LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 233
Chapter 233
Iniya clicked her tongue instinctively as she looked up at the cascading rocks.
‘Doing this kind of thing with just low-level magic?’
She already knew Philena wasn’t an ordinary mage when she had unleashed that enormous Fire Wall, but even so, her current capabilities far exceeded Iniya’s imagination.
‘High-level magic at her age is impressive enough, but...’
More than that, it was her combat sense that was truly astonishing.
The duty of a mage was to assess the situation calmly and use the appropriate magic. Among mages, there was a saying: the strongest magic wasn’t the highest-circle spell, but the one most suited to the situation.
However, Philena took it a step further—she used magic to create the situation itself.
Even interrupted spells became a stepping stone for her next attack. By adjusting the intensity of her incantations, she eliminated delays and secured chanting time. Through keen insight into her opponent’s movements and skillful utilization of the terrain, she was able to deliver devastating attacks using only low-level spells.
Even Iniya, who had roamed the human world and met countless mages, had never seen anyone wield magic with such efficiency and economy.
‘Well, admiration is one thing, but I still have to avoid it.’
Iniya thrust her sword into the air.
Reading the trajectory of the falling rocks with uncanny precision, she deflected the force sideways. Despite her rapier seeming so fragile compared to the massive boulders, each time it pierced the air, the rocks seemed to move away on their own, falling outside her immediate vicinity.
The display was akin to swatting away blades with a toothpick, and Philena was stunned.
‘Even Teslon couldn’t do that. Just how is she pulling this off? Is it some sort of magic?’
Even as her astonishment grew, Philena immediately began preparing her next spell.
“Del Pia Lastel Roun, I summon thee—dark barrier, block my foes.”
Iniya, who had deflected the rocks, gleamed with a sharp light in her eyes and swiftly changed the trajectory of her sword. The thrust shifted into a slash, and a silvery aura extended outward through the air.
“Blade of the Frozen Wastes!”
A silvery lance of energy surged toward Philena like a flash of light. At the same time, she recited an incantation.
“Arcane Force Shield!”
A powerful magical barrier clashed with the silvery lance, resulting in a thunderous collision. The air quaked as aura and magic neutralized each other. Iniya clicked her tongue again.
“Tch, you’re really pulling this off…”
Philena had predicted Iniya’s long-range attack and prepared a defensive spell in advance.
‘Does she have an exceptional sense for this, or is her insight just extraordinary…?’
Either way, it was no ordinary skill. Iniya heightened her vigilance as she gazed at the calm-faced female mage.
Meanwhile, Philena let out a sigh of relief internally.
‘I-I survived…’
Though her expression remained composed, her heart was pounding so hard she feared it might leap out of her chest.
‘Aura Users are terrifying...’
It was common knowledge across the continent that only a Grand Mage of the 8th Circle or higher could contend with an Aura User. This was a fact as well as conventional wisdom. Even with a Staff of Multiple Replication, Philena, who was still in the early stages of the 7th Circle, was no match for the elven Aura User before her. Despite Iniya’s current physical state being in disarray, if Philena had been an ordinary High Mage of the 7th Circle, her head would have already been separated from her body.
The only reason she had managed to hold on until now was thanks to a lesson she had learned in her youth—the Theory of Magical Situation Control.
‘Thank you, Repenhardt. Or rather, I should call you Teslon now, shouldn’t I?’
Thinking of her childhood friend with black hair and black eyes, Philena felt a renewed sense of gratitude.
* * *
It was before Teslon lost his memories, back when he was still called Repenhardt.
Both Philena and Repenhardt had been orphans of lowly birth, taken in by the Mage Tower of Delphia to learn magic.
Typically, mages were reluctant to pass on their magic to disciples easily. Even learning a simple 1st Circle spell usually required three years of menial labor, effectively as a servant—a harsh reality of life in the Mage Tower. Philena herself, who had been taken in at age nine, didn’t formally begin learning magic until she was over twelve.
