Chapter 4

That night.

After a tiring day, Dale returned to his room.

Sir Helmut, the Knight Commander, has officially assembled an assault force and set out for the Demon King’s domain. By now, Dale’s parents must be putting all their strength into fulfilling their son’s wish.

‘Their marital harmony must be exceptional.’

Thinking this, Dale gave a wry smile.

Hyunyo Sepia, who had become his tutor, had not been seen since.

Dale sat cross-legged in silence upon the bed filled with sheep’s wool. Focusing on the flow of mana coursing through his heart, he slowly extended his hand.

The currents of magical power rippling across his palm soon began to glow, carrying a chilling coldness.

‘First, I must regain control of my body.’

It wasn’t about humbly hiding my talent. Rather, that’s precisely why today’s mistake stung all the more deeply. Once I thought that far, Sepia, who hadn’t shown herself, began to worry me.

──What?

Dale had experienced Sepia’s horrified gaze upon seeing him before.

‘I don’t want to be seen as a monster.’

Simultaneously, the scorn of the holy knight who had plunged Duran’s blade into his back flashed through his mind.

‘In my next life, I will become a demon king without blood or tears.’

Crossing winds.

Whoosh!

The moment consciousness wavered, a storm of magic power swept in once more.

“……!”

The temperature around him began to plummet rapidly. A layer of frost settled over the entire room, white and frozen solid, centered on where Dale sat.

An endless, bitter cold extending far below freezing.

He hurriedly focused his consciousness and regained his scattered composure. Then, the swirling frost crystals transformed back into particles of magic power and vanished.

‘It truly is innate talent.’

After regaining his composure, he realized. It wasn’t a reference to his past life. It was a statement about his current bloodline, which had purely inherited the blood of the Black God.

A vessel for the Demon King, truly bestowed by the age itself—one that requires no intervention from past-life insights.

Even as dawn deepened, he could not bring himself to sleep.

Dale finally slipped out of his room and headed for the central courtyard of the duke’s castle where he had been with Sepia this morning. He intended to steady his mind by crossing the snow-white marble colonnade.

And there, an unexpected face awaited him.

Sepia, Dale’s tutor and the Elf mage of the 6th Circle.

“Teacher Sepia?”

“What brings you out at this late hour?”

Sepia’s ears perked up in surprise too. Perhaps she had come out for a night stroll like Dale.

“Well, I just couldn’t sleep.”

“You must have a lot on your mind.”

What an unchildlike answer. Yet Sepia’s sapphire-blue eyes, like crystal, soften into a tender smile.

“Happy eighth birthday.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

A slightly belated birthday greeting. Dale scratched his head and gave an awkward smile.

“So, I happen to have a birthday present for you.”

“A gift?”

“Didn’t we make a promise?”

Seeing Dale tilt his head in surprise at the unexpected words, Sepia continued.

“Let’s find a spell we can learn together, step by step.”

What was initially expected to take several weeks was completed overnight. What Dale demonstrated throughout the process was even more astonishing.

This child’s talent is dangerous. It wasn’t hard to imagine the consequences if, in the future, this child’s magic were wielded with malice.

Therefore, taking on the role of Dale’s tutor carried a weight far greater than Sepia had imagined.

“Let us ponder together the path you must walk.”

“Teacher…”

Today, through her conversation with the Black Count, Sepia steeled her resolve. Just as Dale’s father, the Black Count, had made his decision.

‘I pray that Hyunyo’s wisdom will guide Dale rightly.’

The worn-out book held in Sepia’s hand is the very token of the resolution they both made.

An 8th birthday gift prepared for Dale’s future.

It was the magic tome, 『Fundamentals of Command Magic』.

A few days later.

Saxon City, built around the duke’s castle, was the undisputed capital of the Duchy of Saxon and one of the largest cities in the entire empire.

A considerable crowd bustled along the stone road paved with diamond-shaped crushed stone. Dale, too, was mingling among them, crossing the street.

