Chapter 217 – Mastery of Fire Magic (1)

After washing the dishes while receiving Hwayoung sunbaenim’s sincere fellatio.

She and I sat close to the empty table we had eaten together and started talking.

It wasn’t a casual talk like where to order the dinner menu, it was more like a serious story.

It was a lecture on flame magic taught by a former S-class hunter.

“Once I’ve decided to teach, I won’t go over halfway.”

“Yes, senior.”

I replied with a nod of my head to her who said that with the apex of her table in between.

The process by which senior Hwayoung suddenly started giving me magic lectures was simple.

The reason was that the senior, who didn’t like the fact that he was charging the price of the black slime material he had obtained this time, with sex, said he would pay for it in a different way.

Rather, it was a story that she could not accept that she paid for materials in a way that was so convenient that she could not afford to pay.

Of course, I said that I didn’t have to worry that much, but she insisted that senior Hwayoung couldn’t tolerate her relationship where she only accepted one-sidedly.

Expressing her specifications more than this would be an insult to her, so I brought up a story about whether it would be okay if I could teach her fire magic in return.

“Come to think of it, I talked about that for a while.”

“Yes. There is a teacher who is well versed in swordsmanship, so I am already learning it, but when it comes to fire magic, there is no one better than you.”

“Well, when I was active, I did well.”

Cha Yu-ri is also an A-class hunter, so she has a deep knowledge of magic among mage-type hunters, but the only thing I can learn from her, as a wind mage, is how to use her magic efficiently.

As for how to handle fire magic itself, senior Hwayoung, who is the same fire mage, must have had a much richer knowledge.

In the first place, if it was a one-on-one magic lecture given by a former S-class hunter, it would be beneficial to learn it regardless of the class.

“Then, before starting the lecture, I will find out how far you know, junior.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll start with a simple question. What level of proficiency in fire magic do you think you have?”

“For now, I can roughly use the level equivalent to the 5th circle fire magic. Things like flame tornadoes and superheated earth.”

I wondered if it was a question about the level of magic I could use, so I mentioned the highest level of fire magic I could use right now.

Hwayoung shook her head at my confident answer.

“… I didn’t ask for that kind of knowledge.”

“Yes?”

Still, I confidently said that if it was a 5th circle, I thought it would be a good level in its own way.

Contrary to my expectations, she asked for a slightly different knowledge.

“What I ask of you is not simply the level of how much magic you can handle, but how deeply you understand and use magic when you use it.”

“… Is it a little different from using high-level magic?”

“Of course… Whew. Okay. I felt like I had to explain it from here anyway.”

Having said that, senior Hwayoung began to teach me his basic knowledge in handling magic.

“Let’s start with the very basics. What do junior Seongcheol think of the basic fire magic?”

“Fireball… Oh no. Isn’t that an incendiary?”

“Simpler.”

“… Simpler? Then fever… ?”

“It is not oversimplified. It’s just that the way we operate has changed.”

“…”

Having been denied the two magics that are the foundation of most fire magic and the first two magics that 1st circle fire mages learn, I tried to use a few more 1st circle magics on her as they popped into her head.

Senior Hwayoung just shook her head in denial of all the 1st-circle magic that I brought out.

“Only the circle is level 5, and you really have no knowledge of magic.”

“… Sorry.”

“I have nothing to apologize for. Still, it’s much better than halfway knowing. At least you don’t have to take out the wrong knowledge.”

Having said that, senior Hwayoung continued her basic lecture on flame magic.

“Most magic is a manifestation of a phenomenon. In the case of wind magic, ‘movement of air’, in the case of cold magic, ‘fall in temperature’. Of course, there are cases where magic becomes slightly different from basic phenomena when it enters the application stage, but in any case, know that the concept of manifestation itself is important.”

“Magic is the manifestation of phenomena… Yes, I understand.”

“Then, what do you think is the basic phenomenon of fire magic?”

“Hmm…”

After thinking about her question for a while, I spat out a carefully guessed answer.

“Rise in temperature… Are you?”

“That’s just an additional effect you get as the phenomenon manifests. The most fundamental phenomenon is ‘combustion of matter’.”

“Ah… !”

Feeling ashamed at the answer of senior Hwayoung, who spoke as if it were so obvious, a moment of shame arose.

After listening to it, it’s a really obvious and simple answer, but I wonder why I couldn’t think of it.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Are you going to be ashamed of each one when you come up with something you don’t know in your learning position?”

“No, you can’t do that.”

“Then another question. Based on the fact that the basic phenomenon of fire magic is ‘combustion of matter’, once again think about what the basic magic of fire magic is.”

“… Ignition.”

“It’s good that you understand quickly.”

After saying that, senior Hwayoung took out a pipe with tobacco leaves and held it in front of my eyes, then flicked her fingers once to activate ignition magic.

