Chapter: 355
As a member of the Partran family, blessed with an incredible amount of magic power and a high affinity for magic, she had been honing her talents since a young age.
Whenever the family’s wizards taught her something, she would grasp it before the day was over and display her skills proficiently within a week.
The Duke and Duchess of Partran, who were already doting on their children, quickly recognized Joy’s talent and cherished her even more.
They even assigned several skilled knights to her when she was experiencing easy dungeon raids.
Thanks to this, Joy quickly learned what a party’s mage should do through various real-world experiences, but she gained not a single insight on what a solo mage should do.
This trend didn’t change much even after she entered the Academy.
Upon arriving at the Academy, Joy met Lucy and swiftly improved her magical skills, yet she still didn’t practice how to fight at the forefront as a mage.
In most cases, she was surrounded by those like Lucy, Arthur, and Frey, who could support the front lines.
Joy’s real-world experience was merely that of a party’s mage.
She had never once done anything alone, nor did she feel the need to stand on her own.
With people to confidently protect her from the front, why bother learning such methods? It seemed better to learn how to assist them instead.
Now, Joy realized that what she once deemed rational in the past was merely laziness.
Yeah. Young Lady Alrn was right. Thinking someone will always be there to guard my front is just childish.
As a noble lady, entering dungeons is inevitable.
In the unknown space of a dungeon, how could she think that someone else would always be by her side?
But separate from that necessity, training with the Young Lady was quite taxing.
Her magic had long run out, and her stamina was already at its limits.
If it were up to her, she would just want to collapse onto the dirt floor, but with the Young Lady’s intense gaze bearing down on her, she forced herself to rise.
With a grimace, she tried to lift her body but was met with a sudden wave of dizziness that almost sent her toppling forward.
“Shall we call it a day here?♡ Pathetic dimwit♡”
Fortunately, Lucy was quicker to embrace her than she was to bury her face in the dirt.
Questioning the girl gazing up at her dumbfoundedly, Lucy chuckled as she gently lowered Joy back to the ground.
“The pathetic dimwit has only gotten worse since she couldn’t do anything even when she was at her best. The result is obvious, right?♡ You think so too, right?♡”
Joy pouted at Lucy’s provocation but couldn’t bring herself to retort.
After lunch and starting training, from dawn till dusk, she had never managed to fend off Lucy’s onslaught even once.
It wasn’t like she was just helplessly standing there.
‘Did you provide me with a toy?♡ Thanks!♡’
She had tried turning the earth to block Lucy’s approach, only for her to come right over it.
‘Puhuh, doesn’t seem like it’s the right season for ice play!♡’
She built a wall of ice, but Lucy barreled through it without a second thought.
‘It’s warm!♡ Perfect for a stove!♡’
Even when she drew fire circles around, it was as if the heat didn’t faze Lucy at all as she slipped through.
Besides that, Joy had tried everything that popped into her head, yet all those strategies were powerless against Lucy.
Looking back, it felt so unfair.
Isn’t Young Lady Alrn just ridiculously overpowered?
If it were any normal enemy, they probably wouldn’t even dare approach her!
No, seriously! She had put in some serious effort launching magic from the mid-range, yet Lucy effortlessly blocked it with her shield and charged at her. What was she supposed to do?!
A mage can’t do anything about that!
Struggling to cling to her fading sanity, Joy shivered in frustration on her bed, but there was nothing that could change the situation.
As long as her opponent was Lucy Alrn, the fact that the match would be different was meaningless.
What to do? As Joy stared blankly at the increasingly dark ceiling, memories from the past came rushing back.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know how a mage should handle themselves when facing a knight alone.
She had learned this from several family mages and had been reminded numerous times after entering the Academy.
‘The best option is to avoid situations where you have to face knights or monsters alone from the get-go.’
‘However, if unavoidable, prioritize blocking their approach first.’
‘No matter how much you train, a mage can’t win in close combat against a knight. You should aim to obliterate them before they get too close.’
These pieces of advice felt futile. She had already tried to counter Alrn using these principles, but the result was a complete loss.
She had been forced to let Alrn breach her defenses.
Yet, there didn’t seem to be any alternative advice either.
Most of the advice she received from superior mages was similar.
The only difference was:
‘Do you think you can stop me with that pathetic magic of yours?♡ Puhahaha♡ Oh, could it be that you can only use one spell?♡ Is that your only game?♡’
“Ugh!”
Recalling the laughter instead of useful advice, Joy angrily flailed at her pillow while screaming internally.
What am I supposed to do?!
Young Lady Alrn gives you barely enough time to complete a spell!
If she used some half-baked magic, Lucy would charge at her, mocking “Is this even magic?!”