There is no ostentatious ceremony so grand it seems to shake the city to its foundations.

It was hard to imagine the esteemed young master of the duke’s house wandering the city so completely unguarded.

Of course, there were still a couple of knights disguised as commoners escorting Dale. But that was all.

Because Dale’s trusted tutor, Sepia, is right by his side.

This moment made it clear just how deeply the duke and duchess trusted Sepia.

“You look in an exceptionally good mood.”

“Yes!”

At Dale’s childlike smile, Sepia couldn’t hide her own contented smile either.

Disguised in robes, the two borrowed horses from the stable and headed straight for the plains beyond the city’s northern gate.

The northern part of Saxon City connected to the ‘White Mountains’ leading to the Demon King’s Domain, a place of no concern to ordinary people. Except occasionally when mercenaries, having accepted a guild commission, went to hunt monsters.

In other words, it was also known as the ‘monster hunting grounds’.

“From now on, I will teach you magic here.”

Leaving the knights of the Duke’s household watching over the two from a distance behind them, Sepia dismounted. Dale followed suit and dismounted as well.

“Here?”

Sepia nodded, then quietly scanned her surroundings. A flat plain covered in deep snow. Soon, Sepia’s pointed ears twitched and moved.

“Can you use Ice Bolt to hit that?”

Far off, a rabbit cautiously gazed this way.

“A rabbit…”

“You must have some experience hunting with your father.”

Dale, too, had accompanied his father on numerous hunts from a young age.

This world is one where only the strong survive. From the moment they reach maturity, children learn to hunt beasts, wield swords, shoot arrows, and kill people.

Yet hearing such words from an elf did stir somewhat complex feelings within me.

“Understood.”

That said, there was no reason to hesitate.

──Thwack!

Spinning mana along the circle of my heart, I loaded the forged magic power onto my fingertips. A razor-sharp, needle-shaped ice crystal plunged downward, carrying the speed and destructive force of a bullet.

The rabbit flinched and trembled in place before ceasing all movement. It was instant death.

“Even with the same magic, do you understand why its form possesses infinite individuality depending on the caster?”

Seeing this, Sepia spoke. Her voice was slightly dark. Dale shook his head.

“It is because the essence of magic is the ‘mirror of the mind’.”

“……”

“Therefore, a mage inevitably reveals the ‘landscape of their heart’ through their magic.”

Magic is the materialization of mental images projected into this world through mana particles. Simply put, it can be described as the power to turn imagination into reality.

Therefore, what people call ‘such-and-such magic’ strictly speaking has no inherent substance.

Names like Ice Bolt or Fire Wall are merely conscious agreements to share a ‘firm mental image’.

That is why magicians endlessly hone their minds to control those mental images at will.

To draw closer to the spirit their magic seeks to embody.

For instance, the Blue Magic Tower values ‘order through harmony,’ while the Red Magic Tower values ‘order through force.’ Such philosophies are projected into forms and phenomena like water or fire, forming the foundation of the magical systems each tower builds.

“This might be a bit difficult for you to grasp, being so young.”

Having said that much, Sepia gave a wry smile. But Dale couldn’t smile. Because he understood the true meaning behind her words.

Right now, Sepia was glimpsing Dale’s ‘true self’ through that very mirror of the heart.

The spirit pursued by Dale’s magic.

“──Your magic possesses the talent to take life.”

Sepia continued.

“When I first saw your magic, I was honestly afraid.”

As expected, Sepia had already discerned the nature of Dale’s talent. It was hardly surprising. But what Sepia said next surpassed Dale’s expectations.

“That’s why I feel truly fortunate to be able to teach you.”

“Teacher…?”

Sepia’s crystal-blue eyes softened into a gentle smile.

“I suppose it was fate that brought me to be with you.”

