Chapter 102

Chapter 102. The Scoundrel of the Ryu Family (3)

Thus began the three-day crash course in magic.

Early in the morning, Berald and I gathered at the Training Grounds, warmed up lightly, and immediately dove into magic practice.

“Alright, before we start, let’s check your current level of magic.”

“Well, as you know, I’m pretty much hopeless at magic…”

“But you’ve been learning it since you were a kid, right?”

Even as a branch family member, being part of the ‘Ryu’ family meant he must have started learning magic as soon as he could walk.

I stood in front of Berald with my arms crossed.

“First, how many spells have you learned so far?”

“In theory, I know quite a few. I just can’t manifest any of them properly.”

“Hmm… Then try creating a Magic Power Orb.”

Magic Power Orb.

A spell that creates a physical sphere in the air, the most basic of the hundreds of spells out there.

“Got it.”

Berald nodded and focused his mind.

The Holy Mark glowed, and an enormous amount of magic power swirled around him.

“Huup. Haaah!”

With a loud shout, Berald thrust his hand forward.

A translucent sphere formed in front of his outstretched palm.

The most basic of basics.

A ‘Magic Power Orb’ that even first-year Candidates at the Magic Department could easily create.

“…Is this a Magic Power Orb?”

I stared in disbelief at the translucent sphere the size of two finger joints.

The magic power had surged out like the flames of hell, but the result was pitifully small.

“Ahem. Well, I did say I’m not confident in magic.”

Berald coughed awkwardly, clearly embarrassed by the result.

“Hmm.”

I picked up the Magic Power Orb Berald had created.

‘Not only is it small, but the strength is also pathetic.’

It felt like squishing a soft piece of dough.

“Now, try firing the Magic Power Orb.”

“Firing it?”

“Yeah, shoot it like an arrow.”

I pointed to the wall of the Training Grounds.

“Uh…”

Berald made an awkward face.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“S-sorry, Brother. I… I don’t know how to move the Magic Power Orb.”

“……”

In other words.

He only knew how to create a Magic Power Orb in the air.

And even that was a shoddy result compared to the amount of magic power he poured into it.

‘Damn.’

For a moment, I could understand why Rios had looked down on Berald so much.

“See, I told you I’m no good at magic!”

Berald cried out in frustration.

“……”

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the Magic Power Orb Berald had created.

The Great Sage Julius Bastian once said something about magic.

‘Learning magic is like drawing or singing,’ he said.

In short, it heavily relies on ‘talent.’

‘But even if you have no talent for magic, how can it be this bad?’

As the old Republic saying goes, even a dog at a schoolhouse can recite poetry after three years.

Even if you have no talent for magic, if you work hard, you should at least improve a little.

Even I, who was often told I had no talent, managed to grow to where I am now by grinding through the hours.

‘But Berald hasn’t improved at all.’

It’s been at least 15 years since he started learning magic, and he still can’t even use a Magic Power Orb properly. That’s definitely a problem.

‘Given Berald’s personality, it’s unlikely he slacked off in his training.’

Even so, not being able to use a basic Magic Power Orb…

“Hmm.”

I looked at Berald suspiciously.

‘There must be another reason for this.’

No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t make sense for someone who had been learning magic for so long to still be at this level.

‘Come to think of it, in my past life, Berald learned some Martial Arts that left him unable to use magic due to side effects.’

Maybe Berald had been unable to use magic even before learning that Martial Art due to some external factor.

‘Like being cursed as a child.’

In hero tales, it’s not uncommon for the protagonist to have their extraordinary talent forcibly sealed due to some conspiracy.

Given that the ‘Ryu’ family held significant power in the Republic, it wouldn’t be strange if there was some shady conspiracy behind it.

‘Or maybe he was poisoned?’

There are rare herbs that can completely block the manifestation of magic.

Even I, who had wandered the Continent for thousands of years, had only encountered them a few times. But given the Ryu family’s long history with magic, it was possible they had access to such herbs.

‘But if that were the case, he wouldn’t have been able to create a Magic Power Orb at all.’

I swallowed hard as I looked at the Magic Power Orb floating in the air.

He could manifest magic, but he couldn’t move it.

“…Could it be?”

A possibility struck me like lightning.

I turned to Berald.

“Alright, this time, try using a higher-level spell.”

“…Didn’t you just see me fail at creating a Magic Power Orb?”

