The Master of Language - T.M.L Chapter 26 (Part 2):

This feeling.

This thought.

It’s all me.

It’s what makes me who I am.

If I cast spells while ignoring these parts of myself, the power will only be diminished. If I recite spells while excluding what I don’t consider to be me, it only increases the chances of failure.

I need to cast magic in a way that aligns with my heart.

That’s how magic is supposed to be, after all.

“Let’s make a deal! Huh? A deal would work!”

I looked around at the corpses and said,

“You’re destined to just rot away here anyway. So I’ll personally inform your families or acquaintances in the Yura continent about your fate. How about it? In exchange, help me study death magic.”

Of course, the corpses gave no response.

But that doesn’t matter.

A mage’s heart must move, or the magic won’t activate. It would also lack completeness.

It’s a bit of a trick, but rationalizing like this is necessary for the magic to work properly.

I raised my staff and tried casting death magic.

The corpse that had risen earlier stood up again.

When I ordered it to fire the musket, it did so just like before.

Bang-!

Afterwards, the corpse stood still, as if waiting for my next order.

I looked down at my hand.

“I’m not paying any attention right now. Yet that corpse doesn’t rebel against me. As expected. Casting magic in a way that aligns with my heart is the most powerful. Now, I should keep my promise, right?”

I asked the corpse to write its name on the floor.

The corpse immediately sat down and slowly wrote its name.

“Good. Now please write the name of the region or village where you lived. I’ll send news of you there.”

The corpse complied without a word, continuing to move its finger.

I continued studying death magic like this, making deals with the corpses.

And I added my own annotations to each part that differed from the spells Master Abana had taught me.

* * *

Three days later, I set sail from Marshal Harbor with Count Furst and Speria.

Oshalo decided to stay at the harbor. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed the Count had given him a task.

I stood at the bow, facing the sea breeze head-on.

After spending three days cooped up in the building, talking with corpses, my mind still feels a bit scattered.

But the results were satisfactory, given how hard I worked.

Perhaps because my deal-making method was effective, I became able to control up to ten corpses at once.

There was also a significant qualitative improvement, allowing me to recreate even the time-delayed firing they had learned in life.

However, as time passed, the corpses decayed and the remnant thoughts faded, making them increasingly difficult to control.

If there had been more deaths, I could have raised my level even higher.

“What are you thinking about? What thoughts could make you have such an intense expression?”

I turned to the side. There stood Speria, with surprised eyes.

“What kind of face was I making?”

“Well? Like you could kill about a hundred people?”

Speria chuckled.

I avoided her gaze.

“No way.”

“Still, you’ve improved a lot. When I first saw you at the harbor, you looked terrible. What on earth did you do for the past three days?”

I remained silent.

Death magic is a secret that can’t be told to anyone.

Suddenly, Master Abana’s words came to mind.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Few opportunities make it more tempting to cling to.”

I think I understand why Master Abana took me to the battlefield.

I tried my best to suppress the feelings stirring inside me.

“What’s with that sudden remark after being so quiet?”

Speria pouted her lips.

Ah, right, she was here.

“It’s nothing.”

Speria slightly furrowed her golden eyebrows, then suddenly reached into her robe and pulled out Keren’s robe.

“Here. I’m returning this. I burned off the original owner’s aura from this robe, so it should be fine for you to use now. It has strong resistance to fire, so it was really tough.”

I received it.

Finally, I have a robe of my own.

But something felt odd.

“I can still feel the fire energy inside?”

Speria avoided my gaze as she spoke.

“The phoenix has recovered enough. Once it revives, it can emit fire almost infinitely. So I put a treasure inside the robe.”

“Ah, didn’t you use up everything that was in this robe?”

She turned away, leaving these final words.

“I’ll give you a better robe when we reach the continent. For now, use this to study fire magic.”

She swiftly went into the cabin.

I looked at Keren’s robe that she had handed me.

It seemed to have protective magic.

“Since Speria gave it to me, it should be fine, right?”

I put my hand inside.

It felt hot, but there was no pain.

I pulled out what I grabbed.

“What’s this? An egg?”

It’s an egg slightly larger than a chicken egg.

Red lines, glowing like flowing lava, were chaotically drawn all over it.

Dangun

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