“Hwaam…!”
Sellafi Black House.
Yeriel, the dormitory supervisor of this residence, was alone in her room, delving into research about elemental magic.
Although she was praised as a genius among the second-year students of Claris Academy,
elemental magic posed a formidable challenge since it required mastery over all four elements.
The symbols and artifacts for each magic, along with the incantations and flow of mana, varied, making the harmonious practice of elemental magic a rather difficult task.
However, today, she had received valuable guidance from Professor Rimentra, the master of elemental magic, and had managed to grasp some strands of understanding.
“So, I must reach the level of being able to commune with spirits to succeed…”
Each of the four elements had corresponding spirits.
Though Yeriel wasn’t a combat-focused spirit master wielding such spirits, she had to at least summon spirits and communicate with them to implement higher-level magic as an elemental sorceress.
So her current goal was to summon higher spirits, engage with them, and gain enlightenment.
“I really should’ve borrowed that book…”
She slightly regretted not visiting the library today.
And her intense dedication to magical research stemmed from none other than Lev Denec.
Yeriel genuinely wanted to have a good relationship with him.
They weren’t even acquaintances, and if anything, there were some bad rumors swirling about him, but that didn’t matter.
What was important was that he was a member of the Sellafi Black House.
“I was just genuinely concerned for him…”
It was a pure concern when she spoke to him, yet his response was to focus on his own business.
– “I wish you would concentrate on what you need to do rather than worrying about me, Yeriel.”
“There’s no need to say it like that…”
But it was a blunt truth.
Even if she could disregard the midterm exams,
leading the new student party of the Elder was another matter.
This event was mandatory for students of Claris Academy to strengthen the bonds between seniors and juniors.
As a senior, she had to take the lead at the party, so Yeriel had been worried about this event for a while, especially with her low self-esteem.
This practice would take place in an actual dungeon to boost the new students’ practical skills.
Of course, it would only be conducted in a significantly easier dungeon, but
with tension, mistakes were bound to happen.
And to reduce mistakes, substantial practice had to be backed up.
Thus, it would be wise for her to prepare diligently from now on.
“But how does he know my schedule…?”
Yeriel was a second-year student.
Lev was a freshman.
Even if they were the same age, there was quite a difference in their time at the academy.
Yet he spoke precisely about what she needed to do, as if he had a clear insight into her situation.
“Did he genuinely worry about me…?”
Judging by his tone, if someone who didn’t know the situation heard him, they might feel uncomfortable about his words, but
upon reflecting, it strangely felt like he was indeed concerned for her.
In conclusion, Lev was cautioning her not to ruin important tasks because she was focused on him.
She couldn’t help but understand his words.
“If that’s the reason he earned demerit points, then… that’s pretty unfair…”
He was quite an interesting person.
After class, he’d head straight to training, and surprisingly, he was meticulous about self-management.
Also, although it seemed he had no close friends,
some female students appeared to show interest in him…
‘Is it because he’s a bad boy…?’
Like that cute friend, Aria, from last time.
“He really is a fascinating individual…”
However, Yeriel concluded that Lev Denec was, at the very least, not a bad person.
*
When I entered the Black House,
Yeriel, who appeared somewhat tired from researching magic late into the night, was pouring tea as soon as she saw me.
Her smile suggested that yesterday’s incident didn’t bother her at all.
“You’ve come? Did you spend the day in the practice room again?”
“Take this.”
I gave her the book in my hand after a brief reply.
It was a book about elemental studies that I had borrowed from the library.
Among the many books in the game, only this one interacted for mastering elemental sorcery.
It would probably be helpful.
“Oh! How… did you…? Thank you! I was going to rent it tomorrow…”
Her astonishment and the joy she couldn’t hide indicated that she really needed it.
“Ah, wait a moment!”
Yeriel briefly set the book aside and started to fiddle with the ends of her hair.
“Is there something you want to say?”
In response to my question, she hesitated and spoke.
“Tomorrow… right?”
“A duel? Since it’s already dawn, it’s today.”
“Then can I come to cheer for you…?”
“Given my reputation at school isn’t good, it wouldn’t be any good eye, even if you come.”
