C39: Flora Lumos (1)
Rudger’s magical energy gently wrapped around the magic that was about to explode. The overlapping elements that were exploding in all directions gathered in a circle and gradually began to stabilize.
When Flora saw the scene, she thought she was going to stop breathing. At that moment, Rudger’s voice awakened her mind.
“It’s not over yet. Don’t lose your concentration.”
Flora regained her consciousness and concentrated on manipulating her magic.
“If you stop here, your magic will vanish without achieving anything. Can you accept that?”
At those words, Flora clenched her teeth.
The magic that was about to go astray gradually returned to stability, but if it stopped here, it wouldn’t work either.
‘Yes. I can’t stop now……!’
She couldn’t let the magic she was trying to unleash disappear like this. Flora responded by squeezing out all of her remaining magical power. She had to perfect this spell now, even in order to live up to the expectations of Rudger who helped her.
The three elements gathered in a circle gradually decreased in size, and eventually began to take on the form of something. Flora’s eyes widened at the sweet scent that brushed the tip of her nose.
‘Color.’
The color that had been scattered and ran wildly returned to its original position.
‘No.’
Beyond that, it began to harmonize beautifully.
‘Ah.’
With trembling lips, she stared at the magic that was embodied in front of her.
The reason she challenged the overlap of 3 elements was because she wanted to get praised by Rudger. For Flora, innately gifted with her talent for magic, even the difficult, high-hierarchical magic was something she could eventually achieve someday. For this reason, Flora’s magic was considered so easy and natural.
She was not happy with her success but also did not dwell on failure. Because it was something she could reach naturally one day.
She thought that even if she succeeded in what she had failed so far, she wouldn’t be happy.
“You succeeded.”
At Rudger’s words, Flora’s voice did not come out.
It felt like something was pounding in her chest. Her gaze was nailed to the finished element. A white wind whirls fiercely in orbits around a frozen flame like a sharp awl.
She managed to combine 3 elements into one. Flora felt the illusion that her soul was taken from her beyond her gaze at the dazzling beauty that it gave off.
“Pretty.”
Sheryl, who was watching the scene nervously next to her, said so.
Yes, the magic she wanted to create was as beautiful as a work of art. Flora’s reaction was far more passionate than that of the other students.
What excited her more than her vision and olfactory pleasure was a feeling of invigorating her spirit that bubbled up deep in her chest.
She completed a magic that she has never done before and felt a sense of accomplishment that she had overcome a wall. Although she did not achieve this on her own, she could not deny this joy.
The magic that had exhausted all its strength eventually turned into a splendid powder of light and disappeared. As he watched the scene as if possessed, Rudger opened his mouth.
“Flora Lumos.”
“Yeah. Mr. Rudger.”
Flora appeared calm but that was only on the outside.
If Rudger had spoken words of praise here to her, she might have shed her tears from so much joy.
“You have done something stupid,” he said.
“Yeah.……Yeah?”
But at the chilly words that came out of Rudger’s mouth she realized what she had done. She almost endangered the entire student body in the classroom for her own greed.
When she faced the reality she had forgotten about her joy of having succeeded in magic, Flora had no choice but to bow her head in gloom.
“Anyone can try new magic and fail but in the end, you have to bear the price of that failure yourself. Not the other students, but you.”
“……Sorry.”
What Rudger said was a hundred times right. She almost put the other classmates at risk. At the end she felt a sense of responsibility and surrounded herself with a magical barrier, but could she have completely stopped the damage with it?
If Rudger hadn’t come forward someone may have died.
“But above all else, I rebuke you Flora Lumos, for the immaturity of your magic.”
“Yeah?”
“When you first overlapped the elements, you mixed fire and ice, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Fire and ice are opposites to each other so it’s hard to mix them together. Beyond making sure that they do not collide, you need to create a stronger effect by harmonizing them.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
And Flora Lumos did it.
By mixing opposing powers, she embodied a single magic.
“……How is my magic immature?”
There was a mix of sadness in her voice. If he was just going to rebuke her, he could point out her overlapping of 3 elements but Rudger pointed out the perfect overlap of fire and ice.
Flora thought that Rudger was trying to use her mistake as an excuse to devalue the existing overlapping elements.
‘No, but still……’
When she was in danger Rudger helped her control her magic or else she would’ve died. There was absolutely no reason for Rudger to simply belittle her after helping her.
Just as she was about to be disappointed, Rudger used his magical powers and created spheres of ice and fire.
“I will show you why your magic is immature.”
Rudger merged the two elements he had created into one while adjusting the magic so that the magical powers of both attributes won’t collide.
Flora stared intently, not wanting to miss any detail. The whole process was obviously similar to what she tried but the results were not the same.
“Uh?”
Because the overlapping elements the Rudger created were different from Flora’s.
