rlin didn’t hate the spell in the traditional sense. It was out of reverence for it. A spell such as that was a great toolset for any Mage. It was a simple spell that disoriented a Mage preparing to cast a spell, and also certified the dominance of Gravity magic. And the fact that it was in the hands of a S-Class Mage only made its value skyrocket more.
Which brought rlin to a rather specific bother. How was he to deconstruct the spell if he had no control over his balance?
It was not like it was sothing he could just toggle on and off. He was human, despite how weird that term had co to be in the last decade or so. Gravity was what kept him to the ground all his life. He had lived no other way. So suddenly adapting to a change in the norm wasn’t sothing he should be able to do on the spot. Even trained astronauts took about six months to adapt to the change in gravity in outer space.
But that was not an excuse. No matter the magic, he had to be able to give it a run for its money.
rlin staggered slightly as he stood up, but managed to keep himself standing. His eyes were still dizzy, and his brain was pounding, a mild headache disturbing his concentration. He rubbed his temple and looked up at Jaehyun who now seed slightly worried.
“I think you should rest,” the boy said from above. “It’s my first ti using that spell on soone. Perhaps I did too much. Let’s not push if that’s the case.”
rlin raised a hand to shush him.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Let’s keep going.”
Jaehyun was still skeptical, but when rlin resud attacking, the boy imdiately sprung into action.
rlin’s attacks were a lot more sluggish now. He occasionally lost control of his [Mana Spider] skill, the strands of his mana reaching for Jaehyun faltering just when they were nearing him. With the way things were going, he was unsure if he would be able to enter cognitive state, his partial state of falling into a trance, and be able to use Reader Mage at the sa ti as his other skills.
So he decided to take it one step at a ti.
Why rush it all when he could get used to the hang of disorientation?
Once he had adapted to that, then he would be able to use cognitive state despite the effects of gravity acting on him.
“Don’t hold back on my account, Jaehyun,” rlin said, trading his [Mana Spider] for [Mana Spring] as he shot up to the sky, bringing himself closer to his opponent in this duel.
Jaehyun shrank back in the air. But then a smile spread across his face.
“As you wish.”
rlin channeled mana to his hand, curled his fist, and aid for Jaehyun’s stomach.
Despite telling Jaehyun not to hold back, rlin had gone against that. His mana was less denser than it should have been, and so was the effect of his attack. It struck as intended, but Jaehyun was only pushed a few inches back in the air.
Imdiately after that, rlin began to head back down to the ground, courtesy of the lack of footholds in the air.
He replayed his fight with the ice wyverns in his mind, reshaped his mana into sothing of a cushion around his body, and rolled on the mat as he landed.
His restraint ca back to haunt him at that point.
An intense pressure suddenly fell upon rlin before he could even rise to one knee. It slamd him into the mat, pressing him down and pinning him there. Every part of his body beca multiple tis heavier, like he was being crushed underneath a heavy vehicle. Trying to move only worsened the pain. His heat worked exponentially harder to keep blood flowing to his brain, and his spine felt like it was being compressed. rlin had severe backache, and his mind went into a turmoil.
He rembered this spell from Jaehyun’s fight with Kim Yiseo. And he recalled how she had managed to get rid of it.
Lines of force.
What he had to do was redirect the line of force from acting directly on him. Kim Yiseo had done that by wrapping herself in a cocoon. And that was the problem. He had no spells that could actively turn the spell away from him and onto another object. The only thing he could do was try to deconstruct it.
But he couldn’t breathe. It felt like he had spent a minute being crushed to the mat, and he was slowly beginning to lose his hearing. His vision was going dark. He couldn’t think.
At that mont, the weight abruptly lifted from his body and rlin instantly drew in a gasp of air. He rolled over to his back as his muscles and bones ached, and with widened eyes his chest rose and fell considerably.
“rlin!” Jaehyun dropped to the mat and hurried to him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think five seconds would be too long.”
Five seconds? rlin thought, scoffing inwardly. Just five seconds and I was almost turned into mush? What in the actual fuck?
“I-It’s fine,” he managed to speak after a second. “I just need to catch my breath.”
“I really think we should take that break,” Jaehyun proposed.
Being unable to deconstruct a single gravity spell was disheartening, but there was no way he was giving up. Even if his body was broken completely, he was not resting until he got it right.
“We’ve not even fought for thirty minutes. It’s too early,” rlin said as he groggily pushed himself to his feet.
“Honestly, I think you’re going too far with this training,” Jaehyun said, a hint of worry in his tone. If that was for him or rlin, rlin couldn’t say. “It’s like you’re expecting too much of yourself. Why? Isn’t this enough?”
Ah. rlin knew that tone any day. Sothing really was wrong with the boy’s family. But it seed the disaster Jaehyun was facing in his household was one that consistently pushed him to be better. rlin was jealous. His own parents wanted him to remain average. They were living on the opposite sides of life.
“It is enough,” said rlin. “If that’s what you want. Your life is yours and yours alone. No one has the right to tell you what you must and mustn’t do.”
Jaehyun read rlin’s expression and shook his head as he stood up.
“You don’t an that.”
