Chapter 4: The “Extreme” and the Wizard

Lucas: “Oye. Listen well, Igni. In this world, there is such a thing as compatibility.”

As they exited the sewers, Igni continued to follow whatever direction his grandfather chose to walk.

Normally, the supervisor would have thrown a fit to see Igni abandon his work, but seeing as how he was standing next to the [LIGHT]’s “Extreme,” they were so astonished that they let Igni and his grandfather pass without saying a word.

That’s the power of being Grandpa.

Lucas: “For instance, I am [LIGHT] : [SSS].”

Igni: “Yeah, I know. They say there’s only one SSS-Rank per millennium.”

Lucas: “But there are other compatibilities as well.”

Lucas gently grabbed Igni by the shoulder.

Igni: “What’s wrong, Grandpa?”

Lucas: “We’re going to fly.”

The next moment, Igni saw the ground far, FAR below him.

Igni: “Wh-----------!!”

Lucas: “A spell for relocation. I use it when I’m caught cheating.”

Igni: “..........”

This guy, seriously...

Lucas: “There’s a perfect location for training you. I didn’t want to use this spell since it wears me out so much but...”

Igni: “I-is that true?”

Lucas: “It was a joke. How could an ‘Extreme‘ get tired from using just one spell? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Igni: “You’re jokes aren’t funny.”

Lucas: “What?”

As soon as Lucas responded, their feet touched the ground.

Igni: “...Where is this?”

Igni looks around.

The place was surrounded by thick with trees. The sky was cloud-covered, and the air felt thick and heavy.

Igni: “G-Grandpa! No seriously, where are we right now?!”

Lucas: “Hm? We’re in the Demon King’s realm.”

Igni: “Whaaaaaa?!?! Grandpa! You’re gonna get us killed!”

The Demon King’s realm. Back in the day, the Demon King conquered 90% of the world, and we’re in HIS realm.

A lot of the land was reconquered by human hands, but there is still plenty of territory left untouched.

Any land the Demon King lays his hands on becomes so magically corrupted that unbelievably strong monsters emerge in that area and make nests there. Even the strongest species of dragons do not make their nests in the Demon King’s realm - that’s how dangerous it is.

Lucas: “What are you talking about? The Demon King has been dead for over a 100 years.”

Igni: “Even if he’s dead, aren’t there monsters being born from the Demon King’s body?!”

That’s why it’s so dangerous to walk into the Demon King’s territory.

Lucas: “Igni, this is the path you chose. You said you wanted to become popular, did you not?”

Igni: “B---but, you didn’t say anything about stepping into the Demon King’s realm! I’m going to die here!”

Lucas: “The Ultimate Secret Art of Becoming Popular: Rule Number 1”

Lucas stared intently into Igni’s eyes as he spoke these words.

Igni: “...Women love strong men. But they love even more men-who-are-trying-their-hardest”

Lucas: “That’s right, Igni. You are still young. So you have to look 5 years, 10 years into the future.

Igni: “5 years into the future?!”

Lucas: “Yes, you will be so strong that women will be surrounding you in taverns.”

Igni: “I-in taverns?!”

Lucas: “Yes, and when that happens, the women will ask you, 'Where did you get so strong?'"

Igni: “A-and then?!”

Lucas gives Igni a sly smile.

Lucas: “You will tell them, 'In the Demon King’s realm.' Just like that.”

Lucas: “WHOOOOOOAAAAA!!!”

Igni: (What?! That sounds so cool! I would definitely be popular just doing that!)

What was most unfortunate about Igni was that he was a genuine idiot.

Lucas: “Do you understand now, Igni? You will get stronger here, and you will have things to talk about that will further increase your popularity. Do you get it now?! This is all part of my ultimate get-popular strategy guide!”

Igni: “G-grandpa! You’re amazing! You’re the best, Grandpa!”

It was unfortunate that no one was present to point out the obvious flaws in Lucas’ logic.

Igni: “S-so, what do I need to do here?!”

Lucas: “Yes. That. Hmm…”

Lucas coughed to clear his throat and looked at Igni again.

Lucas: “You will completely use up every scrap of magic inside of you!!”

Igni: “M-my magic?!”

Magic is the basic and fundamental source of energy that powers spells during casting.

The amount you have inside you is mostly determined by birth. And between each individual, they say that the magic inside each person is also subtly different. For instance, Wizard A will have magic within their body that is more compatible with [WATER] compared to Wizard B who’s magic is catered towards [FIRE]. These kinds of things apparently happen.

And this is why the High Priest uses a magic crystal to understand these characteristics, and Lucas uses his [APPRAISAL] spell which does the same thing.

Lucas: “That’s right. Use up everything you got.” Igni: “But if I use up all my magic, I will die from magic exhaustion!”

Lucas: “Don’t worry. That is the very reason why we’re here in the Demon King’s realm.”

Igni: “.....!!”

Igni must have understood something of what Lucas said, and he clumsily chanted and cast his [FIREBALL] spell at the ground. It made a dinky POOF sound and disappeared on impact.

