Chapter 47
"Well then, I'll give you guys a chance to step forward. Who wants to go first? By the way, the spell you use must be of the water element,” Shun said.
At Shun's words, all eyes in the classroom were focused on the three attendees, including Lee Shin.
"I'll go first." The wizard from the Gold Magic Tower was the first to volunteer.
The Gold Magic Tower was considered one of the best Magic Towers out there. As he got up from his seat, his haughty expression revealed his pride.
"I will choose Seika, who got first place on the earlier test," Verren, the wizard from the Gold Magic Tower, said.
"Alright, come forward both of you," Shun said.
The wizard of the Gold Magic Tower seemed relaxed, but Seika got up from his seat with a sullen expression. Even if the opponent was from the Gold Magic Tower, this competition was a battle where they had to fight using the water element. Both being third-class wizards, it was more likely for the wizard of the Blue Magic Tower to win. However, the arrogant wizard from the Gold Magic Tower had called out the top ranker Seika, with confidence that he could easily win.
‘I will prove you wrong.’
This was a battle in which both of the wizards were sure of their victory. As he watched the two, Lee Shin could already predict who would actually win the battle.
"The only rule you have is to use water element mana. As you’ve learned, water is an element that can change into anything. So then, Verren, what will you choose?” Shun asked.
"I'll take the spear role," Verren replied.
“Alright then, Seika you will automatically be the shield. You two may begin." With that, Shun announced the start of the battle.
Verren, the wizard of the Gold Magic Tower, was a guy who had given Lee Shin a hard time in his previous life. Lee Shin thought the outcome of this match was obvious.
The battle began, and Seika started his skillful control of water. The clump of water created in the air had not yet taken any form, but this was intentional. He wanted to be able to respond immediately to the opponent's attack.
On the contrary, Verren cast his mana effortlessly and turned the clump of water into a pointed spear. His spear had a sharp blade and a straight, long shaft. His mana control was so outstanding that people could be led into thinking he was a wizard of the Blue Magic Tower. Even the wizards who were watching were amazed by him.
"Wow... that’s crazy.”
"Don’t you think he’s as good as Seika?"
"Wouldn’t Seika lose?"
"Hey, Seika is our No.1 player! Why would he lose to the wizard from the Gold Magic Tower?”
"Well yeah, that's true. Oh, look! Seika has already responded to Verren’s attack."
Seika's mana had changed accordingly in response to Verren's attack. A thick, long water shield blocked Verren’s line of attack.
"Ha! That’s cute." Verren commented on Seika’s shield.
"What did you say? Enough of your arrogance. I know you're great... but no matter how skillful you are, you can’t beat me at using water element mana,” Seika said with confidence.
"Well then, prove it." Verren smirked.
There was contempt in Verren’s smirk and Lee Shin could see through the intentions behind that smile.
Whoosh!
The water spear flew sharply through the wind, and another spell was cast over it.
Crack—! Boom!
The lightning that was discharged over the surface of the water spear accelerated its speed even more.
Splash—!
Seika's shield and Verren’s spear collided and caused an explosion of water.
"Argh!"
"Alright, that's enough," Shun called an end to the battle.
Slap! Splash!
The shield burst and the spear Verren threw was blocked by something and broke as well.
"Ahhh... Haaa..." Seika was out of breath.
Seika breathed heavily as if he was in great shock. He then knelt on the floor, trembling. On the contrary, Verren was still standing, looking fine. Although he could sense a sharp stare from Shun, he pretended to not notice it.
"It is prohibited to harm the other person. If you've pierced the shield, stop there." Shun ordered.
"Well, I could not control my power," Verren explained.
Shun did not impose any more restrictions on him, despite knowing he was lying blatantly.
Just a moment ago, Verren had used a skill called double casting where he had combined water and lightning at the same time. He made the skill seem simple. He possessed a level of mana control that was hard to discern as a third-class wizard. It was more appropriate to call this a difference in talent than a difference in the mana level.
When those wizards in the classroom saw Verren’s mana, they were astonished and there was a hushed silence in the classroom. Their surprise soon turned into admiration.
"That was crazy!"
"Is this how strong the Gold Magic Tower is? Are all the wizards of the Gold Magic Tower like him?”
"No way, I think Verren’s just great. I don’t think there are that many second-class wizards who know how to use double casting.”
"Damn! Do we not have anyone like him in our Magic Tower?”
Shun hit his desk to get people’s attention.
"Stop now and go down. Who wants to go next?” Shun asked.
"I'll do it," Lee Shin replied.
Unexpectedly, the next person to raise their hand up was not the wizard of the Red Magic Tower, but Lee Shin from the Black Magic Tower. When Lee Shin opened his mouth to volunteer, he heard sighs around him.