After saying that, Sepia pulled out the 『Basic Command Magic』 spellbook she had tucked inside her cape cloak.

“……!”

Unlike a ‘Grimoire’, which requires a binding contract, a ‘Magic Book’ itself can be read by anyone to learn and study its magic contents. Nevertheless, giving Dale a Magic Book containing the secrets of Command Magic carried profound significance.

“Then let us begin the lesson together.”

“Yes, Teacher!”

At Sepia’s words, Dale nodded vigorously.

A few weeks later.

A rabbit, cold as ice, rose from its spot, shivering violently. Like a puppet dancing on strings.

A rabbit moving like a zombie.

‘Fast.’

Watching Dale’s growth, Sepia felt nothing but pure wonder.

To reach the point of reanimating corpses and moving them in just a few weeks.

Raising corpses is the absolute foundation for necromancers. Therefore, casting a spell of this level should be a mere trifle for Sepia, who has reached the sixth circle. Yet, precisely to master this foundation, the fledgling students of the Black Tower require training lasting anywhere from a few months to nearly several years.

It was a level of skill that stood in stark contrast to the Ice Bolt, which merely condensed the cold air in the atmosphere.

Moreover, Dale’s accomplishment was not limited to that.

“Then next.”

“Understood, Master.”

Dale stretched out his hand as if to signal understanding. Once more, blue magic power began to swirl at his fingertips.

A thread of magic bound the dead rabbit, controlling it like a puppet, while a cold wind swirled around it.

The swirling frost enveloped the rabbit, building up an ice wall. At first glance, it seemed as though the rabbit was being trapped inside the ice, but the reality was different.

Dale moved the magical thread again, manipulating the zombie rabbit like a skilled puppeteer.

The rabbit’s movements were completely unrestricted. In fact, when Sepia test-fired an Ice Bolt, the ice wall served as armor, blocking her attack.

An icy armor that wraps around and protects the dead rabbit. It’s a Level 1 Water-attribute magic spell: Frozen Armor.

“I finally blocked your bolt, Master!”

“Yes, well done.”

Dale shouted excitedly. Sepia nodded with a smile.

Even though it was an Ice Bolt with reduced power, Dale had only acquired ‘Frozen Armor’ a few days ago.

Even so, the Frozen Armor protecting the recently deceased rabbit possessed defensive capabilities rivaling steel armor.

‘Unbelievable growth.’

Dark magic and water magic. Since that day, Dale had been learning both types of magic from Sepia simultaneously.

“Please teach me water-attribute magic.”

It was entirely Dale’s own will to not stop at dark magic, but to learn water magic as well.

Sepia hesitated at first.

A dual mage wielding two major elemental magics simultaneously?

For instance, it’s hardly remarkable for someone like Sepia, an elder of the Mage Tower, to wield necromancy or fire-based magic. But for a novice who’s only just begun learning magic to attempt to master water and dark magic simultaneously?

At first, Dale thought it was mere ambition.

But Sepia’s words—that taking time to learn wouldn’t be too late—finally made Dale start acting stubborn like any other child his age.

‘You said we should find the path forward together, didn’t you?’

Or perhaps it’s fair to say I succumbed to persuasion unbecoming of a child.

After all, learning a broad range of basic magic couldn’t hurt. Starting from that mindset, he began studying water-elemental basic magic alongside dark magic.

This is the result.

A rabbit, stiff and hardened in death, encased in cumbersome ice armor. For a beginner, even taking a few steps would be a struggle.

Yet the zombie, armed with its ice armor, darted about as lightly as if it wore not a single thread.

Combining the dual attributes of Water and Darkness with astonishing fluidity.

A sponge that absorbs everything it learns. Even mastering a single spell at this pace would make the title of prodigy well-deserved.

Sepia unconsciously recalled the army of the dead commanded by the Black Mage.

Imagining that very army advancing, clad in frozen armor, she shuddered as goosebumps involuntarily ran down her spine.