The sea breeze was refreshing.
After confirming that there was no one around, I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
‘I can sense the elements.’
The beach, which had looked perfectly normal just a moment ago, was now overlaid with countless polyhedrons.
I had begun to see the various elements that existed in nature.
‘Among them, the fire element… a tetrahedron.’
Just because this was a seaside location didn’t mean there were no fire elements.
In fact, even seawater contained fire elements.
Having fire elements present didn’t necessarily mean that actual flames were burning.
‘From that tetrahedron… I’ll draw out the power of fire.’
I constructed the spell in my mind.
Using what I had learned in class, what I had studied on my own from textbooks, and… even what Professor Horizon had taught me.
Countless spell formulas combined in my mind, and the spell was completed.
‘Spell construction… spell projection.’
I projected the spell that existed in my mind into the real world.
The tetrahedrons scattered along the beach began to vibrate, and their energy gathered toward my hand.
‘Flame Sphere, manifest.’
Boom!
With a roar, a fireball the size of a person formed.
Last time, I had created a fireball large enough to engulf two or three people, but this time, I applied Horizon’s advice and controlled its size.
“Ah…”
At that moment, the fireball that had formed in front of my hand started rolling forward, just like a ball.
“…!”
Sizzle!
In the end, the fireball tumbled into the seawater, generating steam before completely vanishing.
“Phew.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked around.
Fortunately, there was still no one nearby.
‘As expected, simply creating a mass of flames isn’t enough.’
Just forming a large fireball was meaningless.
For it to be considered an actual attack spell—Flame Sphere—I had to be able to launch it at a target.
‘If I’m going to fight monsters, I need to be able to properly fire my spells.’
That was a separate skill from merely drawing energy from elements to create fire.
The basics were briefly mentioned in the elementary elemental studies textbook, but just reading about it wasn’t enough to learn it.
‘So I went to the library and searched… but I didn’t find anything useful.’
It seemed that the library accessible to freshmen had very few books related to practical combat magic.
‘Now that I think about it…’
I had always had a vague suspicion, but now it seemed clear—combat magic was being strictly regulated to prevent just anyone from learning it.
Outside the academy, only superficial introductory books were available, and even bookstores around the academy didn’t carry practical materials.
It was all being carefully controlled to ensure that only those following the official curriculum could learn it.
‘Maybe there are related materials in the upperclassmen’s library… but I can’t access that right now.’
‘This isn’t going to be easy.’
I tried again, but once more, the fireball failed to fly properly and simply rolled into the beach before sinking into the sand.
“…”
But I didn’t feel disappointed.
Rather… I found it exciting.
‘Let’s try one more time.’
I felt like I was getting the hang of it.
Once again, I created a fireball.
Monday afternoon.
In the freshman advanced class lecture hall, the Basic Magic Combat class was in session.
The professor teaching the class was Inies from the Elemental Studies department—a woman in her 30s with a dignified, queen-like demeanor.
“You fledgling chicks can only manifest magic right in front of your hands.”
Holding her teaching staff, Inies spoke in a cold voice.
“Whether you create fire or ice, the spell you project will materialize directly in front of your outstretched hand. If you want to attack an enemy with this magic, what should you do? Should you grab the fire or ice in your hand and swing it at them? Or maybe throw it overhand?”
She didn’t wait for an answer before shaking her head.
“You are magicians. You must use spell formulas to launch your magic and strike your targets.”
After saying that, Inies raised two fingers.
“I will teach you two methods—throwing and shooting.”
Throwing and shooting.
Familiar concepts, yet not quite familiar in this context.
“In terms of conventional weapons, throwing is like slings or javelins, while shooting is like bows or crossbows.”
As Inies moved her left hand, illusions of a fist-sized rock and a javelin appeared in the lecture hall.
Then, with her right hand, she created the images of a bow and a crossbow.
“What’s the difference between slings and javelins versus bows and crossbows? Who can answer?”
Inies swept her gaze across the classroom.
But her frosty tone seemed to discourage anyone from raising their hand.
“You, red-haired girl in the back row.”
“Ah, yes!”
Unluckily chosen, Milia hastily stood up.
“State your name.”
“M-Milia Morpheus.”
“Now answer. What’s the difference?”
“Slings and javelins are thrown… while bows and crossbows shoot projectiles.”
“A 10-point answer. Sit down.”
Milia sat down, looking dejected.
“You, red-haired boy next to her.”
“Yes, Professor.”
This time, her older brother, Charis, was chosen.
“Charis Morpheus.”
“Now, answer.”
“Slings and javelins are used to throw objects with greater mass compared to arrows. As a result, their impact is—”
“5 points. Sit down.”
Although he answered more calmly than Milia, it seemed it wasn’t the answer Inies was looking for.
“You, the blond-haired boy who was dozing off earlier.”
“Ah, yes!”
Startled by being called out, Cain stood upright in a hurry.
“Your name?”
“Cain Trigger”
“Wipe your mouth and then answer.”
Inies’ cold gaze fixed on Cain.
“Throwing weapons like slings and javelins, versus ranged weapons like bows and crossbows… What’s the biggest difference?”
