“Wh—!”
Drew’s sudden change caught everyone off guard.
“Maaaaaaafieeeeeeeeey!”
Visible magic surged from Drew, stunning everyone into silence.
Seizing the opportunity, Drew, who had been curled up, shrieked like a beast and pounced towards Jared.
Knocked to the ground, Jared hit his back, but instinctively punched Drew’s face. However, as if feeling nothing, Drew shrieked again and retaliated, punching Jared’s face–once, twice, thrice.
“Murphy!”
“Jared!”
His lip split, blood splattering. But Jared wasn’t just taking a beating. He extended his long legs over Drew’s chest and kicked, forcing Drew’s fingers off his clothes. Instantly, using only the strength of his legs, Jared threw Drew backward.
Drew rolled on the ground, away from Jared, but without getting up, he remained on all fours like a beast, his face raised. His bloodshot eyes glinted at Jared and the others, and a short scream escaped someone’s lips.
*He’s lost it,* everyone present must have thought.
There was no doubt it was the side effects of the Magic Amplification Potion. Judging by his swollen magic and loss of reason, it was almost too late. Simply trying to expel the magic now wouldn’t provide a fundamental solution without removing the drug accumulated in his body. But Jared had no solution.
“Everyone, stay back.”
Thus, he could only do what he could do.
“What are you going to do, Jared? He could explode at any moment!”
“That’s why I have to take his consciousness before he explodes. We don’t know what will happen if he continues like this. So, please keep your distance.”
“Understood. Be careful, my friend.”
Nodding to the worried Lars, Jared shifted his gaze to Laurentz.
“Laurentz! You protect everyone!”
“You don’t need help?”
“It’s fine. It seems he’s targeting me, so if you could protect everyone, it would be a great help. I can’t concentrate on fighting if I’m worried about my blind spot.”
“Understood. Leave it to me. I’ll protect everyone.”
“Thank you.”
After thanking Laurentz, who accepted, Jared watched him move to the spectator seats in a corner of the training ground. The spectator seats were protected by a strong defensive wall, making them safer than foolishly leaving the training ground.
“Well then, even as everyone retreats, he’s not moving. He’s still targeting me, isn’t he?”
They had argued once before, but he had no memory of being fixated on. He searched his memory, wondering if he had done something without realizing it, but he still couldn’t recall anything.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember doing anything to make you hate me. However, if we’re going to fight like this, I won’t hold back. It will surely be for your own good.”
“Maaaaaaaffieeeeey!”
“Is that all you can say? Let’s have a real conversation?”
As he threw provocative words, Drew’s bloodshot eyes widened further. Opening his mouth wide, he repeatedly called Jared’s name in a low, curse-like voice. And then,
“I’ll kill youuuuuuuu!”
With clear murderous intent, Drew attacked Jared again. Kicking off the ground with his limbs, he leaped a great distance. But it was a mistake. For anyone who wasn’t an exceptionally skilled fighter, suddenly leaping was a poor tactic in combat. Drew displayed a distance and height that seemed impossible for a Human, but Jared felt no particular threat. Knowing where he would land, he just needed to move from there. Ducking under Drew as he leaped, Jared interfered with the Spirits. After dedicating his refined magic to an Earth Spirit to gain power, he unleashed multiple lumps of earth towards the back of Drew’s head and his back as he landed. The lumps of earth, with their power and speed reduced to minimize fatal damage, relentlessly struck Drew. The magic, hitting Drew’s defenseless back, directly struck him and blew him forward, making him fall to the ground.
“Sorry.”
Attacks from behind were dangerous, but he had no intention of facing a berserk Human head-on. He thought a strong impact might knock him unconscious, so he attacked with significant restraint. However—
“No way?”
Even though he was sure he had knocked Drew unconscious with the lumps of earth hitting his head and back, Drew stood up as if nothing had happened. This time, not like a beast, but standing properly on two legs like a Human. With the same bloodshot eyes glaring, Drew walking towards Jared showed no signs of damage. Jared thought he might have held back too much, but then reconsidered. It was strange for someone to be unfazed after being blown away by such an impact.
“Perhaps he can’t feel pain?”
There was no reply. But Jared’s guess was close to a certainty. The side effects of the Magic Amplification Potion were immense, causing him to lose his sanity and his magic to surge abnormally. It wouldn’t be strange if his pain receptors, or rather, his senses, were gone. In that case, he would have to resort to rougher methods. Jared clicked his tongue once, and this time, he attacked Drew himself. Kicking off the ground, he closed the distance and struck vital points of the Human body with punches that did not hold back. He felt the slight crunch of bone in his hand, convinced he had delivered enough power to cause damage, yet Drew stood there rigidly, as if unconcerned about being hit. Despite being pummeled repeatedly, he didn’t even move an inch. Even if he couldn’t feel damage, there must have been some impact. Yet, Drew’s complete immobility was unsettling. Only moments ago, he had been shouting Jared’s name, but now he was terrifyingly silent.
