Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: First Team-Up (3)
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Cooperation.
Combining intentions and strength as one to pursue a common goal.
They knew the dictionary definition, but neither Vivian nor Helena had ever truly synced up with anyone before.
Vivian had been in a party once, but back then she could barely cast spells as a mage.
Helena's cooperation training had only been superficial, pairing priests together.
So, the two of them were clashing quite a bit.
"Ah, sorry! I missed...!"
"It's fine...!"
Helena stood in front to shield, while Vivian poured out firepower from behind.
Since Vivian couldn't yet use coordinate-targeted spells, she had to precisely time her casts for when Helena dropped her barrier.
It wasn't easy.
The two shifted positions, fell back briefly, and struggled in every way to find their rhythm.
"Now!"
"Ah, yes!"
The moment Helena signaled and Vivian began casting her spell.
A nearby giant wooden golem charged in.
Helena had to urgently reactivate her barrier.
-Thud!
"Eek!"
Vivian panicked and hurled a fireball into the air.
"S-Sorry...!"
They had talent, but with sorely lacking experience, such mistakes were inevitable.
But their exceptional talent made even a single mistake potentially fatal.
If Vivian's fireball had slammed into Helena's barrier from behind, it would've been a disaster.
"No, it's okay...!"
At this rate, they'd never finish.
Vivian fell into a familiar anxiety.
'It's me... because of me... This isn't right...'
It made the past comparisons between her and Helena seem laughable—now Vivian was the one holding them back.
'If only I'd cast my magic properly...'
Again, the same mess.
Even after all the help from Ian.
A mage failing to cast even one spell and dragging everyone down.
'This can't go on... Ian's counting on me... I, I...'
To become Ian's Vivian, this wouldn't cut it.
But how?
"It was my mistake! You can do it, Lady Vivian!"
"......"
She realized it from those words.
She could do well.
That had to be her mindset.
Vivian had come here with somewhat vague thoughts.
Because she'd done well last time.
Because Ian said so.
Because if Ian believed in her, it would work out somehow.
She realized how foolish and optimistic she'd been.
Just thinking it'd go well wouldn't make it so.
She had to believe she would excel and put in the effort.
Whether time was short or talent lacking, the reasons didn't matter.
In reality, only the result of succeeding counted.
'Is this how Helena felt...?'
She sorted her thoughts, reined in her emotions, and kept only what was needed.
Ian's advice before they set off.
'Remember when I almost got done in by Felix? You used a very special spell back then.'
The Ice Spear she'd launched to protect Ian.
She'd trapped Felix with it and, at the end, lowered its density to intimidate him.
It hadn't launched from near her body.
It had dropped vertically from above Felix's head.
Projectile spells like Ice Spear were normally generated only around the caster's body.
If she could shift that generation point to around the target, it'd be no different from coordinate targeting.
Not magic fusion, but a technique of structural deformation.
Something she'd recently read about in a book on magical properties and structures.
'Ian... when Ian was in danger.'
She knew now that Ian was an extraordinary superhuman, so she couldn't get as furious as before.
But recalling the last time he'd been insulted...
Vivian glanced at the four dazed faces watching from afar.
'Those guys... that's right. And those looks. Yeah, I'm not the old me anymore.'
No need to despair over mistakes or failures.
Just do better next time.
"Helena."
"Yes!"
"I don't think you need to drop the barrier."
"...Pardon? Ah, got it!"
Sylvia had become a superhuman young, cast magic to survive, and even stole others' grimoires to learn more for a better life.
Vivian, on the other hand, had become one late, struggled innately with magic control, and had a body broken by abuse.
It wasn't just about talent.
There was a wall of accumulated effort and time.
A wall too high for Vivian to climb now.
So she sought another way.
If she couldn't go over it, she'd smash it down.
Shatter the wall of time and seasons with overwhelming talent.
'A fireball dropping from above the target's head...'
She loaded the image in her mind onto her mana.
She circulated mana swiftly through her body and drew it out precisely to the outside.
"Helena, I'll grab on. It might explode, so hold steady."
Vivian gripped Helena's shoulder and began casting.
"Leave it to me!"
The theory books called it far from easy.
Still, she believed she could pull it off.
Altering a magic formula with fixed values.
Changing its properties and structure—the latter, specifically.
Structural deformation.
'Coordinate-point Fireball.'
Immediately after, massive Fireballs plummeted onto the five wooden golems from above.
*
Brian and his group stared up at the cavern in a daze.
The Holy Flame Church said hell had blizzards.
But this? This could be hell too.
Enormous fireballs, big enough to easily swallow those giant wooden golems, dropped one by one onto each golem's head simultaneously.
Simple Fireballs.
But their size, density, and speed were anything but simple or ordinary.
Huge flames engulfed the golems, followed by earth-shaking explosions.
Aileen gaped, red flames streaking across her wide eyes.
'Vivian... did this?'
Aileen had seen Vivian's magic before.
Even if the density was low, it was a massive spell unfit for her timid personality and innocent face.
But it meant nothing.
Magic you couldn't aim or cast instantly when needed was just a nuisance.
