Chapter 29: Concept Magic

The instant the coin landed, the expression on the faces of the two girls went from playful to serious. Ariel instantly cast Ventus while Serena began chanting.

"Eh?" John unintentionally let out.

Since it happened so fast, he barely managed to avoid the Wind blade by ducking. John felt a few strands of his hair get cut off by that attack.

"Wha-"

Before John could say anything Ariel put constant pressure on him by propelling a wind blade at him whenever he stood still.

"John, during a fight you usually start talking whenever the opportunity arises, it's because you don't take things seriously that you end up in a bad spot!" Said Ariel after stopping.

'What's going on? Wasn't I supposed to be teaching them?' John thought.

"W-w-wait timeout! Time out!!" John shouted as Ariel continued to pressure him with Ventus.

Meanwhile, Serena had finished her chant and was summoning her fire lion.

"Yes?" Asked Ariel with a scary smile.

"U-um, Ariel, don't you think you should hold back a bit more? This is just practice, your blades are pretty sharp…" John said while she stopped attacking.

"But I am holding back? These attacks are just enough to be able to knock you out! John is very strong after all." She replied with a proud expression.

'No, please don't think of me as some sort of strong being. These attacks might actually kill me if they hit me head-on' John internally thought.

"A-Ariel, I don't think anyone can surviv-"

Before John could finish, Serena sent a fireball at him, which he managed to dodge by sidestepping to the left. Once he did a fire lion which was being hidden behind the giant figure of the fireball jumped at him and bit him midair.

While it latched onto his shoulder, John cast Glacio and froze it.

"Aw, I thought we got him with that strategy... John always jumped to the side to dodge a big attack..." Muttered Serena.

"S-Serena... A-at least you should hold back... My arm still feels numb," John said.

"Don't be silly, John. As if something like that is enough to stop you." They said.

'Nonono, no matter how I look at it, these attacks are aiming for my life. I may be able to withstand Ventus head-on since Ariel is slightly holding back. But if these 2 keep constantly attacking me like this, I might really die…' John reckoned.

"W-Wait... Maybe let's just do a 1v1..." He said.

"Huh? Did you hear something Ariel?" Asked Serena as she cast another fireball at John.

"Nope, not at all," Ariel replied as she mixed in a Ventus behind it.

'O-Oi… S-Stop… I'll really DIE!!!' John internally screamed.

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"How did we lose..." Muttered Ariel while her body was frozen.

"Our plan was perfect..." Muttered Serena while her body was also frozen.

"Oi, did I just hear something about a plan? When did you guys even make a plan? We had 1 minute to prepare." John asked as he stared at them.

They nervously avoided his eyes as their expression was filled with guilt.

"Hmmm?" John said.

"W-We were practising working together so that we could be able to catch up to you and beat you..." Said, Ariel.

"Surpassing me is one thing, but was there a need to beat me?" John asked.

"Well, you're a-always growing so fast that we felt as if, beating you would be the only way to tell if we've caught up..." Serena muttered.

'Ah, so that's what it is…' John thought.

"I see... I guess that makes sense... Once you guys are ready, come to where I'm at, I'll begin Serena's lesson on the Fire concept, and help Ariel improve her wind control," John said as he unfroze them.

Shortly after, he headed towards the middle of the open field and waited for Serena and Ariel.

"T-thank god he didn't find out that we were training because we were planning on making him do something for us if we won..." Serena muttered.

"Yeah..." Replied Ariel.

'This should be far enough…' John said as he looked over at the two girls who were talking.

He felt his legs lose strength as he sat on the ground. John looked up at the sky and cast 'Quiescis'.

"Alright, I set it to 5 meters, so all I need to do is wait." John thought.

As he waited, he began to recall the events of the fight. It was a close match. Serena and Ariel showed perfect teamwork as they made up for each other's weaknesses.

Ariel would pressure him while Serena began her chant so that he wouldn't be able to disrupt it, and Serena would attack him while her chant was finished. It was a simple strategy which would have been easy to be, but they added complex combinations with their attacks.

For example, she'd always hide another spell behind the fireball. Whether it was a Ventus or a lion. Of course, John was hit a few times by Ariels ventus, but it didn't do much damage. Unlike how she acted, she held back quite a lot.

The Ventus which would be able to cut enemies in half only left a few small cuts on wherever it hit John. But they lost because of that. Since Ariel's only spell was one that was able to cut. She wasn't able to deal that much damage to him.

Serena's spells weren't life threatening, so she didn't have to hold back that much. John was pressured in the beginning because he wasn't prepared, but over time, he easily countered them.

Nonetheless, John stayed on the defensive as originally planned to see their abilities and they severely lacked training.

