episode_0030

The start of the subjugation was announced by Attila.

Generally, if there were individuals with high output magic or long-range attack capabilities, they would strike from a distance, but since our team lacked such abilities, Attila took the lead.

– Thud!

As we emerged from the densely wooded mountains, Attila set foot on the open field. The rest of us were a little behind.

“Kek? Kek, kek!”

Nokgui, who was standing guard at the watchtower, looked at Attila and opened his eyes wide inappropriately, signaling the presence of intruders.

– Thud!

Attila’s leg struck the ground. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the earth. Stepping into the sunken ground, her next step once again pressed the earth.

– Thud! Thud!

Attila was in a somewhat armored state. She didn’t cover herself entirely like a medieval knight, but she did wear quite sturdy armor.

After about five helpings, Attila’s eyes gleamed. Her magic enveloped her entire body.

– Boom!

A different sound from before. This time, not just cracks, but a part of the ground sank deeply. Attila, holding up her shield, struck the ground.

Fragments of the earth burst backward. Her magic-infused legs pushed off, accelerating.

Not only that, as her shield was engulfed in magic, a dark crimson aura surrounded it.

“Kek!?”

Sensing an ominous sign, Nokgui’s cry became urgent. The Nokgui in the fortress also gripped their weapons and began to move cautiously.

Before they could respond properly, Attila’s shield struck a thick wooden pillar with force.

– Kwaang!

“Keeek!”

At the moment of impact, the pillar that Attila struck exploded. The deafening sound was followed by the screams of the Nokgui.

Wooden fragments scattered in all directions. Amidst the chaos caused by sharp wooden pieces hitting the Nokgui, another thud! A tremor shook the ground again.

The pillar was broken through in an instant. However, Attila did not stop there. Continuing the momentum from breaking the pillar, she stomped the ground continuously while holding up her shield.

“Kek! Keeek!”

“Kng! Kerrrk!”

A steel armor wrapped around a shield and a body. Attila, who had become a human tank, stormed the fortress.

The Nokgui on the path exploded. There were bodies shattered into pieces, and there were bodies flung far away, limbs torn apart.

“Keruk…”

But not all the Nokgui were dead. Nokgui who narrowly avoided the collision clumsily wielded weapons and attempted to surround Attila. At that moment, a chilling spear was thrust into the neck of one Nokgui.

– Kwajik! Puk─!

“Infiltration complete.”

It was Nam Yeonjung’s spear that followed right after Attila destroyed the neck guard. His spear, too, was surrounded by bluish steel, effortlessly piercing through the Nokgui’s skin and bones.

Namyun Jung followed Attila, continuously thrusting his spear. The Nokgui attempting to encircle Attila succumbed to the spears thrusting towards them.

Attila disrupted the formation, and Nam Yeonjung, following him, disarrayed the collapsed formation, preventing it from being restored.

“You’re amazing.”

Watching him, Aidan muttered as he swung his arm. The neatly swung sword drew a line.

– Seogeok

“Keruk…!”

The approaching Nokgui’s head fell. Watching Aidan clearing the Nokgui’s corpse without hesitation, I silently nodded my head.

Certainly, the trajectory is cleaner than during training. Of course, there must have been growth since then, but it must also be because Son Daejoong was present during training.

Attila and Nam Yeonjung, in charge of the vanguard, were sweeping the Nokgui at the center of the fortress, while Elia and I, in charge of the center, were blocking the fleeing Nokgui and assisting the vanguard by blocking the broken neck guards.

It was easy to block them simultaneously near the entrance of the fortress, which had already been destroyed.

“-, -.”

At that moment, Elia pursed her lips.

Yeongchang. Self-suggestion for the use of magic. The easiest way to cast spells.

– Uuuung!

The magic released from Elia was arranged with complex rules. The arranged magic momentarily wailed, then flew towards Attila and Nam Yeonjung, who were rampaging in the center.

Failure! The green goblin, who was hit on the shield, collapsed mercilessly. Attila, who had a cold smile, poked the ground again after realizing the situation.

“Is that an enhanced magic shield?”

Elia’s unique ability, healing. The official name is “Recovery Melody.”

It gives two effects: “Immediate Recovery” and “Recovery Amplification” to the designated target. It was said that the ratio of the two effects could be adjusted, and a slight enhancement effect would also be applied while the effect lasted.

The enhancement effect was weak, so she separately learned enhancement magic, as Elia told me herself at the cafe a few hours ago.

Enhancement is included in the unique ability, so it was easier to learn than expected.

I roughly assessed the situation. Half of the goblins were already turning into byproducts.

I knew it was like taking candy from a baby for a 8th-grade Siyolam Sengdo, but seeing it in person made me shudder.

If Attila were to thrust at me right now, I felt I would also become a byproduct without any fuss…

Three 7th-grade goblins were identified in advance. Unlike other goblins, their movements were large, and they had several times more mana than an 8th-grade goblin.

One of them was already a byproduct. The other two were barely holding the reins behind, using the 8th-grade goblin as a meat shield.

It seemed like just buying time. It seemed that they would all be cleaned up soon.

“Hmm…”

The vanguard seems fine. The goblins are being divided like a mixer in real time.

Elia put her mana on standby and drew her sword, keeping an eye on her surroundings.

