The Wizard in the Game Is Rewarded in Reality

Chapter 34

What is Magic?

It is the aesthetics of imagination.

– Mages are beings who make imagination a reality.

That’s what the First Elder told me.

But…

Contrary to the First Elder’s words, the mages of the Magic Tower I experienced do not imagine. They merely strictly follow the rules set by their predecessors who walked the path of magic before them.

They learn the mana cultivation methods created by their predecessors and follow the magic created by their predecessors exactly.

Contrary to the First Elder’s words, the current Magic Tower lacks imagination.

“I refuse.”

I will imagine.

I will imagine how to become stronger, how to become freer.

The mages of the Magic Tower say:

The magic created by our predecessors is perfect, accumulated through years of experience.

Compressing mana excessively is dangerous.

Using opposing mana together is dangerous.

Dangerous. Dangerous. Dangerous.

The wizards of the Magic Tower gave up on imagination out of fear of danger.

But I will not give up on imagination.

Ziiing- Ping- Prrrrrr-

Ten streams of magic bullets leave my fingertips and pierce through the bodies of the charging orcs. The orcs, pierced through the center of their foreheads, collapse to the ground, letting out their death throes.

Shararang-

In the space of consciousness, runes take shape and the mana of wind imbues them.

I add the rune of wind. The mass of wind spreads wide. The more it compresses, the wider it becomes. The widening means it has become sharper.

A magic that can affect a wider range, with maximized sharpness, is completed.

“Sever.”

With a chilling sound of air being sliced, the magic shoots towards the approaching orcs.

More than ten orcs’ bodies are split in half.

Just like the name of the magic, they were ‘severed.’

‘Sever’ is a modified version of the 3rd circle magic Wind Cutter.

Adding the rune of wind to Wind Cutter, expanding it twice, and then compressing it twice again.

If Wind Cutter targets a single entity, Sever cuts through everything in its path.

The number of runes used is thirteen.

It’s about halfway between the 3rd circle magic that uses eight runes and the 4th circle magic that uses sixteen runes.

If I were to compare it to circle magic, it would be a 3.5 circle magic.

But the power of Sever rivals, or even surpasses, the wide-area magic of the 4th circle.

– Your level has increased.

A pleasant message is delivered.

The message continues.

– You have reached level 10.

– As a level 10 perk, all stats increase by 2.

– The infinite bag expands.

They said growth comes through effort, and as expected, leveling up was the answer.

*

“What am I looking at right now?”

The Sixth Elder, rendered invisible by the Invisibility spell, muttered to himself as he floated in the sky.

“This is a magic I’ve never seen before.”

The magic that Noon had used a moment ago was something he had never encountered in his over seventy years of walking the path of magic.

“Is it similar to Wind Cutter?”

Similar, yet different.

It was a powerful magic that couldn’t be explained by something like a third-circle Wind Cutter. How could one compare a magic that split the bodies of more than ten orcs in half in an instant to Wind Cutter?

“Haha. I knew it was extraordinary, but…”

Those who knew about Noon within the Magic Tower all said the same thing.

The greatest prodigy in the history of the Magic Tower.

The Sixth Elder agreed as well.

He had seen countless talents, but none had the potential that Noon possessed.

The elders who taught Noon all shook their heads in amazement. They said that teaching him one thing would enlighten him to ten, no, a hundred things.

It was well-known among the elders that when they taught him how to create second-circle artifacts, he self-studied and created fourth-circle artifacts.

But what he was witnessing now was beyond mere praise.

“Has he monopolized the love of mana?”

It was commonly said that those with exceptional magical talent were blessed by mana.

Watching Noon’s battle, it seemed as if the blessing of mana was concentrated on one person.

“Grow well.”

The Sixth Elder smiled contentedly.

*

He didn’t know how many orcs he had killed.

At the beginning of the battle, he counted the number of orcs he eliminated, but he stopped counting once it surpassed a hundred.

The battle would only end when all the orcs were eradicated anyway.

The battle had started, and he had reached level 10, but he was already at level 12. The speed at which his level was rising was astonishing. The term “explosive leveling” fit perfectly.

As his level rose and his stats increased, his magic grew stronger as well.

“Hoo-.”

At some point, the number of orcs blocking his path began to decrease. He had killed many, but the orcs that had been charging recklessly were now retreating.

Doom- Doom-

Kyaaa-!

The sound of drums echoed, and an ear-splitting roar was heard.

“Is the boss making an appearance?”

An enormous orc, cutting through the horde, approaches. No, it’s a being whose presence makes one doubt if it is truly an orc.

“Chieftain.”

It’s about half a size larger than a typical orc.

The orc chieftain, standing at a towering height of at least 3 meters, walks forward with a sword in one hand and an axe in the other.

Doom- Doom- Doom-

The sound of drums echoes in sync with the chieftain’s footsteps.

The surrounding atmosphere trembles.

The air twists and turns, dyed in vivid colors.

The orc shamans’ incantations have begun.

It is said that the wizards of the Magic Tower have studied the orc shamans’ magic for many years but have not been able to uncover its principles.

“Baldur.”

The orc chieftain walks up to 20 meters ahead and shouts briefly.

“Baldur? Are you introducing yourself?”

Thud- Thud-

He takes two steps forward and stops.

“Norun!”

“No-ruun.”

The orc chieftain Baldur points his sword at me and speaks. It seems he can indeed speak human language.

