I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 421: Handsome Equals Power.

Gauss began his practice with Bigby’s Hand.Legend says that long ago there was a powerful mage named Bigby who mastered various "giant hand" magics. Bigby’s Hand was this mage’s signature technique named after himself.

In appearance it resembles the most basic cantrip, Mage Hand, but the effects are worlds apart.

Mage Hand is just a trivial zero-circle cantrip. Its limits in carrying weight, movement speed, and responsiveness make it basically useless in actual combat. Thus, Gauss mostly used it as a long-range touch spell to avoid contracting touch-based curses.

If Mage Hand is a flimsy remote-control hand, Bigby’s Hand is the "divine palm" that powerful mages invented from that base specifically for fighting.

With enough mana, enough strength, it could smack away not just roadside goblins or the like, but even a dragon with a single palm.

It represents the archetype of the "mighty shove" school of spells.

Recalling the information about Bigby’s Hand in his mind, Gauss quickly immersed himself in that concrete spell model.

Because Bigby’s Hand was a direct reward from the Adventurer’s Manual, he skipped the relatively tedious learning steps. The complex model, like a supercomputer’s architecture, had already appeared deep within his consciousness.

As everyone knows, the complexity of a spell model grows exponentially with its circle.

Compared to a fourth-circle spell, a fifth-circle spell model is like a mountain; in complexity, ten fourth-circle spells might not equal one fifth-circle spell.

That’s why, in theory, ninth- or tenth-level casters could start learning fifth-circle spells, but in practice they often need to reach eleventh-level Transcendent casters, or at least be extremely powerful tenth-level casters, before they can use fifth-circle spells proficiently.

The reason is that such spells place extremely high demands on the user’s physical attributes.

The brain of a caster below the Transcendent tier cannot bear such a complex spell model. For most ninth- or tenth-level casters whose attributes don’t meet the standard, rashly touching such a model most likely slows their brain processing, and in severe cases may even leave them in a vegetative state.

So the learning threshold for spells is not so much a restriction for professionals as it is a safety rule provided by the world.

If you can learn it, that means you can shoulder its burden. If you can’t meet the standards, no amount of time will let you pass that gate.

Only upon breaking into the eleventh level and harnessing the Domain power exclusive to Transcendent professionals, with its assistance, can a professional possibly wield fifth-circle spells proficiently.

This relationship is somewhat like the connection between Dao and Technique.

Dao is substance, Technique is application.

Although Gauss had indeed acquired the spell model for Bigby’s Hand, whether he could actually use it still depended on whether his overall attributes matched.

As he concentrated and began to call upon the power hidden deep in the spell model through mana, he did feel a "heaviness"—a burden far more substantial than casting zero- to fourth-circle magic.

However…

He took a deep breath.

"Not bad, not too hard."

From the clumsy feeling during the initial run-through, he realized the difficulty of wielding Bigby’s Hand had indeed decreased a bit, but it was still completely within his tolerance.

Even without the Domain power exclusive to Transcendents, my "stat monster" numbers are absurdly overpowered; 20 Intelligence is staring me in the face after all.

So I naturally stepped over that seemingly difficult usage threshold.

The fifth-circle spell brought Gauss a long-missed novelty, like a top student suddenly discovering an entirely new field of study.

A steady stream of his mana, thick as a brook, flowed outward. The White Wand clenched tightly in his left hand glowed with brilliant light.

Suddenly, that extremely complex spell model was fully activated. Driven by it, a vast amount of mana finally flowed from his body into the White Wand.

Boom!

Above the sky, a giant hand shimmering with silver light thundered into being over Gauss’s head.

The air seemed to thicken a few degrees because of its presence.

The palm of this giant hand measured roughly ten meters across, not counting the phantom forearm extending beneath the wrist. Theoretically, Gauss could expand its size further, but doing so would quickly reduce its strength.

"So this is Bigby’s Hand."

Gauss looked up at the giant hand and murmured.

To his user-sense, the sheer size of the hand was only one of its minor effects. More important was the earth-shattering force contained within.

"If that palm slams down, could I withstand it?" the thought popped into Gauss’s mind.

Which is sharper, his offensive spear or his defensive shield?

Normally, relying only on Gauss Barrier he absolutely could not withstand this fifth-circle spell released by himself—that was a conclusion he didn’t need to test to know.

