How a Catastrophe-Level Magician Lives

There are incantations and silent casting.
Incantation literally means the magician reciting a spell to activate and cast magic.

On the other hand, silent casting is the act of activating magic while completely skipping such procedures.

Looking at it this way, silent casting without incantation might seem better.

However, there was a big misconception here.

Firstly, while incantation spells might seem less efficient than silent casting, in fact, they are not.

Secondly, incantation spells demonstrate far superior performance compared to silent casting.

Even though I had used Friction Decline on Alkas silently to reduce the friction of the ground, it was only because I needed to prevent the opponent from noticing and responding in advance.

Originally, chanting the spell when activating magic produced more powerful results.

In other words, silent casting meant that magic was cast with considerably weakened effects compared to partial or full incantations.

This was common knowledge that any magician learning magic in this world knew, not only in the present after hundreds of years but also in the past.

‘Magic is inherently inseparable from the phrases of spells. Moreover, magic also involves the consumption of mental energy.’

Consumption of mental energy.
It was inevitable for the brain to get tired as magicians concentrate their minds to activate magic.

It might sound obvious, but if one carelessly overuses magic, it often leads to mental overload, causing loss of consciousness or collapse.

This could be considered a state of magical exhaustion.

‘When considering the efficiency of magic, partial incantation is generally the most balanced and efficient compared to silent casting or full incantation. Although it shows slightly inferior performance compared to full incantation, it increases the accuracy, range, and power of magic more than silent casting, and allows for more stable and efficient management of magical power with minimal consumption.’

Silent casting, in an attempt to use magic quickly, sometimes wastefully and inefficiently uses magical power in chunks by omitting one of the basic deployment processes of magic.

‘Well, in the old days, anyone could elevate those drawbacks of silent casting close to incantation, increasing accuracy and stability in activating magic.’

That’s why practice is necessary.
One builds proficiency by repeatedly activating magic.

Just by doing that, a magician could increase the accuracy and stability of silent casting close to incantation, excluding power and range.

It was while thinking about this.

-Knock knock knock

“Who is it?”

-It’s Simon, the butler. The head of the family is looking for you.

“The head of the family is looking for me?”

The person who came to the library where he was, along with the knocking sound, was none other than Simon, the dedicated butler of the family head, called the chief butler of House Phoenix.

And Simon conveyed that the family head was looking for him, the fourth son.

‘What business could the family head have with me?’

The current head of House Phoenix, who is also his father in this life.

Sunlight von Betelgeuse.

The family head’s name, Sunlight, literally meant sunlight, signifying the sun, the lord of all creation.

“……”

-Knock knock knock, Family Head. It’s Free. I’ve come as you called.

“Enter.”

Creeak, the door opened. Free entered and saw the current head of House Phoenix sitting with his back to a large window on one side of the office.

This was Sunlight von Betelgeuse.

To describe him in one word: blazing flame.

A person with an impression reminiscent of a volcanic fire.

Although known to be a magician, he was a red-haired man with a considerably sturdy build and robust body.
Even his mustache was red.

In some ways, he seemed to resemble Alkas the most. Even the fierce-looking eyes were identical.

Free bowed his head in greeting.

“I’m here to see you, Family Head.”
“Yes. I’ll get straight to the point. In about a week, the Duchy of Aust has decided to hold a birthday party for their only daughter at a ballroom in the imperial capital.”
“…You mean a birthday celebration for the duke’s daughter in the imperial capital?”
“I originally planned to take Eols, the eldest, but he decided not to attend due to being busy. So I’m telling you this because the daughter there happens to be the same age as you.”
“……”

Free caught the meaning of those words.

“…I understand. I’ll prepare without any lack until then.”
“Good thinking. I’ll have the exact schedule delivered through Chief Butler Simon.”
“Yes, then I’ll take my leave now.”
Nod.

With the family head’s permission, Free bowed his head again in greeting and turned to leave the room.

Then, Sunlight, the family head left alone in the office.

“……”

For some reason, he stared at the closed door for a while.

Soon after, he stood up from his seat, put his hands behind his back, and looked up at the clear blue sky in front of the window.

As he did so, he quietly muttered something incomprehensible to himself.

“As expected of that bloodline……”

The family head already knew.
About the incidents between Free, the fourth son, and Alkas, the second son.

Because there were countless beings in the family who served as his eyes and ears.

“…Quite impressive. Not only did he teach himself magic at the young age of ten, but he also single-handedly made Alkas, who is five years older, back down.”

Not just the magic, but his mind was judged to be quite cunning and clever.

While his magical talent was certainly admirable, what was truly surprising was the mindset that young child showed in that situation, at that moment.

A mere ten-year-old quickly understood the position of the family and himself, actively utilized it on the spot, making the opponent quietly retreat without being able to do anything.

This is not something a young child should be able to show yet.

It was a kind of innate talent, brilliant strategy and intelligence, or charisma that only those who stand above others can show.

The head of House Phoenix muttered to himself.
“…If we’re not careful, it could affect the existing succession structure. That’s not good.”

For some reason, despite hearing about his son’s outstanding talent, the family head seemed to disapprove of it.

A few days later.

A four-horse carriage with the phoenix mark symbolizing House Phoenix, followed by another two-horse carriage in the procession, along with several knights and magicians in the family’s red armor riding horses, departed.

Leaving the territory, the destination was none other than the ballroom in the capital where the Duchy of Aust was hosting the event.

Count Sunlight, the head of House Phoenix, was riding in the four-horse carriage.

Free was riding alone in the two-horse carriage following right behind.

It was only a few days’ journey from the Phoenix County to the imperial capital.

The Argen Empire, to which House Phoenix belongs.

One of the two duchies that serve as the left and right arms of the Argen Empire, the left arm.

The Duchy of Aust.

This Duchy of Aust was uniquely still a knight family that mainly chose swords over magic.

It was also called the House of Sword Saints, and the current head of the Aust family was undoubtedly the continent’s strongest and greatest sword saint.

There, Aus von Aust, the current head of the Duchy of Aust, had already realized that their duchy could not continue with the current knight family system.

In the office of House Aust.

“What are you saying! You’re suddenly telling me to learn magic out of nowhere!?”
“Please understand. The current trend is the era of great magic. Now, even we knights need to know how to use magic, not swords.”
“…But!”

Aus von Aust was quite an intelligent person.

He also possessed the intellect and insight to read the times.

“Aura. I feel indescribably sorry for you. However, we must gradually change this existing framework from your young age. So that someday our House Aust can establish a solid foundation and framework suitable for such an era.”
“…I don’t want to! I like swords! I like swordsmanship, and I like building my skills by honing my sword while sweating more than anything else! And, and…”
“…Aura.”

Pure white ponytail.
Blue-green eyes.
A young girl who just turned ten this year, with a small mole under her eye.

She shouted her last words with tears welling up in her eyes.
“I…! I wanted to become a knight like Father!”

Aura von Aust left those words and turned around, fleeing from the office.

Bang!

“……”

Hearing the sound of the door closing roughly, her father left behind, Duke Aus, covered his face with one hand and expressed his current miserable feelings.

“Haaa… What should I do about this?”

Before being the continent’s undisputed strongest sword saint, he was simply a father of an only daughter.

Even this celebration party that the Duchy of Aust decided to host. It was also intended for his daughter. To connect her with renowned magical families, reading the flow of the times early.

However, at least for now, his daughter seemed completely unprepared to accept such things.

“This is truly difficult… What should I do about this…”

Originally, young children do not easily understand and appreciate the heart of a father.

…The conflict between father and daughter in the House of Aust was also intensifying.