7 – Episode 7
# 7
Darkness inherently has the attribute of concealment. It hides, conceals, and makes things invisible.
Listening to the voice of darkness, which is concealment itself, is very difficult. The number of shadow mages who control darkness is as scarce as those of the space-time mages.
It is a very demanding power.
Eledis was surprised that her pupil had grasped the power of darkness.
“You heard the voice of the darkness?”
“Yes.”
Ian answered a bit smugly. He had no idea what he had just accomplished. He was simply delighted to have added a new spell.
“My word…”
Eredis, on the other hand, was awestruck by his student’s unexpected talent.
Shadow magic was indeed a branch of magic, and many wizards aspired to master it. However, the attribute of darkness was so covert and shy that it rarely revealed itself.
The deep cave might be a place appreciated by darkness, yet the voice of the earth was too loud, leaving no place for the voice of darkness.
Wizards who wished to become shadow mages prepared large dark chambers to avoid all external stimuli and repeated the process of feeling only the darkness. This process could take months or even years if taken seriously. This goes to show how difficult it was to start learning shadow magic.
‘It must resonate well with him.’
Just like everyone has different innate talents, every wizard resonates with different attributes. For instance, Eredis had a high affinity for the attribute of fire. Hence, her major was Pyromancy.
Ian seemed to have a high affinity for the attribute of darkness. An affinity that paired well with his nickname, Raven.
“That’s great. It’s always beneficial for a wizard to master various magic.”
Eredis congratulated her student on his fortune.
Aeroskills, Earth Magic, and now Shadow Magic. His apprentice had already stepped into three schools of magic. That alone was enough to be called a wizard. But Eredis did not plan to stop at this point.
As a magician, one should always test limits.
“Let’s keep going, Ian.”
“Yes, Master!”
“It’s going to get harder from here. But I’ll be watching, so have confidence!”
“Yes!”
Ian responded energetically. The process of learning magic began to gradually become enjoyable. But beginning with cryomancy, Ian’s interest began to sharply wane.
“Ugh…”
Golden mountain range, summit peak.
The place, blanketed in perennial snow, is a harsh land where the average temperature records below freezing.
Eredis stripped Iean bare and buried him in a snowdrift.
“It’s, It’s cold!”
It was to initiate him into the art of frost magic.
“Concentrate! Iean! Listen to the voice of the frost!”
Iean gritted his teeth. He couldn’t even hear his master’s voice.
What the hell is the ‘voice of the frost’! Bloody hell! Humans are warm-blooded!
Frosts have no reason to speak to beasts born with warm blood. Eredis forced Iean to lower his body temperature to befriend the cold.
Let’s put aside the trivial problem that, when the body temperature drops, one may die from hypothermia.
A wizard pursuing mysteries should always be filled with a spirit of challenge.
[Human]
[Body is getting cold]
[I’ll die soon…]
“Get lost!”
Iean shouted and then closed his mouth. No, this isn’t right.
[“Hello!”]
There are times when you have to pretend to be friendly and smile, even though you don’t like it. Let’s say it’s a relationship between a boss and a subordinate. Frost is the boss and Iean is the latter. The poor guy has to pretend to be happy.
[Alright. Hello?]
[New skill acquired!]
[Skill: Frost Magic]
[The ability to use cold frost magic]
“M-Master! I did it! I talked to the frost!”
“Oh! You’re quick!”
Eredis exclaimed as she pulled Iean out of the snowdrift.
This poor disciple easily initiated into the magic of frost. She felt a growing curiosity.
His affinity with elements is not ordinary- how many kinds of magic can he handle?
To satisfy my curiosity, we have to test the next element.
“Next is the Water Skill!”
Eledis took Eian to the lake and submerged him into the water.
While advising him not to drown, Eledis even blocked his mouth. Eledis, who treasured his disciple so much.
Bubbling sounds…
In the middle of the lake, Eian (forcedly) heard the voice of the water.
[New skill acquired!]
[Skill: Water Skill (水氣術)]
“Well done, Eian!”
Sure enough, Eian did it again. Eledis smiled proudly.
“Heh… Heh…”
Eian who spent the entire day submerged in the water was so exhausted that he felt like he could die just from breathing.
But the master’s teaching had no end.
“Now let’s move on to the last skill! Fire skill!”
“…? Master, You said the fire skill.”
Ian broke into a cold sweat.
To learn the Cold Skill he ventured into the snow, for the Water Skill he submerged into the water.
So to learn the Fire Skill?
“Do I… need to go into fire…”
Isn’t it?
Seeing Eian’s face, Eledis broke into a broad grin.
“Correct! I’ll set up a fire, so go inside!”
“…”
That night.
Eredis roasted Ian over a large fire.
