Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Vanilla]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

Chapter 7

“Hahaha! I love cocky guys like you. Killing them is the most fun!...”

The red-haired man mocked me for a while before leaving and mentioning a one-week deadline.

Once he was gone, Kayla asked.

"...What's going on here?"

She still didn't understand the situation.

Well, I did explain it rather haphazardly.

"He wants us to learn magic. In a week."

"What? Magic? Why?"

"He is planning to raise us and then slaughter us. That way, he can absorb more mana."

"...Ha!"

Kayla glanced at the spellbook and frowned.

"Is he out of mind. If he is going to kill us, why don't he just do it instead of giving us this fake opportunity!"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's obvious. He knows we can't beat them even if we learn this, so he’s just toying with us!"

"Toying... "

Well, she wasn't wrong. That was probably his intention.

But from my perspective... well, I think she's seeing things too narrowly.

"Why do you think we can't win?"

"...What?"

"I don't plan on losing."

"...You're seriously going to take on that monster?"

Swish!

Instead of answering, I opened the spellbook.

It's quicker to show than to explain.

***

Three days had passed since I began to diligently study the spellbook by the dim light of a single lamp in the dark.

I was amazed.

The spellbook he had given me was no ordinary one.

It was a high-quality spellbook that covered not only mana control aspects like manipulation, compression, and release, but also a small amount of content related to elemental magic.

He was incredibly arrogant.

Thanks to that.

"You, you...!"

In just three days, I had mastered three elemental magics.

Water, earth, and electricity.

Combined with the fire magic I had already learned, I had mastered a total of four elements.

Of course, it was still basic, but it was an amazing achievement nonetheless.

Naturally, Kayla was astounded.

"Is this even possible? How did you do it in just three days!"

"Anything is possible with hard work."

"What? Hard work? Are you kidding me?"

Every time I achieved a new feat, Kayla would argue with me.

It was evident from seeing her like this, even in a life-or-death situation, that she had a strong competitive spirit.

While it was a bit tiring to deal with her, it turned out to be a good thing.

Thanks to that, once she could only manipulate mana, had mastered mana control and stepped into the realm of elemental magic in just three days.

She may not know it, but that was also an incredible growth rate.

‘You're just overshadowed by me, who has a Mythic tier trait.’

Anyway, while watching Kayla grow, I was able to guess her trait.

A Heroic-tier trait: Ardent Desire.

To summarize, it's a trait that activates when you desperately desire something at a specific moment, and at the same time. It gives you a rapid learning ability.

It can activate in any field, such as swordsmanship, archery, or spirit magic, but she seemed to have activated it in magic.

One could say she was lucky.

Because when evaluated objectively, activating it in the magic field is the most efficient.

That's why I created a mage build when I was designing a new character.

Anyway.

"Did you see that? Did you see the flame that just appeared on my palm?"

"Well done."

This was enough.

It's time for the next step.

"Haha! I-I can use elemental magic...! Is this real? Am I dreaming?"

I feel sorry for Kayla, but it's too early to celebrate.

After quenching my thirst with water magic, I opened my mouth.

"Kayla, this is the spellbook that guy gave us."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I mean, even if we learn all the magic in here, we'll still be at the level he expects."

"..."

Kayla's face darkened.

She understood what I meant.

"So... that means we can't kill him with this?"

"That's right."

"...Then what should we do?"

Kayla's eyes were filled with worry as she asked.

Of course, it's a useless worry.

If I was going to stop here, I wouldn't have even started.

"Naturally, we have to exceed his expectations."

"...Exceed his expectations? How?"

"From now on, we're going to modify the magic. And when that process is finished..."

Swish.

I pulled something out of my pocket.

A gray stone with strange patterns on it.

"We'll use this."

"...The Blink Stone?"

"I know a place where I can use this."

We have four days left.

Not much time left.

Until I see that twisted face of his.

***

[PR/N - Pov changed to 3rd person till next note. And we don’t know Mc’s name till now so he’ll be referred to as ‘he/him’.]

