I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 14

What is the greatest weakness of a wizard?

Without a doubt, it’s casting.

If the opponent attacks before the spell is completed, the wizard is practically helpless.

Naturally, fighting multiple opponents is even more disadvantageous. You have to cast one spell and then get beaten to death.

That’s why wizards need escorts. If not, they have to cast spells from a distance and run like hell.

‘Of course, things change a bit from the 5th circle.’

At the 5th circle, wizards learn a support spell called double casting, which allows them to cast two spells simultaneously.

At that point, they can defend with a shield and cast another spell to sweep away the enemies.

Anyway, the current situation of Randel, who was only at the 2nd circle, was far from ideal.

“Kiieeek!”

“Ki-keck! Ki-keck! Ki-keck!”

Eight goblins were charging madly.

Their mouths drooled long strings of saliva as they ran towards the sound of their comrade’s scream.

Their vertically slit pupils overflowed with madness at a glance.

This was why ordinary people fell victim to goblins, who were physically inferior.

The raw killing intent would freeze the body of anyone without experience, leading to fatal injuries.

Of course, this did not apply to Randel.

“Fire Arrow.”

Randel muttered as he extended his hand towards the goblins.

Whoosh.

Mana gathered before his eyes, and flames burst forth. They soon formed a long shape.

Fwoosh.

The completed arrow of fire was shot almost simultaneously as Randel uttered the incantation.

Its speed was comparable to that of a regular arrow.

The goblin at the front had no chance to dodge.

Thud.

“Keck!”

The goblin leaped once like a pheasant hit by an arrow and then collapsed.

With the arrow of fire lodged precisely in its head, it would never rise again.

In a way, it was lucky.

If it had been hit elsewhere, it would have died in agony, feeling its flesh burn.

“Kieeek!”

“Keeek!”

Did they instinctively know that a mage needed to cast spells? Or was it because they saw that Randel was still a young human?

Despite their comrade’s fall, the goblins did not care. They still charged with mad eyes.

But Randel.

He was on a different level from other mages.

“Magic Arrow. Magic Arrow.”

Pew. Pew. Pew.

Each time Randel extended his hand forward, blue arrows sliced through the air.

Goblins fell to the ground, writhing, as magical arrows were fired every second.

Even a magic arrow had an impact similar to an adult throwing a punch with all their might.

It wasn’t enough to kill the goblins in one shot, but it was enough to send them flying.

“Screeeech!”

Still, the goblins rolled their eyes and charged forward.

They must have hoped that if they could just get past this hurdle, they could feast on the human to their heart’s content.

In fact, the sacrifices of the preceding goblins were not in vain.

Finally, the leading goblin succeeded in approaching Randel.

“Keekeekeek!”

The goblin, who had gotten close to Randel, sneered with a twisted grin.

Then, raising both hands above its head, it aimed to stab Randel’s thigh with the stone knife it held.

The tip of the stone knife glistened black. It was clearly coated with poison.

But Randel did not panic.

Instead, he spoke quietly.

“Dig.”

Crunch.

The ground beneath the goblin’s feet caved in.

The size was only about two fists, but it was enough to throw the goblin off balance.

“Keek?”

The goblin, tripping over the ground, wobbled and stabbed the empty air with its stone knife.

And the price was high.

Thud.

Randel kicked the goblin, which had lost its balance and was falling towards him, with all his might.

Even though it was a kick from a 13-year-old, the goblin flew far away and rolled on the ground.

It was thanks to the mana that had strengthened his legs in the meantime.

The goblin couldn’t even get up and just twitched.

“Oh dear, that must hurt.”

In fact, an ordinary wizard cannot use body enhancement so freely.

Because they create circles in their hearts.

So, to enhance their body, they had to draw mana from their heart and move it to the relevant part.

However, it required a level of concentration and mana control that even most archmages would find difficult.

What if it failed midway?

The mana would backfire and damage the mental world.

In many ways, it was a dangerous method.

