“No, that’s not allowed!”

“Why not?”

“I can’t accept this! What do you intend to do by bringing such a Golem?”

The man shrieked as if in agony.

He yelled that if he had known about such a Golem, he wouldn’t have accepted the proposal. His opponent seemed to think he couldn’t win even before fighting.

Others around him seemed to think so too. The Golem was indeed too strong to be brought into individual combat.

However, he didn’t agree with his opponent’s words. Duels weren’t always fought fairly. Duels between Knights were like that.

Their equipment was different, their physiques were different, and their weapons were different. No one would demand that an opponent not use good weapons.

The Golem was similar. He hadn’t brought a Soldier, but a Golem the Protagonist had created. Using it wasn’t strange in itself. But his opponent wouldn’t tolerate it, it seemed.

“I won’t use the Golem.”

“Is that true?”

“I think I can win without it. Given your level.”

At the Protagonist’s words, the Mage’s expression became slightly indignant, then he curled the corners of his mouth.

He seemed to think that since this side had trained in Golem Magic, his other skills wouldn’t be very excellent.

Usually, it was difficult to master even one thing. Perhaps he was confident he would win if it came down to a purely Magic duel.

The Mage looked this way and raised their staff.

“I’ll make you regret accepting this Duel.”

I prepared for battle.

It was a Duel.

I took a deep breath.

Many people were watching. It was a Plaza within the Castle where people came and went. Naturally, there were many residents as well as passersby.

The important people were the Nobles.

There were many Nobles I had seen before, including the Count. Their gazes were filled with worry. It couldn’t be helped.

If Mages took even one wrong hit, they would die.

It was different from a battle where there were people to hold the front line. I had to kill the opponent alone. There was no opportunity to cast long spells.

Now was an exception. The condition was that the opponent only had to block three Magic attacks. There was time for each of us to cast our best spells.

I thought about what spell to cast.

I had the ability to use Ice Spear.

However, the blood that had rushed to my head on the way here had already subsided quite a bit.

Even if I cast the spell, there was a chance it would fail.

Even if I was angry like before, it wasn’t guaranteed to work. Gulla said that even if I became a proper high-level Mage, there was a significant chance of failure.

The current Protagonist couldn’t even break a Wall.

Although I was training, I was still very inexperienced.

After a moment of contemplation, I cast a spell.

An Ice Arrow appeared on one side.

I didn’t use Ice Spear.

If it failed, even by a slim chance, the opponent would probably laugh. If the level I showed earlier was any indication, I had the ability to win with just Ice Arrow.

As one side began to cast a spell, the Nobles, who had been watching the two Mages standing far apart, began to murmur throughout the Castle.

They each talked about who would win. The most entertaining thing was watching a fight.

“Count.”

Viscount Hobbs looked at the Liege Lord, to whom the protagonist had sworn an oath of fealty at Castle.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Is it right to side with that fellow?”

“It seems you don’t think so.”

“He is certainly a great mage. But he’s still just a wanderer, isn’t he? No matter what, the opponent is a distinguished family among the Northern Nobles, just like us. I don’t think he’s worth defending to the point of getting upset.”

“What about our mage’s honor being trampled?”

“That’s a separate matter.”

“Is that what you think?”

“It seems I’m wrong.”

“I think differently. You need to broaden your perspective.”

“Why is discernment relevant here?”

“Didn’t you notice that fellow’s strange attitude? He’s overly relaxed. Others would be scared, but his face was only filled with anger. He must have become stronger than before.”

“Mages don’t get stronger so easily.”

“Let’s just watch. We’ll find out soon enough anyway.”

Viscount Hobbs fell silent.

He didn’t seem convinced.

Everyone trusts the experiences they’ve seen and had in their lives, as the protagonist has.

The old man was even more so. Once a person reached old age, like Viscount Hobbs, their mind would become set in its ways, making them less likely to believe easily.

The Noble Mage chanted a spell.

He created a Fireball just like before. It was a Fireball, a mid-level magic with a relatively long incantation. But its size had grown even larger.

This was because he had completed the entire incantation. Perhaps because of this, his face was filled with pride.

In his sixty years of life, he had fought three duels, burning all his opponents to death in the process.

Every single one of them had died screaming. This time would be no different. He would kill the young-looking fellow and claim the woman.

He had been thinking about it since the duel was announced. He still had time.

“He’s chanting a long spell.”

He had already memorized all the spells.

If it had been a proper fight, he would have already won. In a mage’s duel, quickly casting spells was crucial. Even low-level magic had enough power to kill a person. He only needed to land one hit on his opponent.

As he thought he should have accepted a proper duel instead, an ice arrow caught his eye.

There were definitely five before.

Creating five was incredible. He didn’t know much about ice magic, but it made no sense that it could draw with magic that had a longer incantation.

