Chapter 14: The Duel of Fireball Spells

The most challenging aspect of a magician’s cultivation lies in the training of mental strength. Over the past half month, Rowland took less than ten days to advance both his dark elemental magic and lightning elemental magic to the level of a first-rank mage. The remainder of his time was devoted entirely to increasing his mental power.

Unexpectedly, during the last five or six days, the fire elemental magic he had neglected also rose automatically to the level of a first-rank mage, thanks to the effects of the white stone. Moreover, Rowland discovered that his affinity for fire was slowly growing as well. Now it had reached the level of superior affinity; he speculated that, in the future, it might even become ‘exceptional.’ If that truly happened, he would be ‘exceptional in three elements!’

With his mental strength finally breaking through just moments before, Rowland had smoothly become a first-rank mage. Now he could cast almost all basic spells of that rank, and could begin learning the legendary, immensely powerful ‘necromancy.’

After enjoying a sumptuous meal of ‘roast lamb,’ Rowland returned to the academy to attend a lightning class. He then skipped his dark magic course and went once more to the mountain at the back.

“Boy, from now on, I’ll teach you necromancy. Whether you master it depends entirely on yourself!” Kuus said, his expression stern.

Rowland glanced at Kuus’s gaunt, skull-like face and cautiously asked, “Uncle Kuus, after learning necromancy, I won’t end up as ‘skin and bones’ like you, will I?”

The words were like poking a hornet’s nest. Kuus, as if his tail had been stepped on, roared at Rowland, “I’ve always looked like this! What does it have to do with necromancy? By your logic, lightning mages would look like thunderballs, and dark mages would have faces like the bottom of a pot! Look at Professor Sofit and Professor Harvey—do they look like that?”

Kuus’s thunderous outburst left Rowland’s mouth twisted and eyes askew. He hurriedly waved his hands, admitting his mistake, and Kuus’s fury gradually subsided. “Brat, if you ever say something so absurd again, I’ll… I’ll never speak to you again!”

Despite his sinister appearance, Kuus was so incensed that he uttered words more befitting a frustrated maiden than a fearsome necromancer, leaving Rowland thoroughly stunned. Afterward, Rowland hastily poured out words of flattery, and Kuus finally calmed down. Rowland silently reminded himself that Kuus’s appearance was a forbidden topic and best left unmentioned.

“The key to cultivating necromancy is forming the ‘necromantic space.’ Put simply, if you succeed in creating a necromantic space, you become a necromancer!” Kuus, realizing his previous words were beneath his dignity, quickly steered the conversation back to the topic of necromancy.

As expected, Rowland’s attention shifted. “Uncle Kuus, how exactly does one form this necromantic space?”

Discussing his specialty, Kuus was supremely confident. “There are many methods: ‘compression and condensation,’ ‘death energy refinement,’ and so forth. But I’ve tried them all—they’re nonsense, far too difficult to succeed. My ‘refined blood ritual’ surpasses them a hundred, a thousand times!”

“Refined blood ritual!” Rowland repeated the term several times, listening as Kuus continued, “The refined blood ritual divides the formation of the necromantic space into three steps: refining dark magic power, weaving the spell diagram, and performing the blood ritual.”

“Your first task is to refine dark magic power! In essence, necromancy is to dark magic what ice magic is to water magic—a branch within the main element. Thus, the ‘resource’ for forming necromantic space is the refined dark magic power.”

A moment later, Rowland sat cross-legged, grimacing. Kuus had already explained the refining technique: extracting one part out of a thousand, purifying the dark magic power until only a single ‘magic strand’ remains from a thousand portions. Moreover, he needed to produce 1,024 such strands to complete the ‘refining’ step.

No wonder necromancy was so difficult to master. Even Kuus, who claimed his method had a high success rate, had a first step daunting enough to make Rowland’s head spin. Yet, thinking of the benefits of necromancy and the necromantic space, he gritted his teeth and began his arduous training.

By the time a single ‘magic strand’ appeared in his core, dusk had fallen. Rowland gave a bitter smile, admitting that refining magic power was truly a formidable task; it had taken him two full hours to complete his first refinement.

