Chapter 115

“I want to create magic too.”

Hiasen, who was drinking water, sputtered it out at Esteria’s declaration and kept coughing.

“Esher, no matter what you say, there are things that can be done and things that cannot in this world—”

“Why do you think it can’t be done? Look at how much I’ve already achieved!”

Esher stretched out her arms and gathered the scrolls scattered messily across the desk.

Hiasen smiled as she waddled while holding the scroll much taller than her, helping her with the load.

“What kind of magic do you want to create?”

“Magic combined with swordsmanship.”

“But there are already many magic sword techniques, right?”

“Using fire or ice from a sword isn’t a magic sword technique! That’s just using magic with a sword…”

“Hmm. I don’t quite understand what you’re thinking, Esher.”

“Even if someone lacks talent in magic or swordsmanship, I will create a magic that anyone can use if they just put in the effort to learn.”

“Are you talking about me when you say someone lacks talent…?”

“You always get beaten by Jade in magic and by Feyran in swordsmanship.”

“That’s because my brothers have been learning for a much longer time than I have…! I have way more talent, though!”

“You know it looks bad when a guy makes excuses, right?”

“… So, did you borrow all these books from the library for that magic?”

Hiasen asked, dusting off the books.

They appeared to be books discussing pendulum movements and materials for buildings, seemingly unrelated to magic.

Esher narrowed her eyes and snatched the book away.

“It’s not something you need to worry about.”

“Don’t you think you’ve been a bit cold towards me lately? I’m starting to feel a bit hurt.”

“Whatever.”

“By the way, aren’t you going to learn more swordsmanship? Isn’t it such a waste given how much you’ve trained so far?”

“I’m done with swordsmanship. There are at least three people above me learning, so I don’t need to join them.”

“Still, Lord Bastion said you’re the most talented among us. To be honest, I kind of agree with that opinion—”

“If I do swordsmanship, what will you do?”

“Huh?”

“Are you going to be my assistant? You are the prince, after all?”

Esher turned her body sharply, causing a scroll at the edge of her clothing to tumble and roll on the floor.

Hiasen picked up the scroll and examined its contents.

It depicted a picture of a blonde boy and girl with their backs against each other.

“Don’t look.”

Esher, retrieving the paper, said with a mischievous expression.

“Could this be you and me?”

“If it is…?”

“I just thought it was a bit surprising. Didn’t you dislike me?”

“When did I say I disliked you? I just thought it was pitiful that you keep getting beaten lately.”

“Pitiful?”

Esher rolled her eyes and scanned Hiasen’s body.

There were bruises all over her limbs—no part of her was unscathed.

“Aren’t they still making things hard for you?”

“Making things hard? I just got hurt while sparring a bit.”

“Have you ever hit back equally?”

Esher’s question left Hiasen momentarily speechless.

The first to sigh in the silence-filled room was Esher.

“Next month, Lord Bastion will host a 2v2 sparring match for the last lecture, right? By then, I’ll make sure to complete this Unique Magic and show those guys our faces.”

“What? You want to team up with me? The balance doesn’t fit; Jade-hyung is 17 and Feyran-hyung is 15.”

“No, that’s not it. That way, it should balance out.”

A playful smile bloomed on Esher’s face.

Setting the scroll back down, she brought a pendulum model and dropped the weight into the air.

“Do you know why even little kids can swing well?”

“The swing? They just stretch their legs when going forward and tuck them in when going back.”

Esher wouldn’t ask something she didn’t know, and Hiasen waited for her next words.

“You’re right. But this pendulum, it may look like it’s just sitting still.”

Time passed, and Hiasen focused on the steel ball that had stopped moving.

Detailed auras were periodically injected into the pendulum, making it tremble and rise into the air. If it weren’t suspended by a string, it would have skyrocketed to the ceiling.

“With the right vibration applied, it moves on its own.”

“Is that related to this magic?”

“Of course, you’re smart. We communicate well, don’t we? Anyway, look forward to it.”

After saying that, Esher went alone into the room, neglecting food and sleep, continuing her research to create the Unique Magic for several days.

On the day of the sparring match, she appeared in a much more haggard state, asking Hiasen for a simple favor.

Hiasen, the Third Prince, accepted her request with no doubt in his mind.

When the First and Second Princes sustained injuries of 16 weeks and 20 weeks respectively, it triggered the sealing of her first Unique Magic forever.

—

What those who wield a sword should be most careful about is not the force with which they strike or the correct posture that guides it.

It’s about ensuring there is no wasted energy.

In the universe we live in, energy is conserved under any circumstances. This principle does not change, even if a god dies and is reborn.

Thus, believing it’s better to deliver a strike of 6 using 10 of force rather than a strike of 5 using 5 is one of the common mistakes beginner swordsmen make.

The value of precision cannot be exchanged for anything.

The reason why people have slightly different stances in archery and shooting lies in this as well.

When their bodies adapt to that stance, it allows them to perform the task with the greatest accuracy and no wasted energy.

However, not everyone can have a Swordmaster as their mentor.

What was born from various concerns is the “Impact Resonance” magic.

Even if the assistant is a beginner swordsman, if the main caster can set the correct equivalent frequency, then all the wasted energy from the combined strike of the two is accumulated in the form of mana according to the mass-energy equivalence principle.

