I Was Mistaken as a Genius Mage in a Game

Blessing of the Spirit

Whether you’re a classic wizard, a one-shot mage, or even a close-range tank orc wizard who invests all their stats into strength and health, this is an exceptional, overpowered spell that fits any build.

The spell casts a shield that absorbs all attacks for 1 second as soon as the mage is attacked. Unlike weak defensive spells like 'Arcane Shield' or 'Mana Shield,' this one offers performance on an entirely different level.

The greatest advantage of this spell is that it doesn’t consume any additional mana to activate. It’s a spell where a spirit protects the caster by casting the shield, which makes this feature quite natural, considering the concept of the spell.

The second advantage is that it’s not an 'active' spell that requires precise timing when an attack occurs. Instead, it automatically activates every time the mage is attacked. For someone like me, whose agility stat is a mere 1, resulting in a dreadful reaction speed, this is arguably the best spell imaginable.

However, does this spell offer perfect, unbreakable defense? Well, not quite.

As soon as I returned from the Akhiliptus Forest, I conducted several experiments on the "Blessing of the Spirit" spell with Rex’s help.

Thanks to that, I discovered two major flaws in this seemingly flawless defensive magic.

The first flaw is that the "Blessing of the Spirit" has a short cooldown of 15 seconds. This makes it hard to efficiently deal with enemies that attack rapidly with low damage, and especially against assassins like dagger-wielding thieves, there’s a high chance of exposing a gap.

The second flaw is that the condition for activation, "When the mage is attacked," has a very low threshold.

A stone thrown lightly at me can sometimes trigger the barrier, and even if a comrade reaches out to me with too much force and speed, it might be recognized as an "attack," causing the spell to activate.

In the game, the developers probably set up each situation and coded a precise concept of "an attack on the mage"... but that kind of coding doesn’t apply to reality.

...I haven’t experienced it yet, but I’m sure that if a hailstorm were to fall, the shield would activate every 15 seconds, turning me into something resembling a disco ball with shields flickering on and off.

Still, the automatic deployment of a shield that nullifies all attacks for 1 second remains a very attractive feature, even though there are some disappointing aspects.

The "Blessing of the Spirit" feels like a magic that symbolizes... well, it’s like the embodiment of a transcendent being such as Dajin.

Strong, sturdy, and exceptional, but with something slightly off, like a screw that's come loose.

“From now on, be careful. It goes without saying, but it’s better to avoid triggering the shield unnecessarily.”

As expected, Rex and the soldiers drafted into my guard knew about this fact.

That’s why Rex was extra vigilant, keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings. Even small rocks or debris rolling nearby could unintentionally trigger the "Blessing of the Spirit."

A 15-second cooldown is plenty of time to turn the tide of battle.

“12 o’clock, Great Lord appearing! It’s Raguel!”

A demon lord with striking white skin and huge horns emerged from the clouds, his wings cutting through the light. This great lord, known for his flight and disruption, had been observing the battle from within the clouds.

“Let’s begin.”

Raguel, with skin that was pale and lumpy like a corpse, tugged at his tail. His spine pulled right out of his body. Raguel briefly lost his upper body’s form, like a slug, before quickly regrowing his spine and lifting his head again.

Raguel wrapped his severed tail around his hand, raising the sharp, venom-soaked bone like a blade. If it even brushed against you, death was inevitable.

This was a terrifying weapon, far more menacing than anything I had faced before.

Whoosh—!

As my gaze, along with Rex’s and the old wizard’s, was drawn toward Raguel, something sliced through the air, creating a sharp noise.

I quickly turned my head in the direction of the sound, and there, an enormous arrowhead I had never seen before was charging toward me.

The arrowhead, coming straight at me, was so fast it seemed ready to pierce my eyes.

For someone with a desperate reaction speed like mine to even register the attack meant I was already too late to avoid it. The arrow had flown hundreds of meters and was now just 2 meters away from piercing my neck.

An arrow traveling at such a speed, faster than sound, and only 2 meters away from hitting me—there was no time to dodge.

Swoosh—!

The moment the arrowhead was just a meter away from piercing my neck, the "Blessing of the Spirit" triggered once more.

The arrow, traveling with terrifying speed, disintegrated the moment it came into contact with the barrier, accompanied by a flash of lightning.

The compressed air from the arrow burst out, lifting my bangs. A hot, uncomfortable gust of wind slammed into my face.

A sonic boom erupted from the arrow that came faster than the speed of sound. The sudden explosion of noise sent the soldiers on edge, tightening their grips on their weapons.

“...Tch!”

Rex clicked his tongue, noticing the arrow that collided with my barrier, then apologized loudly.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t react in time!”

