The Master of Language - T.M.L Chapter 18 (Part 2):

Then Speria suddenly brought her face close to mine and said,

“Anyway. Now try putting in the fire magic I taught you. Now that you have a magic book, you should be able to store it.”

Magic book.

Its purpose is to write down many magic spells and use them whenever needed.

Even the simplest magic spell is so complex that it consumes your entire mind, so to use many magics, you had to store them in a magic book.

“Ah, that’s right. Okay. Once I put it in, I can forget about it, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

Suddenly, Psyche grabbed my arm and pulled.

“Wait! No!”

“What? Why?”

“It’s your first magic. Do mine instead of fire magic.”

The healing magic she showed earlier?

Speria chuckled at those words.

“Ran already has an innate first magic. It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“But it’s still the first magic Ran is learning. I don’t like it.”

I asked the curiosity that naturally arose.

“Why is the first magic important?”

“Ah, it becomes the mage’s specialized magic. It influences all the magic you’ll learn for the rest of your life. Of course, it doesn’t matter for Ran since he already has one.”

Speria looked at me with a deep gaze, smiling broadly.

This happens every time I let my guard down.

“Hmm, is that so? So the first magic has meaning? Then I’ll go with Master’s. Sorry.”

At those words, Speria’s expression turned bitter, and Psyche’s expression showed disappointment.

I went to the lake through the cabin.

By the lakeside was Master Abana, half-immersed in the water with her eyes closed, meditating.

As I approached, she spoke first.

“Is Dorma alright? It seems Psyche unexpectedly used healing magic.”

Well, Psyche tends to suppress her magic as much as possible. She does everything manually with her body even for things that could be easily done with psychokinesis.

In contrast, Speria uses psychokinesis as she pleases. Sometimes when she’s just woken up, she’s too lazy to walk and floats her body around.

They’re so different.

“Yes. Senior Dorma seems to have fallen asleep.”

“Hmm. I see. So? What magic are you thinking of storing first?”

As expected, since it happened in Master’s castle, she seems to know everything.

“What magic would be good, Master?”

Master Abana took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking.

“Your first magic is your innate magic anyway.”

“Ah, I heard that my specialized magic has already been decided. But doesn’t the first magic I ‘store’ still have meaning?”

When I glanced at Master Abana, she was looking at me with half-closed eyes.

“As always, you choose. Whose magic you want to store first.”

Come to think of it, Master Abana has always respected my choices like this.

Even when Speria said she would teach me fire magic, she readily agreed.

The reason was that the stronger I become, the better I can protect Psyche, but there’s an even more profound meaning.

Magic is ultimately projecting one’s will onto the world. Therefore, if it’s forced or induced by someone else, it becomes that much inferior in quality.

“What do you think, Master?”

Master Abana smiled charmingly and continued.

“Hmm. When you see a pristine snow field, everyone wants to be the first to step on it. The more beautiful the snow field, the more so.”

Yet she still respects my thoughts first?

I’ve decided.

I slowly entered the lake. The cold water soaked my clothes, but I didn’t mind.

As I stood in front of Master Abana, she looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.

“I didn’t realize, but you’ve grown.”

“I’m in my growth phase after all.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

I looked straight at Master Abana and said,

“I’ll store death magic. Master.”

“Why?”

“We promised, didn’t we? Instead of refusing a familiar, I would definitely learn death magic. I’ll make death magic the first magic I store.”

“Hmm. When I said I’d give you the materials to complete the magic book before, you refused, but now?”

“I never promised that.”

Master Abana glanced at the path leading to the cabin.

“Psyche will secretly dislike it, you know?”

“Let her dislike it. After all, my master is you, Master Abana. Not Psyche.”

“Oh? Bold, aren’t we?”

“The condition of becoming her companion was forced from the beginning anyway.”

Master Abana’s expression stiffened slightly.

“That attitude is not good, Ran. Since you both agreed to become each other’s companion, you should treat each other better. Is it right to use that as an excuse to treat her carelessly?”

