that, along with dragons, immediately sprang to mind whenever people thought of fantasy. In the real world, the word "magic" was nothing more than a metaphor for some mysteriously clever trick or phenomenon, and any records of its actual use existed only in myths.

But the game I used to play, Dragnity Fantasy 2, was a VR title that let you feel sensations infinitely close to reality. It even conveyed the delicate tactile feedback of drawing out power and fine-tuning its range. That was why I had mastered the sensation of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠casting magic as well.

The feeling of blood rushing to your fingertips to gather strength, the act of reciting the incantation, and then offering up the precise amount of mana the spell demanded. Calculating the mana cost, the detailed mental image, the range and distance, all inside your head. Every part of it came from descriptions I'd memorized from setting books and short stories.

The ground beneath Airi and me lifted like a flying saucer. To keep Irina safe, I had already cast a spell on her that used water and mist to create diffuse reflection, rendering her body temporarily invisible.

With that, the floating earth carried us toward the bandits' burning stronghold. The wind slicing across my cheeks painted a vivid picture of Sun Wukong soaring on his somersault cloud. Since this wasn't a cloud, I supposed I should call it the Somersault Stone.

If I simply rained magic down from the sky, wiping out pathetic bandits like these would be child's play. But that would defeat the purpose.

These bandits had to serve as live combat practice for Airi.

"Airi, do you like high places?"

"Not really, Master."

"I see. Then, out of consideration for you, I'll bring you down to a lower spot."

"Huh?"

Just as a lion throws its cub from a cliff, I needed to drop my disciple from this Somersault Stone. Though honestly, if a lion actually hurled its own cub off a cliff, it wouldn't be raising it strong. It would just be killing its own child.

Unlike me, who approached this with the sincere desire to train my disciple properly, that lion story was nothing but the ugly greed of a beast trying to shove one more piece of meat into its own mouth by shortening the line. Therefore, when it came to this kind of training, instead of saying "The lion throws its cub from a cliff," one should say "Werner pushes his disciple off the Somersault Stone."

I caught the look in Airi's eyes as she shouted "Master!" at me, full of betrayal. Sorry, Airi. You really do have to fall from here.

With a heavy thud, roughly five bandits converged on the spot where Airi had landed. Naturally they would gather after seeing a person drop out of the sky. Since it was a young girl who had fallen from above, they might even mistake her for some sort of goddess.

A massive cage of wind formed around Airi and the five bandits. Touching those walls of gale-force wind would turn a hand into nothing more than a hamburger patty. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Two pristine finger patties served on a sesame seed bun.

Look, one of them just tried to reach out to escape and ended up trading his bandit class for pirate. A bandit evolving into a pirate through water affinity, apparently.

"From now on, kill each other. Only the last one standing gets to leave."

Airi would never lose to trash like them. Whose daughter did they think she was, after all? She was the daughter of Zeke, the man who had stood alone against the Demon King in the final battle and slain him. Airi had inherited every bit of that talent. There was no way she would fall to this garbage.

After observing the battle royale where they drew their weapons and began glaring at one another, I decided to take out some insurance for Airi just in case. I chanted in a voice so soft no one could hear.

Butterfly-shaped wind spirits flowed from my fingertips and transformed into a suit of wind armor that wrapped around Airi's body. It would block any fatal strikes. Someone might call it cowardly, but the opponents were utterly wicked bandit scum. Creatures like them didn't deserve human rights or fair fights. You simply eliminated them by any means necessary.

With that settled, I continued manipulating the Somersault Stone and headed for a cave located a short distance from the bandits' main base. In the DLC quest, the true boss had been waiting here as well.

As expected, the cave entrance was sealed when I arrived. A massive stone door stood imposingly in my way, flaunting its grandeur.

I didn't particularly want to resort to violence, so I decided to try the civilized approach first and knocked on the door.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

I borrowed Byeong-cheol's strength to pound on it, but there was no response. Since "Open sesame!" didn't work either, only one option remained.

Even though it was a stone wall reinforced with magic, it was ultimately just a crude construct piled up with sloppy spells. From the look of it, they'd placed a light-attribute barrier over the stone to keep it from opening.

