"How do we fix this?" Rhode scratched his head.
Oh, he probably means financial compensation.
Nothing I can do about it. I'm the one who caused the trouble.
"I'm really sorry, Mayor," Rhode volunteered. "Don't worry, I'll find a way to compensate the town, though I don't have much money right now..."
His farm produced plenty of grain every year, but its income was on an entirely different scale from what the mine's ore and gems brought in.
But now it looks like my plans to emigrate, buy a house, and get married will have to be postponed again...
Meanwhile, Mayor Marebu was carefully inspecting the damage Rhode's fireball had caused to the mine.
Fortunately, the point of impact had not been right in the center of the mine. Otherwise, the whole mine really would have collapsed, leaving no way to salvage it.
In other words, the mine had not taken a direct hit. The fireball had merely caught it in the blast, yet the entrance had still collapsed.
That alone showed how powerful the spell had been.
Though he had already been shocked earlier, the mayor's eyelid could not help twitching again.
"That fireball spell of yours was at least level two," Mayor Marebu said with a sigh. "You're probably about the equivalent of a Novice Magic User already."
"Level-two fireball? Novice Magic User?" Rhode had no idea what he meant.
Mayor Marebu explained, "Most spells have around ten levels. We can roughly classify mages by the level of spells they can cast."
"Oh... so the magic apprentice you mentioned earlier is a rank too?"
"Yes. Someone like me, who can't cast even a single proper spell, can only be a magic apprentice." The mayor nodded. "If you can successfully cast a level-one spell, you become a novice mage who has just crossed the threshold."
"Level-two spells make you a Novice Magic User?" Rhode repeated what the mayor had said earlier.
"Yes," Mayor Marebu said. "It follows the same pattern. After that come intermediate mages and High Magic Users."
"And then?"
"Then come magisters, Archmages, and Grand Archmages." A gleam of longing shone in Mayor Marebu's eyes. "For example, Dalaran's chief council leader, Grand Archmage Antonidas, can easily cast all sorts of spells at level seven and above."
"Oh..." Rhode looked thoughtful. So he really is that seven-mana legendary card, Antonidas. Infinite Great Fireballs.
Then Rhode smiled and said, "Good thing I'm only a junior mage right now. Otherwise, this mine would have been flattened, wouldn't it?"
"Haha... a Grand Archmage naturally wouldn't attack a mine... It's all right, though. We just need to find a way to clear the entrance." Mayor Marebu thought for a moment. "Perhaps... perhaps you could do it yourself."
"Me?" Rhode did not understand.
This fireball spell is good for destruction, but surely not construction. Don't tell me blasting the entrance again would clear it?
Besides, I haven't even properly mastered the fireball spell. Another shot might wipe the mine out for real.
"Yes, you." Mayor Marebu turned toward Rhode. "Have you ever heard of a kind of... that descends from the heavens?"
"Palm technique?"
"Uh, no. But something like that." The mayor stretched out both hands and raised them high, seemingly trying to demonstrate. "I remember it being called Mage Hand. My memory's a little hazy... It extends the caster's strength, multiplying it many times over, and then uses it to grab objects."
"Mage Hand?" Rhode recalled Lilia's elementary-school textbook, Eighteen Practical Applications of Mage Hand.
He did not remember seeing that skill in the game, but mages in plenty of other games seemed to know it.
"Yes. Can you use it?" Mayor Marebu's eyes were full of hope. "I saw my teacher use it before, but I could never learn it."
"Not yet... but I can learn," Rhode said. "So you mean that if I use Mage Hand to clear the entrance, I won't have to pay compensation?"
"You'll probably still have to compensate the miners for their lost work... but that would be far less than paying for the entire mine. No, that's not the point. The point should be... are you confident you can learn Mage Hand in a short time?"
"I'll give it a try."
Paying less compensation is obviously the point.
If I have to pay for the entire mine, I won't just lose my marriage savings. I'll probably have to work for free for the rest of my life!
That gave him considerably more motivation to learn Mage Hand.
