Chapter 39: Magic (3)

People often describe fantasy worlds as realms of sword and magic.

Most fantasy settings are typically based on Western medieval fantasy, but there are also Eastern fantasy settings with an Asian backdrop.

So then, how is Eastern fantasy different?

Surprisingly, it’s not very different from Western fantasy.

At most, the background changes slightly.

Just as you can call it a world of swords and magic, you can also describe it as a world of swords and sorcery—so no further explanation is needed.

Perhaps because of that, the world Cheon Hwi came from was a bizarre blend of Eastern and Western fantasy.

Cheon Hwi knew about the genre called “Qi-fantasy martial arts,” but the world he lived in had gone a few steps beyond that level.

Even though he had never traveled to the Western regions himself, he had often encountered such situations in the Central Plains.

Mount Kunlun and Mount Mosan both had magic towers funded by sects, and naturally, many Westerners came to study Eastern sorcery and scholarship in the surrounding cities.

That was precisely why Cheon Hwi, before his ascension, was convinced that a fantasy world must exist in the Western lands.

Even in the Central Plains, you could find both mages and knights roaming around, so it didn’t make sense that their homeland—the West—would be just an ordinary place.

Of course, didn’t the nomadic elves on the northern plateau, which rivaled Earth’s Mongolian steppes, run wild with spirits?

“I miss it.”

Cheon Hwi’s lips curved into a soft smile as he reminisced.

Recalling the past after so long, the faces of the masters he missed came to mind.

Even with all of Cheon Hwi’s talent, such talent only blossoms under great teaching.

Naturally, when learning magic and sorcery, Cheon Hwi studied under well-established masters.

Back then, he had already reached the Blossoming Dao Realm, so he was able to choose his teachers.

“I should’ve visited them once before ascending… They must have already passed away from old age, but their places and legacies would have remained.”

Although most foreign students gathered around Mount Kunlun, Cheon Hwi had learned sorcery and magic at Mount Mosan.

It was famous as the place where the leading figures in Eastern sorcery and Western magic constantly argued and debated.

Cheon Hwi studied under both of them.

He learned sorcery from the leader of the Mosan Sect, and around the same time, he studied magic from the master of the Ashen Tower, who was frequently at odds with the sect leader.

After briefly reflecting on the past, Cheon Hwi smiled faintly and spoke.

“If you don’t use your Trait, you won’t even be able to get close.”

“I see…!”

Standing calmly, Cheon Hwi looked down at Seo Ye-rin, who was sprawled on the floor, and offered her advice.

Seo Ye-rin stood back up and took a moment to catch her breath, then once again assumed her stance.

As she gathered her magical energy to the fullest, she spoke the name of her Trait.

“Avesta…!”

Seo Ye-rin’s red hair blazed.

Not in the sense that it fluttered like fire, nor that it had caught fire.

It literally burned—her crimson hair igniting like flames themselves.

As she drew up her magical energy, the red flames turned bright yellow.

The firepower had increased, changing the color of the flames.

“I’m going all out now.”

While Cheon Hwi was lost in memory.

Seo Ye-rin had been repeatedly knocked back as she analyzed his magic.

She hadn’t figured out how to completely counter it, but she had at least grasped the general idea of how to respond.

Unleashing Avesta at full power, Seo Ye-rin kicked off the ground.

And quite literally, flames shot forth.

Choa, watching the duel, found her gaze veering in the wrong direction.

It was a speed even the eyes of a First-rate martial artist couldn’t follow.

But to Cheon Hwi’s eyes, her movement was perfectly clear.

He could see exactly when and where she was going to strike.

Cheon Hwi activated his magic.

There were no hand signs or spoken incantations.

Only a faint rotation from the mana circles hovering behind his back.

Fire and lightning surged in a raging spiral.

Pillars of flame rose upward, while bolts of lightning came crashing down, entwining the blaze.

“Khk…!”

Every path forward was blocked in the same way.

Seo Ye-rin swallowed hard and clenched her teeth.

But she refused to back down.

Taking the searing heat into her body—enough to feel like it would burn her alive—
Seo Ye-rin boldly leapt forward.

“Oh-ho.”

At that sight, Cheon Hwi curled up the corners of his lips.

A quiet note of admiration escaped with his smile.

Avesta.

The Trait Seo Ye-rin had awakened, among all Trait classifications, which are divided by their characteristics, was a top-tier composite Trait with multiple effects.

Several methods of using Avesta surfaced in Seo Ye-rin’s mind.

She chose the one most useful in this moment and drew forth her magical power.

Absolute control over flame-based magic.

Avesta’s most practical effect, and now Seo Ye-rin’s signature ability.

“I didn’t think you’d just charge through the fire like that.”

Though she couldn’t block the lightning, the flames at least posed no threat to her.

Bursting through the fire pillar, Seo Ye-rin extended her hand.

Fwoosh—she thrust her hand into the blazing pillar she had just passed through,
and tightly gripped it.

Flames are not matter and cannot be grasped, but Seo Ye-rin seized the fire and pulled it out.

