Chapter 117: A Misunderstanding

“Mastah~”

I woke up pleasantly to the familiar weight on my chest and Ver’s voice.

It had been a sweet, deep sleep.

But I only got to enjoy that feeling for a moment.

“Wake up~ It’s morning~”

My eyes snapped open at those words.

What? Morning?

Did that mean I bailed on dinner with Fienne?

I actually followed through on the only teaching my master left me?

I bolted upright.

“Ah, sorry.”

After patting Ver on the head, who had toppled over from the sudden motion, I turned to scold the true culprit of this disaster.

“Clana! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier!”

—Why are you taking it out on me?

“I told you to wake me up, didn’t I?!”

—When did you ever?

“Ugh, whatever! I hate you right now!”

—…How did I end up with this guy…

As I moved to open the curtains, I felt a strange sense of wrongness.

Wasn’t it a bit dark for morning?

That feeling only grew stronger as I pulled them open.

“It’s way too…”

Twilight softly blanketed the quiet landscape.

Interpreting this as ‘morning’ would require a very avant-garde sense of time.

Was Ver messing with me?

Good grief, is she already going through puberty?

I gave her a look, asking for an explanation.

Still lying face down, Ver stretched out her tiny limbs and cheerfully shouted.

“Mastah wakes up = morning! Mastah sleeps = night!”

“…That’s some real tyrannical logic.”

The overwhelming energy radiating from that small body seemed to sink right into me.

Well, whatever.

It’s nice to start the morning(?) with this much energy.

With Verdandes’ encouragement, I began the day in good spirits.

A short while later.

Having finished freshening up in the small bathroom attached to the room, I checked the time.

Dinner with Fienne, as she’d mentioned.

She’d probably show up just as I was waking up, so I might get to see that pretty face and really shake off the drowsiness.

Alright.

In the meantime, I should refine the unfinished “enhancement” technique.

I began pacing the room, warming up my mana and concentration.

Then, I recalled the structure of the enhancement technique I had formed overnight.

The flow of mana.

The way it worked.

I brought that sense into reality.

Thump.

An intense rush of euphoria followed.

Not exactly a pleasant feeling.

It felt like chugging concentrated espresso.

Though my power surged, I could feel the damage it was doing to my body in real time.

Thump!

My instincts screamed at me.

To stop immediately.

To escape this abnormal state.

Stay calm.

I carefully soothed those instinctual alarms and began regulating my breath.

“Hoo…”

For someone like me, who often collapses bleeding and unconscious, this Blue Breath technique was starting to feel like a cure-all.

The idea was this.

Activate mana sensitivity beyond normal limits using a mage’s ‘resonance,’ and suppress the resulting physical backlash using a swordsman’s ‘Blue Breath.’

That was the core concept of this enhancement ability.

A theoretically ideal and simple method, provided you could master both disciplines, like I could.

Of course, simple doesn’t mean easy.

“Huff… Huff…”

Soon after activating the technique, I hit my limit and stopped everything, working to steady my breath.

—Mastah!!! How is it!!! The ‘Risir’s Blazing White Flame!!!

“…Is that the name of this technique? Huff—please, I beg you, no…”

After barely regaining control, I told Clana and Dan’Galeon, who had been watching with interest from my inner world, what I had felt while using the enhancement.

This enhancement technique was designed to temporarily, dramatically boost one’s power in a short burst.

Like how Moria, a 5th tier mage, tried to overwhelm me during our duel.

But as it stood…

“It’s practically unusable in real combat, and the benefits aren’t even that impressive. I need to refine it a bit more.”

—What do you think the problem is?

“The problem…”

How perfectly one can control power that exceeds their natural limits.

That was the crux of this enhancement ability.

I relied heavily on the principle of ‘Ideation’ to exercise that control.

The insight I had gained from my duel with Moria.

That attempt had been a success.

What I felt while using the ability was not that it was ‘wrong,’ but that it was still ‘incomplete.’

Which suggested my approach was close to the right one.

And yet, a problem remained.

“I think it’s simply my own lack of skill.”

I realized it while applying the principle of Ideation.

The insight I gained from Moria was only a fragment of the whole.

Which made sense.

She had been pretending to be a 5th tier during that duel.

—Lack of skill?

—No, Mastah!!! Don’t say such things!!! Blame this inanimate girl instead!

In the end, it all came down to one conclusion again.

“I need to find a chance to properly witness the realm of the 7th tier.”

In that sense, an uninvited guest was actually welcome.

Opportunity came quicker and more unexpectedly than I thought.

Knock knock.

Thinking it was Fienne, I rushed to open the door.

But standing there was a familiar woman in glasses.

Drey’s representative.

Still sharp and businesslike, she said,

“Would you come with me? Lady Drey and Lord Pallarg are waiting.”

We arrived at the mansion’s basement.

The atmosphere there was heavier than I expected.

The high noble and the archmage.

They stood side by side, silently watching me.

And off to the side, the high priestess of the heretical cult, locked in an ice prison, looked at me with a cryptic smile.

—Mastah! Whatever the reason, those scumbags are seriously wary of you!

Even before Dan’Galeon said it, I had already sensed it.

The crushing pressure on my shoulders.

The weight pressing on my chest.

The wariness of these monsters was suffocating.

—Looks like that cult woman’s been up to something.

I silently agreed with Clana.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for these two to suddenly turn on me.

I tried to calm my unease and waited for them to speak.

All I’d done was win a duel.

And help expose a hidden cultist.

Even this morning, their messenger gave me nothing but positive signals.

