Aldrich-sensei knew Karl's talent was freakish.
But he hadn't expected it to be this freakish.
Talent should come in categories, right?
For example—
If you're good at water-element magic, then naturally you'll be slower at grasping fire-element magic.
If you're good at spatial magic, then you might not be good at other kinds of magic.
Aldrich-sensei himself was good at spatial magic, which was why he had been able to master the Mirror Dimension in the first place.
Karl had shown astonishing performance in other types of magic before, and Aldrich-sensei hadn't thought Karl had much talent for the Mirror Dimension.
But—
Karl turned around and slapped him in the face with reality.
He just took one look…
and learned the spell directly?
What kind of joke was that?!
For ordinary sorcerers, to master the Mirror Dimension, no matter what, it would take months.
If your talent was a little worse, you might not be able to master it even after years.
And that was still among the elites of sorcerers.
In Kamar-Taj, the few sorcerers who had mastered the Mirror Dimension—who hadn't trained for years and years?
Usually, it was only after an enormous amount of practice…
that they could grasp that powerful magic.
But Karl was different.
He looked once, listened to the explanation, and learned it?
This was absurd.
Aldrich-sensei's hands trembled nonstop with excitement, showing just how badly he was losing composure right now.
"Aldrich-sensei, is there something wrong with my magic?" Karl asked quickly when he saw Aldrich-sensei starting to shake like he was having spasms.
Hearing Karl's voice, Aldrich-sensei finally snapped back to his senses.
"Ahem. Let me take a look."
"Come on, let's go in."
"You can't tell from the outside with the Mirror Dimension."
Aldrich-sensei spoke.
The Mirror Dimension spell—rather than being "magic," it was more like a struggle for control authority.
The Mirror Dimension naturally exists in this world.
What sorcerers do is enter the Mirror Dimension and obtain more permissions.
To judge proficiency in the spell, you look at how much control someone has over the Mirror Dimension.
Everyone's Mirror Dimension is interconnected.
After leading Karl into the Mirror Dimension, Aldrich-sensei spoke again.
"In the future, you must be careful—don't use the Mirror Dimension in front of sorcerers who specialize in it."
"If someone else has a higher degree of control than you, it can become extremely dangerous."
"Look—if I just move my mind…"
"This world will be controlled by me. With this, I can even defeat veteran sorcerers who don't know the Mirror Dimension."
Aldrich-sensei waved his hand.
His mental power began to manipulate the things around them in the Mirror Dimension.
Based on his control permissions and his ability,
things within about 30 miles should have been completely manipulable by him.
But—
when his mental power spread out, it felt as if it had struck a wall of solid bronze and iron.
Aldrich-sensei even felt like he was a mayfly trying to shake a towering tree.
No matter how hard he pushed—
the surrounding space didn't move at all.
Aldrich-sensei: ???
"That shouldn't be possible!"
Aldrich-sensei stroked his beard and, without meaning to, yanked out a few hairs.
"What do you mean, 'shouldn't'?" Karl asked.
"It's strange. Why can't I manipulate the environment around us?"
"This Mirror Dimension should be under my control."
Aldrich-sensei's eyes were full of suspicion.
Why is the Mirror Dimension so terrifying?
Because it can create a massive home-field advantage.
As long as your power is strong enough, the entire world can be manipulated by you.
Changing terrain like that can let you defeat opponents far stronger than you.
But now—
he couldn't manipulate anything?
What was going on?
Was it because he hadn't slept well last night?
Aldrich-sensei refused to believe it.
His powerful mental power moved again.
The veins on his forehead bulged out.
But—
the surrounding environment still didn't move, not even a little, completely unmoved.
Aldrich-sensei: ????
What the hell was happening?
"This is unbelievable. Why won't the spatial structure move?"
"I clearly have the corresponding power. I should be able to control it."
Aldrich-sensei clawed at his own hair.
"Do you mean like this?" Karl asked, seeing Aldrich-sensei going berserk.
His mental power spread out.
In the next instant—
the surrounding spatial structure began to move in a bizarre way, as if the nearby buildings had come alive.
In essence, it was the spatial structure around them changing; the material structure itself didn't change at all.
But in Aldrich-sensei's eyes, it was something utterly unbelievable.
"What the hell?!"
"What did you just do?!"
"Uh—uh—uh…"
Aldrich-sensei was instantly flustered, stumbling over his words.
What was going on?
What was going on?!
Fine—if you learned the Mirror Dimension, I won't even say anything. You're a genius. That's normal.
But why the hell can you manipulate the spatial structure around us?!
Isn't that just unreasonable?!
Doesn't the Mirror Dimension require gradual adaptation before you gain control permissions?!
But you're doing this "get on the ride first, buy the ticket later" nonsense?
It was like everyone was trying to pursue a girl—
meet her, get familiar, have meals together, and only then talk about marriage.
Karl's version was: meet her, and immediately take her home?
Is that even fair?!
Is it just because you're good-looking?!
"This isn't reasonable! This isn't reasonable!"
"Don't you feel dizzy, with some strange sluggishness?"
"Don't you feel like controlling it is a bit strenuous?"
Aldrich-sensei demanded, nearly losing his mind.
"Strenuous?"
"No."
"I feel pretty relaxed."
Karl rubbed his nose awkwardly.
He only moved his mental power again—
and the environment around them underwent earth-shaking changes once more.
The surrounding buildings even shot straight into the sky, interweaving overhead to form an enormous dome.
And the dome kept changing continuously—
for a moment it became an "S," then a "B."
More precise than a stage performance.
Aldrich-sensei stared in shock.
He pointed at the sky, both hands flailing helplessly.
His lips moved as he muttered,
"That shouldn't happen… That's impossible…"
"How can you control it so skillfully on the first try? Why can you control such a huge area?"
"Don't tell me this kid is the son of the Goddess of Space?"
"This is too shameless!"
Aldrich-sensei was about to cry.
He had practiced this magic for at least forty years.
With the Mirror Dimension—he was absolutely one of the most proficient sorcerers.
Even now, he could only control an area of a little over a hundred meters.
Karl was practicing for the first time.
And the area he controlled was already tens of thousands of meters, stretching beyond sight.
It was vastly more than Aldrich-sensei's—over a hundred times more.
Was that reasonable?
Was that fair?!
Who exactly was Karl?
Could he really be the Space Goddess's illegitimate child?
Otherwise, how could this be so outrageous?
(End of Chapter)
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