NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 3 Part 5
“—Reito, do you know of a technique called Magic Armor Technique?”
“Magic Armor Technique?”
“It’s a technique used by magicians in my time, to create magic armor to protect themselves. If you’re interested, I can teach you the tricks.”
“It’s only a technique for bones, huh… 50 points.”
“No, I wasn’t trying to make a pun or anything!”
In Honemin’s time, normal humans could only learn one job, and since there were more magicians than in her time, magicians were on the front lines during battles. However, magicians have low physical abilities, so there’s no way they could compete with combat classes.
That’s why magicians in her time created a new magic. Bombardment magic, defensive magic, elementary magic, wide-area magic; none of those things – they invented a technique called Magic Armor Technique.
“Magicians who have mastered this technique are scary. It’s a magic that excels in both offense and defense, and it’s saved me on the battlefield many times.”
“Is it really that amazing?”
“Anyone with a knack for it can learn it in about a month. I told you earlier that my body is covered in magic, right? Would you like to touch it?”
“Let’s see…”
When Reito tried to touch Honemin’s body, he was blocked by an invisible rubber-like object, stopping just a few centimeters in front of her body. She was indeed wearing something like invisible armor, which Honemin used as a replacement for her lost skin and muscles.
“By the way, there are two patterns of Magic Armor Technique. Right now, I cover my body with a soft rubber-like substance, but I can also harden it by consolidating my magic in one place.”
“Oh, that sounds interesting.”
“But to use it, you need to learn a skill called ‘Magic Manipulation.’ Have you learned it, Reito?”
“No, I don’t.”
“In that case, you need to learn ‘Magic Manipulation’ first.”
Even after checking his status, Reito didn’t have the skill that Honemin mentioned, and it seemed that he couldn’t use the Magic Armor Technique she spoke of without this skill. In the end, even with Honemin’s guidance, he was unable to learn it.
~
Nevertheless, after learning the basics of Magic Armor Technique from her, Reito was going to try to master “Magic Manipulation” using the magic circle he found on the fourth floor.
“Phew… ‘Photosphere’”
“Wow, you made all those light spheres in an instant?!”
“Hey, it’s noisy. You can watch, but please be quiet.”
“I am sorry, that I am.”
Reito returned to the magic circle hall, sat down while Shizune and the others were resting in the hallway, and created several light spheres around him.
However, all the light spheres fell as if drawn to the magic circle, disappearing the moment they touched the pattern. After confirming this, Reito turned his gaze to his own body and activated his “Magic Detection” skill, sensing that even now magic power was being faintly absorbed from his body.
(I didn’t feel anything at first… but now I understand a little)
Because Reito had a larger magic capacity than a normal magician, he didn’t realize that his own enormous magic power was being absorbed until Dain became sick. However, now, if he concentrated, he could feel his magic power being absorbed little by little, and he realized that it was similar to the feeling of activating “Enchantment Boost”.
(Magic power is absorbed, magic power is sent… is it the same in that it is released from the body?)
When he tried to keep the magic power that was being absorbed inside his body, he succeeded surprisingly easily. And he acquired the skill without any problems.
.
〈Skill “Magic Manipulation” has been acquired.〉
.
“Ohhh”
He exclaimed with joy and then acquired another skill.
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〈Skill “Magic Absorption” has been acquired.〉
.
“Really?”
From what he read, it seemed that he had acquired the ability to absorb magic power. Reito held out his palm and tried out his new ability.
“Um… Ice Block.”
First, he created a block of ice the size of a fist in his palm, then, clenching it, activated “Magic Absorption.”
It took some time, but the ice block in Reito’s palm gradually shrinked, and eventually melted and disappeared. It was a skill that absorbed the magic power lost when magic was activated.
“Oh, I learned a pretty interesting skill.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Actually, aren’t you all a little too relaxed?”
He turned his gaze to the hallway, where Shizune and the others had laid a cloth on the ground and were eating the bento boxes Reito made before they left. He was astonished at the sight, but remembered that they’d stayed behind to keep him company, and moved on to his next task.
“Okay now the real thing begins!!”
Having successfully mastered “Magic Manipulation”, Reito refocused his energy and let magic power gush forth from his body, trying to create a membrane of magic power around his own body using the method Honemin had taught him.
However, it was harder than he expected to create magic power that gushed forth from his body, and the magic power seemed to be radiating like flames, making it difficult to control.
