Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

The number of Astral Wheels does not simply signify a difference in output.

If magic is the act of painting over the world, then the Astral Wheel is the number of colors one can use.

That is why the greatest difference among all the stages of magic lies between 1-Star and 2-Star.

A single-color palette and a two-color palette differ by an immeasurable degree in all forms of expression.

‘The result is already determined.’

Even in the face of the bizarre phenomenon, her thoughts did not change.

Lumia regenerated her Flame Spirit Manifestation and clenched her fist.

Dersia’s disciple, was it Jern?

Tattered and broken, even the last remaining gem on him cracked, he sat on the ground, resting one arm on his raised knee, staring intently at her.

The fighting spirit, rage, hatred that should exist during battle, or a desperate search for a glimmer of victory in a hopeless situation.

None of that could be seen.

Jern merely observed her.

…With eyes that lacked any discernible color.

“How unpleasant.”

Lumia muttered to herself unknowingly and took a step back.

Against a 1-Star wizard,

“Tsk.”

His eyes still lacked emotion, but because of that, they reflected her like a mirror.

Lumia saw mockery within them.

She clenched her teeth. The eight now-multiplied Flame Spirit Manifestations each scooped up a handful of surrounding sand.

The molten grains of sand flew like bullets,

But at some point, the trajectory shifted, and they dropped to the ground.

That was not strange. If one intervened at that distance into the Flame Spirit Manifestation, a few grains of sand wouldn’t land a hit. Lumia had thrown them to probe the nature of the unknown magic as well.

Yet there was no change in Jern’s posture.

He didn’t even blink, let alone recite an incantation. There wasn’t even a beastkin acting as a trigger.

The unknown magic he was using now meant he could wield it with that much familiarity and ease.

-What is that?

Lumia was genuinely flustered. No matter how powerful, 1-Star magic generally doesn’t differ much from elemental magic.

In fact, stronger spells are often weaker than elemental magic at lower star levels, because they were designed to be cast by at least 5-Star wizards, and thus are largely meaningless below that level.

And yet, despite being 1-Star magic, that spell was handling her 2-Star Flame Spirit Manifestation as if twisting a child’s wrist.

“…Interesting.”

He wasn’t someone she could afford to show pointless pride to.

The flames dancing in Lumia’s right hand flared up even larger.

At the same time, the size of the Flame Spirit Manifestations swelled several times over.

She wrung out every drop of mana she had been saving for emergencies. She wouldn’t be able to use magic for several days after 30 minutes passed, but it was better than losing to a commoner.

Lumia threw a full-powered punch at Jern, who still showed no reaction.

-Fssshh…!

Before her punch connected, it vanished.

As expected. Another punch filled the place of the vanished one, and the vanished punch regenerated.

It was a mana exchange.

Lumia, behind the endless flurry of punches, asked with a seemingly relaxed expression.

“Will you be okay? That magic, whatever it is, if it’s a kind that interferes with others, it must require quite a bit of mana.”

“Hmm…”

After a brief moment of thought, Jern gave a faint smile.

“I think I’ll be fine.”

“…In that case.”

Lumia smiled as well.

Because if this was how it was going to be, she could do it hundreds of times.

Enlarging the form and changing the color had merely been an illusion.

The current punches were just flames shaped to mimic the form of the Flame Spirit Manifestation.

They had no binding power. If Jern had learned any defensive magic, even a direct hit wouldn’t deal much damage.

However, Jern was presumptively erasing all of the punches on his own.

A 1-Star using a ridiculous range of interference magic, something only a very select few high-level spells could achieve.

It shouldn’t even require less mana. If such a thing were possible, the whole system of magic would collapse.

They exchanged punches fiercely while staring each other down.

Ten times.

Twenty times.

…A hundred times.

“…What-”

The number of times it took for Lumia to begin doubting her own eyes was 237.

Unfazed.

Even after having her magic dismantled that thoroughly, he did not appear the least bit fatigued.

‘It must be… a bluff, right?’

That was the only way she could explain it. Anything else made no rational sense.

“Hmm.”

“Ugh.”

As Jern let out a quiet hum and stood up from his spot, Lumia took a few steps back.