After that, she quickly stood out compared to her peers. Within just six months of starting her training, she mastered the 1st Circle and began advancing into the 2nd Circle, demonstrating remarkable talent.
However, Philena never once felt like a genius.
After all, Repenhardt, who was only eleven at the time, had mastered all the spells of the 1st Circle within just three days of starting his lessons.
The mages of Delphia were stunned by Repenhardt’s extraordinary progress, and naturally, it caused an uproar.
Some argued that such an overwhelmingly gifted talent was dangerous, while others claimed he was the very prodigy who could restore the Mage Tower of Delphia to its former glory and needed to be nurtured properly. The entire tower was split into factions, fiercely debating his future.
At that time, the young Repenhardt cleverly grasped the situation. At the tender age of eleven, he realized that exposing his full abilities could put him in danger.
Thus, Repenhardt began to pace himself, progressing just slightly faster than Philena, who was always beside him.
'Philena, you’re an idiot, so if I use you as a benchmark, the adults won’t pay much attention to me, right?'
Recalling his words, Philena frowned slightly. Looking back, he had been a remarkably cheeky child.
'Two years younger than me, no less!'
Even though he hid his talent, Repenhardt still appeared threatening to others, resulting in restrictions on his teachings. However, compared to the initial uproar, he was now merely considered someone to be cautious of, which allowed the young Repenhardt to remain at the Mage Tower.
Four years passed like that, and when Repenhardt turned fifteen, the situation changed.
While others struggled to absorb the knowledge they were given, Repenhardt always seemed to have free time. Although the life of a mage’s apprentice involved plenty of physical labor, leaving little time for rest, mentally, he was utterly unburdened.
It was during this period of boredom that Repenhardt devised a new magical theory to entertain himself: the Theory of Magical Situation Control.
This wasn’t merely about using or combining magic to suit a situation. It was a magical causality theory that involved absorbing all the information on the battlefield, simulating it, and then controlling the cause and effect to dominate the entire situation.
It was an extraordinarily complex and advanced theory, so much so that if presented at an academic conference, it would have earned him immortal renown.
Repenhardt wasn’t foolish; he understood that revealing such a theory would only make him a target of suspicion and fear again. Thus, despite crafting this groundbreaking concept, he kept it to himself. He only shared it with Philena, his childhood friend, as a way to pass the time.
Philena gave a wry smile as she reminisced.
'Honestly, I thought I was going to die trying to understand it back then.'
While Repenhardt claimed he had created it for fun, to Philena, it sounded like abstract, pie-in-the-sky nonsense. It was impossibly difficult.
To make matters worse, the two-years-younger Repenhardt would look at her with an exasperated expression and say, 'What’s so hard about this? Are you stupid?' Philena’s pride wouldn’t let her give up. She cut into her sleep hours to master it.
In addition to the Theory of Magical Situation Control, young Repenhardt frequently came up with new methods for mana concentration, circle implementation, and meditation techniques, teaching them to Philena whenever he felt bored.
The teachings from this black-haired boy, two years her junior, were far more complex and challenging than anything offered by the Mage Tower, but once Philena understood them, their effectiveness was undeniable. Each method he taught was remarkably superior to the established practices of traditional magical studies.
Although Repenhardt’s magical prowess at the time was only around the 3rd Circle, the depth of his understanding rivaled that of seasoned High Mages.
This foundational knowledge was why Philena had reached such a high level of mastery in her late twenties. The solid groundwork laid by Repenhardt in her youth allowed her to absorb advanced magical knowledge later without wasting time.
Of course, that didn’t mean Philena’s own talent could be dismissed. The fact that she could even comprehend Repenhardt’s teachings already marked her as a genius in her own right. (In fact, Todd, a formal mage who had also resided in the Mage Tower at the time, overheard their discussions but failed to recognize that they were even talking about magical theory.)
In any case, her childhood friend had been a monstrous genius. Even though he lost his memories and, with them, his magical genius...
'Instead, he became an Aura User at the age of twenty. I can’t even begin to understand what true genius is,' Philena thought with a sigh.
