A C-Rank Magic Student Who Deludes Himself into Thinking He Is SSS-Rank - Chapter 20: Post-Duel Night

…The night after, Shion dueled Eliza Loredo and was released by Lestia.

As usual, Shion practiced magic in the C-class students’ practical training field.

He activated “Limit Acceleration,” maintaining the spell while remaining stationary until his magical power was depleted.

After a dozen seconds, Shion ran out of magical power, gasping for breath and covered in sweat.

His veins were swollen abnormally, and he sat on the ground enduring the intense pain that accompanied the exhaustion of his magical power, waiting for it to recover after drinking a potion.

Once his magic power was restored, he stood up again to activate “Limit Acceleration,” this time practicing moving his body while maintaining the spell.

When his magical power depleted again, he drank another potion to recover and then practiced quickly activating and deactivating “Limit Acceleration.”

Next, he tried casting other spells while maintaining “Limit Acceleration: Limit Axle.”

All these actions were part of his training to master “Limit Acceleration.”

Since he first activated “Limit Acceleration,” he had been training every day without compromise.

Even now, its performance is only superficial, but when he first successfully activated “Limit Acceleration,” it was even less practical.

The first time Shion activated “Limit Acceleration,” he could only maintain the spell for about 0.1 seconds before running out of magical power and fainting.

Shion was born with magical power suited for “Limit Acceleration,” but that was only by his standards.

…For him, high-level spells were considered suitable if he could activate them, regardless of their usefulness.

Until then, Shion had attempted to activate countless high-level spells but failed to activate them.

During those days, his merchant parents acquired a rare magic book that was not even in the national magic library.

The book was written entirely in the Dragonkin language.

The Dragonkin language, different from the common language widely used in the world today, was a unique language used by Dragons and the Dragonkin, a subhuman race.

Initially, many subhumans, including the Dragonkin, lived separate from humans, but over time, various subhuman races began to live with humans, and the number of half-subhumans, or halfbreeds, increased.

As a result, humans inherited many of the subhumans’ magic and culture.

The Dragonkin were skilled in magic and had their unique spells, and many of their spells were translated into the common language and compiled into magic books for people to inherit.

However, spells with no Dragonkin practitioners at the time or that no humans could inherit were never translated, leaving magic books written only in the Dragonkin language.

One such book was the “Limit Acceleration” magic book, which Shion’s parents had acquired.

Shion first had to learn the Dragonkin language to attempt casting the spell, which he immediately started studying upon receiving the book from his parents.

The spell was a unique magic created by a clan with dragon blood, forgotten in ancient times, and currently, this is the only one who might be able to use it.

The fact that “Limit Acceleration” might become his unique magic in modern times thrilled Shion immensely.

──”My trump card,” no other phrase resonated with Shion as powerfully.

He learned the Dragonkin language under his parents’ guidance and deciphered the “Limit Acceleration” magic book, memorizing its composition and formulas.

It wasn’t possible to activate it initially, but after thousands of attempts, Shion finally activated “Limit Acceleration.”

Still, he could maintain the spell for a mere 0.1 seconds.

With a heavy toll on his body and unable to move, he would run out of magical power immediately after these brief moments.

The magic he had devoted so much to needed to be more practical.

Given its pitiful state, any average magician would have immediately dismissed such a spell as unsuitable for them.

But Shion was different.

Even though he had desperately studied countless spells without being able to activate any, “Limit Acceleration” was one he could activate, albeit at an impractical level.

Accepting this, he became convinced that “this is my trump card.”

Since the first successful activation, he has been training with “Limit Acceleration” every day without fail.

Believing that one day, it would truly become his trump card.

In the duel with Eliza Loredo that day, Shion could only evade her magic, resulting in an unmistakable defeat.

Eliza Loredo was an opponent he would surely lose to a thousand times in a thousand fights.

She had an absolute advantage over him in talent, magical power, and everything else.

However, “Limit Acceleration” undoubtedly surpassed her trump card, the “Annihilating Whirlwind Rain Shot.”

Shion’s accumulated efforts and honed skills were gradually reaching her.

If he could have maintained “Limit Acceleration” for a few more seconds, or if he could have used another attack spell while activating “Limit Acceleration,” or if he could have handled “Limit Acceleration” better, perhaps he could have struck her.

“Limit Acceleration” certainly held the potential for Shion to surpass an A-class magician.

──Indeed, he was convinced that his chosen magic was not a mistake.

Lacking talent in magic, he worked harder than anyone else in the academy, but his growth was slower than anyone else’s.

Even after years of extraordinary training, he could barely walk for a dozen seconds during “Limit Acceleration” activation.

However small his steps were, he continued to move forward.

He never stood still.

He had an unwavering belief that he would eventually become the strongest magic swordsman.

Therefore, today and every day to come, he would continue to build upon his daily training.