Chapter 24: Tier 2 Magic Spell

“How do you feel? Are you confident in fighting other magicians now?” Miss Camille asked Leo at the end of their week-long training.

“Probably.” Leo responded as he laid on the floor in a puddle of sweat.

“I mean, you’re the only magician I have fought in the past week. The others will surely have a different fighting style, so I’m a little worried about fighting other magicians.”

“Why would you need to fight other magicians if you already have someone like me? You’re just going to be training with someone much weaker. Although every magician has their own style of fighting, they won’t differ from each other that much besides what magic spells they use. If you can handle me, you’ll be able to handle other magicians. In fact, you’re overestimating the students in this academy.”

“Forget it, there’s no point explaining it to you. You will understand what I mean once you actually fight other magicians.”

“Anyways, we’re going back to the Adventurers’ Guild tomorrow for your examination. Meet me at the parking lot like usual.”

“Wait! Before you go, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“I want to start learning Tier 2 magic spells soon. How can I tell if I am ready for Tier 2 magic spells?” Leo asked.

Miss Camille narrowed her eyes at Leo, and she proceeded to ponder in silence.

A few moments later, she asked him, “How many Black Bullets can you use before you run out of mana?”

Leo thought about it for a moment before answering, “About 40.”

After training his magic every day for almost 3 weeks, his mana capacity has increased to 420.

“Under normal circumstances, there are only two things preventing someone from learning a higher tier magic spell— a lack of mana capacity and a weak magic affinity.”

“For example, most Tier 2 magic spells can be learned by people with a Rank F Magic Affinity, and while they can learn Tier 3 magic spells, they won’t be able to activate them due to their lack of affinity.”

“Tier 2 magic spells also require much more mana than Tier 1 magic spells, and if you try to use magic that requires more mana than what you have, you’ll immediately enter Mana Fatigue and fall unconscious, which is incredibly dangerous.”

“Most people start learning Tier 2 magic spells half a year after they started learning Tier 1 magic spells, but it has only been three weeks since you started learning magic.”

“Half a year?! That’s too long!” Leo exclaimed.

“For normal people, that is. Since your magic talent is quite high, you should be able to start learning Tier 2 magic much sooner.” Miss Camille said.

And she continued after a pause, “If you can defeat Kayn flawlessly, I will teach you a Tier 2 magic spell.”

“Deal!”

“Then I will see you tomorrow after school hours.”

Once Miss Camille left the Training Center, Leo returned to his room.

After coming out of the bathroom, Lilith suddenly approached him and said, “Leo! I have great news for you!”

“Oh? Let’s hear it.”

“I have decided to teach you a Tier 2 magic spell!”

“Huh?” Leo raised his eyebrows.

“Eh? Why aren’t you more excited? You’ve wanted to learn them since last week, right?” Lilith was puzzled by his lack of reaction.

“I mean… I am just a little suspicious.”

“W-What do you mean? Why would that be suspicious?” Lilith’s face stiffened.

“Suddenly telling me that you’ll teach me Tier 2 magic right after I asked Miss Camille to teach me… That’s too much of a coincidence.”

“I-It’s not like I am trying to be the first one to teach you Tier 2 magic spells or anything like that, okay?! I just truly believe that you’re ready to learn them!” Lilith explained to him in an unconvincing voice.

“Whatever… I don’t really care about your reasoning, but if you’re really going to teach me a Tier 2 magic spell, I won’t refuse.” Leo said.

“Great! Then feast your eyes upon this magic circle!”

Lilith created a red magic circle that was slightly larger and looked way more complex and detailed than the magic circles for Tier 1 magic spells.

‘Let’s see how long will it take for him to memorize a Tier 2 magic—’

“Okay, I am done.” Leo suddenly said.

‘No way… Really? That only took a couple seconds longer than memorizing Tier 1 magic circles!’ Lilith’s mouth was wide open from shock, as she had expected him to take at least a few minutes with this Tier 2 magic circle.

