[72] Dream On (1)
Photon Cannon.
The photons' mass was negligible, but the momentum delivered by their rapid output was more than a lone monster could endure.
The Ulk chieftain's eyes flared. Having fought humans countless times, he knew how dangerous a mage could be.
"That's enough! Looks like they're scared! Shirone did it!"
Martin shouted. Altor, however, thought differently. This wasn't a mere beast—they were monsters. They might have some reason, but their savagery should not be underestimated.
"This won't end here. Even if Shirone is strong, he's still human. Pack hunters never retreat over one or two losses."
Altor's assessment proved correct: the chieftain had no intention of backing down. A mage's power was destructive, but a pack's violence wasn't cowed by frightening a single member.
"Grrr, kil...l... them...."
"Kraaaargh!"
The Ulks' cries shook the air.
'You can do it. Pull yourself together—you can win.'
Shirone teleported into the air and bombarded the ground with Photon Cannon shots. Blinding flashes rained like hail. Even those not struck directly were slammed by shockwaves rolling out from the impact points.
Still, the Ulks' momentum didn't falter. In numbers they were a belligerent breed even ogres—kings of the forest—would avoid.
Ignoring the wounds of their kin, the Ulks leaped and swiped their claws at Shirone. He landed hastily on the ground where seven more waited, watching for an opening.
Shirone shifted the Spirit Zone into an all-around offensive formation. The instant the Spirit Zone's thorns touched the Ulks, a rapid-fire Photon Cannon discharged. Blinding light flared outward, and photons slammed the Ulks, flinging them back to where they'd come from.
"Wow, that's amazing... Shirone."
The children gaped. That a human could hold his own against dozens of Ulks—what had sounded like heroic tall tales suddenly seemed believable.
"Hah, hah."
Shirone's breathing grew ragged. Firing the Photon Cannon in bursts left his head feeling like it might float away. Sustaining photon output for over ten minutes strained even the strongest will. The Photon Cannon was fusion magic combining light and mass.
Mages had only one slot to equip a spell. It's the same logic as how a person can't focus on two things at once. If you were Iruki with Servant Syndrome you could double up, but aside from such special cases, even high-ranking mages wielded only one magic at a time.
So single-attribute, pure-magic specialists were rare in the pro world. Most combined two, sometimes three, elements to maximize a spell's effect.
Shina's Ice Tornado, a fusion of ice and wind, or Saad's Fire Line, which combined light and flame, were typical examples.
Fusion magic can maximize instant efficiency, but it demands correspondingly high mental energy. Shirone had repeatedly used that taxing fusion magic—no wonder he was exhausted.
'This is bad. I don't have many shots left. I probably can't take them all down.'
Ulks were not like alley thugs. A beast's nose reads prey's emotions with uncanny accuracy. The slightest sign of fatigue and they'd try to tear limbs apart.
Even after losing a third of his kin, the Ulk chieftain still bore enmity.
A second Ulk wave, sensing Shirone's weariness, charged. Their numbers matched the first wave, but they felt different—more focused, more dangerous.
Desperate, Shirone fired the Photon Cannon. A mass of photons buried itself in the belly of the lead Ulk.
"Kraaaaaa!"
The huge body slid along the ground, but unlike before it didn't collapse; it planted its legs and held. Shirone wavered. He hadn't expected his power to have degraded so much.
Sensing certainty, the chieftain ordered a full assault.
"Krang! Krang! Krang!"
The Ulks, smelling victory, surged forward.
'If that's the case...'
All Shirone had left was the Immortal Function.
But could he hold it? This was not the same as his earlier photon bursts. Casting such high-consumption fusion magic within the Infinite Domain might invite unknown backlash.
"Grrr!"
The moment Shirone activated the Immortal Function, pressure built in his mind. It felt as if his head might split.
"Arghhh!"
He steeled himself and opened his consciousness. Along with a loosening of the self came a tremendous rush of power.
The Spirit Zone filled with light and detonated. Mass waves shoved the Ulks back as golden fragments scattered.
With a sphere of light hovering in his palm, Shirone poured every ounce of force into a forward shot. The Photon Cannon erupted in a white flash, razing the area. Unrelenting salvo after salvo swept the Ulks like a broom.
But he couldn't sustain that forever. If the Infinite Domain was an ocean, Shirone's mind was a stream. The Immortal Function acted like a dam across them. He was punching a hole in a seawall and siphoning seawater through it—eventually the barrier would give way.
Because different magics demanded different mental payments, mages chose the most cost-effective spell for the situation.
Spells whose effects far exceeded their cost were called overpowered in mage society—time magic Stop, invisibility Invisibility, alchemy Injection, and healing Heal of Almighty were examples.
Where did the Photon Cannon fit?
Shirone thought it bordered on overpowered.