What am I to do?!
‘Joy. Listen closely. What’s needed when facing a true strong opponent isn’t just powerful magic. The things most often overlooked, the basics, will save you in those moments.’
…It was definitely something her father had said before.
That the difference between causing harm and immobilizing is a whole different matter.
What Young Lady Alrn was implying aligned with his message.
Then…
Gaining newfound insight, Joy sprang to her feet and began to channel her magic.
*
‘Joy? Are you alright?’
“Hey dimwit, are you alive? I could bury you if you want to rest!”
“…Eep?! Ah, um, I’m fine! Not entirely okay… but I’m good!”
Still wobbling from leaning on her staff, Joy quickly shook her head, asserting her well-being.
Though it seemed like she would faint before running out of magic.
What was keeping her up last night?
Considering she had rolled around all day, it would be normal to collapse the moment her head hit the pillow, right? Did she perhaps not roll enough?
Hmm. Both Arthur and Frey had grumbled about how it was already morning, so maybe that was why.
Okay. From now on, she should be pushed to do extra physical training after their duels.
In a week, she would find herself unable to sleep, so she better get her rest in before then.
“Alright! Here we go! I’ll show you what I’ve prepared yesterday!”
With dark circles under her eyes glaring at me, I smiled without a hint of warning and moved my feet.
Several magic circles appeared around Joy.
Unlike the massive magic circle from the previous day, these were basic spells any mage could use.
Had she already caught on that it was better to hinder movement with various spells rather than rely on sheer firepower when facing knights?
I thought it would at least take a day or two for her to figure that out. Joy is indeed clever.
But she was still a bit clumsy.
There was no way she could stop me with just this combination of spells.
The first magic she manifested was ice magic.
Aiming at my feet, her magic targeted to freeze my grounded leg in hopes of restraining me, but I easily shattered the ice by flexing my foot.
The next magic was earth.
For a moment, my feet halted, and the earth sought to grab my legs, but I was quicker to escape the ice than the spell could even activate.
Therefore, the earth magic lost its purpose.
Seeing me dash forward, Joy hurriedly summoned three magic circles in succession.
Mixing fire and wind to obscure my sight and trying to strike my abdomen with a rock to halt my advance.
The idea wasn’t bad but…
Did she think that would work against me?
Cracking a grin, I tightened my grip on my shield, opting to increase my speed instead of changing direction.
After a series of harmless impacts brushed past my shield, when I slammed it down, I found Joy just a pace away along with the nine magic circles protecting her.
Had she replenished her magic during that time? Her talent as a proper mage was indeed overwhelming.
Now what? Was she planning to blast me away? Or maybe try to intercept me with lightning?
Deliberately slowing ever so slightly to wait for her magic to activate, I smiled at the flames erupting from her spells and raised my shield.
Kwah-bang! The explosions created by the overlapping spells were powerful, but they weren’t enough to halt my charge.
Receiving the full force of the blast, I charged forward, crashing through Joy’s defensive barrier with my shield raised and coming to a stop right in front of her.
‘Well done.’
“Not bad for a dimwit. Not bad at all for a dimwit.”
She had only focused on preventing me from advancing, and then in the very moment of approaching, launched firepower at point-blank range.
Had she actually thought about this overnight, only to develop to this level?
How satisfying it was!
If I kept this up for the next few days, she might become truly impressive.
With each smile curling at my lips, Joy’s eyes flickered more intensely.
‘Let’s do it again.’
“Still not done, huh? You were so confident, there’s no way you’d suck this badly! Let’s go again! This time, I’ll get it right!”
“…Can I take a little break? I seriously feel like fainting over here.”
‘Here. I’ve healed you. You’re good now, right?’
“Now you’re all better, huh? Not hurting? Think it’s okay to torment you some more? Right? Huh?”
“Please, you don’t need to heal me! Just let me rest! I’m begging you?!”
‘Off we go.’
“Give it your all, dimwit!”
“Please just listen to me!”
After that, I did everything I could to push Joy until we left the Alrn territory.
Each passing day revealed her rapid progress, igniting an unstoppable excitement within me.
As a result, day by day, Joy’s state grew worse, but her skills improved just as much, so she must’ve been happy too. I was sure of it.
So, a week passed since my friends from the Alrn Knight Order came to visit, and just as the real training was set to begin, instead of joining the others for training as usual, I headed to Benedict’s office.
‘Father…’
“Foolish Father. Are you ready to leave?”
“Of course! With our Lucy inviting us, how could this dad refuse? The Empire’s coliseum, will our Lucy grasp victory with ease!”
I was preparing to fill the gaps in my own abilities.
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