Chapter 277

277

That evening.

Leo, who had arrived early at the meeting place, was contemplating the magic he would teach Lunia.

“I need to teach Eiran not just to return the Erquent, but also the Magic of the Stars.”

Of course, he didn’t intend to teach the End.

“Eiran is not suited for the End.”

He also thought he would teach Lunia various other magical spells besides the End.

The Magic of the Stars, the End.

As a magic known to symbolize Luna externally, it boasted the strongest power among the spells used by Luna.

“But there was another magic that symbolized Luna.”

The Magic of the Stars, Stella Radius.

Created through the magical system of the stars, it was a spell designed solely for Luna.

When it came to sheer power, the strongest magic was the End, but in terms of versatility, Stella Radius was far superior.

Since it was optimized according to Luna’s mana characteristics, in a sense, it could be seen as the most star-like magic among the Magic of the Stars.

The special reason for Stella Radius.

That was because it created a new unique magic based on the star magic that could be considered its own.

It wasn’t just a concept of applying unique magic to create another spell.

“If unique magic symbolizes the magical power characteristics of a wizard… then Stella Radius symbolizes the wizard itself.”

Luna wanted to become a great wizard shining like a star.

Stella Radius was a magic affected by such Luna’s wish, embodying beautiful starlight.

And there was another magic like Stella Radius.

A magic of the stars, but the only one that Luna could not use.

“Innocent.”

A unique magic made by Luna representing Kyle.

It symbolized Kyle himself.

And Luna redefined the kinds of magic like Stella Radius and Innocent and named them.

“Origin.”

What one wants to be.

Or a magic that signifies the origin of that person.

“And I created several Origins, in addition to Stella Radius and Innocent.”

Of course, none were completed.

Luna had only created the basic framework of those spells.

Since there were no users to utilize them, they had not reached the completion stage yet.

“Among them, there was magic created for Berkiya.”

Berkiya was the joint disciple of Luna, Aron, and Kyle.

For Luna, magic.

For Aron, martial arts.

And for Kyle, the techniques of the swordmaster.

Through their teachings, Berkiya completed a unique magic called the Armor of Animus, which has been passed down to her descendants for thousands of years.

A magic that fused mana and aura.

What Leo would teach Eiran was the Origin magic that Luna had created for Berkiya.

Leo understood it only in theory and formulas, but he could not use it.

“Because it’s a magic made solely for Berkiya.”

The activation conditions for the magic were star mana and fairy mana, as well as aura.

“Eiran, being a descendant of Berkiya, has the conditions to learn magic, so it should be possible.”

Luna’s intention, left for her disciple who admired their master and wanted to follow in their footsteps.

In the last expedition, the great heroes all lost their lives and failed to succeed.

But in this era, Leo was here.

From the moment he saw Eiran, Leo had decided to pass on this magic.

He had an obligation to leave this magic behind.

Even though both Luna, who created the magic, and Berkiya, to whom it was meant to be passed down, were already gone.

There were descendants inheriting Berkiya’s will.

“Conveying that heart, albeit late, is perhaps one of my roles in reliving this era.”

As Leo recalled Luna and Berkiya, he wore a faint smile.

Creak—

The sound of the auditorium door opening was heard.

With a puzzled expression, Leo turned his head and, through the slightly open door, discovered Eiran peeking in, giving him a curious look.

“Eiran?”

“Le, Leo-sama. Have, have you been here already?”

There was still time before midnight.

“Yeah, I was trying to prepare a bit. Why are you here so early?”

“I, I also wanted to prepare my, my mind…!”

“What? Were you that excited?”

“I, I wasn’t excited! I just— that is…! I mean!”

With her face turning red, Eiran fidgeted with her hands and spoke with her head lowered.

“I, I was looking forward to it.”

Seeing Eiran blushing as if steam would come out of her head, Leo clicked his tongue inwardly.

“If only Berkiya had taken after Eiran in some way, I would have adored her even more.”

Recalling his cheeky disciple, who always shot him sideways glances and would rebel, Leo shook his head.

“She’s not even close to her descendants.”

As Leo shook his head while thinking of Berkiya, he gestured.

“Then let’s start first. Come here.”

At those words, Eiran timidly approached Leo.

Looking at Eiran, Leo smiled and said, “Do you want to close your eyes?”

“Close my… eyes?”

“I, I read about it in a novel. While closing your eyes, the male protagonist… kisses the female protagonist…!”

The former recluse began to misinterpret the content of the novel he had read as he fumbled around.

As Eiran, who didn’t know what to do, finally lifted her gaze to look at Leo illuminated by the moonlight.

“Le, Leo-sama… you look more gallant and… even manlier.”

Though she still had a youthful appearance, the aura had matured.

Beneath his white hair were mature red eyes.

Below that, well-defined features of a handsome boy.

“And his lips….”

Feeling something vaguely stimulating, Eiran looked up at Leo and gently closed her eyes.

Thump-thump— her heart raced as if it would burst.

Her senses of touch and smell became more acute.

Rustle—

She heard the sound of something being drawn from the fabric.

Becoming aware of it made Eiran’s sense of smell strongly identify Leo’s scent.

