Since the birth of the Magic Tower, the area by the left end window of the 1st cafeteria had been an implicit ‘eating alone zone’.
It was a space where the noble rule of not allowing anyone to join if one sat at one of the four tables still existed.
There, people who had no friends to eat with would sit about 2 meters apart, spending a peaceful lunchtime.
And today, I, flagrantly trampling upon that longstanding tradition, sat down in front of Prina, who was eating alone.
The expression on her face as she received the glances of the solo diners was truly epic.
“Oh, you’re here, Senior. I’ve been looking for you for a while.”
“You…! I distinctly said to come after lunchtime!”
“We have the extreme magic lecture of Glesia School in the afternoon. I’m fine skipping lunch, so let’s move as soon as you finish eating, Senior.”
Since there wasn’t much time until the start of the Magic Festival, I had to learn the magic of our school as soon as possible.
Even if I didn’t have a friend to go out with, the fact that I, just promoted from a novice, was paired with her was a considerable handicap for her.
At least some enthusiasm to learn was necessary to avoid holding her back.
Prina seemed to be touched by my diligence, tears welling up behind her bangs.
“Ugh…!”
“You can eat slowly if you want? I’ll wait while looking at my Witch Note.”
“Fine, let’s go now… Ugh, I can’t even sit here anymore.”
Or perhaps it was due to the despair of having to pack lunch from now on.
The communal training ground located on the 1st floor.
Among the mages shooting magic towards the scarecrows in their respective lines, Prina explained to me about the basics of our school’s magic.
“I’ll teach you two things. One is how to use Mystery, and the other is interference techniques.”
“Interference techniques?”
She could only speak when our eyes didn’t meet.
Since I was almost always looking at the Witch Note, that fact seemed to comfort her subtly.
Sometimes I wondered why she was so diligent; perhaps she was chatting online, but it was a characteristic of nerds that they would never admit it.
The awkwardness and self-disgust I would feel if I asked in vain, only to receive a response like “I was messaging with my girlfriend.”, were palpable.
I didn’t have the courage to endure that, so I pretended not to know.
“It’s the basics of disrupting the structure of spells by peering into the opponent’s magic.”
“It’s a technique to unravel magic.”
“You said you were taking extreme magic lessons, right? Then you should be familiar. Just find the weak link in the spell structure and twist it.”
The explanation was simple. However, upon closer examination, the technique was not as easy as I had thought.
Since all magic manifests under the control of the mage, it is very difficult for external interference to occur.
Even if one succeeds in accessing the spell, the range of interference is limited by the skill level of the caster and the stability of the magic.
If there’s an overwhelming difference in magical power, it might be easier to simply destroy the magic itself rather than go through the complicated process.
However, if the power gap was that significant, it would be easier to summon a hammer and smash the opponent’s head instead.
“A high understanding of spell structure, intuition to predict manifestation timing, and creativity to transform the interfered magic are also necessary. Generally, it’s impossible for you at your level to master, but…”
“It’s different if you use a Curse Name.”
“Y-Yes. If you cover the opponent with a massively complex Mystery, it becomes easier to find the gaps.”
“How do you use Mysteries?”
Prina conjured a small flame at the tip of her finger.
Then, she explained how to activate a curse while adjusting her robe deeply.
“Awaken yourself within the target’s perception. Secretly, subtly, suggest that my existence dominates everything in your mind.”
“Hmm…”
“Anything that reminds them of you, like titles, actions, appearances, or objects associated with memories in their mind. The moment you make the target aware of a symbol representing you, the Mystery of Aitar awakens.”
“…”
“Don’t understand? Well, Curse Names aren’t meant to be applied in a short time. Anyway, give it a try. This… is just a first-tier magic.”
Combining Prina’s explanation with what I had observed from curse magicians outside the Magic Tower, I felt like I roughly understood the trick.
To use a Curse Name, it was necessary to make the opponent perceive my existence as overwhelmingly dominant.
It didn’t matter if it was exaggerated; the important thing was the message.
Like gossip that distorts incidents and mixes truth with fiction, spreading fear like a wildfire.
It was truly unforeseeable that I would end up using the abilities of curse magicians whom I had once beaten like rats.
So, what hint could I give to Prina in front of me to arouse the feeling of being dominated by me?
The answer ultimately stemmed from my Curse Name being ‘Administrator’.
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ID: Prinana
Posts: 27734
Comments: 143879
List of articles written:
[Gathering points to go on a date with Administrator]
[I’ll be going out for the Magic Festival this time, so get ready to be defeated, all you annoying guys I’ll meet]
====
Thunk!
Watching the quietly burning flame for quite some time, I eventually closed the Witch Note.
Then, taking a step towards her, I opened my mouth.
