So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

Who was Atillike that their claw would be such an amazing artifact?

As if knowing what I was curious about, Pelerian explained.

"Atillike is the name of a fire dragon."

'What...?'

I pointed out something important.

'But why does the name have four syllables instead of five?'

"...?"

'?'

Pelerian asked back as if I was talking nonsense.

"Isn't it common sense that dragon names have four syllables?"

'Not five syllables?'

"That's right."

What an imperfect world.

I'm disappointed in this world.

Anyway, so this wooden piece is a fire dragon's claw.

'It doesn't look like a claw at all though.'

A dragon's foot wouldn't have had such a wooden piece attached.

"It's an artifact made by processing a dead fire dragon's claw. I don't know who made it, but it's a very old item."

Come to think of it, a dragon wouldn't have just seven claws.

Counting front and back feet, there would be many more claws.

"Even I didn't know that seven of them were hidden in the empire."

'How should I use it?'

"Basically, dragon flesh is the best magic catalyst. Plus, this has been processed into a consumable artifact."

So in simple terms?

"It enormously amplifies magic power."

And Pelerian added an unnecessary comment.

"It will elevate even your terrible and immature magic to the level of great magic."

'Great magic, you say!'

"He only hears what he wants to hear."

Without such ability, it would be difficult to survive in this harsh world.

No time to hesitate.

Assassination is only possible now because the target is focusing on something.

Nobody knows when Oban VanKloss will finish his business.

'It's a bit concerning that we don't know what he's doing.'

"One cannot consider everything perfectly."

Pelerian is right.

Let's review the attack magic I can use.

First, exclude 'beam' since it's not magic.

──────────────

▸ Magic

[Intermediate Element]: Fire lv4, Earth lv5, Water lv6, Wind lv3

[Invisible Hand lv19], [Lightweight lv5]

[Hell Magic]: Hellfire lv3, Corruption lv2

[Form Change Magic Missile]: Rotation lv4, Adhesion lv3, Explosion lv4

──────────────

Hmm.

I also thought about whether there were any skills to steal from Oban VanKloss.

But if I steal skills now, he'll notice I'm hiding.

I need to use the techniques I have.

First, excluding utility magic like Invisible Hand and Lightweight.

Among intermediate element magic, fire magic has the strongest firepower.

Since I can use things like fireball.

But even so, it's inferior to hellfire's power.

The problem is that hellfire isn't suitable for shooting at that far distance.

'I'll need to combine several spells.'

"Yes, that's what we'll have to do."

Actually, arbitrarily combining magic is not recommended.

It's dangerous if the magic goes out of control.

"Use three, no, four or more. Otherwise, that artifact would be too wasted."

But when my magic teacher speaks like that, I don't feel like holding back.

'Hmm, I've decided.'

I'll use magic missile.

To hit Oban VanKloss who's far away from here, I have no choice but to use magic missile.

Add rotation for penetration.

"Let's add the explosion property too."

Use explosion for destructive power when it hits.

"And make the scorching hellfire adhere to it."

Yes, the true value of the 'Form Change Magic Missile' magic I stole from the dean was its versatility.

What he showed and what I've used so far only used one of 'rotation', 'adhesion', or 'explosion'.

But what if I overlap them?

"That gnome magician must have used it in the same way."

Maximizing penetration and destructive power, and using 'adhesion' to add other elemental magic properties.

It could be called a magic that functions as a platform itself.

I told Oliver that I would attempt an assassination.

Instead of giving any opinion, Oliver nodded with a serious expression.

So I prepared the magic.

"You can't make loud noises or spread magic power around."

That's obvious. The key to assassination is stealth.

First, I took out Atillike's Claw.

"Form the magic missile using the catalyst as a medium. There's no chance to practice, so you must succeed in one try."

I did so.

「Using Form Change Magic Missile: Rotation lv4.」

A rotating magic missile formed in the air.

And I.

'Ack!'

Felt magic power being drained at an incredible speed.

I almost screamed for a moment.

"Control it. Are you going to let a mere catalyst take the initiative!"

Pelerian shouted.

I barely managed to control the magic power.

There were still more spells to cast.

"The amplification hasn't even started. Distribute your magic power as efficiently as possible."

Right, I understand the feeling now.

Originally, there's a limit to how much magic power can be poured into one spell.

Using too much magic power increases power but makes the spell unstable, and the power doesn't increase proportionally to what's put in. The law of diminishing returns applies to magic too.

But using Atillike's Claw was different.

It seems the power increases as much as magic power is consumed.

In other words, with enough magic power, regular magic can reach the power of great magic.

「Using Form Change Magic Missile: Explosion lv4.」

The floating magic missile was imbued with explosive properties.

'Ah, the control...'

As that much more magic power was contained, magic started leaking out visibly.

"I'll assist you."

And Pelerian popped up.

He waved his hands around the magic missile in the air like a chef.

Indeed, it seemed I regained some control over the magic power.

He kneaded the leaking magic power back together like flour dough.

It's incredibly reassuring.

「Using Form Change Magic Missile: Adhesion lv3.」

「Using Hellfire lv3.」

I filled the magic missile with hellfire.

How much magic power was packed into that fist-sized sphere.

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It was no longer red, just an incandescent white sphere.

Can't delay any longer for a stealthy assassination.

Using almost all my magic power makes me feel completely empty inside.@@novelbin@@

I shouted in my mind.

'Fire!'

And fired.

But the magic missile didn't whoosh away like usual.

Instead, it started moving slowly like pushing a heavy iron ball.

Atillike's Claw clearly maintaining its form inside the magic missile.

It started spinning madly.

"The amplification begins! Don't let it burst!"

I could understand why Pelerian said that.

If that magic missile were a water balloon, the water inside was swelling crazily.

In other words, the already densely packed magic power was being amplified further through the artifact.

'Urgh.'

The statement about amplifying regular magic to great magic power meant.

That I had to endure the recoil of great magic level too.