As soon as Yuuki settled on his choice, his Replication Magic activated. The first page of his grimoire shimmered faintly with silver light before flashing once — and the recorded spell changed.
Magic:
① Wind Magic — Tower of Tempest
② Water Creation Magic — Aqua Therapy
③ Chain Magic — Serpent Dance of Binding
④ Chain Magic — Magic-Binding Iron Lock Formation
Seeing the newly rewritten page, Yuuki smiled faintly.
This wind spell wasn't to be underestimated. The Tower of Tempest conjured a massive tornado capable of large-scale attacks while also offering defensive utility — a rare balance of offense and defense.
Among Yuuki's current four spells, what he'd been missing most were defense and area-of-effect magic — and this spell perfectly filled that gap.
With only four pages available in his grimoire, Yuuki's strategy was to combine them into a compact yet complete combat arsenal. And for now, the only "resource" he could reliably draw from was Yuno.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your spell," Yuuki said with a grin as he handed the four-leaf grimoire back to Yuno.
Yuno took it calmly. Having his spell replicated didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.
"Using your opponent's own magic against them isn't exactly a good strategy," he said, ruffling his slightly messy brown hair.
Both of his wind spells were ones he had painstakingly developed himself. Yuno couldn't imagine anyone — even Yuuki — understanding their structure and flow better than he did.
If they used the same spells against each other, he was confident he'd win.
"Maybe so."
Yuuki shrugged lightly.
"Yuno!!"
A loud shout echoed from the nearby trees.
Asta — who'd been tossed aside earlier — came charging back toward them, brandishing his massive black grimoire as its pages flipped open.
Mid-sprint, he reached out and grabbed the page, summoning the Demon-Slayer Sword into his hands with a heavy clang!
Seeing Asta charging in full battle mode, Yuuki quickly raised a hand. "Stop!"
Skrrrch!
Asta froze mid-step, stomping the ground hard to brake. His boots scraped across the dirt for two full meters before he finally stopped.
"What's wrong, Yuuki?" he asked, puzzled.
"The duel's over already," Yuuki explained with a sigh.
"What!? I haven't even lost yet!"
Asta yelled, indignant.
"Idiot," Yuno said flatly, crossing his arms. "You left the boundary. That means you lost."
"Ahhh!!!"
Realization hit Asta all at once. He clutched his head and let out a long, anguished wail.
Yuuki instinctively covered his ears.
A vein throbbed on Yuno's forehead. With an irritated flick of his hand, a burst of wind roared toward Asta.
Whoosh!
A black blur flashed — the Demon-Slayer Sword swung once, cutting through the gust as if it were paper.
Asta glared at Yuno. "Hey! What was that for!?"
"You're too loud," Yuno replied coolly, turning to Yuuki. "Since the match is over, I'll head back first."
With a casual wave, he started walking toward the church, his posture as calm and elegant as ever.
"What's with that attitude?" Asta muttered loudly. "Losing and still acting all high and mighty."
He might not have seen the fight, but after years of living together, Asta knew Yuno's personality well — the more something bothered him, the more composed he'd try to look.
Yuno's steps faltered for a split second before he quickened his pace, ignoring Asta entirely.
"Lost again…"
Once Yuno disappeared from sight, Asta's shoulders slumped.
He never bothered to hide his feelings from Yuuki — not like when he was with Yuno, where he always forced himself to act unyielding.
Yuuki chuckled and patted Asta's shoulder. "You've come a long way. Remember — back then, you couldn't even last a few seconds against Yuno. Now you're keeping up with him."
Asta's eyes lit up instantly.
"You're right! I'll train even harder!" he shouted, hoisting the massive sword onto his back and dashing off toward the forest.
Yuuki blinked, his hand still raised midair. Then he sighed. "That guy's way too fired up for his own good."
With both Yuno and Asta gone, Yuuki was left alone in the clearing.
"They're all working hard for the Magic Knights' entrance exam…"
He murmured as he looked down at his silver grimoire.
Every March, grimoires were bestowed upon new magic users. Six months later came the Magic Knights' entrance exam.
For Asta and Yuno — both aiming to become the Wizard King — missing that exam wasn't an option.
Yuuki had no ambition for the title himself, but he knew that if he wanted to learn stronger magic, the royal capital was the place to go.
That was why the three of them had trained tirelessly for the past half-year.
Yuuki moved beneath a large tree and sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to restore the mana he'd used in the duel.
His mana recovery was unusually fast — within just ten minutes, his reserves were fully replenished.
"Natural mana… during absorption, it really does get filtered — no, more like guided," he mused, opening his eyes.
After obtaining his grimoire, Yuuki's control over his mana had improved drastically. He could now perceive subtleties he'd missed before.
Perhaps because of his Replication Magic, his mana could naturally align with any attribute — and that quality seemed to attract the ambient mana around him.
When he calmed his mind and focused on recovery, that attraction only grew stronger — like a magnet drawing the mana of nature toward him.
However, natural mana wasn't uniform. It was a chaotic blend of countless elements — tranquil on the surface, yet violent beneath.
Thus, his recovery process wasn't as simple as directly absorbing it. Instead, his own mana acted as a guide, selectively drawing in only the compatible portion of natural mana from the surrounding flow.
The realization brought to mind a certain race—
The Elves.
A people said to be blessed by mana itself. Their vast reserves and overwhelming magical prowess made them nature's chosen.
Yuuki didn't believe he was one of them. But perhaps — because of his Replication Magic — he too carried a faint echo of that same blessing, granting him recovery far beyond that of an ordinary mage.
(End of Chapter)
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