29. The Audacious General Saul
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The boy’s bearing seemed utterly different from before.
Scorching flames whirled around him, while illusory dragon scales emerged across the surface of his skin.
Little Gret’s features, too, seemed to have become more perfect, as though he possessed some supernatural charm that made it impossible to look away. He inspired both the desire to draw near and the urge to worship.
A deathly silence descended.
Little Gret turned his head and looked at the crowd of neighbors staring at him—including his father and mother, who were still clutching a hoe and a rolling pin.
A moment later, Teacher Joseph—the universally acknowledged man of learning from the heavens—broke the silence.
“Little Gret, you were amazing!”
“You’re the hero of the village. You saved me, you saved us all, and you saved the entire Rolling Stone Village.”
Though no one knew how Little Gret had suddenly become a high-level mage—a superlative powerhouse, one in a hundred even among the mage aristocracy of the Sky City—it was an undeniable fact.
It was this boy’s magic that had saved them all.
After hearing Joseph’s words, the villagers gradually came to their senses and began praising him.
“Little Gret, how did you do that?”
“When did you become so powerful?”
“Teacher Joseph certainly didn’t teach you, did he? He just said that even he couldn’t accomplish something like that.”
Little Gret’s elder sister, Silka—a famous top student in her class—approached her brother excitedly and took one of the bewildered boy’s hands.
“Little brother, how did you suddenly become so amazing? I can’t even cast the simplest trick, and you’ve already become such a powerful mage!”
“I... I don’t know either...”
Little Gret looked utterly lost. Instinctively, he withdrew the flames swirling around him so that he would not injure his sister.
At the instant he completed the motion, Little Gret felt the power of magic as though it were one of his arms or legs—a new limb that obeyed his will and moved at his command.
But it was, after all, a limb that had appeared from nowhere. It would probably take time before he could control it skillfully enough to avoid harming others altogether...
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
At that moment, more than a dozen figures descended from the sky.
They were battle mages who had heard Joseph’s distress call and rushed to Rolling Stone Village!
“Joseph, how is the situation? Where are the orcs?”
“I never imagined that remnants of the orc forces would still exist on Eldoran’s soil.”
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The mages landed on the ground and immediately saw the charred orc corpses scattered across it.
These were unmistakably the remains of victims slain by high-level fire magic.
Judging from how thoroughly their bodies had been burned, the orcs had not even had time to react before losing their lives.
The sight left the arriving mages wide-eyed and speechless.
“Joseph, tell us—what happened here?”
They looked at Joseph in bewilderment.
...
“What? You’re saying this child suddenly reached a level comparable to that of a high-level mage?”
“And only a few hours ago, he couldn’t even understand the most basic arcane formulas?”
After questioning everyone about what had happened, the mages felt as though they were dreaming.
If the charred orc corpses on the ground had not still been radiating residual heat, they would have assumed this was some absurd joke.
Yet the facts lay plainly before them.
“Actually, I still can’t understand those arcane formulas...” Little Gret muttered softly from the side, rubbing his fingers together.
“What did you say? You mean you released magic without even understanding the basic arcane formulas? Magic of this caliber, no less!”
One of the third-circle intermediate mages stared at Gret in astonishment.
“Yes, Your Excellency.” Little Gret clasped his hands behind his back, nervously rubbing them together as he answered timidly.
He had not yet realized that he was now far more powerful than the mage standing before him, and had no need to show him such deference.
“Impossible. That isn’t arcane!” The questioning mage was completely bewildered.
The mages turned one after another toward the tall man standing behind them, whose imposing bearing radiated authority.
“General Sol, what do you think? This defies all reason.”
“In theory, he has only been studying magic for a few months. His magical power should be nowhere near this formidable!”
“An anomaly like this—should we contact His Majesty Erian?”
General Sol lowered his head and fell into thought.
An orc attack on this scale should never have required the intervention of Eldoran’s general.
However, the fact that remnants of the orc forces still lingered within Eldoran’s territory was of great importance, and since he happened to be available, he had come as well.
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General Sol looked at the nervous boy, Gret, with his head bowed, then at the charred orc corpses. His expression held both astonishment and relief.
No matter what, remnants of the orc forces had remained within the realm without his knowledge. That was indeed a dereliction of duty on his part. If His Majesty Erian chose to investigate the matter, he and several high-level mage commanders would all bear responsibility that could not be evaded...
Sol reflected.
Under ordinary circumstances, such an issue could be treated as either serious or minor.
But if the orcs had truly destroyed one or two villages that night and caused the deaths of a large number of people—including Joseph, the mage stationed in the village—the situation would have become rather awkward.
Fortunately, this child had saved the village!
Now everyone’s attention was focused solely on how he had acquired such immense magical power.
Several of the other mages shared thoughts much like Sol’s.
They were relieved that Gret had suddenly become a powerful mage and resolved the crisis.
Without realizing it, they had also developed a measure of goodwill toward the boy.
“The power within this child is simply too strange. He does not appear to control magic through knowledge; he has completely overturned everything we understand about the laws of magic.”
“My own knowledge is insufficient to explain it.”
“If there is anyone in Eldoran capable of unraveling this bizarre phenomenon, it would probably be only the Supreme Mage—His Majesty Erian.”
Sol spoke.
“Then should we urgently contact His Majesty Erian?” one of the accompanying battle mages asked.
“I’m still considering whether this matter is worth disturbing His Majesty’s peaceful sleep over.” Sol lowered his head in thought.
“Never mind. Let us first determine exactly what level this child’s magical power has reached.”
“If he truly possesses the strength of a high-level mage, it will not be too late to contact His Majesty Erian afterward!”
Although Joseph had claimed that the magical power unleashed by the child was comparable to that of a high-level mage, Sol remained unconvinced without witnessing it himself.
He walked up to Little Gret.
“Child, can you try casting your most powerful spell against me?”
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