Bear School Astartes

Lann had fought with mages numerous times, but they were mostly concentrated in the Battle of Sodden Mountain.

The attacks from the Southern mages came down like rain.

Those mages, desperate to retreat to safety and avoid repercussions at home, acted almost like madmen.

Disregarding the dangerous nature of Chaos Magic Power, they overexerted themselves casting spells.

Of course, the mages from the North were no different.

However, in that battle, the Southern mages posed about as much obstruction to Lann as the choking smoke on the battlefield.

On one hand, the mages that Niflgaard had dispatched were mostly of low rank, some even at a level not yet graduated from the Magic Academy, with a focus on quantity.

This was a decision made by the Niflgaard Commander Meno Kuhorn after being tactically deceived by Lann.

A decision that was intentionally guided.

On the other hand, the mages from the Northern Countries, though only numbering over twenty, were all Great Mages.

Even though the difference in title among Great Mages might be greater than that between a Great Mage and an apprentice.

But a Great Mage is a Great Mage; the casters of the Northern Countries skillfully suppressed the opposing casters.

So when Lann faced the spells flying chaotically across the battlefield, he would simply use [Spiritual Vision] to scan, then follow his line of sight with Aron Dite brimming with the Divine Power of the Lady of the Lake.

And the spells would dissipate.

The spell constructs from the Niflgaard mages were mostly not advanced, making it especially easy for Lann to dismantle them.

But this wasn’t a reason to underestimate the Warlocks’ Fireball Technique.

Lann could easily ’slash apart’ a Fireball Technique, but if he were to take one head-on without reacting, he reckoned he’d suffer quite a bit of damage.

A Fireball Technique from a mage at normal levels, hitting a soldier in standard armor, should be enough to blow that armored person to pieces.

Even the armor fragments could fly out, causing secondary shrapnel damage to the surroundings.

In the estate of the former notable, Duke Steza of Temeria, the mage steward was holding a charging fireball in the corridor, which then spiraled out of control due to Lann’s disruption.

In the explosion, the steward and a knight in full heavy armor were blown to pieces on the spot.

The fine armor on the knight, expensive as it was, could only leave white marks and small dents when an ordinary person slashed it with a sword, and couldn’t cut through it at all.

When blown into fragments, acting like a grenade, it toppled everyone in the corridor.

This is the most common Fireball Technique in the hands of mages.

In this world, the common reasons mages fail are often ’unprepared’, ’ambushed’, ’surprised’, ’countered’, or ’unable to react’... but rarely ’insufficient destructive power’.

Is that why they call them the ’noble mages’ and the ’lowly Demon Hunters’?

Despite both being users of perilous Chaos Magic Power, the disparity in treatment is visibly vast.

And now...

”Whoosh~”

Lann raised an eyebrow with a cheerful whistle.

”If Vesemir saw this, tsk tsk.”

The Demon Hunters of the Wolf School probably never dared to imagine magic of this intensity in their lifetime; the highest output of their [Igni Rune] was merely at the level of a spark torch.

It’d take more than two seconds to scorch a monster’s fur. Even then, it wouldn’t burn through, leaving the muscle beneath the fur unharmed.

The effect of a Curse Fireball is completely beyond scale for Demon Hunters who can only do minor magic tricks.

”Looks like I’m a caster as well.”

Lann laughed easily, while on his retina, Mentos had completed the data collection for this casting.

”In this casting process, the subject’s physiological fluctuations are as follows... the heat fluctuation data of Curse Fire is being exported...”

The bio-brain spoke in that usual refined British butler tone.

Of course, if the bio-brain wanted to be provoking, that accent could really make Lann furious.

No help for it, he chose it himself.

Lann took a glance and immediately noticed the difference between spell casting and the use of a Magic Seal.

”The Chaos Magic Power in my body wasn’t consumed, but my brainwave intensity weakened slightly... the casting consumes mental strength?”

Mentos quickly flattered him with exaggerated praise.

”A precise understanding, sir. The release of Curse Fire seems akin to your reactions when using the [Block] combat skill back then. They consume the same energy - the caster’s spirit.”

”In the World of Fire, this is called the [Power of Soul].”

Lann nodded; it was no big deal.

A Demon Hunter’s Chaos Magic Power is reliant on the body; with his physical qualities, casting nearly ten Magic Seals in succession wouldn’t be an issue, and recovery would be quick.

Whereas the mind is less easily restored, only recoverable through activities like Meditation or sleep and rest.

But for Lann, who had installed the [Holy Chant Gland], his mental recovery rate was also fast.

If, during the subsequent Interstellar Warrior enhancement surgery, a [Nerve Knot] were implanted at the posterior cranial foramen.

