His whole arm became covered in flames that actually burnt him, but he kept it as steady as he could, crimson flames burst forth from his palm, going straight to its target as it grew in size until it had a ten-meter diameter.

From the side, it would like a giant fiery red snake that thinned out towards the top of a building.

A second had passed since Kevin released his spell and it nearly reached its target, he knew that he had done it and that there was no dodging this, he didn't believe Al had a spell to defend against it either.

But the next moment, he felt his now burnt hand that was still spewing the pillar of fire being raised up to point towards the sky, the pillar following along as it narrowly avoided hitting the building with Kevin's lackeys.

It still managed to scorch and slightly melt the roof of the building behind it, before the pillar had fully been angle towards the sky, burning the air around it and parting the clouds it went through.

His vision no longer being blocked by the pillar of flame, he saw that Al was no longer on the other building, taking a guess and turning around, he saw him standing right behind him, the culprit who had raised his hand.

He had no strength to resist as his body was heavily injured by the backlash of injecting the liquid Vaes, and his spell which also caused heavy damages to him.

It was a spell that hurt its caster in exchange for greater power that exceeded the casters limits.

Kevin and Al stood in silence, both of them staring at each other, Kevin in denial and disbelief, Al ever expressionless.

Kevin's spell was still bursting from his hand as it pierced and burned the heavens, being visible from afar as people stared in awe, and even taking pictures and videos.

After a whole twenty seconds, Kevin's hand stopped spewing flames as the remaining fire in the sky extinguished into nothingness.

Al let go of Kevin's hand, as it flopped to his side, his whole arm being totally charred, with small black chunks falling off onto the roof.

Al's hand was unhurt as he still had his defensive spell active when he had redirected Kevin's spell.

Kevin dropped down to his knees, the side of his clothes where his arm was charred was scorched and slightly burnt, Kevin didn't look like he was in pain nor was his eyes lifeless.

It actually looked quite calm, as if he accepted everything that had happened before that point and what was to come.

Silence ensued again, Al just standing behind him as if they both understood that the fight was over and there was no longer any need to anything.

"So.. was it teleportation?" Kevin finally opened his mouth, his voice was as level and calm as the expression on his face.

"That's right, though i will tell you that it used a lot of Vaes" Al answered immediately, he had used around half of his bodies Vaes capacity to teleport to Kevin, space magic spells was an attribute that consumed a lot of Vaes as it affected the physical world much more than other attributes and spells.

Even those who had great talent in space magic had to use their spells sparingly and with a lot of planning, as space magic is only truly powerful true lots of calculations and unique and complicated battle strategies.

Though Al had learned a lot of those strategies, his average affinity and subpar inherent planning skills made it so that the path to mastering space magic a tedious one.

His canvas never made him smarter or wiser than originally was, neither did the information inside of it.

It only through his own perception and understanding of the information would his wisdom and intelligence increase.

Like previously mentioned, only when something is understood will you gain something from it, you wouldn't gain any wisdom no matter how many profound things you read unless you understood it to some extent.

"Truly an all-rounder, i take a guess that you have a decent affinity with much more attributes than you've shown?"

Al shrugged his shoulders at the question, not wanting to confirm or deny it.

"You gonna kill me? Or turn me in? I'm done for, either way, actually, death is a much better option as the things they do to magic criminals are much much worse."

"I haven't killed anyone before, and i'd like to keep it that way unless i really have to, not that i think that you should deserve to live compared to others" Al knew that he'd have to kill someone sooner or later in this world, but if the other party wasn't a massive threat to him, he'd leave their fates to the hands of others.

"So the slammer it is.." Kevin shook his head in regret as if he had made a small mistake, not looking sorrowful or sad in the slightest.

"To be honest, i decided to cripple you before you gone and did it yourself, how did that spell and the liquid Vaes affect you, if you don't mind me asking?" Though he wouldn't kill, for now, crippling his foes so they do no further harm to others was something Al decided he would do when he could.

"The liquid Vaes is gonna cripple my magic for a few months, not that it matters in jail, they seal your magic anyways in there, my arm is irreparable unless I'm sent to one of the best hospitals in the city."

"Both of them also caused me a lot of internal injuries, they must've amplified each other and caused me even more than what they'd normally do individually, and again, only the best hospitals could treat me"

There was no such thing as meridians like in cultivation novels and thus someone's magic could never be permanently crippled, but crippling their body was enough as a weak bodied mage would only be able to become a scholar.

Crippling their mind was also sufficient as all mages had to have sharp and fast minds, to be able to cast spells at a high efficiency.

Even if they could fully heal, they would've wasted time and effort during the period they were injured and fall behind.

The modern age always had a high pace of living due to people understanding the importance of utilizing time, wanting to efficiently use their time to improve and grow.

In this world, it wasn't the old and white-haired mages that were highly looked upon, but the young mages who that had equal strength and ability as those old mages.

Though they may have less wisdom and experience compared to the old mages, they would surely surpass their experiences and wisdom when they become their age due to their better talents and abilities when they were young that opened up more avenues and paths for them to learn and improve on.

"At least i don't have to go through the trouble of doing it myself," Al commented, he's never broken someone's limbs before, especially not after they had been beaten so he was glad he wouldn't need to do it so soon.

"Can i ask where you learned that spell? And its name?"

"Can't tell you where i learned, nor the reason of why i can't tell you, but the name is fine, Its called Crimson Pillar v4.26, no serial number"

The serial number Kevin mentioned was an identifier used for spells, as in this age where there were a countless number of spells and spell variations, there was bound to be duplicate names of similar spells, or even spells with duplicate names that didn't even remotely do the same thing.

The government of each country had thus decided to create a serial number to place on spells, but it was not for every spell and its variations, but a single original spell, that was created from scratch or was highly modified off another spell.

This allowed the public to differentiate between spells in society, making identifying spells used in crimes easier to identify, making spells taught in school to be properly categorized and a whole lot of other uses.

While it wasn't illegal to not register a spell to the government, those who registered totally new spells or spells that totally deviate from their original spell would receive monetary compensation depending on multiple factors, such as the complexity and power of the spell, or its practical use, or how dangerous it is.

There were also spells that were illegal to study and use, as they were too dangerous for the general public.

This didn't apply to those with higher magic statuses though, as long as they used it properly and didn't break any laws with it.

"It's fine, i won't force you"

"If you're thinking of learning it, you should know it's not worth it, you can find safer alternatives, especially with your talents," Kevin warned him, he's used it multiple times in the past but never with a third of his max Vaes, but even back then it took him a long time to recover from the backlash.

"Well, I've already learned it, partially at least" Al replied, his mouth upturning a little.

"Huh?!"