The characteristic of elemental magic is defined by two aspects: intuition and destructive power.
Although mastering it is difficult, the initial learning is easy, and there are many types of elements, making it easier to find one’s talent.
Therefore, it is the most chosen discipline within the Magic Tower, but it also has its drawbacks.
Due to its intuitive nature, the composition of spells is simple, and it doesn’t inflict significant damage apart from physical impact.
For someone like me who has to learn magic from the basics, most of them were grateful practice partners.
“Haat!”
Flames flowed from the hands of the mage touching the ground.
It was a fire spell from the Mittier School that tracked the target and burned their legs, known as ‘Creeping Flame’.
I immediately altered its nature by delving into the head of the spell formation coiled like a snake.
Interference Technique — Revision
The approaching flames gradually lost their light and eventually turned into a blue-scaled snake that passed between my legs.
This was the first time I successfully interfered with a third-rank spell without using a Curse Name.
From behind, a small gasp was heard, and when I turned around, it was Sera, the representative of the Glesia School.
She must have realized I was using the training room while visiting Mittier’s facilities.
“Damn it, these curse mages…!”
The enraged mage, annoyed by being distracted during the duel, hurled a fireball at me, but I easily dodged it.
My Intuition constantly monitored the opponent, so without magic, they were no match for me.
The opponents I faced during my adventuring days always used deceitful or deadly magic.
Sprinkling poison or turning the ground into mud, school distinctions were almost meaningless.
“No proper attack magic, just messing around with others’ spells… you can’t win like that!”
“Why can’t I win?”
“What?”
“Like this.”
I swiftly approached the exhausted mage, who was using magic beyond his limits, and knocked him out with a tap on the head with my spear.
Having already neutralized all the magic he could use, there was no more point in practicing interference techniques.
After securing an easy victory, I stepped outside where Sera was waiting with coffee.
She and Arthur couldn’t stand me being formal, so after leaving the Great Labyrinth, I started addressing them comfortably.
“Amazing! Completely neutralizing the opponent’s magic. For a mage, meeting a skilled Dispel mage must be like hell.”
“Really? I still fail more often than not, so I’m not sure.”
“This place only gathers students of the Mittier School. How did you improve your skills so quickly?”
“Hmm… forum activities?”
Sera looked puzzled, but I was serious.
I applied the feeling of posting on forums to the three interference techniques.
Dispel was like deleting posts, Reversal was like quoting, and Revision was like editing a post.
Of course, these were just tricks; the real reason for my skill improvement was the help I received from the three people who promised to share their magic with me.
Every time I absorbed the essence of their spells and formations, it felt like a new part of my mind awakened.
To challenge the trials of the training floor, I couldn’t slack on practice, so I was on my way to bother Mariel.
Unlike Vina, who had lectures, and Shien, who was busy with Intelligence Department work, she was the most available.
“By the way, speaking of forums, Arthur seems addicted to Witch Note lately.”
“Really?”
“Yes, even when we go to a café, he’s on it all day, which annoys me! Just like Clark now.”
“Why do you go to cafés together?”
Was there that much to discuss between the representatives of two schools that couldn’t stand each other?
It seemed Sera had feelings for Arthur, coming all the way to the Mittier building’s lounge.
Checking the posts on the forum, I found several recent secret board entries related to love advice.
“Could he have a girlfriend? He sometimes contacts Clark, do you know anything?”
My inner persona ‘Prinana’ whispered, ‘Should I become a curse mage?’
Even the mage who looked down on dispel magic and those trying to pursue forbidden love deserved curses.
However, I barely held onto my sanity at the brink of becoming a demon.
Just then, I saw a reported post.
====
[Admin! Do something about the furry pic spam!]
(Link)
Seriously, is this a gallery or a zoo with all these beast and bee pics!?
Isn’t this guy with the username ‘FluffyLover’ from Mittier School?
— Arthur is ‘DogLover’, don’t slander him~
— And don’t call him a guy, he’s from the Summoning School.
— No, he’s from the Alchemy School.
— Looks like a top-tier mage enjoying himself, lol
— Oh, my preferences exposed to the entire tower, lol
— We’re being quiet these days……
— These fur lovers don’t know limits
====
“Maybe try making cat ears with magic.”
“What?”
That was the best advice I could give her.
*
After parting ways with Sera, I descended to the first floor.
As I was still holding the position of dormitory supervisor, I had responsibilities to attend to.
Fortunately, the dormitory was much quieter now, as most of the apprentices who had left the initiation floor had moved out.
After completing the cleaning and a few other tasks, I was about to visit Mariel when the head of the Maintenance Department called me.
“Clark, come here for a moment.”
When he called for me, it was usually to share food or to assign a task.
This time, it was the latter.
He tore a scroll, and a large crate fell from the sky with a deafening noise that echoed through the hallway of the Marylin Hall.
The contents of the crate were iron bars coated with black paint.
He explained that these were designed with perception-blocking and defensive magic to prevent people from seeing in and instructed me to install them on the first floor of the dormitory.
“After the recent power outage, the Maintenance Department decided to handle the dormitory’s upkeep. But we can’t rebuild the entire aging structure, can we? It has its history.”
“So you’re installing security bars?”
“It’s all for safety… Apparently, there have been outlaws running amok recently. Other schools will also be tightening their security.”
‘Outlaws’ referred to those who climbed the tower without permission during periods when apprentices were not accepted.
As long as their names were inscribed on the Monument Stone, they could climb the tower, which happened almost every year.