Ariel managed to gather enough magic power for a Ventus Tormentum despite casting countless Ventuses but she missed, and due to that she became temporarily immobile since she ran out of mana, after judging that John had seen enough, he ran up to Ariel and used Glacio once they made contact.

John then ran towards Serena who had missed her fireball when she tried to stop him and used Glacio on her too. That was how they lost.

'Ariel's mana pool is growing, but without a wand, it's still not that high. At this rate, I might have to teach her another concept instead of Wind so she can protect herself... However, that would be unfair on Serena... So I would have to teach her another concept too…' John judged.

"Damn it god, what should I do!" He shouted out.

Shortly after they were done speaking, they finally arrived.

"John, we were formulating another plan. Do you mind if we had another fight tomorrow?" Serena asked.

'I could have sworn we were allies. Why do you guys want to beat me so much?' John wondered.

"Hmm... I think it'd be more effective to try after the training is over." He replied.

"Then, we'll do it after the training is over," Serena said.

"Alright then, let's start."

'What should I do... Ariel is here, so if I teach her the fire concept... Ah... Screw it. I'll just teach them both the same concepts, I'll teach Serena the wind concept and fire. Who cares if the concepts go public? I'll be doing a good thing for society.' John concluded.

'Even if I'm making mages which could potentially want to kill me stronger, I'm only teaching them a fraction of what I know.' He further thought.

From what John had seen, with the knowledge he had, he'd been able to create magic which has nothing to do with the 4 elements, like the unique magic John heard about. There are many other concepts aside from the 4 basic elements.

'For example, for physics, I might be able to create lightning spells... I also learnt biology, so I should be able to come up with a healing spell... With chemistry, I might even be able to create gold... Or not.' John inferred.

"Yeah, there's nothing to lose. If anything happens, I'll just learn stronger spells to protect those I care about," John unintentionally said out loud.

"What?" Asked Ariel as she was startled.

"At our current level, we're too weak. I'll be teaching you guys the concept of all 3 elements which I know, These are, fire, water, and wind. I'll also be teaching ice magic, Understood?!" John said.

"Yes!" They both replied with their expressions full of excitement.

'Well, if i-it makes them happy, I won't regret teaching them... Besides, I'm the kind of person who hates the feeling of regret. I've had enough of it in my past life, and I try to live life without regretting anything, even if it was a horrible decision.' John thought.

"But are you sure, John? Teaching us something this valuable, if any of us decide to say anything, you might not get credit..." Ariel said.

'Ariel, I'm sure she wouldn't do anything like that. Serena we recently met and I don't know much about her so I'll have to leave it to luck.' John decided.

"Well, I trust you both, besides you two, don't come off as the type to take credit for something you didn't do unless you had to," John said.

"I see... Well, I'll be staying with John so when the time comes, I'll just ask you directly." Said Ariel with a smile on her face.

"I'd like to continue staying in this party too, I'm always learning new things and it's pretty fun arguing with John." Said Serena.

"Thanks... and Serena, what was that you said at the end?" John asked.

"I'm always learning new things," She said.

"Nevermind, I might have imagined it. If a kingdom learns of concept magic, it will eventually spread out through spies or mages to other kingdoms, so there's no point in me hiding it, it'll only bring a new era for magicians and make them stronger." John said.

"Yes, that would be the case." Replied Serena.

"Then, I'm guessing it's better if they learn more about it. If you guys wish to tell others or teach them, go ahead. I only think we should wait until we are stronger as a party." John spoke.

"We can use the fact that I discovered this to gain a head-start and have more time to practice it." John said with a smile on his face.

John was sure the concept behind the 4 elements would be able to make big changes. But he'll leave that to him of the future to worry about. At least at this rate, all magicians will be able to use more than one element and chantless.

'Besides, won't it be cool? I'll be the trigger to a new era, I'm getting excited…' John thought.

"I agree, once we're stronger, we can teach others about concept magic. You'll gain credit and most likely a hefty reward. Eventually, it'll spread to other kingdoms and everyone will know your name," Said Serena.

"Is it something that amazing?" John asked.

"YES! I've told you countless times, your master/teacher was the first to find out about the concept! And you were probably the only one he taught!" Serena exclaimed.

"Unless he taught others who know, but you're the only person I've heard of who can use chantless magic, meaning your master only taught you." Said Serena.

"I see. I guess that's pretty amazing. Imagine how everyone will react in the future when we teach them?" John said.

"Probably, dumbfounded." She replied.

"Yeah... But I'm glad I finally reached a decision. We'll start with our lesson, now. Serena, ariel make sure you pay close attention." John said.

"John, wait." Said Serena.

"What's wrong?" Asked Ariel.

"I have something to say... You've shown immense trust in me, so I believe should tell you..." said Serena

"Go on..?" He said.

"I'm an elf." Said Serena.