In a damp and dark underground dungeon which was illuminated by a single lamp. Kayla took a deep breath.

"Phew... phew..."

But knowing that a battle would soon break out, she couldn't calm down.

Or maybe it was because she had to fight alone.

She looked back on everything that had happened and tried to reassure herself.

‘It's okay... it's okay. We've prepared hard, haven't we?’

As she said that, she realized she had grown tremendously over the past week.

With her skilled mana control, fire magic, and even the challenging magic modification, she could confidently call herself a mage anywhere she went.

‘...All thanks to that guy.’

Her thoughts naturally turned to 'that guy'.

‘Freak.’

Freak!

That was Kayla's honest assessment of him.

And no wonder.

In just one week, he had completely mastered a spellbook.

And that's not all.

He modified magic in an extraordinary way to help Kayla with her magic training and even planned today's battle.

It was an achievement that was impossible to achieve in just one week.

"Is this even possible...?"

Kayla shook her head to question herself.

It was a meaningless question.

Hadn't she seen it with her own eyes?

That he had done all that.

"Phew..."

Judging from what she had read in the spellbook, her own magical talent was definitely not bad.

No, she was quite talented.

What she accomplished in just one would normally take about three days, and what she accomplished would normally take about a month

But that guy... he was on a different level.

If Kayla was a magic genius, then he was...

'A Prodigy.'

A magic prodigy.

That was the right way to describe him.

The word 'prodigy' simply couldn't capture his talent.

Although it didn't feel great to know that someone was above her, Kayla still felt reassured.

After all, wasn't this freak, or rather, this prodigy, on her side now?

‘Let's have a real fight.’

For some reason, all her tension was gone.

Confidence surged through her.

With that confidence...

The man finally appeared.

Thump, thump.

Each step he took was heavy.

Kayla's body tensed up as if she had forgotten how to relax.

Fear.

As the red-haired man got closer, Kayla felt fear.

The scene of him biting into my heart kept replaying in her mind.

The red-haired man met Kayla's gaze and said casually.

"Long time no see. Are you ready?"

"...You'll see."

"Haha! You're so confident. You must have worked hard."

Kayla didn't respond and took a fighting stance.

"Oh, are you going to fight me?"

The man smiled lightly and looked around.

"But where's the other one?"

"I don't know."

"..."

A brief silence.

The man's face turned cold.

The atmosphere had completely changed.

"Where did he go?"

It was just one word, but the killing intent behind it sent chills down her spine.

Kayla forced herself to overcome her fear and extended her hand.

Whoosh!

Mana surged towards her instantly.

It formed letters, then shapes, and finally, a circle.

Her final words were a desperate cry.

"Die!!"

Bang!

The flame launched from the magic circle created a powerful explosion.

It was a flame she had fired with all her might.

But to no avail.

"...Look at that?"

He was standing perfectly still.

The explosion had occurred to his side.

He had simply distorted the trajectory of the magic, just as he had predicted.

-I think he specializes in using spatial magic. He'll distort the trajectory of your magic when you attack.

How did he know that?

She didn't have time to ponder the question.

Whoosh!

Kayla pulled more mana from her surroundings.

At the same time, she continuously released mana spheres imbued with fire.

"Aaargh!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fire magic launched from the magic circle in a chain reaction.

The surrounding area became scorching hot, and the smoke and debris from the explosions obscured her vision.

Flames shot up from the ground.

Whoosh!

The lamp shattered from the heat.

Clang!

Only the flames illuminated the area.

Due to the smoke, She couldn't see if the magic had hit its target.

Regardless, Kayla kept firing and firing.

Bang! Bang! Bang...!

After what felt like an eternity...

"Huff... huff..."

Just as she was gasping for breath from overexertion...

Bang!

A dark magic burst through the flames.

It materialized from the magic on Kayla's right side.

Space distorted and she let out a scream.

"Aaahhhh..."

In the blink of an eye, the skin on her right hand was torn open.

‘If I hadn’t reacted quickly, my arm would have been torn off.’

