An Extra's POV

Chapter 509 Changing Tides [Pt 2]

When it came to 'characters' like the Dragon General, it was possible that she had some special Skill that would allow her to bypass Sound Magic, making it very likely that she would see through whatever strategy they made.

The more complex a plan was, the more important it was to clearly communicate it with allies.

'Even if we speak to each other and use English, there's no guarantee that she won't be able to decipher the plan somehow.' The more Eric thought about it, the more he felt like they were stuck.

… So he found a loophole.

He would communicate only a part of the plan to his allies—

the simplified format of what would happen. Since this meant they would be speaking in English, and he would be using [Grand Sound Magic], there was a chance that the Dragon General wouldn't be able to hear them.

However, still accounting for the small chance that she could, then Eric had to create a follow-up plan that only he could understand and execute.

'I misdirected everyone in order to fool the enemy, but it was necessary.'

By telling everyone he would provide ground support for both offensive and defensive moves, they trusted him and went along with the simplistic plan.

The goal was for Adonis to kill R'ashu, and perhaps wound Kar'en after. If doing the latter was too ambitious, they only had to achieve the first.

All the pieces were on the table, so all he had to do was play his role—something completely different from what he had established.

'In Magic, there are a lot of theories that exist. It's difficult to understand them, much less apply them, without the necessary Skills to back it up.'

Skills like [Magic Mastery] and [Magic Application] certainly made things easier for those who possessed them.

Ultimately, it was a consensus—even among Mages—that one should only practice Magic in the direction of one's Skills. After the formative years of a person, if they developed a Skill in Fire Magic, that had to be their specialty.

In the same vein, if someone was born with an Exclusive Skill in a certain discipline of Magic, then it was better for them to pursue that path.

Anyone could see the merit in this approach. Growth was faster if you trod the path already laid out by your Skill, hence polishing the gem of an aspiring Mage even more.

Only absolute monsters like Lucielle could use all kinds of Magic and diversify into multiple spheres, and that was simply due to her special sets of abilities and Class.

She was an outlier in the world of Magic.

Why was Eric thinking of such things in such a critical moment like this? Well… it was because he disagreed with the current approach of Magic.

The way he saw it, one had to strive in multiple areas of Magic, and so develop Skills in them, which would in turn bolster growth and a more in-depth understanding of the discipline.

Someone whos studied and practiced Fire Magic to gain the [Fire Magic] Skill would be far more skilled than someone who simply used his [Fire Magic] Skill as a template and went on to further build up on it.

Eric knew this philosophy only worked due to his own privileged status. As an Otherworlder, he had the talent and growth rate that the natives of this world didn't.

He was also given a solid Class from the start.

Since he didn't have to work from scratch, the way most people in this world did, it would be hubris to subject them to his ideology.

So, he didn't.

Instead, he subjected only himself!

'I want to have access to many diverse fields of Magic. I want to understand the principles behind them, using Spells that aren't even registered among my set of Skills.'

That way, even if his enemy could appraise him and detect all the Skills he could use, they couldn't possibly detect all the Spells that were available to him.

Eric had spent the last three months in this pursuit. He already had Offense-related Magic Skills, and tons of Miscellaneous-type Skills. However, he was truly lacking in defense.

His teammates already had defensive Skills, and one was also a capable Healer. He wouldn't be doing his Party any favor by learning a Spell that was already part of an ally's arsenal.

No… if he was to dedicate his time on a cause, it had to be something unique.

… Something only he could do.

And so, after working intensely for those three months, he finally did it—he was able to crack the code right before they departed to the Adventurers City.

He thought he would get to use it during the Grand Calamity Dungeon, but every single thing that happened then prevented him from doing so.

Even when they fought the Skeletal Dragon Lord, he could not afford to use the Spell.

Why?

Because it had certain conditions to it that needed to be met.

The first and most important was an ample supply of Mana. The Spell took up an incomprehensible amount of Mana to activate, and even more every second he kept it on.

Even at full power, he couldn't possibly use it for more than ten seconds.

The second was more like a feature than a condition. This Spell affected only Spells and Skills in the Absolute Tier. Nothing more, nothing less.

It also affected both foe and ally.

Only his Magic was left preserved, since the Spell recognized his Mana Signature.

As such, he couldn't possibly use it in situations where his allies actively needed to use Skills, or when teamwork was most relevant.

It was a Spell that painted him as the only player in the game, if only for a brief moment.

"[Absolute Interference]."

With this Spell alone, he shut down all the Skills that the Dragons were using—including the [Lightning Bolt: Full Degree] and [AVALON].

Right now, the only ones who could freely use their Skills were Eric—as the caster of the Spell—and his allies, who were currently not using any Spells or Skills in the Absolute Tier.

Hence, a victory for humanity.

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading

Sorry for using a single chapter to explain this Spell. It's just one of my favorites, and it might play an important role later on.