Vol 7 Chapter 19

"That expression says you can't accept it? Well, no wonder you're so overflowing with confidence. Well, it's not bad. Someone who has their own convictions is much better than those indecisive ones who don't. But there are two things in this world that you shouldn't judge and believe in so quickly. What do you think they are?"

"..."

Though Kapros didn't answer, Superior didn't seem to particularly want his response and continued smoothly.

"Remember this well. They are magic and people."

Magic and... people?

"This is actually something my master taught me rather than something I figured out myself, but you should never judge magic based on a single conclusion. Magic is something where new paths open up no matter which direction you probe. People are the same. You can't see anything if you judge others only by your narrow thoughts. If you remain trapped within your own standards, you'll end up gaining less."

It was a simple but quite impressive statement. While Kapros was mulling over those words, Superior came closer.

"For your magic to develop, you need to break those firm standards and thoughts of yours. I plan to teach you the basics I learned when I was mastering magic for that purpose."

As he finished speaking, Superior snapped his fingers.

Flash!

Suddenly, bright light burst from the ground they were standing on, and Kapros had to quickly close his eyes.

'What's this all of a sudden...'

As he opened his eyes while smoothing his furrowed brows, his grumbling stopped when he saw the blackened earth had disappeared and the beautiful field from when they first arrived had reappeared unchanged.

"...How..."

"Heheh. If I couldn't do this much, I couldn't call this my unconscious world. I'm practically a god here. This much is no problem."

Ah... so that was it. While Kapros was still dazed, Superior lightly raised his right hand in the air.

"Watch carefully what I do now."

Superior first drew a small circle lightly with his index finger. Then a rotating Fireball and a Dust Wind swirling in place appeared. The rotating Fireball was a perfect recreation of the Screw Ball that Kapros had shown earlier.

'To recreate it so easily just from seeing it...'

It left a bitter taste in his mouth, feeling somewhat like being cheated as the one who had worked hard to create it. However, Superior had summoned only one of each spell, and their sizes were noticeably smaller than what Kapros had used.

"Small, right? But size and power don't matter. Why?"

Superior moved his index finger around to rotate the Screw Ball's position before suddenly sending it flying toward the Dust Wind. The flying Screw Ball disappeared instantly with a pop after being torn apart.

What was this supposed to mean...? Though Kapros watched questioningly, Superior was looking at the Dust Wind with a confident smile.

"What's important is 'the will to believe it will happen that way'!"

Pop! Along with Superior's shout, sparks suddenly began blazing inside the Dust Wind. The flames that had caught from the base of the swirling wind, drawing chaotic spirals, instantly devoured the wind and became a storm of fire.

"Ugh!!"

What incredible pressure...!

Their robes fluttered wildly as if about to tear from the fierce, hot pressure that seemed capable of blowing people away. Kapros staggered but managed to look up while shielding his face with his arm.

'Good heavens.'

He could only remain silent watching the pillar of whirling fire that had grown giant-like to pierce the sky in the blink of an eye. From that pillar of fire, he felt an energy almost identical to the wave of fire he had created earlier through multiple painstaking form modifications. It meant the nature of his wave of fire and what Superior had created were almost exactly the same.

"Now, which way should I send this?"

Superior, who had muttered leisurely, turned his raised index finger from pointing up to pointing forward.

"Go."

Though it was a quiet mutter, the impact of what followed was tremendous. The pillar of fire that had been swirling upward slowly fell like a great tree cut by an axe, then suddenly shot forward like a flamethrower.

Boom!!

It was as if a massive stream of fire was dancing along Superior's fingertips. Nothing could stop the giant pillar of fire that had left his hand. The pillar of fire that shot out endlessly, making it look like there were two suns, disappeared naturally just when one might think it would pierce even the horizon.

"..."

Only silence remained in the field. In fact, even if there had been other sounds, they wouldn't have heard them properly with their deafened ears. Kapros belatedly noticed the surrounding grass burning and smoking. Though only a fire pillar about 1 meter in diameter had passed through, the damage was severe. However, there was a crucial difference between the wave of fire Kapros had summoned and the pillar of fire Superior had called forth.

While Kapros's wave of fire had merely blackened a wide area of land, where Superior's pillar of fire had passed was deeply gouged as if an earthquake had split the ground.

'This is...'

Though much smaller in size, its inherent power was different. One shot concentrating fast and powerful force into a single point. He thought that would undoubtedly have been able to eliminate that Kalap Titan from back then in one shot. Superior, who had instantly completed the magic image modification that Kapros had struggled so hard to achieve, turned to him with a smile. Unlike Kapros who had felt headaches and broken into cold sweat, he looked completely unfazed to the point of seeming refreshed.

Was this the skill of one who had reached 9th Circle? Objectively speaking, Kapros was truly overwhelmed by Superior, who was merely an NPC. Superior's countless boasts about being a genius had not been empty words at all. As Kapros could only stare at Superior, unable to easily open his mouth, Superior scratched his cheek and clicked his tongue.

"Why are you staring so intensely? It's getting embarrassing.... Can you tell what was different between that magic and yours just now?"

"You didn't make the magic large and hard to control, but concentrated its power to increase speed. Am I wrong?"

"That's just the result. Didn't I kindly tell you earlier?"

He said it earlier? ...Could it be?