#07 – Cemet Circle
Ms. Stelia took us down the stairs, and then kicked the side of the wall under the staircase.
And then a door appeared that seemed to lead to a basement. Perhaps it was a kind of illusion.
She then raised the iron door with both hands, and then a light turned on.
Apparently, there was a ladder that you could use to descend.
But she chose to ignore the ladder and jumped down instead. While in mid-air, she hovered over the floor, then motioned for us to follow her.
(…She definitely is a genius.)
With one move, she would use magic arts that I had never seen before. And frighteningly quickly.
If she claimed to be a thousand-year old witch, then I would believe it.
Ms. Aize went down first, and then I followed her down the ladder. At the bottom, a wide open space awaited us.
“So, you first.”
She said, pointing at Ms. Aize.
“I’ll start with you. The amateur is troublesome, so that can wait.”
Troublesome… Well, that was fine. I wanted to see Ms. Aize training as well.
“Me?”
Ms. Aize tilted her head to the side, and Ms. Stelia nodded.
“You can use magic arts, can’t you? Then do it. At that wall.”
“…But.”
“There is a barrier. Don’t worry, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to break through it. Now hurry up and shoot.”
Ms. Aize hesitated and then nodded.
I suddenly felt the rising of magic energy.
It took shape, turning into numerous small balls of fire.
“Rain Bullets.”
It was like a machine gun.
While each shot was weak, they created a wall of fire that slammed into the wall.
However, just as Ms. Stelia said, the barrier was incredibly strong. The fire dispersed and not even a single burn mark was left.
“Hmm. Not terrible. Weak, but I suppose it is to keep an enemy at bay.”
“Teacher gave me some advice.”
“Huh.”
I shrugged as both of them turned to me.
“Even if I don’t know about magic arts, I can teach combat arts.”
“I see.”
“But this is not enough to break their defenses.”
Ms. Aize said with a shake of her head.
Indeed, during the exhibition match, Ms. Iria had used an ice wall to block all of her attacks. Not a single shot of Ms. Aize’s magic arts was able to break through Ms. Iria’s defense.
“The power is too low.”
“…But, if I prioritize power, I miss.”
“Yes, I’m sure you do.”
What was Ms. Stelia going to do? I wondered. And then she suddenly turned towards me and pointed with her hand in the shape of a pistol.
“Bang!”
“!?”
I felt the shifting of magic energy, and jumped away.
And then, a pillar of fire shot up from the spot where I had been standing a second ago.
Scary!
“Well, something like that.”
“Hey…you could have given me a heads up…”
“It wouldn’t have hurt you even if you were hit directly.”
She said calmly as she blew on the tip of her finger. She’s crazy… I thought with a shudder. They say geniuses were usually eccentric. And it seemed to be true.
“If you can freely control the magic arts origin, or firing point, like I did just now, that alone can be a trump card. It would be difficult to dodge this when done during a fight.”
“…But I don’t think I could do that during a fight.”
“With you as the origin, activate it at a fixed distance away. And if you have multiple firing points, it will be quite an ambush.”
Though, Ms. Stelia said that it could be troublesome if your opponent reads your movements.
But that applied to any technique.
An ambush was that strong. It could be something very reliable for Ms. Aize.
“Well…take this then.”
Ms. Stelia then threw something at Ms. Aize.
It was a black ball… However, I could tell at a glance that it was no ordinary ball.
While it was spherical, the surface was covered in some kind of geometric pattern.
“What is this…?”
“A Cemet Circle. Though, it’s really a modified version of it.”
It was also called a Cemet magic circle or ancient magic circle.
A type of magic circle that was over a hundred years old.
“Well, it is not suited for actual combat. The magic energy cost is too great, and it takes too long to activate. These days, there are no magic tools that use this.”
She paused for a second.
“However, this thing is able to record a technique very accurately.”
“Mmm. Charge it with magic energy, and learn the technique. I used to do it, a long time ago.”
I see. So it’s perfect for the passing on of techniques, which we discussed earlier.
“The techniques carved into it are a mixture of fixed point activation, delaying and concealment. As for what you will do with it, you can think of that yourself. I’m sure you can do that much.”
“…Very well.”
Ms. Aize nodded, and then she took the ball away to train alone.
Cemet Circle…huh? They really had everything here.
In this world, magic had a very long history. And that meant there was so much that I didn’t know.
“So…as for you…”
Ms. Stelia looked at me carefully.
“I was watching you during the tournament.”
“…Thanks.”
“You are that strong. So why are you here?”
There was something severe in her expression.
“I don’t know much about ki arts, but…you are some kind of monster. If I tried to kill you right now, I would probably be the one who ended up dying. That is how strong you are. Why do you care about magic?”
I suppose she was right.
Even if I learned it now, it might not make that much of a difference.
Besides, I was a swordsman.
I looked up to the old man, and was trying to reach his level… I didn’t have time for distractions.
So the reason I was here was magic arts—not to acquire her techniques.
“I have two reasons.”
“Oh?”
“The first. If I understand magic arts…my ki…in terms of my sword, could rise even higher.”
They are similar. As I had expected, they shared a foundation.
“And the other. Because I’m quite behind when it comes to magic arts…”
My target was killed, and the culprit escaped.
I will never forget how foolish I looked.
And I did want that to happen again.
“…That is a surprise. Tell me more.”
Ms. Stelia said with a scowl.