I Am The Heroine's Father: The Cannon Fodder's Ascent-Chapter 59: Beauty of Magic

"What the... How can someone even resist against something like this!?" Sebastian's expressionless face for the first time was filled with this much terror and... fear.

Johan, Kirin, and Sebastian were sitting around a campfire, its warmth a comfort they all needed—Kirin and Johan after training hard, and Sebastian after getting his daily cell-cleansing treatment to stop the spread of cancer cells.

The darkness of the night sky was heavy, but the beauty of the stars still made everything peaceful and comforting to their tired bones.

Johan also frowned. He was telling both of them everything he knew about what had happened—from Leor planting fake evidence by torturing his mother and sister, to an ability to manipulate people—the favorability system—while still hiding the real truth and making it sound like an Aethric ability, and of course...

The Schrödinger's Cat. And Johan's assumption was correct—even people like Sebastian and Kirin could feel fear.

"So... he can just kill us at any time, right? He can just imagine a reality where we are dead and make a move trying to kill us..." Kirin said word by word, scratching her head, her body trembling.

Sebastian also nodded, a bit surprised they weren't already dead.

"It's not that simple, actually. Leor can only make a reality real if he truly believes it could happen. If there's even a shred of doubt, it won't work. The second condition is that he can only make one sequence of actions, not multiple. Like, to kill us, he will have to find us, travel to us, engage in a fight with us—only then it will happen. It's too complicated for his ability... for now, at least." Johan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, explaining everything in detail.

'Reality magic is deeply connected to the creator Ymir, so she knows when someone tampers with it. In the DLCs of the game, if you chose the ending where the Goddess of Death was alive, you had to fight the creator herself. At that time, Leor could make tens of sequences happen in a single use...' Johan thought. 'This was the reason he added "for now." Leor, with his foreknowledge, could definitely hasten this process... and if he did, there would be no way they could fight against him...'

Even an omnipotent, omnipresent God... lost.

Kirin grinned. "There should be a time limit on using this bullshit power too, right?" she asked, entering her battle maniac mode.

"Around 20 minutes, as far as I know..." This was the most accurate guess Johan could make with what he knew. Originally, it had a limit of 50 minutes, but with Leor's speed of growth and foreknowledge, this was the most probable.

"Then... the main use of this ability is turning the odds at a critical moment in battle... or just to engage in battle." Sebastian's last words instantly made everyone tense, silence rising.

According to what Johan had described, Sebastian understood instantly that it didn't make the ability any less dangerous—just a little bit inconvenient to pull off.

"Just gotta keep an eye on the cooldown!" Johan shook his head with a smile.

Both Sebastian and Kirin nodded with a smile. There wasn't anything else they could do to counter it. If they just kept an eye on when he used his ability—like to dodge an attack from them, or to travel—they could end it instantly.

He couldn't say that he was also an equal to Radhaan in combat just yet. Then it would be truly hopeless.

"I'm researching ways to counter him and Radhaan. You both go to sleep and have some rest." Johan said warmly, pulling out a thick book with a black cover.

Kirin and Sebastian didn't argue, as they knew the abilities of the God Tree gave Johan a constant regenerative boon, so sleeping was a luxury instead of a need.

Kirin yawned, closing her tired eyes, falling in Johan's lap. He instantly used her head as a table to place the book on while rubbing her chin affectionately to relax her.

Melodis had only quietly listened, his expression much more serious than it used to be. Johan almost started missing Melodis's dumb jokes, but he didn't dare ask him just yet. He was sure Melodis would tell him everything whenever he was ready.

Johan's eyes moved to the break text written with red ink, his face filled with curiosity. Reading was his favorite thing back home—from medical textbooks to giant lore guides of some niche nerdy fantasy novel.

If Mana is the campfire's flame, then Aether is the sun.

In most cases—mana versus Aether—mana will lose just because of its inferiority.

The level of the same spell can directly move up from stage 3 to stage 0 if shifted from mana to Aether.

Every living creature has Aether and mana, but those with pure royal blood have an Aether core, while also having mana.

If a royal blood doesn't train their Aether core, they risk mixing both energies and exploding.

Johan frowned. This was everything he already knew. He turned some pages, skimming through faster while playing with Kirin's soft hair.

Both Aether and Mana exist on a different frequency, and if the frequencies connect, it can lead to disasters.

I, Velmire, too am a magic user. I don't have any talent as an Aetherborn, or a special ability, but... I still have Aether. So, in my sealing magic, I can use Aether to make them much stronger. This is why I admire that flame mage from the Aurelian Empire—

She became a Divine General while mostly using mana, as her Aether reserves were lower—way lower than mine—while still facing the same problems as me. I wonder how strong she would've been if not for having this kind of curse.

Johan smiled. He really felt like a proud brother at this moment. Kirin worked ten times harder than any other person in a position of power similar to hers.

He continued reading with a soft smile—

Aether or Mana spells were entirely similar in structure—just a different energy source. Like one uses cold water instead of hot water... but still water.

Once a spell is released, it becomes inevitable and enters a completely new frequency of energy. It can only be defended against by either dodging it, or using a defense spell at impact.

Aether abilities are the same. They work similar to normal spells—once released, they enter a certain frequency and, like sound or light, they travel toward the intended target.

A spell or an ability is a combination of multiple codes and commands. First, you shall imagine a spell—like how fire and water work, and how they're made. The simpler, the better. Then, you shall define the action it will perform—burn, heal, destroy—in as much detail as possible. Then you imagine how it will act when it is released, in as much detail as possible.

After this process, you shall provide it the fuel for the action. The more fuel you provide, the more force it will produce.

You can only cancel it before it enters the higher frequency. Otherwise, it can't be stopped.

Suddenly, Johan's eyes brightened to the limit, a wild, evil grin taking over his face—revealing every tooth and tongue, drooling like a mad dog.

Even Melodis was startled.

"So... what you're saying is... if I altered the 'code' when it can't be changed (after entering the higher frequency)... I can stop it from happening!" frёewebnoѵēl.com

A.N: This is an important question, overly cunning and strong Johan, or an overpowered and cunning Johan? I am personally with overly cunning as i am a Lotm glazer, and it suits Johan/James. But votes will decide, if I don't get enough I will just go my intended way.

Also, A lot fun things in my discord server like philosophy channel, team roast nights, gaming weekends, book club, Self improvement club, anime club, music hub, just started yesterday so still building, you will be the first members and pillars of this epic creative community I have envisioned, of course character art will be there as well...Nsfw too Ahem, there are many things and we are evolving everyday, come here and join this journey too :)