Thud—

She felt Leo getting closer.

Thud!

“…!”

As Leo grabbed her wrist, Eiran felt as if electricity coursed through her whole body.

Holding Eiran’s wrist, Leo brought it forward and placed the Erquent in her small hand.

“Now, open your eyes.”

At those words, Eiran opened her eyes in surprise.

“It’s a gift.”

Upon looking at the sword held in her hand, Eiran blinked in astonishment.

“I’m going to teach you the Magic of the Stars from now on.”

At Leo’s words, Eiran’s body trembled as she fell silent.

She realized that she had thought of something utterly absurd.

The tutoring that Leo was offering was not something secretive; it was genuinely a real tutoring session.

Overwhelmed by a rush of shame, Eiran squatted down and buried her face in her knees.

Looking down at Eiran, Leo muttered.

“Seems like she had another weird fantasy.”

Knowing that saying anything to this innocent yet peculiarly knowledgeable elven girl would be disastrous, Leo decided to let this incident go.

*

Having barely recovered, Eiran put on the brightest expression she could muster.

“To learn the Magic of the Stars from Leo-sama! I’m truly honored!”

Leo, who looked at Eiran unusually thrilled for a moment, said.

“Look closely at the sword I gave you.”

Eiran examined the peculiar shape of the sword Leo had given her.

“This, this is… Erquent?”

Seeing the sword identical to that used by her family’s progenitor from a long time ago, Eiran was astonished.

The Eresar family also had an Erquent passed down.

But that was from a distant past—a reward obtained after her ancestors conquered the Hero’s World.

It was a replica, not the real thing.

And once the conqueror died, the hero weapon would lose its power, becoming merely a shell.

“That’s the real thing.”

At Leo’s words, Eiran was even more surprised.

“But, but! They said Erquent was lost by Berkiya during the Era of Catastrophe!”

“Right. But it was stored in the royal family of the Shan Empire.”

Leo pulled up a chair nearby and sat down.

“And the founding emperor of the Shan Empire, like Berkiya, was said to be a disciple of a great hero.”

“What?”

Eiran was taken aback.

Though it was an unknown fact, Leo decided to share it with Eiran.

“Eiran can keep a secret.”

He had already informed Chen Sia that he would give Erquent to Eiran and reveal its origins.

After hearing that, Chen Sia didn’t show any particular reaction.

“Yes. As Leo-sama wishes.”

“Is it really okay to hand over an item stored for thousands of years to another clan… especially to another race?”

“Leo-sama is a benefactor to both Shan and me. I have already sworn to spend my life for Leo-sama. So you can use us as you wish.”

“It seems Berkiya’s lost sword was found by the Shan’s progenitor.”

“Is, is that so?”

Eiran gazed at the Erquent she held in her hand with trembling eyes.

She could already feel an unusual mana emanating from the sword.

Eiran, who carried Berkiya’s bl**d, instinctively sensed it.

That this sword was the real deal.

“This is… the sword of the progenitor.”

Watching Eiran, who stared at Erquent with tears of awe, Leo said.

“Yes, first you should learn how to use that sword.”

“The sword’s usage?”

“Yes. Can you hand it back to me?”

Eiran returned the Erquent to Leo.

Receiving the sword, Leo channeled mana into Erquent.

Vwoom-!

Then, the Erquent began to radiate its name.

Zing-!

Along with that, a silvery blade emerged from Erquent.

Eiran was awestruck seeing the lengthened mana blade, now the size of a longsword.

“Just like what I saw in the literature!”

Feeling immense admiration as she witnessed the true form of the magical weapon used by her revered ancestors, Eiran was greatly moved.

Leo handed the Erquent back to Eiran.

“Now, give it a try.”

At those words, Eiran tightly grasped Erquent with both hands.

“Leo-sama probably uses mana like this….”

She channeled mana into Erquent as Leo had demonstrated earlier.

Zing-!

Then, the silvery blade erupted forth.

“Leo-sama! I’ve done it!”

Seeing Eiran smile widely, Leo chuckled.

“You’ve done well. Shall we move on to magic now?”

“Yes!”

Leo spread his hands.

“This magic may be something only your family members can learn.”

“A magic only our family can learn?”

Eiran blinked her large eyes and tilted her head.

“Yes.”

As Leo nodded, a magic formula emerged above his palm.

Eiran’s eyes widened.

She realized instinctively.

This is…

“This is related to the Eresar family’s magic.”

But it wasn’t just any family magic.

“Wait, it resembles the Armor of Animus.”

“Could it be that this magic was created by you, Leo-sama?”

At that question, Leo shook his head.

“No. The person who made this magic is likely Luna, the progenitor of the Star Cloud.”

“Yes?”

“I found this magic in an ancient document discovered in the Shan Empire.”

Eiran gasped in shock.

The progenitor of the Star Cloud, Luna, left this magic for her disciple Berkiya.

Luna created this spell during the final expedition to support the wish of young Berkiya, who admired great heroes and yearned to follow in their footsteps.

Luna’s last creation.

“The Armor of Animus.”

Leo stared intently at Eiran.

“This is the last magic left by the progenitor of the Star Cloud for your progenitor.”