A Genius Boy Who Was Exiled From His Family Home for “Not Being Able To Use Magic” Becomes a Witch’s Apprentice and Masters All Magic in the Right Way. This Is How You Use Your Magic, You Know?

Chapter 157.1. Monster

Lucius inhaled and began chanting a spell.

“—’Return to the heavens, bring the end, manifest as the voiceless form of His will.'”

(As I thought—)

Then, as Hermes reached a certain conclusion,

Lucius assumed a stance and declared his spell’s name.

“Bloodline Magic—[Lunad Saraka]!”

In an instant, Lucius vanished.

Before Hermes could even register it, Lucius appeared right in front of him, sword raised.

(I knew it—!)

But Hermes had anticipated this. He had already stepped backward to reduce their relative speed, barely managing to align his timing.

With swift reflexes, he blocked the blade’s flash using a general-purpose enhancement spell, simultaneously leaping back with all his might to absorb the shock.

For a first encounter with this strike, his response was nearly flawless.

—And yet.

“—Tch!”

An extraordinary impact coursed through his entire body. Even his perfect defense was penetrated, delivering significant, unavoidable damage.

As he retreated to recover, Hermes began analyzing.

…As expected, Lucius’s bloodline magic was potent. [Lunad Saraka]. A simple yet powerful magic that enhanced physical abilities.

While Hermes hadn’t fully grasped its mechanisms, it was clear that this magic was essential for Lucius to perform at such an extraordinary level.

However, the extent of the enhancement far surpassed Hermes’s expectations. Hermes understood it all too well—because he could replicate the same magic himself.

—But drawing out its power to this degree was beyond Hermes’s current capabilities.

Lucius had mastered the spell to a terrifying level.

“Impressive. That move earlier—you’re skilled in close combat as well!”

Lucius’s voice brimmed with admiration as he charged forward again. …There was no time for further deliberation.

“[Mistle Teinn]—Enchant: Tifa!”

Hermes couldn’t afford to stay on the defensive. While retreating, he unleashed magic.

A wind projectile spell, specialized in speed for suppression, was fired en masse at Lucius. But—

“That’s a fine spell. However—just a little slow!”

Lucius declared, swinging his greatsword. The massive weapon, impossibly light in his hands, sliced through the air with incredible speed and a deafening roar.

The result was the same as before—every projectile was instantly cleaved.

(As expected, but still—)

Hermes confirmed this while preparing his next move, his face tightening. Upon closer inspection, he had started to discern the general nature of Lucius’s technique.

First, that skill… likely involved no trickery. Nor did the sword itself seem to be a magical artifact. It was purely Lucius’s mastery.

But this also meant—no effective countermeasures were possible.

“Now, you’re not out of tricks already, are you? I’ve heard about your reputation, so don’t expect me to let my guard down!”

Without slowing for even a moment, Lucius closed in. Hermes continued analyzing as he braced for the assault.

—From here, the battle became one-sided. Lucius relentlessly pressured Hermes, who could only evade while desperately holding out.

Hermes’s attempts at counterattacks were limited to fleeing and utilizing bloodline magic. Yet—

“Hah! Too naïve!”

“Ah, that’s your move? Interesting, but—”

“I’ve seen that one before!”

—Nothing worked. Lucius’s likely unique ability to “cut through magic” combined with his absurd physical abilities enhanced by his own magic, plus his godlike skill with the greatsword, rendered every one of Hermes’s spells ineffective the moment they entered his range.

What could Hermes possibly do against such a monster?

He tried every magic he knew, tested countless approaches to find an opening.

Yet, he found none.

“I’ve seen that one too. …Running out of options, are we?”

Lucius easily sliced through Hermes’s magic once more, taunting him. Panting heavily, Hermes kept up his evasive maneuvers and spellcasting. Compared to Lucius, who barely broke a sweat, Hermes’s disadvantage was obvious.

…A monstrous foe. The rumors were true, Hermes thought once more.

Still, naturally, Hermes wasn’t one to stay on the losing end. His constant retreat had bought him enough time for analysis. He had also found an opening.

Thus—from here, the counterattack would begin.

“—Hm?”

Lucius furrowed his brow. The next spell Hermes cast was—[Mistle Teinn], the same spell that had failed repeatedly. What could he possibly hope to achieve with this now? Lucius considered that perhaps Hermes had imbued something within the projectiles. Even so, he figured he would simply cut them down and readied his sword.

“—!”

Just before impact, the projectiles veered sharply, crashing into the ground instead.

The explosion raised a cloud of dust, momentarily obscuring Lucius’s vision.

“So that’s your game—!”

While fending off Lucius’s attack, Hermes chanted. The trump card he had kept in reserve for this moment.

“Spell Reenactment—[Lunad Saraka], Spell Combination—[Mistle Teinn]!”

By merging the speed-boosting effect of his magic bullets with physical enhancement magic, Hermes activated his fastest hybrid bloodline magic.

The choice was simple.

—This was the only magic capable of surpassing Lucius’s speed.

Through his analysis, Hermes had determined the extent of Lucius’s [Lunad Saraka] enhancement.

While Lucius’s spell surpassed Hermes’s in sheer power, it couldn’t match the speed-focused fusion Hermes had crafted.

The plan was clear. Blind Lucius with the dust, strike from his blind spot at a speed too fast to react.

If an opening couldn’t be found, brute force through sheer speed.

With determination, Hermes poured all his available magic power into achieving maximum velocity. His body became a magic bullet.

He sensed Lucius’s position with mana, added feints, and then charged at divine speed from outside Lucius’s field of vision.

Hermes achieved a speed greater than ever before— even Lucius shouldn’t have been able to react—

—But.

“—There!”

With perfect timing,

Lucius swung his sword through the dust cloud, flawlessly intercepting Hermes’s charge.

“Ka—!”

At such a speed, Hermes’s momentum worked against him. Struck by the greatsword, the force sent Hermes flying with overwhelming impact, leaving him breathless in agony.

All he could feel was utter shock.

“—A splendid strike, truly.”

Lucius, maintaining his stance after the swing, spoke with genuine admiration.

“But unfortunately—when vision fails, one can still read the flow of mana to predict an attack.”

With a tone of sincere praise, Lucius revealed the secret of his reaction.

Indeed, the source of his reaction was mana perception. Just as Hermes had sensed Lucius’s position through mana, Lucius had done the same—but with far greater precision, discerning the spell’s nature, speed, and target.

Hermes slammed into the ground. He managed to land somewhat safely, but the damage was severe.

Still, as he stood, he thought:

(…I accounted for that.)

Hermes had anticipated that Lucius might detect his attack. After all, Hermes knew people with mana perception even stronger than his own. By comparison, it was reasonable to assume Lucius could read his intent through mana.

That’s precisely why—Hermes had intended to strike at a speed that even a reaction couldn’t match.

Yet, despite this expectation, he had been countered perfectly. In that brief moment, Hermes understood the reason.

(At that moment, he concentrated his magic—most likely in his upper body, or specifically, his right arm.)

It was an advanced application of [Lunad Saraka]. Typically, the spell enhanced the entire body evenly. This was its default usage and adhered to its intended purpose.