"You don't know how to use magic at all."
When those words left Riveria's mouth and reached Leo's ears, he froze where he sat.
"I... don't know how to use magic at all?"
He'd never expected to get an assessment like this from Riveria, of all people.
But coming from an Elf, born of a natural magic race and royalty among them at that, Orario's strongest Mage, those words weren't without reason.
"The way you use magic is just taking it and using it raw. It's like handing a sword to someone who's never studied swordsmanship. Even if that sword is a divine blade that cuts through iron like mud, all he'll do is hack around wildly."
Riveria said this in her unhurried way, and it gave Leo at least some understanding.
"You're saying... my command of magic is weak?"
His words earned a nod from Riveria.
"Magic is a power, but it's also a discipline. People need proper technique to wield weapons, and naturally it's the same for us when we use magic."
"Even though the magic granted through the Falna differs from person to person, most of the techniques for using magic are shared."
"When we use magic, how to convert Mind more efficiently and load it into the spell, how to chant the incantation so we can control the magic better and cast it faster, all of these things have their knacks to be found."
"The Mages of ordinary small Familias naturally have no such knacks to learn. They can only feel their way forward on their own. But we're different."
Riveria pointed at the collection of books in this archive as she spoke.
"Our Loki Familia has only existed for a few decades, but many of our seniors once walked this path of magic, myself included. Everyone summed up a great deal of experience through exchanging knowledge and learning from one another, and that experience is a treasure left to you up-and-comers."
"We left all this accumulated experience and technique here, hoping you'd be spared a few detours."
"Take Lefiya. She's still studying here even now, combining what she learned in the School District with what she's found here, constantly refining her own ability in magic."
"You may have only one spell, and an ultra-short chant at that, but the magic skill you showed in your fight with Goliath was simply too poor, so I want you to study this properly."
Then, like a strict teacher, Riveria began breaking down the problems that had surfaced in his battle with Goliath.
His conversion of Mind into magical firepower wasn't clean or efficient enough, and after triggering the magic, he hadn't chosen to rein it in, instead letting it blast away wildly like a horse off its tether, wasting a great deal in the process.
"With the firepower you displayed back then, even just Lv.5 would have been enough to deal Goliath a fatal wound. You didn't need to push the firepower higher at all. Doing that was pure waste."
"Even though Goliath is an Endurance-specialized Floor Boss, Lv.5 firepower is plenty to deal with it. The reason you didn't do much damage to it is that all you can do is hurl your magic out and blast away. If you'd kept the magic reined in the whole time, you could have made its force far more concentrated, far more dangerous."
"This scattered your otherwise outstanding firepower too fast and too wide, so it couldn't form much damage at all. That's the single biggest problem you have right now."
Hearing Riveria put it this way, Leo had no comeback.
At the time, he'd kept feeling his firepower wasn't enough, thinking Lv.5 firepower could only deal a fatal blow to a Goliath whose Endurance had likewise reached Lv.5, which was why he'd had no choice but to go all in and push his output up to Lv.6. But now that Riveria pointed it out, Leo immediately realized how laughable that idea had been.
Magic wasn't like the blades in an ordinary adventurer's hand. It was the trump card, the hole card, the killing move, a supernatural power that could decide victory the moment it was unleashed. That was why so many people pursued it, craved it, and why its standing in this world was so high.
The moment you mastered magic, your entire capabilities became something different. That was common knowledge.
Magic firepower of the same level couldn't deal a fatal wound to defense of the same level?
That was simply a joke.
Just like when Leo had first been Lv.1, with all his Status values sitting at 10, able to adventure only on floors 1 through 4 of the Dungeon. Yet because he possessed magic, he was considered to have enough for the Upper Floor region. That proved that even firepower at the Lv.1 level, his magic could clear out monsters all the way through the Upper Floors.
As long as he didn't run into Lv.2 monsters, even his Lv.1 magic could deal a fatal wound to every monster classified as Lv.1, even ones with bodies as hard as rock like Killer Ants and Hard Armored. That was the worth of magic.
Even against an enemy a level higher, the power of magic could still deal effective damage; it just wouldn't be as fatal.
That was exactly why people prized magic so highly.
