The Mage Will Master Magic Efficiently In His Second Life

Several days passed after that. As I diligently trained myself and delved even deeper into my research of the Colored Servant spell the day of the Heavenly Mage Festival finally came.

Claude and Shirushu stood in front of the house, seeing off me and Milly.

Good luck, you two. Im praying for your success Milly-san, Zeph-san. Shirushu said.

Ill definitely come watch once were done helping in the store!! Claude yelled out.

Shirushu, Claude, thank you!!! Well do our best!

On a separate note, Silverie had already left the house earlier, because she was part of the Heavenly Mage Festivals staff, while Lydia was working on some final touches for my arm.

This years Title Match would proceed as usual, with the qualifiers taking place before noon, followed by the preliminaries until evening, and finally, the one whod managed to stay until the end would get the opportunity to fight the Heavenly Mage and win their title.

Lydia told me that shed finish up around the evening, but before that, I must win the preliminaries.Ill probably manage somehow even with just one arm.

There werent many magicians that could use Soul Spells. My biggest rival would probably turn out to be Milly.

Why are you looking at me with that grin? Milly asked.

Its nothing. Im just looking forward to the finals Kuku.

Hmph Ill have you know but Im the type that gets stronger when faced with those kinds of situations!

Truth be told, Milly had grown quite a lot compared to before and her coordination with Uruk had improved as well. She was quite the frightening opponent.

She had even managed to push me to the edge of defeat several times in the last few days.

However, that was because I hadnt used Colored Servant.

I had to still use the spell in front of anyone else.

After all, Colored Servant was my trump card.

I wouldnt mind if Milly saw it, but Id be in a pinch if someone else found out about it. It wouldnt hurt if I was a little more cautious than normal.

Well just try to stay on your toes. You tend to let your guard down quite a lot after all.

Hmph Thats not true! she said, puffing her cheeks.

Its amazing how she can say that when her guard is constantly down.

We slowly made our way to the Soul Tower while continuing to chat.

The Soul Tower was located in Proleas northern parts, and the aides stationed there were testing the candidates in front of the Isolated Spaces. It was a sort of screening.

Oh, theyre sure going at it.

Youre finally here it seems.

Coming from behind one of the pillars, someone remarked.

It was Elise.

I guess she came to watch.

Morning! Elise, are you joining as well? Milly asked.

Unfortunately, Dispatch Magicians cannot participate. Elise remarked with a pained expression on her face.

Due to receiving the Magician Associations Unique spells, the Dispatch Magician had numerous limitations placed on them when fighting.

One of them was being unable to compete in the Title Match. Which was also the reason why I hadnt become a Dispatch Magician.

Then why did you come?

I heard you were going to participate, so I came to give you some tips so I wouldnt have to see you fail miserably. You should be grateful. Elise said in a boastful tone.

However, instead of being offended Milly just laughed with joy.

Really?! Thank you, Elise!!!

I-Its nothing special! Elise murmured, blushing as she turned around.

Milly tilted her head in befuddlement at Elises actions, but Elise disregarded her and began to explain with a small twist of her head.

The Soul of Soul, Urohimes aides use a foreign countrys swordsmanship. Ive seen it a few times up close. It has a peculiar feel to it. I would encourage you to stay away from close-quarters combat as much as possible.

Swordsmanship from a foreign country, eh Come to think of it, Sarutobi was a Shinobi from a foreign country. His fighting style was really something else.If our opponents employ the same combat style as Sarutobi, it would be better if we avoided battling them in close quarters.

I see So close-quarters are dangerous. Let me write that down. Milly said.

The aides are Urohimes retainers that came with her when she married.

That makes sense.

The Dispatch Magicians information network is definitely something else.

Elise did you really come all this way just to tell us that?! Milly asked.

N-No! I just happened to be passing by! W-Well then I have some things to take care of so Ill be leaving! Elise said and ran in the direction of the Magician Association.

Looking at her get further away, Milly let out a pained sigh.

What in the world was that I wonder?

Beats me. I dont get what shes thinking at all.

After seeing her off both me and Milly lined up.

Those who had already finished registering themselves were either fighting in the Isolated Spaces or waiting for their turns.