She dominated the magical energy that had taken the form of flame, wielding it as her own weapon to face off against Cheon Hwi.

A crimson blaze formed into the shape of a greatsword.

“You’re underestimating me too much—that could be a problem.”

Swallowing hard, Seo Ye-rin said this and swung the greatsword.

Like a fire spirit itself, a fiercely hot torrent of flame surged forth.

One strike wouldn’t be enough.

She might barely reach him only if she attacked with the intent to kill.

With that thought, Seo Ye-rin gathered more magical energy and launched a relentless assault.

She swung the sword, releasing slashes of flame.

Her movements flowed endlessly, so fluid and fierce that they looked like a beautiful dance.

Her sword dance pulled in the surrounding flames, adding to her own power with each motion—her momentum building.

“That’s impressive.”

The tone shifted.

It was no longer polite speech, but the same commanding voice she had heard during the broadcast.

She flinched—her body trembled.

Her tense nerves stood on edge.

Something’s coming.

Realizing this, Seo Ye-rin tightened her grip on the greatsword and began chanting a spell.

“Stringor, Conversio, Explosio, Detectso.”

The flames drawn to the greatsword spun rapidly and compressed.

Small explosions burst out intermittently, but even they were sealed into the blade under magical control.

Using every last bit of her own mana and the energy around her, Seo Ye-rin prepared her most powerful strike and kicked off the ground.

‘With this one strike…!’

It was, quite literally, her all.

Certain that at least one blow would land.

Seo Ye-rin shot forward at high speed.

Leaving trails of crimson flame at her feet, she closed the distance and swung the greatsword.

Up until that moment, Cheon Hwi made no attempt to respond.

“As I thought, the limit is clear.”

Looking straight at the charging greatsword, Cheon Hwi nodded and extended his hand.

No—not his hand.

Seo Ye-rin’s eyes widened when she realized what he had extended.

A finger.

Even though she had poured all her power into the strike.

Cheon Hwi merely extended a single finger as if pointing, placing it in front of her greatsword.

But Seo Ye-rin didn’t back down.

Because Seo Ye-rin was certain.

Cheon Hwi’s skill wasn’t something to be underestimated.

There’s something there.

Whether he had some kind of countermeasure, or if he could really block her with just a single finger—she didn’t know.

So for now, she would go all out.

Seo Ye-rin poured her magical power into the strike.

It was an attack so powerful that even top-tier S-rank Hunters would flinch.

Even Cheon Hwi himself would later compare it to a punch from the Association President—without exaggeration.

“But… so this is your limit.”

Yet it wasn’t enough.

The moment Seo Ye-rin’s full-power strike touched Cheon Hwi’s finger, she felt the overwhelming gap.

Forced dispel of magic.

The strike she had prepared with all her strength, her very best, was completely unraveled the instant it touched his finger.

“Dispel…?!”

She recognized the magic.

It was a spell that every mage would know—there was no way not to.

After all, it forcibly cancels out an opponent’s magic without warning.

In theory, it’s considered a mage’s natural enemy.

But in practice, it was nearly useless because the conditions for it were far too complex.

Seo Ye-rin, well aware of this fact, was filled with shock.

“H-How…?”

“Magic without circle support is always like that.”

Cheon Hwi let out a soft chuckle and flicked his hand.

The heat and lingering magical energy that had filled the training room dispersed in an instant.

She had talent.

She had more than enough magical power.

But her fundamentals were… off.

It wasn’t that she understood and used magic, she just happened to follow the motions and magic came out.

That was why Cheon Hwi had been able to break her final strike with Dispel.

The force behind the attack was impressive, yes, but the structure of the spell itself was strangely fragile.

A hastily constructed, clumsy spell—thrown together like a messy fistfight.

In Cheon Hwi’s eyes, describing Seo Ye-rin’s magic that way felt perfectly accurate.

“Or… is this just what all modern magic looks like?”

If that were true, it would be deeply disappointing.

If the master of the Ashen Tower saw the current state of magic, he would probably let out a long sigh and start a “Magical Enlightenment Movement.”

Cheon Hwi shook off the idle thought and clapped his hands to draw attention.

“!”

The sudden sound of applause snapped Seo Ye-rin out of her daze.

She had been standing blankly, overwhelmed.

It seemed the shock had hit her harder than expected.

Still visibly shaken, Seo Ye-rin tried to gather herself as Cheon Hwi gave a sheepish smile and spoke.

“Clearly, building your circle is the top priority.”

She already had more than enough magical power.

And her control over internal mana—despite lacking a circle—was highly refined.

But because she cast spells without a mana circle, her magic was inefficient, and full of weak points.

“First, I’ll need to teach you the basic theory behind circles.”

Having decided what needed to be done, Cheon Hwi recalled the fundamentals of circle magic.

Reaching the Single Ring level, where one mana circle is formed, wasn’t difficult—
so there was no need to delay.

Besides, the theory itself wasn’t that complicated.

Drawing upon the core concepts that unified both magic and sorcery, Cheon Hwi began his first line of instruction.

“Do you know the Way?”

That brief yet impactful question left Seo Ye-rin’s lips parting in utter confusion.