"Caster told me to tell you it's fine. She doesn't consider this sort of thing a threat. She already cast a spell on us just now, so the owner of the bounded field won't notice us."
"@＃￥%...＆!"
Couldn't she have said that earlier?
For a moment, he seemed to see the delicate face beneath the purple hood curl into a mischievous smile as she watched him.
He sighed inwardly.
This woman was too much to handle.
He simply took Little Shirou and headed straight for the room number on the key card.
There was no way she'd risk both their lives!
"Hm?"
In the presidential suite on the top floor of the Hyatt Hotel, Lemon Head suddenly stopped mid-motion, wineglass in hand.
"What is it?" the red-haired beauty beside him asked when she noticed his reaction.
"I just sensed an intruder in the bounded field, but the signal vanished after only a few seconds," Lemon Head replied honestly.
"My lord, would you like me to investigate?"
A handsome man suddenly appeared beside Lemon Head.
"I don't need you telling me what to do when it comes to Magecraft!" Lemon Head sneered at the man kneeling on the floor, his expression full of loathing.
"I think Lancer has a point," the red-haired beauty said, unexpectedly backing him up. "The Holy Grail War has begun. We can't let our guard down at any time."
Lemon Head took her words seriously. As soon as she finished speaking, he ordered Lancer, "Then go and investigate."
"Be careful," the red-haired beauty said earnestly.
"As you command!" Lancer gave an almost inaudible sigh, then vanished.
Watching the spot where Lancer had disappeared, Lemon Head's jealousy grew even stronger.
"Are we really okay here?"
He'd been pretty bold when he'd booked the room, but now that they were inside, right under the enemy's nose, Wang Xiaoming was starting to feel uneasy.
"It's only a bounded-field spell. Don't be so nervous." Medea appeared in the room and rolled her eyes at him. Worrying over a spell of this level was an insult to her as a Caster. But when she saw that Little Shirou looked uneasy too, she sighed helplessly.
It seemed they really did underestimate her. If she didn't prove herself now, working together might become a problem later.
Tch. Teaming up with amateurs was exhausting.
Suppressing her irritation, Medea stood and pointed toward the living room. A glowing blue architectural model appeared, floating in the center of the room. Its intricate details left Wang Xiaoming astonished. This was basically a hologram!
Medea pointed to a glowing dot in the middle. "This is the owner of the bounded field."
Her pale finger traced a symbol in the air, almost as if following a rhythm. The projection of the hotel instantly turned red, revealing a number of "extra" features that left Wang Xiaoming dumbfounded.
Was this... Magecraft?
In the projection before him, three enormous circular magic arrays slowly revolved around the main Hyatt Hotel building. Each large array contained hundreds of smaller ones, and each smaller array was made up of hundreds of unknown runes. From a distance, they looked like the dazzling, mysterious rings around Jupiter. Up close, their movements were linked together, like the gears of a precision machine, each turning with orderly beauty.
If this scene were enlarged to the scale of the real building, the impact would be enough to take someone's breath away.
"Heh, is that enough to scare you?" Medea's light laugh interrupted Wang Xiaoming's thoughts. "I suppose it is. To ordinary people like you, Magecraft must seem quite novel. Take a good look. Consider it your first lesson in the world of Magecraft."
Medea pointed to the circular arrays and explained, "This magic barrier is a composite grand spell, combining the best defensive features of alchemy, spirit evocation, and summoning. Of the building's thirty-two floors, twenty-four are protected by the barrier, including the ventilation ducts and sewers. Most of the corridors have been spatially altered, and dozens of evil spirits and specters patrol the area. Even Assassin would have a hard time getting through without being noticed."
Wang Xiaoming stared at the red dots representing evil spirits and traps scattered throughout the floors, his facial muscles stiff with tension. This wasn't a workshop; it was a magical fortress!
"What's wrong? Scared?" Medea didn't bother hiding the mockery in her voice. She forcibly turned Wang Xiaoming's head toward her. From a distance, it looked as if she were holding his face in a rather intimate way, but Wang Xiaoming saw the chill in her beautiful eyes.