Then this enhanced organ will be able to adjust the inherent rhythm of the Interstellar Warrior’s brain resting, allowing the human brain to alternate sleep and rest like dolphins, with the left and right hemispheres.

At that time, his mental recovery speed will directly multiply.

Subsequently, the bio-intelligence, just like when Lann practiced Magic Seals before, pointed out the improvements that could be made in the spellcasting process, along with various minor errors.

This ability to summarize, generalize, and correct errors is precisely the source of the super learning capability of the citizens of the Human Union in the Interstellar Era.

Fireball, as the most basic curse, involves relatively few knowledge points, and Lann is mastering the knowledge from the Great Swamp Spellbook at a very rapid pace.

In the basic curses of the Great Swamp, upon turning the pages, you’ll find that curses entail not only the burning and control of flames but also other techniques.

For example, ”Emit Toxic Mist”, ”Intense Sweating”, and ”Intense Oily Sweat”.

These curses, although seemingly do not involve flames on the surface.

But upon actual feeling... Lann keenly perceived something beneath the surface phenomena of these curses.

A flame flickered on Lann’s left palm, first rising, the heat causing the air to explode with sound.

The operation of the spell has its own process, but Lann, having already activated ”Spiritual Vision”, observed the changes undergone by the curse fire during the spell.

When the flame expanded to the size of a hand, Lann unhesitatingly slapped his left hand on his chest.

This was a feeling completely different from casting a ”Fireball”.

The power within his body gathered in his left hand, becoming the Curse Fire. After the spell transformation of the Curse Fire, it was slapped into his chest and began to take effect.

The conversion of heat was unprecedentedly clear to Lann’s perception.

As the flame of the curse entered the body, a burst of white mist erupted from Lann’s body surface.

This white mist enveloped the whole body, forming a layer about ten centimeters thick, fitting the contours of the human body.

”Curse: Intense Sweating.”

As Lann clenched his fist and hopped around doing adaptive exercises, he murmured to himself.

”Intense Sweating,” is a curse that integrates flames into the body and uses the water vapor from sweating to massively resist high heat damage.

But Lann saw very clearly, if this layer of white mist, less than ten centimeters thick, could truly greatly reduce high heat damage, that would be quite unbelievable.

”Unless the ’water mist’ is not merely ’water mist’.”

Lann’s head and face were also wrapped in the white mist, yet, magically, it did not affect his vision.

”Spiritual Vision” directly observed this layer of white mist.

”The copious sweat indeed acts as a medium, but the element that reduces high heat damage is hidden deeper.”

In less than a few breaths, the white mist on Lann’s body gradually faded until it became invisible.

This was also his first time casting this curse.

Releasing flames with ”Fireball,” integrating flames into the body with ”Intense Sweating”...

The two fundamental spells of curses succeeded on the first try.

Even disregarding other things, this learning ability concerning curses would be difficult for Conicus to find a few matching examples in the master-apprentice lineage of the Great Swamp.

Yet, Lann did not stop there; releasing spells only gave him a little joy, like getting a new toy.

However, analyzing and observing the core and underlying logic of spells enthused him greatly.

”The key to ’Intense Sweating’ isn’t in sweating, but in integrating fire into the body, altering the nature of a mere bit of sweat through fire, thus granting it the power to resist high heat...”

The spell effect only lasted for a few seconds due to Lann’s errors and lack of proficiency in spellcasting, but after the white mist disappeared from his body surface, the deep eyes of the Demon Hunter did not return to their usual look.

Likewise, the calculation process of Mentos was cascading down like a waterfall on the retina.

”I remember Conicus solemnly warned me.”

Suddenly, glancing at the flame in his left palm, the Demon Hunter murmured.

”He said: The ancient origin of curses—Izalis, was once destroyed by the flames it originated.”

”He also said: That instance of fire distorted life.”

A new logic-based hypothesis, submitted by Lann’s mind to Mentos, relying on the data collected during the previous spellcasting, and its computational power for deduction.

Hypothesis: The so-called curse fire may not essentially be ’burning’ or ’high temperature’ in the conventional sense but rather... ’interference with life’?

In the World of Fire, all intelligence and life are born from the initial flame’s burning.

The ancient trees and ancient dragons that appeared prior were actually inorganic like substances, thus able to be immortal.

And in such circumstances, does the flame itself inherently possess a ’life’ connotation, aside from its intrinsic properties?

When Lann submitted this hypothesis to Mentos for data verification.

He suddenly felt a substantial portion of the bio-intelligence’s computational power being engaged.

Mentos’s speed slowed down.

However, at the same time, Lann’s lips already curled slightly.

Mentos also issued congratulations.

”The analytical task has been constructed, sir... I believe your direction is correct.”