There was no sign of wariness back then.

So the most reasonable explanation was…

That cult high priestess had sown seeds of doubt.

If I could remove that seed, all would be well.

I thought I understood the stance I needed to take.

“May I ask the reason you summoned me?”

Show weakness here, and I’d be swallowed whole.

I couldn’t allow even the slightest opening for that cultist to exploit.

I responded with a confident, composed demeanor.

“…”

“…”

My reaction seemed to surprise the two of them slightly.

A flicker of confusion—and interest—crossed their faces.

Even the suffocating pressure started to recede.

“Risir.”

Pallarg finally spoke.

“Do you recognize this?”

He held up an opaque crystal orb.

“…”

I examined it carefully, pretending to scrutinize—

Help!!!

—and called out to my inner world allies for aid.

—Mastah! That’s a Mirror of Reflection! It lets you peer into someone’s spiritual world!

Spiritual world? Could this be why they summoned me?

—“I, Dan’Galeon, swear it! There is no being in this world with a nobler spiritual world than Mastah! And how dare those insolent wretches!!! Mastah did them the favor of rooting out the parasite hiding in their ranks, and this is how they repay him? Peeking into Mastah’s spiritual world without permission?!”

Insolent, huh…

That word stuck with me.

According to Dan’Galeon, peering into someone’s spiritual world without consent was a serious breach of etiquette.

That gave me yet another valid reason to stand tall with confidence.

“So it’s the Mirror of Reflection. You call me here, and the first thing you show me is that… I think I understand the situation now.”

I let out a bitter smile, expressing regret.

And in doing so, I subtly pointed out the disrespect they had shown me.

A flicker of confusion crossed their faces.

But only for a moment.

“So you understand… Good. Then let’s make this conversation easier. Risir. Take a look at this.”

Pallarg waved his hand in the air and set something on top of the Mirror of Reflection.

The transparent orb shifted, unveiling a spiritual world.

A lake of blood.

Black flame pillars rising to the sky.

A raging sandstorm forming mountains, devouring the heavens and the sun.

As that surreal scene played out inside the orb, Pallarg turned to his bespectacled aide, Drey’s representative.

“Phonia.”

“Yes, Lord Pallarg.”

“What do you think of this image?”

“I believe it is something no ordinary human could possess.”

“Then what kind of person do you imagine the owner of this image to be?”

“Surely… a powerful and wicked being who has lived for ages and amassed countless sins.”

“I thought the same.”

Pallarg’s gaze turned to me.

“Who would ever believe this to be the spiritual world of a young mage who’s barely twenty?”

I was starting to get a clear picture of what was happening.

High Priestess Moria.

With her presence already putting Pallarg and Drey on high alert, she must’ve quietly planted a suggestion.

Probably something like: “Then what kind of monster managed to defeat me?”

Even I had to admit, Pallarg and Drey’s suspicions were reasonable.

I’d grown used to people reacting to how different I was.

I glanced toward the strange gaze I felt, and sure enough, there was Moria, smiling gleefully at me.

“Your turn now!” That’s what her face seemed to scream, filled with joy and twisted spite.

“Risir.”

Pallarg’s stern voice prodded me again.

I stared into the crystal orb, falling into thought.

How should I navigate this?

How could I explain that horrendous image?

To begin with, I didn’t even understand why my spiritual world looked like that.

A sea of blood, pillars of flame, sandstorms… What a mess.

“…Huh?”

Wait a minute.

Those things…

They felt kind of familiar?

Suddenly, Fienne’s face flashed through my mind.

—You’re saying the spirits live inside your inner world?

That expression of pure shock on her face.

No way…

I kept my eyes on the crystal orb and spoke to the residents of my inner world.

Though Pallarg demanded an explanation, he had already made up his mind.

That spiritual world, was beyond explanation.

Just as Moria had whispered when she handed him the Mirror of Reflection, he was convinced this was the image of someone as dreadful as, or even more so than, a high priestess of a heretical cult.

Even the image of a devil-worshipping high priestess hadn’t been this grotesque.

“Reveal your true identity.”

While demanding an answer, his attention wasn’t on my words, it was locked onto his senses.

So that he could detect and counter any sign of rebellion the instant I snapped.

“…”

Just then, I made a subtle gesture toward the Mirror of Reflection.

As if to say, look there.

“…”

Pallarg didn’t fall for it.

I was someone who had even deceived a high priestess.

My true nature… was unfathomable.

Not for even a second could he afford to take his eyes off me—

“You! Fluffy Sparklehead!”

“…?”

Suddenly, a bright and innocent voice echoed through the grim atmosphere.

A sand elemental in the form of a young girl had appeared beside me, hands on her hips, glaring directly at Pallarg.

“Are you bullying Mastah!?”

“…”

Pallarg blinked.

He was on high alert, tuned to detect the slightest fluctuation of mana.

Yet a spirit had been “summoned” right under his nose?

“…Lord Pallarg? The Mirror of Reflection—”

Drey’s confused voice interrupted.

Pallarg reluctantly glanced at the orb.

The sandstorm had stopped.

“?”

Poof.

Then a gray-white flame spirit popped out of thin air.

Again, no reaction from mana.

The pillar of fire vanished.

“?”

Poof.

A girl spirit appeared next.

Again, not a ripple in the mana.

The blood lake dried up.

The orb was now empty.

“???”

The three elementals were summoned out of nowhere.

And the spiritual world suddenly wiped clean.

Unable to connect the two with any logic or known principle, the two powerful figures could only stare in stunned silence, eyes darting between the orb and me.