The Boy and the Wizard
Igni held out his hand and felt the water hit against it. The sensation was exactly like real rain. Although he feels like this is an illusion, judging from the way Elina and the rest are also equally confused means this is probably not.
There are Wizards that can put 4 people under the same illusion simultaneously, but that would have to be an amazingly skilled Wizard and also a highly sophisticated and technically illusionary Spell as well. It would be impossible for both Igni AND Elina to not be able to see through that kind of Illusion Spell.
So Igni came to a different possibility.
Igni: “.........Quasi-Magic, huh.”
Rania: “Quasi-Magic?” Rania followed up with a question at Igni’s word.
She’s probably the least knowledgeable when it comes to Spells among the four.
Then this can’t be helped, so Igni kindly answered her.
Igni: “It’s an artificial <Magic>. Instead of creating something from absolutely nothing, you use and overlap it to the foundation around you, and cast the Spell.”
Rania: “How is that any different from a Spell?”
Igni: “.......hmmm, well, technically, there is no basis to differentiate the two. One of the standards you would use to categorize it would be the area of effect and power.” Rania: “Area of effect and power…”
Rania repeats Igni’s words back to herself.
Igni: “Yeah, it would be a Spell that affects an area that is far beyond a normal Spell. But because it didn’t create something out of nothing, it’s not <Magic>. So we call that Spell that falls in between regular Spells and <Magic>, <Quasi-Magic>.”
Rania: “I see～....I became one step smarter.”
And Rania tapped her fist in her palm at the revelation.
Behind her, Nie and Elina are both aware that these circumstances were created by Quasi-Magic, so they are currently on guard.
They are prepared for an attack from any direction right now.
Nie: “Elder Sister, please stay on your guard. This is a very bad situation.”
Elina: “Yes, everyone, it’ll be best to be on high alert.”
And Nie and Elina both spoke at once.
And Igni and Rania are already aware of this as well.
Igni: “.........we’re surrounded.”
As soon as Igni whispered the words, he felt Magic Power being manipulated behind him on the right.
Nie: “[Darkness, group thyself together]”
A moment after Nie’s incantation, dark shadows form a wall behind enemy and protects him from the incoming Spell.
The Spell strikes the wall and was instantly covered with vines.
Igni: “[Parasite Plant]?! They’re using high-level Spells…!”
Igni mumbles the words under his breath.
The [Parasite Plant] will root deep inside its impact zone, and destroy the target from the inside out. It’s a Spell cast with a clear intention to kill.
Igni fires off 5 [Fire Balls] towards the direction where he saw the [Parasite Plant] come from.
He selected the speed and power, but made sure to make the explosive area larger.
The [Fireballs] exploded in succession, and Igni planned to blow up whoever was hiding or running from there.
Igni: “I’ll go look for Yoori.”
As explosive fire spread up from behind him, Igni made sure that everyone heard what he said.
All four of them witnessed Yoori getting sucked into the darkness.
That would mean that Yoori should be trapped inside of here too.
Rania: “ThーThat’s fine, but how do you plan to get out of here?!”
Igni: “I have an idea that might work. Once I find Yoori, I fire a signal into the sky, so someone will need to send their own flare back in response.”
Nie: “Understood. Elder Sister, I can perform the signaling flare, so do not worry.”
Igni answers Rania right back, and with [Flame Engine] {Accel Boot}, he jumps up into the air. The next second, countless Spells are fired up after Igni.
But as Igni accelerated even faster, he left the Spells behind as he flew high up into the air. The Spells that couldn’t catch up with him collide clumsily together and explode. But without even glancing at those Spells, Igni cut past the rain and set his sights on the scene below.
Igni: “........where are you, Yoori?” From above, he plainly saw that the situation was not normal.
Firstly, the space Igni and his group was trapped in was <limited>. From the mines at the center of the mountain, the space only recreated up to the foot of the mountain. The rest disappeared into a vast void. The Curse Inscription was glowing ominously up to the edge of the space, and brought some light to the vast darkness.
Igni: “I need to find him quickly and leave this place.”
No matter what the nature of this Quasi-Magic was, it was clear to Igni that nothing good will come of staying here any longer. Igni quickly looked for anyone with white hair, but the task was not that easy. The paths to the mine were cleared of trees, but the rest was untouched nature.
It would be more difficult looking for him from the skies.
Igni: “.......I guess I have to go down.” “Ohh, you can fly too?” Igni suddenly heard a boy’s voice behind him.
And the flowing sensation of Magic Power being manipulated.
Igni jerked his body to the side, and a {Wind Cutter} passed by where his head was a moment ago.
Though the Magic Caster intended to kill him, the level of his Spell <is way too low>.
Igni: “........who are you?” “No, who are you? You’re the ones that wandered in here.”
