Vol 3 Chapter 46.2 – Boyhood: Winter, Age Thirteen・Part 2

Well, I understand that attack magic—burning, freezing, or dropping lightning on people—is fundamentally violent and destructive, but this felt a little too powerful. I was only borrowing one of the conclusions distilled from the passion of twentieth-century scientists, using sorcery to bend the laws of physics and forcibly recreate it, but the destructive power was on a whole other level of insane.

What would happen if I used an even larger amount of catalyst?

As I was vaguely contemplating the absurdity of the combo I’d created, I suddenly noticed something was wrong.

The floor was boiling, melting further and further down…

Ah, crap!? To keep the heat from escaping and weakening the effect, I also incorporated a 《Heat Retention》 spell, like the kind used to keep food from getting cold, didn’t I!? Am I going to get chewed out if I punch all the way through to the floor below—assuming there even is one!?

I tried to deal with my own mess, once again vexed by the nasty nature of a fire that wouldn’t go out even when doused with water or deprived of oxygen. In the end, I managed to solve the problem by banishing it to another dimension with a 《Spatial Transition Barrier》… at the cost of a mild migraine for the rest of the afternoon.

The gentleman—whose silver color left a strong impression on all who saw him—stepped into the booth that the blond, blue-eyed boy had just exited, his face pale.

A flash and heatwave powerful enough to penetrate the barrier was unthinkable from an apprentice student. Inside, the barrier was a milky white, having failed to absorb all the heat, and the booth was filled with the foul stench of burning metal. Pinching the bridge of his high, well-formed nose, the gentleman entered the lane without hesitation, where the thermal afterglow remained.

“…This is sorcery.”

The airflow generated by the heat caused his elegant platinum blond hair to flutter. The lingering heatwave was so intense it would make a midsummer gust feel like a frigid winter blast. The sheer temperature that hung in the air, even after its source was gone, spoke volumes to the fact that sorcery had been used here.

“This isn’t heat from purely burning mana. Nor is it from some kind of oil.”

It was a known truth at the Magician’s Academy that “heat has a minimum, but no maximum.” At the same time, the correlation between mana consumption and heat output in sorcery and magic had also been made clear, and it was widely known that producing flames hot enough to melt metal was no easy feat.

Despite this, the fact that the practice target—made of heat-resistant material and enchanted with an impact-repulsion spell—had melted without a trace suggested not that a powerful sorcery had been used, but rather that some new kind of formula had been executed.

However, his senses denied the use of a large-scale sorcery. The residual mana left at the scene was simply too faint. The amount of mana used was no more than what would be spent casting a few small magic spells in succession. It was hard to believe that the boy, who had left in such a hurry, had performed a deception spell or cleansed the residual mana.

It was also interesting that there was no trace of oil having been used as a catalyst to raise the heat. If an oil-based catalyst had been used, the air would have been much stickier.

The gentleman stood at the edge of the melted hole, which still radiated a heat that would make a normal person sick to approach. Then, without any hesitation, he stuck his finger into the opening, which was still more than hot enough to melt human flesh.

“Hmm.”

In an instant, his skin was burned away, his flesh incinerated, his cells vaporized. The gentleman observed the charred bone of his index finger with an air of interest and let out a sigh of admiration.

He showed not a single shred of the agony that would make an ordinary person scream. It was as if he either felt no pain at all, or simply dismissed it as nothing.

“The heat signature is close to that of a Strategic-Class Formula.”

The range was incomparable, but a familiar level of heat was contained within the hole—the heat of an inferno that took several combat mages working in tandem to scorch a battlefield.

“How utterly fascinating. A level of heat that doesn’t match the traces of destruction, the signs of annihilation where the bottom of the melted stone floor is perfectly level… none of this is from an ordinary formula… A new formula.”

Muttering, “How curious,” the gentleman turned on his heel. He reached into his coat, and the hand that pulled out a new glove had been restored, as if it had never been burned at all.

Practicing here, at this time of year, meant he was almost certainly testing the final product for the New Year’s Skills Exhibition. The gentleman looked forward to this event more than anyone, as every year some brilliant new talent would appear and “ooh” him into loosening his purse strings.

This year’s event would be enjoyable as well. Until then, to keep his current excitement from cooling, the gentleman deliberately chose not to investigate the identity of the culprit who had melted the floor.

Surprises are always best when fresh. No matter how long you live, you can only enjoy a spoiler once.

“This visit to the Imperial Capital has been a complete pain, but it has its moments. As I thought, observing the youth is truly enjoyable.”

With footsteps that sounded a touch more cheerful, the gentleman headed for the Imperial Castle to carry out his duties…