episode_0040

He is more than enough of a disciple for me.

It was something that Heyna’s teacher, Marina, always said.

He is more than enough of a disciple for me.

The sight of the teacher speaking those words was full of affection and pride for his student.

He is more than enough of a disciple for me.

But from one day, the way the teacher spoke those words began to change.

-Master, I’ve told you many times, but you don’t need to give me material support. If there’s anything you think I need, just let me know. I can get it on my own.

-This. The ring that the Master gave me. Do you remember it? I don’t think I need it anymore. I found something more suitable for me. I’ll return it to you.

He is more than enough of a disciple for me.

He was a disciple who had a very smart demeanor. His master used to joke that if he didn’t have any, his disciple would never go hungry.

-No, Master. That’s enough. From now on, I will think and realize it myself.

He is more than enough of a disciple for me.

She was a disciple who knew ten things if he told her one thing. The master used to joke that even without him, there would be no problem in the disciple’s growth, and that she might actually grow even faster without him.

-…My thoughts are a little different, Marina.

-Your opinion is certainly useful and interesting, but… I think I should try my hand at this.

He is more than enough of a disciple for me.

-This book is one that was kept in the place where our family wanted to stand.

-What kind of book is it?

-…Actually, this is a grimoire that deals with a branch of ancient magic.

-I’ve been hiding it, but I’ve been researching this since the day I first came to Matap.

-The reason I revealed it now is…

-Nothing else, Marina. I would like you to help me with this research.

-…Is that so?

-It’s okay. Just pretend you didn’t hear it.

-I hope you understand, but-

-Because I didn’t have high expectations.

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“Hey…”

The master muttered as he looked at his disciple’s grave.

There was no tombstone, so there were no names to record.

It was a shabby tomb that would be forgotten as soon as the teacher turned his back.

The master remembered the last appearance of his disciple before his downfall.

I believed that the image of the great wizard, wrought with glory and honor, would remain in history and be remembered forever.

“I never imagined you’d be buried in such a shabby grave…”

The master remembered the last time he saw his disciple before collecting the body.

On his body, which was in disarray due to the rampage of an ancient spell, a single scar remained, clean as a disciple’s handwriting, forming a contrast.

The scar was the trace of a third-tier magic spell, the Mana Awl.

The Mana Awl was the first magic that Marina taught Heinya, the magic that awakened Heinya’s talent as a magician, and the magic that connected the two as a disciple.

The disciple ended his life with that very magic.

As if putting a clean period on one’s body stained with mistakes and shame.

As such, the disciple’s death was the result of reflection and introspection on past mistakes.

He rebuked his own mistakes by showing the respect he had for his teacher’s teachings.

Rebuking a disciple for his mistakes.

Even though it is strictly the teacher’s job.

It’s always been like that.

The disciple did on his own what the master was supposed to do.

Every time that happened, the master convinced himself.

“You were more than enough of a disciple for me…”

That’s why it can’t be helped.

Maybe there was another way-

Now that everything is over, it’s just a meaningless fantasy.

The master laid his staff on his disciple’s grave.

And he dispelled his magic power.

It was a grave without a tombstone.

Too shabby to honor two wizards-

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▶Incident 43: The Teacher’s Mistake

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Before the duel begins.

Marina felt a strong sense of discomfort towards her disciple.

-Marina. Should we announce the fact that Dalian is here and accept applications for observation?

-…No! Absolutely not!

-what?

Prove it with your own strength and show it off willingly.

Heinya enjoyed the process more than anything else.

If it were normal, Marina would have said “Hey” before she even hinted at it.

He said that he had already announced the fact of the training and accepted applications to attend, so there was no need to worry.

But the exact opposite reaction came back –

As a teacher, Marina couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

But now.

Marina fully realized why.

“Oh my god.”

It was a sigh that burst from the mouth of Master Ladros, the only one who attended the duel as a judge.

“You’re only in the 4th level and you’re dealing with temper tantrums?”

“…Master Ladros, that’s not the issue right now.”

“That’s not the problem – What do you mean, Master Marina?”

Marina looked at Meltas next to her in astonishment.

“Meltas, what the hell have you done?”

The old man was stroking his braided beard with a serious expression on his face.

Marina continued talking with even greater excitement about how she interpreted that image.

“I remember clearly. That guy named Risir. When I saw him yesterday morning, he had just entered the 4th level.”

“…!?”

Master Ladros looked at Risir with his already large eyes widening even further.

“I heard that a guy named Lisir drank the elixir-”

“You drank one elixir and you went straight from the beginning of the 4th level to the end? What, you even drank dragon blood? I heard that too. It was a high-grade elixir made by the Gothraltha sorcerers, right? ”

“A high-level elixir from the Gothraltha Warlock. It must be a difficult elixir for a 4th-level warrior to handle…”

“Yeah. It’s not easy. But he did a good job, so let’s say he got 50% of the elixir ingredients.”

