Vol 7 Chapter 17

"Inferno, Blizzard!"

Whoosh! Boom!

As he shouted the last two spells simultaneously, bright red flames and an ice storm appeared ferociously from the left and right, tearing up the fragile earth. The surroundings, already scorched and torn up here and there from other spells, were instantly devastated. When he felt enough time had passed, Kapros erased the image from his mind, and Inferno and Blizzard cleanly disappeared.

If it had been his past self, maintaining the 6th circle Inferno and Blizzard, which consumed the most magical power, would have been difficult after using so many spells already, but perhaps because his physical abilities had improved dramatically after absorbing Kor the Flame Dragon's blood recently, it wasn't particularly challenging now. It seemed he still had well over half his magical power remaining.

'I felt awful at the time, but I should be grateful for at least this one thing.'

Though the surroundings had quieted, the grassland that numerous spells had swept through was no longer beautiful as before. The sight of broken trees scattered everywhere and red overturned soil looked utterly bleak under the still warmly shining sun.

"...That's all."

Kapros spoke while turning to look at Superior, who had been standing silently without saying anything until all the spell casting was finished. Though Superior didn't seem to have used any magic, he remained exactly as he had been at first, not even his hair disheveled, completely unaffected by all the winds, broken tree fragments, and flying soil.

"That's all? There's still more, isn't there?"

What more could there be when he had really shown everything? When Kapros stood there blankly, not understanding the meaning of this unexpected question, Superior explained as if frustrated.

"Not these ordinary ones, but spells like before that you modified yourself. That's what I want to see."

'Ah...'

Though he certainly had modified spells, many of them had been used improvised according to the situation, so he had barely given formal names to any of them, and among them were many he doubted he could do again now.

'Do I have to show those too?'

After hesitating briefly, Kapros decided to try what he could remember and slowly closed his eyes.

Modified spells... speaking of modified spells, the first thing that came to mind was naturally...

'Screw Ball, I suppose.'

Screw Ball, the first modified spell he had attempted, was magic that gained several times its original power by adding powerful rotation to a modified Fireball. However, he hadn't used it much since his circle level increased.

The image he needed to recall now was of a fiercely rotating Fireball!

"Screw Ball!"

Whoosh!

A Fireball more threatening than usual appeared in the air, rotating and scattering sparks.

"Go!"

Crash!!

When the Screw Ball hit one of the tree trunks that had been half-frozen and broken from Blizzard, it shattered and flew away as if hit by a cannon. It was a simple yet powerful display.

"That's based on Fireball, right?"

Superior, who had been silent while watching all the spell casting until now, suddenly spoke.

"How interesting. Can you tell me how you came up with it?"

His eyes showed intrigue for the first time, though he had shown no particular reaction to the 6th circle spells.

'He must have liked that.'

"Well, just... since a ball thrown with wrist snap and rotation has more power than one thrown normally, I thought what if I did the same with Fireball..."

"A ball...! Come to think of it, Fireball is indeed a ball. Hahaha. That's amazing. You must have played with balls a lot when you were young?"

"Well..."

Kapros hedged his answer. Rather than something he had learned from experience, it was based on common knowledge learned in science class, but explaining that would obviously be incomprehensible to Superior as an NPC, so this answer was the best option.

Superior finally unfolded his crossed arms with an expression that said things were getting interesting.

"Do more, more."

"..."

Seeing this attitude completely different from just before, Kapros wasn't sure if he had come to be taught by someone who said they would teach him, or if he was putting on a show for Superior.

'Well... at least it's better than him being depressed like earlier.'

Smiling slightly, Kapros decided to show magic that would make him fall back in surprise even more than now.

'Since none of the magic used before seemed to surprise him, it kind of makes me competitive.'

He began recalling memories of using modified spells in the past again. Simple modified spells probably wouldn't surprise Superior much, so the best one to try would probably be... that one he had used just once before.

'Actually, I'm not very keen on that one but... I guess there's nothing else.'

The memory from a few months ago when Yu-wan and Kran were still by his side came to mind. Before going to Zagreb, when they were crossing the Parm Great Plains. The field boss they met then, Kalap Titan, with its giant body several meters tall, powerful shell characteristic of insect-type monsters, and considerable number of subordinates, was enough to pose a mortal threat to them at the time.

The magic he had used for the first and last time to defeat that thing after making Yu-wan and Kran escape - that was the magic he wanted to use now.

'How did I do it back then?'

First... lay down Dust Wind.

"Dust Wind!"

Drawing a quick circle with his hand, he imagined laying down Dust Wind crawling low like waves across the field in front. The formula world, glowing white hot instantly, responded to his call with a clear resonating sound.

Ping-

Whoosh!

Swirling winds appeared in the blink of an eye. Though not clearly visible, Kapros stared at the Dust Winds that he could grasp from multiple angles through the range in the formula world and began transforming the image in his mind.

'So far it's just ordinary whirlwinds, but...!'

Press down the wind to make it shrink, beat it flat to shape a new form. A silent struggle ensued with the invisible Dust Wind that was raging as if to tear his hair and robe.

'Still as disobedient as ever. Get! Down!!'

Whoosh!