The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 48

44. Magic Competition (2)

“An… Expert competition?!”

Aidan Hamill couldn’t help but be surprised at Carryl’s words.

‘No way. An Expert competition means at least 4th class users participate. Is this kid already a mage?’

Unbelievable.

He didn’t know about Mihail, but he had seen Carryl’s fight.

The skill that killed Curran of the Port of Outlaws.

That was clearly a victory with perfect swordsmanship.

‘Could he be a Sword Master at that age? That’s impossible.’

Not only the five current Sword Masters, but even Krom, known as the greatest among those who walked the path of the sword in the past, was said to have reached that level at fifteen.

‘There’s never been anything like this in the history of the continent.’

Aidan swallowed hard.

If it’s true…

It would be an incredible event that would overturn all existing records.

“You don’t have to be so surprised. I haven’t opened enough mana circuits to become a mage yet.”

“……Pardon?”

Aidan, caught off guard by Carryl’s words, asked back, a little embarrassed.

He had been carrying out his mission at his own pace until now, but for some reason, he kept getting flustered in front of Carryl.

He tried to hide his inner thoughts, but it was already too late.

Carryl patted him lightly on the shoulder and said.

“I’m leaving him in your care for the remaining time. I have something to do, so I’ll be back.”

“Ah, I understand.”

Aidan nodded to him.

‘You still have a lot to offer. Try a little harder.’

Carryl smiled faintly as he looked at him.

* * *

Outside Azor.

Carryl deliberately left the city and went deep into the forest.

‘Hmm, is this good enough?’

He looked around.

There was no sign of anyone.

‘In Azor, where most mages reside, the only people who come to this forest are probably woodcutters who bring firewood to the castle.’

He nodded, satisfied with the secluded spot among the dense trees.

Thanks to the magic power he gained from the Dragon’s Heart, he was able to deceive Vargo and Shira and enter the Expert competition, but in reality, only two bloodlines [magical pathways] were opened in his body.

According to the rules, he was only a 1st class user.

‘All I can use are the 1st class auxiliary magic and basic magic I learned in Einheri.’

The reason he went to the store and bought magic books was originally for Mihail.

‘I can’t learn magic in a normal way. Unlike ordinary people who accumulate magic power by opening magic circuits, I’m the opposite.’

Nevertheless, there was another reason why he attended the Expert competition.

‘Eligibility for the Master Competition.’

Only those who reach 4th class and become a mage are given the minimum qualification to participate in the Master Competition.

In the current situation, it was impossible for him as he had not found a way to open his magic circuits.

‘But it’s different if you win the Expert competition. If you overwhelm the mages and prove your skills in actual combat, you can participate in the Master Competition without any other measurements.’

That was his purpose.

‘The first magic created by the Council of Seven Elders.’

Carryl recalled his memories.

‘I have to get those three magics before this place becomes a ruin.’

In his previous life, no one could use that magic.

[I can’t believe this is still here. Amazing. I thought what Kaie Essir said 250 years ago was a joke.]

-What did he say?

Nardie Maugh said with a bitter smile in the ruined Azor, where the corpses of monsters formed a mountain.

The appearance of the magic city that had blossomed with the splendor of magic had disappeared without a trace, and the spires symbolizing the Council of Seven Elders, who were said to have built the city, had long been destroyed.

The corpses of the mages who tried to defend the city to the end were torn to pieces and buried with the monsters.

[He said that the dragon was the one who first taught magic to humans.]

-What?

[Even now, other dragons besides me are indifferent to the affairs of the continent. I don’t think the relationship with humans is friendly.]

-Hmm…….

[Honestly, it’s a story we had forgotten too. And who cares who taught humans magic? Human magic power is insignificant and can’t threaten us. We have no choice but to be indifferent, just like now.]

He said, rummaging through the ruins.

[Of course, there are oddballs like Kaie Essir, but.]

-But what does that have to do with it?

Carryl crossed his arms, holding his sword between them, and asked in a low voice.

[Yeah. What does that have to do with it? But to think there would be dragon magic here. Even magic that I, a dragon, had forgotten is still here.]

He pulled something out of the rubble.

A magic book that had been burned black.

Woo-oong……!!!

It was something of an unidentifiable shape, but when he infused his magic power into it, it surprisingly began to emit light as if nothing had happened.

-So the Council of Seven Elders were disciples of the dragon…….

Carryl was amazed by the sight, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

He didn’t have any magic power in the first place.

He thought magic was something that had nothing to do with him.

[It could be the opposite.]

Nardie Maugh twirled the magic book around and said.

[The Council of Seven Elders might have been dragons.]

Carryl slowly focused his consciousness.

The abundant magic power felt in the magic circuit slowly traveled through his arms and gathered at his fingertips.

“Flame Finger.”

A small flame appeared above his outstretched finger.

The most basic fire magic.

‘Creating a fireball from the generated flame is Fireball, and creating it in the form of an arrow is Fire Arrow.’

Both are 1st class magic.

It was an attack magic with only the power of an archer’s fire arrow.

‘But Kaie Essir’s magic was so powerful that it was absurd to call it 1st class.’

Carryl stretched out his palm and slowly extended it forward.

