Chapter 15: Second level Magic

Beside her, Semilis patiently explained the incantation of the Fireball Spell to Hulim until she had it completely memorized.

“Hulim, now that you know the incantation for the Fireball Spell, you’ll stay here to practice it. Once you’ve mastered it and can use it skillfully, we’ll move on to the next magic.”

“All right.”

After that, Semilis left Hulim alone, giving her space to fully immerse herself in learning the Fireball Spell, unaware of what Semilis went on to do.

Two days passed.

“Fireball!”

A blazing fireball radiating deadly heat collided with a large rock, blasting a deep dent into it and leaving behind charred marks.

“Sigh~, not bad at all. You’re getting pretty proficient!”

Semilis commented from the side, while Hulim looked at her hands in disbelief, then glanced back at Semilis.

Two days… no, to be precise, she had learned the Fireball Spell on the very first day, and everything had fallen into place effortlessly.

Compared to the difficulty she faced when learning first-tier magic, the second-tier magic—far more complex—had been surprisingly easy to pick up. The reason for this was obvious.

“Is this the blessing of the Fairy King…?”

“Semilis.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Let’s begin learning the next magic.”

“Enhance!”

With a flash of white light, white glows appeared around Hulim’s legs, and her speed suddenly shot up as if she had become a whirlwind dashing through the forest, leaving only afterimages behind.

In less than three seconds, she reached the opposite side of the lake.

Stopping, the white glow around her legs disappeared as the enhancement ended.

Hulim looked at her legs, confirming there was no problem, and couldn’t help but recall the results of this intense month of training.

First, the seven elemental second-tier magics—she had learned at least one spell of each attribute. Since second-tier magic was far more numerous than first-tier, even to the point that no one really knew the exact number, mastering them all was impossible and meaningless.

After researching a lot of material and discussing with Semilis, Semilis taught her several high-utility spells.

By now, the second-tier magics Hulim had learned roughly included: Fireball, Fire Arrow, Fire Barrier, Water Arrow, Water Barrier, Water Orb, Earth Trap, Rock Orb, Rock Barrier, Wind Blade, Wind Barrier, Lightness, Flash, Guard, Veil, Concealment, Enhancement.

That many second-tier spells? Even many advanced mages wouldn’t have mastered so many.

Beyond quantity, Hulim ensured that most attributes’ magics had both offensive and defensive capabilities, some even with control effects, allowing her to handle various situations.

For rare special attributes like non-elemental magic, which inherently had few spells, she only mastered the most practical enhancement.

As for Light and Dark attribute magics, since before third-tier there were no attack spells with real offensive power—basically, Light and Dark offensive magics were overwhelmingly strong from third-tier upwards—she currently lacked offensive Light and Dark spells.

Of course, some beings naturally weak to Light or Dark could be seriously hurt by seemingly harmless spells like Flash or Veil, so it’s not to say Light and Dark magics have no attack power below third-tier.

“Good. Hulim, you now basically have no weaknesses in second-tier magic. You can take a break from learning new spells for now.”

Hulim looked up at Semilis, who was floating in the air.

“No more new spells? So next, it’s just like before—keep practicing first-tier magic until my mana level rises to grade C?”

“That’s right. But besides that, there are some other training methods you need to add.”

“Other training?”

“Exactly. Continuing to race against the shadow beast won’t help much anymore.”

Hulim: “Semilis, you mean…”

“Hmph hmph~, now that you’ve mastered second-tier magic, it’s time to put it to practical use~!”

Looking at Semilis, especially noticing the mischievous grin on her lips, Hulim suddenly felt an ominous premonition.

“After all, magic is…”

crack, crack…

The sound of bushes being crushed came from behind.

Something was approaching from the rear…

“— meant for real combat!”

Hulim spun around swiftly, eyes wary of the towering black shadow appearing behind her.

Meanwhile, Semilis hovered high above, wearing a look of glee.

“From today on, you’ll practice your magic on real monsters! No more running away from them, but figuring out how to defeat them!”

“Then, get stronger, Hulim! Hahaha…”

“Wait, Semilis—!!?”

Looking at the transparent, gelatinous creature wriggling in front of her, Hulim was no fool to think this thing was harmless.

This was a Slime.

Though one of the weakest monsters, and deceptively similar in appearance to Popom, it was still a monster, and no monster was truly safe!

If she were still limited to first-tier magic, she’d likely be preparing to flee by now, but having mastered second-tier magic, she now had fighting capability.

“Good luck, Hulim! Don’t let your guard down and screw up. Use your second-tier spells wisely and take down the Slime quickly!”

At Semilis’s prompt, Hulim calmed down and began thinking rapidly.

Slimes had no vision; they relied mainly on sensing vibrations to locate prey.

Hulim minimized her movements to avoid giving away her position.

Unable to pinpoint her location, the Slime twisted its body, attempting to scan the surroundings.

Taking down a Slime was easy; one Fireball could severely injure it.

However, the Slime’s body fluid was highly corrosive.

If she used Fireball from such close range, while the Slime would be knocked out, the splattering corrosive fluid would hit her, causing injury.

She had to avoid getting hurt.

So what magic could prevent this?

As Hulim pondered, the Slime seemed to have located her approximate position and began moving toward her.

【FPTRIP’MOMANF*MN’NI※OMIPタOS4中ドド·M+コ※】

“Rock Barrier!”

Boom!

As Hulim rapidly muttered the incantation, a wall of earth and stone materialized before her.

Bang!

The Slime slammed into the barrier, shaking it.

Second-tier Earth Barrier magic looked impressive, but its strength was heavily affected by the environment, so it couldn’t guarantee absolute sturdiness.

Still, it successfully blocked the Slime’s advance.

“Enhance!”

A white light shone on Hulim’s feet.

Whoosh!

Her petite figure flashed through the trees, swiftly putting distance between herself and the Slime.

Then…

【FPTRIP’MOMANF*MN’NI※OMIPタOS4中ドド·M+コ※】

“Fireball!”

Boom!

A roaring fireball appeared in front of Hulim and sped toward the Slime.

Feeling the approaching heat, the Slime writhed violently, trying to escape, but its speed was no match for the fireball.

Crash!

With a loud explosion, the Slime burst apart, splattering a large amount of corrosive fluid.

Hulim quickly dodged behind the Rock Barrier; the corrosive fluid was blocked by the barrier, so not a single drop touched her.

Shh!

As the magic sustaining the Rock Barrier ran out, it collapsed, leaving behind a pile of pungent white smoke where the Slime had been.

Hulim exhaled in relief.

The Fireball’s power was greater than she had imagined—it hadn’t been this strong before. Had she simply become more skilled?

“Hey, not bad, Hulim! Even though this was your first real battle against a monster, you stayed calmer than I expected. I thought you’d scream and panic!”

“What kind of image do you have of me?”

Hulim rolled her eyes at Semilis, who had flown back to her side unnoticed.

Besides, the era of freaking out and screaming was long over!

“Well, let’s not dwell on that. But Hulim, you don’t really think there’s only one, do you~?”

“What—?!”

Before Hulim could understand what Semilis meant, the forest around them began rustling one after another.

Shortly, three transparent, gelatinous creatures appeared from different directions into Hulim’s view.

【Multiple enemies have appeared~!】

What was that glowing subtitle thing?!

“Hehe~, it fits the mood better this way~!”

Semilis scratched her head with a sly smile.

“But now’s not the time to think about that. The Slimes are coming.”

“Ah~! Seriously, I know! Enhance—!”