Chapter 8: The Rotating Spell and Rising Expectations

It seemed that my realization was something Father had never expected.

“Good. Thanks to you, I’ve gained something I never thought possible. Rotation… indeed, a clever idea.”

Father nodded repeatedly, as if he had learned a great deal from that brief insight.

“Thank you for seeing it so positively.”

“No, you did very well.”

He tapped my shoulder again, a habit he had whenever he praised me.

“I was worried, but it seems I shouldn’t have been. Your decision to learn magic might have been quite a wise choice. I will look forward to what’s ahead.”

“Ah, haha… yes.”

Oh no.

‘Did I just earn his expectations without even meaning to?’

Father’s clear gaze made me feel uncomfortably pressured.

At the same time, ‘I’m proud of it.’

It was a surprisingly good feeling.

“Let’s go back.”

My son, who would soon become a great magician.

A sigh escaped me from the title I’d earned because of this incident.

“Ugh. I’m expected to live up to this… that’s awkward.”

When people expect something, you have to make an effort to meet that expectation.

And I hated that, which is why I was acting like this.

‘This ambiguous state of neither expectation nor worry is better for now. Hmm.’

Since the battle with the Goblins, rumors about my Magic Missile had spread, and people began to look up to me.

Well, no one had ever seen such a fast Magic Missile before.

The rumors were exaggerated, with some even saying it was as fast as lightning.

No, that couldn’t be true. It was only about the speed of sound; lightning was far faster. Even if I said that… people wouldn’t understand.

***

“In the end, I didn’t even finish patrolling the territory…”

Due to the sudden Goblin attack, the patrol was canceled.

At the same time, we cleared and sold the Goblin corpses.

Naturally, everyone liked unexpected money.

Monster corpses are money. Just from selling all the corpses, I made 240 gold.

Even the administrator, Myuron, earned 5 gold a month. Employing someone like Myuron for a year costs 60 gold.

That means the Goblin corpses funded Myuron for four years.

Quite a fortune.

The Knights became busier, and my patrol ended unfinished.

The unexpected expectations were just an added burden.

“Sigh. What’s the point of overthinking.”

I shook my head and looked into the magic book.

Class 1 Magic. Twelve spells.

Excluding Magic Missile, Image, and Cantrips I already knew, I read all the other spells.

Leaving out Search, which I learned during the previous battle, there were eight spells left.

I read and understood every one.

“Alright, shall I try?”

Memorizing runes and some mathematical formulas was enough.

The important thing was Mana.

I tried to manifest it immediately.

Wooooooong.

The Mana stirred. I recited the spells and tested each magic one by one.

First, Alarm.

Kiiiiiiik-

“Ugh. It pierces my ears.”

As soon as I brought my hand near, the alarm sounded as if it had been waiting. It’s a spell designed for alertness.

‘Efficient.’

Swoooooosh-

Next was Armor, a spell that enveloped my entire body.

‘If I put in enough magic power, it might have the effect of a defensive technique.’

Like Magic Missile, this spell seemed to have potential for modifications.

Infused with the power of flames! Burning Hands.

Ssssaaaak-

My whole hand was covered in fire. It didn’t hurt me—only the enemies would burn.

‘Amazing.’

If I miscalculated, the spell could harm me too, but that never happened.

“Good. Very good.”

It took less than 30 minutes to try all the spells.

Lights flashed, eerie energies appeared, and the ground sank slightly.

“Hmm…

Magic.

It really is amazing. Even a simple 1st Circle spell has such diverse applications. Not even the great shamans of the martial world had this.”

“Still, it feels a bit awkward, but all succeeded, huh?”

From now on, I just had to keep practicing until I became skilled.

‘At this rate, even that strict master of mine would be satisfied.’

Thinking that, I checked the remaining magic power.

Magic power is measured by the thickness of the Mana Circle.

Activating it applies coercion to the surrounding Mana.

Therefore, when the Mana Circle is active, its thickness decreases, as Mana is consumed.

Usually, thickening the Mana Circle means increasing magic power.

It’s somewhat similar but also different from gathering internal energy in the dantian.

Lately, I had been focusing on gathering internal energy, so I hadn’t practiced magic power training.

“Wow, I’m going to run out of time.”

Internal training. External training. Magic power training as well.

And later, I’d also have to practice combat techniques, right? So much to do. 24 hours aren’t enough.

Even if I barely slept, this was too tight.

But no, I wasn’t going to quit.

Actually, I enjoyed this kind of training.

Maybe it was because I remembered the frustration from when I couldn’t train properly.

“Alright, again.”

I began casting magic again.

I planned to keep practicing until I could wield magic skillfully.

Every day, I would squeeze my magic power to its limits.

But my peaceful training was unexpectedly interrupted.

“What?”

“Try shooting it at me once. Your special Magic Missile.”

My Nun came to see me.

She was a strong Knight despite being female.

‘A monster. And a hard worker, too.’

She was so strong that people joked about wanting her as a daughter-in-law.

She was only 17.

Actually, she was at the age to debut in society and choose a husband, but no one in our family ever mentioned that.

