The sun still hung high in the sky, illuminating the vast sea, making for a mesmerizing view for anyone who witnessed it. Mikoto, with folded arms, levitated high above sea level, blankly staring at the vast, almost infinite-like sea. The smell of the seawater filled his nostrils, and the gentle breeze of the wind engulfed his form.
"God, this is so weird," a voice interrupted his serene feeling. Mirabella levitated alongside him. She was dressed in a simple black tank top, baggy black pants, and heavy black boots. She looked nervous and hovered unevenly, unable to equally distribute her weight. She could not use [Levitation] on her own; it involved creating your own kind of equilibrium, but she did not have time for that kind of complex stuff. "Feels like I'm falling but unable to," she murmured.
"I think that this is quite fun," Victoria, much like the two, was levitating but seemed to do it more freely. She did not have the [Levitation] spell but rather an inferior version called [Float]. Still, it was a rather complex spell all the same. She was dressed as comfortably as she could muster, in a loose long-sleeved button shirt, tight brown trousers, and black boots. She floated leisurely, intent on waiting.
"Why'd we have to come out here in the first place?" Mirabella questioned, still trying to adjust her weight. "Couldn't we just do this at the ship?"
"I think Mikoto is going to demonstrate some magic that covers a large area of effect," Victoria surmised with a smile.
"That's right, we wouldn't want to blow up the ship," Mikoto confirmed as he clapped his hands. "Alright, you two landlubbers," Mikoto began, his voice surprisingly steady given his precarious position, "let's begin with the Von Auerswald conundrum."
"Conundrum?" Mirabella scoffed, her voice laced with a thick layer of annoyance. "More like infuriating, magic-nullifying shitheads."
Victoria just chuckled. "Come now, Mirabella, less melodrama, more focus." She turned back to Mikoto, a slight smirk twisting her lips. "So, spill it, dear teacher. How do we crack the Von Auerswald nut?"
"Simple, really. One can overwhelm them. A Von Auerswald's magic nullification, it is a passive ability. They can't shut it off, but the magic they cancel has a limit."
"Sounds like a fancy way of saying we have to brute force it," Mirabella grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Not quite," Mikoto corrected, raising his left palm. As he focused, a single point of light condensed at the center of his palm. It grew, morphing into a sphere of fire, a miniature sun crackling with raw power. The air shimmered around it, distorted by the heat. "Here," he declared, flinging his arm forward. The fiery orb shot away like a comet, leaving a trail of searing light in its wake. It plunged into the sea with a thunderous boom, the water erupting into a pillar of steam and churning debris.
Victoria whistled, an impressed glint in her eyes. "Quite the lightshow dear teacher," she remarked. "But one measly fireball isn't going to break through a Von Auerswald's defenses."
Mikoto nodded. "Patience. Watch this." With a flick of his wrist, another fire orb materialized, this one smaller than the first. Unlike the explosive fireball, this one began to rotate, gathering speed, building into a mesmerizing blur. It resembled a burning vortex, a miniature red sun caught in an endless spin.
"This," Mikoto said, "is a sustained spell. By compressing the energy and forcing it into a constant rotation, I'm essentially firing a continuous stream of magic." He flung the spinning orb, and unlike its fiery predecessor, it sliced through the air with an almost silent hum. It struck the surface of the sea, and this time, the water didn't erupt. Instead, a contained, searing circle spread out like a hungry eye, vaporizing the water within its circumference. It burned with an unnatural, sustained intensity.
Victoria's eyes gleamed with understanding. "So, by overwhelming their nullification with a continuous stream of magic, we can punch a hole through their defenses."
"Exactly," Mikoto confirmed. "The first fireball was a simple attack, easily canceled. The second… well, imagine trying to plug a hole with a bucket while someone keeps pouring water in. Eventually, the bucket overflows." Mirabella, who had been staring at the churning, red circle in the water, finally spoke.
"And what if they just… you know… cancel the magic faster than we can pour it in?" Mikoto deactivated the spell, the fiery circle vanishing with a hiss.