That's why Vivian had been Aileen's perfect boost to self-esteem.
Seeing someone far more pathetic made her content with her own lot.
Or so it had been.
The Vivian in the white robe calmly surveying the scene from afar didn't overlap at all with the old one.
How could the mage who'd just recreated a legendary spell from ancient tomes—like a meteor shower with Fireballs—be Vivian?
The explosions and flames scattered without even scratching Helena's barrier.
Brian's group felt their skin burn and bodies shake from afar, but Helena stood firm.
'She did it...'
Iris tilted her head repeatedly at what had just happened.
Then she asked Ian.
"Did... that Vivian person do that?"
"Seems like it."
"...How? Didn't she just become a temporary hero recently? Structural deformation, plus that size and density..."
It was impossible by Iris's theories.
Vivian was only on her second dungeon, as far as she knew.
And not long as a hero either...
Ian just shrugged.
"Guess she's a genius."
"Genius..."
A being unbound by theory or common sense.
Someone born with a selfish nature that defied universal rules.
That was a genius.
Iris stared blankly at the flame-wrapped cavern.
Then swallowed hard.
'How far will she grow...?'
Where would Vivian, just starting to grow, climb to?
'I want to help...!'
Her scholarly passion and curiosity fueled the urge.
*
The no-casting barrage swept the golems in an instant.
Finishing off the burning wooden golems fell to Helena.
They were already combat-ineffective, so it was simple.
"As expected of Lady Vivian! Incredible! I believed in you!"
"Hehe... Thanks. It's thanks to you, Helena."
"Huh? I didn't do anything!"
"What do you mean? You were so reliable."
As the two praised each other, the central platform rose up.
Helena gasped at the sight.
"This must be the thing I've only heard about! Is that the magic stone up there?"
"Yeah."
Vivian offered her hand.
"Shall we go up together?"
"Yes! Yes!"
Helena grabbed it firmly.
As they climbed the stairs, Vivian looked around.
Brian and his crew gawked up with blank expressions.
Not even dreaming of claiming a share.
Vivian glanced at them briefly, then turned away.
On the opposite side, Iris waved enthusiastically at her with flushed cheeks.
Ian beside her smiled in satisfaction and gave a light wave.
Vivian beamed back.
Helena spotted Ian too and waved vigorously.
The magic stone atop the platform was blue.
An E-rank stone.
"Helena."
"Yes!"
"We did it."
Helena grinned brightly.
"We sure did! Together!"
They each placed a hand on the stone and extracted it together.
Holding the stone jointly, they waved at Ian.
"Maaaan Ian—! We did it—!"
Helena shouted, her voice echoing through the cavern.
They stood there until the platform sank back down.
The cylindrical pedestal flattened, leaving an old chest in its place.
It hadn't been there before.
"What's this?"
"Hm...? Uh, no idea? First time seeing it too..."
Ian, who had approached, said,
"A chest with an artifact inside."
"What?!"
"Huh?"
"Sometimes they drop from the ceiling or appear when you're leaving, but this one's tame."
Helena, Vivian, and even Iris.
The three exchanged similar looks.
"Go on and open it."
"Uh, uh, o-okay..."
"......"
Vivian shuffled timidly toward the chest.
Helena did the same.
"Sh-should we open it together?"
"Y-Yes...!"
They counted to three and opened it in unison.
A ring, quite small compared to the chest size, lay inside.
Ian thought of giving it to Vivian but didn't say so.
Helena might feel left out.
"Uh, a r-ring came out..."
"Try it on."
"Huh? Oh, uh, then... Helena first...?"
"N-No! You first, Lady Vivian...!"
They kept deferring until Ian decided.
"Vivian first. Once it's on, channel mana through it, and it'll react."
"Okay...!"
She slipped it onto her index finger and sent mana through.
A translucent cloud-like form rose from the ring.
"What is this...?"
Iris adjusted her glasses and peered intensely at the cloud.
"A magic construct...?"
"It auto-casts stored spells on enemies... Better to show than tell. Give it a try."
"Hmm..."
Vivian pondered seriously, then spoke.
"W-Will you store Lightning Bolt...?"
"...You don't have to say it out loud."
"......"
Unlike Vivian's strawberry-red face, the cloud glowed yellow with tiny sparks.
"Use it once. Like casting on an enemy."
"Okay..."
Vivian looked for a target and spotted a fallen wooden golem.
Ian gauged the artifact's power.
'Probably standard level... Stronger if affinity or compatibility is high. Not really about raw destructive power anyway...'
As Vivian willed it, a massive current shot out.
-Kurrrboom!
It was a brutally powerful Lightning Bolt, no different from Vivian's usual ones.
The already charred golem exploded on impact, shards flying everywhere.
"Whoa..."
Vivian marveled, while Ian startled, one eyebrow twitching.
'What? Why so strong? Beyond the destructive limit...?'
He couldn't be sure, but two words flashed in his mind.
Mana affinity.
And artifact compatibility.
'...Affinity aside, she was born with high compatibility too?'
Unlike the flustered Ian, Vivian blinked innocently, still admiring the artifact.