SPELLCRAFT: Reincarnation Of A Magic Scholar

Silence pervaded the atmosphere, but it was hardly stale.

Students and lecturers watched the stage fervently, with bated breaths. Their eyes were locked on the two individuals who stood opposite themselves —smiling at each other with pure confidence.

The Hero and Unofficial Ranker Of Ainzlark...

… And the Headmaster of the same institution.

Gulps and tense breaths spread across the audience.

Their thoughts all rang of the same thing.

'Who is going to win?'

*******************

'How ignorant...'

I couldn't blame most of the people who were witnessing this, though. None of them had ever seen Neron at full strength, which was why they could entertain the thought that I had a chance.

'Well, maybe I could turn the tides with my Arcanas...'

But, I wasn't going to be using those in this match. Based on what little information I knew about Neron, he surpassed me in Mana quantity, and even bested me in overall quality —since he had too much.

I could close the gap with Spellcraft, but the second factor also came into play.

—Experience!

Neron was as shrewd as me. Even without reincarnating, he figured out so many things at such an age. The fact that he had more Familiars than I had ever seen in my entire two lifetimes proved that he had lots of experience in the Magic department.

'I bet he's older than he looks...'

Then there was his pesky Original Magic.

'Who knows what else he's hiding...'

Out of ten, I could only see myself winning once —and that was being generous. Still, since I had just preached about making the impossible possible through Magic, I intended to lead by example.

'I won't know unless I try!'

"Let's set some ground rules for the match, first." I retorted, smiling at the grinning man.

How shameless could he be? Openly showing his excitement like this...

"Firstly, there will be no use of any Magic Items. Secondly, there will be no use of Original Magic. Thirdly, we'll limit the use of Magic to the Highest Tier for Advanced Magic. I'm afraid this place won't be able to handle anything higher."

"We could use a barrier to shield the place. That way, no one gets hurt." Neron interjected.

'Tch. Sly guy!'

"Very well. We can use Peak Level Magic... but not Transcendental..."

Magic Spells had cadres, and usually, the highest one could achieve as a Mage was the Peak Level. Even then, only a few ever arrived at this juncture.

However, one realm existed above it...

… The Transcendental Level!

Spells that defied logic and even bent the laws of nature were classified under this. Neron's Original Magic could be classified under this.

The Arcanas were also Transcendental.

In essence, this Realm was so dangerous that even barriers would not be enough to contain their power. I was certain Neron understood that.

"That's fine..." He murmured.

'Good. If it's like this, then I can manage...'

I had long given up on fighting Neron at full strength —at least, not unless I was ready to go all out.

But, I wasn't in a position to do that just yet.

"Since we're done with setting the rules, shall we begin?"

Neron and I both erected respective barriers to encompass the stage. Two translucent veils covered the stage, nearly transparent in nature.

'This should work...'

The stage was large enough for even a thousand people to stand on —with room to spare. Certainly, it would be large enough to contain us, right?

"Then... let us begin..."

Neron and I stared at each other with excited expressions.

"... NOW!"

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!<

The entire platform we stood on shattered instantly.

An explosive gust of wind spread across the stage as we sharply lunged at each other.

My body had radically transformed —coated in a dense amount of Mana. Several lights danced around me —all condensed forms of Mana. They served as my support, and each had enough power to rival an experienced Mage.

In a fight with Neron, they would be next to useless, but they were better than nothing.

'I have Familiars stored in them, so they'll be in control of the respective orbs.'

>WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHHH!!!<

I swung a blade that I manifested from a condensed quality of Mana.

>CHING!<

It crashed upon a dense barrier made by Neron, breaking the weapon instantly.

"Come on, Jared!" Neron said, lunging at me with a highly volatile punch.

His attack pattern was simple, but I could feel the amount of force behind it.

"Tch!"

>WHOOOOMMM!!!<

I dodged his offensive maneuver, sending a bunch of orbs charging at Neron.

They jointly cast a rain of highly destructive lightning, decimating the area.

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!<

If the barrier hadn't existed, I was certain that the entire hall would have been blown apart.

"Hahahaha! That's more like it!" Neron yelled, swiftly emerging from the thick smoke and dust.

His body had changed —shrouded in multiple colors and special features.

'He's using Grand Fusion Mode already?'

I could notice at least a thousand distinct features from Neron's body alone —and even several more Mana qualities that differed from one another.

'He's using that many, uh?'

>WHOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!<

As I was still in thought, Neron appeared in front of me.

"Wha —"

And then he was behind me.

"Tsk tsk."

Before I could respond to his taunt, a bright blast of multiple mixed energies shot at me with immense speed.

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!<

I was thrust to the ground, but quickly regained composure and took to the sky.

Thanks to my little spheres that automatically went into defense, I would have been in quite the pickle.

'He's faster than me now...'

With a grin, I decided to elevate my form, utilizing the power of a dozen Familiars —all Wisps!

>VWUUUSHHH!<

Energy swirled around me, and I achieved a glowing state, brimming with fiery energy and power.

As the brilliant display of a rainbow, I floated in the air.

The orbs around me had increased in size and number, granting me more versatility and efficiency in combat.

In my current Grand Fusion state, I could keep up —for now. However... this was only a prelude.

'The actual show is yet to come!'