As I had predicted, there werent many people present, and those who could employ familiars were even fewer.

Why arent most of them using familiars I wonder? The Isolated Spaces here make the familiars really strong. Its a waste not to use them.

Raising familiars requires quite a bit of funds after all. There arent many people like you and me who battle with familiars as their main weapon.

Each time a Soul Spell was used a high amount of gemstones were consumed.

And that consumption was even higher when using Summon Servant. If I were to have Ain stay around all day shed probably consume close to 500 gemstones.

That was equal to 10 times our daily hunting earnings.

To put it simply, raising familiars required a tremendous amount of money.

When I first awakened my Summon Servant, I was strapped for cash and had to scrape here and there to make ends meet. However, thanks to Lydias shop, both Milly and I were now able to employ our familiars freely.

She also made that mechanical arm for me. I really dont know how Ill repay her.

In any case, it was for these reasons that the number of competitors in the Soul Title Match was reduced. And, out of all those that competed, only a few were capable of pushing the Heavenly Mage to give it their best, therefore the Soul Title Match was rarely enjoyable to witness.

I didnt have a familiar in my previous life, and I didnt bother to summon one, therefore I rarely went to see the Title Matches.

Well, I guess having higher hurdles means fewer rivals.

At the same time, since I had raised my familiar to a high degree, Urohime was the one I would most likely defeat out of the Five Heavenly Mages.

Next.

HERE! Milly exclaimed as she headed to the register.

Milly and I were both directed to different examinees after putting down the necessary information and handing over the participation fee.

Milly dont let your guard down, okay?

I know! Make sure to win, okay Zeph? Lets meet at the finals. Milly said with a wide smile on her face.

I gave her a wry smile after which I headed to my appointed Isolated Space.

As soon as I stepped inside, I noticed an elderly gentleman dressed in white with the Magician Associations crest embroidered on his clothes.

He possessed a magnificent beard, and despite his advanced age, his enormous muscles were clearly visible even from beneath his garments.

I cast Scout Scope on him.

Shiranui Gennai

Level 80

Magic Level

Red: 32 / 65

Blue: 41 / 51

Green: 19 / 19

Sky: 21 / 21

Soul: 65 / 65

Magic Power 3585 / 3585

Thats one high level hes got there Hes quite strong.And that doesnt include just his status.The way he holds himself and his magic power which gives off the impression of a massive tree makes him seem like quite the opponent.Come to think of it, Elise did say that theyre proficient in close-quarters.

A feeling of anxiety washed over me.

Take your stance. he said.

Shiranui grabbed up the staff with his hands, saying nothing else.

No familiar huhNo, wait. I saw it with Scout Scope. This Shiranui guys Summon Servant is quite high levelled.Theres a high chance that hes planning something But I guess I cant just stay and do nothing, now can I?

Im sorry but Ill finish this with one strike. I said, immediately kicking the ground and widening the distance between me and Shiranui.

I cant let myself be dragged into a close-quarters fight.Ill bombard him with spells and finish this.

I cast Blue Gale and a water tornado enveloped Shiranui.

Im not done.

Even before the water tornado could disappear I began to bombard him with Green Bullet.

The rock-like magic power bullets pierced through Shiranuis body inside the tornado. Or thats what I thought. Suddenly a strange feeling washed over me.

Why didnt I feel any response?

Even though the link between the spell and the caster weakened after the magic was cast, a response could still be felt when the spell struck something.

Even during an offset, there would still be a response.

Why didnt I feel anything? What does this mean?

Its my turn.

As soon as those words came out the dust in the area exploded.

A white shadow flew at me with tremendous speed

Hes fast!

I immediately twisted my body, somehow managing to dodge the charge.

The thing that had flown by just now was a beautifully sharpened blade.

That was close?!

This shape If Im right it should be a katana. A foreign weapon, eh.

According to what Id heard about katanas, their sharpness was unparalleled because of the blade being folded and baked multiple times.

I dont have time to worry about this

Thats not nice you know? Are you planning to kill me?

Do not fret. I didnt aim at a vital spot Still, its quite surprising that you managed to dodge it.

When the smoke cleared, I saw Shiranui wearing a demon-like helmet with horns protruding from both sides and a white torso patch covering his chest.