He stood up and rode his donkey, Little Black, toward the academy’s dining hall. The members of Dorm 2015 had agreed to dine together that evening—a weekly gathering to strengthen their bond.

When Rowland reached the dining hall’s entrance, he found a crowd gathered outside. Uncertain what had happened, he hurried Little Black toward the edge of the crowd.

Inside, an angry voice rang out, “Teresi, why are you so annoying? Karina doesn’t want to talk to you, so why do you keep pestering her like a fly?”

“Hmph, fatso, get out of my way! My relationship with Miss Karina has nothing to do with you!”

It turned out that Marle, Gebaz, and Bill had run into Karina on their way to the dining hall and invited her to their gathering. Karina gladly accepted, but at the entrance they encountered the four from Teresi’s dorm. Teresi immediately tried to chat up Karina, and when she ignored him, he persisted shamelessly.

Unable to stand it, Marle and the others stepped forward to confront him. It was lunchtime, so the hall was crowded, and people gathered eagerly to watch the unfolding drama.

After some heated argument, Teresi, seeing Marle and his friends determined to block his way, grew furious. “Fatso, if you don’t move, I won’t be so polite!”

Marle shifted his bulky frame forward. “Oh? Impolite? I’d like to see how you plan to do that!”

Ignoring him, Teresi began to mutter an incantation. Suddenly, the air grew hot, and a fireball shot straight toward Marle’s chest!

“Ah!” The crowd gasped. Most of the students dining here were first-years, the majority not yet first-rank mages. Seeing a fireball spell unleashed, panic ensued.

As the fireball launched, Teresi’s companions looked triumphant. Teresi had the best talent in their dorm, having reached the rank of mage in just a few days. Their faces glowed with pride; not only did they not stop Teresi’s attack, they enthusiastically applauded him.

Gebaz, Bill, and Karina cried out in alarm, wanting to help, but the fireball’s speed far outstripped theirs. None of them were first-rank mages, so they couldn’t even cast spells. Marle could only watch as the fireball grew larger before his eyes.

Just as Marle squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for months of injury, a sudden hiss sounded, prompting him to reopen his bean-sized eyes. Another fireball shot from behind him, colliding fiercely with Teresi’s at barely a foot away.

Boom! The fireballs exploded, sending a wave of heat outward. Marle, at the forefront, shrieked and scrambled back, his clothes scorched with several holes from flying sparks.

Wiping sweat from his brow and eyeing the holes in his shirt, Marle shuddered. If not for the fireball from behind, he would have been in dire straits.

“Boss, are you alright?” Rowland appeared at Marle’s side, concern written on his face.

“No, I’m fine. Fourth, was that fireball yours?” Marle, sensing the magic aura from Rowland, asked hurriedly.

Rowland nodded.

“Damn, Fourth! You’ve been missing for days, but now you’re a first-rank mage! That’s great! Hurry up and teach Teresi a lesson. If not for you, I might have been bed-ridden for months!” Marle, furious, pointed at Teresi across from them.

“Rowland!” Karina, visibly shaken, her face pale, called out.

“Yeah, Fourth, Teresi’s behavior is outrageous, harassing Karina nonstop. We tried to reason with him, but he responded with a fireball spell. You have to teach him a lesson!” Gebaz and Bill stepped forward as well.

Rowland reassured his friends, then turned his gaze to Teresi.

Teresi also stepped forward, facing Rowland directly.

“Teresi, I want an explanation from you,” Rowland said quietly.

Teresi sneered. “Explanation? I don’t like Marle, so I threw a fireball at him. What, you can’t stand it? Fine, I’ll throw one at you too!” He was surprised Rowland had become a first-rank mage so quickly, but his confidence was undiminished.

Rowland’s expression darkened. From the moment Teresi entered Potter Academy, he’d clashed with Rowland. Now, his aggression had reached new heights. Rowland had never wanted to cause trouble at the academy; he simply wished to train diligently for the sake of his brother and his family. But now, faced with Teresi, he was ready to act.

As both began chanting their spells, magical energy rippled around them. The crowd hurriedly stepped back to avoid being caught in the crossfire. The confrontation at the dining hall entrance was about to erupt.