Everyone had assumed that Lee Shin would not raise his hand, so they were going to raise their hands and call him out as an opponent. Since other wizards believed that Lee Shin would not be able to beat anyone and advance further, they thought there was only one chance to compete against Lee Shin.
However, since Lee Shin had already volunteered, they had no choice but to wait and see if their names would be called out. Lee Shin walked past numerous third-class wizards of the Blue Magic Tower. His mana power spread around stealthily.
"So, did you think of who you want as your opponent?" Shun asked.
"I don’t have anyone in mind, so I'll take any volunteer," Lee Shin replied.
"Whoa... if you say so,” Shun muttered.
Lee Shin's remarks made the classroom heat up rapidly. There were a number of people who wanted to battle with him.
"Hmm... I think we’ve got more than enough volunteers, so would you like to choose one?” Shun asked.
Shun watched this situation with interest and Lee Shin had looked around at numerous volunteers.
"And you said the only rule was to use the water element mana, am I right?” Lee Shin asked.
"Yes, that’s right," Shun replied.
There was a faint smile on Lee Shin’s face. Just like Verren did, as long as Lee Shin used the water element, there were no other conditions he had to follow.
"Then I guess it wouldn’t really matter even if there are multiple shields,” Lee Shin muttered.
"Of course it doesn't matter, but a student who is at the level of making several shields—" Shun was interrupted.
"All of them," Lee Shin muttered.
"What did you say?" Shun asked.
"I'll fight against everyone who is interested," Lee Shin replied.
Even when Verren had chosen Seika, and when Verren had easily managed to use double casting and blocked Seika’s attack, Shun had not been surprised or flustered. However, Shun was now hearing nonsense coming from a wizard of the Black Magic Tower who was only a third-class wizard. Additionally, there were rumors that this wizard had recently taken Lauren’s lecture and ran away when he had failed the task. It was that same guy who was talking nonsense right now.
‘Is he playing a trick because he already knows he can't win?’
However, when Shun watched Lee Shin from the side, there was no sign of nervousness.
"Are you saying you want to compete with all these volunteers?" Shun asked.
"That’s right, because you said a while ago that it doesn't matter if there are multiple shields," Lee Shin replied.
"Haha... I did." Shun started laughing.
Even though Shun had been called a genius his whole life, he had never expected to encounter such a situation like this. However, the question—should I accept his ridiculous proposal–quickly disappeared.
"Fine, everybody come forward," Shun ordered.
All the wizards in the classroom frowned as they heard Shun’s decision, because they had expected Shun to reject this ridiculous suggestion. Their pride was hurt, but they could not refuse him. This was not the situation they wanted. Their goal was to humiliate Lee Shin by bringing him down in a one-on-one battle. However, the situation had become strange because of Lee Shin’s strategy.
"Is he playing some kind of a trick because he thinks he will not be able to win?” Verren, watching the situation from behind, spoke to the wizard from the Red Magic Tower who sat next to him.
"If I'm right... this will be an interesting battle,” the wizard from the Red Magic Tower replied.
"What?" Verren asked.
When Verren could no longer hear the red wizard's answer, he turned to look at Lee Shin, having low expectations. Facing Lee Shin, the blue third-class wizards had gathered. Even though it was a fairly large space, so many people had come forward that the space seemed small.
"Damn it, I can’t believe he’s playing such a trick.”
"Ugh, since things have turned out this way, I will just be the first one to knock him down."
"The attacker will be attacked…I’ll show you!"
Each of the twenty wizards standing in front of Lee Shin had stood there with some kind of a plan.
"This is a battle between a spear and a shield. If you fail to pierce the shields, you will have to block twenty spears in the next round. Do you understand?” Shun asked.
"Yes," Lee Shin replied.
"Alright, since I think both sides are ready, let's get started," Shun announced the start of a battle.
The water shields created by the twenty wizards were made one after another and formed a wall. The blue wizards cared so much about the competition amongst themselves that they did not realize they were allowing Lee Shin a chance to break through. On the other hand, Lee Shin, who was watching the scene, secretly moved his mana. A chain of black mana soared under the twenty wizards and disrupted their mana flow.
Plop! P-p-plop—!
Splash! Wooosh—! Splash!?
The water shields, which seemed impenetrable, burst one after another and scattered on the floor, and the wizards began to panic.
"Huh? What’s going on?"
"What the fuck! Who’s doing this?"
"Argh!"
"What's wrong with my mana!"
A small spear appeared in front of Lee Shin and the wizards still could not figure out what was going on.
Woong—
Lee Shin made only one shot. Contrary to the big, sharp-looking water spear that Verren had demonstrated earlier, the seemingly insignificant water spear had hit the blue wizard in front of Lee Shin.
Plop! Splash—
At the same time, the water droplets that had spread, fell upon all the wizards and then exploded.
