Dark Fantasy Normalized – Chapter 40

You’re a student I don’t deserve.

It was a phrase that Marina, Heinya’s master, often kept on her lips.

You’re a student I don’t deserve.

The way the master spoke those words was filled with affection and pride for her student.

You’re a student I don’t deserve.

However, at some point, the way the master spoke those words began to change.

-Master, I’ve told you numerous times, you don’t have to provide me material support. If there’s something I need, just give me a hint. I can get it myself.

-This ring. The one you gave me, remember? I don’t think I need it anymore. I found something more suitable. I’ll return it to you.

You’re a student I don’t deserve.

She was a perfectly composed student. The master often joked that as long as she wasn’t around, the student would never go hungry.

-No, Master, it’s enough. From now on, I’ll think for myself and find out things on my own.

You’re a student I don’t deserve.

She was a student who could understand ten things from just one lesson. The master playfully thought that even without confidence, the student’s growth wouldn’t face any problems. In fact, she might grow even faster without the master’s interference.

-…I have a slightly different opinion, Marina.

-Your opinion is undoubtedly beneficial and interesting, but… for this part, I think I should apply my own method.

You’re a student I don’t deserve.

-This book has been kept in our family library.

-What kind of book is it…

-…Actually, it deals with an ancient branch of magic.

-I’ve kept it hidden, but I’ve been researching this since the day I first came to the Mage Tower.

-The reason I’m revealing this now is…

-It’s because, Marina, I’d like you to help me with this research.

-…Is that so?

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

-I hoped you’d understand, but-

-I didn’t have high expectations.

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Heinya…

The master murmured as she looked at her student’s grave.

There was no tombstone. Therefore, there would be no name recorded.

Once the master turned away, it would be a miserable grave forgotten immediately.

The master remembered her student’s last moments before the downfall.

The figure of a great magician forged from glory and honor would remain big in history, believed to be eternally remembered.

I never imagined you would be buried in such a shabby grave…

Before collecting the remains, the master recalled the sight of her student one last time.

Amidst the havoc caused by the ancient spell, there remained one clean scar like her student’s handwriting, contrasting starkly.

That scar was the trace of Mana Spike, a level 3 magic.

Mana Spike was the first magic Marina taught to Heinya, which awakened her talents as a magician and connected them in a master-student relationship.

The student had chosen that magic to end her life.

Wrapping up her life neatly like a period on her body stained with mistakes and shame.

Thus, the student’s death was a reflection and penance for the past mistakes.

By showing the respect she couldn’t fully express for her master’s teachings, she rebuked her own errors.

Reprimanding the student’s mistakes.

That was undoubtedly the master’s task.

It had always been that way.

The student took it upon herself to do what the master was meant to do.

Each time, the master convinced herself.

“You were a student I didn’t deserve…”

Thus, it was unavoidable.

There might have been another path, but now that everything was over, it was nothing but meaningless speculation.

The master placed her staff down at her student’s grave.

And then she closed off her mana.

It was a tomb without a gravestone.

Too shabby to honor any two magicians.

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▶ Incident 43: The Master’s Mistake

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Before the duel began.

Marina felt an intense dissonance from her student.

– Marina. Should we announce the duel and take requests to observe?

– …No! Absolutely not!

– What?

Proving oneself through their own power and taking pride in it.

That was Heinya, who enjoyed the process above all else.

On a normal day, Heinya would have already mentioned she’d announced the duel and had requested observers by the time Marina hinted.

But with the opposite reaction coming back—

As the master, Marina could only stand dumbfounded.

But now.

Marina fully understood the reason.

“My God.”

The sigh escaped the lips of Master Ladros, the only judge observing the duel.

“She’s only at level 4 and already handling attribute transformation?”

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

“Not the issue? What do you mean, Master Marina?”

Marina glared at Meltas, still in shock.

“Meltas, what in the world did you do?”

The old man stroked his braided beard with a serious expression.

Interpreting his demeanor, Marina spoke even more excitedly.

“I remember clearly. That Ricir guy. When I saw him just yesterday morning, he had just barely entered level 4.”

“…!?”

Master Ladros widened his eyes further as he looked at Ricir.

“I heard that Ricir drank an elixir…”

“Just one elixir, and he goes from the beginning of level 4 right up to the bottom? What, did he drink dragon’s blood or something? I heard it was an advanced elixir made by the Ghosralta shamans?”

“An advanced elixir by the Ghosralta shamans? Level 4 would have a hard time handling that elixir…”

“Right. It wouldn’t be easy. But let’s say he managed to retain 50% of the elixir’s components.”

“…Probably around mid-level 4.”