And yet, even when Leo brought out Lv.5 firepower, he didn't even have the ability to deal a fatal wound to a monster whose Endurance alone had reached Lv.5. Even if that monster was a super-large-class Floor Boss, there was no question it was a bit pathetic.
That was why Riveria couldn't stand to watch, and had dragged him here to give him a lesson.
"Also, you should learn techniques like Concurrent Chanting. Otherwise you're really wasting the convenience of that Star attribute magic of yours." Riveria went on, saying, "I've never seen Star attribute magic, but I can tell more or less that the structure of this attribute's magic is very stable, with a lot of freedom and strong controllability. Once you acquire the Mage Development Ability and gain the assistance of a magic circle, you should be able to freely adjust even its direction and trajectory, won't you?"
It could only be said that she was every bit the Elven royalty, every bit Orario's strongest Mage. Riveria's eye and knowledge were no joke, and she'd seen through the essence of Leo's magic in an instant.
"If you can leave yourself some margin in battle, you could achieve all sorts of tactics by freely manipulating your own magic, even set traps. That would raise your odds of winning a great deal, and you wouldn't have to fight in such a sorry state."
This time, Leo could relate to the problem Riveria pointed out.
He wasn't a reckless brute, and he knew very well how hard and how deadly it was to take on a Floor Boss two levels above him. So before the battle began, he'd actually designed plenty of tactics, planning to pull them off with magic he could freely control.
For instance, when Goliath charged, he'd blow up its legs or the ground beneath its feet first, creating an obstacle, so he could comfortably hide behind it and attack at range, kiting the thing to death.
But as it turned out, the vision was beautiful and the reality cruel.
Goliath ran far faster than Leo had imagined, forcing him to abandon chanting his magic and figure out how to dodge its charges and attacks first. While it chased him down, the momentum of those falling giant arms and the impact they caused kept scattering his focus, leaving him no room to chant his magic calmly and composed, let alone freely control it for precise strikes.
He'd been pushed to the point of abandoning his chant, releasing magic even at reduced power just to stop the thing from charging and attacking. How was he supposed to precisely control the direction and flight path of his magic then?
The result was exactly as Riveria said. He could only blast away with scattered magic firepower. Not only did the threat he posed drop considerably, but tactics and strategy went completely out the window.
Back then his mind had been wholly fixed on how to dodge Goliath's giant arms, how to position himself, how to run. His eyes had been locked on its fists, not daring to let his attention waver at all. How was he supposed to multitask and weigh all those considerations?
It could only be said that you only understood how strong a Floor Boss's pressure and oppressive force were once you faced it directly, standing across from it.
"There's nothing for it. In the end you were only Lv.2. Your Status fell too far short of a Floor Boss's, so it was hard to leave yourself any more margin."
Riveria summed it up.
"But for a Mage, leaving yourself some margin so you can use magic calmly is an extremely important thing."
"Even if you've cast yourself as a Magic Swordsman, you still have to learn this."
"That's why I brought you here."
Riveria pushed the books she'd taken from the shelves, one after another, in front of Leo.
"These are all books I picked out based on your current situation. The content recorded in them is, I think, the most useful for you at this stage."
"Try to finish reading them before the expedition begins, then study with me for a day or two and master all the knowledge in them."
"That way, I can promise you your ability with magic will undergo an earth-shaking change."
Saying this, Riveria didn't hide the expectation in her words.
She didn't tell Leo that it was precisely because of his battle with Goliath that she now thought very highly of him.
She felt that Leo's talent for magic was perhaps higher than her own and Lefiya's.
The number of spells he had fell far short of hers and Lefiya's, but those things could be made up for. The magic and firepower he could adjust at will were the most precious thing of all.
As long as the foundation of his magic was laid down, letting him fully bring out his magical ability, then even if he didn't charge into the fray as a Magic Swordsman and only served as a rearguard Mage, he'd be precious fighting strength and talent not much weaker than her and Lefiya.
To keep this ability, this talent, from going to waste, she, an Elven royal, couldn't help but step in and give him some guidance.
You could say that with what she'd done today, it wouldn't be wrong at all to call Leo her student, the same as Lefiya.
Leo, with no idea what Riveria was thinking, only stared at the books before him, his eyes shining.
"All right."
Without any hesitation, Leo nodded.
"I'll study hard."
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