Chapter 2

Back when the war between the Empire and the Demon Clan had not yet ended. Dale, the hero of his past life, had witnessed the Black Duke’s formidable power just once.

When the demon race’s treachery had immobilized the Empire’s main forces, leaving the capital of the Saxon Duchy defenseless and exposed to the enemy. Right there, the Duke of Saxony calmly received them.

Alone, without a single knight to guard him, he stood against the vast army of Orc Warlords that had surrounded Saxony Castle and the surrounding city.

Dale, who had been dispatched as part of the special unit at the time, could never forget the sight he witnessed that day.

As he flung his ominous jet-black robe about, the very moment he waved his hand.

The pouring twilight faded away.

After the light vanished, the forces of darkness descended. Knights of Death poured forth, mounted on cavalry formed from immortal darkness.

An immortal army that never rested, never stopped.

It was a shudder unlike any this world had ever known.

“Young Master.”

A woman’s soft voice brushed against his ear.

“It’s time to rise.”

Dale quietly opened his eyes. Dawn sunlight seeped through his eyelids.

‘Was it a dream?’

A dream about the man who had now become his father.

“Thanks for waking me up.”

Dale shook his head and expressed his gratitude.

Eve was a young maid working for the Saxon ducal household. Though she was young, she was nearly a full decade older than Dale, who was turning eight this year.

Eight years old.

Seeing the commotion already at the ducal castle, Dale could easily guess what today would bring.

Today, Dale would finally turn eight.

Even the Black Duke, who seldom took kindly to aristocratic pomp or socializing, summoned his vassals and nobles to prepare a grand birthday celebration.

The Great Hall of the ducal castle.

Servants bustled about, and a considerable number of nobles had already gathered there. Northern nobles loyal to the Duke of Saxony.

“Congratulations on turning eight.”

Elena sat to the left of the throne prepared for the duke and duchess, wearing a tender smile.

“Thank you for growing up safely, Dale.”

“Mother.”

Dale bowed his head silently, displaying a maturity beyond his eight years.

“Where is Father?”

“He has a momentary engagement and is currently in a meeting with Lord Helmut.”

Elena replied with an expression of regret.

‘Sir Helmut, the Knight Commander?’

Lord Helmut commands the Saxon House’s direct-command ‘Night Raven Knights’.

To enemies, they are known by the infamous moniker ‘Black Cavalry’—devastators of the battlefield.

If he urgently summoned his knight commander, it must be something like a dungeon being discovered within the domain. The duke’s duty to ensure the domain’s safety knew no exceptions, not even on Dale’s commemorative birthday.

“While the banquet is postponed, there is someone I wish to introduce to you in my father’s stead.”

But Elena paid little heed, rising quietly to her feet. Someone to introduce? Dale blinked and followed her.

Elena crossed the castle’s corridors with her maids. Leaving the noisy social gathering in the hall behind, Elena led Dale toward the guest rooms downstairs.

“Lady Sepia.”

Elena knocked politely and bowed her head. Dale blinked at the formal courtesy.

“Excuse me, my lady.”

Soon the door opened, and a calm, clear voice drifted out.

“I’m not accustomed to noisy places.”

Dale gasped in surprise.

“Greet him. This is Sepia, the wise demon and elder of the Blue Magic Tower.”

The Elder of the Blue Demon Tower, the Wise Demon Sepia.

The guest in the room was a woman resembling Elena, who had just shed her maidenly air, or perhaps a little younger.

Her beauty shone coldly, like crystal. Yet, the pointed ears protruding from her sapphire-colored hair revealed the meaninglessness of her outward age.

An elf, a race favored by Mana.

“We owe a considerable debt to the Black Duke and his wife.”

Sepia bowed her head in response. Elena shook her head as if to say it was absurd.

“I am truly honored that my child has been able to receive Sepia’s teachings.”

Sepia’s teachings? The moment he heard those words, Dale grasped the situation roughly.

‘What a luxurious tutor they’ve hired.’

“So this is Dale.”

Sepia, the Elder of the Blue Tower, was now looking at Dale with solemn eyes.

