INFINITE - 22
Marc grinned proudly.
"Hehe. I'm learning more and more about magic while training, so of course I'm excited."
He then turned toward Bell.
"Right, Bell?"
Bell smiled faintly.
"Yeah. I still need to train and improve myself too."
-------------------
Bell looked at Juro for a moment before asking,
"Are you gonna enroll me and Marc into a magic school?"
Marc's eyes instantly lit up.
"Ooooo, a magic school???"
Juro scratched the side of his head thoughtfully.
"Hmmm… a magic school, huh…" He glanced at the two of them before shrugging casually. "I mean, I could honestly just teach you both myself."
Bell crossed his arms slightly.
"But wouldn't it be better to have a certificate or some kind of official record of becoming an actual mage?"
Marc gasped dramatically.
"Ooooo, you mean like an official mage?!"
He immediately turned toward Juro with sparkling eyes overflowing with excitement.
Juro stared at him for a few seconds before finally giving in with a sigh.
"Alright, alright, fine. Once two years pass, I'll let you two enter a magic school."
Marc looked like he had just heard the greatest news of his life.
Juro then crossed his arms and smirked.
"You two better train hard then. So that passing the school should feel like a breeze by the time you get there."
"Okay, Teacher Juro! I'll work hard!" Marc exclaimed without hesitation.
Bell then asked calmly,
"Which school are you planning to take us to?"
Juro simply smirked.
"I'll handle that, don't worry. Just focus on your training, hehe."
Marc, still overflowing with excitement, quickly got up from his chair.
"C'mon, Bell! Let's go back to the field! I wanna train more!"
Bell smiled faintly at Marc's endless energy.
"Alright, fine."
As Bell stood up from his chair, Marc suddenly turned back toward Juro.
"What about you, Teacher Juro? Are you gonna come watch again?"
Juro smiled and lazily waved a hand.
"Nah, I'll stay here for a bit. I still gotta help clean these dishes. You two go on ahead and I'll check on your progress later."
Marc nodded enthusiastically.
The two of them then headed out of the inn together.
The moment they left, Juro's smile slowly softened.
He quietly exhaled.
After sitting there for a brief moment, he stood up and walked toward their room upstairs.
Once inside, he closed the door behind him before quietly casting magic.
"Geotomic."
A faint purple square materialized above his palm, slowly levitating in the air.
Juro motioned his fingers outward.
The square instantly expanded across the entire room before gradually fading into transparent invisibility.
"Good… that should hide my mana."
He then brought both palms together and cast another magic.
"Kaleste, Aurt."
The instant the words left his mouth, a bright blue glow began radiating from his palms.
Juro looked down at the light and chuckled to himself.
"Hah… this old man really likes traditional magic."
Juro slowly began separating both of his hands.
As the distance between his palms widened, a semi-transparent blue surface stretched between them like a thin sheet of glowing glass. Mana then started to flow out as he slowly separated his hands together.
[image here / image on kofi]
The strange rectangular plate expanded further and further until it stabilized in midair, faint ripples of mana flowing across its surface.
A few seconds later.
A face appeared on the glowing screen.
"Juro?" the old man on the other side asked with a raised eyebrow.
Juro immediately grinned.
"Oh heyyyyy, how's it beeennn?"
The old man looked entirely unamused.
"Why'd you call me all of a sudden?"
Juro casually leaned back on the wall.
"Nothing, just checkin' up on ya."
The old man gave him a flat stare.
"Haha. Funny."
"C'monnnnn."
"I'm cancelling the call."
Juro instantly widened his eyes with a smile.
"Wait, Aurt! Ahahaha, fineeee."
The old man sighed deeply, clearly already regretting answering.
Juro smiled before finally speaking more seriously.
"Actually… there's these two kids."
.
.
.
Outside the village, out in the grassy field—
Bell and Marc continued their training relentlessly.
Marc was improving at a visible pace.
Compared to before, his movements had become much more refined. His body was gradually learning how to make subtle adjustments while dodging, and his reaction speed had noticeably increased as well.