Most of them were mercenaries or rogue adventurers who coveted the resources of the Magic Tower or the wealth of its schools.
They were numerous and lacked the skill to climb high, so if left unchecked, they constantly caused incidents on the lower floors.
“I think I can install all of these in three days.”
“Please do. I’ll inform the other dormitory students.”
First, I moved the crate in front of the supervisor’s office and took out one of the black iron bars.
Then, I headed straight to Mariel’s room. Since her room was also on the first floor, I could install it on my way.
When I opened the door, there was the usual sight of the blonde woman lazing on the bed.
Having been exposed by me, she no longer bothered to hide her Witch Note even if I dropped by unexpectedly.
Her skirt, peeking out from under a thin blanket, was as curly as her golden hair.
Despite that, she continued to delete posts and handle complaints, which made her fail as a lady but pass as an administrator.
“Welcome.”
“I’m here to install something on your door. I’ll also do some interference practice while I’m at it.”
“Do as you please. You’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?”
“Excuse me, then.”
I stepped onto the bed and moved outside the window.
I removed the existing security bars and replaced them with the new ones, tightening the screws.
Tapping the now opaque window with my hand, I felt a different resistance compared to before.
When I returned to the room, Mariel was still in the same position, sprawled on the bed.
“Are you practicing well?”
“I made three spells and am taking a break.”
“How’s your studying? You know exams are coming up, right?”
“I’m a genius, so exams are no problem even without sitting at a desk.”
“If your grades are bad, you won’t be able to take on the trials. Don’t come crying to me later asking for help…”
“Ugh! Is Supervisor my mother or something?!”
Mariel’s head snapped to the side and then back.
Even in the midst of this, she managed to catch a ‘ding dong’ post from the report board and deleted it, catching the troll who was causing trouble.
After sending the 58th trolling account off, I sat on the bed and attempted interference.
The spell I was trying to unravel was ‘Stacked Casting,’ one of the magics she shared with me.
Unlike ‘Multi-Casting,’ which simultaneously casts multiple spells, ‘Stacked Casting’ involves storing one spell in a ‘stack,’ then rewinding time to cast the next spell simultaneously.
This technique not only confuses the opponent with unexpected attacks but also allows for overlapping spells on the same coordinates, inducing new effects.
Creating three of these spells in a short time showed that, despite her claims, her skill level might indeed make studying unnecessary.
“…”
Unlike Vina, an elemental mage, Mariel’s magic didn’t target objects.
The phenomenon was driven by herself as the caster. Hence, interference had to occur at close proximity.
Though not physically touching, her scattered hair annoyingly tangled around my fingers as I dug into the core of the spell formation.
Mariel’s magic, due to its mysterious nature, required a ‘principle’ to manifest.
Hearing it directly from her would nullify the interference’s meaning, so I had to figure it out myself, which wasn’t easy.
I tugged at the intertwined golden threads in my imagination and repeatedly rubbed the worn lock’s seam, but no clue emerged.
“……!”
Hearing a faint moan from behind, I turned my head.
Instead of legs flailing in the air, I saw her tiny toes curled to their limits.
She was still staring at the Witch Note, but her hands had stopped deleting posts and were trembling slightly.
“Are you okay?”
“Eek!?”
I lightly tapped the blanket, wondering if she was feeling unwell, and she leapt like a startled cat.
Her rough breathing and the look she gave me were far from her usual casual demeanor.
This must be why dispel mages have no friends.
Realizing her expression in the mirror, Mariel lowered her head and muttered.
“Worst, really the worst…”
“How did it feel?”
“Ugh, it felt… stubbornly draining.”
“What?”
“Never mind! How could I, the distinguished daughter of the Holcroft family, be reduced to a mere plaything because of my weaknesses? This is the humiliation of a lifetime!”
I couldn’t help but think that the true humiliation of a lifetime was more likely the fact that I, a grown man, was cleaning the room, doing laundry, and sometimes even organizing the underwear of a girl younger than me.
Regardless, as Mariel regained her spirit and was about to start talking noisily again, I prepared to leave.
If I stayed, I’d inevitably end up listening to her lecture about her family’s prestige and the pride of her ancestors for over an hour.
“When I was seven years old, the Silver Wing Knights of our Holcroft family fought against the army of the dead on the great plains of Prusonia. If they were still around, this disgrace would be nothing…!”
“Here we go again. It’s almost dinner time, so you should get ready to eat.”
Tsk, tsk, I used to be an adventurer who wielded a spear quite well.
Now I’m just installing security bars in someone else’s house. Life has a way of throwing curveballs.
Just as I was about to rescue Mariel from drowning in the glorious past of the Holcroft family, a message arrived through the Witch Note.
====
— Marine141: Mariel, are you perhaps Mariel Levancia?
— Marine141: This is Douglas, the vice-captain of the Silver Wing Knights.
— Marine141: I heard belatedly that you entered the Magic Tower to rebuild the count’s family with the retainers. Where are you now?
====
“Ah! If only Sir Douglas were here…!”
Seeing the name come out of Mariel’s mouth, I wondered if I had taken the wrong Witch Note.
However, upon checking again, I confirmed that the message from the temporary user ID ‘Marine141’ had indeed come to my account.
More precisely, it was sent to the account ‘SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl’, which I had created to tease her and had been actively using until recently.
Apparently, my acting was convincing enough that this person had genuinely mistaken me for the real Mariel.