Of course, with practice, it wasn’t impossible, but wizards didn’t bother.

They could just use muscle enhancement magic during that time.

But there was exactly one person in the world who could do such a thing as easily as eating a meal.

And unfortunately for the goblins, that person was right in front of them.

“Kehik!”

At that moment, one of the goblins running with the one in front jumped up.

Between its wide-open jaws, saw-like teeth were visible.

Even though its mouth was small, it seemed like it could easily tear off a chunk of flesh if it bit.

And if it tore off the flesh from the neck area it was aiming for, Randel would have a hard time surviving.

“Hup!”

But instead of panicking, Randel glanced at the creature and swung his hand axe.

The hand axe was sucked into the goblin’s mouth as if it was being drawn in.

Crunch.

“……!”

With his enhanced strength, the hand axe not only shattered all the teeth but also split the goblin’s head in half.

But Randel didn’t even look at it.

He immediately turned his body and reached out his hand.

“Light.”

Fwoosh.

A fist-sized ball of light appeared in the air.

Up to this point, it was a typical light spell.

Crack.

When Randel clenched his fist, it exploded.

Fwoosh!

The problem was that it exploded right in front of the eyes of the goblin that had been sneaking up to attack.

“Kieeeek!”

The goblin clutched its eyes and screamed.

It was a sudden burst of light, and it was very bright.

For a few seconds, its vision would probably be completely white.

‘Magic varies slightly depending on who uses it.’

And Randel was a master in that field.

‘Limited to the 1st circle, though…’

It was the result of desperately trying to fight with just the 1st circle.

Thud.

Randel threw his hand axe at the goblin, who was still frantically rubbing its eyes.

The goblin, struck on the crown of its head, collapsed immediately.

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“Whew.”

That was the last goblin.

* * *

Goblin hunting, the fourth day.

“What a mess.”

Randel muttered as he wiped the blood off his cheek with his sleeve.

The surroundings were a field of corpses.

Green blood, the same color as the one on Randel’s cheek, was splattered everywhere.

The surroundings were all green, making the already lush forest look even denser.

“Persistent little things.”

Randel shook his foot as if annoyed.

The goblin’s hand, which had been clutching his pant leg, fell off.

It was the one that had crawled through the bushes during the battle, trying to inflict at least one wound until the very end.

It had been caught by Randel right in front of him and had its back struck by the hand axe, ending its life.

The peculiar thing was the expression on that goblin’s face.

There was no fear of death or fear of Randel.

Instead, there was more resentment.

‘Well, I would feel the same.’

As their kin who went outside kept disappearing, the goblins started tracking.

And at the end of that, they found a human, and now they all tried to attack and kill him.

But that human was strange.

Every time he pointed at his kin with his hand, an arrow flew.

That wasn’t all.

Suddenly, a light burst in front of his eyes, and his comrades, who had been running fine, fell.

Then the human approached and slaughtered his comrades with a hand axe.

Even if they barely approached, it was the same.

The human unhesitatingly retreated to widen the distance and then shot arrows again.

The goblins must have been going crazy.

Whether they defended or attacked, they had no choice but to die.

It had been going on for three days.

‘The really scary thing is… this method works even if the enemies are not goblins but humans.’

Of course, it was a bit unreasonable to compare goblins, who were small in size, to humans.

For one thing, a human wouldn’t be incapacitated by a single magic arrow.

But then what?

‘If they endure, just shoot one more.’

Even an adult couldn’t withstand three magic arrows.

But for Randel, three arrows meant three seconds.

‘Well, it might be a bit difficult against a wizard or a knight…’

Those who handle mana naturally form a mana field around their bodies.

The higher the level, the thicker the field, which had the function of reducing magical damage.

Moreover, they wouldn’t just stand still and get hit.

‘I still remember it vividly.’

In the past, he had encountered a high-ranking knight on the battlefield.

The knight deflected or cut down all the magic that the wizards poured out with his sword and eventually came close and cut off the necks of all the wizards.