Crimson blood dripped down her hand.

Kayla gritted her teeth.

“...You bastard.”

With a Herculean effort, she lifted her head.

The flames that had blocked her path had been pushed aside.

The man was slowly approaching through the gap he had created.

Thump, thump.

Their eyes met.

The man raised one corner of his lip as if realizing something.

His voice was still dripping with arrogance.

“Ah, I see! So that's where that guy went? I wondered where the Blink Stone in the safe had gone!”

"..."

"...Hah! You cowardly bastard. You were so cocky, but you just ran away?"

His face twisted in annoyance as he continued to approach.

But Kayla didn't move an inch.

Not even when he was right in front of her.

Crack!

With a cruel smile, the man grabbed Kayla's neck with one hand.

“Ugh, ugh!”

She couldn't breathe. Her windpipe was being crushed.

But despite her groans, Kayla's eyes were strangely calm.

Because this was the moment she had been waiting for.

‘Detonation.’

With limited time, she had focused on just one magic ‘Detonation’ for four days.

The spell that would cause an explosion in the immediate vicinity.

The only problem was the short range.

To hit with the Detonation, she needed to get as close to him as possible.

And when that opportunity came...

She would use all her mana to cast the Detonation.

Just like...

Right now!

“...Die...”

“!!”

Boom!

A deafening roar echoed.

An explosion erupted around Kayla without any warning.

Man's pupils dilated in shock.

The explosion Kayla had created engulfed him completely.

Since she was so close, the blast was even more devastating.

Whoosh!

“Aaargh!”

It was the first scream Kayla had heard from him.

The red-haired man staggered back, having been caught squarely in the blast and covered in crisp ash.

But he had reacted in the meantime.

The damage seemed less severe than expected.

The man looked down at his burned arms and gritted his teeth.

"...You fucking bitch!"

Crack!

He strode towards Kayla and grabbed her neck again.

His bloodshot eyes were fixed solely on Kayla.

This time, he was going to kill her for real.

Blood rushed to her head, and she felt herself losing consciousness.

"...Ugh!"

The flames had long since died down.

All around her was pitch black.

A hoarse voice echoed in the darkness.

"You're so pathetic, really. You seem quite talented, so why did you have to meet such an asshole...? If you two had fought together, things might have turned out differently. Don't you think?"

"...Shut up."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I know you don't want to hear it, well to be fair you won't be able to soon."

Hiss!

Mana surged from all directions, exuding a sinister aura.

The sharp edges of the mana were all aimed at Kayla.

In the dizziness of it all, Kayla forgot everything and thought of only one word.

Death.

'...It's over.'

Just then.

Crackle!

A beam of light emerged from the stairs.

Bang!

The yellow light struck the red-haired man directly.

There was a sound of something crashing against the wall as the man flew away.

Thud, thud, thud!

"Aaah..."

Kayla looked up as she slumped helplessly on the ground.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The darkness was illuminated at regular intervals.

There stood a man with his back to her, covered in electric magic.

Even though she couldn't see him clearly, she didn't need to think about who it was.

'He’s him.'

"Why did you take so long, you bastard...?"

"Sorry, they had hidden him really well, so it took me a while to find him."

"...What did you find?"

Thud, thud.

The man, who had been tossing something back and forth and let out a chuckle.

"This will make you guys crazy."

"... Make me crazy"

"Holy water."

As soon as he answered, he gathered his mana and swung his right arm.

Whoosh!

Something flew at the speed of light.

It landed right where the man had been.

Clang!

There was a sound of glass breaking and a pained scream from where the red-haired man had been.

"Aaargh!"

Amidst the terrible scream, a calm voice echoed.

"You did well to hold on. I'll take care of him now, so you can rest."

"..."

A strange emotion welled up inside Kayla.

With difficulty, Kayla forced herself to look away from him.

In front of her was a figure that was far too ordinary and shabby to be considered a hero.

But why?

For some reason, he looked so... reliable.

[Translator - Vanilla]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]