Chapter 2: Battlefield (1)

The moment I entered the army, what I encountered wasn’t barbarian warriors or black mages, but the sharp gazes of my seniors.

“Hey, new recruit. What was your name again?”

“It’s Kyle.”

“Specialty?”

“Basic magic.”

“Ha.”

The senior let out a laugh at my words, then scratched his bearded chin and spoke.

“Let me tell you in advance, if you rely on that paltry specialty and act recklessly, you’ll die quickly.”

His voice seemed like a threat, yet also a sneer.

But I could tell.

That his voice was simply the plain truth.

The magic I could wield wasn’t that great to begin with, and I had never thought that magic alone could solve everything.

“I know.”

The senior then took a step back with a faint chuckle.

“Doesn’t seem like a lie. Good, at least your mindset isn’t bad.”

And so, I began living with the other soldiers.

And a few days passed.

“f*ck.”

One of the seniors let out a light curse.

And he had good reason to.

Seeing the endless horde of barbarians pressing forward right before our eyes.

In my first battle, my seniors and I had to face the endlessly surging barbarian warriors.

Our objective was to defend the high ground.

They said if we lost this place, control of information would be lost.

It was a strategic point that had to be defended even at the cost of our lives, but the number of soldiers assigned to defend it couldn’t compare to the barbarians.

Since there were countless other strategic points to defend, not just this one, we were forced to hold out with a small number of troops.

And so, my seniors and I found ourselves effectively surrounded on the high ground, facing barbarian warriors surging from all directions.

“Damn it, cast magic!”

I hastily cast a fireball, but it only harmed one or two.

The barbarians continued to push forward.

“What should we do?”

Even now, one or two casualties were occurring among the swarming barbarians.

Even if we managed to hold out until now, it was clear we would eventually be overrun if they kept coming endlessly like this.

At that moment, someone spoke to me.

“Hey, can’t you wipe those guys out with a large-scale spell?”

At those words, I paused for a moment.

Certainly, if I could sweep away a large number of them all at once with a large-scale spell, the situation would change.

The barbarians were densely packed.

However, there was one problem with using large-scale magic.

The larger the scale of the magic, the more difficult it became to control the mana.

It was a difficult task for me, who had been expelled from the magic tower because of my poor mana control, which prevented me from casting high-level spells.

‘…However, I couldn’t say no here.’

I took a deep breath, then nodded once and spoke.

“I’ll try.”

“Alright, you heard him?! We hold out until Kyle casts that large-scale spell!”

While all the soldiers fought and held their ground against the barbarians, I closed and opened my eyes once, then began to draw forth mana.

I had never once succeeded in casting a large-scale spell capable of wiping out those barbarians all at once.

However, I couldn’t fail now.

I had to do it.

Because if I didn’t, I would die.

“Keuk.”

I felt the mana circulating faster through my veins.

I felt as if I would vomit at any moment.

But the most serious problem was the immense mana roughly exploding within my grasp.

My innate mana capacity was extremely rare.

A massive amount of mana, enough to make me worry it would dissipate rather than be cast due to my poor mana control, was raging in my hand.

A torrent of mana violently resisting, as if demanding to be released immediately.

If it were the old me, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome this torrent and would have failed to cast the spell.

However, I couldn’t allow that now.

There was only one chance.

If I failed here, I would lose my life.

Knowing that, I gritted my teeth, suppressed the mana, and squeezed out the spell.

Even if I had never succeeded before, this time—

My head was spinning.

My body was hot, making it difficult to focus.

But I continued to expand the scale of the magic.

I had to defeat them all at once.

If I couldn’t, even casting the spell would mean nothing for what came next.

From nearby, voices rallied themselves.

Amidst them, I finally completed the spell.

“Here it comes!!!”

And then, a rain of fire began to fall from the sky.

Boom! Kwoooosh!

Showers of flames fell to the ground with deafening roars, exploding.

The densely packed barbarians were instantly engulfed in the explosions.

