'Using elemental power I can also create a fireball.'
Souta opened his right palm and a fireball instantly appeared. It was easy to use elemental power but he didn't use it in battle since it's the fuel of [Element Drive].
He examined the two fireballs in both of his palms. The first one was created using a spell and the second one was created by other means.
He injected the same amount of mana and noticed that the fireball that manifested from the spell was stronger. The only downside was that it wasn't flexible. It was always in a form of a ball of fire.
It was related to the magic circle.
As for the other one, Souta turned his eyes and controlled it. The fireball slowly turned into various shapes. It was flexible but it lacks power.
He dispelled the spell and touch the fireball in his right hand. Injected more mana and the heat coming from it grew stronger.
Sizzle!
'Five hundred degrees celsius...'
Souta raised his eyebrows before he poured his mana once again. This time, the temperature stayed at five hundred degrees celsius but his pair of eyes could see that it was much more powerful than before.
He tried to pour more mana but the temperature didn't increase anymore. It only grew brighter in his vision as he could see the mana inside it with [Galaxy Eyes].
'Let's see...'
He created a thin and weak web and placed it on the fireball. The web lasted twenty seconds before it turned into ashes.
Then, he retrieved his mana and the fireball grew dimmer but it still maintained the temperature of five hundred degree celsius.
He placed the same level of web inside this fireball. The outcome was different than last time, this time the web lasted two minutes before it turned into ashes.
'The difference is huge...'
Souta wanted to use his best feram but the other people would discover it. So he refrained himself from doing it.
'The difference between a spell and this...'
He cast a fireball spell once again. Looking at the two fireballs, he closed both of his palms. The magic circle disappeared and the fireball instantly vanished in the air. But the other fireball took thirty seconds before it vanished into thin air.
'As I thought it's within the structure of the spell. It seems I need to understand the meaning of each structure. That way I can probably create my own spell.'
The fireball spell disappeared instantly. But there were other spells that the effect wouldn't vanish even after the magic circle disappeared. He concluded that the magicians created those spells that way.
He used the fireball spell once again. He set another thin and weak web on fire before dispelling the spell. The fireball vanished but the fire on the web remained.
'I see... So that's how is it.'
'I still have a long way to go. But I can see it... Finally.'
Souta's mouth curved upward. He hurriedly retrieved a bottle of mana potion in his pocket when he noticed that Third Head had her eyes open.
She was staring at him with a puzzled look.
"I'm just playing." Before she could say something, Souta already said these words. He ignored her and drank the potion in his hand.
He leaned and closed his eyes. Both fireball that he manifested has limitations. One was the limitation of the magic circle and the other was the elemental affinity. Now that both of his [Element Drive] was at the first level. He could simply manifest other elements using his energy albeit weaker than his affinity.
'Sigh... Study, I need to study more to understand it better. My current knowledge is limited. I only know game matters, not the actual spellcasting.'
'Don't rush it. Take it step by step.' Saya suddenly said.
'Fine.' Souta nodded. He knew well that he couldn't rush everything. He was glad that his power level was growing stronger thanks to the system so he could only focus his remaining attention on spells, combat arts, traits, and Archetype.
If he had to include it then it would take him a lot of time.
Souta and Third Head waited for a while before the rest came back. Ray, Jovi, and the others sat in their seats calmly. However, the atmosphere was quite strange. None of them initiated a conversation. They were just in deep thought.
At this moment, Souta stared at Ray. He knew that this guy was strong, far stronger than any of the people. This was also the reason why he joined the Dragon Council. He was curious about this guy.
"What happened?" He asked.
Ray lifted his head and slowly said, "They died."
"They died?!" Souta was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that the people they captured died just like that.
"Someone killed them." Ray nodded and explained further. "It turns out that someone killed them. The killer is my subordinate."
"Your subordinate...? How?" Souta narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, my subordinate killed them. A lethal poison was injected into the body of the prisoners." Ray slowly explained.
His subordinate poisoned the prisoners. When the evidence was found, he told Ray and the others that he had no idea about what happening. It seems that there's a gap in his memory. It means that someone controlled his body without him knowing.
"Charm. I think someone used charm on my subordinate." Ray added.
"Charm..." Souta rubbed his chin.
He was familiar with this ability. It was an ability that could influence a person's mind. Even Meina, the host of the Tournament of Astros, had charm ability but her power level was low so she couldn't affect Souta and the rest.
Souta sighed and said, "Everyone here should know about the assassination of First Head's envoy near my city, right?"
Ray and the rest nodded their head. They knew this information but no one delved into this topic.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I think that we should find the culprit first. I think the incident today is connected to the assassination." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Maybe, they wanted to create a dispute between me and the First Head so they assassinated the envoy. I'm a new City Lord so I don't know much about the Mine Valley, plus there's a rumor that the First Head wanted to annex the entire Mine Valley. It's possible that they assassinated the envoy to give the First Head an excuse to attack my city."
Souta was the primary suspect in the assassination. But Governor Ray didn't pursue this matter and in the end, the two worked together. So their plan had failed and this time they attacked Bland City using the three City Lords namely Amune, Voser, and the one that Ray captured.
Then, it leads to the death of the three City Lords. Even if they explained that Dragon Council wasn't the one that killed the three, other people would less likely to believe it. A dispute had already begun so it's killed or be killed. The loser had died and Dragon Council became victorious.
"Wait." Second Head raised his hand. He glanced at them and said, "I think the people behind wanted the three to lose their lives here."
"Why do you think so?" Ninth Head asked curiously.
"Think about it. The three had died here and remember that we are already talking about conquering the cities under Amune and the rest, right? The reason behind the attack wasn't known to everyone. The other City Lords would be on guard and they wouldn't let those cities fall under our hands." Second Head said.
This time, Third Head opened her eyes and added, "A battle for those three cities will occur soon. The resources it possessed are huge. Everyone wanted to take a bite from it."
"I see... Since Dragon Council became the killer. Those cities that didn't belong to us would be wary. There's a chance that they would form an alliance just like us to counter us." Souta leaned on the chair and stared at the ceiling. He stood up and said, "I'm going to check their body first. Also, did any of you discover the mana fluctuations within the killer."
He was talking about Ray's subordinate who killed Amune, Voser, and the other one.
"No, the mana has already dissipated into thin air. Even if there's still lingering mana left, it's hard to recognize it due to mana density." Ray shook his head.
Souta nodded but he still chose to leave the room. He was different from them. As long as there was a lingering mana, his eyes could see it and he would be able to distinguish its signature from the energy in the atmosphere.
He just hoped that it haven't disappeared yet.
Souta didn't care about the problem of war. He knew that Ray was powerful so he could leave all those people to him while he was going to find the people behind this incident.
The other cities wouldn't be able to bother him thanks to the Dragon Council.