However, this time, she didn’t blame herself.

It was because she hadn’t even realized it. All her attention had been focused solely on Jern’s every move.

Even during a battle, he casually brushed the sand off his legs and asked in a passing tone,

“Are you finished?”

Lumia’s expression cooled over instantly.

She had fought against stronger wizards many times before.

They shook the earth, summoned meteors, and created monsters.

But all of it was within the realm of comprehension. She had always believed that one day she, too, would reach that level.

But this- this was beyond understanding.

She couldn’t even begin to grasp what kind of method he was using.

More than just being unpleasant, a deeply uncomfortable feeling began to grow in her chest.

“…Not yet!”

The Flame Spirits swelled again, crammed into existence.

This time, they were real. Unlike the earlier fakes, these were genuine Flame Spirit Manifestations. And their numbers increased endlessly.

‘If I can’t drain his mana with sheer repetition-’

Then she’d slam dozens in all at once.

Lumia clenched her fists, her head spinning from how hard she was grinding her teeth.

“Let’s see you try erasing all of these…!”

“Then, I’ll counter as well.”

Jern, who replied like that, appeared far more composed than Lumia, who was forcing herself to maintain her magic.

That irritated her. A nameless emotion kept rising within her.

“-With what, exactly!”

Jern raised one hand.

Lumia scoffed deliberately. If it was a direct clash of pure magic instead of that bizarre erasure, then even among fellow 2-Stars, none could match her.

Sensing victory, she drove the Flame Spirit Manifestations straight at him.

“Princess.”

Jern asked, in a voice entirely unfit for the situation.

“Do you know where we are right now?”

“-?”

An incomprehensible question.

It seemed like mere stalling, so Lumia didn’t respond and didn’t stop.

Just before her punch struck Jern’s face.

He gave a faint smile and said something even more bizarre.

“Well, if you did, you probably wouldn’t have used flame-based magic.”

“What-”

All 32 fists disappeared in a single moment.

It was the result of Jern waving his hand.

Lumia came to a halt. Not only because of the shock of her Flame Spirit Manifestations vanishing in an instant…

Crack-

“Kh.”

But also because an unbearable pressure wrapped around her body, rendering her unable even to groan.

Lumia, now standing stiff like a statue, stared at Jern in panic.

‘Te… Telekinesis?!’

How could something like telekinesis produce this much pressure.

No, it wasn’t telekinesis. It was something different.

A sticky resistance and cold sensation, deeply unpleasant, engulfed her body. She could even feel an unidentifiable gaze bearing down on her.

With his hand still grasping at the air, Jern began walking toward her nonchalantly.

Still gasping for breath, Lumia fought back the unknown emotion that was about to burst out, suppressing it with rage, and clenched the flame in her right hand.

Immediately, flames enveloped her entire body.

‘It wounds my pride to use this…!’

But she had no choice.

It was the defensive spell she had learned first as a Princess.

Flame Scales.

As long as the fire did not extinguish, the flesh of the affected area would take no damage whatsoever, a defense-optimized spell that could not even be learned outside the realm of 3-Star magic.

Naturally, Lumia had learned it through a loophole.

As a Princess, her safety was paramount in any circumstance, and so every forbidden spell that could be used was leveraged to ensure she could always manifest at least the Flame Scales.

Of course, using such a spell here might draw disdain. To use a magic given for self-protection during a sparring match.

And against a 1-Star wizard at that…

“Kh…”

But that was a concern for later.

Right now, there was no other choice but to break free from this restraint.

Once Flame Scales is activated, the user becomes immune to all magic under 3-Star level. So whether this was Telekinesis or some unknown spell, it should be nullified.

However.

“…Huh?”

The flames covering her body were extinguished in an instant.

At the same time, Lumia’s mind went completely blank.

“It won’t work.”

A quiet voice reached her ears.

It was close. At some point, Jern had stepped right in front of her.

“You- this-!”

Lumia immediately unleashed every spell she could.

She didn’t care about efficiency. She just hurled the most powerful spells she could cast at Jern.

It was a childish struggle. None of it pierced Jern’s suppression.

Jern, shaking his head as if annoyed, clenched his right hand even tighter.

