’I’m outmatched. If only Alicia were here...’
Even if Felix was known to be not the greatest in terms of magical talent, he was still a whole three Circles above Rian. And with that weird eye, whatever the hell that did, things were not looking too hot.
There was no time to figure out why he was doing all of this. At this point, Rian knew for a fact that Felix only wanted to do one thing—
Permanently get rid of him for good.
Without warning, Rian reached into his sling bag and pulled out the same intermediate spellbook. His thumb tore through the pages, searching for anything powerful enough to force Felix out of the way.
Defeating him was never the goal. Rian only needed an opening to escape.
His eyes landed upon a Third-Circle Light Spell, and with just a single glance, he understood the formula.
[Light’s Mercy has been added to Known Spells]
Rian snapped the book shut and held out a single palm, chanting the spell’s activation sequence with all his might.
"O light of the heavens, descend and carry out judgement in my stead!"
〈Magia Lux — Loi Miserere〉
A concentrated pillar of light tore through the hidden passage, causing the entire cavern to be engulfed in white.
Thousands of mana crystals caught the sudden burst and reflected it in every direction, multiplying its radiance and causing light to ricochet around like a field of lasers.
[Estimated Lifespan: 21 days, 12 hours, 12 minutes.]
Pain tore through Rian’s chest as blood started dripping from his nose freely, but he couldn’t afford to stand still.
Yet as Rian charged into the light, avoiding his own attack to hopefully make it past Felix; The man simply stood there.
Water surged from behind the entrance in a violent current before gathering around Felix’s left eye. The dark-blue surface rippled, creating a thin layer of water to materialize in front of him without an incantation at all.
Countless beams of light struck the water’s surface. But instead of breaking through, light curved around Felix before scattering into the cavern walls, leaving dents whenever they made contact.
He had closed his normal eye, but the remaining one was still open.
At first, Rian thought he had gotten away with it. But just as he ducked low to try to squeeze through Felix and into the caverns outside...
"Found you."
Rian could barely perceive what he said before a hand emerged from the light and closed around his throat. Felix carried him several steps before throwing him outside, back into the main cavern.
CRASH—!
Rian’s back crashed straight into a cluster of crystals, shattering it into a million pieces scattered throughout the floor.
"Gahh—!"
But before he even got the chance to breathe, Felix was already on him, grabbing Rian by the collar once more. However, this time, Rian was prepared for it.
〈Ars Flare〉
Rian let the spell rip directly in front of Felix’s face. A detonation appeared between them, forcing Felix to let go of Rian and allowing him to roll away to create some distance.
Steam filled the cavern, created by the heating of water vapors.
’It worked—’
A chunk of ice cannonballed through the cloud of steam, slamming straight into Rian’s body.
His vision spun as he crashed against the shore, just where water reached his clothes. Felix emerged from the steam without a single burn.
A thin coating of dark water covered his face and clothes. Wherever the flames had touched, the liquid hissed before repairing itself.
"No incantation...?" Rian muttered to himself.
"Still trying to understand it?" Felix touched the moisture clinging to his cheek. "Some things are beyond even your precious talent, little brother."
Rian tried to reach toward the spellbook that had fallen out of his grasp, but the moment he did, Felix stomped down on his hand.
KRRRRRKKK—!
〔The following STATUS EFFECTS have been added.〕
[Broken Bones Lv. 4]
[Hemorrhage Lv. 4]
"You know, I always hated that look."
Felix said, kicking the spellbook away. It slid across the stone and dropped into the underground lake, sinking slowly before disappearing beneath the surface.
"That expression you make whenever you think you’ve figured everything out."
He drove his foot into Rian’s stomach.
"Kughhh—!"
Rian folded around the impact, coughing as blood spattered across the cavern floor. Before he could recover, water materialized into what looked like chains, lifting him into the air.
He hovered above the ground, sprawled out like a prisoner in a torture chamber.
"But you haven’t figured anything out."
