Translator: Wan ED/PR: Fan
Chapter 12. Training (3)
‘…!’
Lucion was instantly woken up by that voice.
Ting!
Suddenly, a red thread sprang up from the ground and tied to him.
‘A red thread even?’
Russell was equally surprised.
The Darkness, which wrapped around the chair, was trying to take some kind of shape.
[Hey, wait a second!]
Russell was flustered.
Such a thing was impossible.
— I hate it! It isn’t fun! I kept saying it’s boring the last few days!
Following the whining voice they heard, Lucion urgently called out to Russell.
“Master-nim…!”
Even though he knew that the Darkness wouldn’t hurt him, there was no way he would be happy about the existence denying Russell’s words.
‘He said Darkness has no form!’
Lucion took a shallow breath.
‘So, so…’
At Lucion’s urging, Russell grabbed his hair and thought.
He was someone who spent his entire life researching black magic.
He surely saw such a situation somewhere.
‘Think, think!’
Russell tightly closed his eyes and frantically thought.
Soon he opened his eyes.
‘Come to think about it…’
Russell recalled the 3 steps of using black magic.
1. Give a command to Darkness.
2. Darkness follows the command.
3. Cut the connection with the Darkness, which finished carrying out the command.
Lucion automatically skipped the last step.
From this fact, Russell thought that Lucion received an enormous blessing.
‘It wasn’t that the last step was skipped… It wasn’t necessary from the beginning? Because Lucion’s Darkness didn’t need to be controlled by Lucion from the beginning?’
Is that possible?
The black magic was a magic made to control Darkness.
So black magic and Darkness were in a relationship closer to spiteful enemies, holding each other in check.
‘But this… It looks like a relationship between Light and a person who received the blessing of Light.’
Russell couldn’t believe it at all.
He stared with shocked eyes at Lucion.
But if there was such a person who controlled Darkness for a dozen years of their life without black magic.
What Darkness would think of such a person?
[Lucion. You must concentrate from now on.]
At some point, Russell’s voice became serious.
There were some very rare cases among the people blessed by the Light where their Light gained ego.
From the moment a being is born from such Light, they’re praised as Divine Beasts.
[This is your Darkness, or a Divine Beast.]
Russell struggled to remain calm.
The end of the Light, which was unable to become a Divine Beast, was death.
Right now, his disciple’s life was at stake.
“My Divine Beast…?”
No matter how in the dark Lucion was about worldly affairs, he knew about the Divine Beasts.
Weren’t the sacred creatures staying with the highest priest or head of paladins called Divine Beasts?
“I’m a warlock.”
[I’m using the term ‘Divine Beast’ because I have no other way to describe it. Anyhow, they seem to be similar.]
At Russell’s words, filled with complete conviction, Lucion bit his lip.
Such a scene didn’t appear in the novel.
— Treat me like you did in the past. I hate the current way!
The Darkness burst into whining again.
The Darkness of an unknown shape stretched long smoke tendrils towards the surroundings.
Lucion calmed his breathing and quietly asked.
“So, what should I do now?”
It was certain he had to do something with that Darkness.
And it was something to resist his fate of becoming a mid-boss.
[You have to decide on the Divine Beast’s shape and call its name after that.]
Russell’s voice showed nervousness.
‘Master-nim also doesn’t know about this situation.’
Lucion confirmed it from Russell’s trembling voice and expression.
He soon turned his gaze and looked at the Darkness.
When he held a ritual to become a warlock, it was the Darkness he faced.
There was nothing fearful or unfamiliar about it.
After steadying his breathing, he stretched out his hand towards the Darkness.
“Come here, Latta.”
Snap.
The red thread, tightly wrapping his body, was cut off.
The smoke that shimmered around the Darkness disappeared, and the Darkness gradually changed its shape into an animal form.
The fox with black, glossy fur perked up her ears.
— Woooo! Legs! Legs!
Latta looked at her legs and shouted with amazement.
[A fox…? Among all kinds of animals, a fox?]
Russell looked at the small black fox and momentarily hesitated.
Why did people call them Divine Beasts?
It was because they chose the forms of legendary animals to be as big and imposing as them.
“I couldn’t exactly come up with anything, so I just chose the fox in my family crest.”
[No one will consider this fox a Divine Beast.]
Russell, who pointed his finger at Latta, soon burst out laughing again.
— What is a Divine Beast?
Latta sat docilely and looked at Russell with her blue eyes.
[You see me?]
At Russell’s question, Latta tapped the floor with her front paws.
— Obviously. Because Latta is Darkness.
“Besides that. What is your identity?”
Latta couldn’t possibly look good in Lucion’s eyes.
Because he knew very well that something new and special wouldn’t be as sweet as everyone wished.
Latta perked up her ears.
— Latta is Latta?
“Besides your name. How do you, the Darkness, have such a strong ego?”
— Because Latta was with you all along.
Latta wagged her tail with an excited face.
“What…?”
— Latta was born with Lucion, and this self is an extension of Lucion’s Darkness.
[Is that possible?]
Russell frowned.
[Like Light and mana, Darkness is a power possessed by humans, but among them, it’s the only one to have ego. But the ego Darkness has never had one. So, the Darkness has to be controlled.]
— That’s right, but Latta did it. Latta did it for a very long time.
Russell stared at Latta.
The Divine Beast couldn’t lie.
He wasn’t sure if it also applied to this black fox, but Russell let it go for the moment.
[… Did you perhaps hold Lucion back from becoming corrupted?]
— Right! Latta held him back!
Latta beamed while wagging her tail.
“Why?”
