New Spell Experiment

At midday in the height of summer, the sun was nearly steaming people alive. No one in the entire manor wanted to go outside, while the surviving Corrosive Jackal followed Ace around like an ordinary lapdog.

Whenever the people of the manor saw Ace, they bowed in greeting. They had long since stopped finding the lapdog-like Corrosive Jackal strange.

At some point, the jackal had begun circling Ace like an ordinary lapdog. Ace casually tossed a stone, and the jackal happily ran over, picked it up in its mouth, and cheerfully circled around Ace.

Man and dog went farther and farther, reaching a forest outside the manor.

Ace took off his shirt and began fighting the jackal barehanded. After roughly ten minutes, the jackal was pinned to the ground, its head hammered by dozens of successive punches as it let out whimpering cries of surrender.

Ace stood up and moved away from the jackal. Holding his spellbook, he used his mental power to directly connect with the Calming Technique card. After training, he could now connect with the spells on the cards inside without opening the spellbook.

The spell model activated, and a wondrous rhythm of magic stirred. As Ace's mental power locked onto the jackal—Calm! The magical effect of Lesser Charm Beast on the jackal was dispelled. It no longer ran and jumped about merrily, nor did it bark like a lapdog.

Its eyes began to redden, corrosive acid dripping from its mouth, ready to spray out at any moment.

Ace activated the Lesser Illusion Gaze card. Rune structures flickered in his eyes as his gaze locked onto the jackal. In an instant, the Ace before the jackal's eyes suddenly leaped to the left. The jackal turned its head after him and sprayed acid.

Ace remained where he was, watching the jackal spray left one moment and right the next, tearing, biting, and pouncing. Before long, it had exhausted all its energy and lay as limp as a dead dog.

This was Lesser Illusion Gaze. Once activated, the spell model projected onto the user's eyes and lasted for roughly five minutes. Anyone caught in that gaze had to undergo a mental power check. If their mental power was weaker than the caster's, they would be completely controlled by those illusory eyes.

Even if their mental power was stronger than the caster's, so long as it was not too much stronger, they would still suffer severe interference. Ace estimated that to completely shake off the effect, one needed mental power at least twice as strong as the caster's.

Ace reverse-activated the Lesser Illusion Gaze card, canceling the effect in his eyes. This was a recent discovery of his: if a spell model could be activated in a particular way, then triggering it in reverse could cancel the spell.

With a Lesser Stun Spell, Ace knocked the poor jackal unconscious. He climbed a tree and took out the magic diary he carried with him at all times.

"After numerous combat trials against the Corrosive Jackal, my current strength can overwhelm it across the board. My mental power is far stronger than the jackal's; the precise difference cannot be quantified, but judging by perception alone, it is at least three times greater.

"My physical strength should also exceed the jackal's. When it is charmed and I fight it, so long as the jackal does not use extraordinary abilities, I can defeat it consistently.

"The shortcomings are equally obvious. If I encounter an enemy fully or partially immune to illusions, my means of fighting them will be extremely limited.

"Setting aside the illusion series of spells, I only have two ranged methods. In close combat, I rely entirely on charging in headlong. Though I can consistently defeat a jackal at close range, and should be about as strong as a noble who has awakened their bloodline power, it is still not enough.

"If illusions do not work, then facing powerful Demonic Beasts and heroes will likely end miserably. To borrow the terminology of games from my previous life, I have ample control spells and some ranged spells, but lack melee combat, defense, mobility, and a high-damage ultimate capable of settling the matter with a single hammer blow.

"Melee combat, defense, and mobility cannot be solved with my current runes. Perhaps I can find a way to learn the nobles' special martial arts to improve them.

"My ultimate can only be developed by strengthening Acid Splash. To raise its damage, I need to work on increasing magical power and the corrosive strength of the acid. As for the rune structure, I can consider sacrificing attack range to further enhance the Lesser Acid Conversion Rune's effect and extend the time spent drawing magical power."

Ace closed his magic notebook and tucked it into his clothes. He cast Lesser Charm Beast on the jackal, kicked it awake, and rode it back to the manor.

Several days later, Ace received a letter from Teacher Peter.

"Ace, you are a disciple who makes me proud. How have your experiments in the 'experimental field' gone these past few months? Have you gained anything? Your views on medicine still echo in my ears. I hope you can realize your ideals and pioneer New Medicine.

"The logic you proposed has sparked ever more discussion in the city-state over the past few months. Scholars are all awaiting your further ideas.

"This is an excellent opportunity. I suggest that you return to Medimoth City next week to see me, so that I may arrange meetings between you and the scholars to discuss logic face-to-face."

The letter was brief, but it contained quite a lot of information.

New Medicine had been shelved for several months, and even the planned hospital had yet to be established. Ace had been so immersed in the world of runes that he could not pull himself free, and his only human physical examination was probably still not fit to be shown to others.

After thinking it over and over, Ace decided to go back and teach his teacher how to farm, diverting his attention a little. Agriculture was also an extremely important discipline; having full bellies mattered greatly.

As for the spreading influence of logic, that was within expectations. It was time to speak of things beyond concepts. Perhaps judgment would be a good choice.

He truly had not returned to Medimoth City in a long time. Ace had been thinking about Teacher Peter's treasured mirror all along; it was time to borrow it and study it.

Taking a Demonic Beast into the city required registration, so Ace decided to lock the jackal in a cage before leaving. The jackal had been driven half-mad by Ace. It bounced and hopped into the cage of its own accord, tucked its tail between its legs, and put on an utterly obedient look. Ace shook his head. It seemed he had raised it useless.

Early in the morning, Ace took two veteran mercenaries with him and returned to the city by carriage. Marina remained at the manor to supervise and manage things. With so many slaves and mercenaries, the master of the house could not be absent.

After returning to the city, Ace met with Romon and then headed straight for Peter's villa. He missed Peter's treasured mirror terribly and wanted to get close to it tonight.

"Welcome back, Ace. You've grown quite a bit taller."

The moment Ace entered Teacher Peter's home, Morton came over to greet him, spreading his arms and giving Ace a hug.

"It's been a long time, Mr. Morton."

Ace politely returned the hug lightly. Morton took Ace's hand and warmly led him inside. A group of students who had come to learn reading and writing were just leaving. Ace swept his gaze over them and recognized many familiar faces.

In the blink of an eye, nearly two years had passed. He had already become a renowned scholar of the city-state and opened his own extraordinary path, while the classmates who had learned literacy alongside him had not even completed their studies.

Such was life. Once the distance opened up, it became difficult to ever make up again.

Ace met Peter in the second-floor sitting room. This was the first time Peter had received him there. According to Morton, Peter often received other scholars of the city-state in this room.

"The city-state's scholars, as well as nobles and citizens who love knowledge, can hardly wait to meet you. This is an excellent opportunity. I plan to arrange for you, through the Ministry of Culture and Education, to give a lecture on logic at City Hall within the next two weeks, to promote your doctrine to the public. What do you think?"

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