With Felix giving him a chance to breathe, Rian was finally able to compose his thoughts as he looked at his brother.
’This is bad...’
He coughed up another mouthful of blood while searching for a way out. His spellbook was at the bottom of the lake while Felix had all of his limbs bound.
But Rian noticed something, a potential escape route.
Now that he was this close to the lake, his mana sensitivity was just barely able to pierce through the water. And what he found...was the key.
The lake itself was only a few meters deep. Beneath it, however, Rain sensed open air. The entire lakebed was suspended above another chamber, likely through some magical phenomenon.
Rian even managed to find his spellbook resting at the bottom, soaked but otherwise intact.
’A gamble...’
He also noticed the water magic that bound him. It was more like an extension of the veil of water that surrounded Felix, and less of a spell of its own.
Rian didn’t need the spellbook, as he already knew a perfect spell to deal with this scenario. But...while he was at it, maybe he could get his brother talking.
Felix clearly wanted to gloat, so Rian only needed to give him the right questions.
"You..." He coughed, blood running down his chin. "How are you so strong?"
"..."
A quiet chuckle escaped from Felix, gradually growing louder until he threw his head back and laughed maniacally.
"You—the great Rian Rosenheim? The prodigy everyone wouldn’t stop praising?"
Felix pressed a hand against his face, his laughter becoming more unhinged by the second. "And now you’re asking someone as mediocre as me?"
’Mediocre...’
Rian had chosen the correct question. This guy clearly had an inferiority complex and he wasn’t afraid to show it.
"Talent is such a ridiculous thing, isn’t it?" he asked. "Something granted to people before they’ve done anything to deserve it. One child is born with everything, while another can train until his hands bleed and still be called inadequate."
His smile gradually disappeared.
"Then, just as easily, that talent can be taken away."
"What do you mean?"
"When we were children, I did everything they asked of me. I studied every grimoire my tutors provided. I practiced until I couldn’t feel my fingers, all so I could form my next Circle a few months earlier."
"But it was never enough."
His face scrunched up in disdain. "Always another sibling who was better, more competent. And then...there was you."
The water surrounding them began trembling with his voice.
"You were younger than me. You could barely leave your bed without someone carrying you, yet every mage who visited the estate called you a once-in-a-century genius."
Felix leaned closer, whispering softly. "Do you know what it’s like to spend years learning a spell, only to watch your sickly little brother reproduce it after seeing it once?"
"So yes, I envied you. More than anyone else in this wretched family," he sighed. "I even believed that if I took your talent for myself, I would finally be recognized..."
"Take...my talent?" Rian asked, creasing his eyebrows in confusion.
Felix’s feverish smile slowly returned as he realized what he had allowed himself to reveal. But rather than withdraw, he stood and spread his arms.
"Do you think Elaine really found out about that ’cure’ for your sickness all by herself?" Felix asked. "I planted every lead exactly where she would discover it!"
Rian’s eyes widened, understanding the implication of it all.
’So it was really Felix?! He was the one who turned the original Rian into a monster?’
But that left out a single detail: How does that help him steal Rian’s magical talent?
There was a motive, yes. But no, process...
"That was where I went wrong."
Water rose behind Felix, forming several enormous tendrils that twisted toward the cavern ceiling. "I still believed that talent was the greatest gift a person could possess."
That was when he touched the unnatural eye, a grin forming on his face. "But why should I bother stealing a single spark—"
"...When I could claim the power of the ocean itself?"
The entire underground lake began to churn.
Rian felt it then, the mana flowing through Felix definitely wasn’t his. It was too vast, something a 4-Star Mage should never be capable of having, or controlling for that matter.
Felix looked down at him, triumph and madness mixing across his face. "You could survive for another hundred years. You could complete all nine Circles and master every spell ever written."
"And you would still never become what I am now."
"But..." he sighed, feigning grief as he raised a hand, mana coalescing around it. "You won’t have another hundred years."
"Because your life is forfeit, right here—"
"...And now."
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