Nerf the AoE CC Already
The cold seas of the North.
A Siren hunt was in full swing.
They had dared invade a mermaid's waters without fear. The sailors would pay the price for their crime.
Splash, splash—
One by one, the enchanted crew tumbled into the sea. The cost of falling for a Siren's allure was brutal. From this moment on, they would live as slaves of the underwater kingdom—until they broke free of the Sirens' charm. Forever.
"Snap out of it! Don't get enchanted! Cover your ears and shut your eyes!"
The higher-ranked ones among them raised their voices, but it was no use.
Crackle—snap-crackle—
"W-what?! My legs are freezing…! Help me!"
With a single gesture from a Siren mage, they became pillars of ice.
Splash—
Splash—
It did not take long. Only one human remained on the deck: a young man who still had the look of a boy about him. Terrified, he swung his sword wildly in every direction.
The Siren mage approached him.
"Scared?"
"Ugh… Get away from me, you monster…!"
"Don't be afraid."
Softly—
The mermaid gently stroked the young man's cheek. He flinched at her ice-cold touch—then his face went slack. The fear drained from his eyes, replaced by love, lust, yearning. A burning thirst rose in him. He wanted to drink anything—her fluids, the briny seawater, it didn't matter.
Splash—
The young man threw himself into the sea.
Watching him, the great Siren mage Parthenope—better known as IceBat—thought to herself that humans truly were fragile. One brush of a hand across the skin, and they handed over everything.
Hilarious.
Just like the elves of the Archmage Gallery, she too carried her prejudices about humans. The only ones she had ever known were crude, violent sailors—and the arrogant mages she had once crossed paths with.
Those prejudices had begun to ease only recently, when a certain human appeared in the Archmage Gallery.
Hiki.
An ignorant little thing who claimed she couldn't even use magic. And yet she was nothing like the humans Parthenope had known.
She's earnest. And cute.
Curiosity about this new kind of human had bloomed into interest, then into affection. That was why she had appointed herself a strict teacher. And that choice had become one of the best things she had done all year. Talent that casually wielded multi-element magic, plus the drive to keep improving—teaching her was genuinely fun.
"She should be out of the Tower by now, right?"
Parthenope opened the Archmage Gallery.
The gallery was already spinning Hiki bait. She had asked for combat footage, and it looked like the girl had actually listened. Parthenope clicked the post that had started the whole thing.
Buried among the whining about how hard everything had been was an attached video. The backdrop was a lush green plain—unfamiliar territory for Parthenope. Hiki strode through it with surprising confidence. Every so often the camera caught her hands, and they were tiny.
Are those hands? Why are they so small?
Every human she had met had been massive—twice, sometimes three times the size of a mermaid. The Hiki in the video looked like she wouldn't even reach half of Parthenope's height. About the size of a juvenile mermaid?
She kept watching, curiosity piqued. Hiki muttered to herself now and then.
And what's a "Musang"? Her staff?
Was she seriously having a conversation with her magic staff right now? Parthenope had told her to Resonance with it, not play house. It was enough to make her blood pressure spike—and yet somehow she couldn't find it in herself to be annoyed. The corners of her mouth, rising without permission, proved it.
Before long the video shifted into combat. Hiki swung her staff, shaping mana. Her movements were clumsy, but her mana control was precise—drawing out refined mana and polishing it clean.
Just needs to speed up her casting.
Even after a spell missed, she never lost her composure. She immediately began casting a second spell.
Hm?
The staggering wolf recovered its footing. She had cast correctly, yet the desired effect hadn't landed—exactly the kind of moment that would rattle most mages. The status-window camera angle started to shake a little. How would she handle it?
"Good that she's already prepping the next cast."
If she had just stood there stomping her feet, Parthenope would have chewed her out. This deserved praise.
A third spell launched at once. A tiny lump of mana skittered across the ground.
That size isn't going to cut it…
Worry had just begun to sprout when—
"Oh?"
Hiki's gambit landed perfectly. A spell aimed at only half the body. The wolf completely lost its balance, and the little mage did not waste the opening.
Look at this kid.
There was plenty to praise: the composure she held until the very end, the snap judgment that chose her next move, the creative skill application, and the guts to pull it off.
She's got combat sense, too, of all things.
It was a quality you only earned after years of rolling around on real battlefields—or a temperament some people never developed even if they lived a lifetime. Hiki already had it.
I want her.
A little more polishing and she could make a fine mage. Unfortunately, Parthenope's lessons ended today. Couldn't she teach for just one more week?
She casually sought out the gallery member scheduled for the next lessons.
Rejected on the spot.
"Aaaaah—!"
When did I fall asleep?
I must have dozed off while trying to rest my eyes for a second. I had slept so deeply it was already morning.
Roll, roll—
I flopped around under the covers until I was fully awake.
Hummm, hummm—
"You come here too, Musang."
I hugged Musang as well and opened the status window. The Archmage Gallery was already lively first thing in the morning—and most of it was about me.
Author: MagicSupremacist
Everyone here is at least 9th Tier so all they ever think about is crushing things with raw damage. Zero will to creatively apply existing magic. That's why no new spells get invented and techniques are stuck hundreds of years in the past.
But look at Hiki. She learns something for one day and immediately improves it and shows the results. Honestly, if the mages here want to keep growing they need to learn from Hiki's attitude. For real.
They were even talking about making me gallery master?
Even I had to admit the Floor 6 clear had gone pretty well. Feeling proud over here!
"You did great too, Musang."
I gave the staff a good petting. Musang shivered happily. I set it on the pillow and went back to gallery-diving, replying to the posts looking for me.
How old?
Hmm… Physically I was around elementary-school age, but I was an adult, thank you very much.
If you weren't going to believe me, why ask?!
I ignored them at a reasonable volume and made a new post. I at least had to thank IceBat for helping me clear the previous floors.
Author: Hiki
Thank you so damn much for everything!
Because you just mess with me.
Not that I'm ungrateful or anything.
Anyway. Class again today. Seven days a week of lessons—I felt like I was back in high school. Plus five days a week of climbing… high-schooler and office worker at the same time?
How did my life end up like this?
Magic was still fun, after all…! I just had to think of it as enjoying a hobby every single day.
That checked out. Dire Wolves, and even goblin shamans, had sensed my mana. That meant starting every fight with the enemy already prepared—losing the advantage of a surprise attack. For a glass-cannon squishy like me, that was a huge risk.
I had thought that was just setup for an AoE spell…
Ah. Got it.
The other mages immediately piled on HorseRider's words. Natural magic apparently didn't get much respect among the archmages. HorseRider-sensei didn't seem to care, though.
Long-duration AoE CC!
Wasn't that completely broken? It never got nerfed?
Wood Bind!
The image formed instantly: wooden vines erupting from the ground and wrapping around a monster's ankles. The harder it struggled, the tighter it would be bound…!
HorseRider walked me through natural magic. Fire used the heart, water and ice the kidneys. Wood-based natural magic used the liver.
I clumsily followed along as the comments rolled in one by one.
I uploaded a video to the gallery.
HorseRider-sensei only replied after a long pause.