In the Demon King’s realm, the territory is so magically corrupted that people cannot live here.

The main reason why is that the Demon King’s unbelievably large amount of magic energy still resides in these lands.

Igni: “*haaaa…. haaa…..” (sfx breathing hard)

With a measly 3 shots, Igni starts turning blue and pale. Sweat beads the size of marbles dribble down his face.

Igni: “.......fwew.”

But as he took deep breaths, blood returned to his face, and his complexion improved significantly.

Lucas: “Now do you understand?”

Igni: “My magic recovery is… amazing compared to before.”

Lucas: “That’s right. The amount of magic that is in the air here within the Demon King’s realm is anywhere from 10 to 15 times thicker than where you were before. That is why by just breathing, you are able to recover your magic faster.

Igni: “Grandpa! Is there any meaning to doing any of this?!”

Lucas: “What? This? We’re increasing the amount of magic in your body.”

Igni: “Every textbook says you can’t increase the amount of magic in your body though!”

Lucas: “Oh that. That’s a flat out lie.”

Igni: “WHAAA---------?!?!”

This was a scandalous revelation.

It’s like being told that you can still grow taller after becoming 80. That’s how much it defied the most basic, fundamental assumptions and assertions of this world.

Lucas: “Well, rather, it’s not accurately stated. To be more precise, the more you experience magical exhaustion, the reserve magic contained in your body grows relative to the exhaustion.”

Igni: “Relative to the amount of exhaustion?”

Lucas: “That’s right. In about 3 days, you should be able to double your current magic reserve.”

Igni: “D-d-d-double?!?!”

Even through the shock, Igni continually fires his spell towards the ground.

Igni: “That reminds me. Grandpa, about what you were saying before.”

Lucas: “Hm?”

Igni: “About compatibility. What were you about to say before?”

Lucas: “Oh that. I was going to say…”

Before Lucas could speak, his head fell to the ground.

Igni: “G-grandpa?!?!”

Igni tried to move toward where his grandpa lay, but he realized that he couldn’t move his body.

Igni: “W-why?”

On careful inspection, there are numerous strings of webs stretched out all over the place. A web was linked around Lucas neck, and must have decapitated him when it constricted. And right now, Igni’s body was constricted by the same webs.

So of course, the culprit would be...

“SHAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

A high shriek ripped through the air, as a 5 meter giant spider jumped out from the forest.

Igni: “H-HELL SPIDER!!”

Igni has only seen this creature in an encyclopedia. It’s an A-Rank Monster, and typically, it would take 4 A-Rank Adventurers to take it down.

The Hell Spider rushes forward towards Igni.

Igni: (...it must have been looking for an opportunity to sneak attack us…)

The Hell Spider understood the difference in strength between Lucas, Igni and itself. So it assassinated the greatest threat, Lucas, and then plans on gobbling up Igni!

Igni: “D-dammit!!”

Igni fires off several [FIREBALL]s. The spells hit the Hell Spider, but it doesn’t even notice it as it continues its approach to Igni.

Igni: “...w-why?”

“Your spell power is too weak.”

From high above, a voice rang.

“[SEPARATE]”

A short command from Lucas, and the light born from him cuts the spider in half. The purple liquid from inside its body splatters everywhere, and the web that was tied around Igni also fell to the floor.

Lucas: “Now, we were talking about compatibility.”

Lucas should have been dead, but his dead corpse disappeared long ago.

Igni could not understand at all what he did.

Igni just held his eyes wide open as he waited for his grandfather’s words.

Lucas: “Rarely, VERY rarely… we are talking maybe 1 out of a million… There are children who are born with the ability to use only one type of magic.” Igni: “...you’re talking about the unique magic type specialization ‘Element One,’ right?”

Igni has only heard rumors about it.

But, it’s a known condition, and he’s heard of it.

In exchange for only being able to use one magic type, they receive an abnormal amount of strength or so they say.

Lucas: “But if that is true, then I theorized that there may be some who are born with the ability to only be able to use one spell. I have been looking for that person for a long time now.

Just one spell.

That sounded like Igni...

Lucas: “And I found him.”

Lucas looks at Igni.

Lucas: “I call that condition, the Unique Spell Specialization ‘Spell One’.”

Lucas: “S---, Unique Spell Specialization ‘SPELL ONE’?!?!”

Lucas: “Yes. Because that wizard would be limited to only being able to use one spell, by theory, that wizard should be <GREAT•EST WI•ZARD>. That is you, Igni.”

Igni: “ME?!?!”

Igni could not contain his excitement.

From his hand, you could see the continual firing of his [FIREBALL] spell.

Lucas: “That’s right! Therefore, Igni! When you go to the tavern, you will be surrounded by women as you say the following…!”

Igni: “S-saying what?!?!”

Igni swallows hard, and the sound could be heard from a distance.

Lucas: “I’M ACTUALLY A UNIQUE SPELL SPECIALIZATION 'SPELL ONE'!!!!”

Igni: “THAT WOULD BE SO COOL--------------!!!”

Okay, no seriously. It is a pity that no one is here to point out the obvious flaws in this conversation.