"Didn't you want to know what I did? Then take a deep breath and watch carefully. I don't need you to understand the process. I only need your simple, shallow brain—which is less impressive than a Morgan Worm's—to understand one thing—"
Medea raised her staff and pointed toward the center of the living room. A faint blue rune floated lightly toward the red magic array in the projection.
Wang Xiaoming's gaze followed the blue mote as it drifted along. It plunged into one of the small arrays inside the grand magic circle.
The orderly arrangement of runes in the small array was disrupted. Every rune was forced one position out of place, causing a subtle change in the movement of the entire array. Then, to Wang Xiaoming's astonishment, the blue spread like a virus, advancing from the small array to the enormous one, then invading another enormous array. In just a few seconds, everything before him was dazzling blue. Even Wang Xiaoming could now see that the arrays' angles and speeds had shifted slightly.
Wang Xiaoming no longer knew what words to use to describe what he was feeling. Shock? No, it was closer to fear...
If he really became a proper magus one day, that feeling would probably be magnified a million times over.
A lifetime of learning, and all you did was dance in someone else's palm...
Medea ignored Wang Xiaoming's shock. She tapped his head with the staff that had just altered a grand spell with ease, then enunciated the words she'd left unfinished:
"—Don't. Ever. Doubt. My. Magecraft. Again."
If the collection count tops three hundred today, I'll add another chapter_(:з"∠)_
Come on, everyone! I'll do my best too!
Chapter 12: Aptitude
"Now that we've taken care of everything, all that's left is..." Once the base was ready, Medea suddenly turned her gaze to Wang Xiaoming.
"Y-you... what are you going to do?" After Medea scrutinized him, Wang Xiaoming felt a chill run through him.
"Since you want to learn Magecraft, I should test your aptitude first." Medea stopped teasing Wang Xiaoming.
Wang Xiaoming nodded, then glanced down at Little Shirou. Little Shirou was still staring blankly, probably not over what had just happened.
"Was that Magecraft?" Little Shirou asked Medea, his eyes shining. "That was amazing!"
Everyone liked a compliment, especially one from a child without a trace of guile.
"Would you like to learn?" Medea asked Little Shirou.
"Yes!" Little Shirou answered without hesitation.
"Then come over here." Medea crouched and beckoned to Little Shirou.
"Let's begin. Don't be nervous; it's just a little test."
Little Shirou came over, looking a little nervous. Medea reassured him, then placed her hand on his forehead. A bright but gentle light flashed, and she lifted her hand. After standing up, she studied Little Shirou, who had just opened his eyes, with a hint of surprise.
"So, how is he?" Wang Xiaoming asked. He already knew about Little Shirou's Magecraft aptitude, but the prankster in him still wanted to surprise Medea.
"Twenty-three Magic Circuits, and a strange magical attribute," Medea answered.
There weren't many things in Magecraft that could surprise Medea. Twenty-three Magic Circuits was an excellent aptitude by modern standards, but it didn't seem like much to her. What she hadn't expected was to find an extra attribute that wasn't one of the Five Great Elements—earth, water, fire, wind, and ether—or one of the two imaginary elements, nothingness and void.
Just as expected—
Seeing Medea's surprised expression, Wang Xiaoming felt secretly pleased.
"Judging by that look on your face, you already knew about this, didn't you?"
Medea realized what was going through this man's mind the moment she saw his expression. She said coldly, "Why don't you teach him, then?"
"Sorry, sorry... I admit I was wrong!" Hearing that, Wang Xiaoming hurriedly smiled and apologized. He had no idea how to teach anyone. He wasn't even smart enough to trick someone.
"Since you admit you were wrong, why not tell me what you know?" Medea rolled her eyes at him, pleased to see him at a loss. Even she didn't notice that the corners of her mouth were starting to turn up.
No point arguing with her.
After accepting this reality, Wang Xiaoming told Medea what he remembered about Little Shirou's magical attribute:
"Shirou's attribute should be swords. That attribute makes it impossible for him to learn Magecraft based on the Five Great Elements, but it'll be a big help when he uses his Reality Marble in the future."
"A Reality Marble...?" Medea mused, then turned her gaze to Little Shirou, who looked completely bewildered. "Little Master, I'm quite curious about the story you'll have one day."