<You have learned the Magic Spell: Mana Drain>

[Mana Drain]

[Affinity: Dark]

[Tier: 2]

[Mana: N/A]

[Mastery Rank: F]

<You have completed a Quest>

[+1,600 Magic Experience, +8 Magic Points]

“Huh? Mana Drain? Does this mean I can use this to steal mana from others?” Leo asked in a surprised voice, as he didn’t think that he’d get such a useful magic spell so early!

After all, this kind of powerful magic should be reserved for higher tier magic spells!

“That is exactly what it does. However, you should only use this magic when you’re alone.” Lilith said.

“Why?” Leo had to ask.

“Because Mana Drain is considered vampiric magic, and it’s also considered forbidden magic, mostly because it’s abused by vampires around the world. If you use this magic in public, they will mistake you for a vampire and hunt you like one.”

“What?! Forbidden magic?! Why would you teach me something so dangerous?! I can’t even use this!” Leo exclaimed after learning the truth.

“You can definitely use it… as long as you don’t let others find out. Also, even though it is considered forbidden magic, that’s only because it’s abused by vampires that mainly use dark magic. It used to be very popular and widely used during ancient times. The only downside to this magic is that you must touch the target in order to steal their mana.”

‘I have to admit, even though it’s forbidden magic, it’s a very useful magic that allows me to replenish my mana without using mana potions. This will definitely save me a lot of money.’ Leo thought to himself.

“Is there a limit to how much I can use this magic spell?” He then asked.

“As many times as your body can handle since it uses your stamina instead of mana to activate.”

“I see… And how much mana can I steal with this magic spell?”

“It depends on your Mastery Rank. Since your mana capacity is still very small, you should be able to completely recover your mana with a single Mana Drain even if you just learned it.”

“That’s great. Even though it’s a very dangerous magic spell with a lot of risks, I’m glad that I learned it.” Leo said sometime later.

“Really?! So you’re not mad at me?”

“Not really, but you should really tell me about the magic spell before you teach it to me starting now. Of course, I am also at fault for learning it without asking any questions. I’m still too hasty when it comes to learning magic.” Leo said.

‘He doesn’t mind learning vampiric magic…’ Lilith smiled inwardly after seeing Leo’s reaction.

Although she won’t admit it, she was actually testing him by teaching him Mana Drain, and the result was much better than she’d hoped.

“Anyways, I’m going to sleep.” Leo said to her a moment later.

“All right. I’m going to wander the academy tonight and see if there is anything interesting happening.” Lilith said before disappearing from his room.

Once Lilith was gone, Leo opened the Magic Shop instead of sleeping.

‘Since I have 9 Magic Points, I can afford one of these…’

[Increase Mana Capacity: 5 MP]

[Increase Magic Power: 5 MP]

‘Oh yeah, now that I also have Wind Magic Affinity, I should see how much it will cost to upgrade it.’

[Wind Affinity(F → E): 20 MP]

‘It’s not as bad as I thought, but I still can’t afford it.’

After pondering for some time, Leo decided to purchase Mana Capacity first.

‘I will benefit more with a higher mana capacity right now since I can use more magic and even learn higher tier magic spells with it. I’ll increase my magic power after I complete the next quest and get more Magic Points.’

<Confirm purchase ‘Increase Mana Capacity’ for 5 Magic Points>

“Confirm.”

Ding!

<You have purchased ‘Increase Mana Capacity’ from the Magic Shop>

<Your Mana Capacity has increased by 500!>

[Mana: 920/920]

After the purchase, Leo suddenly felt a burst of energy within his body.

‘500 mana?! That’s a lot more than I’d expected, and it only cost 5 Magic Points!’

Leo was pleasantly surprised by the results.

However, when he looked at the Magic Shop again, the price of [Increase Mana Capacity] had increased to 50 MP.

Despite that, he was still satisfied with the results, as his mana capacity had basically doubled with the purchase.

Leo fell asleep with a smile on his face shortly after.