The world hailed someone named Cyrus as the youngest Aura User, but Philena knew the truth. Repenhardt, who had once learned only magic at the Mage Tower, suddenly lost his memories one day, changed his name to Teslon, and began training in martial arts on his own. By the time he turned twenty, he had suddenly become an Aura User, an extraordinary existence among superhumans, radiating immense power.
He became an Aura User without a teacher? That would normally be enough to arouse suspicion, but Philena didn’t doubt it.
Her childhood friend had always been that kind of person.
Not just a gift from the heavens—his talent was beyond anything even the heavens could bestow. A person so extraordinary that no achievement seemed strange for him, yet no accomplishment seemed ordinary either.
What mattered most was the immense debt of gratitude Philena owed him.
During the time he was known as Repenhardt, he had helped her establish her foundation as a mage.
After he became Teslon, he helped her protect herself as a woman.
Since she first experienced puberty, Philena had constantly faced sexual dangers. As her body matured, the gazes of the male mages toward her turned serpentine, growing more and more unsettling.
Fortunately, in the Kingdom of Graim, pedophilia was abhorred, allowing her to endure until she was eighteen. After that, however, she had been resigned to a fate where her body would inevitably be defiled by the male mages of the Mage Tower.
The one who prevented that fate was Teslon.
When he was known as Repenhardt, he had been entirely oblivious to such dangers. But after losing his memories, he developed an almost supernatural ability to sense such predatory atmospheres and preemptively thwart attempted assaults.
Despite being a sixteen-year-old boy with no memories of magic, Teslon effortlessly subdued those who sought to harm her. With just a few light movements, he defeated mages of the 3rd or 4th Circle before they could even cast a single spell.
- Trying to lay hands on a woman with such feeble bodies? A real man should feel shame!
The things he said were a bit peculiar, but there was no denying he protected her.
When Teslon awakened his Aura and left the Mage Tower, he took Philena with him. Thanks to him, she became one of the rare female mages who entered the world as a full-fledged mage without having suffered abuse.
It was only natural for her to become Teslon’s devoted follower after everything he had done for her.
Even when he suddenly declared that they needed to stop a wicked being destined to engulf the continent in flames, she followed him without question.
Even when he joined the enigmatic secret organization known as the Sages of Silver, she remained steadfastly by his side.
She didn’t need to know why.
She didn’t need to understand his motives.
From the age of fourteen, Philena had deeply realized and accepted one truth: her childhood friend was an incomprehensible being.
The only truth that mattered was this:
Whether before he lost his memories or after, he was the one person who had cherished her unconditionally and given her everything.
'Without Teslon, I wouldn’t exist as I do today…'
With a faint smile, Philena gazed at the battlefield. From atop the partially shattered castle wall in the distance, an elf with violet hair stared her down, his Blade Aura emanating sharply.
For the one she loved and worshiped, Philena began preparing another spell.
“Rain of the Abyss, lash out with tongues of the north wind and icy snow!”
Her hands moved swiftly, forming seals.
“Blizzard Storm!”
* * *
The battle between a mage and a warrior was akin to a game of tag.
If the warrior managed to close the distance and land a decisive blow, the victory would be theirs.
Conversely, if the mage could continue to evade using movement spells and prevent the warrior’s approach with various magic, eventually defeating them from a distance, the victory would go to the mage.
This principle held true even in battles between Grand Mages and Aura Users.
While an Aura User, unlike an ordinary warrior, could unleash powerful long-range attacks, those were significantly weaker compared to the devastating force of wielding their Blade Aura in close combat. On the other hand, a Grand Mage was more than capable of repelling long-range Blade Aura attacks with their magical barriers.
From Philena’s fingertips, an array of magic rained down upon Iniya. Some spells were direct, others inflicted indirect damage, but all were focused on eliminating her opponent from a distance.
Iniya, meanwhile, darted forward, her silvery Blade Aura cutting through the air. With refined swordsmanship, she deflected or redirected the destructive magic rushing at her, tirelessly striving to close the gap between them.