Lucion asked.
— Because Lucion didn’t want it.
‘I…?’
Lucion frowned.
There was a time when he didn’t know what Darkness or Corruption was.
He just always fled because it felt like he would be swallowed by something enormous.
— But it was Lucion who blocked the Corruption. Latta just said to endure and stay strong.
‘That voice wasn’t an auditory hallucination?’
Lucion’s eyes grew wide.
When he was harassed by ghosts, other than the ghosts, he heard several kinds of voices.
‘I’ll chase away the ghosts’ or ‘stay strong’.
Because the different voices babbled at each other, he thought he might really be going crazy.
But those voices were all real in the end.
[I said it before, remember? I saw your willpower and made you into my disciple.]
Russell nodded lightly, and Latta carefully observed his actions.
As if trying to follow it, she moved her snout, but the movement was still awkward.
“Master-nim.”
Lucion spoke.
[Yeah.]
“So, is it good to have a Divine Beast? No, first of all, what is the role of a Divine Beast?”
— Isn’t Latta Latta, not a Divine Beast?
Latta tilted her head.
[If you nitpick on it, only the name is grand, while it’s like a creature summoned to this realm. The Divine Beast is a separate being, and its Light power is also separate. But you are…]
Russell rubbed his ear as if at a loss.
[A special breed.]
“I’m not in the mood for jokes right now. Didn’t a Divine Beast jump out when I was training? I also feel bad about the fact that I was in the process of corruption without even knowing it.”
Lucion’s eyes turned fierce.
He resembled a growling wolf right now.
“So please stop talking nonsense.”
[I’m not joking.]
Russell kept rubbing his ear.
[Your and that kid’s Darkness are connected.]
“You mean like… shared?”
[Shared is the right word, but it’s a bit different.]
“Then what does it mean?”
Lucion raised his voice.
[It’s like this, your and that kid’s Darkness powers each exist as separate, but they’re connected with each other, like a cycle.]
At those words, Lucion looked at Latta.
[The best option is to try to use Darkness to know what kind of relationship you have.]
Russell pointed at the chair again.
[Float that chair and regulate Darkness to…]
— Latta can do that!
Latta raised her front paw.
— Latta can regulate Darkness!
“What?”
[What…?]
Lucion and Russell asked at the same time.
— Latta can regulate Lucion’s Darkness!
Latta dropped her front paw on the floor.
“How?”
Lucion stared at Latta.
— Latta’s Darkness is Lucion’s Darkness, Lucion’s Darkness is Latta’s Darkness.
Those words matched with what Russell mentioned about the cycle a moment before.
“How can you manipulate my Darkness?”
— … Uh, uh. Ah! Tell Latta the time. Then Latta can do it.
Latta’s eyes sparkled.
‘If that’s true, isn’t it like putting a number into a calculator and calculating it?’
The corners of Lucion’s mouth raised slightly.
‘I need that power.’
His fate wasn’t smooth.
If he didn’t want his happiness to be stolen by that fate, didn’t he naturally need the power to resist it?
“Let’s try it.”
Lucion didn’t hesitate.
“7 seconds.”
— Got it!
Hearing Latta’s reply, Lucion moved the Darkness.
After he put a flag on the chair, he commanded.
‘Raise.’
— Haaap!
Following Latta’s strange, concentrated shout, the moment the chair floated up, Lucion started counting.
1 second.
… 3 seconds.
[Lucion. Grab the chair!]
Russell suddenly urgently shouted.
Lucion instinctively grabbed the floating chair.
At that moment, the door suddenly opened with a bang.
“Lucion!”
It was Novio.
Behind him was Carson.
Lucion couldn’t even confirm that the chair floated exactly for 7 seconds as he stared at the two people who suddenly barged into his room.
Tak!
The chair fell down and hit Lucion’s forehead.
“… Ou.”
— Heup!
Latta opened her eyes wide in surprise.
[I told you to grab it. I didn’t say to hit yourself with it, right?]
Russell turned his head away to suppress his laughter.
“Are you okay?”
Novio approached Lucion straight away while Carson entered the room and was busy checking the surroundings.
“Why did You suddenly come into my room?”
Lucion rubbed his forehead while asking the two people.
Even though Lucion’s tone was slightly sharp, Novio looked at Carson.
“I don’t feel it anymore, huh? What about you?”
“Me neither. I don’t feel anything anymore.”
As he replied, Carson looked at the black fox that was holding onto Lucion’s pants.
“Father. Hyung-nim.”
Lucion put strength into his voice.
“You have to first explain to me what is happening right now.”
Lucion didn’t like the current situation.
It was his room.
“Lucion. Did anything happen in your room?”
Novio’s voice was tinted with worry.
“Father. What the hell are You talking about? Can’t You explain it so I can understand?”
“We felt some kind of power in your room. It was the first time in my life I felt such coldness, huh?”
Novio replied with a stiff expression.
‘… Was that power released when the Darkness became Latta?’
Lucion thought about Latta, but he didn’t move his eyes because it could look suspicious.
[When your Darkness became a Divine Beast, quite a lot of Darkness was released all at once. No matter how quiet Darkness it, it was an amount that was bound to be noticed.]
Russell definitively got it.
“Lucion.”
Carson opened his mouth.
His voice was heavier than before.
His finger pointed at the fox like a fierce blade.
Since olden times, black things were ominous.
What’s more, a black fox?
Wasn’t it like spitting on the Cronia, who had a fox crest?
“Where did that fox come from?”
*~*~*
Translator’s note: Carson, stop glaring at our baby! How dare you!
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