“This is the foundation of the basics of fire magic. Fireball is magic that has gone one step further, and fever is just magic that maximizes the additional effects that appear in the process of ‘combustion of matter’.”

“Okay.”

As white smoke began to rise, she dropped her black slime bodily fluid onto the pipe as if it were natural, and took the pipe from which smoke began to rise naturally like water flowing from the side of her mouth.

He gave me a subtle look right before the pipe touched his lips.

“… What, why?”

“Yes?”

“That, I just smoke because it’s a waste. It’s not like I forgot to promise to cut back…”

“I didn’t say anything, old man.”

“… Oh yeah.”

It would have been the best example to implement ignition magic in this space, so I wasn’t brazen enough to talk about it in that respect.

In the first place, I did not think that I could quit addictive tar cigarettes overnight. If that was possible, all tobacco companies should have gone out of business.

Even so, Hwayoung sunbaenim took a big sip of her cigarette while taking a close look at me.

After deliberately blowing smoke in the opposite direction from me, the lecture on fire magic continued.

“The fact that ignition is the most basic fire magic means that something is added to it from fireball and other fire magic.”

“Because fire magic is a burning phenomenon of matter. There will be no material to burn with just ignition in the air.”

“Oh… ?”

“So, making a burning fireball by burning mana is equivalent to the 1st-circle fire magic, ‘flameball’?”

Clap clap clap Hwayoung, who put down the pipe, clapped her hands in a small voice.

“It is definitely worth teaching.”

“I usually learn quickly.”

“Huh. It would be better if I didn’t climb up like that every now and then.”

With a pitiful gaze, the senior took another sip of a tar cigarette and went straight to the next lecture.

“Take the 2nd circle magic fireball as an example. Since it is a tangible flame, ‘ignition’ and ‘mana release’ are the basic premise. Add three magics to it and make it into a fireball.”

“… Three?”

“Uh, three.”

“…”

It felt like her head was lost for a moment at her senior’s magic lecture, as if she had suddenly skipped a few steps.

… If I had known it would be like this, I would have stopped laughing.

“… Since you’re going to gain speed and fly, ‘acceleration’ must be essential.”

“Uh. Now there are two left.”

“Because I need to specify the direction of flight, … Shouldn’t we also add ‘specified’?”

“To be precise, it’s not ‘designation’, it’s ‘aiming’. A fireball that flies by simply holding its direction is ‘aim’. And Fire Arrow, which sets a target and pursues it, is ‘designated’. ‘Designation’ can be further divided into two stages: ‘aiming’ and ‘sensing’.”

“Ah, ah…”

I wonder if I’m getting the aftermath of using magic without thinking deeply about it in this way until now, and I felt like I was getting lost in the new information that was constantly flooding my head.

“Okay, now we have one left.”

“Hmm…”

“Once you know, it’s no big deal. It’s definitely not something to worry about.”

“Is that so… ?”

“If I had to give you a hint, the name of the magic ‘Fireball’ itself is like a hint. If you’re not good at association, make a fireball and compare it to a fireball.”

“The name Fireball itself is a hint…”

Following her advice, she created a fireball that was large enough to fit in her hand, and compared its shape to the fireballs she had been using.

As soon as the thought came to my head, the atypical lump of flame in my hand changed its shape into a sphere.

“Ah.”

“Yeah, well done.”

Senior Hwayoung made a satisfied expression after confirming that the fireball had changed into a sphere due to the influence of ‘aggregation’.

“Magical Discharge, Ignite, Coalesce, Aim, Accelerate. Fireball is created by combining these five basic magics.”

“… After hearing that, even one fireball feels like a very difficult magic.”

“It is really difficult. And you have been using it blindly without even understanding the principle of fireball until now.”

“…”

“Perhaps he memorized the entire magic formula itself and used it. It wouldn’t have been difficult to use it that way right now, but magic that is used without understanding will one day hit its limits.”

“I have nothing to say…”

“Perhaps the 5th circle magic you are using, such as Flame Tornado or Infernal Earth, only mimics the appearance, but if you actually check the reality, you probably won’t be able to show as much power as the 5th circle magic?”

“… It definitely seems like it.”

“It is like a child who is just starting to use chopsticks and eats food by dipping it like a fork. Right now, the results are coming out, so it seems okay, but if you go a little deeper, there will definitely be problems.”

From one to ten, they were all words that pierced me, so I had no choice but to become infinitely small in front of her.

“After today’s class, I’ll make it at least to the level of a ‘apprentice wizard’.”

“Thank you, senior Hwayoung.”

“And it is absolutely forbidden to memorize and use the entire magic formula like you have been using until now. If you get caught even once, I won’t teach you magic again, so you know that.”

“… All right.”

It was the moment when another teacher, who was just as demanding as Eunyoung noona’s swordsmanship class, was born.