“Right. Doesn’t it make sense, Master Ladros? That’s the best scenario. But what’s this? That guy is at late level 4 now? Meltas. You’d better not think you can brush this off as a mistake.”

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

“…”

What the two didn’t know was that the most shocked person in this situation was none other than Meltas.

“At least you know that Ricir’s original level was 4, right…”

“?”

“?”

Even more so, when Meltas first met him, he was at level 3.

Meltas suddenly recalled what Ricir had said and quoted it verbatim.

“Anyway, nothing to be surprised about. He sometimes does things like that.”

“…What nonsense is that?”

“Don’t ask me anymore. I’m feeling quite troubled myself.”

At that moment, the three masters were each enveloping their respective shocks when—

Ricir spoke.

“Heinya.”

All three masters’ gazes rushed to focus.

The duel entered a deadlock the moment it began.

Heinya was overwhelmed by Ricir’s attribute magic and froze in place.

The arrow of wind floating above Ricir’s hand was poised and ready to strike at Heinya.

He instinctively knew.

If he attacked Heinya now, she wouldn’t be able to respond adequately and would hand over the victory.

It would be a great conclusion to win without effort, but—

It wasn’t the best conclusion, either.

This duel was an important opportunity in itself.

Ricir wanted to use this duel to verify his objective level.

Moreover, he wanted to take time to整理 and reflect on his sudden growth in power.

Both of these were only possible if Heinya was a suitable opponent.

“Not bad. Ice magic, huh?”

Thus, Ricir began to provoke Heinya with a mischievous smile.

“…What?”

“Oh? Wasn’t it? You looked like you were frozen solid, so I thought maybe…”

Ricir found himself surprisingly talented in provoking.

Heinya’s face blushed with anger instantly.

“Oh, now it’s fire magic. That’s, um, what was it, multi-colored or something?”

“You! You!!!”

“Speak. I’m listening attentively right now. You can stop your attack.”

“How did you do that!? Attribute transformation!!! It’s impossible! It’s the effect of the elixir, right!? I won’t accept it!”

“Not accepting it? That’s a big problem then. You’re saying that Heinya is left with nothing but to utterly deny my wind magic. Proudly flaunting your homogenization.”

Ricir proved to be remarkably skilled at provoking.

Heinya, who had completely lost her fighting spirit, was now grimacing and glaring at Ricir.

Yet even in that state, she couldn’t act easily.

Because Ricir, an irregular presence, had thoroughly denied her world.

In the end, Heinya drove herself into a corner with her stubbornness.

In her left hand was the ancient magic book she had been studying since coming to the Mage Tower.

‘If it’s this—’

Just as she concentrated all her mental focus on her left hand.

“Heinya, get a grip!”

The master’s stern voice scolded her student at that moment.

“Are you planning to make everything I’ve taught you meaningless!?”

“…!”

“Recall my teachings! There’s an answer buried in them!”

Meltas and Ladros looked at Marina, astonished.

You’re a student I don’t deserve.

It was hard to imagine Marina, who often had that phrase on her lips and was exceptionally careful in treating her students, could adopt such a strict demeanor.

Heinya’s appearance was the same.

Though she respected her master, she had insisted on her own methods even more.

Had it been her usual self, she would have stuck to her ways to prove herself instead of following Marina’s advice.

“…”

But now. The student listened to her master.

Heinya threw away the ancient book she had tightly clutched.

Following her master’s advice, she recalled her teachings.

Suddenly, the wind arrow that had seemed overwhelmingly powerful began to appear slower.

‘It’s unstable.’

Ricir’s words, claiming he didn’t know about homogenization, seemed to ring true.

There were several flaws visible in the attribute transformation’s results.

Though Ricir’s magic appeared perfect at first glance—

Upon closer inspection, it was riddled with voids, making one wonder how its form was even maintained.

To put it metaphorically, it was like a structure erected without any specialized knowledge.

‘Is that even possible?’

Heinya found it hard to accept.

That meant Ricir had clearly reached the level of attribute transformation without any specialized knowledge.

‘That’s impossible.’

Heinya felt a chill run down her spine and desperately tied up her thoughts.

‘Before anything else, that’s not what I should be focusing on right now.’

Heinya directed her focus elsewhere.

From Ricir’s unreasonable magic—

To the imperfections within Ricir’s magic.

“Finally.”

Ricir smirked.

A barrier of mana spread around Heinya.

The wind arrow charged straight toward the barrier, as if it had been waiting for that moment.

Ricir’s arrow was the result of attribute transformation.

Compared to Heinya’s barrier, a product of homogenization, it had additional advantages with its properties and the precision of the magic was a level ahead.

Normally, Ricir’s attack would have ended in success while Heinya’s defense would have failed.

– Whoosh!

The wind arrow sliced through, quickly penetrating the barrier.

