Chapter 124 (1/2)

Index

Editor: Anna

Proofreader: Xemul

And here they are – two sheets of paper, filled up as much as they could.

Two years ago, I had tried to teach Lina some magecraft via the parchment I’d passed to her – the Distance Line, as I liked to call it – but in the end, Tifa still had a deeper understanding of the subject.

I suppose that was to be expected from having access to heaps and heaps of my research materials. Then again, she hadn’t just read it, but also understood that. It must have taken a great deal of effort to make all that knowledge practical.

On the other hand, Lina was more knowledgeable when it came to magic. That served to balance things out in its own way, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about the classes’ structure.

“Let’s start with a review. Rise, Quadra Boundary.”

I directed the magecraft at Pochi.

Four stakes of light surrounded her, forming a perimeter that restricted her movement.

Lina and Tifa, being dedicated mages as they were, paid most of their attention to my hands. They especially focused on how Velocity Augment affected my Circle drawing.

“Master! Did you not listen to what Lina said earlier?! You’re being cruel!”

“Now now, aren’t you able to destroy this level of Boundary easily enough, Pochi?”

“Hmm? …H-hmph! Of course I can! Hah!”

Once Pochi exerted a bit of force, the Quadra Boundary dispersed with a high-pitched plosive sound.

“The Quadra Boundary. In a practical environment, they are likely to be effective against monsters up to Rank C. There are exceptions, of course, with one being floating gas-form monsters, which are especially vulnerable to magic and magecraft attacks. You could use it to buy some time against the A-ranked Elemental Reapers. The magecraft’s power increases linearly with each iteration, naturally, with Hexa Boundary effectively immobilizing enemy monsters up to Rank B, and Octa Boundary up to Rank A. The… technically last iteration of it is what you two should aim for as an end goal. Rise, A-rise, A-rise! Deca Boundary!”

I directed the magecraft at Pochi… again. Pochi, having let her guard down, glared at me with an ‘AGAIN?!’ exclamation written all over her face.

C’mon, don’t look at me like that. Didn’t we always do this back when we were in Faltown?

“The volume of information in it is incredible! And he drew the Circle up so easily…”

Tifa said, her eyes wide open.

“Wow…”

Lina muttered, her breath almost long enough to be considered a sigh.

Heh heh, I’ve got to act like a teacher from time to time in order to maintain my image, after all. Show them awesome stuff, get them motivated.

While I thought that, Bruce walked up to me from behind. And as usual… he hit my buttocks.

“That hurt, Bruce.”

“Stop with that creepy smile, man. You still keeping even bigger stuff to yourself, right? It’s written all over your face, you know?”

Bruce declared, sounding smug as he was sure that he’d seen me through. Damn it, did my face really give him that idea? It wasn’t supposed to be so obvious…

I reached up to touch my face, prompting Pochi and Bruce to both crack a smile.

“Ahahaha, I can see it written right there, sir!”

Damn it, not you, too!

I was briefly heartbroken by how blunt my Familiar was – briefly because Lala shouted at me not a second later.

“Asley! Over there! OVER THERE!”

Lala pointed into the forest, calling my attention to what was in there. It seemed that monsters were approaching us. They weren’t repulsed by the pressure of Baladd’s arcane energy? Not from around here, perhaps? But if they originated around here, then they would have to be the undead-

“Oh, a Shade… they’re pretty rare around these parts.”

Bruce said as he stared into the distance.

Turned out I’d guessed right – the Shade, alternatively called the Animated Shadow, was a type of undead monster. Its entire body was pitch black, and although it technically had eyes, one would never be able to tell where they were. Other distinguishing features included its weakness to light and its body not casting any shadow on other surfaces.

“Look, I’ll stall it for ya, so show me the stuff as well, yeah?”

Bruce drew his blade and charged onward, while I put up a bitter smile and scratched the temples of my head. Oh, he just had to set a scene to get what he wants. I’ll make sure to ‘thank’ him real good some time later.

Bruce could easily take it down if he wanted to, but instead, he had Lala distract it while he himself messed around with it to buy time.

His fighting flowed well despite being self-taught. As expected from a regular of The Silver.

Lina and Tifa’s eyes were practically glued to their moves… Um, hello? Aren’t you two supposed to be observing me?

Once Lina noticed me, she chuckled, and then gestured me to do my thing. Uh, I don’t know why, but I feel obligated to say sorry here.

“All right, check this out – the very best of the Boundary magecraft! Rise, A-rise, A-rise, A-“

Bah, drawing this one up takes way too damn long! Still got plenty of room for improvement!