As Jared stepped back to observe the situation, Drew suddenly grabbed his hand with surprising force.
“—!”
Pain shot through Jared’s left arm as he was grasped. The grip possessed a strength far beyond that of a Human, and a groan of agony escaped Jared. It felt like his arm was being squeezed in a vise; Drew’s strength was that immense. Jared wondered if Drew had really used the Magic Amplification Potion, unable to comprehend how his physical prowess had increased so dramatically. He began to suspect Drew might be using something else entirely. Yet, it was also undeniable that Drew’s magic was visibly amplifying. The pain in his arm intensified, and he felt a real danger of it breaking. Jared punched Drew’s face, but he didn’t flinch.
“Damn it!”
He punched again, twice, thrice, four times, but Drew remained unfazed. Driven to desperation, Jared skillfully jumped on the spot and swung his right leg in a spring-like motion, delivering a sweeping kick to Drew’s face. The force of the kick sent Drew’s body flying. As he felt the constraint on his left arm weaken, Jared twisted his body and delivered another kick, this time to his abdomen. Drew, who had completely released his grip, rolled on the ground once more. Kicking up dust, he rolled several times, and, as if feeling no pain, stood up nonchalantly. Then, fixing his gaze on Jared, he smirked. Drew closed the distance with large strides, reaching out to grab Jared, but Jared dodged and countered with fists and kicks whenever an opening appeared. Even if Drew couldn’t feel damage, it must have been accumulating in his body. Eventually, his body would reach its limit. But Jared couldn’t predict when that would happen. He felt a strong urge to use magic, but Jared’s magic was exclusively offensive. While it might be acceptable if the opponent were still conscious, using magic on a berserk Human, even with restraint, risked unnecessary harm. He couldn’t help but feel how troublesome this was. Nonetheless, Jared was glad he was the one fighting. Lars and Laurentz had asked for Jared’s help, fearing a magical rampage from Drew after he used the Magic Amplification Potion. However, Drew showed no signs of using magic so far. His brute strength was certainly problematic, and Drew, who seemed to feel no pain, was an exceptionally troublesome opponent. Moreover, having to fight while trying not to injure him further was also a difficulty. Consequently, he had no choice but to fight barehanded instead of using magic. He had never heard that Laurentz, also a magician, was confident in his physical combat skills. Jared didn’t have a clear grasp of Bertha’s and Kurt’s abilities either, so fighting himself seemed to be the best option.
“Still—you’re weak.”
Despite having trained his body, Jared, who was primarily a magician, was able to engage in physical combat with relative ease without using magic. This led him to judge Drew as weak. While his brute strength and lack of pain sensation were troublesome, that was all there was to it. His brute strength was not a threat as long as he wasn’t caught, and the lack of pain sensation was merely an annoyance. It posed no real threat. Dodging his arm, Jared struck the underside of Drew’s jaw with a palm strike. As both his feet left the ground from the impact, Jared spun in place and delivered a spinning kick. The kick, which solidly connected with Drew’s body, sent him rolling on the ground again–so many times today it was tiresome to count. As expected, Drew stood up immediately, seemingly feeling no pain. But as he tried to take a step forward, he suddenly stumbled.
“Whoa, it seems you don’t feel pain, but damage is certainly accumulating in your body?”
Jared smiled as the anticipated turn of events unfolded. It was a wicked grin, like that of a villain who had succeeded in his ploy. However, Jared’s smile quickly vanished.
“O-oi?”
Red liquid began to flow from both of Drew’s eyes. This sudden bleeding made Jared anxious, wondering if he had attacked him too much. But he quickly realized he was wrong.
“Nggh, Gaa? Zaa, ngu, Gaa, Aaaaah, Gaaaaaaaah!”
Seeing Drew frantically clawing at his chest, Jared immediately understood it wasn’t because of his attack, but because of the drug Drew had taken. Tearing off his soiled uniform and exposing his upper body, Drew dug his nails into his chest. It was an unnatural sight, as if there were a foreign object inside his chest that he was desperately trying to remove. His nails cut into his skin, drawing blood, but Drew’s hands didn’t stop.
“What should I do?”
What was needed here was not a magician, but a doctor. There was nothing more Jared could do.
“When is help coming?!”
Whether it was the Knights or the Mage Association, Jared yelled, praying for someone who could save Drew to arrive as soon as possible. It was then that the magic emanating from Drew changed.
