In the forest outside the Black Bulls' base.
Ryoma stood in an open space, eyes closed, quietly sensing the flow of magic around him.
In his hand, he held the tattered ancient book.
In his mind, he constantly recalled the fragments from the book, combining them with his previous experience of Finral's magic.
He verified these with the space-time magic contained within his grimoire.
"The overlap of coordinates…"
"The 'anchor' for stabilizing space…"
He muttered to himself, trying to transform these abstract concepts into usable magic.
After a long while, he opened his eyes.
"Let's try it."
He set his target next to a large tree about ten meters in front of him.
Ryoma concentrated, mobilizing the magic within his body.
A power completely different from ice magic, more obscure and unstable, began to gather in front of him.
Buzz—
A ripple, like water waves, appeared in the air before him. An unstable spatial distortion point, about the size of a fist, slowly formed.
First step successful!
Ryoma was delighted, and without hesitation, he lifted his foot and stepped in.
The next second.
Bang!
With a dull thud, he fell unexpectedly from three meters in the air, plunging headfirst into the nearby bushes.
"Cough…"
Ryoma, covered in dust, crawled out of the bushes, spitting out leaves from his mouth.
"…Misjudgment."
However, this was indeed Spatial Magic.
He wasn't discouraged and concentrated again. This time, he constructed the spatial coordinates more carefully.
Buzz!
The spatial distortion point appeared again.
He took a deep breath and stepped in once more.
Swish!
This time, he successfully appeared next to the target tree. However, before he could rejoice, he realized he had appeared upside down.
Thump!
His head had an intimate encounter with the ground.
Ryoma shook his slightly dizzy head and got up from the ground. It seemed he still had a long way to go to master this ability.
"Again!"
He refused to believe it. He tried again and again.
Bang!
He crashed directly into the tree trunk.
Splash!
He fell into the nearby stream.
Crack!
This time was even more absurd. He appeared stuck firmly in the fork of a large tree.
Ryoma struggled for a long time, eventually having no choice but to cut the branches with an ice blade to fall down.
The entire afternoon flew by in this continuous cycle of failure and attempts. The forest was littered with messy traces of his failed practices.
"Last time."
Ryoma looked at an open space about fifty meters away in the distance and once again gathered his magic.
He focused all his mental energy on the coordinate positioning and the stability of his body posture.
The spatial distortion point emerged, more stable than any previous attempt.
Now!
Ryoma took a step, and his figure instantly vanished from his original spot.
The next moment, his figure precisely appeared fifty meters away.
However, his appearing position was… more than ten meters above the ground.
"I…"
Ryoma only managed to utter one word before gravity pulled him straight down.
Rumble!
Accompanied by a loud crash of breaking trees, he smashed through a dense tree canopy.
—
Dinner time.
In the Black Bulls' dining hall, everyone sat together.
Asta's gaze lingered on Noelle for a few seconds. "Noelle, why don't you help clean up?"
Noelle looked at the roasted meat in front of her, not even lifting an eyelid. "Help clean up? I am royalty."
Her tone was as indifferent as if stating a self-evident truth.
Asta then turned his head, his gaze falling on Ryoma, who was quietly eating. "What about you, Ryoma? You never help either."
Ryoma stopped his movements and looked up at Asta. "I'm not a rookie anymore."
Asta asked, "You joined with me, didn't you?"
"But I've already completed a formal mission."
Ryoma's answer was concise and clear, and then he continued eating.
Hearing about the mission, a more fundamental question popped into Asta's mind, and he looked at the other Magic Knights present.
"Um… speaking of which, what exactly does the Magic Knight Squad do?"
Magna slammed the table, his chair sliding back half a meter.
"Are you serious, kid?"
He grabbed Asta by the collar and said, "The job of a Magic Knight is, of course, to defend the country. Guard against neighboring countries. Maintain the peace and security of the kingdom."
"It's the most manly job in the world. You don't know anything, so why did you join the Magic Knight Squad, you scoundrel?"
But Ryoma noticed that although Magna spoke passionately, he didn't mention any specific details.
To be honest, for the Black Bulls, it was good enough if they didn't cause damage or mess up missions.
While the Magic Knights were discussing their various understandings of joining the Magic Knight Squad's work, Yami kicked open the dining hall door and, with a serious face, called Magna away.
"Let's go, Magna."
Magna instantly calmed down from his excited state, and his expression became serious.
"Yes, Captain Yami."
He stood up and straightened his clothes, his demeanor solemn as if he were about to carry out some important mission.
Asta heard there was a mission and jumped up.
"A Magic Knight Squad mission!"
He remembered that Ryoma had already participated in a mission shortly after arriving, and his eyes burned with fighting spirit.
"I… I want to go too!"
"No!"
Magna said with a stern face and an extremely serious tone, "This job isn't for kids, it's the most important mission for adult men."
After speaking, he walked towards Yami.
Asta watched their departing backs, filled with longing and curiosity.
Meanwhile, Ryoma, on the side, silently rolled his eyes inwardly.
The most important mission for adult men?
To lose money at the casino?
As a transmigrator who knew the plot, Ryoma was very clear about what this so-called "important mission" actually was.
Yami was taking Magna to gamble at the casino. And most likely, they would lose terribly again.
An unreliable adult, leading a group of even more unreliable Magic Knights.
Luck, the battle maniac, challenged Yami, who was about to leave. "Captain, fight me when you get back from the mission."
As he spoke, Luck's gaze suddenly turned to Ryoma. "Ryoma!"
"Now it's time for us to continue our morning duel!"
His eyes sparkled with excited electricity,
"Let's fight!"
Ryoma's movements instantly stiffened.
He had been so busy complaining about Yami and Magna that he forgot to guard against this battle maniac. And the situation now was worse than in the morning.
In the morning, he could use an ice clone to lure Luck away. This time, it probably wouldn't work.
Ryoma's heart tightened.
In this enclosed dining hall, there wasn't much space to escape. And Luck's lightning magic was extremely fast. He had to find a way to get away.
Ryoma's mind raced, searching for possible escape routes.
The dining hall door?
Luck would definitely block it.
The window?
Too small, and Luck was faster than him.
Then…
Ryoma's gaze fell on the small door in the corner of the dining hall.
That was the back door to the kitchen.
If he could escape from there and then circle around to other areas of the base…
"I'm going to the kitchen to get some more food."
After speaking, he walked towards the kitchen, then slipped out through the back door.