“Are you saying it can be dodged?”

“Yes. Although it is a kind of magic that moves faster than the eye can see, in theory, it’s possible to dodge.”

This question had come up in the midst of talking about the variations of magic.
Among the different forms of magic, there was manifestation, discharge, bloom, channeling and more. While there were more categories of magic than just the four which were mentioned, these were the basic variations.

An example of manifestation is Light magic. This magic creates a ball of light in front of one’s chest that rises up to float above the head. Discharging magic was the type which is manifested in front of the caster and launched forwards.
Magic Arrow was a spitting representation of that.

Blooming magic was a mix between manifestation and discharge. This kind of magic involves using magic to pinpoint a designated location where mana will be drawn towards, and then manifesting magic from that spot.
Lastly, channelling magic is the type that requires a constant source of mana.

While Julie and Mark were discussing this subject, the topic turned to Daze magic. Daze temporarily stupefies the target. Mark asked Julie as to which category unseen magic was classified into. Julie replied, that it was a form of discharging magic.

Mark was taken aback at the fact that magic that couldn’t be seen was actually fired like a projectile. He had expected it to be a form of manifestation which would immediately affect the target. This was why he had asked, just in case, whether this type of magic could be dodged. It was to this question that Julie had previously replied in the affirmative.

“The person who gave me private lessons was a class 3 magician. I once asked the same thing as you did.”

Julie asked Mark to show her the class 1 magic tome.

“On this page here, regarding Daze magic, you can see that there are two drawings of seals right? They are used for different variations of that magic. One is for discharge, and the other for bloom. On the first seal, it’s written that the magic will immediately affect the target. This simply refers to a discharging type of magic. On the other hand, when it is described to have a gradual effect on the target, it refers to the blooming type of magic.”

Mark had been under the presumption that magic that affected the mind would instantly influence the target.

“In the first place, why didn’t this magic tome have it written like that?”

“If it were, then it would look rather plain.”

Julie giggled.

“Magicians like to be showy by nature.”

Once again, Mark felt it was a very fortunate thing to have been taught by Julie. The theory book and class 1 magic tome were all written in roundabout and vague terms making it hard to comprehend. But the explanations from Julie were easy to understand.

It was now almost 2 months since Mark had begun studying magic. However, there was one problem. Staying at the inn unexpectedly cost more money than he had thought.

Lodgings cost 5 coppers. A loaf of bread in the morning, lunch at noon and bread again for dinner was 7 coppers. The occasional bathwater expense was another 10 coppers. Julie’s tuition was 50 coppers a month. The table borrowed for his study sessions was 2 coppers a day.
In this way, Mark had spent roughly 10 silvers within 2 months.

Again, he was surprised that his spending spree was much more out of control than he had ever imagined. If one were to consider that the average living expense of a commoner did not even come to 10 silvers, then Mark had truly been careless with his money.

Just because he had gained a bit of wealth, he had become too extravagant. When Mark still lived as a beggar, he had sustained himself on two loaves of bread that had cost 1 copper each. Now he was spending 5 copper on lunch alone.

Suddenly, he wondered whether it wouldn’t be better to borrow someone’s home as a temporary residence. He would still have to make do with his own meals and cleaning, but it would be much cheaper than the inn.

A few days passed and Mark was forced to tell Julie that, while he was sorry, the lessons had to end. Perhaps it was because she knew 50 coppers a month was straining on him, but Julie agreed without argument.

Within the past month, Mark had learnt a lot of magic. He had begun by studying the magic he considered most necessary. The first new magic he had learnt was Light. Thinking of the money spent to keep the candles lit, he had learned it out of the desire to conserve money. Mark had only needed to spend about a day practicing before the magic was mastered. From that day on, he had put aside candles and read his books using Light.

After that, he memorized Alarm magic. However, this was so difficult that it took up almost a fortnight. Since he couldn’t practice it inside of the village, he had no choice but to leave the village whenever he wanted to practice. It was very inconvenient.