Still, Rhode made up his mind to be much more careful the next time he tested a spell... He could not afford to pay compensation again!
Seeing how confident Rhode looked, Mayor Marebu was filled with emotion.
Back in his day, he had studied in the Mage Tower for seven or eight years, yet remained a magic apprentice. He had not even learned a single complete spell.
Yet the young man before him seemed to be self-taught, and in just over ten days, he had already all but mastered a powerful level-two fireball spell.
And now he seemed to regard learning Mage Hand as no big deal at all.
Comparing yourself to others really could drive you mad!
The next day, Rhode put the fireball spell aside for the time being and focused on another spell instead.
Mage Hand.
This was a support spell. Judging from the examples in the book, it did not seem to have much destructive power.
Picking things up and throwing them.
Catching things thrown at you.
Squeezing soft objects into different shapes.
Those were more or less its applications.
Of course, the size of Mage Hand, its grip strength, and the distance at which it could grab things also depended on the energy circuits in the spell model, the number of spell nodes, and the amount of mana consumed.
Perhaps Mage Hand itself was easier, or perhaps practicing the fireball spell had deepened Rhode's understanding of spell models. In any case, he failed far less often during practice.
And even when his casting failed, it was not as painful as failing with the fireball spell. His head barely hurt.
So Rhode soon drew out the spell models for all the different applications of Mage Hand, working many times more efficiently than when he had analyzed the fireball spell.
Throughout this learning process, the adorable little elf Lilia simply swung a branch around, paying no attention to what Rhode was doing.
Rhode dismissed the tiny Mage Hand in front of him and asked Lilia curiously, "What are you doing?"
"Do you know swordplay, Rhode?" Lilia asked.
"No. Didn't I tell you? I'm a farmer, not a warrior."
"I want to be a swordswoman," Lilia said. "One who uses a greatsword."
"Why?" Rhode asked.
"Because it's cool." The little girl swung her branch again, accidentally hitting Rhode, and stuck out the tip of her tongue.
"You can be cool if you study magic properly too."
"No. I like greatswords. I want to be a swordswoman who loves adventures." Lilia tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Then can you use an axe? Using an axe should be pretty cool too."
"No." Rhode shook his head again.
"A spear?" Lilia thrust her branch forward.
"No."
Lilia spread her hands. "So you don't know how to use anything?"
Without a word, Rhode pinched the little girl's cheeks.
"Sorry." With her cheeks pinched, Lilia's voice sounded strange.
How embarrassing. I should have learned some swordplay from the town constable back then.
After thinking for a moment, Rhode said, "Actually, there is one weapon I know how to use."
"Don't lie to me."
Rhode nodded with a perfectly straight face and asked, "Have you heard of young Runtu?"
"No."
"He was an expert with a pitchfork I knew back in the day, so I know how to use a steel pitchfork."
"The steel pitchfork you stabbed the giant spider with?"
"That's right."
"I don't like steel pitchforks. They're not cool at all."
"...Why should a little girl learn all this fighting and killing? Little girls should study magic."
"I just don't like studying magic."
"All right, then. How about I teach you language and math? There's also biology, physics, chemistry-right, and politics and history..." Rhode asked, "Lilia, when are you planning to start learning?"
"I'm not learning any of it!" Lilia shouted. "That sounds even more boring than magic!"
"You have to learn." Rhode wagged his finger and said with a smile, "Once you do, you won't hold up one hand and say you're eight years old."
"I won't," Lilia said. "We're not friends anymore. I'm ending our friendship."
"Friendship termination denied," Rhode said.
Lilia pouted. "If you keep forcing me to study, I'll hide the spell textbooks."
Rhode abruptly raised his head and reached out. A tiny Mage Hand appeared in the air.
Then the milky-white hand clenched, and a little fist lightly bumped the girl's head, grinding its knuckles against it. "Oh, so you've learned to threaten people now?"
Lilia covered her head with both hands.
Hmph. All grown-ups know how to do is use violence.
Before you continue