Receiving the question, Cain first wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Then, in a calm voice, he answered.
“Well, isn’t it the difference in aiming?”
Aiming.
The moment that word was spoken, a smile appeared on Inies’ lips.
“Eighty-five points, Cain Trigger.”
“Thank you.”
The other students looked at Cain in admiration.
Cain casually finished wiping his mouth and sat back down with an unconcerned expression.
“Slings and javelins fundamentally cannot be ‘aimed.’ Here, ‘aiming’ refers to the act of using a weapon’s reference point to determine the target’s direction and distance.”
Slings and javelins were thrown toward enemies just like bows and crossbows, but unlike the latter, they didn’t allow for direct aiming using the weapon itself.
“However, bows and crossbows allow you to aim at an enemy before attacking. That’s why you can hit distant targets with precision. In offensive magic, you can think of ‘throwing’ and ‘shooting’ in the same way.”
As Inies spoke, she extended both hands to the sides.
Immediately, magic was activated.
“In my right hand, I have a sphere of fire. In my left, a flaming arrow.”
“……!”
The students held their breath at the swift invocation of elemental magic.
“Now, imagine throwing this fireball at a distant enemy. Beyond a certain distance, the accuracy drops significantly. But if you ‘shoot’ this flaming arrow while properly aiming, you can hit a far-off enemy with little difficulty.”
“Ah…”
“Of course, we don’t use physical aiming devices to cast magic. Instead, we incorporate an aiming spell. It’s a hassle, but the accuracy improves significantly.”
Shooting was more accurate than throwing.
Understanding this, the students nodded.
“However, shooting isn’t always better.”
“……!”
“As I just said, shooting requires an aiming spell, which is cumbersome. Naturally, it takes more time and places a greater burden on the caster.”
With a flick of Inies left finger, the flaming arrow vanished.
“Throwing, on the other hand, requires a much simpler spell, making it easier to use. And not only that…”
This time, Inies moved her right hand, sending the fireball soaring over the students’ heads.
With a loud boom, it exploded in all directions.
“Ugh!”
“Aah!”
“Stop panicking. It didn’t hit your heads.”
As Inies said, the explosion didn’t so much as singe their hair.
It had merely swept across the entire classroom ceiling.
“For magic with a wide area of effect, you don’t need an aiming spell. Even if it doesn’t hit the target directly, it can still deal damage.”
“Ah…”
“Since you’re not adding an aiming spell, it’s easier to incorporate spells that enhance power or expand the effective range. So…”
This time, a fireball appeared in Inies’ right hand, and an ice spear in the left.
“For something like this fireball, it’s best to ‘throw’ it into an area with enemies to engulf a wide range in flames. On the other hand, an ice spear like this would only shatter upon impact, scattering ice shards around. So, to pierce an enemy’s vital points, it must be properly ‘shot.'”
The structure of the spell had to be adjusted based on the nature of the magic.
The students, realizing the importance of this theory, nodded repeatedly.
“Professor.”
At that moment, a student raised a hand and asked a question.
“Are throwing and shooting the only ways to land a spell on an enemy?”
“No.”
“Then, what else is there?”
“Even if I tell you, you won’t be able to use it.”
Though Inies responded with a cold voice, she still answered.
“The third type of magic is called ‘guidance.'”
“Guidance…”
“It requires a completely different spell structure from throwing or shooting. The difficulty is extremely high, so don’t even dream of using it. I won’t be teaching it in this course.”
After saying that, Inies lightly tapped her palm against the podium.
“For now, focus on mastering throwing and shooting. I’ll teach you well enough that you won’t starve to death, so put everything you’ve got into learning. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“In three weeks, the freshman competition will be held. By then, you must be able to successfully execute either throwing or shooting. Train hard.”
“Understood!”
“Now, let’s move on to the actual spellcasting techniques.”
Before the students, who answered energetically, Inies began writing on the blackboard.
The sheer amount of material covered nearly filled the board… making the students realize that mastering offensive magic would be no easy task.
The next morning.
Senia was up early as usual, running.
It was her routine to jog for over an hour every morning to build stamina.
‘Throwing, shooting… such difficult concepts.’
As she ran along the deserted path, Senia let out a sigh.
‘I reviewed it all night, but I still don’t understand. It’s just too hard.’
Even in her previous elemental studies, Senia had been quick to form a fireball.
But the thought of actually throwing or shooting it felt overwhelming.
Most of the other students were probably struggling just as much.
‘Magic really is incredibly difficult…’
Her confidence wavered slightly.
But she quickly shook her head.
‘I can’t think like this.’
Determined to clear her mind, Senia picked up her pace.
Today, she planned to focus by running along the coastline.
“……?”
But as she reached the eastern shore, she heard a loud noise from somewhere.
It sounded like crashing waves, yet something about it was off.
‘What is that?’
Could there be some sort of magical construction happening?
Cautiously, Senia approached the source of the sound.
And then…
“Ah…!”
She let out an involuntary gasp.
On the quiet shoreline… Eriol was throwing massive fireballs into the distant sea.
