The magic of this world, as confirmed by Nerha, was divided into a total of ten stages.
What people commonly called “levels,” ranging from Level 1 for beginners of magic all the way up to Level 10, the final stage.
Within the family, starting from Level 5, where one awakens a so-called “unique lineage”, one was treated as a full-fledged fighting force, while anything below that, whether Level 1 or Level 4, could not escape being treated as mere prospects.
But even within the world of those prospects, there were naturally ranks.
Level 1 and Level 2 were different, and even within the same level, treatment differed depending on whether one had just entered that stage or was already aiming for the next one.
For example, Nerha’s younger sibling, Neha, at the mere age of fourteen, was pioneering Level 4 and was receiving abundant attention and expectations from the family head and the upper echelons of the clan.
On the other hand, the dropout Nerha, despite being seventeen, was still struggling without being able to break through even Level 2, monopolizing everyone’s indifference and contempt.
Then what about the two guys right in front of him now?
Beker and Zekron, both of them, having reached the late stages of Level 2, were among the top tier of the prospective freshmen entering Libra.
“You’re going to step on us?”
“Yeah. I can step on half-baked guys like you easily enough.”
An expression of utter disbelief was immediately etched onto Beker’s face. With a bit of exaggeration, if one compared Beker’s and Nerha’s magical attainments right now, even five Nerhas wouldn’t be able to beat Beker. But…
“I don’t care if both of you, no, all three of you, come at me.”
“…Ha!”
To be honest, that last remark had a bit of bluff mixed into it.
He could handle Beker and Zekron, but the guy behind them called Baston was absolutely not someone to be taken lightly.
“...”
A large-framed man with short hair, standing quietly behind the two of them, waiting in silence. Unlike the two who were little more than greenhorns, that guy had learned how to rein in his presence.
‘He’s someone who’s experienced real combat.’
He couldn’t understand why someone like that was following Beker’s group, but no matter how much of a genius one was, at this age bloodline mattered more than skill, so it couldn’t be helped.
“Zekron, you stay back. I’ll step on that guy.”
“Take it easy. If we cause a scene and get caught, it’ll get annoying.”
Taking Nerha’s provocation hook, line, and sinker, Beker gathered mana in his hand and stepped forward.
“I don’t know what kind of guts you’ve got to be spouting provocations like that, but don’t expect me to let you off nicely.”
“What kind of guts, huh...”
Previously, having entered the world of magic through the basic recommended texts by Chloeia, Nerha had learned roughly what the typical casting time for a Level 2 mage was like, and the interval at which one could continuously cast spells.
‘If he completed the spell and fired it off properly, killing a person in a single blow would be more than possible, but...’
At this distance, facing a Level 2 mage with almost no real combat experience was, no different from facing an ordinary person.
Pop!
“Huh?”
Nerha kicked off the ground and charged straight at Beker. It seemed like Beker had been chanting some kind of spell the whole time while facing Nerha, but whatever that spell was, if you just rushed in and disrupted him before the chant was completed, that was the end of it.
But unexpectedly…
“Hah! Did you really think I’d fall for such a shallow trick!”
Perhaps having experienced this before, Beker deftly retreated backward while pouring out mana toward Nerha.
“You think I’ve only seen one or two idiots like you who can’t even use magic and just rush in like that?!”
Whoosh!
An incomplete, crude storm of mana was fired toward Nerha.
If it hit, it would surely be a blow that would scatter blood and flesh everywhere.
But unfortunately, that mana never touched Nerha’s body.
“W, what?”
“I told you, you’re half-baked.”
The movement of the shoulders, the shift of the waist, the direction of the pupils. When you put all of that together, you could easily tell in advance where the launcher would be aimed even before the palm was fully opened.
Whoosh!
Nerha lightly dodged Beker’s attack and dove straight into the guy’s guard.
Then, planting his stance firmly, he drove his fist into the man’s abdomen.
Thud!
“Urgh!”
There was no special technique to it, but a punch properly loaded with body weight could deliver sufficient impact even without much strength.
“B, Beker!”
The moment Beker dropped to one knee, unable to breathe from the blow, Nerha swung his leg and kicked him in the neck.
“Gkh!”
“Beker! You bastard!”