‘Normally, you would immediately fire a fireball from here. But Kaie Essir was different.’

He superimposed the power with incantation-less magic as if he were going through steps.

‘Flame Finger, Ignition, Heat, Fire.’

After four stages of superposition, the fireball and fire arrow he used unleashed tremendous power that literally transcended common sense.

‘All of them are basic magic that is one of the life magics that all imperial citizens can learn.’

However, no mage had ever thought of superimposing magic power through the lowest level magic.

‘No, they wouldn’t be able to do it.’

The pride of high-level mages.

They held the belief that higher class magic was unconditionally stronger.

That’s why mages always focused only on the amount of magic power they possessed.

‘That’s what created techniques like Aidan’s magic power transformation.’

Of course.

The concepts created from that pride are not entirely wrong.

It is safer and less consuming to condense magic power inside the body rather than condensing magic power from the outside.

And Kaie Essir overturned that idea.

‘The goal is the same, to use stronger magic, but the method is a completely different system.’

A change of perspective.

However, there are restrictions to perform that conversion.

Carryl, who was not born with an affinity for magic, suddenly gained magic power.

He had never learned magic professionally, and he didn’t even have magic power, so he was able to accept this idea without any hesitation.

‘To be honest, it’s not a matter of abandoning pride or not.’

Kaie Essir’s method was only possible if he had that much vast magic power.

Crack-

Carryl clenched and unfolded his palm.

In that respect, he is not subject to any restrictions.

An uncontrollable amount of overflowing magic power was boiling in his magic circuit right now.

‘Besides, unlike Mihail, I still have a low understanding of magic. It is impossible to learn complex formulas and principles right now.’

In the end, he had to compete with 1st class magic, which was the magic he could do most perfectly.

If ordinary people heard this, they would all say he was crazy.

The difference in class is the difference in power.

That was the same as fighting with a match in front of a flame.

‘I already know the answer.’

However, Carryl had a meaningful expression.

Because he had already discovered it in the memories of the Red Dragon Liceira.

-It’s foolish to divide classes in the first place. If you pour 5th class magic power into 1st class magic, can you still call it 1st class?

Carryl recalled what Kaie Essir had said.

“And what if you can superimpose not 5th class magic power, but 6th class, 7th class magic power?”

Kwaddeuk…… Kwaddeudeuk……!!

“Ignition.”

The flame created on his palm began to emit a red light as if it would explode at any moment.

Chwaak–!!!

“Heat.”

Recalling his memories, Carryl recited the incantation that Kaie Essir had said in sequence in a low voice.

“Keuek?!”

It was then.

He felt extreme pain at the point where the final stage of Fire remained.

Tsujujujuk……!

At that moment, the jewel in the mouth of the snake on the Bracelet of Greed on Carryl’s wrist flashed.

Then, the condensed magic power began to be absorbed into the bracelet.

“Hoo…….”

The pain disappeared as the magic power was absorbed into the bracelet, but the flame he had cast disappeared because of it.

‘If you cast magic power beyond the limit that can be poured out from the two opened magic circuits, the bracelet is activated to stabilize it.’

The Bracelet of Greed calms his boiling magic power, but it was also an obstacle that prevented him from exceeding the limit.

‘This is what I have to solve.’

He cast magic again.

“Flame Finger.”

A small flame created at the tip of his finger began to flicker.

“Cold Finger.”

Then he spread out his other hand and condensed magic power again.

Burrrr…….

His hand trembled lightly and small ice crystals formed.

‘As expected…….’

Carryl nodded.

As he expected.

If it is impossible to condense one attribute, he simultaneously casts two attribute magics close to the limit.

“Hoo…….”

Just the sight of him simultaneously casting two attribute magics was enough to cause a huge ripple in the magic world.

“Ignition.”

The five flames grew as if exploding.

“Freezing.”

At the same time, he sequentially raised the magic of the opposite attribute.

“Heat.”

Kwaddeuk…….

Carryl put strength into his hand.

Then, unlike the first time, the precarious flame began to stabilize as if it were softened by the power of the opposite attribute.

‘It’s done!’

His palm turned red as if it had been heated by fire.

“Cold Air.”

Kwagagaga……!!!

White steam like water vapor rose from the opposite hand that cast the cold air, and the two attributes began to ripple inside his body as if they were fighting each other.

‘I can do it.’

Carryl exclaimed without realizing it as he watched the scene.

Colorless attribute.

He was trying to overcome his own limits with the attribute of magic power he possessed.

Why is he, who uses a sword, focusing on a competition where he only fights with magic power?

It’s not just because it’s a power he didn’t get in his previous life.

‘If the Council of Seven Elders were really dragons, it would be natural that humans could not learn the magic they left behind.’

Carryl thought as he looked at his palm with white steam rising from it.

‘If the first magic is dragon magic…….’

No one on the continent can use two attributes at the same time.

That’s not the end.

Carryl, who ate the Dragon’s Heart and underwent a metamorphosis, did not have the attributes of magic in the category of humans.

Although it is still only basic magic, he can use all five existing attribute magics.

The magic power he possesses.

It could be said to be dragon magic.

Soon.

‘Only I can learn the first magic.’

Carryl’s eyes shone.