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n‘It’s about time to wrap things up!’ I smiled.

nI made three backflips, creating an even greater distance between myself and the steaming mechanism.

n“Water Balls” I chanted.

nInstantly, blue spheres of liquid hovered on both my palms. I launched them at the golem, excited to see the reaction.

nPSHUUUUUUUU!!! A burst of steam suddenly surged from the golem immediately the water balls came into contact with it.

nThe white steam covered its immediate area, blinding the sight of the mechanism, while also shrouding it in thick smoke.

n‘Not only have I impeded its sight, but one of the weaknesses of rock is water. By increasing the temperature of the rock and pouring water on it, I’ve allowed the steam to permeate its entire body.’

nSteam is just water in gaseous form, so by allowing the water to cover its whole body, the Rock Golem will become severely weakened and will slow down.

nHowever, I didn’t intend on stopping there.

n“Ice Ball” I chanted the final time.

nAs I created a single orb of freezing particles, a smile formed on my face while watching the steam that was already dissipating.

nFlinging my arms at my target, I sent the ice ball to the golem, making sure to time when my attack would explode, or rather, disperse.

nAnd so, as soon as it came into contact with the mist, I initiated its eruption.

nBWOOOOOSSSSHHH

nAnd so, in the eyes of everyone present, a surprising sight presented itself.

n“H-how?!”

n“A-Amazing!!!”

n“Simply incredible!”

nI ignored the words of the maids and servants while looking in the direction of my mother.

nShe had a stunned look, certainly not expecting something like this to be the conclusion of my battle with the golem.

nMy tutor, Alphonse, also had a similar look on his face.

nTheir reactions… made all of this worth it.

nA distance from me, where the golem used to be, was a great cluster of ice, a glacier that was frozen and extended to as wide as the mist covered, while also spreading around like roots.

nThe golem was covered in the ice, entirely immobilized. Though I didn’t destroy it, there was no way it could attack anymore. It was easily my victory.

n“Heh, as expected… the reactions all added up.”

n“How did you do it?” Alphonse asked me.

nThe look on his face told me that he was still hung up over the Golem I had defeated and the bizarre way I won. So, while we were having lunch, he finally asked the question.

n“I’m also curious, Jared. Won’t you tell us?” My mother added, flashing me her sweet smile.

n‘Hmmn, I suppose I ought to enlighten them.’

n“I used the various reactions of the elements to create the final result you saw,” I revealed.

n“You… did?” Anabelle repeated, clearly not grasping what I said.

n“Yeah… it’s simple, really.”

n“Fire Ball lacks power and impact, so it can’t damage a rock golem, but the heat it produces makes the golem hot. By launching multiple fireballs at it, the Golem reached a satisfactory temperature, which made me use Water Ball.” I continued.

nThey were both amazed by what I did, but continued to listen in silence.

n“The Water Ball turned into vapor upon coming into contact with the extremely hot golem, and so it covered the golem in steam. As you know, water is a rock Golem’s weakness. Steam is water in its gaseous form, so I allowed the water to seep into the inner recesses of the golem, while also causing it to spread around its surrounding.”

n“Then… by using my final spell, the ice ball, I caused the ice to explode as soon as it touched the steam, sending the frost effect into the water that was already around the area. By freezing the moisture, it turned into a big ice structure, and the water that had seeped into the golem froze as well, making it to entirely turn into ice from the inside and also outside.”

nMost people do not know this, but hot water turns cold quicker than lukewarm water. Using this logic, and speeding up the process with magic, the hot steam created by the impact of my Water Ball with the burning Rock Golem was frozen at a fast rate.

n“And so, that’s how I won… pretty interesting, right?” I grinned, taking a bite of the salad I had left unattended.

nAnabelle looked at Alphonse as they exchanged amazed expressions. The two were incredibly astonished by my resourcefulness and unorthodox methods.

nThey had initially thought I was being random in my attacks, perhaps due to it being my first battle. In fact, it would have been more understandable and natural if that was the case.

nIt was only natural that a person who had no combat experience would panic when faced with the unexpected and make mistakes. However, I did the exact opposite, I correctly analyzed the situation and rightly compensated.

n“B-but why? Why go through such a roundabout way to defeat the Golem?” Alphonse suddenly asked.

nI could indeed have used a much simpler approach, yet I chose the complicated route. Well, the answer was simple.

n“I just wanted to experiment. It was fun seeing such a reaction, don’t you think? Rather than being straightforward with magic, it’s also good to not be bound by strict spells. It’s fun making your own by experimenting with various methods.” I said.

nThis stunned my mother and tutor. They couldn’t believe I would be so open-minded and broad with my perception of magic.

nAnd so, from that moment on, they both decided not to take the usual approach with me.

nMy master stopped using the basics to teach me and went more complex. As for my mother, she allowed me full access to our house’s library, giving me full access to all the materials I needed to learn and grow.

nJust as I planned. I wowed the adults, and now they were pretty much under a different kind of spell. My genius spell.

n‘Perfect! Now my real magic training begins!’

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