“This is a bit dangerous.”

“Kuk-!”

The moment the pressure increased slightly, she couldn’t use magic at all.

The Flame Spirit Manifestations didn’t emerge.

The moment she tried to activate Flame Scales, it vanished.

Even her thrashing came to an end.

The only resistance left was that of a mere girl flailing her legs wildly, barely more than raw physical struggle.

-What more could she even do?

When that became her only remaining option, she was forced to realize it, whether she wanted to or not.

That her life was now in the hands of an unpredictable opponent using incomprehensible magic.

“The more you struggle, the harder it gets.”

Lumia, barely holding eye contact with Jern’s unreadable gaze, suddenly came to a realization.

The identity of that unfamiliar discomfort she had been feeling all along.

“Shall we talk now?”

“…Hic.”

That feeling,

Was fear.

*

People must take responsibility for their actions.

And taking responsibility is horrible and unpleasant.

Which is why you have to be careful with your actions.

For these reasons, I had no intention of defeating the Princess. If I did, and Lumia, gritting her teeth, started retaliating, the difference in scale would become very apparent.

I could have crushed her overwhelmingly as it was, but if her pride got wounded in the process, things could get bad.

I just needed to let her know I wasn’t someone to be taken lightly. So that she wouldn’t easily pick fights with Dersia or me.

“Princess.”

First, I released the pressure.

“Kyah, kya…”

…Kya?

The Princess, regaining her freedom, suddenly had a frightened expression like a scared little girl, stumbled backward, and collapsed onto the sand.

While I stood there confused, she looked up at me with trembling eyes.

I quickly looked around, then offered her my hand.

“Princess, please stand up.”

“St-stay away from me!”

“Eh?”

I tilted my head in confusion, and upon seeing that, the Princess hiccupped, pulled her knees in, then quickly nodded.

“…I-I understand. I’ll apologize. I’m sorry. I take it back. Yes, your master made the right judgment…”

“No, that’s not what I wanted. Well, I mean, it’s not wrong, but…”

“Hic.”

This situation isn’t looking great.

If we stay like this, the gallery is primed to start making strange noises. I made the princess aware of this.

“Princess.”

“Y-yes?”

“Everyone is watching.”

“…”

“Please get a hold of yourself.”

I extended my hand once again with a solemn expression.

The trembling Princess glanced at the spectators around us, then slowly took my hand.

I helped her up, and still holding her hand, bowed my head deeply and shouted in a loud voice so everyone could hear:

“I’ve learned a lot. Thank you for your instruction!”

Only then did the confused spectators begin looking at each other and exchanging opinions.

“What… just happened? The Princess kept canceling her spells mid-way… I thought they were just messing around.”

“Was she helping that commoner with his training?”

“Mm, maybe…?”

Honestly, I didn’t care how it all turned out. I leaned in slightly and whispered into the ear of the Princess, who was still trembling like she was stuck in vibration mode.

“Princess.”

“…Y-yes?”

Her reaction was something to see. I could visibly see the goosebumps rise on her skin.

Even if it earned me scorn, I said what needed to be said.

“The reason Dersia nim chose me over Princess is not because I’m particularly talented. It’s because I’m unusual. You’ve seen the little tricks I just showed you, so I hope you’ll let it slide with a generous heart.”

“I-I understand. I won’t say anything to you all again.”

“Your speech.”

“…Huh? My… speech?”

“Your speech has changed. There’s no need for honorifics either.”

“A-ah, I understand. I shall also never again… approach you and your people…”

That shifted from “won’t say anything” to “won’t approach”.

Thump-thump-thump— through my current sense, the Princess’s heartbeat was far from normal. Even her teeth were chattering. She really seemed to be terrified of me.

…I just hope that fear doesn’t turn into anger later on.

-Clap, clap, clap.

Then, as I turned my head, I saw Dersia standing silently in the audience, clapping expressionlessly. When had she come out?

I’ve lived long enough to tell, right now, Master looked quite pleased.

Well… if she’s satisfied, then all’s well.

“Winner, Princess Lumia!”

While the event staff lifted the hand of the still-trembling Princess, I quietly stepped away from the scene.