“It’s difficult… and it consumes a lot of magic power, doesn’t it?”
The original Magic Armor Technique was rather less consumptive of magic power since magic power was fixed to the body. But perhaps because he was still not used to it, Reito released magic power like flames, and the magic power he couldn’t control was absorbed into the magic circle on the ground.
Honemin could skillfully wrap magic power around her bone like armor, but Reito kept emitting it like the flames of a burner.
“On the other hand, I think I’ll try to see how much magical power I can generate.”
Reito wondered how much magic power he could release from his body, so he clenched his fists and gathered his strength. He then imagined releasing magic power all at once and unleashing it.
“Haaaah!”
“Whoa!”
“Re-Reito-sama!”
“…What is this?”
The moment Reito spoke his words of strength, a crimson light was emitted from his body. It was similar to the gravitational magic power that was generated when the “Gravity Blade” or the “Heavy Strike Blade” were activated. The magic power was so dense that it shone brightly that even other people could see it with their eyes.
“Ugh… This is pretty tough.”
He turned his gaze to the crimson magic power that covered his body. If he relaxed his strength even for a moment, it would disappear, but in this state, he could cover his entire body with magic power. It felt as if he was using the “Heavy Strike” skill, which enveloped parts of his body in the magic of gravity, with his entire body.
Reito approached the wall and thrust out his fist.
“Hmph!”
A “Heavy Strike” should have increased his attack power, but when his fist hit the wall, the impact was dispersed and deflected. There was no pain in his fist, but the wall was also unharmed.
By covering his entire body in elastic flame-shaped rubber, he was resistant to external impacts, but on the other hand, it seemed to have resulted in his own attack power being negated.
“It’s not wrapped in gravity? Is it because I often use earth-element magic that it has turned this color?”
Perhaps it was because of the characteristics of the magic element he excels at, but Reito’s magic armor was crimson in color. However, it was only a similar color and did not possess the properties of gravity.
“”Phew… that’s tough.”
“Wh-What happened?”
“Wait a minute… I still want to try something.”
Reito couldn’t cover his body with just a tiny amount of magic power like Honemin did, but he decided to try another method she had taught him.
He focused my consciousness on his right fist and concentrated his magic power on his fist, and crimson magic power again gushed out. It looked like a flame, but it wasn’t hot like a real flame. Reito couldn’t feel the heat even when he touched it.
Instead, it felt hard like metal. Honemin had told him that compressing magic power would harden it.
“Okay, this will do… haaaa!!”
“Ohhh!?”
Reito stepped forcefully into the ground with both feet, rotating and accelerating his body from the soles of his feet to his ankles, knees, hip joints, abdomen, chest, shoulders, elbows, and arms, and slammed his fist into the ground with force.
“Bullet Strike!!”
A strong impact spread across the wall, causing small cracks in the sturdy wall that even mithril-class weapons could not damage.
While Shizune and the others were shocked, Reito knelt down, clutching his right arm.
“Ouch, ouch… my arm went numb!”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine… just a little numb.”
“What are you doing? I thought it looked pretty cool…”
It was just a reinforcement of the fist. Just like Gonzo’s Battle Fist, he simply wore something hard and punched.
Apparently, the impact could not be absorbed by hardening it. Reito used “Ultra Recovery Boost” on his numb right arm to ease the pain.
Shizune asked as she placed her hand on the cracked wall.
“What was that? Your new magic?”
“It’s a new magic I learned from Honemin. But it doesn’t seem to suit me.”
“It certainly has great power, but it’s more of a skill for fighters.”
“It consumes a lot of magic power, so it’s hard to use.”
Unless he fought barehanded like Gonzo, Reito mainly used swords. Even though he learned this skill, he wasn’t sure if he would ever get a chance to use it in a real fight.
However, if he covered his whole body with magic armor, he could diffuse external impacts. Also, if he concentrated it in one place, he could harden it and use it for an attack.
“Maybe I need to practice a bit more… Okay, let’s do our best until we can crush these bricks!”
“No. If we don’t move on soon, we won’t be able to return today. Are you trying to make Kotomin and the others worry?”
“Yes, I’m sorry…”
Reito bowed his head at Shizune’s cold words. He needed to find the teleportation crystal today, go outside, and return to the inn before the sun went down.
Reito stopped practicing and resumed his exploration.