"That's why we need a barrage. If you excel in rapid-fire attacks, you can throw fireballs like a rapid-firing ballista, overwhelming them with sheer quantity." He turned to Mirabella, who looked slightly less skeptical than before. "You, Mirabella, have a different strength. You specialize in raw power. Can you imagine creating multiple spinning orbs, creating a storm of sustained magic?"
"It should be easy, I guess. In a way, it seems simpler than defensive magic and healing magic," she mumbled thoughtfully.
"May I try first, Mikoto?" Victoria asked. He tilted his head at her eagerness. "It would be a useful skill to learn, though when it comes to the festival, I'll mostly be the strategist. But it would not hurt to prepare."
"Go ahead, stick with fire, though. Makes things easier," he said, giving her the go-ahead.
She nodded as she closed her eyes, a fierce concentration etching lines on her forehead. Her hand glowed faintly, building with magical power. Slowly, a small, crimson sphere pulsed into existence, growing hotter and brighter by the second. Mikoto watched, offering silent encouragement. Suddenly, Victoria flung her arm forward, launching the miniature inferno towards the horizon. It flew, not with the swiftness of Mikoto's, but with a strong intensity. It impacted the water with a satisfying hiss, creating a localized explosion that sent a plume of steam skyward.
"Not bad," Mikoto called out. "You just need to work on compressing your magic a little more. The faster the release, the less likely it is for their nullification to activate."
"I suppose I would not get it down so easily," she huffed out a sigh but smiled all the same. "Though I can already decipher the best way to use it with the least bit of mana." Mikoto turned to Mirabella, who had been observing the exchange with a mixture of impatience and apprehension.
"Your turn, Mirabella. Try the rapid-fire method. Focus on a constant stream of small spells, overwhelming their nullification with sheer volume." Mirabella took a deep breath, her hands already crackling with mana. Unlike Victoria's enthusiastic embrace, she approached the task with a destructive seriousness. Focusing intently, she unleashed a series of small orbs, one after another, towards the distant horizon. They were slower than Victoria's singular attack, but a continuous barrage arced through the night sky.
The result was a staccato series of explosions, smaller than Victoria's but erupting in rapid succession. The water churned, illuminated by fleeting flashes of orange light.
"Well?" Mirabella asked, her voice tight with anxiety. "Did it work?" Mikoto inspected the horizon. He remained silent for a moment, the only sound the steady hum of the ocean.
"Not bad, a bit more tamed than what I expected," he said. "The individual blasts were still a bit too weak. And they all need to hit at the same time to get through that nullification."
Disappointment clouded Mirabella's eyes. "So, I messed up too, huh?"
Mikoto shook his head. "Not at all. Remember, mastering these techniques takes time and practice. You both made progress. We just need to refine your attacks, make them more efficient," he noted.
Victoria smiled. "Well, I shall try my best, dear teacher."
"Yeah, me too! I wanna stick it to that Von Auerswald bastard," Mirabella exclaimed with more enthusiasm.
"You will, eventually. But let's stop today's lesson here; we can continue later," Mikoto stated.
"Hmm, I suppose it is for the best. Mirabella seems to have all but exhausted her mana from your tutoring," Victoria noted with a chuckle.
"And why's that so funny?" the princess questioned with an annoyed glare. Before Victoria could snark back, Mikoto saw it fit to transport them back to the ship. A pop of displacement in reality was all that was heard in the empty air as they instantaneously found themselves back on the main deck. For some reason, the crew members seemed to be more in a rush now.
"Oi! At least warn me when you're gonna go teleporting me!" Mirabella whined. Mikoto just shrugged at her.
"You're here, good." Mikoto's ears perked up at the voice of Professor Eugene. He watched his approaching figure come to a halt in front of him. Mikoto looked at the man with a questioning gaze. "Are you able to teleport to Galadriel at this very instance?" The man's gaze seemed serious, so Mikoto quickly obliged with an answer.
"No, we've only been traveling for a day. And long-distance teleportation is a bit fickle for even me, though if we traveled for say another two to three hours, I might be able to teleport to a coastline in Galadriel," he swiftly answered. "But why did you want to know?"
"Luminare Academy is being attacked once more," he stated, Victoria and Mirabella's eyes widened.
"Attacked? By whom?" Victoria questioned.
"Demons."