Firebolt.
It was the only chantless magic that appeared in the original work.
As its name suggests, this magic allowed flames to be launched like a bolt of lightning, giving the already destructive fire attribute magic an enhanced penetration power and firing speed that were normally absent. Whether being cast or hitting an enemy, it was shockingly fast, almost impossible to stop or dodge.
Still, this magic was not the most powerful offensive magic, given that in this world, one of the main characteristics of offensive magic was that the longer the chant, the stronger the power.
As a chantless magic, Firebolt was considered weak compared to other offensive magic, which was a major drawback.
However, due to its chantless nature, this magic’s rapid firing and continuous shooting abilities were quite remarkable, with high accuracy. In actual combat, its practicality far exceeded that of other magic that required a chant, making it highly useful and even envied by mages.
With this magic, Bell could unleash lightning-like fire attacks at any time in the heat of battle, without needing to master concurrent chanting. He could seamlessly mix magic into close combat, making it difficult for enemies to defend against.
Consequently, in the original work, this magic was also referred to as ’fast offensive magic,’ meaning it was a type of offensive magic designed for rapid strikes.
Since this was the protagonist’s most frequently used magic in the original work, Riezel’s understanding of it far surpassed the knowledge of other mages in this world, allowing him to master it quickly.
At this moment, Riezel was experimenting with this magic, causing the fire from the original protagonist’s magic to burst forth in the distant and unreachable depths of the Deep Floors.
However, the way he used this magic was completely different from how the original protagonist wielded it.
The evidence lay in the thick, pillar-like fire lightning that surged from his hands, illuminating the area in an instant and scorching the ground, with smoke rising from the burning earth.
*BOOM!*
When a Flame Rock collided with the thick fire lightning, a jaw-dropping explosion occurred.
It was as if Riezel had unleashed a large-scale offensive magic, with the Flame Rock not only shattering into pieces from the force of the fire lightning but also burning to ashes, causing a crater several meters in radius, the ground blackened and smoking.
"Firebolt!"
Riezel continued to use this fast offensive magic, launching several bolts of fiery lightning, each as thick as a column, bombarding the surrounding Flame Rocks and obliterating them along with the nearby ground.
If Bell himself had been present, he would have been left speechless by this scene, since the power of Firebolt in his hands was no match for its power in Riezel’s hands, which was only natural.
’With my MAG, even the weakest magic gets crazy powerful in my hands. Not to mention that I also have skills and development abilities to enhance them.’
Having finished the rapid-fire assault, Riezel silently reflected on his actions.
’With Pioneer of the Sun doubling the power of light and heat magic, this Firebolt’s power will be on another level when I use it.’
’I’ve also got the Mage and Magic Chant development abilities, so pretty much any magic I use ends up way stronger and hits way harder.’
’And that’s without even turning on Morgan’s Ring. If I did, the power would spike even more.’
In other words, the weak point of Firebolt—its relatively low power—was perfectly compensated for in Riezel’s hands.
Clearly, this was something the original protagonist could not achieve.
Bell excelled in close combat, with magic as a mere support tool, and there were also no development abilities to enhance his magic, nor were there skills that were specifically aimed at boosting the power of his magic.
Fortunately, the protagonist’s MAG wasn’t bad either.
Before leveling up, he could achieve at least an SS-rank, making Firebolt’s power in actual combat comparable to offensive magic with ultra-short or short chants.
Needless to say, without that factor, the impressive chantless magic might have become far less effective.
’Of course, power was never Firebolt’s strength. Its true advantage lies in the speed of fire and in its ability to continuously unleash shots—something no other magic possesses, which made it truly excellent.’
For example, if a typical fire attribute offensive magic took several seconds from casting to release to hitting the target, Firebolt, under the same conditions, could strike the enemy in just under a second.
Taking Riezel himself as an example, casting his 3rd-Tier Magic, Fireball, required first preparing the magic, gathering the flame at his fingertip, and then firing it, but even right after that, it would still take a while for the projectile to reach the enemy.
If the enemy wasn’t hit by the blast radius, they had ample time to dodge.
