Chương 14: One Fireball Was Never the Point

Even though his grandparents saw Sieghart studying constantly, he never allowed his books to replace his magical training. He divided his days carefully. The mornings belonged to the farm. He watered the crops, softened the fields, and used wind to assist with whatever work needed to be completed. His improved control allowed him to finish most tasks before noon without rushing or neglecting anything. The afternoons belonged to books. He studied aura, magic, monsters, geography, and the history of the kingdom.

Whenever he found information that might help his experiments, he copied it into one of the notebooks his grandparents had given him. The evenings belonged to practice. Reading provided knowledge, but knowledge without application was only slightly more useful than a sword that remained inside its sheath. If Sieghart wanted to transform magic into a viable combat path, he needed to push every spell beyond what the books claimed was possible. Fireball remained his priority.

At Level 6, the spell could travel fifty meters without breaking apart. That was already farther than the effective range of most ordinary combat spells, according to his books. Sieghart wasn't satisfied. Fifty meters sounded impressive until he remembered how quickly an Aura Knight might cross that distance. If his father could move as fast as Sieghart suspected, a single missed spell could allow him to reach striking range. Sieghart needed more range. He also needed speed.

A fireball that took several seconds to reach its target gave the enemy plenty of time to dodge. Against an ordinary person, that might be acceptable. Against an Aura Knight with enhanced reflexes, it would be worthless. Sieghart returned to the same method that had advanced the spell before. He established wooden targets at increasing distances and practiced launching Fireball without maintaining a mental connection to it. Every aspect of the spell needed to be completed before release. Direction. Rotation.

Compression. Speed. The fireball had to function independently once it left his hand. At sixty meters, the skill reached Level 7. Seventy meters raised it to Level 8. Eighty and ninety brought two more levels. Reaching one hundred meters took several weeks. Distance alone was no longer the only problem. Sieghart could create a sphere stable enough to survive the journey, but its speed decreased as it traveled. By the time it reached the target, the spell had lost much of its impact.

Sieghart experimented with Wind Magic. He tried launching a fireball inside a current of air, but controlling both spells increased the preparation time. He needed a method contained entirely within Fireball. The answer came from the spell's rotation. Sieghart changed the direction of the outer flames, forcing them backward while the core spun forward. The result imitated thrust, using part of the fireball's mana to propel the rest of the spell. His first attempt flew twenty meters before curving into the ground.

The second traveled upward and vanished into the sky. Sieghart watched it disappear.

"That probably won't become someone else's problem." Hopefully. He adjusted the balance and tried again. After dozens of failures, the fireball finally crossed one hundred meters in a straight line. It struck a wooden target almost exactly two seconds after leaving his hand. The resulting explosion shattered the board. A notification appeared. Fireball has reached Level 11. Your spell has achieved reliable long-range stability and high-speed flight.

Effective Range: 100 meters Projectile Speed: 50 meters per second Control: Good Power: High Magic +1 Sieghart opened his status screen. Name: Sieghart Race: Human Age: 4 Level: 1 Health: 50/50 Mana: ∞/∞ Stamina: 50/50 Strength: 5 Endurance: 5 Vitality: 5 Dexterity: 5 Magic: 17 Mentality: 17 Resistance: 5 Perception: 1 Class: None Skills: Black Magic — Level 1 White Magic — Level 1 The five levels gained by extending Fireball from fifty to one hundred meters had provided five more points in Magic. Sixteen points.

Sieghart didn't know how that compared to the attributes of an adult mage, but the effects were obvious. Flame became hot enough to burn through wood rapidly. Breeze could send dust and leaves flying across a field. Sand Control affected enough soil to create shallow trenches, while Water Creation produced an amount that would have exhausted his grandmother within minutes. His attack power improved too. Sieghart returned to the boulder at the edge of the farm and tested his concentrated water blast again.