“The future of the Magic Tower.”

He doesn’t respond, perhaps not understanding this time.

“Norun. Dies. Here.”

“I’m sorry for killing your subordinates, but I have no intention of dying here.”

“It’s fine. Orc. Dies. Goes to the land of the Great Father. But Norun. You can’t go.”

“I have no desire to go?”

Thud!

Baldur stomps his foot.

The ground shakes as if an earthquake has struck.

Kyaaarrr-

He stretches his head forward, tearing his mouth open to let out a monstrous scream. Then he slowly moves back and forth, repeating strange actions.

It seems to be a ritual before the battle begins.

The moment the ritual ends, Baldur swings his arm.

Ping-

With a sharp sound, something flies towards my head at an incredible speed.

Chang-!

The shield is destroyed in an instant.

If I hadn’t twisted my body to dodge, my head would have been gone.

The axe in Baldur’s left hand is nowhere to be seen.

“That was a bit dangerous, wasn’t it?”

I re-deploy the shield and let out a sigh of relief.

“Huh?”

Amazingly, the thrown axe returns to Baldur’s hand.

“An artifact?”

If it’s not an artifact, it can’t be explained.

If not that, it must be a weapon crafted by an orc shaman’s sorcery.

“This is troublesome, isn’t it?”

For a mage who needs to keep distance during battle, Baldur is the worst enemy. He has a long-range attack powerful enough to destroy the shield in an instant.

Mana gathers at my fingertips. The runes floating endlessly in the space of consciousness respond to my call and gain meaning.

“If it’s a long-range attack, I’m confident too.”

Ten streams of magic bullets shoot towards Baldur.

Sensing the danger instinctively, Baldur crouches and covers his vital parts with his sword and axe.

The magic bullets aimed at his head, heart, and other crucial parts are blocked by the sword and axe. Unfortunately, they didn’t penetrate the weapons. But three out of the remaining five magic bullets hit Baldur’s body.

Unfortunately, they didn’t penetrate but got stuck.

Thud- Thud-!

Baldur stomps his feet roughly.

As if he doesn’t feel pain, he raises his fighting spirit while bleeding profusely. Baldur’s charging begins with a roar. It feels like a giant rhinoceros is charging.

“Dig. Dig.”

I use Dig to create pits in Baldur’s path.

While Baldur stumbles over the first pit, my mind is ‘imagining.’

Fire, fire, fire, fire-

I keep calling upon the Rune of Fire.

The flames imbued with my will surround Baldur. They are small flames that seem to have little power.

Baldur seems to think the same. He ignores the flames and charges at me again.

But that was Baldur’s mistake.

Bang- Bang- Bang-!

Every time Baldur moves, every time the flames touch his body, there is a loud explosion. Baldur’s body keeps getting pushed back, staggering.

“Fireworks.”

I name the impromptu magic.

The runes I imbued in the flames are lightness, floating, adhesion, and explosion.

The flames, light enough to be blown away with a ‘whoo’ from my mouth, float in the air. When something approaches, they stick to it and cause an explosion.

Baldur, blackened by the fiery explosions, lets out a scream twisted with pain and anger.

It is a scream filled with hatred and murderous intent directed at me.

From noble mtl dot com

Baldur sublimates his anger into fighting spirit and charges at me again.

I understand why orcs are called the tribe of struggle. It seems they do not feel the fear of injury or death.

I keep my distance while restraining the charging Baldur with magic bullets. Baldur throws his axe, but I dodge it easily, having anticipated it.

I prepare a trap while restraining him with magic bullets.

Baldur does not realize he is standing in the middle of the perfect hunting ground I have prepared.

I raise my hand and point at Baldur.

Baldur flinches and dodges.

“I didn’t do anything?”

Baldur’s face twists hideously.

“Die.”

“Yes. Die. Baldur. Go. Far away.”

I say, looking at Baldur.

“Skilled hunters aim for the legs first when targeting large prey. Why? Because they need to take away its mobility. So from now on, I will take away your mobility.”

“Kill-!”

Baldur shouts loudly and charges, seemingly not understanding my words.

No, he tried to charge.

Zzzt-

“Argh-!”

Baldur staggers back, screaming in pain.

Something translucent with a blue glow springs up from the ground he stepped on, slicing his ankle.

“Ankle mine.”

The ankle mine is a magical trap inspired by the light magic that erupts when stepped on, typically set up around campsites.

When the condition of ‘stepping’ is met, the magic manifests 20 centimeters above the ground.

“Ugh-, Argh-!”

Baldur continues to scream as he stumbles backward. The ankle mines scattered around keep targeting his feet.

Baldur’s balance is visibly collapsing.

“Now that his ankles are tied, it’s time to start the real hunt.”

The magic I’m preparing this time is Wind Cutter.

But it’s different from the usual Wind Cutter. If a normal Wind Cutter is the size of an apple, the one I created is the size of a walnut.

The smaller but more compressed and powerful Wind Cutter spins at an incredible speed, aiming for Baldur’s heart. The trajectory of the Wind Cutter, and the air around it, swirls due to the rotation.

The special Wind Cutter I created slices through Baldur’s skin, burrows inside, and pierces out through his back.

– An astonishing achievement. You have single-handedly annihilated the tribe of the Orc chieftain. The title ‘Orc Butcher’ is created.