It was spring.
#
Ian’s introduction to magic was finally wrapped up.
[Skill Chart]
[You’ve entered 6 faculties]
[Air Craft – Lv 1, Earth Craft – Lv 2, Shadow Craft – Lv 1, Frost Craft – Lv 1, Water Craft – Lv 1, Flame Craft – Lv 1]
Eredis’s guidance stopped there because that’s all the magic she had entered.
“Ian. From what I see, it seems like you are loved by the mysteries.”
“… What does that mean?”
Mysteries, he wasn’t sure about that. But he knew that the status window was useful.
Ah. Come to think of it, is the status window a kind of mystery.
“Yeah. Normally, when you get close to one attribute, you distance yourself from others. But you entered six faculties without any particular difficulty.”
That wasn’t just flattery.
Indeed, Ian’s affinity for attributes was remarkable. It was rare for a magician to accept such a variety of attributes in such a short period of time. Considering that it usually takes at least a month to enter each faculty, Ian’s speed of entry was almost abnormal.
To use a cliché, is it ‘like a sponge,’ absorbing magic?
‘Due to the status window?’
Ian thought the secret of his learning was the status window. In fact, if there was no status window, he would still be struggling in Maronius Port.
‘Amazing with the otherworldly cheat! Incredible!’
Ian nodded in satisfaction.
“I’d like to introduce you to other faculties, but…”
“Ah, Master.”
Ian suddenly asked.
“But is it okay to do so many initiations? Like, side effects…”
Eredis didn’t understand what his disciple was talking about.
“Do you get side effects from having many friends?”
“Um… I don’t think so.”
“Exactly. The more mysteries you understand, the better.”
In effect, Ian was a people person, a social butterfly among the mystical. If we were to categorize him by MBTI, he would be an ESFP. Given that Ian’s real personality was an introvert, the situation was rather ironic.
“Anyway. I have to attend the meeting of university fire wizards now.”
“A meeting of fire wizards?”
It was something he had heard about during classes.
Magicians from each school regularly gather and conference. Though it sounds very official, it is essentially just an opportunity for everyone to see each other and chat. However, this activity is surprisingly crucial.
It’s a time to check survival information and address requests from each school, not to mention it is key to the affluent lifestyle enjoyed by the wizards who hardly do anything productive. All thanks to the patronage of the nobility.
And the reason the nobility patronizes wizards is for leverage when needed.
Unless it’s a very secluded secret meeting like that of the time wizards, the wizard meeting handles worldly matters to a certain extent. But as with all the group tasks in the world, some people did it because they had to, not because they want to do it.
The meeting rotates duties, and if you refuse the duties, your subsidy is cut off.
“I actually missed it twice. If I don’t show up now, it could be risky.”
Fire wizard meetings are held every three years.
Eredis missed two meetings on the pretense of raising his disciple, all while continuing to draw from the funds.
“Then I will also…!”
“No, Ian. You should wander the world, collecting mysteries. Enter more schools of magic and, if possible, create your own.”
Eredis highly valued Ian’s magical talent. He was not a magician who could devote himself to a single type of magic.
In Eredis’ case, it was an experience of sharing a deep and genuine friendship with a friend. As a master of pyromancy, she had a close relationship with flames. Even for a rather difficult favor, the flames would comply with Eredis’ request.
Most magicians tread the same path as Eredis.
They focus deeply and specialize in one form of magic.
Consequently, magicians who learn a little bit of everything become the objects of derision.
‘What’s the point of having 100 chat rooms? Do you have a friend who can lend you a million won in a tough spot?’
One who has formed a relationship with a mystery that really undertakes even challenging requests. Magicians call this the realm of a ‘Grand Magician’.
But what if you are involved in 100 chat rooms? 500? Or 1,000?
A person who sends messages to 50 others is desperate for pseudo-friendship, but one who converses with 100 people has built impressive relationships.
If you’re participating in 500 chats at once, you are a monster obsessed with social relationships.
And if it’s 1,000, you possess a kind of insanity immeasurable by mankind.
In Eredis’ view, Ian could definitely communicate with 1,000 mysteries.
There was no need to make friends who could lend you a million won. If each person lends just 1,000 won, that makes a million won, so why bother?
“It’s important to learn the magic that suits you.”
“If I learn pyromancy…”
“Pyromancy is dangerous. And it isn’t really a necessary magic in the world.”
From Noble mtl dot com
Despite being a pyromancer herself, Eredis did not rate the value of pyromancy highly. Because currently, pyromancy was a magic only used for destruction.
“Ian, let’s descend now.”
Eredis announced the end of a long and prolonged magic lesson.
The cunning pyromancer and the novice wizard stepped back into the mundane world once again.