“…Probably mid-4th tier.”

“Yeah. Master Ladros thinks that’s right? Isn’t that the best? But what is it? That guy is in the 4th rank now? Meltas. You’d better not try to get away with it by saying I was mistaken.”

The two masters turned their gazes toward Meltas, demanding an explanation.

“…”

The two people didn’t know.

The most surprised person in this place right now is none other than Meltas.

“You guys at least know that the original realm of Risir is the 4th level…”

“?”

“?”

To add to this, when Meltas first met him, he was in the third rank.

Meltas suddenly remembered what Risir had said and quoted it verbatim.

“Anyway, no need to be surprised. That happens sometimes.”

“… What the hell is that?”

“Don’t ask me any more. I’m in a very troubled state right now.”

At that time, when the three masters were each embracing their own shocks-

Risir said.

“Hey.”

The three masters’ eyes followed them urgently.

The duel entered a stalemate as soon as it began.

Heinya was frozen in place, overwhelmed by the attribute magic shown by Risir.

The arrow of wind that rose above Risir’s hand was waiting, aimed at Heinya.

He had a gut feeling.

If you attack Heinya now, she won’t be able to respond and will give up victory.

It would be a pretty decent ending, eating the glory of victory day by day –

It wasn’t the best ending either.

This match was an important opportunity in itself.

Risir wanted to confirm his objective level through this match.

Furthermore, I wanted to take time to organize my strengths that had grown rapidly.

Both of these things were possible only if Heynya became a worthy opponent.

“That’s pretty good. Ice magic.”

So, Risir smiled mischievously and started to taunt Heinya.

“…What?”

“Huh? It wasn’t? I was just wondering because it was frozen like ice.”

Risir was more talented at provocation than I thought.

Heynia’s face turned red in an instant.

“Oh, this time it’s fire magic. Is that it, is it multi-colored or something?”

“You, you! You!!!”

“Speak up. I’m listening to you right now. Stop attacking. ”

“What on earth did you do! Nature transformation!!! That’s ridiculous! Hey, that’s the effect of the elixir? Right!? I don’t accept it!”

“You can’t admit it. That’s a big deal. Now, all that’s left is for Heinya to completely deny my wind magic. With the homogenization she proudly boasted about.”

It turned out that Risir had a greater aptitude for provocation than he had thought.

Heinya, who had completely lost her fighting spirit, was now gritting her teeth and glaring at Risir.

However, even in that state, it is not easy to take action.

Because the out-of-the-ordinary being called Risir had completely denied his own world.

In the end, Heinya pushed herself with stubbornness.

In her left hand she held a book. It was an ancient magic book that she had been studying ever since she came to the Magic Tower.

‘If this is-‘

It was then that she concentrated all her mind on her left hand.

“Hey, wake up!”

It was then that the master’s stern voice scolded the disciple.

“Are you trying to make everything I taught you all this time meaningless!?”

“…!”

“Remember my teachings! The answer is in them!”

Meltas and Radors looked at Marina in surprise.

You are more than enough of a disciple for me.

It was hard to imagine that Marina, who usually spoke like that and was extremely careful about treating her disciples, had such a strict appearance.

The following appearance of Heinya was the same.

Heinya respected her teacher, but more than that, she insisted on doing things her own way.

If it had been the usual Heinya, instead of following Marina’s advice, she would have insisted on her own way to the end and proved it.

“…”

But now, the disciple listened to his master’s words.

Heinya threw down the ancient book she had been holding tightly in her hand.

Following the Master’s advice, I recall her teachings.

Then, the arrow of wind that had seemed so overwhelming began to look different.

‘It’s unstable.’

It seemed that Risir’s words about not knowing about homogenization were not a lie.

The result of characterization. There were several defects that should not have been seen there.

At first glance, Lisir’s magic seemed flawless and perfect, but-

If you look closely, it is full of blank spaces, to the point where you wonder how it maintains its shape.

It’s like a building built without any specialized knowledge.

‘Is that possible?’

Heynya didn’t accept it easily.

This meant that soon, Risir had reached the stage of characterization on his own without the help of any professional knowledge.

‘That’s impossible.’

Heinya felt a chill down her spine and tried to gather her thoughts.

‘In the first place, that’s not what we need to worry about right now.’

Heynya changed the object of her concentration.

From the irrationality of magic displayed by Risir-

Due to the imperfection of the magic that Risir unleashed.

“Finally.”

Risir laughed bitterly.

A wall of mana spread around Heinya.

As if waiting, the arrows of wind rushed straight towards the barrier.

Risir’s arrows were the result of tempering.

Compared to Henya’s barrier, which is a result of homogenization, it has the advantage of additional properties, and its magical precision should also be one level higher.

