'How did he even find out?' Alec grumbled to himself as Taryeon dragged him toward the training grounds.

Somehow, Taryeon had managed to confirm that Alec had condensed his first circle. Alec had gone straight to Reina's office as soon as he woke up. It didn't make sense.

But Taryeon had probably grown a sensitive nose after listening to all of Alec's bullshit about how he was going to show Taryeon who the boss was. There was no way he was letting Alec get off easy.

"I hope you won't make any excuses about being tired after just condensing your first circle when you lose," Taryeon grinned.

"After all, you didn't get hit by lightning or anything like that."

"If I lose, it's because you've had several weeks to train while I condensed my circle literally less than half an hour ago."

"Oh, I get it. If I win, it's because I'm strong. Not because you're weak."

"Exactly—No, wait. It's because you've had more time to get strong—"

"We've had the exact same amount of time. I just condensed my circle first."

"Well since you condensed your circle, you've had more time."

"You've had more real life-and-death experiences where you've had to use magic to defend yourself."

"Not if we count your spars against Maura."

"You've analyzed my fights."

"I don't need to. Your style is very simple. You just hit and run until you win or lose."

"Yeah, and I'm sure you've devised multiple ways to deal with it."

Alec shrugged with one shoulder instead of answering as he proceeded to his side of the sparring area.

There were two ways for mages to fight. The artillery style or the combat style.

From what he had heard from Reina and the other teachers, Alec was pretty sure that the combat style, the style Taryeon preferred, was the overall better one. The artillery style was better for larger scale instances.

It was because artillery mages were easy to hit. They didn't move around a lot, after all. They sacrificed mobility for better output. Not having to focus on where to put their feet meant they could spend more concentration on advanced and powerful spells.

In larger battles, whether it be against monsters or other humans, artillery mages fought in groups. Some mages could focus on defense while others were free to unleash a devastating onslaught of magic.

In duels, one mage had to do both defense and offense.

Combat mages, however, had to focus on offense and evasion.

It depended on individual skill as much as it depended on style.

"With all the time you spend in the library, I'm sure you've found a bunch of spells to tie me down."

"You'd be surprised at how few spells are available for a zero-circle mage."

"Ready?"

Alec closed his eyes for a moment. The glassy magical circle was spinning around his heart without a single flaw. He felt blood and mana course through his body.

Lists of spell formations flashed past his closed eyes.

Instead of answering, a spell formation appeared in front of his outstretched palm. A second later, a magic missile zoomed out. A light blue dart whizzed past Taryeon's head, missing by quite a wide margin before dissipating into nothingness a few steps behind him.

"W-was that supposed to hit me?" Taryeon asked. He had dodged to the side as soon as he saw the spell formation, but it would have missed even if he had remained in place.

"Warning shot." Alec frowned. It was harder than he thought.

'Bullshit.' Taryeon snorted. But he didn't say anything. He answered with a spell formation of his own.

'That's Zap.' Alec almost immediately recognized the spell formation, thanks to [Reader] and his experience watching Taryeon spar the other kids.

It was the quick and tiny lightning bolt.

A spell formation flashed in front of Alec again. It was a bigger formation than his last, and it took a little longer for him to cast it. It was his first time, after all.

The next second, he was hit in the chest by Taryeon's Zap.

'What?' Alec was blown back and landed on his ass and back.

"What?" Taryeon said out loud. He had not expected that to land and had already started preparing the next attack, which he hurriedly dispelled.

Alec sat up, his hair standing in all directions and with a puff of smoke leaving his mouth.

"Are you alright?" Taryeon asked with a concerned frown.

"Y-yeah. It's just a lot faster on the receiving end than from the spectator seat."

"Well, yeah. So, you ready to go again? Give me an answer this time."

Alec sighed and got up while groaning like an old man. He raised his hands and roused his mana.

"Ready."

"I'll let you have the first move."

"Really? I am soo grateful."

"Just fire."

"Good idea."

A spell formation flickered into existence in front of Alec's hands as he transformed and poured his mana into it. A second later, a fireball shot toward Taryeon.

With lightning fast mana, Taryeon countered.

'Flash steps.' Blue sparks danced in his footprints as he dashed to the side to dodge Alec's Fireball.

Taryeon didn't stop there.

'Zap.'

But this time, Alec was ready for it. Instead of trying to spin his mana into a web he wasn't yet familiar with, he simply crouched down as low as he could while casting a Pebbleshot. As soon as he was done with that, though, he continued what he didn't finish before.

It was the most intricate spell formation he had tried his hand at yet.

Simple Barrier.

It was a film of mostly translucent solidified magic around him.

Like Magic Missile, it was a non-elemental spell, not because it was designed for people like Alec, who didn't have any elemental affinities, but because it was a spell that all mages, regardless of element, had to be able to cast.

A barrier was one of the few means to survive on the battlefield other than dodging.

Alec could copy Taryeon's Flash Steps, but he wouldn't be able to keep up since he didn't have the lightning attribute. And he didn't have any other mobility spells that were even close to the same level.

So, defense it was.

Simple Barrier blocked Taryeon's Zap with a slight tremor.

Taryeon stopped running after dodging Alec's Pebbleshot.

"Not bad. How about this?"

A spell formation appeared in front of Taryeon, one that Alec didn't recognize.

'That's not good.'

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