There were two types of Alarm spells. One involved casting the magic onto a small stone and throwing the stone somewhere nearby. If someone were to touch that stone, it would make loud sounds. No matter how Mark thought of it, there were simply too many flaws in this method.

The other method was the one he had thought of in the past. Upon casting the magic, a mana barrier would be created which would sound an alarm in response to intruders.

Between the two methods, he had chosen to practice the second method. However, after a week had passed he still couldn’t succeed in using it; therefore, he instead learnt the first method. He had decided to learn the second method all in good time, steady and slow.

The next spells that Mark learned were Fire and Warm. He learnt Fire because he thought it would have great utility. Not only would it replace flintstones, thereby reducing expenses, he was sure it would have many other uses. As for practice, he would pick up twigs outside of the inn and light them on fire. It was another easy success.

Warm was a spell that would warm the clothing a person wore. He learnt this one just in case it became cold while camping out in the open. Mark was simply tired of being cold. But because the magic duration would only last 1 hour, he would probably wake up in the middle of sleep. Thinking that the duration would increase with mastery, he put quite a lot of effort into practicing it.

After succeeding once in any kind of magic, he would immediately try casting spells without the incantations and use only the magic seals. It didn’t take long before he didn’t feel much difference in casting spells, with or without the incantation. Mark thought it was most likely because it was only class 1 magic.

Having learned quite a few spells, Mark went to the mercenary guild. He was able to register after showing some of his magic and paying 1 silver. After registering, he received a wooden tag, which apparently signified a D rank mercenary. Originally, a person without any experience would begin from E rank upon registering, but the guild employee told him he was to be D rank because he was a magician.

Looking through the guild noticeboard, Mark saw that there was a mission for escorting a merchant heading to the cities. Just in case a magician was needed, he asked about it at the counter.

The next day, Mark found his way to the mercenary guild again. The guild employee relayed that the merchant had accepted his application and his reward would be 20 coppers per day, with meals provided. He was still a magician, albeit inexperienced, so he asked if the reward was perhaps too little? But the guild employee replied that an E rank mercenary would receive 10 coppers, so it somewhat appeased him.

It was a new day, and Mark had left the inn with all his belongings. He bought a slightly large bag from a local store in order to hold what belongings he had. Apart from hanging the dagger he earned from killing Jax on his waist, the rest of his belongings were put inside of the bag. This complete, he then headed towards the village square.

In the village square, there was a wagon drawn by a horse, and several other people standing nearby. The wagon was full to the brim with leathers. For some reason, he thought that the leathers he had carried over together with Robert might have been included in the wagon.
Mark slowly approached the wagon.

“What do you want.”

“I’m a mercenary.”

He displayed his mercenary tag. The young man who had called out was surprised upon seeing it.

“You’re a D rank mercenary?”

The man looked Mark up and down. He was suspicious of Mark being a D rank mercenary. Mark was wearing clothes worth 80 coppers bought from a store. On the other hand, the man was geared in a leather armor, and by his waist was a longsword.

“I’m a magician.”

“Ah, is that right?”

The young man seemed a bit more convinced, but the suspicion in his eyes didn’t go away. Mark remembered how he tried buying a robe before meeting the mercenary group, but he had given up because the price was more than he expected. A magician should really be donning a robe after all.

“Has everyone gathered?”

A man who appeared to be the merchant called out and gathered the nearby people. The total number of men was 5. The merchant, Mark, the man who talked with Mark, and another two men were present.

“Mr. Jeter here will be leading everyone.”

As the merchant introduced him, the man who talked with Mark spoke up.

“I’m Jeter, a D rank mercenary.”

The other pair of mercenaries turned out to be E rank. When compared with Jeter, there was a visible difference in the air of experience.

