4 The Result of Determination

Sweat started pouring out of my body. Enduring the pain, I tried to refocus so I could control every flow of mana flowing through my body.

The pain in my hand made me realize not to be careless and to be patient in doing something.

I recalled what Melissa said about the natural elements and started trying to understand the nature of fire elements that I could control.

First I have to understand what fire is. Honestly, I'm not someone who understand chemistry. The basic thing I know about it, fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, resulting in the release of heat, light and various reaction products.

Fire consists primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen. If hot enough, the gas can ionize to produce plasma.

Simply put, I just need to increase the intensity of the heat produced from the fusion of mana and natural elements resonating within my body and concentrate it at one point.

Of course, in order to avoid an explosion like before, I have to be able to estimate my current limits.

"Not too intense but not too weak."

I didn't realize the contents of my thoughts when I was focused just came out of my mouth. Melissa, who heard my words, seemed to smile a little for a moment after seeing my seriousness in studying magic. Of course I didn't realize her smile because my focus was in my palm.

Sparks came out again and this time the sparks began to grow into a blazing ball of fire but looked calm and controlled.

It was only the size of a baseball but at least I was successful and didn't hurt myself like before.

"Miss Melissa, I did it!" I said with a happy expression that couldn't be hidden.

"I understand if you are happy but your real training is just starting."

Pointing at Qi who was seen standing upright in silence, Melissa gave me an order, "Now let's see how strong the magic you can currently produce. Attack Qi with your fire magic. I will consider you successful if you can cause Qi to suffer significant damage."

Looking at Qi, I take a deep breath and started everything over from the beginning.

Previously I was able to channel my mana throughout my body and manipulate that mana to create a reaction which resulted in the creation of a ball of fire in the palm of my hand.

This time all I had to do was release the fireball and hit the target in front of me without hurting my own body.

On the first try, I did some kind of throwing motion but it actually injured my hand again and the results of my throw did not cause any damage to Qi's body apart from the part of its body which was slightly blackened by the fireball.

Fire is a natural element that is quite dangerous and can hurt anyone who touches it. now I understand even though I was the one who created the ball-shaped fire magic earlier, that doesn't mean I can hold it without getting hurt.

Then how can I attack using fire magic without hurting myself?

An idea popped into my head as I remembered how a firearm shooting a bullet.

"Miss Melissa, I want to confirm something. As long as I use my fire magic, I can do any means to produce damage to Qi's body right?"

"As long as the resulting damage comes from your fire magic, you can do anything."

I started looking at the ground around me to look for a pebble that was neither too big nor too small.

Melissa looked confused by my action but I didn't pay her any attention until I got what I was looking for.

When Melissa saw me smiling while holding a pebble, she asked, "What do you want to do with that pebble?"

"I want to try something." I answered briefly then took a pose by placing the pebble between my middle finger and my thumb.

I once watched a documentary video about firearms. Thanks to that video, I understand how bullets shoot out of firearms.

A bullet projectile that has been fired will produce propellant combustion gas or commonly known as gunpowder and has very high speed so it can penetrate a target.

Because I don't have bullets or metal, as a substitute I will use pebble. While the pushing power to accelerate the speed of the pebble was replaced by finger strength which was strengthened by the mana and fire elemental magic that I had.

The speed and penetrative power of my attack might not be able to match real bullets. But I'm sure the destructive power is enough to hurt Qi's body.

Without hesitation, I immediately flicked the pebble in my hand towards Qi's head.

The pebble burst into flames because it had been mixed with fire elemental magic. like a meteor streaking into the planet's atmosphere.

As soon as the pebble hit Qi's head. An explosion occurred and Qi immediately fell with his head shattered into pieces.

Regulating my breathing, I turned my gaze towards Melissa while saying, "I did it, right?"

I saw Melissa acknowledge my efforts. When I want to say something, I felt weak and started to lose my balance. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was a notification of my success in completing the quest.

[Congratulations! You have finished a quest.]

[You get your reward.]

[Now you are a magic knight.]

[You get new achievement 'My First Job'.]

[You get new achievement 'I Burned Myself'.]

[You get  new achievement 'Fire!'.]

[You get new title 'The First Wizard Among Players'.]

[Title : The First Wizard Among Players.]

[Title Explanation :  The first player succeeded in becoming a wizard.]

[Title Rarity : S]

[Title Benefit : Mana increases by 1000. Elemental magic power according to affinity increases by 100%.]

When I woke up, I found myself asleep in a room and Aldoun was standing right next to me.

"You finally woke up."

Turning towards Aldoun I asked, "Where am I and what happened to me?"

Aldoun casually replied, "Don't worry, you're in the magic knight dormitory. You fainted after using up all the mana in your body. Melissa grumbled a little because you didn't train your magic until the end as she wanted. However, because you managed to deal a great damage to Qi's body, Melissa decided that you were already worthy of being a magic knight and just needed to train more."

"Wait, that means?"

Aldoun nodded and smiled as he said the good news that I was waiting for.

"You are now officially a magic knight. You only need to swear an oath before officially serving this kingdom of magic."

I clenched my fist because I was happy and at the same time realized that my previously injured hand was now back as if it had never experienced the slightest burn.

Seeing my surprised expression, Aldoun asked, "What's wrong?"

"I thought my hand was injured quite badly when training with Melissa but now I don't see the injury at all."

"Of course, Melissa is a very talented young witch. Not only she able to control the wind element very well, but also masters of various types of non-elemental magic including healing magic. If you meet her, you should thank Melissa, Crimson Clover."

"Of course I will. Without her, I wouldn't be able to control magic this fast."

As a player, to find out how long I played the game and various other menus such as logging out, all I need to do is focusing my mind while closing my eyes.

Looking at the time, I can't believe that I've been playing for six hours since this game server opened.  In the real world, I'm just a high school student. The reason why I dared to rent a gaming capsule to play Gaia Project was because of the endless business possibilities within it.

Looking at the time, I think it's time for me to get out of the game because my life can't go on if I don't study and do other activities outside the game.

Before that, I wanted to ask Aldoun about taking an oath so I could serve as a magic knight formally.

Hearing my question, Aldoun gave me some explanation about the magic kingdom, Arcanium.

Unlike kingdoms in general, the highest authority of the Arcanium Kingdom is not a king but a wizard or witch with unique title like 'Strongest' or 'Wisest' who acts as king or queen for certain period of time. 

The government system of the Arcanium Kingdom is actually democratic where every ten years a vote will be held to determine who will act as magic king or magic queen for the next period.

Normally the oath-taking must take place in front of the king or queen, but because Blight City is far from the capital, the oath-taking will take place in front of the mayor.

"I will bring you before the mayor tomorrow. I'm sure you still very tired after your training with Melissa. If you're hungry the canteen is on the ground floor. I don't want to bother you any longer. Get some rest so tomorrow you'll be fit again and then we can start your first training as a magic knight."

After Aldoun left, I locked the door and started lying on the bed. Closing my eyes, I recited the magic words so I can return to the real world.

"Gaia Project, log out."