Seeing Beker collapse, Zekron Radeus exploded in rage and stretched out his hand toward Nerha.
“Nerha, you bastard! I was going to go easy on you!”
“…!”
Whoosh!
—Fire Bolt!
Perhaps because he had been pre-casting even after Beker stepped forward, a red flame suddenly burst from Zekron’s hand and engulfed Nerha.
‘Not bad!’
In an instant, Nerha let out a note of admiration as he gauged the power of the blazing flame.
For something as low as Level 2, it was fast and strong. If it hit, it wouldn’t end with just a simple burn! But that didn’t mean he would just take it head-on.
“I told you, you guys are half-baked.”
No matter how sneakily he fired it off, just like Beker, Zekron’s movements were crude and linear.
The impact point of his magic was far too easy to predict, and Nerha lightly twisted his body and casually dodged the incoming fireball.
“H, huff!”
“Next is you, right?”
“W, wait a second!”
Nerha charged toward the flustered Zekron, who was waving his hands in panic. Regardless of their frail physical abilities, the power of their magic was considerable.
If he dragged things out and carelessly allowed even one spell to land, there was a high chance he’d be done for on the spot.
“W, wai—!”
Before he could even finish his words, Nerha’s figure was already rushing into Zekron’s field of vision.
“B, Baston, what are you doing! Hurry up and take this guy—!”
Thud!
To shut his mouth, Nerha kicked upward at Zekron’s lower vital spot.
That is, the part commonly referred to as the groin.
“Ghk! Ghhk!”
Thud!
Struck there, Zekron’s entire body trembled violently as he collapsed to the ground.
‘Was that a bit too much?’
As a martial artist, targeting that spot against an ordinary person was a little embarrassing. And as a fellow man, his conscience pricked a bit too.
In any case, having taken down Beker and Zekron, Nerha turned his head toward the last remaining guy, Baston.
“I thought you’d jump in midway, but you’re quite composed.”
“…Are you really Young Master Nerha?”
Baston looked at Nerha with an expression that said he could hardly believe it. Even if Nerha didn’t remember him, as someone who followed Beker and Zekron around, he must know very well what the “old Nerha” had been like.
“Who else would be Nerha if not me?”
“That’s true, but still.”
“Enough. Are you going to fight too?”
“...”
At Nerha’s provocation, Baston fell into contemplation. With the two who could be called his masters having been beaten down, as a subordinate or retainer, it would have been the principle to seek revenge for them.
But Baston cleanly gave up on revenge.
“No. I refuse.”
“Oh?”
“Even if I fight, it doesn’t seem like I could win.”
Instead of charging at Nerha, Baston walked over to Beker and Zekron and hoisted them onto his shoulders.
‘Interesting.’
Judging by his build alone, he seemed more like someone who should have joined a knightly house rather than a mage family.
His ability to assess the battlefield and his temperament of remaining calm to the end. While Nerha didn’t know exactly how much talent or skill he possessed, it felt like a waste for someone like him to be under Beker and Zekron.
“How about coming under me instead?”
Baston, who had been about to leave the facility with the two slung over his shoulders, flinched.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just what it sounds like. Your talent is a bit wasted under those two.”
At Nerha’s praise, the tips of Baston’s ears turned slightly red. But regardless of that, Baston politely bowed his head and expressed his refusal.
“I’m sorry. Since I have already sworn loyalty to these men, betraying my lord over something like this is out of the question.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“That’s a shame.”
Nerha clicked his tongue lightly. To be sure, he hadn’t really expected Baston to be swayed by a single offer anyway.
“Fine. It feels like we’ll cross paths again later anyway, so let’s slowly build this connection. As time passes, the day your thoughts change might come.”
“...”
Baston did not respond to those words, only giving a slight nod before sharply turning his figure around.
‘What a waste. Such a waste.’
Watching Baston’s back as he disappeared, Nerha clicked his tongue lightly, feeling a rare pang of desire for talent.
* * *
After Beker and Zekron were beaten by Nerha and went back.
He thought they might come for revenge, but even after several days passed, there was no particular change in Nerha’s daily life.
‘Surprisingly quiet.’
Well, if they stayed quiet, that was fine too.
