Magic Creation

After safely making it through the day, we rode Moss—now able to be summoned again—back through the newly opened exit gate. I'd half expected something to be wrong with him after the destruction, that he might be trembling with anxiety, but thankfully Moss was perfectly fine.

"Graaagh!"

If anything, he seemed a little resentful about having been beaten and destroyed. Well, you did hold out that long against a Deus Ex Machina. It was strength worthy of the name Behemoth. Once his level climbed higher, he'd grow incomparably stronger than he was now. Maybe rivaling other Behemoths… no, perhaps surpassing them entirely.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Just how far could this guy go?

After exiting the gate, we decided to take a short rest. Part of me wanted to dive straight back into work, but my body was in no condition for it. The backlash of running Demon-Dragon Transformation, the Nameless Spear Art, and Baekho's Fang all at once still clung to me vividly, muscle by muscle.

I'd poured that much power into an unprepared body on pure gambler's instinct—it was a miracle I hadn't collapsed on the spot and had held out on willpower alone. Inside the gate, I'd forcibly suppressed everything because of the unknown dangers. But the moment we stepped out, the tension drained away and exhaustion crashed in at full speed.

Whether it was the inheritance from Wisdom or the conversation I'd had with Flame Soul, my mind was also slightly hazy. Outside the gate, it was harder than ever to stay sharp. Well, I've got the core of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠business mapped out. All I had to do was stand at the starting line, and I could sprint the moment I was ready.

"Uuugh…."

My joints creaked with every step. The muscles that had been locked up in paralysis slackened all at once, screaming at me to let them live.

"You suddenly got so much worse."

"Did you never consider that I was holding it in until now?"

Ah Seo-ah looked me over like I was some bizarre animal. "…How on earth did you get power like that, anyway?"

"Power like what?"

"That thing you used when fighting that machine at the end."

She was probably talking about Demon-Dragon Transformation. Since the answer would get complicated, I brushed it off. "Just kind of stumbled into it."

"Hmm… so that's a skill, then?"

If she asked whether Demon-Dragon Transformation itself counted as a skill, it was a tricky question. It was closer to a temporary phenomenon formed from the fusion of Demonification and Dragonification from the Demon Spear Dantalion—which was exactly why its duration was short and the backlash severe.

"Sure, it's a skill."

I decided to just call it a skill for now. Without both of those component skills, the power couldn't exist anyway.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, actually, I got a new skill too."

"Oh, did you now?"

I couldn't imagine she'd had much occasion to acquire one, but geniuses like Ah Seo-ah picked up new skills at a rapid clip. Mages especially—since their skills were classified under the academic discipline of 'magic'—had comparatively many avenues to awakening them.

"But why bring that up?"

"Hehe, if it were just any old skill, I wouldn't have said anything."

Ah Seo-ah wore that particular grin of hers that never failed to irritate. She straightened her back, stuck her nose high in the air, and declared with total confidence, "I got an SS-rank skill! That's what I'm telling you!"

"Oh?"

An SS-rank skill. I honestly hadn't expected Ah Seo-ah to ever obtain one. "…You're less surprised than I thought you'd be."

"Well, you're not exactly my first."

"I know. That skill you used back then was SS-rank too, wasn't it?"

"Hmm…."

The Demon Spear Dantalion was an SSS-rank skill. Ah—though Dragonification on its own would count as SS.

"Let's set that aside. How did you get it?"

"So, you see…."

I nodded along as Ah Seo-ah explained. In short, she had perfectly understood and refined the spells of the Hall of Magic, making them entirely her own. Hah. Incredible. This girl truly was anything but ordinary.

"But I've never seen a rating like this before, so… I figured if anyone would know something, it'd be you."

"It's not that I don't know anything. It's just that an SS-rank skill in the magic category is a first for me."

All the SS-rank-and-above skills I possessed were transformation types. Baek Seo-ha's 'Blackening' was the same. In other words, among non-transformation skills, Ah Seo-ah's 'Primordial Elements' was arguably the first SS-rank in existence.

"This… is worth looking into."

If she could wield it well, the Shin Guild's fighting power would rise exponentially yet again. I'd have to teach her how to use it properly in the time we had.

The day after I'd essentially passed out, I summoned a few guild members to the training hall.

"Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sudden call?"

Baek Seo-ha appeared in training clothes. Her outfit looked casual, but not a single thing about her was out of place—immaculate as always. Very Seo-ha, I supposed.

"You're here early."

"If you're only calling me at this hour… you're planning to make up all those sparring matches you owe me, aren't you?"

A faint delight spread across her characteristic deadpan. "I mean, you have been neglecting me lately."

"Mm."

"We'll be doing every match we've missed all at once, so brace yourself."

She smiled as she tied her hair up. Black energy seeped out of her, and something strange flickered in her eyes. "Am I your only opponent today?"

"Ah… sorry, but there's someone else."

"…What?"

I pulled out Ah Seo-ah, who'd been hiding behind me (she wasn't actually hiding, but she was small enough that it looked that way) and showed her off.

"Eek, wuh?! You traitor, selling me out like this…!"

"…Why are you here?"

Baek Seo-ha's face turned glacial in an instant. "I-I, um… the Guild Leader called, so I came…."

"You're always the last one to show up."

