When Maria looked around after the teleportation, she was in a very rocky, mountainous area.
"We're here."
"Where are we~?"
"In the nearby Enoch Mountain Range," Paimon replied.
"But, why in the mountains?"
"Because...if we did this in a forest or the plains...YOU'LL BURN THE WHOLE PLACE TO THE GROUND!"
"Ueh?!"
"That big flame of yours will burn everything down!"
Paimon said her flame was big, but his words confused her.
"Big? How was it big?! It was obviously small!"
"Small? You call THAT small?!"
"Of course, it wasn't some inferno or anything! It was only the size of a watermelon!"
"And that's not big?! What is wrong with you?!" Paimon exclaimed in shock before continuing, "Why don't you try using that again?"
"Fine!" Maria quickly chanted the [Fire] spell's incantation and a sizeable flame, much larger than the one she conjured in Paimon's research lab blossomed on top of her hand. Although it was bigger, Maria still thought that it was small...or at least medium-sized.
"See! Look! It's sma—"
Before Maria could finish, the flame immediately began to tremble and suddenly, it blew up in her face.
"WAAAHHH!!"
Maria quickly shielded her face, but the pain didn't come. She lowered her arms and noticed Paimon staring at her scornfully. The Arch-Mage had snuffed out the flame with a wave of his hand so no harm was done to Maria.
"W-what happened? Earlier in your lab...it didn't explode!"
Paimon shook his head at her when he saw her confusion. "Listen here Maria, my lab has a suppressing formation that suppresses all types of magic if it's not cast by me! That's why your [Fire] spells looked 'small' earlier and didn't explode! As for why it's like that, even an idiot could tell that you have a ton of INT. From what I see...it's well over 1000!"
"Eh? How do you know that, Paipai?" Maria eyed him suspiciously. She hadn't once opened her [Status] window while learning magic from Paimon, so she wondered why he knew.
"Naturally, that's because I'm THE Arch-Mage!"
"I know that, but why?"
Paimon waved his hand and a system window popped up in front of Maria.
Spell Name: Fire Level: 1 P. EXP: 0/100 Rank: E Description: Ignites enemy with fire, dealing 50 M.DMG MP Cost: 25 MP Cooldown: 5 seconds
It was the [Fire] spell that Maria learned, but when she took another look at it again...
"It's a little—"
"Different, right?" Paimon finished.
"Y-yeah...but why?"
"Because the [Fire] spell you learned was reworked and modified version improved by yours truly! Wahahaha!" Paimon declared with his nose pointed to the sky.
"S-so...that's why it nearly blew up in my face?!" Maria grew incensed when she heard him declare it so smugly.
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"Is this payback for me calling you Paipai, Paipai?! I knew it! You were just a jerk! How could you! I was really looking forward to using magic! But if all it does is blow up in my face...then what's the point?!"
Maria began whining and complaining. She looked as if she was about to burst into tears on the spot. Only Lilah was there next to her trying to console the girl, telling her that Paimon may have a reason for giving her the modified version of [Fire].
"Oh, can it, you halfwit! Even I'm not that despicable of a demon! Just so you know it's YOUR fault!"
"How is it MY fault?! It's obviously yours, Paipai! Deceiving me with a defective spell..."
"What'd you say?! Did you NOT hear what I just said earlier?! Your INT is pretty high and you do remember that my modified [Fire] spell's output scales on your INT?!"
Upon hearing his words, Maria immediately opened up her [Fire] spell's skill window and checked it once again.
When she saw the 50+(INT x 0.5) M.DMG, she immediately paled upon remembering her own absurd amount of INT.
"Th-then...why couldn't you just give me the normal spell!!!" Maria wailed.
"Pfft, like I'd allow my disciple to learn such a low-leveled spell!"
"Ueh?"
"My disciples naturally deserve the best of the best! I won't allow you to tarnish my name by using those inferior spells!" Paimon said in a matter-of-factly tone.
"S-since it's the best you say...why'd it blow up in my face?"
"Tsk...I already told you it's because of your high INT... And also the fact that YOU, being the halfwit that you are, didn't even bother launching the spell away! So of course it's gonna blow up in your face, you dolt!"
"Eh?!"
"Try again. And this time, aim for that rock and not your face, okay?" Paimon said in exasperation as he pointed at the large boulder a couple of meters away. He then continued, "You aren't high leveled enough to be delaying the activation of your spells just yet!"
Paimon conjured a large flame on his hand and it just floated there calmly, without exploding.
"W-wow!" Maria's eyes sparkled in awe at the large ball of fire floating calmly above Paimon's hand.
"Be in awe, young one! You'll eventually reach this stage so practice hard! But for now, it's target practice time! I want you to aim your [Fire] on that rock! Hurry up!"
Maria was immediately pumped up again. Her earlier gloom and doom were washed away and she became highly motivated.
If she kept on practicing to the point where she could calmly conjure a [Fire] on top of her hand without it exploding like Paimon, it would be great!
Maria chanted the [Fire] spell and this time, she didn't leave it hovering above her hand, but she sent it flying over to the large rock some meters ahead of her.
A large explosion ensued when the spell made contact with the rock and said rock was reduced to a pile of rubble.
"SO COOL!!!"
Maria began cheering happily. Normally, no idiot would shout 'so cool' when they destroyed something...but apparently, not her.
"—[Fire]! —[Fire]! —[Fire]! This. Is. Awesome!!!" Maria squealed in excitement.
The girl kept on chanting and casting [Fire] whenever it was off cooldown. She continued blowing up all the large rocks and boulders around her, desecrating the untouched environment. Paimon had already cast [Levitation] on himself and was observing Maria from the skies.
"...So predictable, I knew this idiot would act like this...good thing I brought her into the mountains..."
Paimon raised his head to look to the east, and he smirked.
"Well, well...a fine target just appeared. Its resistance is pretty high, but considering that girl's INT, she'll probably be fine. However, this girl will probably have a hard time finishing it off with just [Fire]! Hmhm~ let's see you perform for me!"
Not far from where Maria was rampaging around with her newfound [Fire] spell, a large moving pile of rocks was slowly heading over to her location.
When it got closer, Maria began to feel the earth tremble under her feet and she immediately stopped firing off her spell randomly. She looked around and noticed the source of all the rumbling.
"Oh, a perfect target to practice on!" The girl exclaimed in delight.
Instead of being afraid of the 5-meter large golem heading her way, Maria instead grew excited.
"[Inspect]"
Name: Golem Level: 35 Rank: Uncommon Elite HP: 100,000/100,000
MP: 10/10
"I'll turn you into ashes! Gather, flames of destruction, and bring ruin upon my enemies—[Fire]!"
Once the incantation finished, Maria quickly sent the spell flying straight at the monster, landing a direct blow on the gem-like object on the center of its chest.
-1,560! (Critical Hit x2 DMG)
Seeing the high damage, Maria smiled widely. "I knew magic was awesome!"
'Okay, since I need to take care of this using only magic, I'll have to slowly whittle it down!'
With that thought, Maria quickly took to the skies before the golem could reach her. She then began raining [Fire] on the golem whenever the spell was off cooldown.
When Paimon saw this, he immediately smacked his head hard.
"Damn! I forgot she could fly!"
Now his plan of watching Maria dance around like a hapless was scrapped. The girl was just leisurely flying in the air while bombarding the monster with spell after spell. Nothing was amusing about it.
"Argh! There goes my entertainment!"
"I knew it! You really were just a jerk!"
"How can you hear me?!"