Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 15

15. Laxon Delema (2)

Exactly five minutes later.

“Wow! Amazing!”

“What happened to him?”

Cheers erupted in the auditorium. Drew and Galson’s sparring had excited the children.

[An upset by the underdog.]

Drew, who had the lowest magical talent, had handsomely defeated Galson. It was no wonder the children were surprised.

‘As expected. You can’t fool the Gibson bloodline.’

[Indeed. His timing was incredible.]

Contrary to my worries, Drew was even more composed in a real fight. His calm gaze was like that of a skilled swordsman.

He thoroughly understood Galson’s magic, implementing superior attributes each time.

“Drew Gibson, huh.”

Laxon seemed quite surprised as well.

“Well done.”

His praise, which was not even given to McDuff, was directed at Drew.

“T, thank you!”

Drew bowed deeply, looking nervous again.

“Passed.”

The light in Laxon’s eyes was fleeting.

“Now, for the last one.”

His gaze, now indifferent again, turned to me and Ariel.

“Ian Delema, and Ariel Olton. Come forward.”

Finally, it was my turn.

[How are you going to handle this?]

‘No matter how good she is, she’s still a kid.’

If I dealt with her in a similar way to Drew, I could win without much trouble.

‘My practical experience is that of a veteran.’

[True. Her arsenal is limited.]

That was exactly right. No matter how much Ariel could fly and kick, she had only achieved between 3-star and 4-star magic proficiency. Compared to the magicians I had faced a thousand years ago, she was just a babe.

‘Ariel’s magic is an open book.’

Knowing all of your opponent’s cards. That, to me, who had experienced all sorts of hardships, meant victory.

But what Laxon wanted was not just a simple victory.

‘I’ll take the first two attacks.’

[That would be better. Just in case Ariel gets knocked out in one hit.]

Anyway, in order to pass the test, I had to use three attributes.

‘On the third attack, I’ll counter and finish it.’

To satisfy Laxon, I had to show off my various abilities.

“Now, begin.”

As soon as Laxon’s command fell.

Whoosh!

A breeze stirred in front of Ariel.

‘The first is wind attribute.’

Though unseen, I could definitely feel it. A blade made of wind was approaching me.

I immediately drew up mana.

Crack!

A wall of earth rose above the platform. A low-level magic, an earthen wall, mainly used when camping or in situations where cover is needed.

‘This should be enough.’

Although, it wasn’t a defensive magic.

Kuuuuuuu…

It was more than enough to block Ariel’s wind blade. If it were water attribute, it might be different, but Ariel’s wind attribute achievement was only at the beginner level.

[A perfectly adequate response.]

I subtly glanced at Laxon, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.

‘Looks like the first strategy worked well.’

I had deliberately used a shoddy earthen wall to show Laxon my achievement.

[It showed that you accurately grasped the opponent’s level.]

In other words, I demonstrated the ability to see through the opponent and defend with minimal magic power.

‘Laxon wouldn’t miss that.’

Ariel’s brow furrowed at the rising dust. Her attack was blocked by mere dirt, not even a defensive magic, so she must be feeling resentful.

Swish!

That anger was soon reflected in her magic. A watermelon-sized water ball rippled. Ariel had finally pulled out her specialty.

‘No way.’

But, the wind had already begun to stir in my hands as well.

[Oh, isn’t that Aren’s magic?]

The secret art of the Arens family, learned in ancient language. The family’s technique, once called the god of wind.

Whooooosh-!

It was reappearing in the world after a thousand years.

‘Well, it’s not even at the level of imitation right now.’

However, that would be enough to handle Ariel’s water ball.

As the wind shot out.

Splash!

The flying water ball split into two. Nevertheless, the water ball did not stop its momentum.

‘The water ball alone is at the 4-star level, huh?’

My hands continued to move. The scary thing about Arens’ magic was its continuity.

Whooooosh!

Following my touch, the wind relentlessly tormented the water ball. From two to four. From four to eight. The water ball continued to split.

Thud-. Plop.