“Becoming companions is to protect her. I never promised anything more than that.”

“…”

“And that’s why I want to learn death magic first. You said it’s powerful, right? So please help me store it. Honestly, I don’t fully understand it yet.”

Master Abana looked me up and down. The tips of her two ears gradually lowered.

Master’s two eyes were the same eyes that evaluated me on the day we first met.

“Death magic must never be discovered by anyone. It’s always a dangerous magic. Remember this well.”

“Yes, Master.”

Master Abana held out both hands and took out her magic book.

“Just like I’m doing now. Try to recall the spell in your mind while holding your magic book in your hands. And slowly read it out loud. I’ll keep correcting any mistakes.”

I closed my eyes while holding the magic book in both hands.

And I recalled death magic.

Since I learned it while being careful of Speria, I couldn’t learn much. The content itself was more difficult to understand compared to fire magic or water magic, so my level of understanding was even lower.

I took a deep breath.

And I recalled death magic in my mind.

Suddenly, the magic book opened wide, and the part where language magic was written fluttered past, revealing a blank space.

I slowly started reading the spell, and accordingly, golden letters began to be written on that blank space.

Death magic is quite long, so I maintained maximum concentration while reading the magic.

“Whether the birth of life is coincidence or inevitability, no one can be certain. But death is inevitable. It’s a shame. Why did this reversal of disorder, which broke through all those possibilities, end at just living not even 100 years? If it’s a miracle, it should be a bit more generous…”

The spell of death magic was like a story, yet like a philosophy book, or poetic yet like a code. It’s a mishmash of genres.

Master corrected my words here and there, and I immediately made corrections while completing the storage of the magic.

“Phew.”

As I took a deep breath and looked at Master, she looked at me with eyes that seemed to say I did well.

Did it go well?

I asked Master.

“Is this all? I feel a slight sense of wrongness, like something’s a bit off.”

Master’s expression stiffened slightly, but then she spoke in a gentle voice.

“Don’t worry, it went well. You really are amazing. Even though I helped you, to succeed in storing on the first try. And not just any magic, but this incomprehensibly difficult death magic.”

I’ve heard such words quite often, but I don’t really feel it since there’s no point of comparison.

“How many times did you try, Master?”

Master Abana gave a bitter smile.

“Hmm. I couldn’t count the number of times. It took me 2 years in terms of duration.”

My goodness.

2 years?

“Don’t be so surprised. It’s embarrassing. By the way, since you learn magic so quickly, there might be no need for me to intervene.”

Come to think of it, why was Master meditating? It seems like it’s been at least five days.

I asked Master.

“What do you mean? To intervene in what?”

Master answered while shaking off her wet body.

“Because your magic book was taking too long to make. I was planning to go out myself.”

“Ah, for Count Furst’s matter? We still have a month left, don’t we?”

“I hear that the Franche soldiers will arrive earlier. They say they’ll be here in ten days. I’m not sure why it’s 20 days earlier than expected.”

“…”

Did they find a way to cross the sea faster?

No, more than that.

Master is going out herself?

Then Master looked at me intently.

“Why?”

I carefully spoke up.

“The reason you’re entrusting this task to me is to give me experience, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But isn’t there another reason besides that?”

Master nodded lightly.

“There is.”

Speria.

Even though she doesn’t have a staff, it’s too dangerous for Master Abana to leave her seat.

That’s why Master hasn’t stepped a foot outside the castle until now.

I carefully asked.

“If you step out, what about Speria? Are you going to confine her somewhere? Or maybe knock her out for the duration of the task.”

The corners of Master’s mouth lifted slightly.

“The world is wide and treasures are many, Ran.”

“…”

“Such uncertain methods always lead to bad results.”

“Th-then Master…”

Master Abana cut off my words and put her hand on my shoulder.

“If you can master water magic sufficiently enough to go out within ten days… then nothing will happen, Ran.”

Master Abana’s mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not.

Dangun

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