“What is that….?”

“Hey, new recruit, did you do that?”

“Ha….?”

‘It’s done.’

In a situation where I absolutely had to succeed, I had achieved it for the first time in my life.

That fact brought me immeasurable joy.

When I came to, all the barbarian warriors caught in the magic had been neutralized.

“We won….?”

“We won….?”

“f*ck, we’re alive!!!!”

Cheers and shouts erupted from everywhere.

I smiled as I heard those sounds, then promptly collapsed and fainted.

****

‘…Where is this?’

When I came to, I was lying on a bed.

Nearby, I saw beds filled with patients and medics tending to them.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“Where am I?”

“It’s a hospital for treating the wounded. I heard you cast a powerful spell and then fainted.”

“Ah.”

As soon as I heard that, I realized what had happened.

‘I had pushed my mana to the limit to cast a large-scale spell while surrounded, and then collapsed.’

“I heard you were the primary contributor to defending the strategic point. That’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not that amazing. It was just luck, really. Normally, even casting basic magic isn’t easy—”

As I said that and conjured a sphere of light above my hand, I felt something strange.

Because casting magic had become much easier.

Originally, even casting basic magic required intense concentration, but now I was casting spells as effortlessly as breathing.

There was only one reason.

Because controlling mana had become much easier.

‘How could this be?’

‘Why had my mana control suddenly improved?’

In my confused mind, I recalled something my master had told me before I was expelled from the magic tower.

‘I’ve heard that there are some mages who grow by using magic in real combat situations.

But such mages are extremely rare, so don’t entertain such foolish thoughts and just focus on your magic practice properly.’

‘…Could it be that I belong to that extremely rare group of mages who grow by using magic in real combat?’

It was unbelievable, but there was no other hypothesis that came to mind.

‘No, never mind.’

‘Let’s think about that later.’

I dispersed the orb of light in my hand, then asked the medic in front of me.

“How long has it been since I collapsed?”

“About two days. It seems you squeezed out all the mana in your body, so it took some time for you to recover your energy.”

“How is the war progressing?”

“I will answer that.”

Turning my head, I saw a woman with silver-white hair and ash-gray eyes standing beside my bed.

With her strikingly noticeable appearance, clad in armor and a sword at her hip, it was clear at a glance that she was no ordinary person.

As soon as he saw her, the medic turned pale and bowed deeply.

“C-commander, I greet you!”

‘Commander?’

As soon as I heard that, I recalled information about the commander of the northern front.

The ruler of the Northern Empire, said to be defending the imperial citizens on the front lines at a young age.

A genius of war, bearing the title ‘Grand Duke of the North’.

Duchess Kadia Malibes.

She was standing before me now.

As soon as I realized that, I tried to hastily get up from the bed, but the Duchess pressed down on my shoulder, preventing me from rising.

“There’s no need to be so formal.

I heard you collapsed, so it would be best to rest a little longer.”

“…Do you have some business with me?”

Duchess Kadia smiled faintly at my words and spoke.

“First, I’d like to express my gratitude.

Thanks to your efforts in defending the strategic point, intelligence gathering has become much easier.

We can now scout the enemies from the high ground, making it difficult for them to launch reckless attacks.”

Saying so, she lightly swept back her long silver-white hair and continued.

“And, above all, your performance itself was quite impressive.

Mages who can use magic of that scale are extremely rare.

I heard you annihilated the enemies all at once, is that correct?”

“That’s correct, but… it was mostly luck.”

“Luck, you say?

Few people can unleash such magic in the urgency of a battlefield.

You clearly have talent as a battle mage.”

“…Thank you.”

‘Talent, she says.’

It was the most awkward word for me.

In the magic tower, I was beyond mediocre, practically a dullard.

For someone like me to hear the compliment ‘you have talent’ was practically a first.

To me, who was silently harboring bitter thoughts, Duchess Kadia asked.

“So, about that… are you interested in joining my direct unit?”