Roman’s words. When he first heard them, he was infuriated.
‘He is looking down on me.’
10,000 gold. That was enough money to feed 40,000 people for a year. Actually, it seemed to imply that he was certain he couldn’t be defeated, and furthermore, he requested that more magicians be summoned because Felix couldn’t seem to handle him.
Roman’s intentions might not have meant that, but his remarks were certainly interpreted negatively, and this alone did not allow Felix to sleep.
Felix was a 5-circle magician. In terms of an aura swordsman, it would be equivalent to a 4-star aura user, but magicians always had the upper hand over the sword. Even if Roman was 5-star, it didn’t make sense for him to lose that easily.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it. In the midst of his bubbling and boiling anger, he looked back on their fights.
‘From now on, it is a matter of my pride. I will make sure that Roman Dmitry kneels down.’
Just in the first week since his arrival, he had a string of defeats.
He had no way to handle Roman as he constantly evaded all the attacks, and he had learned Roman’s movement pattern, so he deliberately attacked him first.
With his heart set on his pride, he decided to use the basics he had learned to plan Roman Dmitry’s defeat.
In the eighth match, he used movement restriction magic. He tied Roman’s feet with compulsive magic such as Slow, but the effect of the magic disappeared, and he couldn’t stop him for long.
It made no sense. In the first fight, Roman shook the effect of Hold, yet he couldn’t understand how he was able to react this quickly.
According to what he learned about magic, he heard an effect could be eliminated by removing mana which seeps into the body. However, it was a difficult method to execute, and Roman Dmitry’s reaction speed exceeded the norm. Thus, his first plan failed.
Five days later, he started the second plan.
This time, he hid in a mist made of magic. But Roman Dmitry still managed to find Felix’s location, even though the information was blocked.
The positions of the sky and the earth felt reversed in this foolish attempt. And with a strong shock to his head, Felix fell to the ground.
A week later, he came up with his third plan, which was to incite Roman to attack.
He had set a magic trap beforehand, and as soon as Roman Dmitry rushed at him, he activated the magic trap and attacked.
But when Roman stepped on the ground, there was a powerful shock that destroyed the trap.
It was great enough that he knew magic traps existed, but he had never heard that they could be destroyed just by stepping on them.
This made him lose his mind. His third plan was crude, but it wasn’t impromptu. He had prepared it a day ahead, but it didn’t even hurt Roman.
Roman was a monster, and he was someone a magician couldn’t touch. Aside from their skill differences, Roman knew how to deal with magicians.
‘Roman Dmitry’s ability is something that cannot be understood with the science of magic. Just where did this monster come from? If Roman harbors a malicious mind towards magicians, then it will be difficult for even a six or a higher circle magician to survive.’
He felt goosebumps rise. Just imagining meeting Roman on the battlefield made him want to admit defeat.
The spars happened each day. It was outrageous. He didn’t use any other means or methods, and in thirty days, he gave up his pride.
His last resort was to take advantage of the chance when he went head-on against Roman. He took advantage of the gaps in Roman’s defense and attempted to finish him with a powerful attack.
The result…
Kwang!
Rumble!
The aura shield.
His attack was blocked.
Felix, who was looking at the figure of this vague shield, gritted his teeth.
Puak!
The world spun around.
Felix, pinned to the ground, raised a white flag after a month.
Thirty days.
Thirty fights.
Thirty defeats.
Now he has acknowledged it. Roman Dmitry was a being he couldn’t defeat alone, and Felix took another way.
‘I should not cling to my pride. If I lead the Magic Tower magicians and encounter a monster like Roman on the battlefield, we still wouldn’t win.’
He contacted the tower, and the magicians arrived at Dmitry, and when Felix explained his purpose, it made them frown.
“… you want it to be a one vs. all fight?”
“Mr. Felix. That isn’t right. Magicians generally do not spar or even fight. Magic is the type that controls the area, and that is difficult to do against swordsmen. If done wrong, it can lead to the most threatening and scary accident. And to even go against one man. If we hurt the eldest son of the Dmitry family, what will we do?”
The reaction was negative. One against many was the worst form of fighting. And above all, there was something they didn’t like.
“To be honest, losing thirty defeats in thirty fights is a bit much, right? Mr. Felix, you are now the acting master of our Magic Tower. If so, you need to show some dignity. But you came to this faraway place and showed such a humiliating form.”
It was a magician called Knox.
Immediately after the Magic Tower master vanished, the power system collapsed. Felix was the acting master, but magicians like Knox couldn’t accept the change in the tower and ignored him.
It was hectic to deal with. Even if they had decided to help the Magic Tower, then their bleak future would have been better, but they decided to let the incompetent magician deal with it.
If they weren’t good with magic, shouldn’t they be good at politics?
Felix, who had a more single-minded nature, was a person who wasn’t good as a master despite being the tower master.
Felix said,
“You people are right. No matter what excuse I give, thirty defeats in thirty fights is an unfathomable result. However, for this fight, Roman Dmitry had bet 10,000 gold as a reward. If we work together and take him down, you can use half of that for personal use.”
“… you mean it?”
At that moment, the magicians’ expressions changed. Half of the 10,000 gold—even if they divided the gold into 5,000, there would still be a lot left for other magicians to use.
And they looked at each other. As they looked at each other with greedy eyes, Knox spoke up.
“We just have to win once?”
“It isn’t an easy matter to think about. Roman Dmitry is a person who can be considered a nemesis to magicians, and if we are careless, we will almost certainly lose, so we must have the right plans and…”
“Enough.”
His words were cut off.