Because Nun was already among the top-tier aura users.

Few men her age had reached that level.

But still… it would be hard for her to block my Magic Missile, which was like a bullet.

So I opened my mouth in disbelief.

‘How far is she willing to go for training?’

Dangerous.

“Nun, my sword training made me… ow. Ow ow ow.”

“What do you take me for?”

She grabbed me and started giving a temple massage—no warning, a surprise attack!

Ugh, this violent woman.

“It’s for practical combat preparation. Since it’s so fast, I want to see how to defend against it.”

“Still, you could get seriously hurt.”

“Still, try it.”

“Haa…”

I sighed.

‘Should I ask Father to scold her?’ Then I thought of a solution.

Ah, right. I could cast a defensive spell.

If she wore armor and I cast defense magic on her, even a bullet-level Magic Missile would be blocked.

After all, that’s why bulletproof vests exist.

“Alright, I’ll do it. But there’s a condition.”

“What is it?”

“First, watch.”

“Ugh, do I have to go this far?”

“In actual combat, it’ll be worse.”

Nun, who was a Knight, disliked armor. She was used to light swordsmanship and rarely wore full plate.

On top of that armor,

“Armor!”

Woooooong-

I cast layered Armor spells, customized for each part.

‘This should be better than a bulletproof vest.’

Satisfied.

“Ready?”

“Come at me anytime!”

“Good. Magic Missile!”

Swaaah-

The magic gathered into arrows and spun rapidly on their own.

In an instant, the fastest rotation was added.

Baaang!

“Ah!”

In the blink of an eye, the missile struck the armor.

Krazzzzk-

The Armor spell tore like paper.

‘I definitely need to modify it.’

Still, Baaang!

The thick plate remained.

The weakened Magic Missile was definitely stopped by the armor.

“Ow… that hurts?”

“Of course it hurts! Didn’t I tell you it’s not weak?”

No injuries, but impact remained.

Like with a bulletproof vest, the shock wasn’t fully absorbed. Nun curled up in pain.

“So, you’re done now?”

“No! Keep going! It’s only 1st Circle; I can shoot dozens more.”

Thanks to recent magic power training, I could fire dozens.

‘No need to say that.’

Instead of answering, I cast Magic Missile again.

“Let’s see how far you can go. Armor. Magic Missile!”

Swaaah- Baaang!

“Ugh… again!”

“Armor! Magic Missile!”

“Again!”

“Armor! Magic Missile!”

Swaaash-

‘This is more fun than I thought.’

I never trained magic like this before.

Just as I was getting interested in this fun kind of practice,

“Enough, enough!”

Ugh, a monster.

At first, she couldn’t even react, but now she clearly responded to the Magic Missile.

No mistake.

Nun gained momentum.

“Good. Got it! Again!”

“Magic Missile!”

“Where do you think—!”

Sshheeeek- Kraaang!

The first Magic Missile didn’t reach the armor and was blocked.

‘Is she really a monster?’

“Last one! This time I’ll block for sure!”

But she already had blocked it perfectly.

‘What was unsatisfactory?’

Still, I got stubborn.

“Magic Missile!”

Sshheeeek-

This was a Magic Missile made with full effort.

‘At this rate… cut…’

Kraaang!

She deflected it even faster than before.

“How?”

“Wow! Amazing!”

Suddenly, success.

Amidst my surprise, Clap clap clap-

Unexpected applause came from somewhere.

“Well done.”

“An interesting way to train.”

Father. And my eldest brother, who looked just like him.

‘The second Silent Knight.’

Father had the same expression he had in the carriage before.

‘Expectant look!’

My brother next to him looked similar, plus a strong curiosity to try it himself.

“You both did very well. Responding to magic isn’t usually easy.”

“Hehe…”

Rare praise from Father made Nun excited.

“Rayrn, you did well too. You got faster each time you cast it.”

“…… Must have been luck?”

Actually, the more I practiced, the faster I got.

Both casting speed and rotation speed!

I knew, but I didn’t want to be expected like this.

Father shook his head at my words.

He was certain.

“No. You didn’t realize it because you were so focused, but you’ve gotten faster. That’s enough to work in real combat. Well, you already used it once in battle.”

“That happened?”

Maybe my brother, who must have returned recently, hadn’t heard yet and asked Father in surprise.

Father nodded.

“Yes. You killed a Goblin Shaman with that magic. You even improved it yourself by adding rotation.”

“Whoa!”

My brother’s eyes sparkled.

‘I always worried because he’s so frail.’

No matter how much I recalled, he had never made such an expression to me.

“Rayrn! That’s amazing!”

Haha. An unexpected achievement.

‘Who would have thought a child with talent for magic would be born into our family?’

“Definitely amazing! It really feels different when you get hit by it!”

Um, what kind of magic do you describe by ‘taste’…?

“Ah, ahahaha…”

Despite my awkward laugh, the praise continued for a long time.

“Next time, this brother will have to try it too!”

My brother made me promise with an unusually childish expression, and only then did it end.

Father’s expression said he wanted to try it too.

‘Or maybe I’m just imagining it?’