The stream emerging from his fingertip was now thinner than the finger producing it. He compressed the water inside a narrow magical channel, added a spinning motion, and released it at the highest pressure he could control. Water struck the stone. It no longer splashed harmlessly across the surface. The stream remained concentrated, drilling continuously into one point. Mist spread around the impact as fragments of stone and dust washed down the boulder's side. This book was originally published on Royal Road.

Check it out there for the real experience. After several minutes, Sieghart dismissed the spell. A shallow mark remained. It wasn't deep enough to call a hole, but the surface was visibly damaged. Sieghart ran his fingers over the rough indentation. His increased Magic had contributed to the result, but it wasn't the only reason for his success. Raw power alone had failed to damage the boulder. Control made the difference. The narrow stream prevented the water's force from dispersing.

Rotation made it grind against the stone, while Sand Control allowed Sieghart to add tiny abrasive grains to the flow. Water Creation had started as a spell useful for filling cups. Now it could slowly cut rock. Sieghart stepped back and examined his work.

"Not terrible." That was high praise by his standards. If he continued improving pressure and reduced the width of the stream even further, he might eventually cut through metal. The spell could become more precise than Fireball and far less destructive to everything around the target. He added the results to his notebook. Water-cutting test: Narrower stream increases pressure. Rotation improves erosion. Sand increases cutting speed. Greater Magic improves output but does not replace control.

Current result: shallow damage to stone. Current problem: maintaining compression requires too much concentration. The experiment proved that he could damage something more durable than wood. He should be capable of defending himself now. Fireball could strike targets one hundred meters away in two seconds. His concentrated water blast could injure exposed flesh and potentially cut through weak armor if given enough time.

Protection reduced physical damage, and his other elements provided several ways to control terrain or distract enemies. Against an ordinary attacker, Sieghart's chances were good. Against an Aura Knight, they remained uncertain. More importantly, his training had always been contained. He practiced with one spell at a time. He measured range, power, accuracy, and mental strain. Even when he pushed himself, he stopped before the effects became difficult to hide. Sieghart had never gone all out.

He looked at the boulder. The shallow mark created by water seemed insignificant against its enormous size. The stone had endured every spell, experiment, and angry punch he directed toward it. It was the perfect target. Sieghart suddenly wanted to know what he could accomplish if he ignored efficiency, secrecy, and careful measurements. What would happen if he simply used as much magic as possible? The thought stayed with him for several days. He didn't act immediately.

Destroying part of the farm to satisfy his curiosity would be irresponsible. Sieghart inspected the area around the boulder and confirmed that nothing important stood nearby. The stone was at the far edge of the property, separated from the nearest field by a long stretch of empty ground. No buildings stood within range. No workers came there unless a fence required repair. Dry vegetation might catch fire, so Sieghart soaked the grass and soil around the boulder before beginning.

He also prepared Water Creation and Breeze to control any flames or smoke. Then he waited. One afternoon, his grandparents traveled to inspect a distant section of the farm. The workers were busy near the storehouses, leaving the edge of the property empty. Sieghart looked around carefully. He used Wind Magic to feel movement in the nearby grass and watched the paths for several minutes. No footsteps. No voices. No one was there. He moved away from the boulder. Fifty meters. Then seventy.

Sieghart stopped at a distance where he could clearly see the target without standing close enough to be struck by flying stone. Protection spread beneath his skin. White mana covered his arms, chest, neck, face, and legs. The spell wouldn't stop a large fragment of rock, but it might prevent a minor injury. Sieghart raised both hands. Anger stirred within him. He didn't focus on a specific memory.

Years of training allowed him to access the emotion directly, separating its useful intensity from the thoughts that normally produced it. Mana answered. A black fireball formed above his right hand. A second appeared above his left. Sieghart didn't launch them. He held both in place and formed another. Then another. Four spheres of black flame hovered around him, crimson lines spiraling across their surfaces. Heat rolled through the air and pressed against his face.

