Dark Dragon: The Summoned Hero Is A Villain-Chapter 11: Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Geldrin lifted a second finger.

"This brings us to the second limitation, which is Attributes."

The chalk wrote again.

"A spell is not just powered by mana. It is balanced by two key traits."

"Your mana capacity, and your magic control."

"These determine how large a spell you can cast, and how complex a formation you can maintain."

He turned to the board and began sketching a simple diagram, a line of ranks descending from SSS at the top to FFF at the bottom.

"Spells are ranked," he said, "just like everything else. The lowest rank of spells is FFF. The highest is SSS."

He turned back toward the room.

"No one in recorded history has ever cast a spell at SSS rank. It is theoretical. But the framework exists."

He tapped the middle of the ranking chart.

"To cast a spell of a certain rank, both your mana capacity and your magic control must meet or exceed that rank. If one is lower, the spell will fail."

He glanced over the students, eyes narrowing slightly.

"For example," he said, "if you have a mana capacity of B, but a magic control of D, you can only cast D-rank spells or lower."

"The weaker attribute is your bottleneck. Mana fuels the spell, yes, but control shapes it. You cannot build a castle with unstable hands, no matter how much stone you have."

Noah’s quill paused over the word control. Then resumed.

He had both.

He felt it inside him like a storm wrapped in iron.

S-rank capacity. S-rank control.

And if spells obeyed both...

Then he could go farther than they expected.

Professor Geldrin folded his arms, his smile thin.

"Most of you," he said, "will never cast anything higher than D-rank spells. That’s not an insult. That’s just math. Understand your limits now, and you might live long enough to break them later."

Silence hung in the room.

Noah nodded to himself, absorbing the information. His attributes could grow, just like his rank.

That meant his limits could be broken. His mana capacity and magic control could one day get to SSS rank.

At the front of the class, Professor Geldrin turned back to the board, lifting his hand with a flick of the wrist.

His chalk one again rose into the air. Slowly, it began to trace a complex circular pattern on the slate surface.

Concentric rings, angular glyphs, and intersecting runes etched into a radiant diagram.

"This," Geldrin said, stepping aside, "is the spell formation for a standard F-rank Fireball."

The pattern pulsed faintly, the outer ring glowing red as it completed.

The students leaned forward slightly. A few whispered to each other, with some quickly copying the diagram in their books. Even the white-haired boy beside Noah stirred from his nap.

It wasn’t everyday that first generation mages like them would see a F rank spell. For them to get it at the school, they would have to be exceptional students, or buy it from the stores.

Geldrin turned back to the class, his eyes settling on one person.

"Our summoned hero." He said, voice carrying.

Noah didn’t react right away.

"Come down here."

Quietly, Noah packed his ink bottle and quill, rolled his scroll, and stood.

He walked the steps down to the central platform, stopping a few feet from Geldrin.

The professor clasped his hands behind his back.

"You have a Fire affinity, correct?"

"I do." Noah said simply.

"Good." Geldrin replied, nodding. "Then allow me to demonstrate a truth."

He turned slightly to address the room.

"With a mage’s mana capacity and magic control, some spells remain out of reach, even if their affinities match. A weak mage will always be weak."

He gestured toward Noah. "With this student’s FFF rank potential, I assure you, he will not be able to cast this simple F-rank Fireball. He doesn’t have the capacity or the control."

A few students frowned. Others looked confused.

"He might, however," Geldrin added with a chuckle, "manage to light a candle. There’s a FFF-rank flame spark spell designed exactly for that purpose."

Laughter rippled across the room.

Noah’s face didn’t change.

"And now," Geldrin said, his smile thinning, "to prove the point, Webb, recreate the formation on the board."

Noah turned to study the chalk drawing.

The structure was precise.

Three inner rings. Nine major runes. Dozens of minor stabilizing glyphs etched along the lines. Nothing impossible, just difficult without finesse.

He took a breath.

Geldrin chuckled. "Look at him. He’s thinking about it. That’s adorable."

Noah turned to him, his expression calm. Maybe there was a way for him to get something out of it.

"What will you give me," he said, "if I not only recreate the formation... but cast the spell?"

The room fell quiet.

Geldrin blinked once, taken aback by the tone. Then, he smiled again, this time with teeth.

"A bold question." He said. "Greedy, even. You want rewards before you’ve earned them?"

Noah didn’t answer.

Geldrin spread his arms. "Very well. If, by some divine mistake, you cast this spell, I’ll give you a spell token. One usable in the school library."

He paused.

Noah raised an eyebrow.

"I want an S-rank spell."

That drew noise from the class. Gasps. A low whistle.

Geldrin laughed, the sound cold and mocking. "S-rank? You don’t even qualify to look at the binding seal of an S-rank scroll."

He turned to the class, clearly enjoying himself.

"See? This is what happens when you bring in untrained outsiders. They think magic is something you just will into existence."

He turned back to Noah.

"Very well. I’ll raise the stakes."

He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small bronze token, etched with a lion insignia.

"This is my personal B-rank spell token. Teachers are given one each semester. We may use it to claim a spell from the academy vaults for our own personal use."

He held it between two fingers.

"If you can recreate the formation and cast the fireball, this token is yours."

He paused.

"But," he said, voice darkening, "if you fail, you’ll pay a price of equal weight. You’ll be expelled. No second chances. No appeals."

The class grew quiet.

Noah stepped forward, staring at the token for a moment.

"Agreed."

Geldrin stepped back, gesturing grandly to the platform. "Then the floor is yours, hero."

Noah turned to the board again.

He studied the formation once more. Each rune. Each line. Each pressure point.

Then he smiled faintly.

Two spells in one.

The Fireball itself.

And the spell token that would unlock access to a B-rank spell.

And so, he lifted his hand.