How a mage fights

Magic Spells. The most obvious way to use mana. Every single mana practitioner uses spells to utilize mana and cast magic. If mana is the paint and elements are the different colors, then a spell is the art made from those colors.

The process of casting a spell has some prerequisites. The first, and the most obvious one, is to have a source of mana. Almost in all cases, the mage uses his mana core as a source, and in rare cases, a catalyst is also used.

Second, a mage should have a sufficient understanding of the theory of the spell. It is not required to master the spell theory, but sufficient basics to at least form the spell. A mage can improve upon a spell as he practices and masters more of the theory.

Thirdly, the capabilities to support the casting of the spell. This requirement is not a strict prerequisite, but a form of common sense. The spells have different ranks, just like a mage. If a rank 3 mage tries to cast a rank 4 spell, their mana core would not be able to handle the complexity of the spell which would result in the spell failing and the caster getting some serious backlash.

The best-case scenario would be crippling of the core, and the worst case would be death. So no mage in their right mind tries such a suicidal move.

Now back to the spar between Havien and the old man.

Havien was a rank 1 mage as he did not try to evolve his mana core when he was still forming his cores. He had made the guess that if he evolved his mana core, his body won't be able to form more cores. Right now, he has 9 pure mana cores, not a single one tainted with an element. Elemental magic can be used only from rank 2 onwards, as that is the point in time when a mage dabbles in elements.

It was unknown as to how high the rank of the old man was, but the barrier he used had the strength of exactly a typical rank 3 mage.

"Boy, let me tell you that one of the most difficult things in the world, is to catch a mage off guard. A mage who is not always prepared for such a scenario is not a mage." The old man said as he started casting his own mana bullets.

'Okay, he's strong. Basic Spell: Body Enhancement.' Havien called out in his own mind as his body was enveloped in mana. Body Enhancement is a spell that does what its name states, enhancing the body with mana. Havien actually has a little bit of body enhancement on constantly, which consumes his mana at the same rate as half his natural regeneration, which gives him the energy to never feel tired. Havien has just upped the potency to the original amount, which increases the power of the physical body by a few times.

Havien dashed forward with extreme speed, which actually did not surprise the old man as he clearly sensed Havien casting the spell.

"Body Enhancement, a good choice. However, keep in mind your consumption, it is quite a draining spell when used in long battles. Usually, it is used in bursts at critical moments to increase the explosiveness of the body." The old man lectured as he himself used body enhancement to dodge every strike of Havien.

"Using Body Enhancement in bursts doesn't gather the momentum of mana as constant use does." Havien spoke for the first time since the fight, surprising the old man.

"And something like the over-consumption of mana is not a problem for someone like me." Havien replied as he engaged in close-quarter combat. He tried to punch and kick the old man in whatever opening he saw, but it did not work as it seemed like the old man was just playing with Havien by showing false openings. Still, he did not let up the offense as that would give the old man time to refine his defense and even counterattack.

The old man was about to comment on Havien's lack of creativity of still trying close-quarter combat, but he suddenly sensed a lot of mana bullets on his back. Mana bullets are the most basic of basic magic to ever exist. Almost all rank 1 mages know this magic.

"Oho, distracting me using combat and preparing another barrage of bullets? Impressive, but try harder." The old man said as he formed a barrier on his back without looking which blocked all the bullets.

'I didn't even think it would actually defeat you, but this has allowed me to sense the weak point of your barrier.' Havien thought as he backed off a good distance.'

"Something new on your mind? Try it, I'll take it head-on." The old man replied as he raised the barrier all around his body.

Havien took a deep breath before pointing his hand forward. He made a gun-shaped gesture with his hand and aimed it toward the old man.

'Mana bullet: Overcharge.' Havien called out in his mind as a mana bullet was condensing on the tip of his fingers containing an absurd concentration of mana.

He closed one eye and took aim at the weak point of the barrier, and shot the bullet with his arms flinging back due to the recoil.

The face of the old man changed. He no longer had a relaxed posture and with a serious expression, formed multiple barriers.

The ever-so-powerful mana bullet continued on its way, it was no longer appropriate to call it a bullet as it was a missile by its sheer size. The bullet landed on the first barrier and shattered it to bits. It continued on its way breaking 4 barriers and finally heavily cracking the fifth before dissipating.

"Old man, that's at least rank 4 magic." Havien said in a complaining tone. He worked hard to gain an advantage and the old man just cheated his way through.

"Brat, do you want me to die then?" The old man replied with his eyebrows twitching. He would have surely been directly hit in the face if he continued to limit himself to rank 3 magic. He then continued,

"So far, you have shown me absurd mana quantities, the ability to multi-cast with your mana bullets, split-casting by using mana bullets and body enhancement at the same time, and the most absurd and unbelievable of all, spell overcharging.

There have been highly talented people able to multicast at low ranks, some prodigies being able to split-cast too, but I have never heard of a rank ONE mage doing ALL of these, plus being able to overcharge a spell, which many high ranks find extremely hard to achieve. All at just rank 1.

You are an absurd monstrous genius the likes of which no one has heard before. Furthermore, I have this absurd idea that you are somehow not using your full potential yet."

Havien was shocked, he did not expect the old man to figure out that he was not using his full potential, which are actually the gaias he has. But the problem was that rather than not using it, he was unable to use it. The gaias have been sleeping ever since he reincarnated.

"I want to see your limits boy. For that, I'm gonna get a bit serious in this spar. If you do not bring out all you have, you may die by my hands." The old man said in a serious tone. To Havien's horror, he sensed that the old man's aura flared up to the 5th rank.

'OH SHI-'

*WHIZZ* *BOOOM*

Havien had no time to finish his thoughts as a monstrously powerful and dangerous mana bullet whizzed past his head. Havien overcharged his body enhancement to make some distance from the old man to prepare some spells, but it was futile as the old man appeared right in front of him with a fist enhanced with body enhancement.

Instinctively, Havien split-cast and overcharged barrier, which was futile as the punch ripped through it and hit Havien square in the chest.

Havien was thrown out with blood spurting from his mouth. He lay flat on the cracked ground with dust all around him. The hands of the withering old man who looked on the verge of dying carried an unexpected amount of power. If not for the overcharged barrier absorbing most of the impact, Havien would have died.

'THIS CRAZY BASTARD! HE'S SERIOUS! HE'S GONNA KILL ME!!!!' Havien screamed in his mind as he felt his mana depleting. Turns out, even if you have 9 cores, casting multiple overcharged spells while still rank 1 is not a good idea.

'No, I don't wanna die. It's painful. It hurts. It feels like shit. It feels as if your life was all for naught. It's humiliating. It's depressing. I NEVER want to go through that again. Never. Not again. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die....'

*BOOOOOM*

An explosion sounded from inside the cloud of dust. Suddenly, a gust of wind came from nowhere which cleared the dust cloud, revealing a perfectly fine Havien with his radiant-white left eye glowing with a mysterious power.