If I possessed advanced techniques like magic dispelling or barrier analysis, I could have opened the door perfectly. Those were delicate, precision skills, like lockpicking or cracking a safe.

But I chose the FBI's method instead of a locksmith's.

The FBI instructors' famous "FBI, OPEN UP!" approach that claimed no door in the world could stay closed. Those teachers could probably smash down the gates of the Demon King's castle without breaking a sweat.

A colossal fang of lightning tore the stone wall apart, sending clouds of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dust billowing everywhere. Once the yellowish haze that had clouded my vision cleared, the interior of the cave came into view.

They had even installed magic lamps along the walls. This was definitely the boss's location.

I ran my palm along the cave wall as I ventured deeper. The rough texture of the stone was surprisingly satisfying to touch.

As I continued inward, the low-ranking bandit guards stationed inside the cave came into sight. The moment they spotted me, they drew their weapons and charged.

Yes, this was the correct response. Wasn't it embarrassingly cliché to shout things like "Who the hell are you!" "Do you even know where you are?" or "Get lost before I kill you!"?

Since I had smashed through that stone door, I was clearly an intruder. After breaking a magically reinforced wall, who would mistake me for a customer looking for a general store? The moment the door came down, I was confirmed as an enemy.

I needed to respond appropriately to their proper attitude.

First, I caught the wrist of the closest attacker, snapped it, and kicked his weapon far away. Having plenty of experience subduing enemies like this, it was as easy as drinking cold porridge.

The "education" I had received as a child was proving useful even now. As expected, humans really are creatures of learning. Just like how you couldn't call a child raised by wolves who behaved like one a human being.

For the rest, magic would suffice. What kind of mage relied solely on physical techniques? That was just a monk.

Snake-shaped bolts of lightning shot from my fingertips and coiled around the remaining bandits. Using it in practice, I realized nothing was as convenient as lightning-attribute magic. Fire magic carried the risk of starting fires, while wind or water magic could cause collapses when used indoors. Every other element had its drawbacks, but lightning posed no fire hazard if controlled properly and was easy to use in tight spaces.

This was why Ji-woo was so fond of Pikachu. Pikachu was invincible, and lightning magic was divine. From ancient times, lightning had been depicted as the authority of the gods. How could mere water or wind even dream of opposing it?

Besides, I had the Sex Constellation Zeus with me, the one who had helped before my night with Camellia. With the Thunder God himself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on my side, what was there to fear?

Together with my helpful friend Zeus, I pressed deeper into the cave. Originally this tricky boss should have been Airi's opponent, but I would handle it instead. It wasn't out of some noble sense of responsibility that I couldn't let my disciple face something difficult. I was simply after the exclusive DLC reward.

When I reached the deepest chamber, the DLC-exclusive boss I had cleared countless times came into view. A shabby mage with an unkempt, bushy beard. That mage was the leader of this bandit group.

Well, despite being a bandit boss, he wasn't the type who summoned books to steal other people's abilities. He was simply a pathetic failure who had been expelled from the Magic Tower. Setting aside his garbage personality, his skills were genuine, so dodging the ice magic he spammed in the game had always been rather difficult.

Having noticed me, he spoke.

"Who are you to come all the way here? Breaking through my subordinates suggests you're no ordinary practitioner."

Since I had my robe pulled low over my face, he apparently couldn't recognize me. Not that many mages knew my face to begin with.

"I have some business to take care of."

Even if he was scum, the opponent was a skilled mage. He wasn't someone I could afford to fight half-heartedly, so I needed a guaranteed victory strategy. My Sex Constellation Zeus agreed with the approach. As expected of the father of the gods, we were perfectly in sync.

"It seems you're just another worthless adventurer after my treasure. Get lost. I am a member of the Black Round Table..."

First strike wins. Whether it was a duel between swordsmen or a battle between mages, that principle always applied.

The fishy smell of blood mixed with the scent of flesh cooking from the electric current. Only after catching that smell did a thought occur to me.

I really wanted some beer with electric-grilled chicken.