Facing the relentless barrage of glintstone sorceries fired by the assembled sorcerers, Lucian strolled calmly through the storm of magic.
With nothing more than slight turns of his body, he evaded nearly every incoming spell.
Grazing past bullets while firing back with magic of his own—it almost felt like a nostalgic return to Gensōkyō.
Still, when the spellfire grew too dense, even that became difficult to manage.
So Lucian simply released his grip on the staff in his hand.
He poured magic into it, and under the force of his sorcery, the staff began spinning rapidly in front of him.
This was a signature spell of the Carian royal family—Spinning Weapon.
It was one of the many Carian sorceries Lucian had obtained from Ranni.
The staff, coated in magic, proved unexpectedly sturdy. Even as it intercepted glintstone projectiles one after another, it suffered no damage at all.
At this point, Sellen, in her Primeval Glintstone state, could no longer remain silent.
"My apprentice," her voice rang out,
"if you defend like that, how exactly do you plan to counterattack?"
"As a sorcerer, you've already mastered many spells—but in actual combat, you're still rather immature."
"Give me your magic."
Lucian followed her instructions and loosened his control over the flow of magic in his body.
Sellen immediately drew upon his magic, guiding it along a precise and unfamiliar path.
In the next instant, a pitch-black void materialized out of thin air between Lucian and the sorcerers.
Eternal Darkness—an ancient sorcery of the Nox.
At once, every glintstone projectile flying toward Lucian was seized by overwhelming gravitational force, spiraling around the dark singularity.
Brilliant shards of magic orbited the void like stars circling a black sky, forming a scene of strange and haunting beauty.
At that moment, Lucian suddenly remembered that he still hadn't gone to ask Master Thops about his research results.
If only he'd asked earlier, this would've been the perfect place to use them.
…Well, he could always sneak into the academy first, then warp out later.
With Eternal Darkness in place, Lucian no longer needed to maintain Spinning Weapon.
But a new question immediately surfaced in his mind.
Sellen was casting Eternal Darkness using his body—so why hadn't that interfered with the magic sustaining Spinning Weapon in his hand?
Shielded by the void, Lucian instinctively attempted to launch Ambush Shard at the sorcerers.
But as he began casting, the spell refused to take shape.
Unable to attack, Lucian quickly asked Sellen what was wrong.
Her voice echoed beside his ear.
"My apprentice, do you think a sorcerer can only cast one spell at a time?"
"Magic is not such a crude and inconvenient thing."
"If your control is refined enough, you can do as I just did—manipulate one spell while simultaneously casting another."
"This is one of the advanced techniques of sorcery: dual casting."
"The reason your Ambush Shard failed just now is because part of the magic flow overlapped."
"That portion of magic interfered with itself, causing the unfinished spell to collapse."
Lucian began to understand.
Earlier, he really had been using both Spinning Weapon and Eternal Darkness at the same time.
"My apprentice," Sellen continued,
"I will maintain Eternal Darkness for you. The offensive casting will be your responsibility."
"When you cast, focus on how the magic flows—whether it intersects with the flow sustaining Eternal Darkness."
"This is your first lesson in dual casting."
"And your homework."
Lucian nodded and began experimenting with different spells.
The sorcerers across from him had already realized they could do nothing against Eternal Darkness. Now they merely watched him warily.
They had never seen such a spell before, and had no idea how to counter it.
That gave Lucian plenty of time to complete Sellen's live-fire assignment.
He switched to another spell—an academy glintstone sorcery, and attempted Star Shower.
This time, the casting succeeded smoothly.
Six glintstone stars skimmed past the edge of Eternal Darkness, arcing outward before striking one of the sorcerers.
Naturally, this was the result of Sellen subtly adjusting the position of Eternal Darkness.
Otherwise, the void would have swallowed Lucian's spell as well.
The remaining sorcerers began to feel fear creeping in.
This unknown magic rendered all their attacks meaningless.
And the person before them was deeply unsettling—wearing a Karolos Glintstone Crown, yet wielding one of the most demanding spells taught by the Olivinus Conspectus, Star Shower.
Not to mention, his evasive movements looked nothing like those of a typical sorcerer.
'Just who… is this guy?!'
Lucian moved on to another test, this time casting Glintstone Greatshard.
However, two segments of the spell's magic flow overlapped slightly with Eternal Darkness.
The Greatshard was successfully formed—but its shape was warped, its size noticeably smaller than usual, while its speed was abnormally fast.
These were unpredictable results caused by flawed magic circulation.
Sellen's voice sounded once more.
"My apprentice, you felt it too, didn't you?"
"When spells share the same origin, their magic flows are far more likely to overlap…"
"And interfere with one another."
"But even two schools of magic with no direct relation will still overlap at certain fundamental points."
"Twin casting isn't a particularly difficult technique."
"When you can clearly remember the flow of each spell, when you know exactly which ones can be used together, you'll finally meet my standards as a qualified sorcerer."
"Once you've truly mastered twin casting, I'll teach you techniques far more profound."
Lucian nodded, then glanced toward the Bloodhound Knight, who had already run far ahead.