“I hear he is forming a fragment of a mana circle within his body, however faint it may be.”

That was already several years ago. But the tender age of four or five was hardly the right time to spread the wings of talent.

Therefore, Dale quietly waited for the right time.

The time when his abilities were fit to be downgraded from the realm of ‘monster’ to ‘genius-level talent’.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he wasted that time. Even so, Dale’s ‘training’ during that period was at least of a nature where he didn’t need to be conscious of others’ gazes.

“I can definitely sense the aura of mana.”

Sepia nodded without a hint of surprise.

“Dale, you said you wanted to learn magic, right?”

Elena didn’t want Dale to become a necromancer. But she also didn’t want to let his brilliant talent for magic go to waste.

‘The magic of the Blue Magic Tower.’

Dale never felt rushed. As long as the Black Mage was his father, opportunities to learn dark magic would come around often enough.

Above all, Dale understood his own limitations.

For a mage of ordinary talent, mastering even a single element over a lifetime was a daunting task. But Dale was different.

Rather, being an elf favored by mana and a Blue Tower elder would be a rare opportunity for learning for Dale.

‘The more learning, the better.’

Regardless of how much a mere Blue Tower elder could actually teach Dale.

The first lesson began sooner than expected.

Mother Elena left, saying she would return around the time the Black Ball returned, and stepped aside with her maids.

“I’ll leave it to you, Dale.”

Sepia flashed a faint smile toward Dale, left alone in the guest room.

An elder of the Blue Mage Tower and a rare elf of the mortal world. Her hair, a crystal-clear blue tinged with a faint chill, was breathtakingly beautiful. Needless to say, the pointed ears rising between them were equally striking.

“I’ll be counting on you, teacher.”

After all, it was only possible to be a tutor thanks to the Duke’s household’s influence.

In his past life, Dale was fundamentally an all-rounder type who mastered swords and magic, even mastering assassination and poison arts.

As a human weapon known as the Hero, he possessed perfect improvisational skills for any form of combat.

For that reason, he wasn’t entirely unskilled in the water-attribute magic that the Blue Tower specialized in.

However, what he learned back then was a grotesquely skewed method, extremely biased toward combat and killing. Even that was learned through a crude method, hammering all sorts of modifications and magic power engravings into his body.

What Dale learns now is far removed from magic intended for killing.

Water-attribute magic specializes in defense and disruption rather than attack, and thus the core principles of the water-based magic the Blue Tower primarily employs are twofold.

Disablement and non-lethality.

‘Could this also be Mother’s wish?’

Out of a mother’s wish for her child to avoid bloodshed, Elena must have invited the Blue Tower mage. Perhaps she intended for Dale to consider becoming a Blue Tower mage as a long-term career path through this opportunity.

But Dale had no intention of meekly deciding his future according to her wishes.

‘My vessel now is different from before.’

No matter how much he inherited from past lives and gained profound insights, Dale’s vessel right now is purely an eight-year-old child.

Of course, having inherited the bloodline of the Black Magic Tower, he possesses more than double the talent for magic.

But ultimately, that was the extent of it. It couldn’t compare to his days as a ‘human weapon’, a being who underwent every possible imperial human modification procedure, built upon the talent and physique honed over decades as an SSS-rank monster hunter.

Therefore, Dale needed to choose and focus based on deep insight, not the same methods as before.

To open a new realm that no one has ever reached before.

‘Even if I’m being greedy, swordsmanship and two types of magic would be the limit.’

Assuming one slot is for dark magic, the remaining slot would be filled with water magic.

After considering this far, Dale shook his head.

After all, Dale was merely an eight-year-old child. Even if he took the Elder of the Blue Magic Tower as his master, how much could he possibly learn immediately? It would likely be limited to teaching him how to manipulate mana, the basics of magic, and perhaps a few water-attribute spells.

Moreover, Dale hasn’t even fully formed his first mana circle yet. There’s no need to rush into anything just yet.

“Let’s step outside for a stroll.”

Just then, Sepia, who had been watching Dale intently, spoke up. Her clear, pure eyes seemed to pierce right through to Dale’s deepest core.

“Yes, Teacher.”

