Chapter 2: A Mentorship of Darkness

The Holy Knight's Dark Road — LNCrawler · All chapters

The next day, as soon as school finished, Sain made a beeline for the library tower again. Upon discovering her in the same place as last night, he promptly walked over, plopped himself down beside her, and, in a most natural fashion, said, “So, I read this part in the book and I was wondering—”

“Why are you just assuming I’m going to answer you?” She rubbed at her temples. “Look, if you just want to learn magic, it’d be faster for you to just ask one of the teachers.”

“Yeah, I considered that... but when it comes to dark magic, I still think I’d make more progress if you taught me, Miss Grim. The spell you showed us last time was masterful in its execution, and you were also the one who recommended this book to me.”

“Sure, but...”

“Also, I just want to learn from you. Plain and simple.”

His final reason caused her to stiffen. A few moments later, she started playing with the ends of her silver hair and murmured, “I can maybe hear you out, I guess.”

“Really?! Oh, man, you’re a lifesaver! Thank you so much!”

“I-I didn’t say I’ll answer! I’ll listen, but that’s it!” she added, embarrassed by his excessive outpouring of gratitude.

“Okay, first question. I was trying to visualize this spell, and I’m wondering why it says this here...”

He immediately flipped open the book to a certain page. When Marni looked at the part he was pointing at, she raised an eyebrow.

“Huh. That’s surprising. You’re actually asking a pretty good question.”

“A good question, you say...”

He wasn’t sure if that was a compliment. He thought it was, but just in case it wasn’t, he decided to keep his reply ambiguous.

“Okay, this is how you should think about it.”

She proceeded to answer his question in detail, tracing her finger along the text to guide his thinking and gesturing in the air for clarity and emphasis. For someone who was only going to listen, it was definitely above and beyond her proclaimed scope of duty. Considering she’d recommended the book, it was likely she’d read it herself as well. She displayed an insight into the topic that most certainly required a vast pool of knowledge to develop. Sain glanced at the countless books on the floor, wondering how many more she’d consumed.

The master of the library tower...

She might not have wished for the title, but she had certainly earned it.

“Okay, and about this spell... How should I channel my energy—”

“It’s too early for you to be learning this spell. You should start with something more basic.”

“But the basics can only take me so far, right? Won’t that limit the kinds of situations I can deal with?”

“Dark magic is very free-form, which gives it a lot of utility. Conversely, it also takes longer to learn each individual spell. It’s easy to get impatient, and that’s understandable. But when it comes to dark magic, as long as you learn it properly, even a single spell can be a very powerful weapon. Try to learn too many at once, and you might end up with a bunch of half-baked spells and nothing actually useful.”

“I see. Wise words. I’ll commit them to memory,” Sain said, nodding intently.

As a dark elf, Marni’s culture and upbringing naturally positioned her to be well-versed in dark magic. In fact, much of what she’d just explained was esoteric knowledge of a kind entirely absent from textbooks, and he’d hungrily consumed every piece of information she’d offered.

“What spells can you use?”

Sain grimaced.

“...It pains me to say this, but I can only use Darku.”

“You mean the beginner-level spell.”

“Yeah.”

“Which would put you in one of the lower grades, even for the junior division.”

“Hnngh...”

Sain could almost see the moment when Marni’s opinion of him changed from “pathetic” to “utterly pathetic.” Not that he could do anything about it, of course. It was the truth, after all.

“Wh-What spell should I learn next, then?”

“Are you going to make me do all the thinking? Figure that much out by yourself, at least.”

“Hrngh...”

Sain pursed his lips. Marni’s attitude suggested that she still didn’t trust him yet. He desperately wanted her to be his mentor, but they weren’t nearly on good enough terms for him to press her on the matter.

“...Oh, that reminds me. I have another question,” he said as he began flipping through the textbook again. “On this page, it talks about the versatility of dark magic, but—”

“Wait,” interrupted Marni as she stared at the place he’d flipped to, which was only a few pages away from the back cover. “How much of this book did you read?”

He looked up with a puzzled frown.

“All of it, of course.”

“...All of it? You read it from cover to cover in one night?”

“Yeah! I barely got any sleep!” he said with a proud grin, entirely unaware of the preposterousness of his claim.

Marni looked at the big, brick-like tome in his hand. It wasn’t the kind of thing one could read through in a single evening. She looked back at him. He didn’t seem to be lying, either. As she studied his expression, she discovered bags under his eyes that, in the dimness of the room, had previously escaped her notice. Just then, footsteps echoed in the stairwell leading to the fifth floor.

“Sain? Marni? Are you two there?”

They heard Alicia calling to them, but from where they sat, they were too far from the stairs to see through the darkness.

“I’m over here. Miss Grim is with me too.”

“There they are.”

The reply came in the form of Melia’s voice. Both girls seemed to be present.

“I have to say, though...” said the maid as she approached them. “Master Sain really blends into the background here. It’s like he’s naturally camouflaged.”

“Hah hah, for the future dark knight, becoming one with the darkness is but a trivial matter.”

“Wow. I can hear him, but I can’t see him at all. Master Sain? Where are you?”

“I am here, my maid,” he said as he dramatically folded his arms.

She stopped right in front of him, turned in his direction, and looked around.

“Where are you, Master Sain?”

“I said I’m here.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him, her nose mere inches from his.

“Where?”

“Here.”

“Where?”

“Here!”

She shrugged.

“I only hear his voice. Maybe he lost his body, too. Let’s go look somewhere else.”

“Damn it, maid!” he yelled as he angrily flailed his arms.

Only then did Melia acknowledge his presence with an exaggerated, “Ohhhhh, there you are.”

Alicia shook her head at the pair’s now-familiar slapstick and sighed.

“Marni, can we talk to you for a bit about the field exercises?”

“...Sure.”

Marni nodded and closed the book she was reading. Evidently, she was willing to cooperate as a teammate, at least.

“So, you’ve probably all heard, but the field exercises are both a survival test and a battle royale. Therefore, we need to have plans for dealing with both aspects of it. Let’s start with survival. Melia and I made a list of all the monsters that live in the forest. Here, this copy is yours, Marni.”

Marni took the piece of paper and nodded with a “Thanks.” Sain already knew the contents, having received his copy during lunch.

“In order to last the whole ten days, we’re going to need plans for fending off monsters and acquiring food. There are books about the monsters that we can look up, so as long as we’re strong enough and we know what we’re doing, I don’t think we’ll have much trouble with them. The problem... is the food. It looks like there are plenty of edible plant species in Trowa Forest, but there are just so many of them that it’s going to be hard to remember.”

Alicia scratched her head and frowned.

“I’ll handle the food,” said Marni. “Forests are a familiar environment for me, after all.”

“...Right. Dark elves used to live in forests, didn’t they?” mused Sain.

He’d wanted to meet the dark elves for a long time. Having conducted his own research before coming to Jenifa, he was aware that, even now, there was a strong preference for the forest amongst the dark elves. In terms of numbers, it was apparently an even split, meaning that there were lots of modern dark elves who still went deep into the forests to build their villages.

“I want to confirm something with you too, Alicia. Your magic isn’t just for show anymore, right?” asked Marni.

Seeing that her expression was serious, Alicia responded in kind.

“That’s right. I can fight now. Just like the rest of you.”

What she said was true. The reason Alicia’s magic used to be largely ineffectual was a complete lack of awareness with regard to the true nature of her power. The type of magic she wielded was known as holy fire. It was an extraordinary power, meant to accomplish only one end: purification. Due to its specialized purpose of purging all that was tainted or corrupt, only two types of creatures were normally susceptible to its effects. The first type — monsters. The second was considerably more unique — Chaos. However, the power of purification contained within holy fire was adjustable. By decreasing its purity, Alicia could employ it as regular fire magic. In the past, she wasn’t able to perform this kind of fine adjustment, mostly because she didn’t even know it existed. Now, she could control its effects at will, making her magic effective against humans, as well.

“Our team is looking pretty good in terms of firepower. I heard Miss Melia is pretty strong too, right?” said Marni, looking toward the maid.

“Oh, just drop the ‘miss.’ You can call me Melia. I’m surprised you know about me, though.”

“I heard from Sain. He said you’re his attendant, and that he’s proud of you.”

“Did he now? Mmm... I see, I see...”

Sain noticed Melia glancing at him, but when he looked back at her, she quickly turned away. He furrowed his brow. The maid seemed a little fidgety, and though it was too dark for him to be certain, he thought her ears were a shade pinker than he remembered. He wondered why.

“Which means the only useless one here is Sain.”

