Capítulo 10: Mastering Magic

Endless matches in the ranking tournament were nothing but tedium. There wasn't a single competitor who could stand against me. No one had a strategy that could surprise me anymore. Even the strongest barrier spells were useless since I could shatter them from a distance. Dispelling and disrupting magic were second nature to me now.

At this point, I'd mastered a combat style reliant on my body-enhancement artifact, allowing me to move with lightning speed. No magic, even homing spells, could keep up with me.

The others tried to stop me with a Fire Wall, but that kind of trick was laughably ineffective. I could disperse it at will. I heard people whispering, wondering which workshop had created my strange artifact. Meanwhile, the stun gun I'd bought from that shady street vendor was already infamous. But I wasn't about to tell anyone about its defects; that was my little secret.

Some even managed to get their hands on similar stun-guns, hoping to replicate my tactics. But they all ended in disaster—one guy passed out from magical exhaustion while the other collapsed from the electric shock. They concluded that my artifact must be a superior original while theirs were mere knockoffs. A few idiots even stormed into different workshops demanding the "real" artifact, only to find that such a workshop never existed.

When the day's matches finally ended, I had nothing to do. So, I wandered over to the Adventurers' Guild, hoping for an interesting request. But everything left was the usual junk.

Then I noticed something. An ogre hunting request—classified as low-priority, since the creature only caused trouble when provoked or ran out of prey, attacking livestock in desperation.

It wasn't urgent, but it did sound fun.

"Phantom, can we take it?" I asked my ever-reliable partner.

He grinned. "Our rank's up after that last job. Yeah, we can take this one."

"Good. Accept it and meet me at the location. I'll go ahead."

Phantom grumbled about running, clearly regretting that I didn't offer him a faster ride. Too bad. If only I could figure out how to fly through magic manipulation, I could carry him. Something to add to my to-do list.

It didn't take long to reach the area, thanks to my enhanced artifact and all the jogging I'd been doing lately. I activated a lure incense to draw the beast out. Within moments, the ogre appeared, roaring furiously.

"GRAAAAAAH!"

"Shut up. Die," I muttered.

Before it could take another step, I obliterated it with a spell.

I looked around. Phantom was nowhere in sight. Slow as always. What was the point of killing time if there was nothing left to kill?

I noticed some weeds growing nearby. But as I focused, I realized they weren't just weeds—there were medicinal herbs mixed among them, distinguishable only by the faint flow of magic within them.

With a bit of experimentation, I tried channeling magic through some ordinary weeds. The magic flow stabilized, transforming them into mock medicinal herbs.

I grinned. Just like that, I'd created fake herbs. If I weren't already making a gold coin a day from monster materials, I could have become filthy rich off this discovery.

Still, boredom was boredom. So, I converted all the weeds in the area into medicinal herbs, just for fun.

Phantom finally arrived, panting heavily. "I'm here, boss... Don't tell me you killed the ogre already?"

"You're late. As punishment, pick all the herbs around here."

Phantom raised an eyebrow. "This many medicinal herbs? In one spot? Never heard of that before."

"Can't use appraisal magic, huh?"

"That stuff's only for scholars, boss."

"Then shut up and get picking."

He grumbled but got to work. Meanwhile, I pondered the mechanics of appraisal magic. It let users analyze objects, but how did it actually work? Did it tap into some hidden database? Or maybe... an Akashic Record?

If the Akashic Record really existed, it had to reside somewhere beyond ordinary dimensions, making it impossible to connect to through normal means.

Later, back at the academy, I hit the library to read up on the subject. According to the magic encyclopedia, the trick was to channel magic into your mind and use it to access your knowledge. That was it—just your own brain, no mystical records or divine intervention. How dull.

Still, I gave it a shot, circulating magic through my brain. That's when I felt something strange—an odd little spot in my consciousness, almost like a locked door. I forced magic through it, and suddenly, text from the magic encyclopedia materialized in my mind.

I'd done it. I'd hacked into my own memory and accessed information like an appraisal spell. No need for any magic tools or divine help.

But my discovery came with a weird sense of paranoia. If everyone had access to this hidden "terminal" in their brain, who was to say we weren't all being monitored? The idea that some higher power could tap into my thoughts made me uneasy.

I considered creating a magic shield to block access, but if there really was a god overseeing all this, I didn't want to provoke it. The last thing I needed was to have some divine entity show up, saying, "Intruder detected. Prepare for deletion."

For now, I'd keep my new ability to myself. Appraisal wasn't something I needed to use all the time, but it would come in handy. And if the gods were watching? Well, I'd just have to stay one step ahead.

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