"We can talk about that later... later..." Wang Xiaoming replied with an awkward smile. What could he say? That you'd steal this child's Servant and privately tutor him?
"Forget it. Come over here and let me check your aptitude."
Medea glared at Wang Xiaoming, annoyed. Clever as she was, she could tell he was deliberately keeping some things from her. She guessed that she had a role in this story, and probably not a flattering one. As for Wang Xiaoming's claim about what would happen to her in ten years, she only believed half of it. She wasn't the sort to sit around waiting for death at the last moment, even if it meant resorting to any means necessary.
But that was ten years from now—or perhaps it had happened to another version of her in a parallel world. It had nothing to do with the present. For now, Medea only had to think about surviving to the end.
Seeing that Medea didn't look too happy, Wang Xiaoming didn't dare dawdle. He stepped in front of her. When the light faded, he opened his eyes and waited anxiously for the answer.
"..."
Medea didn't give him the answer right away. Instead, she gave him a strange look.
"Don't tell me I have no aptitude for Magecraft?" Medea's expression gave Wang Xiaoming a bad feeling.
"It wouldn't be right to say you don't have any Magic Circuits at all. Would it?" Medea asked him in return.
"..."
[Magic Circuits] were essential for humans to convert the magical energy in their bodies. One theory held that the number of Magic Circuits represented the upper limit of a magus's achievements in life. It was an oversimplification, but there was some truth to it.
Based on Wang Xiaoming's earlier behavior, Medea had thought his aptitude for Magecraft would be better than that of an ordinary magus. But... with only one Magic Circuit, he probably wasn't even qualified to become an apprentice.
"It's fine. As long as I can get started."
Wang Xiaoming scratched his head. He was a little disappointed—who didn't have a fantasy of being an overpowered hero?—but he'd gotten over it a moment later. He only wanted to learn Magecraft so he could take part in the Holy Grail War. He hadn't expected to have much aptitude for Magecraft. He wasn't like Little Shirou, born with a natural talent for winning people over.
"Heh." Medea suddenly let out a cold laugh. "If you're going to study Magecraft under me, don't hold on to such half-hearted ideas!"
"Yes, yes."
Wang Xiaoming rolled his eyes and agreed.
"Then I look forward to learning from you, Teacher Medea."
"I can't do this anymore."
Wang Xiaoming lay on the bed, looking utterly defeated.
Medea silently mocked him with a look of disdain.
"I quit!" Wang Xiaoming shut his eyes, forcing himself to ignore Medea.
Don't get the wrong idea. This was just a lazy man's struggle.
"Teacher Medea, is this how you do it?"
Just then, Little Shirou's youthful voice rang through the room.
Although he and Medea were Master and Servant, Little Shirou insisted on calling her "Teacher" during their lessons.
Little Shirou held a newspaper provided by the hotel.
[Trace on]
A flash of light passed, and the newspaper in his hands changed. Though it was an ordinary newspaper, it now had a sharp edge to it.
"Holy shit!" Wang Xiaoming couldn't help swearing.
[Reinforcement Magecraft]
Earlier, Wang Xiaoming had told Medea about the Magecraft Little Shirou would become exceptionally good at later. So, under Medea's instruction, the two of them had started with the basics of that Magecraft.
But how long had it been? The kid was already getting the hang of it?
The newspaper soon returned to normal. Little Shirou had used up his magical energy, and he looked up at Medea, eyes full of hope.
Medea didn't disappoint him, and she didn't hold back her praise. "Well done, Little Master. You're far better than certain people."
Wang Xiaoming had been caught in the crossfire. What could he say? With Little Shirou watching, he could only get up and continue practicing the fundamentals Medea had taught him.
[The saddest thing in life isn't that many people are better than you. It's that the people who are better than you work harder than you do.]
Wang Xiaoming finally understood what the saying meant, and he understood the misery of the person who'd come up with it. He looked at the unresponsive newspaper in his hands, then remembered the one Little Shirou had just held.
"I can't live like this anymore!"
That was the last thing Wang, the reporter, could manage to say through his resentment.
Bonus chapter before noon~
Thanks, everyone!
Chapter 13: Opening Battle! Medea's Deduction (Bonus Chapter)
Before you continue