“It depends,” rlin said. “But we’re Mages. You are an S-Class Mage; the highest class achievable for a Mage. While I’m on the other end of the spectrum. But that doesn’t change that we have a goal to achieve. This tournant is for Prestige Academy, and us. We can’t go in below the standards that’s expected of us.” He paused. “That honestly feels like I’m putting pressure on you.”
Jaehyun nodded. “Yes.”
rlin scratched the back of his head. “Eh… I’m not really good at pep talks, so I guess. Anyways, what I’m saying in essence is: if this is good enough for you, then that’s valid. But as Mages, sothing more is expected of us. Especially knowing that we are the last line between humanity and the monsters.”
rlin’s head pounded softly as he recalled the Drachens of the Tower of Xeros, and he instantly regretted referring to beings of the world beyond the dungeons and towers as monsters. They, too, were beings with their own cultures and livelihood; regardless of the differences and perhaps the never-ending battle between them and humans, maybe they didn’t deserve to be called monsters. The ones who did were those who were shipping off lethal drugs to desperate Mages. Those were the real monsters.
Jaehyun sighed. “All right, rlin,” he said. “You’ve convinced . Let’s give it our best.”
“Absolutely.”
Despite what he’d said, Jaehyun still looked worried. Regardless, he took a few steps back and rose back up to the sky.
rlin took that as his cue to resu. He activated [Flash Step].
[Perk: Reader’s Bookmark Activated]
[Bookmarks (2): Flash Step (Requires at least 190 milliseconds reaction ti to function). Mana Spring (Requires at least Level 10 Strength, Level 15 Agility, and Level 20 Resilience to function)]
[Bookmark: Flash Step, Chosen.]
[Conditions to function t: 170 milliseconds reaction ti]
[Bookmark: Flash Step, Activated.]
rlin’s body lightened. And imdiately he vanished from Jaehyun’s line of sight.
He had sothing fairly simple in mind. His main aim was to be able to deconstruct a spell while being occupied with sothing else. As long as he remained visible to Jaehyun while trying that, it would never work.
However, the main toolset of a Mage was their eyes. It was very hard to cast a spell upon soone you couldn’t see, as visuals needed to be present for the point of reference to be locked on.
Since rlin couldn’t make Jaehyun blind, using his speed was his best option. And, boy, was he fast now.
The world spun around rlin as he kept flashing from point to point in the ring, confusing Jaehyun. His head banged as the nausea from being affected by Jaehyun’s gravity spells from earlier returned. But he didn’t let it tie him down.
He kept at it, and slowly began to shift into the cognitive state. His speed didn’t slow down, and neither did his attention to details wane. The world spread out before him, and he connected with his mana on a deeper level than ever before.
rlin locked onto Jaehyun in the air, and imdiately, he activated Reader Mage.
[Perk: Reader Mage Activated]
[Analyzing spell…]
[Analysis complete]
[Spell: Float.
Category: Novice, Tier III
Spell Wielder: S-Class Mage.
Spell Description: A spell created by interfering with the Earth’s gravitational field acting on an object just enough that other forces such as air, motion, inertia, can compete with the Earth’s pull, causing the object to float to a certain extent.]
[Deconstructing Process: A mana sheathe is required for this spell to work, as it redirects the lines of force acting on a body, ensuring it becos a distortion in the gravitational field. This way the pull of the Earth doesn’t directly apply to it, or, at least, not to the degree that it should. To deconstruct, destroy the mana sheathe by ripping it apart. Caution: The Novice Tier III spell of an S-Class Mage is the maximum spell you can deconstruct. You will not be left unscathed. Do with that information what you will.]
[Deconstruct?]
[Yes?/No?]
rlin’s head felt like it was being split in half, and the caution from the System wasn’t helping.
He knew that he had to listen to it. The last ti he hadn’t against Choi Sangook, it had landed him in the infirmary. This would be the worst possible ti for him to be going back to that place, considering that Sunday was just around the corner.
It was a dilemma. Did he go ahead with deconstructing the spell to prove that he had achieved his goal in this duel. Or did he just accept the defeat and hope that during his fight on Sunday, it would all turn out as expected?
rlin gritted his teeth.
He wanted the training to prove fruitful for him, but he didn’t want that at the expense of his participation in the tournant.
His choice was made.
No…
Reader Mage fizzled out, and exhaustion slamd into rlin right at that mont. [Flash Step] broke apart and rlin tumbled onto the mat of the ring, only stopping before he got to the mana-surge serving as a barrier around the ring due to Lee Jaehyun’s help.
He breathed out a sigh and plopped to the ground, catching his breath.
“You win,” he said.
Jaehyun raised a brow. “I didn’t do anything this ti, I swear. I couldn’t even see you.”
“I know,” rlin said with a chuckle. “I don’t have any more in the tank at the mont. I wanna rest, so you win.”
So much for being able to fight for hours on end. It seed attacking his organs directly was one way to sap him of all his strength. rlin had confird that much from his fight with Dr. Eleanor, and now Jaehyun.
“What a way to end the duel,” Jaehyun said.
“Right?”
Yuri cleared her throat at that mont, calling both rlin’s and Jaehyun’s attention to her where she was standing just outside the ring.
“Are you both done?” she said. “Because I am. Or I think I am.”
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