“Hnngh... Th-That’s... true, I guess,” he said, wilting under Marni’s chilly glare.

“Between fighting monsters to survive and fighting other students to win the battle royale... Yeah, she’s right. Under the current circumstances, you actually are useless, Sain,” said Alicia as she looked at the other two girls. “Granted, with the three of us, I think we’ve got our bases covered in terms of combat.”

Her confidence was well-deserved. While they couldn’t be sure if popular opinion agreed, their team was objectively a contender for first place. Melia’s grades in school were exceptional, if not literally at the top of her class. Add to that Alicia’s extensive repertoire of large-scale offensive magic — now with both bark and bite — that was especially effective against large numbers of opponents, along with Marni’s mastery of dark magic, and they surely had a winning combination. Few students could hope to be their match.

“As for people we should watch out for... The Eldis twins come to mind,” said Alicia.

“The Eldis twins?” Sain asked.

“The two oldest children of the Viscount Eldis. Same year as us but in another class. They were very good back when we were in the junior division, and I hear that their skills are still top-class in the intermediate division right now.”

They were a pair of Loribanian nobility, which didn’t ring any bells for Sain. It hadn’t even been a month since he’d come to this kingdom, so the names of its nobility were completely beyond him.

“Miss Alicia, would the two of them happen to have red hair?”

“Yeah, they do. Do you know them?”

“I’ve traded a few spells with them during practical lessons.”

“Ah... I feel for you. They’re a pretty hot-headed pair, and they get really competitive whenever they see someone strong. The brother, Rayde, is the older one, and he’s particularly aggressive. There was a time when he even went after the student council president.”

The student council president, Cain Theresia, was a renowned figure in the academy. Sain had heard countless rumors about how his skills were peerless. Sain had, in fact, met the student council president once during his enrollment interview. The memory of the encounter caused him to shiver. He still remembered his eyes. They were focused, sharp, and almost a little feral, like those of an apex predator — a lion eyeing its prey. It took some serious confidence to challenge someone like that. The Eldis twins were definitely no pushovers.

“The twins are probably on the same team. I don’t know who their other two members will be, though. We might have to go scout them out,” said Alicia before they heard the chime of a bell.

“Looks like it’s almost time for the library tower to close,” said Sain as he glanced at the clock near the ceiling.

“Sain, where’s your school bag?” asked Alicia.

“Huh? It’s... Ah! I forgot it in the classroom!”

“This is what happens when you dash off as soon as the bell rings,” she said with a sigh.

Sain leaped to his feet. The classrooms were going to be locked soon as well, so he had to hurry. As soon as he reached the stairwell, however, he suddenly remembered something and spun on his heels.

“Miss Grim,” he said as he ran back, “before I go, can you recommend me a book for today, as well?”

She immediately reached toward the bookshelf beside her and pulled out a book.

“...This is the follow-up to yesterday’s book. It’s more applied.”

“Awesome! Thanks!”

Sain smiled at her, but it only earned him a glare.

“...I highly recommend against sacrificing sleep for study time. It ruins your focus the next day and you don’t learn as much from class.”

“Hnngh... B-But, this is crucial for me right now. I need to learn dark magic, and I have no intention of stopping. As for classes... I’ll, uh, figure out how to make it work. Somehow.”

Sain grew a little flustered as he spoke. He hadn’t expected Marni’s icy gaze to be followed by words of concern. Meanwhile, Alicia gave him a flat look.

“Big words,” quipped Alicia, “for someone who spent most of today sleeping at his desk.”

“Okay, okay, I know.”

“Now, now, let’s cut Master Sain some slack. I don’t blame him for being so eager to learn from Miss Marni. After all, he’s been here for almost a month and has made zero progress so far,” added Melia in her usual backhanded fashion.

Marni sighed.

“...You should also take your classes seriously. It’s better for you, in the long run, to make sure you’re getting enough sleep.”

“But...”

“If you can’t focus, you can’t use magic properly, either. Dark magic in particular works better when you grasp it through visualization and intuition instead of hard knowledge, so it’s very dependent on your state of mind.”

“...Fine. You’re right, Miss Grim. I’ll keep that in mind going forward.”

As a matter of fact, Sain had almost dozed off a couple of times already. He’d been trying his best to hide it, but he had to admit that, in his current state, he wasn’t going to be getting any useful reading done. Figuring that it really would be more prudent for him to get some sleep, he decided that after he retrieved his school bag, he’d take Marni’s advice and turn in early for the night.

After the sound of his footsteps disappeared down the stairwell, Alicia turned to Marni and smirked.

“Well, someone’s a lot more eager to help than I thought.”

“...I’m not teaching him because I want to. I’m just trying to get him to stop pestering me.”

“Sure you are. Besides, if you’re aiming for first place in the field exercises, then you might as well train him. The stronger your teammates, the better it is for you, right?”

“Not really. He’s so pathetically weak that we’d be better off if he just forfeited on day one.”

Alicia grimaced at her friend’s biting evaluation of Sain, but she could offer no reasonable rebuttal. In his current state, what Marni said was probably right. If Sain stopped holding back — if he could use his power as the holy knight to its full potential — he’d be stronger than everyone else in the academy. Normally, he should have been the object of respect and admiration, if not literal worship. Instead, he had to suffer through derision and ridicule.

“Is he really darkkind?” asked Marni in a soft voice, almost to herself.

Both Alicia and Melia twitched a little at the question.

“Huh... Why do you ask?”

“It’s not like he’s not trying. It’s weird that he’s still an F,” she said as she contemplated her opinion of Sain out loud. “He seems motivated, and he’s not exactly stupid either. If he’s always been putting in work like that, he should absolutely be at least a D by now. Unless, I guess... he’s confused about his genus or something.”

The strange discrepancy between Sain’s attitude and competence led Marni to suspect that he was mistaken about his genus. The truth was, of course, that he was knowingly falsifying it, but her suspicion had merit. Magical assessment rankings could be continuously improved, so long as one put in the effort and had the proper aptitude. Sain seemed to be putting in the effort. It was reasonable, then, to assume that results should have followed.

“Yeah... Let’s just say he’s a special case. Circumstances, you know?” She gave an evasive answer before saying in a more somber tone, “I can tell you one thing for sure, though. When he says he’s trying to become the dark knight... he means it.”

Marni gave her an oblique look, but she said nothing in response.

Ten days after their first meeting, Sain was still making daily trips to the library tower after school, where he continued to pelt Marni with all sorts of questions about dark magic. He also made sure to sprinkle in a few head-to-ground “please take me as your apprentice” routines from time to time — just for good measure — but she never agreed to his request.

“Gah, it’s already this late? That’s it for today, I guess... I’ll come again tomorrow!”

“Please don’t.”

By now, it had become almost customary for Marni to voice her futile refusal and Sain to completely ignore her. Only after his hasty footsteps disappeared down the stairs did Marni whisper softly to herself, “...I wish he’d just give up already.”

While Sain and Marni both holed themselves up on the top floor of the library tower, reading until shortly before it closed, they left at different times. One time, Sain had proposed for them to head back to the dormitories together, but she’d turned him down, saying “I don’t want anyone else to see me walking with you.” Ever since then, Sain had departed alone once it was time to leave. At first, he’d seemed a little dejected, but recently, it no longer seemed to bother him. While he certainly carried himself like an attention-seeker, he didn’t appear to be obtuse.

It wasn’t that she didn’t feel bad about it; she had a conscience, after all. She was well aware that Sain looked up to her, but she had to tread carefully around the issue of promising him anything. It wouldn’t pay to be rash. One reason was simply that mentoring Sain seemed like a pain, and she didn’t want to bother. More importantly, however, she was very conscious of the fact that she was a dark elf, and that was what most gave her pause.

She descended the stairs and exited the library tower. As soon as she walked outside, she heard people whispering about her as they passed her by. It was nothing new, of course.

“Hey, look, it’s her... The dark elf.”

“The master of the library tower or something? Creepy. Why can’t she just stay in the tower, then?”

“Didn’t someone say she’s supposed to be confined there?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if she was. You know what they used to do, right? The dark elves? They used curses...”

“Geez, what are we doing, keeping potential murderers in the academy?”

Marni kept walking, the path back to her dormitory lined by suspicious gazes and pointed fingers. Jenifa students often stayed on campus until late at night, accompanied by their notes and texts. But even the most studious of learners gave her nasty looks when they saw her.

