Ron's progress with the fire-element runes went even faster than he expected.
His mental strength had reached forty-five points, enough that he could keep experimenting almost endlessly. Each attempt consumed only a sliver of energy, easily recovered through his natural regeneration.
On top of that, he already had solid experience from studying the wind-element runes. He knew how to avoid obvious mistakes, skipping straight to what mattered most.
In just three days, Ron had mastered two fire-element derivative runes.
But to his frustration, no matter how he combined those two with the base rune, every attempt failed. The fusion either fizzled out or burst into nothing.
Bang!
The three runes disintegrated. A small spark appeared in midair flashing once like a firework before vanishing into the sea breeze.
"So even the last combination doesn't work, huh?"
Ron exhaled, a touch of helplessness in his tone. Two new fire runes, and still no second-tier spell.
It seemed his earlier success with the wind-element magic had been luck. He must have stumbled on just the right combination to create Gale Sever. His luck with the fire element clearly wasn't as kind.
"Well then, time to make another one."
He sighed, but didn't lose patience. If nothing worked, then he'd just find a third fire derivative rune.
The process no longer intimidated him. His understanding of rune structure had grown deep enough that even creating all eight fire runes of the system wouldn't take him more than two weeks. It was work that had to be done eventually, so why not get ahead of it now?
To his pleasant surprise, on the morning of the fourth day, during his seventh attempt, he succeeded.
The third fire-element rune flared to life.
"Guess luck likes to swing back and forth."
Golden light shimmered inside the spirit crystal atop his wand, the intricate lines of the rune glowing softly. Ron smiled with satisfaction. It was a welcome surprise to wake up to.
Three days of disciplined training had also pushed his spirit slightly higher around forty-six points now.
By this stage, Ron could sense every point of spiritual power with pinpoint accuracy. After so many upgrades, he didn't even need the system's numbers to know his current strength.
"Alright then, time to figure out the combinations."
He mentally listed all possible rune pairings. The base rune was mandatory, and he had now four total one base, three derivatives. Combinations without the third derivative were already tested and failed. That left four options.
Each would combine the base rune and the third derivative with one of the remaining three.
Ron looked toward the horizon. Cocoyasi Village wasn't visible yet, so he still had time. He went straight back to work.
Base + Base + Third derivative…
After five tries, failure.
Base + First derivative + Third derivative…
Four more tries, failure again.
He frowned slightly. Was it really possible that none of the four would work? That would be absurd.
The silhouette of Cocoyasi Island was faintly visible now he figured he had maybe an hour or two left before arrival.
"That's enough time to test the last two."
He steadied his breathing, rested his mind for a few minutes, then tried again.
Even if the results were disappointing, it wasn't a total loss. With his current Gale Sever, he could obliterate Arlong easily. But spending days on fire magic with no result was annoying.
Then…
A low hum vibrated through the air.
Inside the spirit crystal, three golden points of light shone brilliantly. They stretched and intertwined, their fiery lines weaving together like living veins of magma.
The base rune, the third derivative, and the fourth derivative all merging perfectly.
The pattern that emerged was flawless, a grander rune glowing with golden fire.
"Success!"
Ron's eyes lit up. He raised his wand, and without hesitation, unleashed the spell toward the sea.
Boom!
A sharp flash erupted as the rune vanished, and the fire element in the air rushed together into a single point, condensing into a blazing arrow of flame.
It streaked forward at blinding speed, struck the ocean, and exploded.
A massive burst of crimson flame erupted outward, engulfing a radius of several meters in fire.
The sea hissed and boiled where the flames struck.
Then came the familiar voice of the system:
[You have mastered the fire-element second-tier spell: Explosive Flame.]
"Explosive Flame, huh? Not bad at all."
Ron grinned, watching the fading blaze. The impact was terrifying far greater than even Gale Sever when aimed at a single target.
Gale Sever's strength lay in its sweeping range. Explosive Flame, though smaller in scale, focused all its destructive power into a single point, then detonated like a bomb. Against one opponent, it was overwhelmingly stronger.
Its area damage, however, was more modest. The secondary explosion spread ordinary flames outward, less devastating than the cutting winds of his previous spell.
But what impressed Ron most was the speed. The projectile moved almost as fast as a wind spell. It didn't even need to be paired with wind magic for effect it was deadly enough on its own.
Satisfied, Ron nodded and began practicing.
At his current level, mastery came quickly. Even a second-tier spell like this would take only four or five uses before he could reduce its cast time to under a second.
Each time the flaming projectile streaked through the air, the sea flashed with red light an omen that a true magician was approaching his next stage of power.
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