Chapter XXVIII - Orc Camp (part 3)

Right in front of me is now the second sun, and I still don't know how to control it yet. The diameter alone is at least three meters wide, and the heat melts everything around us.

The ground turned red, and I can see Hod's ice in front of us melting from the giant fireball's heat. My palms don't feel any heat in the slightest, but I'm a bit worried if such a mass of energy were to explode right there and then.

"U-Uh, what should I-"

"Rize! Shoot it now!!!"

I instantly imagined shooting it using my hand. I don't know how, but the huge fireball immediately got discharged forward and flew very fast. The pushback got me falling on my butt, but I quickly realized that this is not the end of it.

The fireball flew until the other opposite end of this wide camp turned battlefield, and exploded powerfully.

BAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The fireball exploded massively after it landed on the wall of the camp.

VWOOOSSSSHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The shockwave threw everything in its path into chaos, causing the area to turn into a dust storm. I quickly covered my face with both my hands, and even then I still couldn't protect myself from the amount of sand entering my lungs.

The heat was also quite cruel. I can feel it, though not as dangerous as I imagined it to be. I turned my gaze to the skies where the cloud of smoke was reaching high, wondering how exactly such an explosion even occurred.

That was definitely... an explosion.

With my own hands... I created a bomb.

Am I... a god, now?

"What the hell are you guys doing down there!? Can't you just date without burning anything!?"

Valey complained from the top of the watchtower, but she was completely ignored.

That explosion was a little too much. It was as if a gas station had exploded in the distance, and it could've killed me if I was a little closer to it.

"It's like spinning a gear. The more you put in, the faster and stronger your magic technique becomes."

Hod suddenly says next to me, and I turned my confused glare to him.

"Inserting magic energy has its own momentum. Once you insert enough, it will start needing less energy to grow stronger. That is why you need to know when to put an end to your input.

Of course, that's something you'll learn the more you use the magic. Which I'm sure you'll learn nicely, considering you're a genius."

He said with a soft grin, and I only opened my eyes widely at him. The words he said did make sense, and I can understand the momentum part perfectly.

But... I'm a genius? In magic?

"That aside, are you okay? You used a ton of energy just now."

"I'm... Fine."

I lied. I was not fine at all.

Using magic is indeed as costly as I've heard. Battling against two hundred red orcs was tiresome, but using that single fireball just now was even more draining than that. Jrake has mentioned it to me once that using magic cannot be compared with any physical activities, and I can say that he is right.

I'm still okay, though. I don't feel that tired, and I can still shoot many more of those. Side effect of having a huge amount of magic points, I guess. But, I should be aware of the consequences from casting such magic.

For comparison, healing magic is a lot more costly than this. I think I can keep going.

"Try to pour less energy and focus on controlling the fire. The bigger the compression, the bigger the explosion. That's the rule of fireball."

Hod explained to me, even though I don't think fire magic is a type of magic element he is capable of. But he must be quite experienced, so I'll trust him.

"I... I see. Thanks. I'm just glad that I can use magic."

I said while looking at my own hands, and Hod grinned seeing it.

"Feels special, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. Feels otherworldly."

Then, I tried a flame burst type this time. Hod suggested that I shouldn't be too fixated on one single technique, so I should try learning other techniques as well.

A fireball is a type of single-shot magic. All I had to do was gather my magic into my palms, create the fireball, and shoot it. It's a 'one and done' technique.

But, a flame burst type is different. It is a constant, where I continuously input magic into my palms and continuously combusting it into flames at the same time. Hod called it a 'Fire Blaze', so I'm just following that naming.

I lifted both of my hands and imagined having a flame right in front of my hand. A flame can be seen floating on my hand, and I began to pour more energy without caring about the shape.

BLAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

W-Woah... It felt like a dragon's breath just now. Trust me, I've seen one.

"That was a huge output of energy you just did."

Hod commented, and I focused once again to do it even better.

"Now to do it continuously."

"Wait, huh--"

VWOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A wall of flame came out of my hands and ate everything in its way. The red flames were indeed highly similar to a dragon's breath, and it truly feels like I'm holding a large flamethrower.

I don't feel the deadly heat coming this way, so I can keep shooting the flames forward. The flames only focused on what was right in front of me, so this is purely directional.

Not even three seconds after I fired the magic, I can feel my magic is quickly draining. I stopped immediately.

"Hahh... Hahh..."

