Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Roan, Taedi, and the two black grimoires placed between them.

Taedi, who fell into a desperate crisis, quickly racked her brains.

‘First of all, the abyss and Blood Magic are out!’

In the first place, those two branches were not Taedi’s specialty, and in particular, the abyss was not something to be taught and learned so haphazardly.

Still, it was embarrassing to say, ‘Ehehe. I’m actually struggling with those two, can we do something else?’

Her pride as a High Elf and the Lord of the Dead Forest held her back.

In the end, Taedi tried to divert Roan’s attention as calmly as possible.

“Um…… by a-any chance, are you only interested in those two branches……?”

Proposing another branch while trembling both in voice and hands as much as possible!

Naturally, Roan had no choice but to feel something was strange.

‘It seems those two branches are a bit difficult for her.’

He had expected it to some extent.

In fact, Roan had only learned Blood Magic and the abyss frequently because they were efficient due to the nature of being a player.

Looking at the proportion of all black mages, those two branches were clearly in the minority.

Although the information on Taedi was not clear since not much was released, her roughly known specialized branches were five.

‘Necromancy, poison, curses, charm, barriers.’

They were all branches related to her purpose of protecting and reviving the Dead Forest.

And the fact that she had five specialized branches proved how talented of a black mage she was.

For comparison to Earth, it was like delving into biology, pharmacy, medicine, psychology, and architecture all at the doctoral level or higher at the same time.

The first meeting was quite a shock, but in terms of talent stats, Taedi was roughly on par with Zion, or slightly behind.

In addition, with over two hundred years of experience, it was not an exaggeration to say that she was in a different class for now.

‘Well, it’s good for me since I haven’t learned many spells in those branches yet.’

Roan accepted it roughly like that and probed Taedi.

It was also moderately necessary to save the face of the newly met professor.

“Coincidentally, there were quite a few branches I wanted to learn newly, so by any chance, is necromancy…….”

“Oh! What do you want to learn? Summoning skeleton soldiers? Zombie creation? Or the demon tree?”

Sure enough, Taedi’s expression brightened in an instant.

“Come to think of it, the poison branch too…….”

“Just say the word! Neurotoxin? Muscle melter?”

As expected, poison was also her specialty.

“Charm…….”

“You indeed have excellent discernment! By any chance, do you know the Room of the Crimson Mirror spell? Or, similar to that, barriers are also good!”

She seemed particularly more confident in charm or barriers.

But for now, Roan had roughly decided on the branch to learn today.

“I think the curse branch would be best.”

“Huh-hat! Don’t worry, I will teach you very clearly from the basics!”

He felt there was probably no need to start from the basics, though.

Watching her look so excited, even snorting out steam, it was awkward to stop her.

“Hum~ humm~”

Taedi, who was pulling out various books, reagents, and even experimental tools from the sub-dimensional pouch in her chest, suddenly looked at Roan.

“But you said black magic is translated into holy magic because of your authority?”

“That is correct.”

Taedi seemed surprised even hearing it again.

“Even if it’s an authority, does that make sense?”

“Because it is an authority.”

“Well, since it is an authority…….”

From the standpoint of Roan who came from Earth, the existence of holy magic or magic in the first place made no sense.

And since Taedi, who had lived in this world all along, also didn’t know much about authorities, they both roughly understood.

Did it make sense to interpret unknown characters and revive dead people?

Authority was a magic-like anomaly even in this world where magic was everyday.

“Then what will curse magic change into?”

“Hmm…… won’t it be punishment holy magic?”

“Ah, punishment! Oh dear…….”

Freeze─

Taedi stopped nodding her head and froze her hand that was pulling out materials.

“What is the matter?”

When Roan asked in puzzlement, Taedi spoke with a dark complexion.

“It reminded me of the clergymen who came to catch me in the past.”

Cooo──

At the same time, thick black mana wafted strongly around her.

A massive presence that even Roan could feel pressure from.

It was hard to believe she was the same person as the Taedi who had been laughing like a klutz just a moment ago.

This was probably her true form.

‘Somehow, this is similar to Professor Kaina…….’

Demon Inquisitor Kaina and the Lord of the Dead Forest Taedi Ashwood?

A combination that made his spine tingle just by imagining the two of them meeting.

‘Nothing should be caught, but this class must not be caught at all.’

However, Taedi soon dispersed her aura like a lie and smiled warmly.

“Anyway, you don’t know curse magic at all, right?”

“Yes, I have never used it.”

Roan answered honestly.

Not that he couldn’t use it if he wanted to, but he had never used it.

Naturally, Taedi interpreted Roan’s response in a very common-sense way.

“Indeed, how could you have learned it here. I asked in vain. Then, I’ll teach you how a curse magic circle is structured first!”

Taedi said, unrolling a sheet of parchment larger than her own body on the floor.

Roan finally approached her with shining eyes.

‘This is what a class is!’

As expected of the Empire’s best school, Akerandir!

Since one could even learn black magic in the Holy Academy, how could he not think so?

“The curse branch is characterized by having two layers of base circles, which means my domain directly affects the opponent’s domain…….”

“Mmh, I see.”

Taedi pulled out graphite and lectured while drawing examples of magic circles herself, and Roan, in his own way, recorded her words in a notebook without missing anything.

Of course, since it was a very basic theoretical lecture, it ended in the blink of an eye.

“Now, what you can draw by combining this is the most basic curse, ‘Paralysis’. Even though it’s basic, it is so fast and versatile that many curse spells derive from it, so you must know it well.”

“As expected, that’s the case.”

Roan nodded unknowingly while listening to Taedi’s explanation.

The concept of paralysis was simply ‘to halt the opponent’s physical activity’.

From here, defining which part, how, and by how much created countless derivative magics.