But five more were added to that. There were now ten.

“Double casting?”

The man flinched.

“Hmph! No matter how many spells an ice mage casts consecutively, they can’t defeat me!”

He cast a fireball before the ice arrows even flew.

And then he chanted another spell.

As if knowing the ice arrows were coming, urgent murmurs followed. Four ice arrows, more than enough to destroy the fireball, were already flying towards him.

The man stretched out his hand. Then, flames erupted and broke the ice arrows. His face was not looking well.

Yet, happy that he had blocked them, his expression quickly brightened.

“If this is your best, you won’t be able to do anything to me.”

“How could this be my best! Try to take this one too.”

Rael was not discouraged even though he failed to kill his opponent with the first spell. The condition was to block three spells, so he still had two spells left.

He chanted a spell again.

Just now, he had created ice arrows one after another.

It was similar to when he created hundreds of ice arrows in the Count’s Territory. Originally, he had to borrow the power of the Black Armor.

But for some reason, now, even without using the magic ring, his concentration didn’t waver when casting spells consecutively.

It seemed like he had gained more experience commanding battles during that time. Perhaps it was due to the rage of needing to kill his opponent. Either way, it was fine.

This time, he chanted spells three times in a row.

In addition, he used two spells he had memorized in advance. As a result, more than twenty ice arrows were created.

The noble mage’s expression became distant. He was already contorting his face upon seeing even more ice arrows being created than before.

Perhaps he thought he might lose to Capital City, so he gritted his teeth.

It was absurd to be pushed back in a power confrontation by a Mage who trained in something different, not even a Fire Mage like himself. It was a disgrace.

He held out his palm and caused a Flame Explosion in front of him.

It was a trick to try and at least cause an explosion to twist the trajectory of the Arrow, since he couldn’t block them all by shooting Fireballs.

But even that had its limits.

Ice Arrows that weren’t caught in the explosion flew in, as if to pierce the opponent.

The Mage put his hand on the ground. Then a Wall of stone shot up. It was Earth Magic.

One of the Rings on his hand caught his eye. As a Fire Mage, he couldn’t have learned anything else, so it had to be that he used a magical item.

But there was something he overlooked. The power of the Magic.

The Ice Arrow continued straight, even breaking through the stone Wall.

The Mage, realizing that all the means he had prepared were not working, rolled on the ground in an undignified manner. He had to do that to avoid the Arrow.

But even then, he was hit once in the thigh. The Mage screamed in pain as his flesh was torn away.

He was no longer in a state to cast spells. The Protagonist didn’t care. There was still a chance to unleash Magic.

“This is the last one. If you block this, I will forget what you did.”

The Mage’s face was covered in despair.

He lost his will to fight.

Due to the pain, he couldn’t concentrate enough to cast a spell. The part he was hit in was also a problem. It was his thigh, so he couldn’t even dodge.

“I, I lost! So let’s end it here!”

The man shouted.

Those watching nearby also tried to stop him. Among those who were friends with the Mage, there were some who threatened this side.

The arrogant Middle-aged man’s expression was urgent. A skilled Mage was extremely difficult to find. If he died, it would be a great loss.

“Stop him!”

“Are you really going to kill your opponent!”

Regardless of their curses, he shot the Ice Arrow.

The ground was gouged out, and a large cloud of dust rose.

The audience quieted down.

Some exhaled, seeing that the Mage was alive.

The Ice Arrow missed. It was a deliberate miss.

The arrogant Middle-aged man curled the corners of his mouth.

He seemed to mistakenly think that the Protagonist was scared.

It was because his belief that a wandering Mage wouldn’t be bold enough to kill a Noble had turned into certainty in the Capital City.

As the Duel was decided, the Nobles approached. They all praised him without reservation, saying how amazing he was. Nobles who were acquainted with the opposing Mage merely watched, sensing the mood.

The arrogant Middle-aged man mumbled from afar.

He seemed to have a lot to say.

The Protagonist defeated the Mage using only three Magic spells. No, it wasn’t even three. In fact, he finished it in just two.

Unlike his opponent, this was the result of not using any Magic items. Although they didn’t know it, they would probably think it was incredible just for that.

Even if they didn’t know about the Magic items, they knew that he hadn’t used a Golem.

If he had used that as well, this form of contest wouldn’t have even been established. The arrogant Middle-aged man, perhaps knowing this, cast his gaze upon the Golem. It was a very covetous gaze.

He had a look on his face that suggested it would be truly wonderful to have such a Golem. I wondered what kind of expression he would make when he found out that the Ice Golem had also defeated a Troll.

He excused himself from the Nobles clinging to him and walked forward.

The Mage was being helped up by the surrounding Soldiers and stood up in the Archives.

He seemed troubled, unable to remove the Ice Arrow.