But what if he activated Dragon Breed’s enhancement, plus the buff from Second-Stage Ghostification?

He imagined it and felt he might be able to take it.

Of course, that comparison is a little unfair. Dragon Breed and Second-Stage Ghostification are multi-faceted enhancements, not limited to pure defensive boosts.

And if he truly faced an enemy capable of wielding such a powerful Bigby’s Hand attack, he wouldn’t stand there like a target taking continuous hits.

He had Dimension Door for teleportation, Fly for movement, and other offensive spells to keep the enemy distracted.

If he could survive a single blow, his survivability in battle would drastically improve. Such defensive measures then had real value.

When needed, he could trade damage—he could withstand the enemy’s strike while the opponent might not endure his.

Ultimately, aside from very rare professions, most professionals are offensively strong but defensively weak.

Even warriors are like that; compared to fragile spellcasters their health pools are thicker, but their defensive capabilities still lag behind their combat techniques.

In the distance, Red Dragon Guild members who were collecting spoils couldn’t help but look up toward Gauss’s side.

Almost everyone could feel the terrifying force contained above.

"If the guild leader used that palm on us, it wouldn’t be much harder than squashing ants, would it?" some low-level professionals said grimly.

The longer they had been with the guild leader, the more keenly they perceived just how vast the gap between people could be.

In fact, it wasn’t only those lower-level members who were dumbfounded. Even Luna, the rank-9 Warlock who officially held the highest rank in the Red Dragon Guild at the moment, was equally, if not more, stunned than they were.

She blinked, her pupils slowly widening.

Then, as if seeing something unbelievable, she rubbed her eyes and looked again at the giant hand in the sky.

By her magical knowledge, that spell’s iconic visual effect made it unmistakably Bigby’s Hand.

But… that’s a fifth-circle spell!

If she remembered correctly, even if the guild leader had just finished a breakthrough, his caster Professional Level was only level eight, maybe even a level lower than that.

She could understand him crushing her in raw combat power—after all, the world had unusual monsters that could transcend levels and defeat higher-level foes.

But to be able to cast a fifth-circle spell so skillfully—that forced her to question everything she knew.

Especially since she had been paying attention to the spells Gauss had mastered, this seemed even more impossible.

She couldn’t make sense of it; it was almost against the magical principles she had always accepted.

Could there be someone whose capacity for mastering spells was effectively limitless?

At least among the people she knew, no one had such a breadth and complexity of spells—like a walking self-operating magic library.

She silently studied Gauss’s spell practice.

From his lofty position in the sky, Gauss paid no mind to the many gazes around him.

After all, magic was meant to be used; there was no need to hide it, and he had no intention of keeping it as a secret trump card.

The stronger he became, the more loyal the Red Dragon Guild members would be.

And the strength didn’t come from the spell itself but from him.

His many magical specializations, talents, and the 20 Intelligence attribute made each spell perform exceptionally in his hands.

Back to Bigby’s Hand.

Although it was his first time releasing it and the charge-up took a little long, it had successfully cast.

Feeling the power of the hand, he noted the spell had four forms of expression.

Golden Fist, Flying Slap, Gripping Palm, and Shielding Palm.

They sounded flashy, but essentially Golden Fist is forming a fist, hardening it, and striking an area. It’s the most destructive mode, but its coverage is relatively small.

Flying Slap spreads the force evenly across the palm, able to shove objects before it. It acts like a control skill; most targets, even large ones, find it hard to resist that tremendous shove.

Gripping Palm uses the giant hand to latch onto a target; unlike Golden Fist’s single-punch effect, Gripping Palm has less explosive force but can restrain enemies and continuously squeeze them with the hand’s power.

As for Shielding Palm, as the name implies it’s a defensive measure. Bigby’s Hand can stand between you or a companion and the enemy like a grasping shield. Unless the enemy’s attack exceeds the hand’s defensive threshold, it will be blocked.

Even if an attack penetrates the hand, it will be correspondingly weakened.

Aside from that are mundane applications, such as letting teammates stand on the palm to move them, or using it as a crane to lift heavy items.

In short, it’s a very versatile spell: offense, defense, and practical daily uses.

What Gauss liked most was that it looked truly cool.

A giant arm of brilliant silver energy waited quietly at his side, exuding an imposing aura.

