When I was two years old, my father hired a magic teacher for me. I heard she was a Water Saint level, likely an instructor for the Rohan City Magic Corps. My luck was terrible; I didn't encounter any blue-haired girl from the Migurd Tribe. I had actually been looking forward to that.
The teacher's name was Roy. His formal position was the First Corps Commander of the Rohan City Magic Corps. He was a middle-aged uncle, but he looked very robust, quite unlike the impression I had of mages.
My impression of mages was that they should be wrapped in long robes, wearing soft, pointed hats, leaning on an extra-long staff, and being either very plump or very slender. The type who stands at the back of the formation, only daring to use long-range skills. But seeing him in person, it was different. The first impression I got of my teacher was that he was a tough guy. He was tall and strong, dressed in crisp military uniform, and he wasn't holding a staff.
Unlike other mages, he held a sword inlaid with azure blue gems. The sword was four feet long, the hilt wrapped in gold thread, and the pommel set with an East Sea sapphire. Carved clouds and dragons coiled around it, with rubies set as the dragon's eyes, giving it a fierce look.
He seemed to deeply cherish this treasured sword and even named it Azure Glow. He mentioned it was some kind of magic tool; it looked very expensive.
Getting back to the main topic, on the first day of formal lessons, Teacher Roy immediately instilled in me his insights on magical power, which left a profound impact on me.
He said, "Magic is generally divided into two types: Attack Magic and Support Magic. Attack Magic is mainly divided into four major categories: Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water. Support Magic includes Summoning Magic, Healing Magic, Detoxification Magic, Barrier Magic, and Divine Strike Magic. However, these five types of magic cannot be counted entirely as Support Magic. For example, Divine Strike Magic can be used to grant allies status effects with Holy Light, stabilize their minds, and heal their mental damage. At the same time, Divine Strike Magic can also be used to attack spiritual entities like ghosts and specters."
But no matter what the magic system, in actual combat, it is essentially auxiliary.
Except when mages can cast spells to cause large-scale destruction on a massive battlefield, in small-scale combat, regardless of whether the enemy uses Sword God Style, North God Style, or Water God Style, they can very easily use movement techniques to dodge the mage's attacks and then kill the mage with a single sword strike.
Therefore, no matter what type of mage, in small-scale combat, they are auxiliary existences—assisting the frontline swordsmen by restricting enemy movement, or dealing damage while their own swordsmen are engaging the enemy.
Of course, when there are enemy mages, countering their magic is also one of the mage's responsibilities."
In his view, if one wishes to become a capable mage, one cannot neglect efforts in swordsmanship and physical aptitude.
One cannot become trash that can do nothing but magic. His theory was that magic serves as support, and one must also have the ability to resist when the enemy closes in.
Additionally, the teacher explained the world's rank division to me again. Although I was already clear on this knowledge, I still listened to his lecture attentively. The world's ranks are divided into Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Saint, King, Emperor, and God. The main sword schools are Sword God Style, Water God Style, and North God Style.
As for other weapons, it's not that they don't exist, but martial artists view them as unorthodox paths. Spears, especially, the king of a hundred weapons, are considered taboo here. Wielding a spear in the street would likely lead to being ganged up on and beaten to death.
The specific reason seems to be that a certain race among the Demon Race is particularly skilled with spears. It seems the people of this world do not understand the principle of learning from the enemy to defeat them. They use it, so we can't? Then being stabbed to death is unavoidable.
Getting sidetracked, once one reaches the Saint rank, they can be referred to by their rank. For example, if my Water God Style swordsmanship reached the Saint rank, when traveling, I could call myself a Water Saint. It sounds quite cool, but instantly revealing one's strength and school to others might be presumptuous, so I don't plan on calling myself that. I'll come up with a cool nickname later. At least it will sound better than'Swamp'.
After listening to his explanation, I fell into deep thought. Although a few points of his theory didn't apply to me—for instance, given my current training speed, by the time I reach adulthood, my magical power would basically be inexhaustible, making a complete depletion of mana unlikely. However, his theory that mages are weak in melee combat was indeed valid.
I certainly didn't want to spend years learning magic only to be struck down by a single sword swing from a Sword Saint the moment I step outside. In my memory, Rudeus, in both his past and current life, never defeated Eris. Especially in the life detailed in his diary, an Earth Emperor level mage was chased and hacked at by a King level swordsman of the Sword God Style for decades until he researched Gravity Magic and a complete set of magic armor before finally winning.
Truly embarrassing. I don't want to follow in the footsteps of that senior. Although mages are cool and have many advantages with support skills, I don't want to choose what to have and what to forgo; I want to have it all.