He was enduring the freezing spreading around him. If he hadn’t been a Fire Mage, he would have frozen to death by now.

Orcs might endure it. Humans would freeze to death if hit by an Ice Arrow.

The Mage raised his head and glared.

It was a gaze filled with murderous intent.

He looked at him for a moment and then left.

It was clear who won the Duel.

Since he couldn’t withstand the Protagonist’s Magic even twice, he wouldn’t be able to walk around here with his head held high.

Perhaps because of that, even though the Mage looked as if he was in agonizing pain, he was anxious, as if he wanted to leave This Place immediately.

He returned, pulling the Golem along.

The Guard Captain rushed over, shouting at everyone to step back.

The Guard Soldiers followed suit.

They were doing something uncharacteristic. Anyway, when the Golem walked, people were busy getting out of the way because of the Gnoll.

Amelin walked, following the Protagonist.

She turned her head back to look at the clingy Mage. Her expression still showed worry.

“Will he be alright?”

He nodded.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him get away with it.”

“How? If you go and kill him separately, there will be traces.”

Her chosen option was more severe than expected. She immediately talked about killing him. It seemed she was quite annoyed after being pestered by the Mage.

“He will die within a few days.”

“Why?”

Amelin asked, as if she didn’t understand.

“He was hit by my ice. He seems to think it will melt, but there’s no way.”

“But he’s also an intermediate Mage, right? And he’s a Fire Mage.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t, but he’s also very skilled. I hope your words come true. He was really annoying me by being so clingy.”

Amelin’s expression brightened a little. She still had some worries, but she seemed to trust the Protagonist’s words to some extent.

It was something that would naturally become clear as time passed.

Perhaps he might even drop dead tomorrow.

He hoped he would live as long as possible. That would be a more painful death than dying immediately.

There was no Capital City to remove the Ice Arrow.

Touching it would cause frostbite, endangering even those who tried to help. If the arrow couldn’t be removed, the body would slowly freeze, leaving only death.

Even using a Potion was useless. Pouring a Potion would heal the wound, but it wouldn’t make the Ice Arrow melt away.

Even if he’s a Fire Mage and can endure, he’ll eventually die.

That was the terrifying thing about Ice Arrow.

“What have you been doing all this time? Have you learned all the intermediate magic?”

“I found a Grimoire in the Ruins. Thanks to that, my skills have improved considerably.”

“A Grimoire?”

He remembered Amelin coming to look for the Ruins. She said there was a high probability that the Ruins in This Place were the ones she was looking for.

From what she said, it seemed she had a good harvest from the Ruins.

He wondered why her skills improved just by finding the Grimoire.

She said that by looking at the Rune Script written in the Grimoire, her mind would open up, and she would see progress.

It was just by looking at it.

When he asked how much stronger she had become, Amelin said she could defeat the sticky Mage from earlier. It was amazing.

The Noble Mage was quite skilled.

He was the strongest Mage the Protagonist had fought. If she could defeat such a Mage, it meant she was also a skilled intermediate Mage.

The Protagonist also said he wanted to see the Grimoire.

Amelin shook her head.

He wondered if it was an incredibly important book she didn’t want to show.

But that wasn’t it.

She silently took out a Book from her pocket.

It was a thick, old Book. When she opened it, there was nothing inside. It was just like the Book he had obtained after killing the Dark Mage earlier.

Grimoires had a limited number of uses. Usually only once, so if someone else saw it first, it would become a useless Book.

It was disappointing. If it could improve Amelin’s skills to that extent, it was an incredible stroke of luck.

He missed out on such a stroke of luck.

The Dark Mage’s Book was also like that. Since someone else had it, it was highly likely to be a useless Book.

He didn’t know for sure.

Amelin said there were many special Books.

It wasn’t that her knowledge was absolutely correct. Perhaps the Book Protagonist had was. For some reason, I didn’t want to throw it away either.

I put the Golem back in its place and returned to the inn.

For the first time in a while, the three of us talked.

After taking care of urgent matters and relaxing, Charlotte started talking a lot. Amelin’s face turned red.

“What on earth did you do when I wasn’t around?”

“We didn’t do much.”

“Even after doing that all night?”

I shut my mouth.

It was time to be careful. Amelin took my hand and walked ahead. It was in the direction of the inn.

“This won’t do. You’re staying with me today.”

“Huh?”

“Get ready, because I’m going to properly check what’s changed.”

Her voice was firm. There was no wavering in her expression. Her chest swayed with every step. It was a mischievous chest.

I only did one thing at the inn.

I didn’t even train during that time. The three of us played happily. It was a reunion after a long time.

A few days later, I stopped by the Magic Shop.

There, Benedict told me that someone had died.

The Mage I fought a few days ago had closed their eyes the night before, their entire body frozen.

