Vol 7 Chapter 34

Though he had hoped it might be different since Superior was teaching it, this too was ancient knowledge. He felt that the 7th circle was formidable from the start, as expected. Looking at Kapros's chilled expression from tension, Superior grinned with eyes still tinged with sleepiness.

"Sit down. I'll explain."

When Kapros sat in front, Superior raised his finger and drew lines in the air as if drawing a picture. Amazingly, black lines appeared following Superior's fingertips and began forming some kind of shapes.

'Lines? ...No. Arrows? Circles, radial patterns... what is this?'

After drawing various incomprehensible figures side by side in the air, Superior finally lowered his hand and turned toward Kapros.

"The Law of Reverse Flow refers to 'the direction of force.' In other words, it's the law that organizes the patterns of how magical power naturally moves when using attack magic. Can you see what I just drew? These are diagrams showing those patterns in an easy-to-understand way. Though there are more detailed divisions by attributes, it's too bothersome to spoon-feed you all that. You're my successor, right? Please study that much on your own."

"..."

Whether Kapros's expression twisted or not, Superior remained completely nonchalant.

Superior's drawings were three in total.

The first was an arrow pointing straight in one direction along a straight line, the second was a wavy line in an 'ㄹ' shape, and the third was a dot in the center with radial lines surrounding it as if enclosing it, and then a large wavy circle around the outside.

"Look at this first."

Superior pointed to the straight arrow line as he spoke.

"This is the unidirectional type. It's the most primitive form, where force shoots straight in one direction. It has the advantage of very strong power as magical power is concentrated in one point, but the disadvantage is that it's equally easy for enemies to read and dodge the attack."

Hmm... like Ice Spear, for instance.

When Kapros nodded, Superior pointed to the next drawing, the 'ㄹ' shaped line.

"This is the free type. A type where the caster can freely change the direction of force. Actually, most magic falls into this category. It has the advantage of free directional changes, but the disadvantage is that it consumes enormous physical and mental energy because you need to control it delicately while pushing imaging to its limits."

This would apply to many spells like Fireball and Flame Strike. It seemed true that most magic belonged to this type.

"Lastly, the third is the area type. Though it's similar to the free type in that detailed control is difficult, what's different is that attack power decreases proportionally as the area increases. In other words, the advantage is that you can comfortably handle multiple enemies without needing to control it particularly. But these three classifications are just basic types, and they can be freely crossed with highly concentrated imaging and control. That's the charm of magic - there isn't just one path."

Superior glanced at Kapros's concentrated face and lowered the hand he had raised for explanation while smiling slightly.

"Is there anything you don't understand from what you've heard so far?"

"No. But..."

"Yes?"

"This Law of Reverse Flow, while I can see how knowing it would make things easier overall for imaging and application by letting you accurately grasp the type of magic you're using... but when learning magic without information about imaging or incantations, how are you supposed to know which type to use?"

When Kapros looked at him with eyes containing the implied meaning of magic like Inferno or Blizzard that had no information except their names, not even incantations or visible images, Superior opened his eyes wide before smirking.

"Quite clever, aren't you? Asking about that right away."

Nodding to himself while muttering that his successor should at least manage that much, Superior continued with a pleased expression.

"The Law of Reverse Flow can be useful even when you know the magic type, but it can also be used to figure out types when you don't know them."

"How?"

"By gauging with magical power."

Superior closed his mouth for a moment as if choosing his words for explanation.

"Well... since you're trying to use 7th circle for the first time now, I'll use that as an example. High-level magic from 6th circle up is quite different in that rather than relying on the caster's imaging to be created, it can take basic form just by providing its 'name' and magical power as materials. That's possible because the higher-level the magic, the power of existence dwelling within the magic itself is incomparably greater than lower-level magic. They have strong self-esteem, so it's also very difficult to control them in ways that deviate from their original form. You should know this since you've learned 6th circle magic, right?"

Superior's words reminded Kapros of when he had learned Aerial Servant, Inferno, and Blizzard. What had been Yoon Seok-ho's advice when Kapros had been struggling with how to learn 6th circle?

'He said to try using it first. That I would understand then.'

As he said, 6th circle magic appeared immediately in form without particular imaging, but it had troubled Kapros for a long time because it was too difficult to control with the control methods he had been using until then.

Perhaps what Yoon Seok-ho had said then had been a hint about this.

"You try imaging according to those three types after completing the form first. Then you'll be able to tell which type it best fits into, right? From there, the magic and mage have a bodily dialogue together, gradually developing their own imaging while massaging these incredibly rigid ones to make them soft and pliable. That's what it means to 'use' magic."

Perhaps it was due to Superior's explanation that seemed to have mastered everything without hesitation. The moment he heard those words, Kapros felt something that had been blocked somewhere until now suddenly clear.

"Ah..."

He finally felt he understood why magic had become harder to use at higher circles compared to lower circle magic that had moved relatively easily as he wanted.

'No wonder such a disaster happened when I first used Inferno, since I was just using it without knowing any of this.'

Watching Kapros trying to grasp the thread of understanding that had just flashed through his mind, Superior smiled gently with a sage-like expression never seen before.

"So when you meet new magic, first start by slowly getting to know what kind of being it is and how to use it. Isn't that what a mannerly mage would do?"

...No, looking again, rather than a sage, he looked more like a playboy talking about how to approach someone you've just met. His eyes must have looked strange just now.

"Haha. Well then, good luck with the 7th circles. I'm done."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I'll watch, so keep training."

"..."