There was no reason to refuse.

Dale was strolling through the courtyard of the duke’s castle with Sepia. A biting chill seeped into his lungs.

“The air is quite chilly.”

Crossing the pure white marble colonnade surrounding the courtyard, Sepia spoke.

“It really reminds me of home.”

Her voice carried a faint, lingering longing. I had suspected it, but she was likely a Snow Elf.

“Is it your will to learn magic?”

Just then, Sepia spoke. Taken aback by the unexpected question, Dale blinked once.

“When you said you wanted to learn magic, I saw a hesitation unbecoming of a child.”

“It is my will to learn magic.”

Dale felt a pang of recognition deep inside. Having been about to make up a convenient excuse, he shook his head and spoke up.

“But there’s another kind of magic I wish to learn…”

“Dark magic, I suppose.”

Sepia replied as if it were no surprise.

“The Black Mage’s vow to his child that he would not pass on his legacy is well-known.”

The Black Mage and Elena’s love story remains a tale that continues to be gossiped about among the continent’s idle rich.

“Do you not find the Black Tower’s necromancy unsettling, Master?”

“Why do you think that?”

Elves are a race that values the natural order.

That’s why I thought Sepia might secretly feel uneasy about the Black Orb too, but an unexpected answer came back.

“Well, resurrecting the dead goes against the natural order…”

Before he could finish, Sepia burst into laughter as if delighted.

“Do you think reviving the dead is an act that defies nature’s order?”

“Well, I suppose not?”

“Then is the sacred act of priests reviving patients with terminal illnesses, whose deaths were predestined, the will of nature?”

The moment he heard those words, Dale understood what Sepia was trying to say.

“Of course, my own kind didn’t understand my intentions.”

Sepia spoke as if deliberately bitter. Her voice was distant, as if to no one in particular.

“Thanks to that, I’ve led a truly stormy life.”

“What you say…”

Sepia did not continue.

Dale could roughly grasp why an elf, who typically sought a closed society, was in the heart of the mortal world.

‘An exile.’

The intent behind her words was certainly far removed from the typical, rigid thinking one might expect from an elf.

‘She might make a better teacher than I thought.’

Having glimpsed her true feelings, Dale finally felt certain.

‘There’s no need to hide my talent any longer.’

No sooner had Dale solidified his conviction than—

“Then let’s start with sensing mana first.”

Leaving the faintly drifting sleet behind, Sepia turned toward Dale.

“The Black Lord mentioned that fragments of a mana circle had formed in your heart quite some time ago.”

“Yes.”

After that, Sepia began a very fundamental education on magic.

This world is saturated with mana. However, unless one is an ancient being like a dragon, it is impossible to handle raw mana without any filtering. Therefore, races such as humans and elves must process mana within their bodies into the form of ‘magic power’ before they can use it.

In other words, the mana circle within the heart is a ‘mana power plant’ that enables the conversion of raw mana into magic power.

Thus, the number of circles directly reflects the level of mastery a mage possesses.

“First, you must expand the fragments of the circle you possess into a complete ring, forming the first circle. That will be the starting point.”

“Understood.”

“Of course, it won’t happen overnight.”

Dale silently nodded.

“Let’s gradually begin with training to circulate mana around your heart.”

Right there, Sepia imparted the fundamental techniques for manipulating mana to Dale.

“You must not neglect this process; you must practice it diligently and repeatedly.”

After listening to Sepia’s explanation, Dale took a deep breath, following the technique she had taught him.

The process of accepting the flow of mana from outside, establishing a fixed route for mana to circulate around the heart, and then expanding it into a ring-shaped form (circle).

“It will take at least several weeks, no matter how fast we go. In the meantime, let’s carefully explore the magic you wish to learn.”

Sepia spoke in a gentle voice to Dale, who was concentrating his mind.

It was at that very moment.

Dale quietly opened his eyes.

“Teacher.”

“Is there something you wish to ask?”

Sepia asked back with a gentle teacher’s smile, as if to say, don’t hesitate to speak your mind.

“It’s fine.”

“……?”

Feeling the ring of mana firmly anchored around his heart, Dale answered.