“I know everything about you, Senior.”
“Using the height difference is clever. Huh, but for a Curse Name you thought of, it’s quite dull. Anyway, you don’t know anything about me…”
“Planning a virtual date course every morning is fine, but choosing a location in a dark forest is lacking in taste.”
“!?!!?”
The flame flickering at my fingertips extinguished with a snap.
In addition to mastering the technique of using Curse Names, I learned that a person’s face could turn as red as the inside of their slightly gaping mouth.
*
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[Magic Tournament Betting Is Open!!!]
(Picture of the tournament brackets)
Refer to the bracket organized by date.
Undisclosed Schools are marked in gray.
Honestly, I just compiled what was in the announcement, it took me ages lol.
They managed to finish this by the day of the event, impressive lol
[Recommend 18538 / Not Recommend 131]
— Oh
— It’s finally out!!
— The matchups are intense as always, lots of skilled participants after five years of training.
— You really worked hard on this, but the likes should go to this one lol
ㄴ Totally lol
ㄴ SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: Just shut up.
====
====
[Isn’t this more like a masquerade than a magic festival? lol]
Looks like all the participants have flooded the system with perception-obstructing spells.
Have some confidence and reveal yourselves! Fight on!!!
— The moment they said they’d reveal the names if annoyers apply, it became clear that nothing was going to be normal this year lol
— If they’re going to expose identities, what’s the point of fighting?
— If you’re unsure, just learn Heaven’s Insight or Universal Sight~
— The Magic Tower administration is baffled lol
— Schools of questionable allegiance are joining in droves lol
====
====
[So there might be a forum annoyer among them, right?]
Let’s search, I’m betting my fortune on it.
For now, let’s focus on Fluvia for this match.
— Why is Galluck even going out? He doesn’t even qualify.
— I checked all the secondary accounts I know, none of them applied.
— If it’s Fluvia, are they water elemental or both? They’re pretty high up if they’re both on the 28th floor.
— Aren’t they the opponents? They’re broadcasting from the first match.
ㄴ Really? That’s awesome~
====
====
[Supporting the Favorable Galluck ‘PLNN’ Gets You Thumbs Up]
Of course, it’s just words of encouragement, but the excited Marines are giving thumbs up after betting on the Fluvia as the clear victor and planning to mock the defeated Gallucks.
[Recommend 1138 / Not Recommend 3]
— Thumbs up
— I’m already all-in.
— Losing is inevitable
— How did an annoyer, who devoted his life to the forum, defeat a legitimate elemental magician? lol
ㄴ Fluvia is a bigger school than Glesia haha.
ㄴ IceDispenserDestructionUnit: School size doesn’t matter, Glesia is ahead in skills
ㄴ Hey there hey there
ㄴ Seriously, it’s uncanny lol
— But which one of them is the annoyer?
ㄴ That remains to be seen
ㄴ Seems like they intentionally paired up male and female? Not even sticking to gender
ㄴ How serious are they about forum trolling……
====
A few days later, on the day of the match.
In the sky, rain laced with mana tracked down relentlessly.
The Fluvia magicians, the first opponents, were already shaping the field in their favor even before the match began.
Given the existence of strict compatibility between schools, openly revealing their identities, unlike us who used perception-obstructing magic beforehand, meant they were confident.
According to information obtained from the forum, both of them are 3rd rank magicians residing on the 28th floor, higher than Prina.
“Ugh, look at the density of mana. I’d pass out if I stayed for another 10 minutes.”
“Is it even allowed to be like this before the match starts?”
“The farmland next to the stadium here belongs to the Centipede School. They think it’s time for a water supply, so they’re blindfolded.”
Certainly, like true magicians, they have no intention of dressing up honor or dignity like knights.
From my perspective, however, such an attitude was rather welcome.
Whether hiding their identity or doing groundwork, as long as they could crush the opponents, it was enough.
I was about to greet them with a spear or two when Prina stopped me.
“It’s fine, leave it to me.”
“Are you sure, Senior?”
For the first time, I secretly hoped for her confident attitude.
Could it be that she has a trick up her sleeve that even surpasses what she taught me?
Or perhaps an interference device of a higher caliber compared to what I’ve been taught?
A Curse Mage is a profession plagued by misfortune, where one must run away without looking back when encountering creatures ignorant of magic or unable to understand curses.
However, when facing only mages, they could freely unleash the skills they had suppressed for so long.
“Ah, from now on, this, this will be our strategy.”
Receiving my hopeful gaze, Prina retrieved something from her bosom.
It was none other than a voodoo doll, sculpted like a tiny human with a grain of rice.
“You handle defense, I’ll handle offense.”
“…”
To my ears, those words sounded like, ‘You take charge of Haeju, I’ll handle curses’.
