Novel Full Chapter 704: Umbramancy Vs Lumenmancy
Lisa stood opposite me with her sword and shield made using her Lumenmancy magic.
On the other hand, I was using the same equipment except my sword and shield were made using my Umbramancy magic instead.
The other class wasn’t even hiding the fact that they were watching us and Instructor Henry seemed content to allow his class to watch us instead. Maybe he was expecting me to also serve as a form of motivation for the younger students?
Either way, I paid no attention to them and focused on Lisa instead.
From what I know, she’s always been the mage of our party by making use of her Lumenmancy magic, so it was a surprise to me that she even suggested a physical duel like this in the first place since she was a backliner.
In terms of just skills alone, I should be able to beat her but I don’t think that was the point of this duel in the first place.
She mentioned that she wanted to show me the difference between constructs made using Lumenmancy and Umbramancy, so this duel should be to show me the difference in the magic, not our skills.
Thus, I decided not to go all out on her and just aim to hit her weapons with mine instead.
Lisa seemed to be waiting for me to attack first so I was the first one to move.
I raised my sword and swung it down in a very telegraphed attack pattern, even slowing down my swing so that Lisa would definitely have time to react to it.
She swung her own sword in response in an attempt to parry my sword.
I was expecting my blow to be deflected away but unexpectedly, my sword cut through her blade like it was made of paper.
Eh?
Was this because of the difference between our magic stats? That can’t be it right? Her proficiency in Lumenmancy is higher than my proficiency in Umbramancy.
Lisa did not look surprised by this outcome at all. In fact, she was already lifting the arm that was holding the shield with the edge pointed at me after her sword was destroyed.
I raised my own shield up to prepare to block it.
Lisa thrusted her shield towards me and I braced myself behind my shield fully expecting my shield to deflect the blow.
What I did not expect was for my own shield to shatter from the blow, the magical construct disappearing just like how her sword had.
Eh?
Ok… I think I get it now… But just to be sure…
I swung my sword at her shield and instead of cutting through it like I did with her sword, my blade bounced off the surface of her shield and did not even leave a mark on it.
Lisa tried to smash her shield at me again but I twirled my sword around and struck it with my sword to push her back.
This time, both of our constructs held and neither shattered.
Ok, yep, that confirms it.
Things made with Lumenmancy have better defensive capabilities while things made with Umbramancy have better offensive capabilities.
A shield made with Umbramancy would shatter easily while a weapon made with Lumenmancy would face the same issues.
I lowered my sword and Lisa understood that I already realised the difference and dispersed her shield as well.
I ignored the groans of disappointment coming from the other students and told Lisa what I realised.
“Lumenmancy’s constructs are focused more on protecting while Umbramancy is for destroying.”
The corners of Lisa’s lips twitched and I knew she was trying to suppress her urge to smile at me.
Instead, she simply nodded at me, “That’s correct. Very well done.”
I raised my hand, “I still have some questions though…”
“Of course.”
Just from those words, I realised she already knew what questions I was going to ask but I decided to ask anyway.
“If constructs made using Lumenmancy have better defensive capabilities… Why was my sword able to break your sword but not your shield and why wasn’t my sword broken by your shield but my shield was?”
She clapped her hands together, “An excellent question, Aster. Let me answer your question by asking this question instead. What would happen if a normal person were to punch a solid block of ice as thick as you are tall?”
“Umm… Depending on how thick the ice was and how hard they were punching… I guess they might break their hand?”
“Very good. Now what would happen if the same person were to punch ice that is not even an inch thick?”
I got it.
“I see… So Lumenmancy constructs have different properties when used to create different constructs?”
“That is roughly correct. Here, look at this.”
She created her sword made out of light again and held it towards me with the blade perpendicular to us.
“Feel the edge.”
I did so without hesitation, only to realise that it was not sharp at all.
Even if Lisa had hit me with this sword, it would not cut me but would bludgeon me instead.
I created my own sword made out of shadows and I moved to feel its edge but Lisa quickly snatched my hand away from it.
“Yes, it is as you thought. You’ll cut yourself on that,” She explained.
Did she forget I had Iatromancy magic as well? I could have just healed myself even if I did. Still cute though.
But now I understand more about the difference between the two types of magic.
For Lumenmancy constructs, the defensive capabilities are severely weakened when the surface area is thinned. For Umbramancy constructs, their destructive capabilities are severely weakened when the surface area is expanded.
So if I were to do the same attack as Lisa did with my shield if it wasn’t broken, I could have actually cut her instead of just bashing her.
I paused to think for a moment, “What would happen if… You were to create a shield with the centre using Lumenmancy and its edges using Umbramancy?”
She tilted her head very slightly, “You would have a shield that is strong enough to withstand attacks but also able to cut through defences. Before you try it though, I will tell you that it has been attempted before but no one to date has been able to fuse the destructive power of Umbramancy with the defensive power of Lumenmancy into one construct.
Both spells seem to cancel each other out when cast together.”
Well that’s a bummer…
“Then what if… I wore an armour made using Lumenmancy magic while I wielded a weapon made of Umbramancy magic?”
This time, Lisa did not try to hide her smile, “You would have a strong defence and offence capabilities at the same time. The only problem is that a normal mage isn’t able to maintain two different types of magic at the same time though~”
Ah, shit… I forgot that you normally need to chant to cast the spells. How does one even chant two different spells at the same time? That’s definitely not possible.
But what that means is that it’s not possible for others to do it but definitely possible for me to do it since I don’t actually need to chant to cast that!
Lisa was just warning me not to show that magic off in front of others!
I’ll probably try it out later when there’s no other people around.
I then noticed a commotion coming from behind and I turned to see Instructor Henry leading his class away, probably to guide them to the next location of their orientation, leaving us the only ones present on the field.
Lisa even purposely waited for them to completely leave the area before she let out a breath, her entire facade melting away like snow before the summer heat.
“Ahhhh… That was so stressful… If I had known there were people here, I would have just done this elsewhere…” She groaned.
I giggled, “But you looked cool though~”
“But I don’t wanna look cool! I wanna flirt! I wanna seduce! I wanna be intimate! I want to be down on my knees, in between your legs and gorging myself on–“
“Ooooook! I get it, I get it! Control yourself Lisa! We’re still in public!”
“Pffft~ Like that has stopped me from receiving love from you~”
I rolled my eyes, “Yes, yes. Anyway, was this what you brought me out for? To teach me how to make light constructs?”
She grinned, “Of course! It’s the next step for your Lumenmancy proficiency! As I said, you haven’t been exploring the other parts of this magic at all and you’ve been relying on your Umbramancy for the constructs right? That’s one of the downsides of being proficient in so many magic skills by the way.
You end up using each type of magic to fulfil certain needs while never utilising each one to their fullest because you can rely on other types to fulfil said needs. That results in stagnation in your magic proficiency.”
Oh… Oh shit… She’s actually right about that…
Sometimes I forget that Lisa is actually a competent teacher and there’s a reason–
“Also! You can do this with Lumenmancy that you can’t with Umbramancy!” She continued, creating a literal dildo using said magic.
…
Never change, Lisa…
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