He was surrounded.
And the situation didn't look good.
'Let's finish things here.'
Lucian released Glintstone Comet.
The spell formed as smoothly as ever, streaking forward with terrifying speed toward a sorcerer.
The man hastily erected a shield composed entirely of condensed magic, but it shattered instantly.
The comet tore through him like paper, slicing through blood vessels, muscle, ribcage, and lungs in a single line. A violent spray of blood followed, leaving only half a corpse standing where he had been.
Lucian continued "calling names" with Glintstone Comet, eliminating the remaining sorcerers one by one.
They weren't mere fodder—but among the academy's ranks, they were nothing more than average.
Once the area was cleared, Lucian immediately went to check on the Bloodhound Knight, who had drawn enemy fire earlier.
The sorcerers attacking the knight also sensed something was wrong.
They chose to concentrate their fire, hoping to kill the Bloodhound Knight first—then deal with the clearly more dangerous Lucian afterward.
Unfortunately for them, the Bloodhound Knight's movements were far too agile.
Even under heavy bombardment, he avoided serious injury.
Meanwhile, Lucian dismissed Eternal Darkness, continuing to test other combinations suitable for twin casting.
During this time, several sorcerers deployed that peculiar defensive spell, a mana-constructed shield formed directly in front of them.
Its defensive power was impressive, especially against magic.
It was likely a spell developed during earlier conflicts between rival factions—magic designed specifically for internal warfare.
After clearing the remaining enemies, Lucian approached the heavily wounded Bloodhound Knight and sprinkled a handful of healing aromatic, restoring his injuries.
The Nomadic Merchant walked over, clapping enthusiastically as he spoke.
"Wow! I've never seen sorcery like that before, absolutely incredible!"
"You're far stronger than any sorcerer I've seen before."
"Who knows? You might actually succeed in breaking into the academy."
Lucian smiled faintly, said nothing, and turned toward the massive tower rising behind the plaza.
This tower was the only route into the academy. One had to ride the lift inside to ascend.
At the moment, the lift platform was positioned at the top. In front of them lay a bottomless abyss-like pit, only by pulling the mechanism could the lift be summoned.
Lucian pulled the lever.
With a deep mechanical rumble, the lift began descending.
He stepped onto the platform.
The Bloodhound Knight followed in silence.
The Nomadic Merchant hesitated.
To be honest, he really wanted to go up and take a look.
But given his abilities, even a stray shockwave up there could kill him.
Still… he had been within the academy grounds for so long, yet had never truly seen the academy itself.
Now, with powerful companions leading the way, why not indulge his curiosity?
With an awkward chuckle, the merchant stepped aboard.
Lucian didn't stop him.
The lift activated, slowly ascending within the ornate tower.
Halfway up—
The sound of spellcasting echoed from above.
Glintstone struck iron chains with sharp, metallic cracks.
Two chains on one side shattered instantly.
The platform lurched violently, tilting to one side, suspended only by the remaining chains.
Lucian grabbed the carved stone railing and caught the Nomadic Merchant, who nearly fell.
The Bloodhound Knight's claw scraped across the stone, carving deep grooves before finally embedding itself and stabilizing his body.
Lucian looked upward.
Four or five sorcerers were attacking the chains from above.
So there were still enemies waiting for them.
Only seconds later, the remaining chains were destroyed.
The lift plunged downward.
The Nomadic Merchant's scream echoed through the tower as they fell.
Above, the sorcerers calmly lowered their staves.
"With the lift destroyed, there's no way they can come up."
"Best case scenario, the sorcerer dies in the fall."
"Tch… he looks completely unharmed. Good thing we didn't go down to help."
They were sorcerers who had arrived earlier as reinforcements after receiving a distress call.
But they knew their limits.
If the sorcerers below couldn't handle that enemy, neither could they.
So instead of helping, they waited.
The academy was completely sealed anyway, the lift didn't matter.
Rather than letting that man come up and wasting effort hunting him down, it was better to ensure he never reached the top.
When the thunderous crash of the lift shattering at the bottom finally echoed up the tower, the sorcerers turned and left.
—
[T/N: Touhou Project and Gensokyo ]
Gensokyo (幻想郷, literally Land of Illusions or Land of Fantasy; more accurately romanized as Gensōkyō or Gensoukyou) is the fictional land that the entire Touhou series takes place in. Its culture vaguely resembles that of feudal Japan, with a lot of folktale elements added on.
Touhou Project is a series of Japanese bullet hell shooter games created by ZUN under the Team Shanghai Alice label. The gameplay centers around precise movement, pattern recognition, and survival through dense bullet patterns. Players control characters like Reimu Hakurei or Marisa Kirisame, navigating vertically-scrolling stages while dodging enemy projectiles, often referred to as "danmaku" or "bullet curtains."
The core mechanics involve shooting enemies, collecting power-ups, and using limited-use "Spell Cards" (bombs) to clear the screen of bullets during intense moments. Each game typically features six stages with mid-bosses and full bosses, culminating in an Extra Stage unlocked by completing the game without continues on Normal or higher difficulty.