Heinya focused all her nerves, feeling as though the barrier was a part of her skin, and sensed it.

The structure of Ricir’s attribute magic. Its imperfection.

The barrier reacted to the caster’s intention.

– Whoooosh!

In an instant, a gust swept through, dispersing in all directions.

The wind arrow failed to pierce through the barrier and vanished into thin air.

Heinya immediately reached out her arm towards Ricir.

Numerous mana spikes formed around her hand and surged towards Ricir.

“What the—”

Heinya couldn’t hide her astonishment at Ricir’s subsequent response.

Instead of spreading his barrier, he attempted to dodge the spikes using the acceleration of wind magic.

It was an incredibly inefficient approach.

He felt the lack of knowledge and even the lack of experience.

Sure enough, Ricir sensed the issue while dodging the spikes and hurriedly unfurled his mana barrier.

“Ugh!”

His mana barrier, as flimsy as the wind arrow, ultimately failed to block the last spike that struck Ricir’s arm.

Thanks to the defensive magic for dueling, there was no injury, but the shock was firmly delivered.

He grimaced in pain as he clutched his arm.

“Gotcha!”

“Nice job.”

Both master and student exclaimed in joy simultaneously.

Heinya chastised herself internally.

‘I can do this! It’s possible!’

Heinya had regained part of her usual demeanor. Just as her collapsed world was beginning to return to its original shape—

“What is this feeling?”

Heinya heard Ricir’s meaningful murmur in her ear.

She felt another shudder down her spine.

That one monologue brought forth a cascade of ominous possibilities in her mind.

– Whoosh!

Once again, the wind gathered around Ricir, forming shape above his hand.

“You—”

Heinya couldn’t hide her agitation.

It was not one, but many, and they were not arrows, but spikes.

Ricir had recreated Heinya’s mana spikes using wind magic.

Feeling something foul in that action, Heinya was incensed.

“Are you challenging me right now!?”

“I have no intention of provoking.”

“Then what’s your intention!?”

Ricir answered with actions.

The cycle repeated.

The power of attribute transformation that sought penetration versus the power of homogenization that sought to repel.

An unstable magic that merely changed from the form of an arrow to that of a spike.

There shouldn’t have been any change.

“…!”

It shouldn’t have been this way, yet horror appeared on Heinya’s face.

Ricir’s wind spikes were not mere imitations that only mimicked form.

They contained an understanding of the principles and intricacies of mana spikes— a true reinterpretation of magic.

“You’ve learned a thing or two. Isn’t that one of the functions of a duel?”

In fact, the imitation that merely mimicked form was the wind arrow.

Heinya was unaware that this wind arrow was a creation magic crafted purely out of Ricir’s imagination.

Instead—

At that moment, Heinya clearly recognized one undeniable fact.

Ricir was acquiring magical knowledge in real-time.

It was the instant where the ominous possibilities she had desperately denied took shape.

“You can’t be serious—”

She recalled their previous conversation.

– A year. It took me only one year to get here. How about you?

– …A month?

Heinya’s pupils trembled uncontrollably. The tremor was felt through the mana barrier as well—

And the mana barrier, along with the wind spikes, collapsed.

“Ha…”

All she could do was let out a bitter laugh.

“What is this…”

Heinya muttered with exasperation.

I can do this.

That inner cry could no longer be heard.

The arrogant genius magician had discovered how to doubt herself.

After some time had passed.

Ladros raised his left hand and spoke.

“The duel is over. The winner is—”

*

Ricir approached Heinya after waiting for her to collect her emotions.

Heinya gazed at Ricir as he came closer, then burst into a laugh and said.

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

Heinya recalled her previous actions toward Ricir and, without realizing, acted curtly.

Naturally, she expected him to scoff at her.

“…”

Ricir did not laugh. Instead, he shook his head and extended his hand to Heinya.

“Do you remember what I said?”

“…!”

Heinya was taken by surprise.

“…Yeah. We decided to do our best by any means necessary to avoid any talk afterward.”

Heinya let out an awkward laugh.

“I’ll say it again, Ricir. I acknowledge my defeat.”

And just as she was about to take Ricir’s outstretched hand—

“…Huh?”

She belatedly realized. The angle of his outstretched hand was slightly odd.

His palm was conspicuously facing upward.

“Not that.”

“…What?”

“I told you. If I win, I’ll ask Heinya for all her assets.”

Ricir stretched out his hand playfully.

“Please.”

Ricir’s gaze was fixed on the book Heinya had just thrown away.

“…”

The flustered student.

Without realizing, she looked at her master with a teary-eyed expression.

The master observed her student with a kind smile.

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▷ Incident 43: The Master’s Mistake – Deactivated

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