The three most distinctive features of dark elves were their silver hair, their dark skin, and their long ears. In an attempt to hide these, Marni had kept herself hidden under a long hooded cloak. Her disguise, however, had long lost its purpose. She’d been spending most of her time on the top floor of the library tower since she was in the junior division, and it didn’t take long for her to gain her nickname. The moniker spread quickly through the academy, and very soon, every last student was aware of her existence, along with her racial identity. By now, there was barely any point to hiding her face.

I can’t afford to let them be seen... Not with someone like me.

For her, the promise of friendship came with a risk — anyone close to her might be forced to share in her suffering. Therefore, she distanced herself from other people and stayed in the library tower. Until recently, Alicia had been in a similar situation, so she’d allowed herself to chat with her from time to time. Now that Alicia was less isolated and having an easier time at school, maybe it was time for her to back off and start putting some distance between them.

She felt a pang of worry. Had someone seen them already? Was she too late? She hoped not.

If only she was here...

Marni thought of the only person she opened her heart to — her older sister, who’d been at her side for as long as she could remember, helping her through her troubles and shielding her from hostility.

Then, she shook her head.

Her sister wasn’t at the academy anymore. She was alone here. The thought was sobering, but it hurt all the same. Just then, she heard the voice of a student who had just passed her.

“Speaking of which, I heard that dumbass also goes to the library tower pretty often these days.”

She frowned. The mocking tone was familiar, but the content was not.

“Dumbass? Oh... You mean the Darkness Dork?”

“Yeah. How has a guy like that not been expelled yet? I’m telling you, this academy isn’t what it used to be.”

“Relax, man. He’ll be gone before you know it. You know he scored an F on the magical assessment, right?”

“Also, that outfit. Ugh. He’s embarrassing enough as is. I don’t get why he wants to embarrass himself more.”

“Probably because it’s the only thing he’s good at? Heh.”

Though his name was never mentioned, she was pretty sure they were talking about Sain. In a way, he sort of deserved it. His grades were abysmal and his appearance bordered on deviant. These were undeniable facts. Most people in his situation would at least keep their heads down. ‘Don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk,’ so to speak. And yet, here he was, talking and walking with a flamboyant confidence that was shameless, baseless, and also entirely unflappable.

“...”

Their gibes left her conflicted. Clearly, they hated Sain, and they had good reason; everything from his academic performance to his aesthetic sense branded him as a fool — a fool who insisted on making his foolishness public, no less. Still, while they might know Sain the fool, they probably didn’t know Sain the man.

He’s isn’t that bad of a person, really.

Sain was a man of integrity. He had some glaring flaws, but he also possessed virtues that were worthy of respect and admiration. Unfortunately, the students mocking him were only aware of the former. If he feared the derision of other people, then he could have just kept a low profile. Surely, even he knew that a modest look and a mild demeanor would spare him plenty of animosity. Instead, he chose to do the opposite, donning ridiculously eye-catching clothes and ignoring all the criticism leveled against him as he pushed forward with unwavering tenacity toward his goal.

His mentorship request was the same. No matter how many times she turned him down, he’d be back again the next day with the same request — to make him her apprentice.

“Speaking of which, that weirdo’s at it again today.”

“You mean practicing his lousy magic?”

“Yeah, in one of the training gyms. I don’t know why he bothers. An F-ranker isn’t going to get any better with practice.”

Their voices faded behind her as they walked away into the distance.

“Training gyms...?”

For security reasons, the library tower always closed before it got dark, but the training gym should still be open right now. It occurred to Marni that she’d only ever seen Sain in the library tower; she had no idea what he did during the rest of the day. Since he’d always leave right before the tower closed, she’d assumed he’d simply gone back to the dormitory. Maybe she was wrong, though...

The sky had begun to darken, and most students had already returned to their rooms. She made her way down an empty hallway, at the end of which were the training gyms. Noticing that one of them still had its lights on, she quietly looked in from the entrance. Standing in the middle of the gym was Sain. The sweat dripping off his face had formed a small pool on the ground, and his shoulders rose and fell visibly with each ragged breath he took.

“Haaaa... Ugh... Damn it... This is tough,” he said, each word coming out as a grunt.

His usual black outfit had been discarded in favor of a lighter, more casual set of inners, which were completely soaked through. Marni watched him, speechless, wondering how long someone had to practice to end up in his current state. There was so much sweat on his face that it looked like he’d taken a shower. His breathing was extremely unsteady and came in uneven gasps. Every so often, one of his knees would give way, and he’d just barely manage to get the other foot under him to prevent a fall. On the ground nearby was a thick book — the very one Marni had recommended to him earlier today.

“I’ve got the image in my head. I just have to get a feel for it now, and I should be able to...”

He picked up the book and mumbled to himself as he riffled through the pages. Then, he placed it on the ground again and held one arm out in front of him. Slowly, black particles began to coalesce in his palm. It was clearly some form of dark magic, but just before the spell took shape, the particles broke apart and dissipated. The attempt ended in failure.

“Damn! Again!”

Without even wiping the sweat on his cheeks, he began focusing his energy again. This time, it seemed to go more smoothly. The particles slowly melded together into a menacing sphere of black. Just before it became fully formed, however, the sphere suddenly ruptured.

“Wah?!” Sain yelped, causing Marni to jump as well.

Practicing magic was by no means a safe activity. A failed spell like the one just now could easily have led to injury. He was definitely lucky to have been unharmed. Despite such a close call, he immediately gathered himself and resumed his practice. After reading a few pages in the book again, he continued to attempt the spell, almost as if he’d already forgotten about the near-disastrous failure he’d experienced moments before. Ten minutes passed. Or was it twenty? Thirty? Maybe even an hour? Marni lost track of time as she watched him, half-entranced.

Magic wasn’t something that could be used indefinitely. Pulling magical energy from the atmosphere into one’s body and mentally shaping it into a spell was a physically draining process. Converting too much energy in a short amount of time could lead to fainting or even death. Though he was undoubtedly exhausted, both in mind and body, Sain nevertheless showed no signs of stopping. He didn’t even take breaks. There was something mesmerizing about his dogged — almost desperate — determination, and Marni found that she couldn’t look away. Suddenly, Alicia’s words resurfaced in her mind.

I can tell you one thing for sure, though. When he says he’s trying to become the dark knight... he means it.

She hadn’t believed it. The holy knight and dark knight were beings of legend. They were heroes. They were unmatched. They were the apotheosis of what they stood for. What they weren’t was something regular people became. The thought itself was comical. Had been. Should have been.

But now, faced with the sight of Sain, doubt crept into her mind.

Maybe... he really is trying to become the dark knight.

There was an intensity to his focus that defied all reason, and she simply couldn’t bring herself to scoff at his efforts. A noise from down the hallway, however, pulled her out of her trance, and she quickly hid herself in the shadows and held her breath. Soon after, a girl appeared in the doorway, her black-hair and attendant uniform illuminated by the bright lights.

“How’s it going, Master Sain?” asked Melia as she stepped into the gym. “I brought some water.”

She handed Sain a towel as well, which he promptly used to wipe the sweat from his face. Then, he took the water bottle and, hoping to minimize any delays to his training, tried to drink its contents as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, he only managed two big gulps before he choked and began coughing violently.

“I’m glad you’re willing to get some sleep now, but if you keep pushing yourself like this, you’re going to collapse. Or worse.”

“I know... But I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it. I just need a little more time. I’m almost there,” he said, handing the bottle and towel back to Melia. Then, he took a moment to calm his breathing before continuing. “Besides, Miss Grim said she wants to win first place at the field exercises... I can’t afford to just be a burden for her. I need to get stronger. Fast.”

As soon as Sain’s words entered Marni’s ears, she felt a sharp pang in her heart. Suddenly, she couldn’t bear to watch him anymore. With soft steps, she left the training gym unnoticed. As soon as she got outside, she broke into a run. Her heart was racing. She wanted to believe it was due to her sprint.

I didn’t know... I really didn’t know... that he was trying so hard.

Judging from others’ remarks and the fatigue she’d seen in him, he must have been practicing the same way every single day. She had no idea. Never would she have imagined that every day after their reading session in the library tower, he’d been running himself ragged with such grueling training sessions. However...

It’s probably not enough.

His current method of training was a bad fit for his current level of skill. At this rate, it was unlikely that he could get good enough with a spell to be useful during the field exercises.

I can teach him, though.

As an expert in dark magic, she was acutely aware of what he was doing wrong. There were ways to improve his practice. That would, however, require her to spend time with him. To be seen with him. Dark elves were a race of beings that faced rampant discrimination. Anyone who was seen associating with them would be subject to the same treatment. All this time, she’d been keeping away from people because she didn’t want to cause anyone else harm. But after witnessing a scene like that... She simply couldn’t anymore.