That was... oddly tiring.

I realized how tired I was and became concerned, so I quickly took out my magic tool to check my magic. I made sure to not reveal to Hod about my numbers, and I was quite surprised by the results.

4785/7490.

D-Damn... Only a little bit and I nearly touched half. Today has been very tiring, but to think I lost this much magic after only shooting fire magic for a little bit.

Magic... is really dangerous.

"Hey, Hod-"

I turned to ask Hod, but I stopped myself after realizing he was nowhere near me. I turned to the ice wall quite far on my left, and the guy was covering himself behind his own recently made ice wall.

"Y-Yeah?"

His head popped from behind the ice, and the two of us stared awkwardly while Valey chuckled on the tower.

"Hmm... Those two are having fun."

Valey watches from the top while her feet are swinging in the air. She took a bite from her snack that she brought.

And for the next fifteen minutes, I continued the training with Hod. He taught me all the different things I can do with fire magic, but we decided to only focus on one thing. That is, to polish a single technique that I can use at any time.

Of course, fifteen minutes of training means fifteen minutes of using magic. Now, I'm nearly wasted.

"Hahh... How come it's so tiring?"

I fell on my butt on the ground after Hod declared to end the training, and he walked towards me and sat right next to me inside the tent.

"You always gave too big of an input. Usually, a simple fireball should be able to kill a monster."

"Not if they are a red orc."

I tried shooting the corpse of a red orc with smaller fireballs just now. However, their bodies just don't seem to burn.

"Some monsters have really hard skin. Why do you think red orcs have Blue rank?"

"But I sliced them pretty easily..."

"You are already monstrous with your swords."

"... I guess I should just keep using swords."

I said while taking out my sword from the ring to stare at it, and I realized that using swords is just more efficient for me right now. Perhaps, I can use the fireballs for a range option, something like what the goblin king did in our fight.

"Next time, try to keep the input low. You never have to insert too much, because the higher your magic tier is, the larger your output becomes."

"... Huh?"

"For example, that first fireball you shot which destroyed... everything. I can confidently say that it was on the level of a Knight tier, the third tier from the bottom. 

And to shoot a fireball that powerful, a Knight tier fire magician only needs an input as little as your small fireballs."

... What!?

"So, the price for the magic got reduced the higher your tier are?"

"Nice wording. Yes, the higher your tier, the more efficient your magic becomes. 

Right now, you are at the Beginner tier, which means your fire magic is still highly inefficient. But when you get to higher tiers, you only ever need to insert a tiny amount in order to reproduce that same firepower your first fireball created.

That's... bullshit.

Then, that means I can create... even larger explosions!?

That first fireball is already at the level of a gas station explosion. Are you saying that if I get my tiers higher, I can produce an even larger... far more powerful explosion? With that much energy!?

No way... a nuke? No fucking way, right?

"I think... I get it. So... how do you raise your tier?"

I asked awkwardly while trying not to think too much about what happens later on, and Hod only pointed at my hands.

"Just keep on using the magic. You'll know right away when you are about to tier up."

"Huh...? You are saying the feeling will just come when I'm about to tier up?"

"Precisely."

That... is confusing. But before I got to ask, Hod stood up and glared at Valey who was approaching us in the distance.

"You seemed tired. Can you continue?"

He asked after studying my expression, and truthfully, I am rather drained at the moment.

"I'll come with you. I have to get used to this, after all."

I stood up and walked to where Valey is. From the looks of it, she has something to say.

"A couple of red orcs came out just now. They seem to be checking out the situation."

Valey told us, and Hod nodded coldly.

"Scouts."

"Are we going?"

"For sure. We have to clear this dungeon so that it won't harm any civilians nearby. And since the red orcs are able to come out, already..."

Hod commented while staring at the cave in the distance, and I realized exactly what he was talking about.

"Dungeon break."

This whole time. All those red orcs that were here, and this whole situation was in fact a dungeon break. How annoying.

This time, Hod led the way. I'm too tired to say anything. Deep down I can only cast small fireballs, but I guess that much is enough to get me used to the magic.

"I'm currently out of energy, so can you guys protect me?"

"Sure! Don't worry, Rize! I'll shoot any orc that comes in your way."

Valey said so cheerfully right before we arrived by the cave, and I was immediately captivated by her smile.

"I feel fine already."

And so, we entered the cave where the orcs are hiding.

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