By the time it reached me, it was just a weak water droplet.

[Game over.]

Ariel’s ultimate move, the water ball, was blocked, so there was nothing more to see.

‘What’s next?’

I wasn’t worried. Like the wind attribute, it would only be at the beginner level. Whatever it was, it was no match for me.

“Ian…”

As expected, Ariel was standing there with a frown. The wrinkles on her forehead had deepened.

‘I feel sorry that you had to fight me.’

Aside from Drew, she was the child I cared about the most.

‘But I have to pass Laxon’s test too.’

It was an unavoidable reality. But it didn’t take long for a look of bewilderment to appear on my face.

She presented me with a twist.

Pazzzzz!

Electricity sparked from her left hand.

‘Oh, she can also handle the lightning attribute.’

Ariel had been hiding the fact that she could handle the lightning attribute.

‘Well, I can just block it again… Huh?’

Just as I was about to cast a counter spell.

Swish!

A strange sound was heard from the front.

‘…Simultaneous casting?’

The water ball that appeared in Ariel’s right hand. Electricity was being added to the water energy that was about to be fired at me.

‘She’s been hiding her skills all along.’

I was utterly taken aback. Suddenly, simultaneous casting. Ariel had been asking me about simultaneous casting until just a year ago.

[She must have been stimulated by you.]

But now, Ariel was not only doing simultaneous casting, but also combining two magics.

‘Magic combination, huh…’

In that instant, several plans flashed through my mind. It was a deeply ingrained habit—assessing the situation in a split second and simulating various scenarios. It was the fate of a swordsman.

[What are you going to do?]

Dodge or block. Neither option was impossible. However, I had already shown a defensive stance twice.

‘I can’t keep showing a defensive stance…’

If I kept showing the same approach, it would be hard to get a good evaluation from Rakshan.

‘Right. A head-on breakthrough it is.’

Moreover, seeing Ariel’s magic, there was something I wanted to try. The magic combination Ariel was about to show stimulated a phrase etched in my mind.

-Applied magic combining Lightning and Water.

It was from a book I saw in the Delema Archive. At first, I thought, ‘What kind of eccentric is this?’

‘Kane Gurph, was it?’

He was a scholar obsessed with lightning and water. He filled about 10,000 pages of a book with explanations only about lightning and water. And there were even two such books.

Divided into upper and lower volumes.

At first, I really didn’t want to read them. The daunting thickness of the books and the tedious content made me recoil.

‘Still, there’s a reason it’s in the Delema Archive.’

As I read, I became engrossed. It was more fundamental and profound than any book on elemental theory. He wasn’t so much a madman as someone who had fallen in love with the two attributes.

‘If he saw Ariel’s magic, he’d tell her to quit immediately.’

Compared to the subtleties in that book, Ariel’s magic combination was reckless. Trying to mix lightning and water was a good approach, but it wouldn’t be efficient that way.

‘That’s also why most magicians don’t use magic combinations.’

If you imitate it clumsily, you won’t even get the power of one attribute. Moreover, the mana consumption would be extreme.

‘Ariel, you should be thankful.’

I’ll show you the basics of magic combination I learned from Kane Gurph.

[Oh, are you going to use that?]

A stream of mana swirls around my body.

‘Yeah. Since you’ll be delaying your academy graduation because of me, I should give you a gift.’

A genius like Ariel would have something to gain from seeing this.

‘Learn a lot.’

Magic combination isn’t about combining magic after it’s manifested. If you do that, the magic will clash and only reduce its power.

‘You have to combine it before the magic is manifested.’

As if it was made that way from the beginning. You have to attempt the combination from the moment you manipulate the mana.

The mana swirling around my body takes shape.

Pazzzzz!

Sparks fly.

Swish!

Water droplets danced.

And then, what appeared before me was…

Kwaroooong-!

A thundercloud. It was only about the size of my upper body, but fierce sparks were flying in the dark cumulonimbus clouds. That was my weapon to counter Ariel’s magic.

Towards the incoming Lightning Water Ball.

