C140
Tess also experienced the absorption of power, but without a single disruption, she rewound her actions and sheathed her sword.
Distance control, maximum acceleration, everything was perfect. All eyes were focused on the sphere.
A number popped up. 442. It was the first time that the number exceeded 400.
What would the result be? Tess looked on without showing any emotion.
Shortly after, the number disappeared and the sphere turned red.
"Phew, it didn't work. That's a shame."
Tess turned away without hesitation. SHE could understand the feelings of the two who shouted that they would try it one more time, but she thought it would be a loss of dignity to follow suit.
“Damn it! Isn't that really broken? She strike it with a rapier, how can it come out more than a blunt weapon?"
The warrior roared in frustration. Living in a world that relied on brute strength, it could hurt their pride to be beaten by a woman, but from Tess' perspective, it was pathetic.
"Why do you care about that when we both failed? And controlling power and using power are completely different! Why don’t you practice some skills instead of just lifting rocks?”
"What?! Are you ignoring my strength? Can't you see these muscles? Do you have something like this?”
Tess turned her head away as if she had seen something disgusting. She thought it would be easier to talk to a cow about subtlety than to argue with this macho man.
"Is the sword warrior testing over? Then it's my turn."
The archer pulled out the longbow behind his back and stepped out.
From the results so far, it seemed difficult to score high with just physical strength.
Although an arrow is a physical attack, the archer was confident. Even though it was a costly method, if he didn't show at least one skill, wouldn't he be laughed at?
“Looks like you intend to use that.”
As the mage said, the archer took out an arrow from his back and removed the arrowhead. Then, he took out a uniquely shaped arrowhead from the hard leather pocket on his pants.
The tip was not sharp, but round like an almond, but it was not the usual iron color, it was purple.
"Hmm, good. Shall we try this one this time?"
Amy's eyes lit up when she saw the uniquely colored arrowhead. Certainly, with that, it could deliver a much more powerful impact than an ordinary arrow.
"Shirone, look at that. It's a magic bullet."
"Huh? That is?”
Shirone had also heard about magic bullets in class. It was an item infused with magic into magic crystals, which is extracted in extremely small quantities from nature.
The principle of occurrence of magic crystal stone is a mystery, but it is a common theory that it is a chemical reaction that responds to unique natural phenomena.
For example, magic crystals of lightning could be collected in dry highlands or tropical rain forests where thunderstorms often occur.
The minerals collected in this way show affinity for specific phenomena, and magic engineers succeeded in storing magic in magic stones using such properties.
Of course, this level of success was merely laboratory science that could hardly be called an achievement.
In order to use magic crystals in real life, it needs the support of materials science that converts them into energy and mechanical engineering that consumes those materials in various forms.
The series of processes in which magic crystals are mined and consumed by society is made up of so many manpower and enormous capital that it can be described as an industry.
And the field that competed for the top spot in the industry was magic bullet, a lethal weapon.
"So that's the expensive magic bullet. How does it compare to the magic we use?"
"It's not particularly powerful or anything. The big merit is that even non-mages can use magic. Probably it costs one gold for each. Even though the weight of the magic bullet that actually goes into the arrowhead is only 10 grams.”
Shirone stuck out his tongue. It costs one gold to twang a bowstring once. Then how much money was poured into the rain of magic bullets from 3,000 archers mentioned in history books?
“It's great stuff. I don't think I could use it because it's too precious."
"It's natural for us as mages to think about the cost. But in actual combat, whether or not you have a magic bullet is a hugely important issue. You might be able to save your life with just one magic bullet when you are about to die."
"I see. But you know a lot about it? They didn't teach us that in class."
"I just found out recently too. The reason my older brother came home was because of the issue with supplying arrows to the archer division. It seems that the company has been committing corruption since a year ago, but I don't know at what stage the money is leaking out. I was curious and asked Nade about it, and he knew everything from the production process to the manufacturing technology."
"Eh? Nade? When did you ask him that?"
"You know when you woke up and took a break from school. According to rumors, he made an invisible cloak, that's quite a technology. If it's Nade, he could probably make magic bullets."
"What? Is he going to make that expensive thing himself?"
"What, you didn't know? Are you really my friend who can't live or die without me?" (An expression or a saying, but I don’t know what it mean. 너 정말 죽고 못 사는 친구 맞니?”)
"Haha, well… But Nade always shows strange things. Like a never-stopping carriage or a doll that does a dozen funny dances.”
"Well, just having technology doesn't make it possible. Since it is a state monopoly business, if you do not obtain a license, you will be arrested for manufacturing illegal weapons. But if you're bored later, ask him to make one for you. If you ask, he'll probably make it for you. You can buy the magic crystals cheaply from the Alchemy Foundation."
While Shirone and Amy were talking, the archer released the magic bullet's control device.
Shock-reactive arrows should always have a safety device set unless they are in a danger zone. If it reacts when hit by a carriage, a leg could fly off.
"Hey, I'm going to use magic bullets from now on. It's called Lightning Arrow. If you're close, you might get hit, so step back."
Shirone and the others moved as far away as possible within the sight range. They had expected the Labyrinth of Time and Space to absorb magic power, but it was better to be careful.