She didn’t have the heart to stand by and watch.

The next day, Sain came to the top floor of the library tower for his usual question-and-answer session.

“About the book you gave me yesterday, I can’t seem to figure out the right image for this spell and—”

“Which page?”

“...Hm?”

Sain raised his eyebrows in surprise. Before he even finished his question, Marni was already leaning over and was examining the page he had open. Normally, she’d grumble at little before even glancing at him. Today, she seemed strangely cooperative. He shrugged. It was probably just him.

“I can get as far as converting the magical energy, but the activation afterward never works out. Every time, all the energy just scatters right before the spell activates. I feel like I’m controlling it properly, but...”

“Are you visualizing the whole process all the way through? Including the parts after the activation? Dark magic isn’t going to work if you’re only thinking about the final result. You have to visualize the process too.”

“...Hmm?”

Her answer to his question was succinct and relevant. That was good, but he still frowned. For someone who was normally aloof and uncooperative, she was surprisingly willing to part with advice today. He looked at her, wondering what brought about the change of heart.

“What?” she asked curiously when she noticed him staring.

“Oh, uh... I was just thinking that you’re being very cooperative today.”

“Would you rather I weren’t?”

“N-No, of course not! I’m super glad that you are!”

“Then shut up and start studying,” she said, returning to her usual cold manner.

Sain scratched his head, confused by her sudden shift in attitude, but decided to follow her orders and read his book quietly.

For a while, neither of them said a word. Then, all of a sudden, Marni broke the silence.

“Sain,” she asked, turning towards him, “why are you trying to become the dark knight?”

His eyes glimmered as soon as he heard the question, and he immediately responded, “Why? Because the dark knight is the epitome of cool, of course!”

He raised his fist and struck a pose.

“The sable champion who vanquishes the wicked in a lonesome crusade against all forms of evil... Drawing from the infinite darkness that envelops him, he wields his ominous power with peerless mastery! He is the knight of knights! He is judge and executioner, the alpha and the omega! The black energy that pulses from his umbral soul strikes fear into all those in his path! He is despair incarnate, and he speaks to the hearts of every man and boy who has heard the calling of the darkness! Wrapped in the curses of his victims, their undying hatred clings to him like a cloak! The sheer weight of its burden defies all imagination! And yet, he continues to walk this dark road, for his scars are his glory, and his solitude his honor—”

In the middle of his passionate profession of love for the dark knight, he suddenly paused. Marni was looking at him, and the solemn expression she wore suggested that she was not buying any of it. She was waiting to hear something, and it wasn’t his usual spiel. She wanted to know the truth — the real reason he was trying to become the dark knight. He didn’t know how she saw through his fib, but faced with her piercing gaze, he felt his own expression sobering as well. Eventually, he answered in a serious tone.

“I have a wish, and unless I become the dark knight, it will never become true.”

There was none of his usual flippancy. This time, he spoke from his heart.

“...I see.”

Marni looked down, seemingly grappling with his answer. After a while, she nodded and spoke again.

“Tomorrow, I’ll start training you to apply what you’ve learned.”

Sain’s eyes went wide at the announcement.

“After school, come to the courtyard behind the library tower. We’ll train there in mock battles. You can put away the books; anything you don’t know, I’ll teach you,” she said before bells began chiming. “Looks like it’s time to go. I need to prepare, so I’ll leave first today. You... should focus on getting some rest tonight. You’ll need it for tomorrow.”

With that, Marni turned and began walking toward the stairs.

“W-Wait! Miss Grim!” exclaimed Sain as he frantically waved at her. “Just... Just tell me one thing. How come you’re suddenly willing to help me like this?”

She stopped. Turning her head just enough to give him a sidewards glance, she curtly replied, “...Because I give up.”

“Huh?”

“I’m tired of saying no. You win.”

Sain gulped.

“D-Does that mean... You’ll take me as your apprentice?”

“...I already said you win.”

There was a hint of embarrassment to the way she pouted and looked away. For a moment, Sain remained perfectly still, his eyes wide with disbelief. Then, he began to shake. First, it was his hands, followed by his arms, and finally his whole body.

“Ye—”

“Ye?”

“Yessssssss!” screamed Sain, throwing his fists up in the air in triumph.

He’d always known that becoming the dark knight was a lofty goal, and that sooner or later, he’d need to seek the wisdom of a talented mentor. To have the chance to apprentice himself to a dark elf — the race known for its mastery of dark magic — was a stroke of unbelievable fortune. Finally, he felt like he saw some light at the end of a long, long tunnel.

“Miss Grim!”

“Wh-What?”

“I promise that you will not regret making me your apprentice!” said Sain. His voice was brimming with excitement. At the same time, his eyes hardened with resolve. “Mark my words. I am going to become the dark knight! And you, Miss Grim... I’m going to make you the dark knight’s mentor!”

His dream was still ridiculous, but after seeing how much work he’d been putting in last night, Marni knew that, while it was ridiculous, it did not deserve ridicule.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said with a smile.

“I won’t let you down!” replied Sain, confidently thumping his chest.

Thus, in a dim alcove of the top floor of the library tower, a new mentorship was born, twenty days before the beginning of the field exercises.

The day after Sain’s apprenticeship under Marni began, he did as he had been instructed and made his way to the courtyard behind the library tower as soon as school ended.

“You’re late.”

Upon arriving in the courtyard, he found that his new mentor was already present. She glowered at him.

“Absolutely unacceptable. The apprentice can’t be arriving after the mentor.”

“S-Sorry. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

After the last homeroom period concluded, he’d spent some time explaining to Alicia and Melia how he was going to be under Marni’s tutelage starting today. As a result, he’d ended up a bit late. Seeing that he’d apologized, though, Marni did not scold him any further.

“First, I want to see your current skill level,” she said, her gray cloak fluttering in the wind.

“Right now, the only spell I can activate properly is Darku... Should I show you right here?”

She shook her head.

“I said I’m going to train you using mock battles. If an F-ranker like you wants to be useful in the field exercises, you’ll have to get better fast. The only way to do that is to cram — have you do as much as possible in as short a time as possible.”

“What should I do, then?”

“You’re going to fight me, and you’re going to use your magic to do it.”

Sain gaped in surprise, but Marni ignored him and continued her explanation.

“Dark magic is special in that it’s not something we have an intuitive understanding of. Unlike fire or water, we don’t normally wield darkness. In order to use such a vague and ill-defined power, what you need isn’t knowledge but a mental image... It’s not about knowing it. It’s about thinking it. Feeling it. I’ve told you this before, right?”

Sain nodded.

“During a battle, your emotions will flare up, which often ruins any complex mental constructs. Therefore, the correct usage of dark magic requires that the user always remain calm, no matter the circumstances.”

“I see... So I should start by making sure I can stay calm.”

“That’s right,” said Marni with a nod. “The first principle of dark magic: The unpracticed mind knows no composure.”

She pointed at him.

“Repeat,” she said with a voice of cool command.

Sain immediately straightened himself and repeated.

“Th-The unpracticed mind knows no composure.”

“Louder.”

“The unpracticed mind knows no composure!”

“Good.”

Sain watched her fold her arms and give a slow but satisfactory nod.

Huh. She’s really into this.

It was a sight that he was glad to see. Back when she first agreed to join their team for the field exercises, he’d been worried that it was a reluctant decision on her part. Fortunately, she was now taking up her role enthusiastically.

“Ah, so that’s how it is... I see now, Miss Grim. That cold, indifferent attitude of yours is simply a manifestation of your adherence to this principle!”

“No, that’s just me.”

“Oh. Uh...” Realizing he’d just made a terrible faux pas, Sain fumbled for words. “R-Right. Of course. That’s just you.”

There was a long, awkward silence.

“...I know I’m gloomy and depressing to be around. You don’t have to rub it in my face.”

“That’s not it! That’s totally not what I meant!”

Sain panicked as Marni grew visibly disheartened. He did note, however, that compared to when they’d first met, she was far more expressive with her emotions now.

“Anyway, it’s time for the mock battle. Get ready,” she said.

“O-Okay.”

He took off his black coat. Underneath, he was wearing his academy-issued gym clothes. Marni did the same, removing her gray cloak to reveal the same set of gym clothes. Unlike the dim interiors of the library tower’s top floor, there was ample lighting outside. With her cloak gone, this was the first time Sain actually got a good look at Marni. Her long hair was pulled back into a single bundle for ease of movement. Sunlight danced off its silver strands, accentuating her dark skin. Though her limbs were a little on the slender side, they were balanced by the sporty vibe of her outfit.