“It’s fine. It was expected, after all.”

Rex, tasked with guarding me and even taking arrows or spells on my behalf if needed, wasn’t at fault for failing to stop that attack. The sniper’s skill was just far beyond normal standards.

“...Ariel has appeared.”

That sniper’s shot was unmistakably the work of Ariel, the demon lord. The huge arrowhead, the incredible speed surpassing sound, and the sonic boom created by the combination of those elements—just as described in the game’s settings.

“...The direction of the sniper’s shot is approximately 2 o’clock, but the exact location of the enemy is unclear!”

An elf soldier, observing the battlefield from a distance, shouted loudly.

“Approximately?! Elf, aren’t you supposed to be sharp-eyed? How can you not find the sniper’s position?! I don’t want an approximate direction, give me the exact location!”

“...Shut up, I’m concentrating.”

The elf appeared irritated at not being able to pinpoint the sniper’s location.

It wasn’t all that surprising. A demon lord like Ariel, who specialized in sniping and had a suspicious nature, surely wasn’t shooting from a few hundred meters away. It was more likely that they were positioned several kilometers away, and with the arrow’s speed, it wouldn’t be easy to track and pinpoint the exact trajectory.

Moreover, Ariel’s unique physical traits would be a huge obstacle in identifying the sniper’s position.

Even if Ariel stood on an open plain with no cover, their body would be obscured in shadow due to their strange anatomy.

Normal people could never accurately gauge their form with the naked eye, making them extremely advantageous for sniping.

“Tracing the sniper’s position with the naked eye is practically impossible.”

“Lir, are you ready?!”

“I know! 2 o’clock, right?”

A sniper who couldn’t be pinpointed, who could shoot arrows with unbelievable accuracy, and whose arrows were as large as cannons.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

The moment we realized such a sniper was lurking in the battlefield, most of the soldiers would have been alarmed and sought cover or tried to flee.

However, neither I nor my guard moved a step from the open field.

“Get down! With a sniper of that caliber, it must be Ariel!”

“Damn it, General! There are two great lords, Ariel and Raguel! We should fall back a bit!”

We had been aware of Ariel’s arrival on the battlefield long before.

We had already prepared countermeasures against this crazy sniper who could shoot arrows faster than sound and with 100% accuracy.

“Fall back?”

I turned around and said to the soldiers, who were looking up at me from their trenches, filled with anxiety.

I tried to smile as reassuringly as possible, despite the unease in my own heart. In truth, I too was overwhelmed by the appearance of these demon lords in such a dangerous battlefield, and I feared death just as much, but if I, as the general, showed fear, the soldiers’ morale would plummet.

If I get scared, they get scared. If they get scared, no one will fight to protect me.

If they won’t fight for me, I can do nothing. A mage can only survive on the battlefield with the help of others.

“There’s no need for me to step in against something like that.”

To survive, I put on a mask of calmness, lacing my words with ridiculous bravado.

“...Something like that? I should test if you can still talk after I rip your head off!”

Raguel, the great lord with huge wings, turned his face red with rage and shouted.

“....”

Raguel was the only demon lord among the great lords who was impulsive and emotional, unlike the others who valued reason and composure.

There wasn’t any deep backstory for his emotional nature.

‘If one of the great lords acted emotionally and impulsively, maybe it would help the organization function more efficiently?’ That was the casual experimental mindset of the Demon King who created Raguel.

Because of that, Raguel commanded fewer high-ranking demons and monsters compared to the other demon lords.

To the Demon King, Raguel was just an experiment.

And Raguel knew that very well.

“Don’t look down on me, you defective one.”

So, if I wanted to provoke someone, Raguel was the best target.

I looked up at Raguel, flapping his wings wildly, and scowled.

“...Defective.”

It seemed my provocation had worked. The veins in his forehead were bulging, and green blood was dripping from his tightly clenched fists.

“I’ll replace your insides with pig intestines. I’ll tear your arms and legs apart, then replace them with beast limbs and make you feel the pain of being stabbed by knives every moment of your life.”

Raguel was an idiot. If he had started his ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) attack while spitting curses at me in his rage, things could have gotten much more complicated.

“Star’s Eye, Light Cloud, Scales Covered Sea, and Salt Blossom.”

Thanks to his foolish pride, Lir was able to complete her incantation without any problems.

The next moment, the storm clouds that had covered the sky began to churn. A brilliant light covered the heavens, followed by a deafening crack as lightning tore through the air.

“Thunderstrike.”

Lir quietly whispered, lifting her small staff toward the sky.

The storm clouds that had covered the sky were now ours.