And it could advance as far as high-level curse magic.

This much was the range of what could be known as a player.

But hearing the reasons and the principles of the magic circle in detail from an active mage made him naturally excited.

It was the moment when the power of knowledge, which could not be replaced by sensation, was transferred to Roan.

Of course, hearing Roan’s reaction, Taedi tilted her head and asked.

“As expected, you say?”

“Ah, that must indeed be so.”

Roan corrected his words casually.

“Hmm…….”

Taedi seemed to think for a moment, then pulled out a piece of flesh contained in a glass bottle.

“I will summon a zombie now.”

As Taedi drew an elaborate magic circle around the flesh and infused it with mana, the flesh soon swelled into a human form.

Although she simply called it a zombie.

“Oh!”

Roan, recognizing that magic, let out an exclamation.

“……Do you know what magic this is?”

“Isn’t it an excellent zombie summoning magic?”

Naturally, to Taedi’s question, he calmly acted the part of an innocent novice black mage.

”To think I would see an “Unripe Corpse”.”

The Unripe Corpse was a mid-level necromancy magic, a research magic aimed solely at replicating pure human body structure while excluding other effects as much as possible.

……Kind black mages did not kidnap people for human experimentation like the public misunderstood, but somehow created and used alternative magics like this.

At any rate, because it was possible to equip it with some degree of ego depending on the caster’s level, even if classified as mid-level for now, it could easily become harder than high-level spells.

For now, in Taedi’s case, she had only replicated the physical body, but seeing her create it so easily, her level was indeed tremendous.

“Pfft, that’s right. An excellent zombie. We can finish today by practicing the paralysis we learned earlier. Even if you understand the theory well, it will take time to actually use it.”

“Ah, I see.”

Roan nodded readily.

“First, don’t be too greedy and just try to paralyze the arm.”

Although there was no way it would take as much time as she expected.

Roan closed his eyes and entered a state of concentration.

The paralysis magic circle was as good as clearly visible even with his eyes closed.

‘But if I only cast paralysis, isn’t it hard to tell if the magic took effect? Especially since it’s just a corpse…….’

However, at the question that suddenly came to mind, Roan added a ‘few’ modifications to the magic circle.

Meanwhile, Taedi shared several tips beside him.

“Now, remember the two layers of perfect circles when creating the magic circle─.”

To be precise, she had intended to tell him.

Before her first word could even finish, Roan’s paralysis had already been completed and manifested on the zombie through the False Divinity.

Crack─ Crunch─ Snap──

Along with a sound that was quite unsettling to be just paralysis.

“?”

Taedi glanced back at the zombie she had summoned, wondering what was happening.

“Wh-what? E-ehhh?”

And then she couldn’t even speak properly, merely pointing at the zombie with her hand.

Roan scratched the back of his head and spoke.

“Oops, it seems the magic went off too strongly.”

“A-A-Are you kidding me right now!!!!”

Taedi rushed over to the zombie in a hurry.

The zombie, which had been standing straight when summoned, was sprawled sideways as soon as it took a direct hit from Roan’s paralysis.

At least full-body paralysis.

Further, the arm Roan had targeted was not just paralyzed, but the muscles were severely contracted, twisted, and contorted.

Tremble, tremble─

How bad must it have been for a zombie with no ego to be shaking and trembling its arm like crazy.

“Th-that wasn’t paralysis you just used! Even if it is an authority, how can a paralysis be translated into ‘Inquisitor’s Clamor’!”

He had clearly said it was ‘an equivalent holy magic’ when explaining the authority to her!

Inquisitor’s Clamor.

A mid-level punishment holy magic, used by priests to directly subdue enemies without the help of paladins.

However, due to its brutal effects, its use was tacitly forbidden unless in a crisis situation.

Roan clapped his hands as if feigning surprise.

“Ah, it was a holy magic you knew. I didn’t know it, you are truly amazing.”

Of course he knew.

“That’s because I’ve been hit directly by…… no, that’s not what’s important!”

It seemed it would be difficult to just gloss over it this time.

Roan confessed honestly.

“Actually, an idea came to mind, so I improved the magic circle in my own way.”

“Improvement?”

Taedi sent a suspicious look.

Her level was too high to believe that paralysis could change like this just from an improvement.

“And I cast the magic with the abyss…….”

“That’s the problem! No, more than that, how do you do an improvement with the abyss?!”

Taedi screamed, as if she had finally realized.

What should she say to a student who, when told to run lightly, voluntarily strapped dump truck tires on and jumped off a cliff.

‘If the result was bad, maybe it would be different.’

But he not only ran too well but also performed an artistic process and a perfect landing.

“But Professor, by any chance, could you review the magic circle I improved?”

“……Try drawing it.”

To Roan who shamelessly requested a review, Taedi handed the graphite as if telling him to try if he could.

Although hard to believe, if his talent was truly, crazily outstanding, he might somehow be able to use it.

But representing it as a theory was a matter on a different level.

‘If he draws it in a mess, this time I will surely establish discipline as a professor!’

Thus, Taedi prepared and waited with determination.

Scribble──

“Ah, seriously! I quit!”

But as Roan drew the magic circle so familiarly and without any blockage, she ended up stomping her foot.

“Yes? What is wrong?”

Roan asked, looking up at her.

‘It’s a problem because there’s no problem!’

……But Taedi couldn’t answer honestly.

How narrow-minded would a professor look if they got angry because their student was too outstanding.

“Hmph! Let me see─ Agyagyagat!”

But looking closely at Roan’s magic circle, Taedi had no choice but to be even more astonished.

‘Now that I see it, black mages are also making too much of a fuss.’

Roan frowned slightly, unaware of Taedi’s feelings.