Coolness equals power.

It also felt like an external organ he could control freely, which was extremely satisfying.

Although for now, because he had just mastered it, his proficiency was not yet full and there was some stiffness, he believed that with practice it would soon be second nature.

This ultimate skill’s power was terrifying. He felt that with one sweep of Bigby’s Hand he could easily smash a ten-plus-meter-high, several-meter-thick wall into rubble.

A single palm would pulverize all living things in its area into meat paste.

Surprisingly, he felt that while the spell consumed a huge amount of mana to create it, normal use didn’t drain as horribly. He only needed to replenish mana from time to time to offset the hand’s maintenance cost.

It wasn’t like most offensive spells such as Fireball or Magic Missile, which are a one-off trade. Nor was it precisely like Ice Storm’s sustained magic. It was more like creating a special "tangible object."

As long as he had sufficient mana and didn’t actively dispel it, Bigby’s Hand would persist.

He commanded the hand to swing. Despite its immense size, its speed was not slow, and its force was immense.

The air before it immediately seemed to be pushed aside by a tremendous power; he even suspected that with more training in explosive force he could create some kind of air blast.

A strong wind suddenly formed in front of him.

Whoosh!!!

The distant woods were immediately affected by the gust, trunks bending into twisted arcs.

After practicing Bigby’s Hand control for a bit, his proficiency with the spell quickly rose to four points.

After finishing Bigby’s Hand training, he did not dispel it.

After all, it had cost so much mana to form; letting it sit did not require much upkeep.

He turned his attention to his second fifth-circle spell model, Dawnbreak.

Compared to Bigby’s Hand, its effect was simpler.

It summons a pillar of light to strike a designated location.

To avoid affecting others, although he had already moved a fair distance away, he deliberately flew even farther—ten, twenty kilometers—until he and his teammates were sufficiently separated. Only then did he look at a nearby clearing.

Having had experience driving a fifth-circle spell like Bigby’s Hand, this time summoning Dawnbreak was a little easier.

After a few tens of seconds of preparation, he opened his eyes again.

His gaze burned like the sun. Immediately, the White Wand in his hand shone more brilliantly than ever.

A trivial fact: long ago Gauss had noticed his White Wand seemed to provide a special bonus to light-based magic.

Even a mundane light cantrip cast through his staff could strike specters as if it were a light-based offensive spell.

Now, a fifth-circle Dawnbreak was not comparable to a zero-circle Light Cantrip. The bonus seemed even more terrifying.

Though the maze around him was relatively dim, the environment suddenly became dazzling.

Gauss focused on the selected patch of ground.

"Dawnbreak!"

He raised the White Wand above his head.

Boom!!!

A powerful beam of light instantly descended from the sky onto that patch of ground, like God’s own staff smiting down!

A blinding pillar of radiance erupted.

Gauss instinctively squinted.

Unlike the blazing heat of a Fireball, Dawnbreak delivered an attack suffused with a sacred aura, a terrifying heavenly might.

Within that massive pillar, no life could remain. From sparrows to burrowing insects, even airborne microbes were purified; countless particles glittered in the light.

Such overwhelming power.

Fortunately, as its caster, he seemed partially immune to that omnipresent light, so he wasn’t heavily affected.

On the distant horizon, a group rode a giant eagle and flew rapidly toward the Red Dragon Guild’s location.

Suddenly, while the adventurers on the eagle were still turning to talk, the eagle let out an inexplicable cry.

Then their vision was as if struck by a flashbang—everything within sight turned white.

Startled, the eagle lost balance and the riders began to fall through the air.

Luckily, the flash was brief.

After regaining their vision, the eagle pulled up before its head struck the ground and flapped back into the sky.

"What happened?"

Still shaken, the riders wiped cold sweat and looked around in alarm.

They quickly spotted a dissipating pillar of light in the distance.

So that flash was caused by someone else’s spell?

All the riders swallowed hard.

They were one or two kilometers away from that pillar; that’s not close. Normally ordinary spells couldn’t affect that far.

The only explanation might be that they were in midair with no cover.

Even so, this was outrageous.

An old man in mage robes on the eagle narrowed his eyes. He noticed a figure hovering beside the dissipated pillar—almost certainly the spellcaster—and his gaze filled with reverence.

What a terrifying spellcaster.