Chapter 8 (1/2)

What does this book taste like? #4

Theo first touched the back of his head before examining his palms, which had no calluses unlike Alfred’s. He had only left for 20 minutes, but his body already felt unfamiliar. This meant that the memory of the hero called Alfred Bellontes was deeply ingrained in him.

Even now, it felt like a blue flash of light would emerge from his fingertips.

‘No, is it possible right now?’

Theo aimed his finger impulsively. This was the secret of the war hero, Alfred Bellontes… the flash of death which had shot and killed even first-rated knights.

That feeling was still vivid. The magic power would be pulled from the fixed magic circles inside the blood vessels of the body, then the magic power would take action outside the body.

Pajijik.

“Ugh!”

There was a pang, like his skin was burning from the inside.

His arm was different from Alfred’s. It was much weaker than the arm which had been conditioned for many years, perhaps even decades. The formation of the Magic Missile caused several of Theo’s blood vessels to rupture. If Theo tried to reproduce Alfred’s output, then his entire right arm would be broken.

Fortunately, Theodore Miller wasn’t that arrogant.

He had asked whether it was possible for the him, as he was now, and the memory of Alfred had nodded. Simultaneously, as Theo’s blood vessels were ruptured, a blue flash popped out.

Piing!

The blue light, which was thin and hazy compared to Alfred’s, shot through the window of the library and disappeared. However, the power was double or even three times that of conventional Magic Missiles. Even so, the amount of magic power consumed wasn’t much different from conventional ones.

This was the essence of [Ballistics Magic] and the art of Alfred Bellontes, which had been studied by many magicians.

“…Really, it is a success.”

Theo looked at his index finger with trembling eyes after managing to reproduce it. His forearm was throbbing from the reaction to the Magic Missile, while bruises appeared where the blood vessels had burst.

Anyway, Theo couldn’t care less about that right now. He was the academy’s long-time dunce, someone who had received the repeater letter three times.

No one expected anything from him. Even Professor Vince, the only one to recognize his talent, had eventually turned his head away. The common magic which anyone else could do wasn’t possible for Theo.

He had resigned himself to it. It was too difficult to chase after others, so he had given up. Maybe that was why…

The emotion boiling inside him was a joy he had never felt in his entire life. An unknown joy tickled his spine at the thought of mastering a magic that no one else had managed.

‘I can do it. I can!’

Theo had been betrayed by his talent and neglected in reality. He had gone five years without anyone stretching a hand out to him. Everybody in the academy had called Theodore a loser, and he didn’t have the power to contradict that. He had just shut himself up in an old library.

However, it could be different from now on. No, it would be different.

“…Good.”

Theo breathed for a while as he suppressed his heated emotions, then he looked down at his left hand. Today, it had swallowed two books—

Ignite and Alfred-style Magic Missile.

Thanks to this achievement, which was beyond expectations, even the gross tongue seemed cute to Theo.

“Gluttony.”

The tongue swung at his call.

–Question, do you have?

Theo nodded without hesitation. The two magics he’d learned were enough for today. The magic he got from Alfred Bellontes was greater than the entire profit of the past week. Furthermore, Theodore examined himself calmly and realized that there was no other spell he needed to ‘consume’ at the moment.

‘I have enough of the 2nd Circle magic right now. With some exceptions like Afred’s magic, I don’t need to feed it any more. Now, I need magic power that can help me reach the 3rd Circle.’

If magic was a flame, magic power was its fuel. He couldn’t use magic spells if he didn’t have enough magic power. Conversely, if his magic power was huge, poor control could cause terrible havoc.

Possessing almost limitless magic power was the reason why dragons reigned as the strongest species.

If Theo had been born in a wealthy family, then he wouldn’t need to think about this. He could gain large amounts of magic power if he bought reagents. It was said that the effect decreased the more it was taken, but it would be enough to fill the amount of magic power required for the 3rd Circle.

The problem was that the amount of money needed to buy that many reagents would require selling the Miller estate five times.

So, he asked Gluttony, “I would like to know how to increase magic power.”

The ancient grimoire… A relic from a time which wasn’t recorded in history books… Among the numerous knowledge which Gluttony had consumed, Theo believed there would be a way to increase magic power without taking reagents.