Knox was a 5-circle magician. He was dissatisfied with Felix for taking the position of master, as he was in his mid-50s.
In the first place, he thought he was a better magician than Felix. Even if he was an opponent Felix couldn’t defeat, having so many magicians to fight against one opponent gave him confidence.
He said,
“Mr. Felix, do not worry. We will clean this up for you.”
A few days later, the sparring continued differently than usual.
Felix, Knox, and three other magicians—it was a five vs. one match. Despite being in an overwhelming and unfavorable situation, Roman’s reaction wasn’t different.
“I will give you the first attack.”
“Ha!”
Smirk.
Knox laughed.
Even if there were five of them together, the magicians had the upper hand, and he wanted to give up the attack advantage?
Was this confidence?
“Those words, do not regret them.”
Glance.
He gave Roman a glance before the start of the battle for 10,000 gold. They had no reason not to take advantage of the opponent’s carelessness. He raised his mana, and the fight began with Knox taking the lead.
“Fire Lance.”
Wheik.
The moment the strong flames formed in the shape of a spear, the other magicians also moved.
“Fire Wave.”
“Fire Burst.”
Flames exploded everywhere, and they all had no clear plan.
Knox’s plan was to simply hold down Roman Dmitry with the flames, which were already surrounding him.
As more flames gathered around, the fire magic got stronger, and since there were many flames at once and no way out, they were sure that Roman wouldn’t survive. But…
Wheik.
“…!”
Through the flames, Roman Dmitry rushed forward.
Felix quickly shouted because he knew it was a pattern that used the Aura Shield.
“Be careful! Fire Wall!”
Wheik.
He created a wall of fire. It was an ulterior attack to buy time.
Before the flames could even move, Roman took the chance and attacked one magician who was at his side.
Pak!
“Kuak!”
A scream was heard.
And one magician fell to his knees. But while that person was puzzled, another magician attacked Roman.
However, Roman moved too fast.
Roman quickly closed the distance with the other magician and defeated two magicians at once.
“This is insane.”
Knox was taken aback. He expected to end the fight with the first hit. He clenched his fists to draw the flames and used his secret weapon.
“Fire Field.”
Wheik!
A 5-circle fire magic. He controlled the flames that were around and quickly attacked Roman, trying to limit his opponent’s movements. But no matter which direction he chose to attack, Roman Dmitry’s movements never slowed down. It was a disconcerting scene.
In the midst of the flames, Roman quickly evaded the attack and went for another magician.
They weren’t aware that the realm of cold and heat didn’t bother him. Roman couldn’t be affected by these two attributes.
Puakl!
There were two left.
Knox gritted his teeth and drew mana, but before they could do anything, Roman appeared in front of them.
“Kuak?!”
His speed was beyond normal. And Felix’s warning came to his mind. He had repeatedly told them that Roman Dmitry wasn’t like any other person.
Finally…
Pak!
Knox stumbled.
His eyes were wide at the powerful impact, and he fell back.
It was a pure and clean victory.
Felix opened his mouth. The fight wasn’t over yet, but he couldn’t attack now.
“… no.”
The truth, which he had previously denied, has now been revealed.
Roman Dmitry—it was clear that he had never shown his full strength until now.
The Phoenix magicians’ minds felt shattered. They came to their senses with swollen faces and looked at the sky, just like Felix did on the first day.
“There is always someone above us.”
“What exactly happened?”
“That was a fight we could never win.”
A crushing defeat. It felt like they had just lost their rationality. Those who were born with talents for magic were always used to being above others, so this helpless loss felt horrible.
Felix was right. Roman Dmitry was a monster beyond common sense who could surely defeat a magician thirty times.
“… Mr. Felix. What the hell have you been fighting all this time?”
It was Knox.
Was this sympathy for him?
When he faced this wall that couldn’t be overcome, he felt an emotional connection to the man who did the same.
A fight of one against many, and their last chance was now gone. Thinking that there was no way to defeat Roman anymore, Felix left the magicians and walked away.
“Wait. I will come after talking with Roman.”
He was curious.
Roman Dmitry. How did he deal with so many of them? Starting with his evasion to his defense. From start to end, he wanted to look into Roman Dmitry’s mind.
He went to see Roman.
Seeing him spend time alone, Felix felt a bit emotional.
“I’ll ask you this straight up. Honestly, I do not have confidence that we can defeat Roman Dmitry. So, can you at least explain how you defeated us so that we can analyze it? In the world I have lived in, no one can avoid magic and break it head-on, as you did. I know this is a difficult thing to take, but please think about the future…”
“I understand.”
“Uh?”
“I can’t exactly tell you everything, but I can show you how I prepared for the showdown.”
Roman’s answer was unexpected. He thought that he wouldn’t tell him his secret, but Roman seemed fine with it.
“Follow me.”
They moved outside, and after a long walk, they arrived at a two-story building.
“This here.”
“… this is?”
“Let’s head in.”
It was a familiar environment. Just like a Magic Tower, there were numerous books on display inside the building, surrounded by bookshelves.
Roman said,
“The books here are all magic related. It is safe to say that Cairo has all the magic books on the market, from the popular ones to the not-so-popular ones. I stayed here for a while and spent time analyzing magicians.”
At first glance, there appeared to be a thousand books.
His mouth dropped open. At the sight of the books, he knew Roman Dmitry’s victory was not because of luck.
“From now on, I will explain how I dealt with Mr. Felix. Do not accept this as a favor, and when you hear all of it, I hope Mr. Felix has additional advice.”
Roman walked away.
Tak.
They were books, and one was titled Understanding Magic. It was a basic magic book, which made Felix confused.