“What?” she asked with a frown.

Only then did Sain realize he’d been staring.

“Uh, I was just thinking... You’ve always got that big cloak draped over you, so it’s sort of refreshing to see you in lighter attire. Is this what you meant yesterday when you said you needed to prepare?”

“Mmhm. This outfit was covered in dust, so I had to wash it.”

The academy-issued gym clothes were meant to be worn during practical lessons, but Jenifa did not impose a dress code upon its students. In general, students were free to wear whatever they wanted. In Marni’s case, it seemed likely that she even went to the practical lessons in the same clothes she wore in the library tower, gray cloak and all. Her gym clothes probably saw very little use.

“...Do I look weird?”

“N-No, not at all!”

He was definitely not going to tell her that she looked like a junior division student.

“Let’s get started, then... Get ready.”

Marni pursed her tiny little lips and exhaled. In response, Sain readied himself to fight. Mock though it may have been, it was still a battle. Being unarmed, he brought his hands up in a defensive stance, bent his knees, and prepared himself to react to whatever she—

“Darku!”

“Whoa?!”

The battle began immediately. A mystical bullet of pure darkness shot through the air at him. It was so sudden that he just barely managed to get out of the way of the black sphere.

“You can attack me with your spells whenever you want. The only rule is that they have to be dark magic spells.”

“G-Got it!”

He hadn’t even finished answering before she launched another Darku at him. Soon, he found himself dodging an endless flurry of black missiles. As soon as he evaded one, the next was already flying toward him. It took all his concentration just to avoid being hit.

Whenever I want, she says... Seems a little impossible when I’m being showered with bullets.

She gave him no openings whatsoever. Her shots approached him with a speed that seemed tailored to his abilities. They were just slow enough for him to dodge, but whenever he tried to cast his own, they’d increase in velocity and density, forcing him to cancel his attempt.

All right. I’m already learning things. There’s no way for me to attack with a spell if my opponent figures out my attack timing.

This kind of constant, high-intensity, split-second decision-making was indeed reminiscent of real battles. If he wanted to make any progress, he’d have to be able to compose himself even under extreme circumstances like these.

“Darku Shot!”

The magical equivalent of buckshot came flying toward him.

“Wha—?!”

He turned to see a swarm of oncoming pellets that filled his entire view. Only a last-second leap backwards spared him the experience of being on the receiving end of a magical shotgun.

“Huh. I didn’t think you’d manage to dodge that.”

“H-Heh... Heh... I can’t have you underestimating me, after all.”

He intended it as a bluff, but Marni paused for a moment and nodded before saying, “Okay. Then let’s up the ante.”

She held out her palm.

“Orb of gloom, devour with shadow and darkness — Dardia!”

A floating black sphere materialized and flew toward him. There was a sense of weight to it that was far beyond the previous pellets of Darku. This thing had substance, and it didn’t seem like he’d survive a direct hit with his consciousness intact.

“Wh-Whoaaaaa!”

He leaped backwards, and the orb passed in front of him, only for another one to approach from the front. He ducked to avoid losing his head, bending so low that his forehead almost touched the ground, and held out his own hand.

“Now! Darku!”

His own missile of darkness shot toward Marni, but it paled in comparison to hers. Slower and smaller, it was quickly intercepted by a stronger counterpart.

“That was pathetic.”

It wasn’t just that Sain was weak; Marni was also exceptionally strong. Both of them had cast the same spell. Darku was a beginner-level spell, usable even by the lower years of the junior division. In her hands, however, it had enough power and precision to be a threat to even experienced fighters. Though he’d always known that dark elves were masters of dark magic, the experience of seeing it first-hand was something else entirely.

“Great torrent of darkness, drown the land in seas of black...”

While continuing to fire off her missile barrage, Marni simultaneously began to recite an incantation. It was the spell she’d used when they’d first met. With its large area of effect, it was capable of annihilating a multitude of enemies. Against a single foe like him, it’d be more than overkill.

“Velle Darku!”

A raging wave of darkness swept toward him.

“W-Waaaaaaaah!”

Faced with a veritable tsunami of magical energy, Sain did the only thing that was reasonable — he turned tail and ran for his life. In his current state, he had no way of defending himself against such a massive spell. Marni probably had held back, but even then, getting hit by that was probably going to result in a trip to the infirmary.

“Hnnnghaaah!”

With an awkward grunt, he lunged forward, landing in a roll. The black wave came within inches of his rear before waning away like the tide. It was his chance to counterattack.

“Darku!”

Without bothering to even get to his feet, Sain whipped out his arm and launched a spell, only for Marni to shoot it down again with her own.

“Nope. Not even close.” She sighed. “It’s not even about the way you activate the spell or stuff like that... You fundamentally don’t understand the nature of dark magic.”

“The nature... of dark magic?”

She nodded.

“You’re not taking dark magic seriously.”

Her words hit him like a sledgehammer.

“That can’t be... You think I’m not taking dark magic seriously?!”

He practically worshiped the darkness. For a true believer like him, her evaluation was downright humiliating.

“You aren’t. So I’m adding another component to your training curriculum. Tonight, meet me in front of the main gate of the school at ten.”

“Ten at night? Wait, what about curfew?”

“Sneak out,” she said, as if it were the most natural thing possible.

Sain stared at her in speechless astonishment. It suddenly occurred to him that Marni was a girl who’d carried out what was essentially an unauthorized takeover of the library tower’s top floor. It wasn’t as if she’d asked for permission. She’d decided to turn it into her own private space simply because there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic up there. While she might look like a docile person from the outside, she was not afraid to act.

“Miss Grim, you’re, uh... more liberal-minded than I thought.”

“You just realized?”

She showed him a grin that seemed to say, It’s too late now.

“Also,” she continued, “this is sort of unrelated to dark magic... but do you have any martial arts experience? Or combat training?”

“Hm? No, not really. Why?”

“...Don’t worry about it, then. I was just curious because you move pretty well for someone whose magical assessment was F and whose physical assessment was E.”

She studied him for a while before ostensibly reaching some sort of conclusion and turning away, leaving Sain scratching his head in puzzlement.

Half an hour before their scheduled meet-up time, Sain left his room. The dormitories of Jenifa Royal Magic Academy had a nine o’clock curfew, at which point multiple housemothers would begin making the rounds and checking the rooms one by one. The meticulousness of it all — curfews and patrolling housemothers and whatnot — was purely in service to the many nobles whose children attended the academy. Even with royal backing, having a son or daughter of the nobility get kidnapped would leave the academy in a very precarious position. In order to avoid such a predicament, Jenifa paid a great deal of attention to its security. Any students found violating the curfew — nobility or not — would be sent straight to the scolding room.

Time for some stealth. I can’t afford to get caught.

He checked the hallway. It was empty. The housemothers had just finished their room checks half an hour ago. Right now, their guard was probably down. He took one sneaky step forward and—

“Where are you going?”

“Gyaaaah?! Son of a— Damn it, maid!”

Melia suddenly appeared beside him.

“You know... I’d like to point out that it’s very rude of you to call me a son, and even ruder to call me the word that was coming after it.”

“Uh, well, that’s... Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that...”

“In fact, I feel rather hurt right now.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

While she was a bit more expressive than Marni, Melia also tended to keep her feelings private. It was, therefore, rare to see her display any visible sorrow. Her expression right now, however, looked undoubtedly sad.

“So, well? Where are you going?” she asked again.

A number of excuses flashed across his mind, but in the end, he decided to come clean with her.

“Miss Grim is giving me a crash course in dark magic. She told me to meet her at the front gate.”

“...Now? Do you realize what time it is?”

“Yeah, she didn’t tell me what’s going to happen, but it’s her. Whatever she’s going to do, it’ll probably be useful for me.”

Melia scowled a little at him.

“Well, somebody sure trusts her a lot.”

“Of course. The first thing an apprentice should do is trust his mentor.” He frowned. “What’s that look for?”

Melia continued to fix him with a narrow-eyed glare for a while before turning away with a pout.

“Nothing.” There was a hint of resentment in her voice. “So? How are you going to sneak out?”

“Yeah, about that... Sorry, but can you help me get out of here?”

“Fine. I know of a couple of back doors. I can bring you there.”

“Excellent. I knew I could count on you, my maid. By the way, how come you know where the back doors are?”

“Contingency plans.”