And Igni realized that he recognized the voice.
It was one of the voices that was screaming “Kill!” before they entered here.
There was a boy with black hair when Igni turned around.
The boy must have been around 10 years old.
Igni : “I see now. I’m starting to understand what’s happening here.”
Igni deciphered the events that were unfolding around him.
Igni: “Hey, do you guys know where each other are?” “No, not at all.”
The boy in front of Igni answers Igni immediately back.
Igni: “I see. That’s fine.” With that, Igni initiated his [Flame Engine] : {Accel Boot} and propelled his body away. He wondered if the boy knew where Yoori was, but since he didn’t, Igni decided to ignore him completely.
“Hey! Wait! Don’t run from me!!”
The boy began manipulating the wind that was around Igni, but the Spell was clumsy and too simple. To be frank, it was the Spell of a novice.
Igni: “I…….highly doubt that Yoori would have trouble against this.”
Igni studied the incoming Spell as he mumbled to himself.
Even without Attack Spells, Yoori is a first-rate Wizard with defensive and interruptive Spells.
“What?! You think I can’t beat Yoori?!?!”
But the boy snaps at Igni’s words.
Igni ignores him.
He realized that the children here have already died, and they are only tied to this world by the Curse.
Igni: (This Spell must be recreating that day….)
The day Yoori killed the other children and survived the ritual alone.
“I’m strong! I can beat Yoori! Don’t compare me with some with only high compatibility!! My Spell is the strongest!!”
The boy screamed as he fired off {Wind Cutter} again and again.
“I was the <previous rounds> survivor!!”
The next instant, one of the boy’s Spells brushed past Igni.
Igni: “......hm?” The Magic Power manipulation Igni was detecting suddenly changed. The Magic Power inside the boy was no longer the clumsy manipulation of a child but was now refined to someone who has been practicing Spells for 10 years or more. The least amount of Magic Power was smoothly converted and directed at Igni as a Spell.
Igni: “Hey.” Igni stopped flying and curiously turned around.
Igni: “What do you mean by ‘previous’?” “Since that day, we have been repeating [this] over and over again! All so we can kill Yoori!”
Igni: “.........why?” “He shouldn’t have won that day! It was some sort of mistake! I was definitely stronger! All of us should have beaten him that day!!”
The boy screamed enthusiastically at the top of his lungs.
“It’s not just me! EVERYONE thinks so! That’s why we’re going to <do it over>!”
A refined {Wind Cutter} flies at Igni.
Even a beginner’s Spell can be refined into a deadly weapon if perfected ー this was something Igni knew far too well.
But there was one more thing that bothered him.
Igni: “.......then, should you be fighting me right now?” If they have been resenting Yoori for this long, shouldn’t they all be looking for Yoori right now?” “There’s going to be only one person left in the end! Whether we kill you right now or later doesn’t matter!”
And the boy screamed again as he cast another Spell.
Igni: “That is true.” “And you looked the <weakest>!”
As soon as Igni responded to the boy, the boy’s next words wounded him.
Igni: “Huh…….? Really? I looked the weakest to you? Why???” The Ultimate Secret to Popularity #1 ーー “Women love strong men.”
But that also means “strong looking” men can also be popular.
And furthermore, to present yourself as strong attracts people’s attention, and if you reverse the theory, then weak-looking men lose popularity. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Igni is forced to ask the boy for his opinion.
“What? We can all just look at you and see that you’re weak.”
Igni: “What? I should have looked the strongest in the group.”
Leaving behind the physical age, it’ll be hard to determine if Igni was more mature compared to the boy and responded in kind.
“What～? You don’t get it. First, that girl with the black hair had a sword and was highly skilled in detecting Spells. That means she’s strong, right?” Igni nodded as he realized that the boy was talking about Elina.
“And the shorty was really fast at building her Spell. And she was able to block Eri’s [Parasite Plant] so she’s strong too.”
Igni: (That’s true.)
“And the older sister-looking one…….she scares me. Even under these circumstances, she didn’t panic or look scared at all. That was honestly creepy.”
Igni: (I think that’s only because she had no clue about the danger they were in……..)
But Igni kept his mouth shut.
Popular men will never speak ill of a girl regardless of if they were present or not.
“And you. You’re the last one, but you immediately panicked and tried to go somewhere. You only used {Fireball}. In other words, you would be the easiest opponent.”
Igni: “.......I see. Thank you for telling me.”
Igni spoke quietly back to the boy.
Igni: “[Flame Ignition] : {Molecular : Minima}”
And as Igni created a Magic Power Generator behind him that created a circular glow behind himself, he created a molecule-sized {Fireball} and threw it into acceleration.
And blasted the child with a clearly overkill Spell.