Meanwhile, Bell had already increased the spell's speed modification to three times the normal output.
Water balls shot through the air at quick speed one after another, curving and changing direction aggressively as they chased after him.
Yet Bell still managed to dodge them with minimal movement.
Only the occasional graze against his cheek or strands of hair proved just how close the attacks truly were.
Both of them were growing rapidly.
Sweat covered their foreheads.
Their breathing had grown heavier.
But neither of them stopped.
Marc suddenly dropped onto the grassy field with a heavy exhale before motioning his hand toward the spell formation.
The spell slowly faded apart.
He laid flat on the grass while panting heavily, but despite his exhaustion, a huge smile spread across his face.
"Yes!"
A moment later, Bell walked over and sat down beside him, quietly catching his breath as well.
After a few seconds of silence, Bell glanced toward him.
"What are you celebrating about?"
Marc laughed tiredly.
"I finally got it… I finally managed to master the speed of the normal spell…"
He slowly raised a hand toward the sky above them.
"Someday, I'll catch up to you, Bell… and we'll become a trio of mages."
Bell tilted his head slightly.
"Trio?"
Marc nodded with a bright smile.
"Yeah. Me, you, and Teacher Juro." His eyes sparkled as he stared up at the sky. "The three of us exploring places, learning magic, and discovering new things together."
Bell quietly looked at him for a moment before a small smile formed on his face.
"Yeah."
Marc clenched his fist toward the sky before suddenly jumping back onto his feet.
"Alright! Time for level two!"
Filled with motivation again, he hurried toward an open area and immediately began drawing the spell formation infront of him again.
But halfway through drawing it, he suddenly froze.
"…Wait."
Marc slowly turned his head toward Bell.
A few seconds later, he awkwardly ran back over.
"Uh… how do I speed up the spell again? Ahahaha…"
Bell chuckled softly before standing up.
He then crouched and slowly explained the modifications Juro had taught earlier, pointing at specific symbols and lines while explaining what each one affected.
Marc listened with complete focus.
…
….
Time passed.
The bright blue sky gradually shifted into a warm orange hue as evening slowly approached.
Yet despite the passing hours, both Bell and Marc continued training without stopping.
Then suddenly.
Both of them felt it.
Bell's expression sharpened instantly.
Marc's smile vanished.
Almost at the exact same moment, the two immediately canceled their active spells.
The atmosphere around them changed.
Quiet tension spread through the field.
Without saying a word, Bell and Marc slowly began moving closer toward each other.
But suddenly.
FWIP!
Something shot through the air straight toward Marc's head.
Marc noticed it at the last second, but his body couldn't react in time.
Before the projectile could hit him, Bell suddenly shoved him sideways.
Marc stumbled across the grass as the attack narrowly flew past him like a bullet.
"Wha—what was that??" Marc quickly looked around in panic. "Are we getting attacked, Bell?!"
Despite the fear creeping into his voice, he still tried his best to stay focused.
Bell ignored the question for a moment and looked down toward the ground where the projectile had landed.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hmm…"
Then.
FWIP!
Another shot suddenly flew toward Bell's head.
Bell instantly tilted his head to the side.
The projectile barely missed his face.
"Woaa…"
Marc stared at him in amazement for a second, but that distraction nearly cost him.
Two more shots suddenly fired at the same time from different directions, both aimed directly at their faces.
Marc's eyes widened.
He hurriedly ducked down, barely avoiding the attack.
Meanwhile, Bell calmly shifted his body and dodged the shot with smooth precision.
As the sun continued setting, the surroundings slowly grew darker.
And that only made Marc more anxious.
He still couldn't identify where the attacks were coming from.
Nor who was firing them.
Marc slowly stepped backward nervously, but then he suddenly felt a hand rest on his shoulder.
It was Bell.
"Bell…?"
Bell kept his eyes on the surroundings.
"Calm down. Remember our training? Stay focused while trying to figure out who's casting the magic."
Those words immediately helped stabilize Marc's thoughts.
"Thanks, Bell…"
Marc straightened his posture and forced himself to focus properly again.
