Chapter 5: What Kind of Fireball Spell Is This?!

“It’s about to fall!”

Anders shouted in terror.

“Run!”

An Xia was the first to bolt, with Anders scrambling after him.

Melva, who reacted a moment later, shouted angrily at An Xia, “You idiot!”

The three of them fled thirty meters away from where the fireball would land before finally stopping and turning back.

At that moment, the fireball struck the street.

BOOM!

The explosion roared, smoke billowing into the air.

An Xia sidestepped just in time as a chunk of paving stone was blasted toward them.

“We’re done for…” Anders’s face turned ashen.

Melva looked up and saw a squad of guards in uniform flying rapidly toward them from the sky.

“You’re paying for this yourself,” Melva said resentfully, casting An Xia a glare.

Soon, the city guards of Leos arrived at the scene.

One of them used wind magic to disperse the smoke, revealing a street that had been utterly devastated.

Fortunately, the area was sparsely populated, and no one had been present.

There were no casualties.

The guards then turned their grim gazes toward the three of them.

They were already well aware of their identities—before the entrance test began, Lance Magic Academy had notified the cities where the students would be sent.

The city authorities of Leos had then passed along both the information and the students’ appearances to the guards.

“Who can tell me what happened here?”

The captain’s dark gaze swept across the trio.

Melva and Anders instinctively stepped back, leaving An Xia standing at the front.

No matter what, he would have to face it.

An Xia straightened his back and stepped forward.

“Report: I caused this while practicing the Fireball Spell.”

The captain laughed. The other guards laughed as well.

You’re telling me this was caused by a Fireball Spell?

Do you think we’ve never learned it before?

“And you still won’t tell the truth?” the captain shouted.

An Xia shrank his neck slightly. “It really was a Fireball Spell…”

The captain was almost amused by his stubbornness.

It had been a long time since he had met someone this obstinate.

“A Fireball Spell, is it? Fine. Cast one here and now!”

An Xia hesitated. “If it damages this place…”

“I’ll take responsibility! Stop talking nonsense and cast it!”

Well, you said it.

Since the captain insisted, An Xia began constructing the Fireball Spell again without hesitation.

Interestingly, the modified rune structure he had created earlier was now firmly imprinted in his mind, as if it were an innate ability.

He had already forgotten parts of the standard Fireball Spell from the Fundamentals of Magic, but this altered version remained crystal clear.

His mental power flowed as the rune structure gradually took shape.

One minute later, the structure was complete.

An Xia activated it with his mental power.

The runes vanished from his hand, and immediately, he sensed a strong connection forming in the sky above.

“It’s coming,” An Xia pointed upward as a warning.

Melva and Anders, who had been watching, raised their heads.

The city guards followed their gaze.

High above, dozens of meters in the air, a fireball had appeared out of nowhere.

Like a falling meteor, it plummeted toward them.

The captain remained unimpressed.

The fireball looked no different from an ordinary one.

He wanted to see if it could truly cause destruction like before.

An Xia, however, knew its power and quickly retreated to a much safer distance.

Three seconds later, the fireball hit the ground.

The captain stared intently as it landed—swelling, then exploding.

BOOM!

A surge of immense force burst outward from the fireball, as if replaying the previous destruction.

Thick smoke engulfed the captain’s position.

“Water Shield!”

A shout came from within the smoke.

An Xia silently prayed that the captain would be alright.

This really was not his fault.

He had told the truth—the captain simply refused to believe him.

“You’re sure that was a Fireball Spell?” Melva stood beside An Xia, the corner of her lips twitching.

What kind of Fireball Spell behaves like that?!

Even the spells cast by her elders did not have such power!

Anders shut his eyes, too afraid to look.

It was over.

First they destroyed a street, and now they had blown up the captain as well.

He could already imagine the academy coming to retrieve them from a prison cell in Leos.

“That’s exactly how it was in the Fundamentals of Magic,” An Xia said, spouting nonsense.

There was no way he could tell them the truth.

Otherwise, he would definitely be beaten half to death.

Another gust of wind swept through as the same guard used wind magic to disperse the smoke.

The captain emerged, looking somewhat disheveled, but otherwise unharmed.

Of course—how could a city guard captain be injured by a Fireball Spell?

Even if this one was… slightly abnormal.

“I told you it was real, didn’t I?” An Xia edged closer and spoke cautiously.

The captain’s face darkened.

“Get lost!”

“Right away!”

An Xia was just about to run again when a hand pressed him firmly in place.

“Hold on,” the captain said, gripping him. “First, compensate for the damage from the first explosion.”

“Alright.” An Xia turned around and promptly paid the fee. Only then did the captain release him.

Forty gold coins for one explosion… ah, my heart aches!

After An Xia and the others left, one of the guards could not help but ask, “Captain, what about the damage from the second explosion…?”

“I’ll pay for it!” the captain’s expression grew even darker.

Even at internal rates, repairing the second explosion would cost at least thirty gold coins.

His monthly salary was only thirty-five.

He had practically worked for nothing.

After walking a long distance, Anders finally relaxed when he saw that the guards were not pursuing them.

“Where to next?” Melva asked.

Before reaching the academy, they absolutely could not let An Xia continue learning magic—nor could they allow him to study on his own.

With his terrifying talent, a few more spells like that, and they would be forced to walk to the academy with nothing left.

“Let me think.” An Xia pondered, but at that moment, his stomach growled loudly.

“The roasted meat banquet!”

He checked the time—it was just right.

“Let’s go eat some roasted meat!” An Xia led the way. He was the most familiar with Leos.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the banquet location.

However… the venue was rather unsettling.

After asking for directions, they entered a building, passed through a hidden passage in a study, and finally arrived at an underground banquet hall.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Anders said weakly.

“It’s probably fine.” An Xia looked at the crowd, all dressed up in costumes. He tore off a piece of roasted meat and chewed it. “It’s likely some kind of themed banquet. I attended something similar hosted by a merchant guild before.”

An Xia spoke with confidence, backed by experience.