Its exceptional attack speed, the ability to mix single shots and rapid fire, even to form a concentrated beam—those were every quality needed for an offensive spell.
But that was efficiency, not cheapness. Fundamentally, the Photon Cannon was expensive. Casting it indiscriminately like this could have terrible consequences.
"I can't keep going! I'll die first!"
Shirone stopped firing. The barrage had lasted only about three seconds, but dust billowed up from every direction, blotting out even a few feet.
When a gust swept the dust aside, the children shuddered at the sight. The area the Photon Cannon had cut through lay utterly devastated.
Ulks were buried as if the earth had chewed them up; those that fled trembled with fear, unable even to mourn.
Shirone felt the Photon Cannon's true force. Nothing remained where the flash had passed.
If even the caster stood in awe, imagine the victims' state. The Ulk chieftain, pale with terror, had no choice but to accept the reality.
We cannot win against that mage.
"Grrr, we... we... go. Let... us... go..."
Shirone was spent, incapable of casting another spell. Still, he kept his legs steady and held his ground.
"Don't ever come here again. If you set foot on this mountain one more time, it won't end like this."
The Ulk chieftain conveyed groveling emotion in clumsy human speech.
"We... won't. Strong... you are, mage."
"Go."
Shirone waved his hand; the chieftain left first. The other Ulks, without hesitation, followed back into the forest.
Only after the Ulks had gone did Shirone's tension snap. He staggered, closed his eyes, and collapsed.
"Shirone! Shirone!"
"Shh! Quiet. They might come back."
Altor hushed the children; they covered their mouths.
Altor looked at Shirone again and let out a hollow laugh at the sight of him sleeping so soundly.
The children of the mountain settlement had grown with time, but Shirone seemed frozen in his childhood.
'They say mages don't age.'
At first, Altor had thought him nothing more than the son of a common hunter—a foundling. Shirone didn't resemble Uncle Vincent at all, so maybe they'd been more dismissive because of that.
But it was a mistake. Maybe Shirone was the ugly duckling of a fairy tale.
A human born different from hunters.
Altor hoisted Shirone up. Shirone was as light as a feather compared to his strength, but Altor felt no pride.
He now knew he could not lift the weight of the intelligence packed inside that light body.
"Let's go down. The hunting game's over."
* * *
"Ugh!"
Shirone sprang awake.
He was in someone's house.
Propping himself on a sofa arm, he took in the cozy wooden floor. Warmth radiated from the hearth, and clattering sounds came from an L-shaped kitchen.
"Oh? Shirone's awake. Lumina, Shirone's up!"
When Martin called, a commotion tumbled from the kitchen. Moments later Lumina peeked around the wall, her face flushed with excitement.
"Where am I?"
Only then did Shirone remember. This was Lumina's house—the place he and his father had often stayed when he was young.
The children came pouring down from the upper floor. They hadn't gone home and had stayed by Shirone's side, still dressed as they had when they went hunting.
"Shirone, are you okay?"
Altor asked, worried. He'd checked Shirone when they got home and found nothing physically wrong. But they knew little about magic; strange symptoms could still appear.
Shirone ran a few checks to be sure his head was fine. His memory was intact and his mind seemed all right.
"I'm fine. I must've collapsed from exhaustion."
"Thank goodness. We thought something had happened to you."
Shirone felt guilty for causing unnecessary worry. Of course, the kids had thought the worst.
"I slept deeply for the first time in ages and feel refreshed. I think the fatigue's finally lifting."
He had slept a long time at the lodgings, but the weariness hadn't truly gone. Now, though, he genuinely felt better—the dreadful premonition was gone.
'Mr. Armin was right. As soon as I mastered the Photon Cannon, my senses came back. No nightmares either.'
His stomach gave a long-neglected growl. The hunger he'd not felt in ages crept up, and the savory smells from the kitchen only made it worse.
Shirone licked his lips and asked Lumina, "What are you making?"
"Pork stew. My mom bought some meat."
Lumina's mother emerged from the kitchen with a ladle.
"Shirone, hello. It's been a while."
"Hello, ma'am. I'm sorry for causing trouble."
"Heh heh, don't say that. Our girl waited so long for you."
Lumina flushed bright red. Then her expression suddenly fell and she bowed her head.
Altor understood how she felt. He felt the same; the other kids likely had realized it by now.
Shirone can't be our leader. He's not one of the mountain settlement's children, nor the son of a hunter.
Shirone is a mage.
As the mood sank, Altor boomed in a hearty voice to break the tension.
"All right, all right! We're hungry. Let's eat first."
"Waaah! Meat at last! Me! A! T!"
Lumina's mother set a large pot on the table. The pork stew sloshed over the rim.
Lumina's family had only four members, but in the settlement it was common for households to eat together, so there were plenty of dishes.