Then suddenly.
Five shots burst out from above.
Three targeted Bell.
Two targeted Marc.
The instant they noticed the attacks, both of them reacted immediately.
Bell quickly stepped aside from the first shot.
Then the second.
Before instantly ducking under the third.
Marc ran forward and jumped over the first projectile aimed at him.
The moment he landed, he immediately dropped low to the ground, narrowly avoiding the second shot passing over his head.
Marc panted heavily, sweat dripping down the side of his face, yet his expression was filled with excitement.
"Hah… hah… I—I dodged them, Bell!"
Bell immediately responded without taking his eyes off the surroundings.
"Don't get too excited. Watch out!"
Marc instinctively turned.
FWIP!
A shot flew straight toward his face.
Marc quickly tilted his head sideways, barely avoiding it as the projectile brushed past his cheek.
Marc's expression twitched in irritation.
"Alright… I've had it…"
He took a deep breath before slowly closing his eyes.
As he exhaled, mana began flowing out from his body.
The mana wrapped around his arms like a current before gathering heavily around his hands.
Then Marc opened his eyes.
Mana instantly engulfed them.
Marc smiled.
"ZEN!"
The atmosphere around him shifted.
Marc had entered a form known as Pure Eyes one of the many magic forms born directly from natural essence itself, originally discovered by The Greatest Mage.
At full mastery, the form granted vision so sharp it could perceive extreme detail from incredible distances. Beyond enhanced eyesight, it also amplified mana output and caused pure mana to flow automatically throughout the user's body, constantly cleansing toxins, fatigue, and abnormalities.
Mana continued surging around Marc as he stared at his glowing hands with excitement.
But then suddenly.
Ten shots burst through the air at once.
Five aimed toward Bell.
Five toward Marc.
The instant the attacks appeared, Marc's enhanced senses immediately picked up their trajectories.
His sharpened vision clearly traced where each shot would land.
Marc moved.
One dodge.
Then another.
Then another.
Compared to before, avoiding them had become noticeably easier.
After slipping past the fifth shot, Marc quickly lifted his gaze toward the darkening sky, trying to locate whoever was attacking them.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
Then.
For the briefest moment.
He saw it.
A faint fluctuation of mana high in the air.
But before he could focus further.
FWIP!
Another shot rushed straight toward him.
"Woah!"
Marc bent his body backward in a near limbo-like motion, barely dodging the projectile by inches.
"That was close!"
Bell immediately shouted from nearby.
"Marc! The moment you see the mana flow, point at it immediately!"
Marc quickly nodded.
Then five more shots fired toward them again.
Marc dodged while focusing intensely.
His enhanced vision scanned the air once more.
Then he saw it again.
A tiny disturbance.
A subtle flow of mana hidden above them.
Marc instantly pointed without hesitation.
"Bell, over the—!"
Before he could even finish speaking.
BOOOOM!
A deafening burst exploded from Bell's fingertip.
A compressed mana shot tore through the air at terrifying speed.
But just before it connected.
A hand coated in mana casually caught it.
"Heyyyy~"
A familiar voice echoed from above as Juro slowly descended from the air.
Marc froze in shock.
"Wh… what the— Teacher Juro?!"
Meanwhile, Bell simply smirked slightly.
"I figured."
"Those attacks were non-lethal from the start… they were just weaker versions of Water Bullet."
Juro laughed loudly after landing.
"Ahahahaha! You two did really well!"
Marc blinked repeatedly, still trying to process everything.
"Wait… what happened?"
Juro casually walked toward them with his hands behind his head.
"Oh, I was just testing how much you two improved from training." He grinned proudly before giving them a thumbs up. "And honestly? You both did great."
Marc's face instantly brightened.
"Ohhhhh! I passed a test!"
The moment his excitement exploded, mana suddenly began overflowing wildly around his body again.
Juro immediately pointed at him.
"Aahahahah kid your mana."
Marc widened his eyes.
"Oops… hehe, sorry. I got excited…"
The overflowing mana gradually settled down as Marc returned to his normal state.