I looked at Benedict.

He seemed to be playing around.

His attitude had changed slightly compared to when we met before. It seemed to be because I won the Duel.

The opponent was another intermediate Mage.

I made such a Mage kneel with just two Magic spells.

What was more impressive was that they couldn’t endure the aftermath of being hit by the Magic.

The Fire Mage’s body was hot. If they couldn’t control their Mana properly, their body would be damaged.

That Fire Mage couldn’t withstand the Cold Energy and froze to death. It was something that could never be done if they were at the same level.

He had taught me before, which allowed me to create Unmelting Ice. Benedict looked as if he hadn’t realized how amazing it would be, even though he was the one who taught me.

“That’s incredible. I never expected you to defeat a Mage of the same rank so overwhelmingly.”

“Even after seeing me fight before?”

“That’s a separate matter. Even if you can use amazing magic, if you don’t know how to fight properly, you often die foolishly. No matter how promising a talent, they can die at any time from a stray arrow in war.”

As the Old Man spoke, he expressed envy.

What he told me was similar to what Gulla had said. It was about creating the impossible through Firm Imagination.

Thinking about it, the Protagonist was already undergoing such training. It was as if the Old Man had given him tremendous guidance.

Perhaps the Old Man knew about advanced magic as well. What he taught was content learned only upon reaching the level of a High-ranking Mage.

“Firm Imagination, you say. You’ve already reached that level. Come to think of it, my master also said something similar.”

“You had a master?”

“He passed away a very long time ago.”

The Old Man’s eyes became distant. He seemed to be recalling memories from his childhood.

“My master took me in as a disciple when I was around thirty. And he lamented, saying that if I had become his disciple twenty years earlier, I would have become an advanced Mage.”

“Why?”

“As you get older, your mind hardens. It becomes increasingly difficult to deny what you’ve learned. But it’s different when you’re young. You learn new things well and acquire them quickly. When your mind is flexible, it can be easily swayed, but it also absorbs everything. That’s why I heard it’s better to enter that stage early.”

“Is that so?”

It was a story the Protagonist didn’t quite understand.

Perhaps it was because he was still young. It was possible in the Capital City.

Everything weakened with age.

Norkin was like that.

He had to heed the Old Man’s words.

“In your case, advanced magic might even be easier. It’s possible in the Capital City.”

“It’s incredibly difficult though?”

“Don’t even mention such things when you meet other Mages, besides me. Many others struggle for a year and remain in the same place. You’re speaking from a place of privilege.”

The Old Man said.

He felt a little better.

Anyway, it meant that the Protagonist’s acquisition of the Castle was not slow, but fast.

Gulla was the same.

High-level Magic could not be learned easily. Even if one became a High-ranking Mage, failing to cast a spell was common with high-level Magic.

The Protagonist was a mid-level Mage, but he had already learned it. Originally, it was unimaginable before breaking through the Wall.

He was slowly preparing to leave This Place.

The Count and other Nobles would be absent for a while. Viscount Hobbs remained. It was the same as last time.

Now they had to go to the Capital City.

The Nobles of The North were flocking in.

There were also many Mercenaries.

There were also many powerful Nobles in the Capital City. The Capital City was where he would meet the King. At the Title Conferment Ceremony, the King personally created and handed over the seal.

He was looking forward to it.

Even though he had trained hard, he had never once thought of becoming a Noble. Even after using incredible Magic, it was still a distant story for the Protagonist.

He felt bewildered.

It was even more so after being tormented by the two women for several days.

He felt completely burned out.

He thought he should build up the stamina to handle three people, just in case. It seemed possible if he received a Blessing one more time.

The thought of taking the arm of a strong person like Norkin made his mind go blank.

He had to pester Skadi later to give him a Blessing.

Judging by her tone, it seemed she could grant the Blessing the Protagonist wanted. She seemed too shy to do so, however.

He couldn’t do it right now.

Amelin’s hometown was incredibly far away. He had to prepare thoroughly. Before that, there was a lot to do.

With such thoughts, he boarded the Carriage. It wasn’t the cargo Carriage he had always ridden. It was a proper Carriage, the kind Nobles rode.

It was a favor from the Count.

His attitude towards the Protagonist has changed remarkably since the Duel.

While he was affectionate before, now his eyes have become terrifying. It was a gaze that made one wonder if he was going to devour the Protagonist.

“Hello.”

Inside the Carriage, there was a woman in a dress.

Just by her attire, one could tell she was a young lady from a noble family. As he sat down on one side, the woman sitting opposite smiled. She looked familiar.

“Chloe?”

“It’s been a long time since we last met.”

She was the Count’s daughter.

The reason for her sudden appearance before the Protagonist was not clear. The Protagonist had clearly rejected her before.