She proceeded to lead him to a rear exit. They walked past a few people while traversing the hallways, but no one took issue with them. The curfew didn’t forbid students from leaving their rooms; it was only the building’s entrance that was locked. Muffled laughter could be heard from some of the doors they passed, suggesting there were still plenty of students gathered in their friends’ rooms. Soon, however, the path they took grew more and more quiet, and the presence of others faded away.

“Keep going straight from here and you’ll find a metal door that leads outside.”

“All right. Thanks for your help, my maid.”

“Just doing my job. When you’re back, just give me a signal. Throw a stone at my window or something, and I’ll come here again to let you in.”

“Got it.”

It seemed like the back door he was about to use could only be opened from the inside. Luckily for him, Melia’s room faced the main street, and it was possible to signal to her when he returned from the outside.

“I have to say, though... A sneaky meeting between a boy and a girl at this time of the night...” she murmured as he was about to go.

“Yeah, to the uninformed, it probably looks like we’re going on a secret date.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeep! Wh-Why are you glaring at me like that?! It was a joke! A joke!”

“Was it? Because it sure didn’t sound like one.” She kept glaring. “Just so you know, I’m letting you out because you said she’s giving you a crash course. If you do anything else with her, I’m going to be rather upset.”

“O-Okay.”

Figuring it was in his best interest to avoid getting on her nerves right now, Sain committed to nodding his head at everything she said. Then, he fled the scene, feeling Melia’s menacing gaze on his back the entire time, as he quickly made his way down the hallway and out the metal door. Beside him, a few potted plants sat unused. There were a few empty wooden crates, as well. The space seemed to be some sort of storage room. From there, he made his way onto the main street of the academy town and headed toward the academy.

Upon arriving at the academy’s main gate, he found that Marni was still nowhere to be seen.

“Phew... Looks like I managed to get here first this time.”

After a brief wait, she appeared.

“I’m here. Did you have any trouble getting out?”

“No, it went smoothly. Speaking of which, how did you get out, Miss Grim?”

“What do you mean? I just used the back door.”

Apparently, they’d used the same method to sneak out. Though they lived in different dormitory buildings, he’d heard that the buildings all had a very similar layout. It wasn’t much of a stretch to assume Marni’s dormitory had the same kind of back door he’d employed.

“Anyway, let’s go. I’ll show you how to get there. Follow me.”

Rather than enter the school, she instead began walking along the fence that surrounded the campus.

“We’re not going inside?”

“No, we’re heading for the east town gate.”

“East town gate? We’re leaving the town?”

“Yes.”

At the bottom of a gentle slope, they came to the east gate, which was one of the few points of entry and exit through the wall that encircled the town. The gate guards gave them strange looks when they walked through, but no one made an attempt to stop them. After another ten minutes of walking, they came to a small forest.

“Where are we?”

“This is where they grow the plants used in magic herbology class. It’s outside the town wall, but it still technically belongs to the academy, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem if we go in without permission... Probably.”

Despite the somewhat concerning amount of uncertainty in her statement, she casually strode into the forest, and Sain followed behind her. At first, he could still catch some glimpses of the outside scenery, but soon it was dense forest on all sides. He looked around at the abundant nature surrounding them. It was a tranquil atmosphere, but there was also an eerie sense of isolation from the world at large.

“I-It gets pretty dark in here— Gah!”

Unlike in town, the forest did not have the convenience of street lamps. With his attention focused purely on trying to keep up with Marni, he ended up tripping on a rock underfoot.

“...Here should be fine,” murmured Marni as her steps came to a halt. “Look. Can you see those little monsters up in the trees?”

“Hm?”

Sain looked in the direction Marni was pointing in. His eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness, and he couldn’t even make out the trees themselves, never mind any monsters on them. Only after a long period of staring did he slowly begin to see some tiny forms on the branches.

“...Okay, I see them. They look like monkeys.”

Perched on the trees were tiny little monsters that resembled skinny monkeys. They seemed to be nocturnal, judging by the fact that they were still active at this hour. Their little heads warily turned this way and that, watching for potential enemies, and their long, thin tails dangled downwards, swaying from side to side.

“They’re called night monkeys,” said Marni. “Obviously nocturnal. They’re timid little monsters, but they eat medicinal herbs, so the academy’s teachers have to visit regularly to exterminate them.”

“...They don’t seem very exterminated,” said Sain as he looked at the numerous little creatures occupying the treetops.

“It’s not the season for magic herbology right now, so nobody’s bothering with them,” she answered matter-of-factly. “Starting today, it’ll be your job to get rid of them. Every night, you’re going to come here and start exterminating. No weapons, though. You have to take them down with dark magic only. If you get too spellsick, feel free to stop and go home.”

“So, I just have to knock them out? That’s it?”

“That’s it.” She glanced at him, paused, then added, “You probably want to know why you’re doing this. I expect you to figure that out on your own.”

Sain frowned and scratched his head. It looked like he had some thinking to do.

“There’s no point for both of us to be here, so I’ll be heading back to the dorm. I came with you today to show you how to get here, but starting tomorrow, you’ll be coming here by yourself.”

“All right, understood. Thanks for coming today. If you don’t mind me asking, though... How long should I do this for?”

Marni contemplated the question in silence for a while before answering, “Until you feel it’s enough.”

Then, she spun on her heels and walked away. With his sole companion gone, the forest felt quieter and even more eerie than before. Wind rustled the branches, providing a faint, scratchy ambience that was punctuated by the percussive noises of night monkeys leaping deftly from branch to branch. He took a deep breath, looked up at the creatures, and put on a bold smile.

“Hah, she needs to give me a little credit.”

For Sain, who was actually lightkind, learning dark magic was extremely difficult. After a month of schooling, however, his efforts were starting to pay some dividends. While he couldn’t even activate Darku properly before, it was now a spell that he could cast reliably.

With monsters like these, I should be able to make short work of them.

The night monkeys looked agile but not particularly tough. Even a beginner-level spell should knock them out with a direct hit. He calmly held his hand out toward one of the monsters and began casting the spell.

“Darku!”

Dark energy gathered into the shape of a bullet in his palm and shot toward his target, who...

“Kikiii!”

...leaped away with ease and squealed in his direction.

“Hnnngh. Speedy little things. Again, then!”

He’d known they were fast, so he quickly followed up his first shot with a second. Once again, his missile of darkness flew toward the monster, and once again, it jumped out of the way.

“...Huh.”

It had dodged his attack so easily. And twice in a row, to boot. Suddenly, it occurred to him that maybe Marni gave him exactly as much credit as he deserved. His prior confidence tempered by the realization, he pursed his lips and fired off two more shots at the squealing creature. Neither found their mark.

“...Okay, so this is harder than I thought. Time for a new approach.”

It didn’t seem like he was going to make any progress just firing shots into the dark, so he decided to change his strategy. He began walking further into the forest, keeping his steps slow and silent. Soon, he found a night monkey that hadn’t noticed his approach.

It can’t possibly dodge an attack from its blind spot.

Carefully, he circled around the tree it was perched on and placed himself directly behind it.

“Darku!”

He launched the shadowy missile at the back of the creature’s head. It remained oblivious of its impending doom, all the way up until the spell came within an inch of striking. Then...

“Kiii!”

Without even looking backwards, it jerked its head away, allowing the spell to fly harmlessly past it.

“Wha—?!”

Questions filled his mind. It had dodged an attack from its blind spot. Without even looking. How? He had no answer, nor was he allowed much time to ponder. A small shadow pounced at him from the trees to his right.

“Nuuaaugh!”

Another one of the creatures had gotten close without him noticing. He felt it swipe its sharp claw across the back of his hand. His shriek of pain was accompanied by a burst of noise in the treetops. Branches and leaves all around him began rustling, and he soon found himself surrounded by the squealing monsters.

“U-Uh oh!”

The scene of a small legion of night monkeys leaping out of the trees and descending upon one hapless victim was quite something to see. Sadly, the only audience was the victim himself. They assaulted him with their short, narrow claws and tiny teeth, digging and scratching and biting at his skin. Fortunately for him, each individual night monkey wasn’t capable of doing much damage. There were a lot of them though, and while he wasn’t in any grave danger, it sure hurt like hell.

“Ow ow ow ow! Damn it, sto— Gah!”

They gnawed on his neck and pulled at his cheeks. He screamed and flailed his arms, trying to shake them off. Unfortunately for him, while night monkeys were usually timid, once they became hostile, they stayed hostile. Even if he knocked one off, another would immediately take its place. He considered fleeing, but with his vision severely hampered by the darkness, he wasn’t even sure if he could get away safely.

“D-Damn it! Darku! Darkuuu!” he screamed, frantically firing shot after shot into the shadows darting around in the darkness. None of them landed.