P-p-p-plop!
"Keugh!"
"Argh!"
"Keaaughhh!"
The stage became a mess in an instant, and as soon as the water droplets started to explode, an unfamiliar mana power intervened with Lee Shin’s.
‘Ha! Is Shun helping them because they are from the same Magic Tower?’
Shun made a surprise attack. The shallow mist in the air surrounded Lee Shin’s water bombs and acted like a membrane.
‘That was a great skill and mana control.’
Lee Shin was astonished by Shun's ability, and so was Shun when he saw Lee Shin’s ability.
‘Lee Shin has almost the same level of talent as me. But... it will still take him a long time to become like me!'
Shun's mana moved vigorously and blocked Lee Shin’s mana, and at the same time, it disturbed Lee Shin’s mana flow. Then, the next moment, Lee Shin could no longer control the water droplets. The droplets gathered in one place and disappeared under Shun’s control.
"Wow..."
"What did I just see?”
That whole fight took place in a short amount of time. Although Lee Shin’s mana was interrupted, the skills that he had shown previously were enough to astonish the blue wizards.
"Shit..."
"Is he really from the Black Magic Tower?"
"I guess the rumor that had been going around so far must have been false."
"You're kidding..."
At the incredible sight, everyone in the classroom gasped and their faces stiffened.
"Ugh, what a mess," Shun muttered.
Those wizards who had been hit by the water droplet bomb were knocked down unconscious, while others sat down, stunned by the attack. Seeing this ridiculous situation, Shun had a headache thinking about how to deal with it.
"Wake up, everyone! The winner is Lee Shin, the wizard of the Black Magic Tower," Shun said.
"This is unacceptable! He played a trick on us!"
"That's right! He must have cast a spell on us before the competition even started."
"I’ve heard that the wizards of the Black Magic Tower knew how to use dirty mana tricks, but I can’t believe he di—”
"Enough! Are you guys trying to brag that you were so stupid that you were fooled by your opponent?" Shun shouted.
The wizards who had protested, flinched when they heard Shun's angry voice.
"Everyone go back to your seats. And you too, Lee Shin,” Shun said.
Lee Shin and the blue wizards went back to their seats.
"Alright, we’ll continue with our lesson,” said Shun.
* * *
When the lecture was over, Verren and the red wizard followed Lee Shin who was leaving the blue tower.
"Did you say your name was Lee Shin?" Verren asked.
"Why do you ask?" Lee Shin replied.
"What are you up to?" Verren asked.
The first thing he wanted to ask was what Lee Shin was up to. Lee Shin laughed while thinking about what to do with this arrogant guy.
"What's that laugh about?" Verren asked.
"I’m just a wizard from the Black Magic Tower,” Lee Shin replied.
"Are you sure a third-class wizard can use such mana? Plus, you're from the Black Magic Tower," said Verren.
"Why can't a wizard from the Black Magic Tower do that?" Lee Shin asked back.
"Well, I mean it’s possible. But don't be so proud, I could have won even if there were a hundred of them,” Verren said.
"Good for you,” Lee Shin replied.
Verren’s eyes were blazing as if he had encountered the rival of the century. Lee Shin could not believe that was what Verren first wanted to say to Lee Shin. Lee Shin laughed it off and left.
That night, Shun Grammys was gazing at the lake on the outskirts of Seia, the city of magic. He would sometimes enjoy the tranquility of looking at a calm lake.
'There’s a distraction today.’
Shun noticed a mana wave from behind the tree. He turned around to look and mumbled, "What the hell? Did someone follow me here?"
"Yes," Lee Shin replied.
There was no one around in front of that lake, and Lee Shin slowly made his appearance from behind the tree. When Shun saw him, the atmosphere became heavy momentarily and the mana power in the atmosphere started to linger. Also, there were ripples in the calm lake.
"I knew something was wrong… How did you know where I was?” Shun asked.
"Well, there's a way to know," Lee Shin replied.
Lee Shin's eyes turned to the back of Shun Grammys. The souls were invisible to Shun but they were visible to Lee Shin. Lee Shin could find out Shun’s location by attaching a demon soul to Shun to track him.
"So, what brings you here?" Shun asked.
Lee Shin scanned Shun's posture and noticed that Shun was on guard, but he did not seem nervous. That came from his confidence because Shun was sure that the opponent would never be able to do any harm to him. Lee Shin's cold eyes scanned Shun Grammys, and then he spread his mana around him.
‘This is just as I expected.’
Nothing was detected. Lee Shin's idea was right that Shun would not ask for help even though he knew there was someone going after him. Lee Shin slowly warmed up his mana.
"You’ll need to die here for me,” Lee Shin muttered.
In order for Lee Shin to kill all the masters of the Magic Towers, Shun Grammys had to fall here, as the seed for war.
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