“That doesn’t matter! I just want to cheer for Lev!”
Unlike yesterday, there was strength in her words today.
I brought the main topic up.
“Then, let’s do this.”
“?”
“If you succeed in spirit communion, then come see me.”
“Um…?”
“Somehow, I feel if you succeed, I can win too.”
Yeriel frowned, trying to understand the connection, but
soon her golden eyes glimmered with anticipation.
“Okay! You’re telling me not to give up, right? Then… you can’t lose either! As your dormitory supervisor and roommate, I’m asking you…”
With that, Yeriel flashed a bashful smile and hoisted the heavy book, returning to her room.
‘Roommate…’
Putting aside her word choice, it was clear that Yeriel’s success in summoning a higher spirit would come when she met Edwin in the actual dungeon training and encountered a gigantic demon creature.
So it’d be impossible to achieve it within the remaining 10 hours before the duel, no matter how hard she tried.
But for me, this was enough.
I stepped back out of the dormitory.
The pre-dawn glow began to brighten the usually dark night.
– Suuuu…
And perhaps because Yeriel was attempting to commune with spirits,
low-grade and intermediate wind spirits gradually entered my field of view.
I lacked the inherent traits of spirit communion, but thanks to my training in wind archery, I could identify them.
The low-grade spirit Sylphid appeared as a round light in ethereal form,
and the rarely seen intermediate spirit Sylph showcased slightly formed wings and shape.
Both shared the common characteristic of being incapable of conversation.
– Suru…
As they began to float around me, a status window popped up.
– Ding!
[Sylphid wishes to form a contract with you.]
[Would you like to contract?]
[Contracting will allow you to use wind archery.]
– Ding!
[Sylph wishes to form a contract with you.]
[Would you like to contract?]
[Contracting will allow you to use wind archery.]
“Oh ho…”
If I contract here, I gain wind archery.
A necessary skill to defeat Galeon.
But I refused cleanly.
“Nope, not doing it.”
The spirits, sulking in a mischievous manner, blew a gust of wind toward me before vanishing.
The reason for my refusal was simple.
I had to find the strongest spirit.
[Wind Archery]
[You can register the skill by contracting with a wind spirit.]
In the game, elves would automatically contract wind archery.
But since I wasn’t an elf, I had to contract myself.
What was significant here was that the tooltip only mentioned ‘contract with a wind spirit.’
It didn’t specify Sylph.
In the context of the reincarnated hero, the tiers of spirits were as follows:
Lowest – Sylphid [Sylphid]
Low – Sylph [Sylph]
Mid – Sylaphe [Sylaphe]
High – Syllairon [Syllairon], Jinn [Jinn]
Highest – Syllestine [Syllestine]
Thus, Sylph is a low-grade spirit.
But to contract with a low-grade spirit for wind archery?
Well, it might not be a bad deal for elves who have been nurtured from birth.
However, I lacked any skills to handle spirits.
In summary,
“I need to be born with a silver spoon.”
It would be unwise to contract with spirits below mid-grade.
Therefore, I planned to use Yeriel.
I began to recall the contents of [Hwanseangaka] as I searched around.
There was surely a part where the wind spirits would take interest in Yeriel, the born elemental sorceress.
She had inherent abilities that likely drew them in,
and by utilizing this, I too could engage with a higher spirit.
So, the time when she was trying to awaken was now the opportunity.
I had to find a spirit worth making a one-time contract with.
Just as I was starting to drift further away from the dormitory,
a sound caught my attention from behind a tree.
– Kyaruruk!
– Kyaruk!
“!!”
The playful voices, showing some shape of speech, indicated a minimum of mid to high grade.
I dashed toward the source of the sound.
.
.
.
“Um… huh?”
How long had I run?
The location I reached after sprinting was…
the Demen Lake, where I had once defeated the Naga and stopped the Water Dragon’s appearance.
– Chirururu…
The sounds of insects and water.
And with dawn and night merging, the lake was creating a magnificent view.
However, there was no time to admire the scenery.
Because at the center of the lake, on the surface…
“I found it.”
An ethereal, sky-blue form with numerous horns and wings, a silver Pegasus was present.
The Wind Spirit King Ariel was there.
