Inside the deep pit of the Crushed Stone Plain.
After a short rest, Gar's magic power had recovered quite a bit.
Once Gildarts and Gray finished eating,
Gar stood up and said,
"Time to leave."
Gray and Gildarts also stood up. Then Gar placed his hands on both of them.
Immediately after, the two were carried by Gar and shot up into the sky.
Gray looked down at the rapidly receding ground, his gaze drawn to other parts of the land. Experiencing flight for the first time, he felt as if he were dreaming.
Gildarts, however, asked in confusion,
"No spatial magic?"
"Just flying over?"
Gar shook his head, releasing his grip on their shoulders. The three of them floated in the air.
"No."
"We have to deal with what's below first."
Flying high into the sky.
The large pit on the ground, created by the battle, became incredibly conspicuous.
Moreover, because it was in the central position,
if they didn't fill this several-thousand-meter-wide pit, they would have to take a very long detour to pass through here.
Gar extended the staff in his hand, accumulated magic power, and then pointed it downwards.
"Fill and create land."
Buzz—
An earthy yellow magic circle appeared in the air above the pit, level with the ground surrounding the pit.
Then the earthy yellow magic circle rapidly expanded.
Like a giant lid, it enveloped the pit, rotating above it.
Dense earth elements accumulated within the pit, spreading out.
Boom!
The ground at the bottom of the deep pit suddenly rose and grew a large section.
Boom!
Gray couldn't help but gasp, looking down in shock at the large pit that filled nearly half his vision, its bottom rising.
Boom!!!
With a final loud bang,
the giant magic circle forcefully raised the ground at the bottom of the deep pit three times, filling it level with its previous height, with no difference.
A hint of admiration flashed in Gildarts' eyes.
"This is... so convenient."
If he had this kind of talent, able to learn all sorts of magic, he wouldn't have been chased all over the place.
After all, having creditors all over the world was not a pleasant feeling.
He didn't take on missions near the Fioore royal palace precisely because he had caused too much trouble in earlier years.
As a result, most cities had blacklisted him... and he still owed a lot of money for city damage caused by his battles, which he hadn't paid back yet.
Gray, however, was filled with awe and couldn't help but exclaim,
"What immense magic power!"
Even floating in the air, he could feel the magic power emanating from below.
Gar slowly withdrew the buoyancy and said,
"It's just the simplest invocation of natural magic power."
"You can't use it yet."
The three gradually descended to the ground.
Gar lifted his foot and stomped on the ground; it was very solid. Then he looked at Gray and said,
"Compared to Magical Beasts and Monsters, the human body is considered fragile."
"Therefore, the magic power stored in oneself is much less than in the latter two."
"And the purpose of magic circles..."
"is to help Magicians condense magic power, allowing them to draw upon some natural magic power around them to increase the power of their spells. Generally, beginners or Magicians below A/B rank will use magic circles when casting spells."
"However, this method is too slow in top-tier battles."
"And when the strength is similar, or the opponent is stronger,"
"what matters, besides the magic's intensity, is only the casting speed."
"During my battle with Gildarts just now, you must have noticed that many of our spells didn't use magic circles."
Gray noted it with a serious expression and said,
"That's right."
"The spells were released with just a raise of the hand."
Gar nodded and continued,
"Because invoking a magic circle takes some time."
"No matter how fast it's cast, it's not as fast as using one's own magic power directly."
"So when a Magician's strength increases,"
"when facing an enemy they are confident against, they generally use their own magic power to cast spells to quickly end the battle."
"Because when one's strength becomes greater, the boost from magic circles becomes negligible."
"Unless casting some powerful spells or forbidden magic, only then will a magic circle be invoked."
"This situation is like the large-scale earth-element land-creation magic just now, or when facing Deliola, the several huge ice magic circles that surrounded Deliola when Ur cast 'Absolute Ice Shell'."
"Because the Magician's own magic power is not enough to cast such spells."
"They can only rely on the free-floating magic elements in nature."
"And it also has a lot to do with the environment."
"If Deliola had appeared here, even Ur would have found it very difficult to use 'Absolute Ice Shell'."
"Do you know why?"
Gray already understood the general idea and immediately said,
"Because this isn't a snowy mountain."
"The climate isn't that cold, and it's all land here."
"Very, very little ice element can be drawn from nature."
Gar nodded and said,
"That's right."
"That's exactly it."
"The earth element here is dense, but the ice element is negligible."
"Although when casting spells, some attribute-less magic power from nature will be converted into ice-element magic power,"
"compared to a snowy mountain, it's still far too little."
"So casting earth-element magic in this Crushed Stone Plain brings far more benefits than ice element."
"For ice magic, it's inevitable to be suppressed by the environment during battle."
"If you're not confident against an enemy, then you must first create an environment favorable to yourself."
"Use large-scale ice magic to change the environment."
"Convert the attribute-less magic power in the surrounding nature into ice-element magic power to increase your chances of winning."
Saying this, Gar stroked his chin and said,
"Hmm..."
"For now, I'll teach you this much."
"Magic intensity, casting speed, and battle environment."
"Don't put too much thought into shaping for now."
"Only with a good foundation can you freely cast shapes."
"When your magic power storage and mental strength are sufficient,"
"even if you shape a giant dragon, it will be but a flick of your hand."
"The foundation is the most important."
"During the time Gildarts takes you back, your casting speed should improve very quickly."
Gar's tone was a bit strange.
He knew Gildarts too well; that guy putting Gray through hell would be considered light.
Hearing Gar's words, Gray felt an inexplicable chill.
He looked up at Gildarts next to Gar.
Gildarts also noticed Gray's gaze and grinned, revealing a 'kind' smile.
"Don't worry, kid."
"I'll train you well for Gar."
"Don't run away halfway, now."
Cold sweat trickled down Gray's head, and he defiantly shouted at Gildarts,
"Who's going to run away!"
"You scumbag old man, just train me!"
"I won't give up!"
Gildarts showed a provocative smile, making veins throb on Gray's forehead.
Gar shook his head, stopping their antics.
All words spoken, it was time to send them off.
Then he activated spatial magic, and the figures of the three instantly vanished from there.
—
Three days later.
Monet, the Border City.
Gar, dressed in a black magic robe, stepped off the train and immediately sensed that something was amiss here. He looked up at the drizzling sky.
The raindrops falling from the sky avoided Gar's robe.
Even standing outside without an umbrella, not a single drop of rain landed on Gar. Gar extended his hand, withdrew the covering magic, and allowed a few raindrops to fall onto his palm.
"Such dense water elements."
"Is it because of the Unicorn?"
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