Destroying a gear is like pushing the back of a child on a swing.

It may seem that the swing only goes around once, but what if that process happened within the body?

Fatigue Damage.

If ten strikes are allowed, even a body reinforced with aura will have its bones crushed, and if twenty strikes are allowed, all the organs in the body will be severed.

However, the result when thirty, forty… or a hundred vibrations are unleashed at once has never been seen.

At that time, that girl and I wanted to directly break the misconception that First Circle magic has a limit in power.

And that hope,

“Huuhhh!”

[Unique Magic – Esteria Ryu First Style (式)]

[Adella – 200 Hits (連)]

[Burst (破)]

Finally manifested from the hands of a girl with silver hair.

[Critical Hit!]

[200 HIT COMBO]

[394870 DAMAGE]

[HP: 10826/666666]

– No Name, stop it!!!!!!

– This time it’s 400,000 lololololol

– It’s a number that shows up only in Act 4 ㄷㄷ

– That’s also under Nightmare standards; in general, that Mephisto only has 500,000 HP.

– Truly amazing.

– Is this person even human?

– From No Name to Adella, how are they both pulling off a 200 combo without interruption lol

– For real, I’m a rhythm game ranked player, and I might only hit triple digits once a year.

– The machine turned human (No Name) vs the human turned machine (Adella), true self-reliance.

└ Lol, but they are on the same team; why make them fight?

└ A picture-perfect photo vs a photo-perfect picture.

└ Why does that sound like a compliment for both? lol

– What is that First Circle magic? (Seriously, I don’t know)

└ How would we know? (I’m a tutor at a current academy in Daechi-dong)

└ How would we know? (I’m in the theoretical magic department at Sky)

└ Wow, for real? What’s your GPA?

└ 1.8

└ A defense rate in the 1.x range is a given~ lol

– This can’t be explained without it being a hack.

└ Right, there are bugs; there might as well be hacks.

It’s great that extreme damage was produced.

But it was so regrettable that it didn’t lead to a death.

[■■■■■& %^$#$ Professor Cronicle’s health regeneration increased by 200%.]

I don’t understand why enemies like this all have such tenacious lifelines.

“Huff… Hah… My arm won’t move… Can’t we heal anymore?”

“…!”

[MP: 160/2800]

Whether healing is possible or not is not the issue.

Adella’s face was pale, her eyes unfocused, and her breath was excessively labored.

Above all, her expression was shifting between laughing, grimacing, and then going back to serious again.

It seemed she lacked even the strength to control her facial muscles that were moving involuntarily, influenced by the wave of energy from the Unique Magic.

“No. Rest now, you’ve done enough.”

“No! I can do more! Just a bit… If I just push a little more, I could have definitely finished this.”

“Anyway, you’re out of mana. I’ll handle the rest somehow.”

With 10,000 HP, I thought I could manage on my own.

It seemed the demon that was half-formed was weaker to magical damage compared to Bally or the previous vice-principal before he possessed the demon.

As I was trying to formulate a combat plan while adjusting my mana to the limit, Adella grabbed my ankle.

“Ugh… Ahh!”

“…”

“What do I do… I’m scared to die… But now I’m scared of something even worse than dying… If my sister dies even once more, I really don’t think I can take it… Please don’t go anywhere. I’m begging you…”

“…”

“We have no relation, anyway! If you think about it, today is the first time my sister and I have met! Why are you being so nice to someone like me… Why! Just leave me behind and run away! I’m saying run away!”

I lifted her under her armpits and hoisted her up.

“Huh…?”

“Adella. Do you know what the world says about your existence?”

“No… I don’t know.”

“The Young Master of the Library, Bally Benoans.”

“Vice-Principal of Rement Academy, Professor Cronicle.”

[Headline Effect ON]

[The Dawn’s Cat – Adella]

“They call you the ‘Dawn’s Cat.’”

“Dawn?”

It really wasn’t even funny.

That title of ‘Dawn’s Cat’ originated from her backstory.

Adella, who had caused quite a stir in the capital with her bold thievery in the deep of night, would disappear completely right as dawn broke while being chased by the guard.

It was a nickname born from that, but it’s truly terrifying how fate works.

Who would have guessed that the faint sunlight emerging at dawn (黎明) would symbolize her remaining life (餘命)?

“I personally like dawn. When the darkness recedes and sunlight shines, it feels like a new day begins, different from yesterday.”

The dawn I welcomed after studying all night felt fulfilling.

The dawn that greeted me while crying through the night was particularly hopeful.

“Once you get a good night’s sleep, everything will change.”

[Casting: Circuit Reconstruction]

“…!”

The first spell I cast when executing the Moon Aura.

As I drained all the mana from Adella’s dantian, her body went limp.

[MP: 660/2800]

I can only use it once, but that’s fine. The conditions are somewhat satisfied.

“Excuse me, everyone.”

– ???

– ?

– ??

– Yes?

– Hello?

– ?

I waved lightly at the camera I had momentarily forgotten.

“Thank you for your understanding; this is my trade secret.”

[Twish Notification – Cameras 1-9 have been blocked by the administrator.]

“I would appreciate your understanding.”

[Unique Magic – Esteria Ryu Second Style (式)]