Before departing, Jeter briefly talked about the reward. The destination was a city 20 days away and, just as he was told before, Mark would receive 20 coppers for each day. It would total 4 silvers if they safely arrived at their destination.

Continuing, Jeter informed everyone present of matters that required attention. According to him, there was a possibility of wolves and goblins appearing on the path they were taking. He instructed everyone to follow his commands if such an event was to occur.

Before long, the wagon set out and the village was left behind. This being said, there were too many leathers piled on the wagon so it couldn’t move at a high speed. It just about matched the walking pace of an adult. But of course, that didn’t apply to Mark.

Mark followed behind the wagon, at times walking, and then running. He had planned on practicing magic while traveling, but he had no spare energy for that. When the other mercenaries saw him, they laughed heartily.

Thinking that he would have time to rest at noon, he cheered himself on. But lunch was solved by having to eat beef jerky while still walking.

“You tired?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

Mark was panting as he replied.

“It’s proof that you’re too young for this kind of work. See that. You’re the only one having difficulty.”

“I’m a magician. Just wait and see. You’ll be thanking me later on I tell you.”

“Really now? Hahaha.”

Jeter continued to talk to him, but Mark didn’t reply anymore. Talking tired him even more. It was completely opposite to the time he walked with Robert. He thought that to be treated well from now on, there was no other way but for him to raise his skills in magic.

Although it was exhausting, Mark kept on moving his hands to practice magic seals. He practiced the Alarm spell that didn’t work before. He figured that since the flow of mana was too weak when attempting to use the magic, it was a problem with drawing the seal. He also practiced the Warm spell. There was a need to increase its duration.

As the sky became dark, the wagon was stopped at an appropriate location. Mark laid down on the ground.

“Hey kid, we have to prepare camp now. Should you be lying down?”

“Just a moment. I’m just too tired.”

Mark took a few moments catching his breath before standing up again. Looking about, he saw that everyone was getting ready to eat dinner.

“Will we move again after dinner?”

“No, moving in the dark is too dangerous. We’ll sleep, and when the sun rises we should move then.”

One of the E rank mercenaries was collecting wood branches. The other was helping the merchant with making dinner. Jeter was gathering rocks. Upon seeing those rocks Jeter had gathered, Mark remembered what he needed to do.

“Jeter. Can you break this rock for me?”

“Oi. Why would I break that? We need it for the fire.”

“Feh.”

Searching in the vicinity, Mark found and chose a small rock to bring with him. He had picked one that would just fit into one hand, and returned to where the wagon was.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to use magic.”

“Going to change that rock into bread?”

“Don’t you know of Alarm magic when you’re a mercenary?”

Jeter blinked in surprise.

“Why would you need a rock for Alarm magic? Rather, are you even capable of using it?”

“I’m still not good at it, so I need to use a rock.”
Grasping the rock in his hand, Mark drew the seals while visualizing the Alarm spell in his mind. He was about to chant the incantation but he realized that the mana was moving much more smoothly than before. Then he recalled something he had forgotten.
Mark stopped what he was doing and dropped the rock onto the ground.

“You finished?”

“Wait a moment. This is where we’ll sleep, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

It was night time now. Mana was plentiful at night, which raised the success rate of magic. This was what he had learnt from Julie. When he was previously practicing Alarm magic, it was in the day time. The reason was because village didn’t allow entry after night.

Mark began drawing the magic seal again. It was a different spell than the one from before. Concentrating with his eyes closed, he drew the seals. The mana was easier to control. If it was like this, there wasn’t even a need to chant the incantation.

“Alarm!”

He felt it throughout his whole body. The feeling of success.

“Finished now?”

“Yes.”

Mark replied with a laugh.

“How long will it last?”

“It should go for around 6 hours.”

“Then you’ll have to cast it again after eating dinner.”

When Mark thought about it, he had indeed used it too early. He should have cast it just before sleeping. But feeling happy from his success, he simply laughed again as he replied.

“Okay. Haha.”