Chapter 82

Earthquakes are scary, aren't they...

I thought Japan might sink...

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"Then, I would like you to rewrite the magic circle."

When Balbrea said this, I checked the material of the rooftop floor. Conveniently, a large, seamless rock was placed there. It seemed the magic circle was drawn on top of it.

"A large rock floor, huh? It's pitch black; did you quarry it out?"

When I asked, Balbrea slightly tilted his chin.

"It's a rock called black eye stone. For the magic circle experiments, I need to redraw it multiple times. That's why I'm using this rock, which reflects like a mirror when polished."

"I see. Then, there's no problem using this rock, right?"

"Using the rock? Of course, it's fine to use it."

When I confirmed with Balbrea, he nodded slightly, tilting his head a bit, so I immediately decided to rewrite the magic circle.

I knelt down on one knee and placed the palm of my hand on the surface of the rock.

Then, while channeling magic power, I opened my mouth.

"Surface manipulation."

As soon as I muttered this, the surface rippled like water, and the magic circle that was drawn disappeared into the rock. Then, blue light ran across the surface. After the blue light passed, a groove about one centimeter wide was neatly carved. It looked like a poorly edited image of a mystery circle.

While thinking about this, I inscribed the fire wall spell into the magic circle.

It took only a few dozen seconds to complete the magic circle, and I stood up.

"Looks good. Then, can someone channel their magic power into it?"

When I turned around, Balbrea's face was wide-eyed, as if time had stopped. But when he noticed my gaze, he immediately cleared his throat and glanced sideways.

"Cameron, give it a try."

Cameron, who was suddenly addressed, turned to Balbrea with wide eyes.

"Ah, that... if I didn't mishear, that was... without incantation..."

"Cameron."

Balbrea, seemingly reprimanding Cameron who was unable to hide his shock at my non-incantation magic, spoke in a firm voice.

"Ah, y-yes... then..."

Despite being confused, Cameron quickly moved to the front of the magic circle. He placed his hand at the edge of the magic circle and began to channel his magic power.

As expected of a senior instructor, he channeled magic power quickly.

"By the way, to trigger the spell, the spell name is required as an activation condition. The spell name is 'Wall of Fire.'"

After telling him this, Cameron, looking a bit troubled, took a deep breath and slowly opened his mouth.

"...Wall of Fire."

The moment he spoke, flames erupted in front of Cameron. The flames rose with explosive force, reaching over a hundred meters in height in an instant.

Looking up at the roaring flames, I muttered to myself.

"...Since I set the range of the magic circle, this is more like a pillar than a wall. I should have floated it first and then expanded it to the sides, or perhaps I should have changed my approach and made it rotate to cover the sky."

While pondering various ideas, Cameron stood up and looked at me.

"Ah, that...! The fire won't stop! Even though I'm not channeling any more magic power...!"

Cameron reported this in a panic, and Balbrea also looked at the magic circle with a puzzled expression.

"Did it fail?"

When asked, I shook my head.

"No, it's not a failure. The effect is just continuing. It seems Cameron channeled too much magic power."

When I answered, Cameron wiped cold sweat from his forehead and waved his hands.

"Surely not...! I only channeled the minimum magic power needed to activate the magic circle, just as I usually do!"

Cameron tried to explain, but he didn't realize that this was precisely the cause.

"That's too much magic power. I apologize for not explaining earlier, but compared to the magic efficiency of the previous magic circle, this one activates with one-tenth of the magic power. In other words, you channeled ten times the magic power needed to activate it."

When I explained, Cameron's eyes widened, and he let out a soundless cry.

While he was opening and closing his mouth in shock, I smiled wryly and looked at the pillar of fire to reassure him.

"Let's extinguish it for now."

Saying this, I cast a spell.

"Freeze."

As soon as I muttered this, a small-scale blizzard erupted. A white wall instantly formed in front of me. The pillar of fire was quickly swallowed, and the flames that had been burning fiercely turned into ice particles and danced in the air.

While admiring the fantastical scene, which reminded me of diamond dust, Balbrea, standing next to me, spoke.

"...I see. This is what a senior instructor at Fidic Academy is like."