He couldn’t even create a Magic Power Orb properly, and now I was asking him to use a higher-level spell?

Berald looked at me like I was crazy.

“I know, just try it. I’m trying to figure out what the problem is.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Berald swallowed hard and nodded.

“What spell should I use?”

“Hmm… You know Fireball, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then try using that.”

If the Magic Power Orb is a Level 1 spell, Fireball is around Level 3.

“Huuh.”

Berald closed his eyes and focused.

Once again, his Holy Mark glowed, and a massive amount of magic power swirled around him.

‘His magic power is insane.’

Of course, it paled in comparison to Yurina’s, but that was because Yurina’s magic power was off the charts. Berald’s wasn’t lacking.

In terms of pure magic power, he probably had more than most professors, let alone Candidates.

‘The problem is that no matter how much magic power he pours in, the result is pathetic.’

What’s the point of having an overflowing amount of fuel if the efficiency is terrible?

“Haaah!”

Whoosh!

With a loud shout, flames erupted.

A Fireball slightly smaller than a fist formed.

“Ugh…”

Berald, drenched in cold sweat, tried to move the Fireball.

Pfft.

The Fireball, wobbling precariously, disappeared with a deflating sound.

“…Ah.”

Berald let out a low sigh, looking dejected.

I calmly observed the process, lost in thought.

‘Again, the manifestation itself was successful.’

But the moment he tried to move the Fireball, it wobbled and vanished.

‘He succeeded in manifesting but failed in controlling it…’

Magic could be divided into three main processes.

1. The ‘Release’ process of expelling magic power from the body to the outside world.

2. The ‘Manifestation’ process of turning the expelled magic power into a spell through formulas.

3. The ‘Control’ process of moving the created spell according to one’s will.

In Berald’s case, there was no problem with the ‘Release’ process.

‘If anything, he releases too much, to the point of concern.’

In other words.

The fuel for casting spells was overflowing.

‘Although the quality is poor, he can still manifest spells.’

Both the Magic Power Orb and the Fireball were successfully created.

‘Magic formulas are more about memorization.’

In my past life, Senior Sophia once said, ‘Perfect theory is the essence of magic.’

Here, ‘perfect theory’ referred to the formulas needed to manifest spells.

‘Creating and modifying new formulas is something only true geniuses can do.’

But memorizing existing formulas to manifest spells is something anyone can do with enough effort.

‘Of course, that’s only for low-level spells like Magic Power Orb or Fireball.’

As the difficulty of spells increases, you can’t just brute-force your way through with memorization.

The way Berald was manifesting spells was like understanding why 5×5 equals 25 without knowing the underlying principles—just memorizing the result.

‘Actually, the Fireball was slightly better than the Magic Power Orb.’

Probably because the formula for the Magic Power Orb wasn’t that complex.

‘But when it comes to the Control process, the problem changes.’

Even if he managed to manifest spells by brute-force memorization, moving the created spell required calculations.

Berald was completely incapable of performing the calculations needed to control the spell.

“…So that’s it.”

The hypothesis forming in my mind was gradually becoming a reality as I hardened my expression.

“H-how is it, Brother? Did you figure out what’s wrong with my magic?”

Berald gulped and stepped closer.

His clenched fists were trembling slightly.

‘No, it can’t be!’

I shut my eyes tightly, denying the hypothesis forming in my mind.

“Berald, uh… aren’t you getting hungry?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, it’s already this late.”

I pulled out some bread I had bought from the snack bar on the way.

He must have been really hungry.

Berald’s eyes sparkled like stars at the sight of the bread.

“Want to split this 50-50?”

“Umm…”

Berald’s expression turned serious.

After pondering for a while, he asked in the most earnest voice.

“Then who gets the 5?”

“…Ah.”

The moment of doubt turned into certainty.

A deep sigh escaped my lips.

I sat down on the spot, tugging at my hair.

‘So the reason Berald couldn’t use magic no matter how hard he tried…’

It wasn’t because he was cursed as a child.

Or poisoned by some herb that blocks magic.

The sole reason Berald couldn’t even use a Magic Power Orb properly despite his blood, sweat, and tears was simply…

“You… you blockhead…”

Without any external factors.

Without any outside interference.

Despite over a decade of effort.

It was purely because he was ‘just not smart enough.’

“What am I supposed to do with you…?”

How am I supposed to teach magic to this guy?