Firebolt, however, was different.
Once cast, it shot out immediately, as fast as lightning.
No gathering was needed, no preparation time—when it hit, the enemy might not even realize what had happened.
In the original work, only a few characters could dodge it, and most simply tanked its relatively weak attack power, including Ottar.
It also allowed for a continuous shot.
As long as the caster didn’t stop, bolts of fire would keep flying out, with dozens—or even more—posing no issue.
What Riezel valued most was this magic’s rapid firing and continuous shot characteristics.
’With such a fast casting and firing speed, if I unleash it during close combat, wouldn’t that surprise the enemy?’
After considering all the advantages of Firebolt, Riezel then concluded.
’In my hands, its power could rival that of single-target offensive 8th-Tier Magic, only second to the 9th-Tier Magic Vermilion Nova, the strongest single-target fire attribute offensive magic.’
’As for its speed and continuous shot, it ranks first among all my magic.’
’On the surface, this magic may seem unremarkable, but in actual combat, it can have a significant impact.’
Perhaps it wasn’t the strongest offensive magic, but it was undoubtedly the most practical, so with this conclusion in mind, Riezel instantly envisioned the future.
’Firebolt might just become the one I use most often from now on.’
In the next moment, with this thought in mind, Riezel unsheathed his sword, Fool, from his waist.
"Firebolt!"
Now, instead of the fire lightning shooting from his hand, it ran up his arm, burning along the blade of Fool like living fire.
Seeing this, Riezel smiled faintly.
’As I thought, this magic can also be channeled through weapons.’
In the original work, the protagonist could channel Firebolt into mithril weapons with a high magical energy conductivity, causing the sword to burn with intense fire.
Even though Fool was not made of mithril, Riezel discovered that, due to Pioneer of the Sun, he had an affinity for fire attribute magic thanks to his spiritual physique related to light and heat, and this allowed him to control fire magic more effectively than most, even through weapons with lower magical conductivity.
’Now, if I use Ignis, this magic might become even stronger.’
’Plus, with Sun Breathing, I feel like using Firebolt while in that state would grant an even more unique boost.’
’Firebolt has great potential for the future.’
As he looked at the blade of Fool burning with fiery lightning, Riezel had to suppress the urge to summon Hermit from the Dimensional Magic Cube’s storage space.
As a Nichirin Sword, Hermit had a high affinity for fire attribute power, and he instinctively knew that pairing it with Firebolt would likely provide a magical conductivity rate similar to mithril weapons, further strengthening the magic.
’Alright, I’m even more convinced that this magic will become a frequent tool in my arsenal.’
Riezel shrugged, canceling the magic and sheathing Fool back into its scabbard.
After testing the new magic, Riezel, like Finn, thought back to the events of four days ago.
However, unlike Finn, whose thoughts were on Hedin and Bell, Riezel’s mind was occupied with Ottar.
When Hedin took Bell and warned Finn, Ottar had also spoken to Riezel.
"Like the fledgling over there, you’ve also entered the sight of our revered goddess."
Ottar, carrying a greatsword on his back, turned to face Riezel and said these words calmly.
"Now that you’ve caught her attention, you have an obligation to show your worth."
"Will you live up to our goddess’s favor?"
"I’ll be watching, waiting for another chance to fight."
With that, Ottar didn’t even bid his companions farewell and walked off on his own.
Recalling those events, Riezel didn’t have much of a reaction, only a lingering sense of regret.
’Not continuing that fight means I’ll have to find another way to get the remaining high-rank excelia to level up...’
It wasn’t a difficult task, considering that during this expedition, he would certainly have to accompany the familia into the area below the 50th Floor.
Knowing that, he would have plenty of opportunities to obtain that high-rank excelia at his currently suppressed level.
However...
’Not reaching the 59th Floor...?’
Thinking about what awaited him on that floor, Riezel’s eyes flickered.
’I’ll go ahead with what I originally planned.’
Suppressing his thoughts, Riezel turned his gaze toward Finn, Riveria, Gareth, Ais, Bete, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya.
’I hope you all can hold on.’
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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