Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 124

The drinking party continued with high energy for a while.

"Wahahaha! Is that true, Knight Commander? You thought Mr First Place's dream was to be a commander?"

"...It's still strange. He definitely looked like someone desperate to become a commander."

"Is that why you entrusted him with troop deployment during the war?"

"...That's right."

"Here's the Altino Gambas you ordered."

"Ah, put it here."

The chatter continued endlessly along with the food and drinks.

Gulp, gulp, gulp...

People poured drinks and food into their mouths as if there was no tomorrow.

'Amazing, really.'

How many glasses was that already?

Ten? No, it seemed like they had over twenty...

Grateful that Elbert was paying for this gathering, I quietly slipped out.

I thought they would have fun on their own.

Besides, I still had things to do.

To practice what I had learned in this war.

For example, [Swimming Light], dark attribute mana, spatial magic, and such.

It was better to master these new skills before I forgot them.

Just as I was about to leave,

"Leaving already?"

Someone's voice stopped me.

I turned around to see Elbert looking at me with a magic herb in his mouth.

"When did you come out?"

"Just now. To get some fresh air. So, are you leaving now?"

"Ah, yes. I think I've had enough fun. I've relieved a lot of stress."

"...I see."

Phew—

Elbert exhaled the smoke from the magic herb and leaned against the wall.

"Then I won't see you for a while?"

"I guess so."

"Hmm."@@novelbin@@

Thud, thud, thud.

Elbert suddenly approached and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"There's something I want to tell you."

"...What is it?"

Elbert had a serious expression.

I had a bad feeling, but fortunately, this time, my intuition was wrong.

"Thank you."

Elbert suddenly expressed his gratitude.

As I listened silently, he continued,

"I still vividly remember what you said. About how I shouldn't judge people based on their status... those words."

"Ah, that's right."

I had indeed said those words to Elbert when he was about to abandon the residents of Sector 7.

I had completely forgotten about it since then... Did it leave that much of an impression on Elbert?

"I thought about it carefully. Whether I really judged people based on their status."

"And?"

"...It wasn't even a question. Not just that moment, but my entire life has been like that. I was a noble to the core."

Elbert began to express his thoughts, as if he had realized many things.

Well, honestly, I couldn't say I didn't understand.

If I had lived Elbert's life, I might have become like that too.

"Looking back, I was a truly pathetic commander. And now I've decided to change. All thanks to you."

The important thing was that Elbert had decided to change himself here.

"How will you change?"

At my question, Elbert answered without a moment's hesitation.

"I'm going to change my deeply rooted values. I will become a commander who is good to everyone, not just a noble commander. I will continue to think about how to do that. I'm also going to visit the residents of Sector 7, whom I tried to abandon, and apologize."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, then I will eventually become an even greater commander than I am now."

I nodded in response to Elbert's aspiration.

"I'm sure you will. A great commander."

With that, I turned away.

From Elbert, who was silently watching me.

And from Kayla, who was leaning against the narrow alley next to the tavern.

The fact that the corners of her lips were slightly raised was probably something only I knew.

***

"...It's damn far."

By the time I reached my destination after leaving Sector 2, the sun was already high in the sky.

As it was an inner sector, the travel time had increased significantly.

Even this was the result of using the transit pass Elbert had given me.

I couldn't imagine how long it would have taken without it.

"I can't do this twice."

Muttering that, I started walking.

"Ah, student Yuhan."

"It's been a while."

The place I entered was Asion Academy.

There was no better place to practice magic.

The entrance was guarded by the same guard who had guided me last time.

"Did you finish the war safely? Are you hurt?"

"Yes, I think it ended well. I'm not hurt either. Ah, the Dean will be back soon."

"That's good to hear."

"Then I'll go in now."

Thanks to that, I entered the academy without any hassle and headed straight to the mana training room.

Click!

I entered the blinded space where I had combined light and water attributes last time and took a deep breath.

"Phew... Shall I try [Swimming Light] first?"

I decided to start with [Swimming Light], which was relatively less burdensome.

Shhh! Shhh!

The light attribute mana extending from my hand swam through the air.

Movements that perfectly matched the name [Swimming Light].

I didn't stop there and added one more process.

'This is a magic spell effective for dealing with multiple enemies.'

It was to split [Swimming Light] into smaller pieces.

Shhh...!

One, two, three, four...

Starting with a single strand, [Swimming Light] branched out and split into more and more strands.

Soon,

Shhh!

Shhh!

Before long, dozens of [Swimming Light] were swirling around me.

It was like watching a school of loaches made of light.