Now that she mentioned it, Ah Seo-ah always arrived last, yawning. But today she'd answered my summons even before Baek Seo-ha.

"Th-that's, um…."

Ah Seo-ah averted her eyes, rolling them every which way. Before things could escalate, I stepped in and explained the situation.

"SS-rank? Her too?"

"What do you mean, 'her too'?"

"You have one too, Seo-ha. An SS-rank skill."

There was a simple reason I'd called the two of them. If we were going to handle Ah Seo-ah's SS-rank skill, we needed people on this side who also possessed SS-rank skills. If anything unexpected happened, Seo-ha and I could handle it between us.

"Hoo… so that's what this is."

Baek Seo-ha shot a chilly glance my way, then nodded readily. "Still, what's gained is gained. Like you said, Tae-hyun—an SS-rank skill is best handled by other SS-rank skills."

Thankfully, she understood quickly. Preparations wrapped up fast. Seo-ha and I put distance between ourselves and stood side by side, while Ah Seo-ah faced us from across the way.

We exchanged a signal and activated our skills. Baek Seo-ha's hair stained black, radiating an otherworldly aura, while I took on the form of the dragon-person, gaining command over an immense tide of mana.

"Alright. Begin whenever you're ready."

"C-can I really attack you?"

"That's why I called you. What do you think?"

In our current states, neither of us had anything to fear from being swept up in her magic.

"Then… here I come!"

Ah Seo-ah surged her mana powerfully and manifested her magic.

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

Kugugugu—! The air trembled as a massive magic circle materialized behind Ah Seo-ah, then split into four distinct streams, each taking its own form.

One was a ferociously howling wind. One was flames burning crimson. One was a water current churning with vigor. And the last was a tangle of tree roots growing wildly in every direction.

"That's all ONE spell?"

She had clearly cast a single spell, yet four different forms of magic had taken shape. It was like watching Ji Yeon-ha's quadra-casting.

"Sorry, but I don't think I can hold back the power right now!"

Surrounded by the four elements, Ah Seo-ah stretched out her hand, radiating overwhelming force. "So dodge them as best you can!"

The first to move was the wind. A storm with a will of its own tore toward us, hungry to shred everything in its path. The sound of it alone sent a chill down my spine. Baek Seo-ha stepped in front of it and squared her sword.

"Not bad power."

She channeled the power of Shim-ma into her blade. "But it's too one-dimensional. I've taken attacks like this plenty of times."

With a single stroke, she cut the wind down. A jet-black trajectory carved through the empty air and blew the storm away in one sweep—but at the same moment, something else came rushing in from the side.

A violent torrent of water. A current that surged forward like a dragon in flight crashed into Baek Seo-ha.

"Kyaa?!"

She wasn't hurt, but the torrent swept her up and stole the freedom from her body. The power was greater than it looked.

"Don't get distracted!"

Ah Seo-ah hurled tree ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠roots at me. The tips of the roots twisted into spirals and hardened into harpoons. That would sting if it landed. I spun my spear lightly and cut down every root that came flying. Then, in the next instant, dozens of fireballs came raining down on me.

But—

"Fire doesn't work on me."

I extended my hand toward the fireballs and manifested my trait.

The flames, now under new ownership, converged on my palm in a single breath. I clenched my fist around the gathered fire and snuffed it out.

"Wh-what?! How did you do that?!"

Ah Seo-ah panicked, but a fresh flame element quickly blossomed in its place. "…That felt awful."

Baek Seo-ha, having apparently escaped the water, was wringing out her clothes beside me before I'd noticed. "So? Getting a feel for it?"

"Yeah! I think I've got it!"

Ah Seo-ah nodded brightly, and I'd formed a rough picture of her power as well. A skill that commands multiple different elements simultaneously. It was on a completely different track from simply casting several spells at once like multi-chanting. Those four elements were, in themselves, 'one single spell'—and while each individual element packed serious power, she could wield all of them freely, like her own hands and feet, without the slightest awkwardness.

"Great. Then let's do this for real!"

"Don't overdo it."

Ah Seo-ah, flushed with excitement, adjusted her mana. Fire fed into the storm, birthing a scorching heat gale. "Ngh!" Baek Seo-ha shielded her face from the heat.

"Next is… this!"

She then channeled the water current into the tree roots. With a grinding rumble, verdant vegetation surged upward in an instant, taking the shape of a giant—until a colossal Wood Golem stood towering over us.

Element combination! Wind and flame, vegetation and water—fusing the mana within to manifest entirely new magic.

"Truly an SS-rank skill, then."

Just as I felt a genuine surge of admiration and gripped my spear tighter—

The heat gale swelled like a madman, expanding its range. "Guoooh!" At the same time, the Wood Golem lost its reason and went on a rampage.

"This is getting a bit out of hand…!"

"Hey! Stop it!"

"Uh… uhh?! W-wait, what's happening?!"

Ah Seo-ah flailed her arms in a panic. Judging by her reaction, she couldn't control her own magic either. "N-no! Stop! I said stop!"

Contrary to her pleas, the heat gale burned hotter and raged fiercer. The Wood Golem, too, coiled its roots around itself and swelled its body. If both of them slipped completely out of her control, it would be a catastrophe.

What do I do…? How could I end the spell safely without hurting Ah Seo-ah? As I racked my brain at high speed—

A cascade of blue messages flickered before my eyes.