They were all over him now. He thrashed about blindly, writhing from the sharp jolts of pain all over his body. Something — a monkey, probably — got under his foot, and he stumbled to the ground. He quickly pushed himself back up before the creatures could bury him under their combined weight. Not five steps later, he tripped again. It could have been another monkey, but honestly, at this point, it could have been his own other foot for all he knew. He was too disoriented to tell.

By the time he hobbled out of the forest, he was covered in scrapes and bruises and feeling very much like he was about to cry.

After school the next day, Sain and Marni stood facing each other behind the library tower again.

“Judging by how you look, I assume last night didn’t go very well,” she said, studying him.

“...No, it didn’t.”

She was wearing gym clothes. As for him... If the verb “wear” is defined by the total volume of fabric on the body, then he was definitely wearing bandages. His stamina had yet to recover, and he looked absolutely exhausted.

“How many did you take down?”

“...Not even one.”

“I figured.”

Her response suggested that she’d expected him to fail miserably last night.

“We’re going to keep doing the mock battles after school. It’s necessary to build your battle sense. The thing is, we need to move on to applying the things you learned in more realistic situations, but we can’t do that until you finish your nighttime training, so hurry up with that.”

“...I’ll do what I can.”

His usual baseless confidence was nowhere to be seen. Last night’s results were too depressing for him to make light of. Nevertheless, he still had a mock battle to contend with, so he forced himself to focus on the task at hand — being brutally abused by Marni. Sain’s skills were unchanged from yesterday, so the results of the mock battle were similarly unchanged. After taking a terrible beating, Marni held her hand up and said, “That’s it for the training after school... Don’t forget about your nighttime regimen.”

“Okay... I... Got... it...” answered Sain, his breaths coming in long, exhausted gasps.

As he shambled away, he almost slipped on a puddle. It wasn’t raining, though. That was just his sweat.

A few days passed, and Sain was still unable to hit any of the night monkeys.

“Damn! Why? Why can’t I hit them...”

The thick beads of sweat rolling down his forehead were not from the exhaustion of spellsickness, but a rising sense of panic at his own lack of results.

“If I can just... predict how they’re going to move...”

During a short break, he studied the movements of the tiny monsters. Each of them had a tail, which they used along with their long, skinny legs to scamper about the treetops. As he carefully followed them with his eyes, a thought came to him. Up until now, he’d been waiting for them to stop moving and aiming at them when they were still. Maybe they’d have a harder time dodging if he cast the spell right after they moved.

“Darku!”

He launched a shot at a nearby monkey just when it was about to leap to a tree in front of him. However agile they were, they couldn’t possibly alter their course once they were airborne. The monster had already made its leap, and his aim was true. This was it! He had it! Right when his projectile was about to make contact, the night monkey hooked its tail around a branch above its head and made a sharp upward turn in the air.

“Kikikiii!”

“Hnnnngh...”

Sain let out a frustrated groan. His new hypothesis had been immediately refuted. He kept firing off more shots, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t even put a scratch on them.

“Is this... not what I’m meant to be doing?”

He’d tried all sorts of methods over the past few days, but his trial-and-error approach had produced absolutely no results. He was no closer to hitting them than he had been on day one. At this point, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was misunderstanding something crucial — if he’d gotten something wrong from the start.

“Is my problem... deeper down?”

He remembered how Marni had said that he fundamentally didn’t understand the nature of dark magic. Something didn’t feel right. It was as if the very first step he’d taken had been in the wrong direction.

“Well, someone seems like they’re stuck.”

Surprised to hear a voice behind him, he turned to find Marni walking in his direction.

“M-Miss Grim. What are you doing here?”

“It looked like you were having more trouble than I’d expected, so I came to give you a hint.”

“A hint?”

“Yes, a hint. Just this once, I’m going to show you how it’s done,” she said, stopping beside him.

Her words were a profound source of relief for Sain, who’d been growing increasingly doubtful of the feasibility of the exercise. He wasn’t sure if it was even possible to complete. Seeing it done would at least put his suspicions to rest.

A branch rustled overhead as a night monkey leaped onto it.

“Watch carefully,” she said as she turned her palm toward the monster above them.

He closely observed her every movement, taking care to avoid even a single blink lest he missed something. Dark magical energy coalesced in her palm. She was probably going to cast Darku — the same spell he’d been using. It didn’t seem like she was doing any sort of special aiming. She simply held her arm out straight at her target. There was nothing remarkable about her process so far.

The night monkey regarded her outstretched palm with a blank look. It didn’t seem to comprehend what she was doing. She took aim at its head and let the spell fly. The black missile shot forward... and slammed into the monster’s face.

“Wha—?!”

Both Sain and the monkey let out a yelp of surprise. The monkey fell out of the tree, landed on the ground with a thud, and stopped moving. Sain followed its fall with his eyes, stared at its form on the ground, and stopped moving as well. His mind was as blank as the monkey’s face had been.

“Wh-Why? How?”

To Sain’s eyes, Marni hadn’t done anything strange. There was no special skill or night monkey-specific method. She’d simply cast the spell like normal — the way she always did during their mock battles.

“All right, see you later. Keep trying.”

And with that, Marni left.

The next day during lunch break, while his classmates were eating and chatting with friends, Sain remained motionless in his seat, face in arms and arms on desk.

“He looks more miserable by the day.”

“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him, but...”

Alicia and Melia wore concerned frowns as they discussed his recent behavior. He wasn’t sleeping; he was just dejected.

In the end, I still couldn’t do it.

Even after Marni went all the way there to give him a personal demonstration, he had failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Her method remained a mystery to him, and he was unable to replicate her success. To this day, he still had yet to land a single hit on the night monkeys.

“Hey, Sain, aren’t you going a little overboard these days? You keep skipping your lunch, too... If you keep this up, you’re going to fall apart pretty soon.”

“...Fair point. I guess I do need to eat lunch, at least,” he replied in a tone that sounded a tad too obligatory for a fundamental element of everyday life.

The two girls looked at each other, their frowns deepening.

“What kind of training are you doing right now?” asked Melia.

“Training? Right, training...”

Sain slowly pushed himself up and shambled his way toward the cafeteria. They followed him, listening to him recount the events of the past few days. They’d already known about his mock battles after school, so he mostly spoke of his nighttime regimen. He earned himself a reproving glare from Alicia when he got to the part about sneaking out of the dorm at night, but after some convincing, she agreed to let the matter slide.

“A training regimen that involves fighting monsters in the dark, huh... You’re right in that it seems like it’s about more than just fighting them. If she just wanted you to take down some monsters, there are loads of better opponents than night monkeys.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t even matter right now. The problem is that I can’t land a single hit on them with my spells. Day after day... I just keep trying... and failing. There’s no progress made. I’ve been running in circles for so long that at this point, I’m not even sure if I’ll ever manage to hit them.”

“Wow, self-doubt? From Master Sain? That’s...” Melia was about to deliver a scathing quip in her usual fashion, but the look of utter defeat on his face made her reconsider. Her expression grew softer, and she said with honest concern, “That’s actually a little worrying. But there has to be a way, right? I mean, didn’t Marni manage to do it?”

“...She did.”

He nodded as he recalled her demonstration last night.

“I think the way I’m using magic might be fundamentally wrong somehow, like there’s some crucial piece of the puzzle I’m just missing. I should be casting the same spell as Miss Grim, but the results are incomparable. Hers is so much stronger, while mine... It’s like... it lacks substance or something,” he said, his voice dropping to a low murmur toward the end as he fumbled for words to describe the vague sense of incongruity he felt.

“Huh... It almost sounds like you’re struggling with the same problem I had,” said Alicia in a low, pensive murmur.

His eyes widened. Her words were like a clap of thunder in his mind. He stared at her, but she was too busy sorting through her own thoughts to notice.

“Like, you know how I couldn’t use any light magic before?” She continued. “Until I met the two of you, I just couldn’t do it. And the stuff that I could use, I mean, it looked like fire magic, and it was burning and everything, but you touch it and it’s barely even warm... It was literally... just for show. And I kept trying to figure out how to make my magic, you know, not for show, and in the process of thinking so much about it, I started to wonder about the nature of magic and what its substance was, just like you’re doing right now.”

She spoke in a very casual tone. To her, this was simply idle banter between friends. To Sain, it was his missing puzzle piece.

“Magic that’s... just for show... I see. So that’s why...”