Aiden was dealing with a few goblins trying to escape from the broken formation and was guarding me and Elia.

In short, there was a little room to spare. I nodded my head and gripped my staff.

I dabbled in magic over the weekend. With the help of Professor Liana and scribbling through books in the library, I was able to touch some of the lowest-level spells, perhaps due to the synergy of mana affinity, spatial perception, and the versatility of a jack-of-all-trades.

– Woooo

I pulled out my mana and blew it into the staff. The staff had the appearance commonly imagined as a wizard’s staff.

A dark brown wooden body with a blue crystal embedded at the end.

The body is carved from magic-infused wood, and the crystal is processed mana stone attached to it.

In this world, the wand used by a wizard has two main functions.

First is mana storage.

Since the amount of mana used in magic is considerable, wizards are always plagued by mana shortages. That’s why they carry these auxiliary batteries.

Second is computational assistance.

Magic is often likened to calculations. Although this analogy is not entirely accurate due to emotional factors, precise manipulation of mana requires a certain level of calculation.

Therefore, wizards need more than just basic mana manipulation abilities. Even if one has exceptional manipulation abilities, having assistance makes things easier. The wand serves both as a mana storage and computational aid.

However, this wand lacks in its second function, computational assistance.

It was advised by Professor Liana that there was no need to consider computational assistance beyond a minimum level, and relying on assistance ultimately hinders the improvement of one’s true abilities.

Thanks to its affinity for mana, it hasn’t encountered a difficult barrier that requires computational assistance.

Thus, this wand is an auxiliary battery specialized in mana storage.

I took a deep breath and gripped the wand, adjusting my breathing.

The easiest and most common way to cast magic is through incantation. Speaking words aloud, a powerful form of autosuggestion.

But I can’t do that. A damn curse of silence keeps my mouth shut tight.

Therefore, incantations are out. Shapeshifting is possible, but the magic I’m about to cast doesn’t require it.

– Woo Woong

My released mana seeped into the wand and tapped the crystal at the end.

It was similar to the crystal training I had done with Professor Liana before. Tapping into the crystal’s mana and drawing it out, using it as material for casting spells.

The mana drawn from the crystal, guided by my own mana, came out. It was a small amount, barely noticeable due to the ample mana stored.

But this would be sufficient. I manipulated the mana while taking a deep breath.

The magic was concentrated at the end of the staff. Calmly focusing, the magic was arranged.

I’ve used it a few times. I had so little magic that I experienced magic depletion after only a few uses, but I never failed among those few times.

Magic swiftly moved and gathered at the end of the staff. The lump of magic turned into a spell formation. The preparation for ignition was complete. Maintaining mental strength, I aimed the staff at the 7th rank Nokgui.

Simultaneously, the completed spell formation was ignited.

“Magic Shot”

More than a magic, it’s evaluated as the lowest level magic in terms of magic manipulation.

It’s not a magic processed by attributes like fireball or electric discharge. It’s not a complex composition of magic.

It just sharpens the magic like a blade and shoots it out. Of course, there is a basic composition spell, but there is no accuracy correction.

As the name suggests, it’s a magic that simply shoots out magic as a shot. It’s so simple that even I could succeed in my first attempt.

I tried it over the weekend. A small, shallow blade of magic, smaller than Nokgui’s, is ejected and scatters into the air about 10 meters away.

Rather than thinking of reducing the number of heads with this, it was more of a thought to try it once since I had the leisure. If I’m lucky, killing one Nokgui would be a decent result, wouldn’t it?

I activated the magic.

Lowest level magic

“Magic Shot”

– Kwaah!

“!?”

The shot burst out from the end of the staff. A huge blue shot that could easily double my height. My clothes fluttered in the rough gust.

Dirt clods flew in all directions due to the shot scraping along the ground. Nokgui, who was hastily turning his head at the sudden roar, was split vertically.

“What the hell?”

“What is that?”

It didn’t end there. 20m, 30m, 40m… Nokgui positioned in the path of the shot, ignoring the existing range, were torn apart and their limbs were cut off one by one.

The shot reached the 7th rank Nokgui.

Nokgui, wielding a crude sword of unknown origin with his long arms, had his eyes widened by the shot flying towards him.

– Sizzle!

“Keeeek!”

Despite his quick reflexes, one of his hands was included in the range of the shot. With Nokgui’s terrible scream, one of his arms tumbled on the ground.

8th-rank Nokgui sacrificed more than ten of its arms, and the 7th-rank Nokgui’s arm to strike Chamgyeok, who then thrust the opposite side of the neck with a spear. Swoosh! After inevitably slicing through the neck, Chamgyeok disappeared as if digging into thin air.

A long mark engraved on the ground. Rising dust swirled around. One side of the disoriented neck collapsed like dominoes. The dust settled.

The surviving few Nokguis, Attila who enthusiastically killed the Nokguis, and Namyeonjoong who assisted her by stabbing with a spear.

Elia preparing reinforcement magic beside me and Aiden guarding the surroundings.

Everyone looked this way. Astonishment and questioning gazes.

‘…?’

I couldn’t answer that question. Because I didn’t know the reason myself.

– Thud thud…

Now only the sound of falling clods echoed around.