The resource Nerha needed most right now was time.
‘At this point, can I say I’ve at least got the basics down?’
Whenever he got stuck, Nerha shamelessly bombarded Chloeia with questions. Each time, Chloeia answered Nerha’s questions in a detailed and sincere manner. And to check whether he had truly understood, she would open books here and there and pose questions to him. Considering how annoyed she had seemed at first, it was a remarkable development(?).
‘Impressive. Has she taught others a lot before?’
Nerha cast sidelong glances at Chloeia with renewed eyes. No matter what the question was, Chloeia’s answers came without hesitation, and when it came to explanations of parts that were hard to understand, she explained them easily and in detail.
‘Rather than a librarian, it feels like I’m facing a professor.’
Thanks to Chloeia’s help, there was no denying that his progress in finishing the basic texts had become much faster.
After confirming that Nerha had fully understood her explanations, she looked at him with a peculiar gaze.
“Your memory is quite good. Your speed of comprehension isn’t bad either, so how is it that you still haven’t even reached Level 2 yet?”
“…There are, uh, circumstances.”
Nerha evasively avoided the question, feeling a cold sweat trickle down.
In the past, what had been the biggest obstacle for the “old Nerha” in learning magic was precisely insight.
With poor memory and intuition, magic hadn’t suited “Nerha” very well.
Realizing that fact, from that moment on Nerha had raised his internal cultivation method beyond the middle energy center and begun to seriously develop the brain, that is, the upper energy center, in parallel.
Originally, the development of the upper energy center was something that most martial artists couldn’t even attempt because the Governing Vessel, the most important among the eight extraordinary meridians, was fundamentally blocked, but for Nerha it wasn’t difficult at all.
“At this point, doesn’t it seem like you no longer need to stay here?”
Thus, when the tenth day’s afternoon passed and the sun was beginning to set low in the sky.
After perfectly answering all twenty of Chloeia’s questions, Nerha finally succeeded in understanding the five basic books one hundred percent.
Chloeia slowly closed the books and spoke to Nerha.
“You should review in the family’s archive rather than in such an old place like this.”
“Is that so?”
“Even students at most magic towers don’t dig into the basic texts as thoroughly as you do. I think they’d probably get two or three questions wrong.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Nerha stretched and lightly massaged his waist and shoulders.
Even though he had continuously circulated his internal cultivation method while reading to ward off fatigue, it was inevitable that muscles he hadn’t used would naturally stiffen.
After all, aside from training time, he had spent most of each day sitting here without moving an inch.
“Since you’ve understood all five of those books, there are no more texts here that I can recommend to you.”
Chloeia clapped for Nerha with a much gentler demeanor than when they had first met.
Seeing that, Nerha snorted with a small laugh and shook his head.
“I don’t think that’s the case just yet.”
“…Yes?”
At those words, Chloeia tilted her head slightly.
Nerha smiled faintly and pointed toward a spot he had discovered through casual observation over time.
“There, the place where the door has been cleverly overlapped and sealed. It seems like there’s something beyond that. Why don’t you ever mention that place?”
“...”
The moment those words ended, Chloeia’s expression froze cold. It was as if her attitude up until now had all been “an act,” changing abruptly.
“Why are you curious about that place?”
‘There’s definitely something there.’
Discovering that hidden door had been nothing more than coincidence.
And he hadn’t particularly been interested in what lay beyond it either.
To begin with, Nerha had planned to move to a higher-level archive once he finished studying these basic texts.
He had just casually poked at it before leaving, but the reaction he got back was quite dramatic.
“Why, is it a secret you can’t even tell ‘Nerha Radeus’?”
“That is not the case. It is a space whose access is permitted to the direct line of the Radeus family.”
“Then why that reaction?”
“With Young Master Nerha’s current level, it is impossible to understand the documents beyond that door. So please refrain from taking any further interest in that place.”
“...”
Up until now, Chloeia had referred to Nerha as “you” or “that person,” but now she properly used the term Young Master and made her request politely.
Nerha fell into thought for a moment.
Then he arrived at an answer.
“I see.”
Nerha smiled faintly and looked straight at Chloeia.
“You weren’t assigned to this place to guard the archive, but to guard what’s beyond that door.”