Before I could even admire the sight,

Thud!

Crackle!

I clenched my fist and detonated [Swimming Light] all at once, releasing holy power.

Even though it was in the air, I could tell that the power was quite threatening.

'This much is enough.'

With a satisfied feeling, I immediately moved on to the next magic.

This time, it was dark attribute mana.

Of course, I wasn't too keen on practicing dark attribute...

'It can't be helped.'

Unless I wasn't going to use the spatial magic I had learned this time, I had to practice it.

Because the core of spatial magic lay in this dark attribute mana.

Woong!

A pitch-black sphere the size of a marble formed at my fingertips.

Since I had learned it purely through self-study by only watching Dersion's magic, this was the limit of what I could handle right now.

But,

Woong! Woong! Woong!

I gradually increased the size of the sphere.

My mind was filled with images related to darkness.

If I lost focus even for a moment, it felt like I would be swallowed by this darkness.

'Focus.'

Undeterred, I calmly channeled dark attribute mana.

How much time had passed?

The sphere finally grew to the size of a fist, and as soon as it did, I cast spatial magic.

Swoosh!

A hole, just large enough for me to enter, appeared before my eyes.

Inside, there was only pitch-black darkness where I couldn't see anything.

Just looking at it made me feel like I was falling into the deep sea.

Shhh.

"Gasp!"

I canceled the spatial magic and exhaled the breath I had been holding.

My back was drenched in cold sweat without me even realizing it.

"...That was dangerous."

I managed to cast it, but it was difficult to maintain for a long time.

It felt like I would cause an accident if I lost control even a little.

It meant that I was still lacking in handling this mana.

Just then,

"Yuhan."

A low voice came from behind me.

I was startled and turned around to see...

"...Dean?"

Dean Asion Gale was standing tall, gazing into the space where I was.

As if he could see everything inside.

His expression was dark, and I...

'This is bad.'

I realized something was wrong.

***

In the Dean's office at Asion Academy.

I was summoned there and sat facing Asion Gale.

He was the first to speak.

"So, tell me what happened."

"...What?"

I tried to play dumb since nothing was certain yet, but

"Are you going to pretend you don't know?"

Asion Gale replied with a frown.

...It seemed he had seen everything.

"I heard that place was blinded, how did you know?"

"Do you think I wouldn't know if you trapped Baal in there?"

"...That's a bit of an exaggeration."

"Exaggeration or not, the context is the same. Even if a blinding magic is cast, it can't hide the eerie aura of dark mana. Especially for someone like me with keen senses."

"Well, it was a useless place after all..."

"Stop changing the subject, Yuhan, and answer me."

At Asion Gale's urging, I had no choice but to confess everything that had happened.

Starting with being trapped in Dersion's spatial magic.

"So, you learned dark attribute mana to escape from there?"

"Yes."

"And you also mastered spatial magic there?"

"That's what happened."

"Huh, this is unbelievable."

Tap, tap, tap.

Asion Gale tapped his chair, deep in thought.

He had an expression of disbelief.

"To be able to handle the same magic just by watching it... Should I call this a blessing?"

He muttered something to himself and then suddenly nodded.

"One thing's for sure, if you hadn't done that there, you probably wouldn't be here now."

"Yes, it was an unavoidable choice."

"I see, so that's it..."

Asion Gale nodded in agreement.

Then he returned to his solemn expression.

"But Yuhan, that is a very dangerous attribute of magic. Do you understand?"

No, rather than solemn, his expression was more worried.

It seemed he was concerned about the dark attribute, which was close to 'evil'.

However, I nodded confidently.

"Yes, I understand, Dean."

No one knew this better than I did.

While planning my mage build, I thoroughly researched mages who had this as their main attribute.

The reason I didn't even consider it...

It was because, as Asion Gale said, dark attribute magic was indeed very dangerous.

"The attribute itself isn't classified as black magic... but if you're not careful, it will consume you. Do you understand that?"

"Of course."

"Hmm, I see... That's all that matters."

"Excuse me?"

"I won't stop you."

Surprised by his unexpected words, I flinched.

"Really?"

"Yes, what kind of teacher would block their student's path? Although it was brief, the darkness I saw in you was outstanding. Even I felt a sense of caution for a moment. However."

Asion Gale paused for a moment, then continued,

"I should still help you so you don't go astray."

Swoosh.

Asion Gale leaned back in his chair and continued,

"I think I'll have to use that place for this occasion."

"That place...?"

"That 'space' I mentioned before."

At those words, I unconsciously gulped.

[Translator - Prøks]

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