Maintaining them simultaneously strained his mind, but less than he expected. His improved Magic provided greater stability. His Mentality allowed him to separate the spells without confusing their direction or rotation. Sieghart focused on the boulder. He released the first fireball. It struck the stone and exploded. The second followed before the flames disappeared. Then the third. Then the fourth. Muted detonations rolled across the empty field.

The boulder's surface cracked beneath the rapid sequence, sending stone fragments across the wet ground. Sieghart didn't stop. He created another fireball in each hand. Then two more beside his shoulders. He launched them as quickly as they stabilized. Fire spheres crossed the field in streaks of crimson light. Each spell struck within the same general area, widening the cracks and breaking away larger pieces of stone. One fireball would never destroy the boulder. That didn't matter.

Sieghart had no reason to stop at one. He summoned more. Fireball after fireball formed around him. He stopped treating each spell as an individual project and turned the process into a cycle. Gather. Compress. Rotate. Aim. Release. The steps flowed together. As one fireball left his control, another began forming. Sieghart created as many as his concentration could handle every second and launched them without pause. The boulder disappeared behind black fire and smoke. Explosions hammered its surface.

The initial cracks spread through the stone until large chunks broke free and crashed to the ground. Sieghart adjusted his aim. Every spell struck a damaged section. He didn't waste power attacking the strongest surface. He targeted cracks, depressions, and exposed internal stone. The fireballs shattered weakened pieces before the heat had time to dissipate. The air grew hotter. Sweat ran down Sieghart's face. His mana remained infinite, but the effort of controlling so many spells strained his mind.

A familiar pressure formed behind his eyes. He continued. The boulder had mocked his water blast. It had injured his hand. It had survived years of training. That was enough reason to be thorough. Sieghart formed one final group of fireballs. Six black spheres hovered around him. He released them in rapid succession. The first struck the center of the remaining stone. The second widened the crater. The others followed into the same opening. A larger explosion tore through the boulder from within.

Stone fragments flew across the area. Some pieces rolled through the wet grass, while others landed dozens of meters away. A cloud of gray dust and black smoke expanded around the point of impact. Sieghart lowered his hands. Silence returned gradually. The pressure behind his eyes remained, but he was still conscious. He could have continued casting, though accuracy and control would have deteriorated. There was no reason. The boulder was gone. Only a scorched depression remained where it had stood.

Large chunks of stone lay scattered across the field, while smaller fragments had broken into gravel. Sieghart stared. He had expected to damage it. He hadn't expected complete destruction. The temperature around the impact site had risen noticeably. Some fragments remained hot enough to release steam when they touched the wet grass. Smoke climbed into the air. That was a problem. The explosions hadn't been especially loud from a distance, but a column of smoke could be seen from almost anywhere on the farm.

Sieghart summoned Breeze. Wind rushed across the field, caught the smoke, and spread it into a thin gray layer. He continued until the remaining traces dispersed into the afternoon sky. Then he used Water Creation to extinguish several patches of smoldering grass. Within minutes, the obvious danger had passed. Hiding the missing boulder would be more difficult. Sieghart looked at the crater. Perhaps his grandparents wouldn't remember that an enormous stone had occupied this part of the farm for decades. Unlikely.

He sat on the grass and allowed his concentration to recover. For years, his progress had felt slow. Every spell began weak. Each improvement required weeks or months of experimentation. Even with infinite mana, he remained limited by understanding, control, and mental focus. He had often wondered if he was advancing quickly enough. The scattered remains of the boulder answered that question. Sieghart smiled.

"Even a failure can produce results by working diligently." He looked at the devastation again.

"Though infinite mana deserves at least half the credit." Perhaps more than half. Sieghart didn't mind sharing the achievement with himself. One powerful spell wasn't the point of his advantage. His fireballs remained weaker than the legendary attacks he imagined. A skilled Aura Knight might block or evade one. A large monster might survive several. That was fine. Sieghart could cast another. And another. And another. Until the thing standing in front of him disappeared.