Flora Lumos compared the overlapping elements she had created herself with those created by Rudger. In terms of elements, there is no difference at all; however, the results produced by the two elements were very different.
The energy of the overlapping elements was fundamentally different. Flora, who is particularly sensitive to magic, could feel it more clearly than anyone else. The color and smell were different from hers.
“Flora Lumos. Do you know what this overlapped element I created is like?”
Flora hesitated for a moment, then nodded her head.
“……Yeah.”
“Then please explain.”
“… … The overlapped element you created has different wills of magical power. The spread of the flame and the power to engulf the surroundings, and the chilling of the ice attribute coexist.”
“On the other hand, what about yours?”
“Yeah?”
“I asked you what about yours.”
Flora only licked his lips, but couldn’t speak. In the end, Rudger opened his mouth instead.
“Flora Lumos the overlapping element you created is a magic that is only beautiful in shape, and has no practicality.”
At those piercing words, Flora trembled.
“Magic must be practical. If not, at least there shouldn’t be any magic without meaning. This is the base of all magic.”
Rudger said to the students.
“You need to use magic in a better way. Magic it’s not about killing, it’s about creating something that will lead the world in the right direction. But Flora How was your magic?”
“I……”
“Frozen fire it’s in the form of the ice element wrapped around the fire element. Yes, it’s beautiful but that’s all.”
“…….”
Flora had nothing to say because everything Rudger said was true.
“Are you planning on getting a job in a circus with this magic? Or, were you planning on going to the Crystal Palace in the capital and displaying your magic in a beautiful way?”
“……It’s not like that.”
“Then what is the significance of your magic? Is it just a show off to show off that you can overlap elements?”
Rudger’s point was irrefutable. She didn’t know where it can be used, it’s just beautiful magic. She wanted to brag about being able to overlap elements, nothing more, nothing less.
“You even tried to mix wind with ice and fire but in the end you failed.”
Flora bowed her head at the last wedge.
Cheryl, who was sitting next to her, looked at her with a worried expression, but she, too, could not offer the consolation she would have liked in this situation.
Rudger threw the magic sphere he had created into the air. The overlapped element climbed up close to the high ceiling of the lecture hall and exploded like firecrackers. For a moment, all the students in the classroom had the illusion that they heard the sound of ice “burning.”
The white frost-like cold air spread widely throughout the lecture hall without even touching the ceiling. It fell and melted away before it even reached the students.
“Flora Lumos combining 3 attributes was quite interesting. I’ve never seen a wizard with that level of skill at your age.”
Flora’s eyes, which had been taken away by Rudger’s magic, turned to Rudger again. The moment she met the face of the man looking at her with regretful eyes she felt guilty, and her heart sank.
“But the direction of your actions is wrong. I’m not discussing your skills. We’re talking about something much more fundamental than that.”
“…….”
“Don’t just use your magic to show off; this will lower your value, Flora.”
Flora had no choice but to agree with Rudger’s words. He said that the magic she had created was just a gimmick to show off her skills and to win the praise of others. Conversely, what Rudger made was much more practical, even with the same elements as her.
‘Again, I lost.’
She thought she would get recognition this time, but she didn’t. Flora realized how impatient and immature he was.
‘I’ve never had anything like this before.’
Above all, the sincere gaze that Rudger showed her. It did not disappear from her mind. Rather than ridicule or despise, it was an attitude of genuine concern.
‘Is there anyone who looked at me like this?’
There was no one. The gazes on her were always envy and jealousy. Not to mention her family, her brothers and sisters who hate her. Not only her classmates, but even her seniors were jealous of her and the same was true of Theon’s teachers.
Even after more years of learning magic, Flora’s talent quickly caught up with them. Whenever this happened, the eyes of the teachers were always enveloped in unbearable flame-like jealousy.
Flora knew it, but didn’t show it. Because that’s what her real talent was. There was no need to flinch in the eyes of those who were jealous of her talents.
But today for the first time in her life, Flora was taken aback by Rudger’s unfamiliar attitude.
‘Mr. Rudger.’
He saved her, who almost failed her magic and helped her overcome the barrier of three overlapping elemental elements that had not been crossed before.
Flora suddenly realizes that she is now dizzy and short of breath. She wanted to overlap 3 elements and consumed too much mana.
‘I feel like I’m going to die of exhaustion, but is the teacher okay?’
Rudger, who suppressed the exploding mana, would have consumed much more mana, but he did not lose a single breath.
For the first time she felt the real ‘wall.’ And that wall was so high and thick that she wasn’t sure if she could ever get over it. Still, she didn’t want to give up.
Flora felt good and made a strong promise to herself that next time she would definitely surpass him.
‘Hmm?’
Rudger trembled involuntarily as he chewed the magic recovery pill he had hidden in his mouth.