As the archer pulled the string tight, even the tension around him seemed to rise. A moment later, when he let go with a ping, the arrow was plunged into the Labyrinth of Time and Space with a whistle.
As the magic bullet reacted, it released powerful lightning bolts.
However, the blue electricity was generated only inside the sphere. As expected, it seemed to absorb even magic power.
The sphere flashed for about 3 seconds, then went quiet. People waited for the numbers to appear, thinking that it was really worth the money.
1,020.
The corners of the archer's mouth went up as the score reached four digits.
But the result was inevitably a failure. After scoring over 1,000 points and not getting any results, the archer came down from the altar thinking about his capital.
"Damn! What, I just wasted money?"
“I can't really say that. From the looks of it, your body seems to be fine, are you okay?”
At Amy's words, the archer checked his condition. He saw the swordsmen's legs weakening, but this time he was fine.
"Huh? That's right. It seems that the Labyrinth of Time and Space does not rob the archer's strength. It seems to only measure impact damage."
“That could be a piece of information. What will you do? Do you want to try again?"
The archer stared at the sphere. After all, he scored the highest score, so he wasn't feeling too bad. But wasting money beyond this was a no-brainer.
"No, I don't want to. No matter what attribute I use, it won't make much difference, and I don't think I can pass with this. I just wasted magic bullet."
Amy readily agreed.
"Then, is it the mage's turn from now on? Shirone, who should do it first? You or me?”
The mercenary mage smiled and pointed at Amy.
"Why don't you try? Then it's my turn, so we can definitely compare who's stronger.”
Amy accepted the challenge as if there was nothing to hold back. Come to think of it, she still had feelings to resolve with that woman.
"Great. Shirone, I'll go first then?"
"Yes. Show your skills. Go for it!"
Shirone saw that Amy had potential. Her major was the Fire System, which is specialized in offensive magic. In addition, she had Target Type that emphasized the power of a single shot.
There are countless types of magic, and trends change with development speed, but the Fire System has always been the strongest in the magic world, ranking first in the power category.
But Amy was careful. She stood at the altar, calculating which spell she would deploy.
'It's surprisingly tricky. The distance is too close to use Sniper Mode. Should I just attack with Target Type? But then the power will be less.'
Unlike the Ice System, where absolute zero is the limit, the Fire System has no limit to temperature rise.
Many mages are drawn to its infinite possibilities and choose flame, but it was difficult for even high-level mages to overcome the barrier of 1,000 degrees celsius.
Still, Fire System are powerful. This is because most things on the planet are under the control of 1,000 degrees celsius.
Living organisms, trees, and most metals except iron were likely to burn under the energy of heat.
However, just as there is no perfect attribute in the world, there were drawbacks to the magic of the Fire System.
It was its lightness.
The total energy is tremendous, but it lacks weight. So typically, they graft the Air System to supplement the impact, and Flame Strike was a representative example.
'However, due to the nature of Flame Strike, its power doubles as the distance increases. In such cases, is it better to focus on fire?'
It was also a good strategy to compete with the Pure System, which can purely raise the temperature, as the Labyrinth of Time and Space measures not only shock but also magical power.
Thinking of magic that fits there, Amy made a decision.
'Fireball.'
Two flames rose above Amy's palms. Originally, it was a sphere, but due to the nature of fire, it formed a form of water droplets rising upward.
If there was a difference between the fire created by magic and the fire in reality, it was indeed density. In other words, fire mages increase the temperature by adjusting the density of fire. Moreover, as the temperature increases, they could also increase the radius in which the flame spreads.
Amy only turned her wrist while holding the flame. Then, a fiery fireball like lava stretched its tail and flew.
As soon as the flames hit, the Labyrinth of Time and Space swallowed the flames. An incredible whirlpool of fire circulated endlessly inside the sphere.
When the score finally came out, people burst into exclamation.
3,270.
It was the highest score so far. And looking at the results so far, it seemed difficult to exceed this score.
The archer realized that Shirone and the others were not ordinary students. The power of the Electric Arrow, augmented by Magic Bullet, was 1,020. However, the fact that the power of Fireball, the basic magic, was more than three times that, meant that there was a difference from the level of magic.
But Amy frowned. The Labyrinth of Time and Space seemed to sneer as if it were not nearly enough, emitting a fierce red light.
"What! What do you want me to do?"
She thought it wouldn't matter, but she felt like going crazy when she actually failed.
"Hohoho! That's how kids are. Is it my turn this time?"
"Wait a minute! I'll try Sniper Mode. I will find out how much you demand today."
Shirone smiled awkwardly and headed towards the altar. Amy, who had an extraordinary fighting spirit, would never come down unless he went and stopped her.
“Calm down for now. If you get angry and lose your concentration, you won’t get any more points.”
“Oh, really! Shirone, I'm definitely doing it again. You got it?"
The mage who climbed the altar turned to Amy and said.
"Coincidentally, were we a mage of the same series? I am also a fire mage. To match your level, I'll try with Fireball."
'Heh, that's funny. She thought the same thing as I did.'
Amy responded with a snort. Anyway, there were no words for the loser, so even responding was annoying.
---
Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)