Kwaroooong!

Lightning shot out from the thundercloud.

‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’

Paat!

Imperfect magic is easy to break. Ariel’s Lightning Water Ball burst more pathetically than it looked.

Pazzzzz!

The still-powerful lightning continued towards Ariel. The power of the lightning, infused with the moisture of the thundercloud, was more than enough.

‘Oh, no…!’

Was it because I was too focused on implementing the magic from the book? Or was it because Ariel’s magic was weaker than I thought?

[…That’s too strong?]

The momentum of the lightning was too fierce. Ariel, who had already lost her means of attack, had no way to defend, and it was obvious that she would be seriously injured.

I hurriedly tried to control the magic power.

Kwaroooong!

The energy, unfamiliar even to me, was not easy to control. I barely managed to get rid of the thundercloud, but the lightning that had already been fired was about to hit Ariel.

Paah!

At that moment, a transparent barrier blocked Ariel.

‘……!’

The lightning that collided with the barrier scattered powerlessly into nature.

“That’s enough.”

It was Rakshan’s voice. He had reached out and created a shield.

‘Haa……’

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, a sense of relief washed over me. In that silence, Rakshan’s voice was heard again.

“How did you do that?”

Rakshan’s eyes were on me.

“The magic you used was only about the power of a 3-star [referring to a magic power ranking system], but the implementation method contained subtleties that only a magician of 6-star or higher could realize. How did you know that?”

It was only natural that I felt relieved at that question.

[You’ve properly proven your skills.]

Now, all that remained was to prove my genius.

“I was inspired by Ariel mixing lightning and water just now. I thought it would be more effective if I mixed them from the moment I implemented the magic. It was a coincidence.”

“A coincidence……”

Rakshan was silent, just staring at me for a moment.

What I needed at this moment was to keep my gaze from wavering. Thanks to the spirit of Adonis, who had experienced the ups and downs of life, not the nine-year-old Ian, I was able to maintain my composure.

Fortunately, Rakshan nodded.

“……I see.”

Then, he turned to Alloy and opened his mouth.

“Alloy, I apologize. I think I underestimated the level of these children too much.”

Alloy bowed his head in greeting, but said nothing. Rakshan got up from his seat and scanned the children.

“I wanted to come and see for myself because this class of children achieved accomplishments unusually early. If there are such outstanding children, the atmosphere of the class will be elevated together. Now I understand your achievements.”

With those words, Rakshan headed for the exit of the auditorium. Of course, he did not forget the final verdict.

“Ian Delema, you pass.”

At those words, which he spat out without looking back, the children cheered.

“Wow!”

“Ian! Awesome!”

“Thundercloud! I’ve never even heard of it!”

Such enthusiastic shouts were not heard. Because the word ‘pass’ came to me with a slightly different meaning than to the other children.

[That means they’ll let me handle the archive work, right?]

‘I guess so.’

The test to prove my achievements. Surely, it also included the meaning of passing that.

* * *

“……He’s not an ordinary guy.”

Rakshan, who had left the auditorium, walked alone outside the academy.

“I should have paid attention sooner.”

Rakshan was clearly alone, but another voice popped out.

“He’s just a young sprout.”

It was a voice from the bushes next to him. Rakshan continued the conversation indifferently, as if he had known of its existence from the beginning.

“Not yet. But if we’re not careful, he could give us a headache.”

“Even so, he will not dare to go against Rakshan’s cause.”

Rakshan’s voice lowered.

“No. That child also had Father’s necklace around his neck. He’s a guy that Father is also interested in.”

Rakshan, who had stopped walking for a moment, looked at the bushes and recited.

“I’ll send you to the Magic Tower. From now on, you will watch that child. Watching him will be enough for now.”

“I understand. But are you really going to bury the archive work?”

Rakshan paused for a moment. He smiled faintly and nodded.

“Yes. No matter how much of a genius he is, he won’t be able to read ancient languages anyway. I’ll consider that much as a gift from an uncle.”

“Understood.”