Chapter 915: Mage Slayer
"There's no rush to learn magic for now. My esper ability is still in the process of advancing. Once I become a true Level 5, I'll reconsider magic," Lin Wuming said, with his own plans. "If possible, I'll need Chairman Aleister to help me re-optimize my current magic then."
"As long as you're willing to learn, that's not a problem at all," Chairman Aleister said, acting like a good teacher, very easy to talk to, and even a bit enthusiastic.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing I'm curious about right now—" Lin Wuming added, "I think I might be able to 'see' magic power through molecular-level Nen scans."
This was one of the main reasons Lin Wuming came to Chairman Aleister.
During his battle with Front, Lin Wuming observed his magic power; he felt this discovery was very important and would be very helpful for future battles—if he could truly observe magic power, and even interfere with and manipulate it... then enemies from the magic side would no longer be a threat.
However, Lin Wuming himself was a complete novice in magic, and the only "magic" he had mastered was for "suicide," so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a muggle.
When it came to professional matters, Lin Wuming was unsure, so the best approach was to consult an expert.
And Chairman Aleister was the most professional expert.
"Observed magic power? Tell me in detail," Chairman Aleister asked, his curiosity piqued.
Lin Wuming recounted all his actions during the battle and the phenomena he observed.
After listening, Chairman Aleister, without hesitation, directly stated, "What you saw was not magic power itself, but probably just a phenomenon caused by magic power."
"A phenomenon caused by magic power?"
"That really startled me just now; I thought there would be some groundbreaking discovery..." Chairman Aleister explained, "To explain it in Our scientific terms, you can understand it this way—so-called magic power and your Nen are similar; both can be abstractly summarized as a 'force,' except they don't belong to the four fundamental forces objectively existing in the real world. But their basic properties are similar..."
Chairman Aleister entered teaching mode, explaining while projecting blackboard notes in Front of Lin Wuming: "'Force' can be proven, but it cannot be directly observed. So, what you saw, at most, can only be considered a phenomenon caused by magic power, not magic power itself."
Lin Wuming was instantly speechless, feeling that his discovery had depreciated greatly.
"However," Chairman Aleister's tone shifted, "being able to observe the phenomenon is also meaningful; it can even be said that being able to do this is already very impressive."
"You should know that due to the unobservability of magic power, magicians can actually only indirectly perceive magic power through various different means," Chairman Aleister explained. "In other words, what genuine magicians do is actually no different from what you do—they all observe phenomena caused by magic power, and based on the different methods and approaches used, they are ultimately divided into different schools..."
In fact, the technique Lin Wuming currently possessed was quite advanced, as he could directly observe the phenomenon, while most magic schools had to use more indirect and circuitous methods.
"Only through this method, by concretizing abstract magic power into a way that more people can understand, can their schools be passed down."
Lin Wuming didn't know if it was his misconception, but he felt a hint of a smile in Aleister's tone: "According to this standard, Lin Wuming, you could even found your own school now—as long as you can reproduce the method you discovered in others."
"But none of that is meaningful now," Lin Wuming rolled his eyes. "I am an Esper, destined to be unable to use magic normally like a magician."
And the cause of this result was the man currently suspended and immersed in the giant test tube before him.
It was Aleister who, through "Prototype Control," divided magic and esper ability into two irreconcilable factions. There was probably no one in this world who understood this better than him.
So Lin Wuming had reason to believe that Aleister was asking knowingly; his repeated encouragement for him to learn magic was probably for some malicious amusement known only to him...
Seeing Lin Wuming's lack of interest, Aleister no longer tried to persuade him, and instead said, "Regarding how to allow you to use magic normally, I will think about it carefully. For now, just follow the doctor's advice and rest well to recover from your injuries."
"Additionally," Chairman Aleister's tone became serious, "if it's just for breaking magic, your approach is correct, especially given your special ability, 'Bullet Time.' While you're recovering, you can think carefully about how to truly implement this tactic."
Chairman Aleister affirmed Lin Wuming's approach and his strategy for dealing with magicians.
That is, to observe magic phenomena through high-precision Nen scans, and then use his Nen to interfere...
Because, in terms of results, most magic, to be effective, inevitably needs to manifest in the real world—that is, to interfere with reality.
For example, Stiyl's flame magic, Kanzaki Kaori's Seven Flashes, Sherry Cromwell's stone giant, Front's water magic array...
As for Aureolus's Alchemy, it was the best example of direct interference with the real world.
Although they all used magic, if one only looked at the results, they were actually similar to Esper abilities and even normal scientific technology, with no fundamental difference. They all produced corresponding effects in the real world.
Given this, dealing with this type of magic was very simple—it ultimately came down to contending with the enemy for "interference rights" and "influence" over the real world.
In summary, what needed to be done could be simplified to observation—identifying the enemy's means, which is the type and effect of the specific magic; and then interference—fundamentally dismantling the enemy's magic.
This was not difficult for Lin Wuming, who possessed "omnipotent Nen" and "Bullet Time."
Moreover, Lin Wuming himself now possessed a bit of magic power, and even if he couldn't cast spells, it provided him with great convenience for observing phenomena caused by magic power.
Therefore, even if he couldn't become a magician, Lin Wuming had the potential to become a "Mage Slayer."
Although it deviated somewhat from what was expected, such a result was acceptable to Chairman Aleister.
—With the conflict with the magic side escalating, having multiple "Mage Slayers" in Our camp was at least not a bad thing.