‘But if I reach the 3rd circle, the story might be a bit different.’

Usually, from the 3rd circle, one is treated as a formal wizard.

That’s because they can use the area attack magic, Fireball.

If you could throw an exploding ball of fire once every second, even a knight couldn’t ignore it.

‘Mana field or not, they’d be roasted right away.’

Randel smiled contentedly.

Just imagining it made him feel content.

But then it happened.

Ding— Ding— Ding—

From far away in the forest, a sound came from the direction of the village.

It was so faint that you wouldn’t hear it unless you listened carefully, but it was definitely the sound of a bell.

‘Judging by the intervals of the sound… it seems like a meeting is being called. They’ve been having meetings too often lately. I wonder what it is this time.’

Randel fastened his hand axe to his waist and looked towards the village.

The afternoon had already passed by.

The crimson sunset was melting through the dense coniferous forest.

* * *

Ding— Ding— Ding— Ding—

The bell rang in the village, and shortly after.

A group of people gathered at the village chief’s house.

Four people representing the village.

Each one was the representative of the herbalists, the representative of the hunters, the captain of the vigilante corps, and the village’s only blacksmith.

They sat at the table with stern expressions.

“Thank you all for coming.”

Shortly after, the village chief came out from inside the house.

The village chief, as if it were urgent, exchanged only brief greetings and got straight to the point.

“I’m sorry to call you all when you’re busy.”

“No, it’s fine. If something happens in the village, of course we should come running.”

“Thank you for understanding. The reason I called you is… because of something you all know about.”

“The goblins, right?”

“That’s right.”

The village chief nodded.

The herbalist representative spoke up.

“Everyone’s been uneasy lately. There are quite a few herbalists who have heard the goblins’ screams.”

“The hunters are the same. Especially, they often see places stained blue with goblin blood, as if something happened.”

“Blood? Did another monster invade?”

“I don’t think so. If another monster had attacked, there should be traces of goblins being eaten, but there were no other traces besides the blood.”

The meaning of those words was simple.

It meant that after the goblins fought, the victorious side cleared away all the remaining corpses.

The elders’ faces darkened again.

Goblins had a tendency to be absorbed into groups with larger numbers.

The process was surprisingly smooth. It was rare for them to fight to the death like this.

If it happened, there was only one reason.

The village chief closed his eyes and spoke.

“There can’t be two leaders on one mountain…”

“…Do you mean that the goblins are fighting because each side has a leading Hobgoblin?”

“That’s right. It seems there are two Hobgoblins.”

“Oh my god…”

The faces of the village elders turned pale.

“What about the number of goblins?”

“Judging by the excrement, there are about 80 near the village. If they are fighting evenly with those, the other goblin group must also be around 80.”

“Ah…”

“Ugh…”

The village elders swallowed their sighs.

They racked their brains to find a solution, but it wasn’t just ordinary goblins, there were two Hobgoblins.

There was no way to deal with them.

Moreover, winter was approaching.

At a time when they needed to stockpile food, the hunters and herbalists were stuck in the village.

If this continued, they would starve to death.

There was only one answer.

“We must request a subjugation force from the lord.”

“…It will cost a lot of money.”

“It’s better than starving to death.”

Everyone fell silent at the chief’s words.

In that tacit agreement, the chief asked the head of the vigilante group.

“How long will it take for the subjugation force to arrive?”

“It will take us two days to get to the lord’s castle, one day to prepare, and two days to return, so at least five days.”

“Then, I will issue a curfew.”

“Understood. I will inform the residents immediately and send someone to the lord’s castle at dawn.”

The village chief, who nodded heavily, suddenly spoke.

“Come to think of it, didn’t the deputy leader’s younger brother recently go to the lord’s castle?”

“Oh, you mean Randell. He said he had a promise with a merchant from when he sold herbs.”

“He might return with the subjugation squad.”

The village chief was right.

Randell returns around the same time as the subjugation squad.

However, the time and location were different from everyone’s expectations.