If things had been normal, Risir’s attack would have ended in success, and Heinya’s defense would have ended in failure.

-Shooo

Arrow of the Wind – The tip accelerated and dug into the barrier.

Heinya concentrated all her nerves and felt as if the barrier were her own skin.

The texture of the attribute magic that Risir had spread. Its imperfection.

The barrier responded to the caster’s will.

-Whew!

In an instant, a gust of wind blew and spread in all directions.

The wind arrows scattered and disappeared without even penetrating the barrier.

Heinya immediately stretched out her arm towards Risir.

A number of mana pinpoints formed around her hand and poured out in succession towards Lisir.

“What-”

Heinya couldn’t hide her bewilderment at Rishir’s subsequent response.

Instead of deploying a barrier, he tried to dodge the awl directly using the acceleration of his wind magic.

It was a truly inefficient method.

I feel not only the absence of knowledge, but also the absence of experience.

As expected, Risir realized the problem while avoiding the awl and belatedly deployed a mana barrier.

“Ugh!”

The mana barrier was as fragile as an arrow of wind. Eventually, the last awl ended up piercing into Risir’s arm.

Thanks to the defensive magic used for sparring, there were no injuries, but the impact was fully transmitted.

He clutched his arms, his expression twisted in pain.

“Okay!”

“Good.”

The master and the disciple both shouted in joy.

Heynya consoled herself inwardly.

‘I can do it! It’s possible!’

Heinya had already regained some of her usual appearance. As her shattered world began to regain its original form-

“Is this what it feels like?”

Risir’s meaningful muttering rang in Heinya’s ears.

Heynya felt a chill down her spine again.

That one monologue brought up all sorts of ominous possibilities.

-Whew!

Once again, the wind gathered around Risir, taking shape in his hand.

“You-”

Hey, I couldn’t hide my excitement.

There were many, not just one, and they were shaped like awls, not arrows.

Risir recreated Henya’s mana awl with wind magic.

Heinya, who sensed impurity in that action, was indignant.

“You want to do it with me now!?”

“No intention to provoke.”

“Then what is your intention!”

Risir answered with actions.

A series of processes were repeated.

The power of characterization that seeks to break through and the power of homogeneity that seeks to repel.

The unstable magic that was just in the shape of an arrow changed into the shape of an awl.

Nothing should have changed.

“…!”

It should have been so, but a look of shock appeared on Heinya’s face.

The wind chime of Risir was not a simple imitation of the form.

It was a clear reinterpretation of magic, containing an understanding of the principles and mysteries of the Mana Awl.

“I learned a thing or two. Isn’t this the proper function of sparring?”

Rather, the imitation that only copied the form was the wind arrow.

Heinya didn’t know that the wind arrow was a creative magic created solely by Risir.

Instead-

At this very moment, I knew for sure that Risir was acquiring magical knowledge in real time.

It was the moment when the ominous possibility that Heynya was trying so hard to deny became real.

“You, no way-”

She recalled the conversation she had had with Lisir earlier.

-1 year. It only took me a year to get here. How about you?

-…A month?

Heinya’s eyes trembled without mercy. The trembling was transmitted to Mana’s barrier as well-

The Mana Barrier was destroyed along with the Wind Awl.

“Ha…”

What came out was just laughter.

“What is this…”

Hey, you muttered in a loud voice.

I can do it.

That inner cry was no longer heard.

The arrogant genius wizard learned how to doubt himself.

After some time has passed.

Ladros said, raising his left hand.

“The duel is over. The winner is-”

***

Risir waited for Heinya to sort out her feelings before approaching her.

Heinya stared blankly at the approaching Risir, then burst into laughter and said.

“Yeah, you won. Congratulations. How are you, satisfied?”

Heinya was suddenly blunt as she remembered the things she had done to Risir.

Of course, he thought he would laugh at himself.

“…”

Risir didn’t laugh. Instead, he shook his head and offered Heinya a hand.

“Do you remember what I said?”

“…!”

Hey, are you surprised?

“…Yeah. We decided to do our best, regardless of the means and methods, so that no one would come forward later. ”

Heynya let out an awkward laugh.

“I’ll say it again, Lisir. I admit my defeat. ”

And then I try to grab the hand that Risir extends-

“…Huh?”

I realized too late that the angle of the hand he extended was a bit strange.

The palm of the hand he held out was facing upward.

“Not that one.”

“…What?”

“I told you, if I win, I’ll ask Heynyah for all my money.”

Risir held out his hand and muttered playfully.

“Please give me.”

The speaking Risir’s gaze was directed at the book that Heinya had thrown aside just a moment ago.

“…”

The bewildered disciple.

She looked at her teacher without realizing it and started to cry.

The master looked at his disciple and smiled kindly.

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▷Incident 43: Master’s Mistake – Deactivated

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