He thought back to his training over the past few days, replaying each failed attempt in his mind. There was something they all shared — the one common thread that linked all of them — that was probably the cause for their failure. He had to make sure. He needed to test his theory. After countless days of soul-crushing despair, it felt like he finally found the breakthrough he needed to reach new heights.

“Hnnaugh?! S-Sain? What’re you—” yelped Alicia as Sain grabbed her hands and shook them. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“Thank you, Miss Gold! That’s it! You figured it out!”

“Wh-Wh-What?! What are you talking about?!”

“The answer I’ve been looking for! You figured out what it is that I’m missing! Thank you! I owe you big for this! Rest assured that this debt shall be repaid!”

He shook her hands some more, which only caused her already reddened cheeks to flush even more. Flustered and confused, she could do little but watch as Sain dashed off. His destination was clear — the library tower.

He needed to speak to Marni.

That day, after classes ended, Sain went early to the night monkeys’ forest.

“As I thought. This place is pretty dark even before the sun’s completely down.”

During lunch break, after hearing what Alicia said, he’d gone straight to Marni. He’d found her on the top floor of the library tower, book in hand as always. Upon approaching, he immediately asked if he could cancel the mock battle today. The reason he gave was “because there’s something I want to test right away.”

He collected himself. This chance had come at the cost of throwing a wrench into Marni’s schedule. He needed to make it count.

“First, let’s try the usual.”

He took aim at a night monkey that was walking along a branch and sent a Darku at it. The monster dodged it with ease.

“...As I thought.”

All this time, he hadn’t had the slightest clue why they evaded his attacks so easily. Now, he knew. With his eyes closed, he replayed Marni’s demonstration in his mind. It was the same Darku spell, but it was incomparably stronger and faster than his. Even in darkness like this, it had hit the night monkey with perfect accuracy. The crucial part, however, was neither its strength nor its speed.

I thought I was just tired or something, but no. My eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.

He remembered that he hadn’t been able to see her spell very well. It was definitely there, and it was definitely Darku, but he hadn’t gotten a very clear look at it, almost as if he couldn’t follow it with his eyes, despite having kept them peeled for so long they’d started to hurt. At the time, he’d figured that it was probably just too fast, but no, that wasn’t it.

It was camouflaged.

Marni’s Darku had blended into the surrounding darkness.

“Her magic replicated the darkness. It was a part of it. Hm, so that’s what true dark magic is like...”

After spending so many nights in the forest with the night monkeys, he was becoming very familiar with their traits and habits. Being nocturnal, they could see well in the dark. Furthermore, they probably didn’t even need their eyes to detect the presence of people or magical energy around them. Their acute senses were likely what allowed them to dodge attacks from their blind spots. Marni’s spell, meanwhile, had an essence that was very similar to true darkness. That was why hers had been successful. It had blended into the darkness, which caused it to be hidden from the night monkey’s senses — both visual and otherwise. Sain himself had had trouble seeing it.

“For show, huh... Looks like she hit the nail on the head. My dark magic just looked dark. It was black on the outside, but inside, it was just a clump of magical energy...”

Again, he remembered what Marni had said to him when he’d begun his training.

You fundamentally don’t understand the nature of dark magic.

In other words, his magic had been incomplete.

The answer was right there. It had been staring me in the face this whole time.

The eerie darkness that covered this forest made it the perfect place for him to practice. Whatever he was missing, he’d find it here in the environment itself. After all, this forest was home to true darkness.

Concentrate.

Magic was a power created by the gods. The goddess Vicitaelia gave birth to light magic, while her male counterpart, Shartegallia, gave birth to dark magic. During their creation, the essence of both forms of magic had been vaguely defined by their respective creators. When humans used magic, they had to visualize the magic’s essence in their mind. The closer the image was to the true definition, the stronger the magic would be. Having been created by the gods, these definitions were absolute truths. In other words, magic had an answer sheet. There was a way to visualize magic that was literally correct.

Having been the holy knight for as long as he could remember, Sain had effectively been given the answer sheet for light magic by the goddess herself. Since he’d been taught by the one who came up with the question in the first place, the answer he possessed was, by definition, absolutely correct. It was therefore unsurprising for the holy knight to be better at light magic than everyone else. At the same time, this meant that Sain had never learned magic the normal way, and only now was he beginning to grasp how important a role visualization played in the process.

He tried to feel the forest’s darkness, tuning all his senses to capture the murky quality of the ambience around him. It was deep — maybe bottomless — and very black. But it wasn’t even. Some parts were denser than others. There was a profound intricacy to it that would be invisible to the inattentive, yet could overwhelm the meticulous. The realization came to him with a wave of goosebumps.

“Hah... Haha... So it was just me. Everything I’d assumed, it was all just my own fantasy.”

He’d thought it would be more ominous... more violent. But faced with true darkness, he found it to be... quiet. And eerie. And very cold.

“...Darku!”

Dark magical energy gathered in his palm and rushed forward in the shape of a bullet. As soon as it left his hand, it melded into the darkness around it. A split second after, the night monkey he’d aimed for flew off its branch, its body spiraling from the impact as it fell to the ground.

“Yes!”

Sain yelled in triumph. He’d done it at last.

That felt so different.

The process of gathering dark magical energy from the atmosphere and converting it into magic felt easier than usual. It was probably because the conversion was now happening efficiently, with very low wastage. Until now, his own assumptions about how dark magic was supposed to look and feel had impeded this process, resulting in an inadequate amount of conversion. Now that his efficiency had improved, the spell took less of a toll on him, as well, and he felt like he could still fire off plenty more.

“Okay, slow down there, buddy,” he said to himself. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. This is only the starting line. Next is practice. Lots and lots of practice, until my body learns to do this on its own...”

He was probably going to keep practicing until he keeled over from spellsickness today. By the time he crawled back to the dorm, he’d probably be in terrible shape. Melia would probably give him a serious scolding, and he probably wasn’t going to hear a word of anything that was said in class tomorrow. And he didn’t mind at all.

He was learning magic, and he was doing it through his own power. That thought alone kept him grinning all night long.

The next day after class, Sain made the familiar trek around the back of the library tower and met up with Marni.

“Miss Grim, let me say this first. Today... you will find me to be a changed man.”

“...Sure.” Her reply was curt, but she did narrow her eyes at him for a second.

As soon as their mock battle began, she put up almost a dozen Darkus in the air and sent them all toward him at once. Even a beginner-level spell was impressive when one could produce so many of them simultaneously. It was the kind of feat he had no hope of reproducing. But he didn’t need to; he only needed one. So long as he could get one good shot in...

He continued to evade her attacks, patiently searching for an opening. He wasn’t going to give up. Not today.

Almost there.

He lunged sideways, and the barrage of Darkus narrowly missed him. Before she had time to prepare another volley, he struck back.

“Darku!”

A black sphere appeared, stretching into the shape of a missile as it shot through the air at Marni, faster, stronger, and darker than ever before. She watched it approach and... stepped out of the way.

She dodged it.

None of his previous attempts had managed to make her even bat an eye, much less move. For the first time, she’d dodged his attack. That could mean only one thing: she’d perceived his attack as a threat.

“...Looks like you made some progress.”

A flicker of a smile appeared on her normally expressionless face. It was a small gesture, but it infused him with a profound sense of accomplishment. At the same time, he also noted that, ever since he’d become Marni’s apprentice, he hadn’t received a single word of praise from her. Until now.

“Hmhm... I am no longer the man I used to be. I have grasped the essence of true darkness. It has given me free rein over its grim powers. I have become one with it — a true denizen of darkness. I see all and feel all. There is nothing that can escape the omniscient gloom that surrounds me—”

“Ehh.”

“Augh!”

He thought his enthusiasm would prove infectious, and Marni would share in his excitement. He was wrong. She was unmoved by his triumphant speech, and had instead fired another missile at him, which struck him clear in the side.

“Doesn’t look like you saw that one coming.”

“I-It’s called hyperbole, okay? Geez. Ow, ow...”

Sure, he hadn’t exactly become a master of dark magic, but he had improved, and he would have appreciated it if she had just let him have his moment. Evidently, she had no intention of doing so.

“The second principle of dark magic: remember and recreate. Dark magic is heavily influenced by the quality of the user’s visualization. For magic like this, unfounded fancies and empty imagination is meaningless. You need concrete mental references, which can only be formed through repetition and experience. An innate familiarity with dark magic etched into your body and mind... that is what will allow you to use it effectively in battle. Remember and recreate. Now... Repeat.”

“Remember... and recreate!”

“Good.” Marni nodded with satisfaction. “It’s time to move on. Next, you’re going to start applying your knowledge to learn a couple of new dark magic spells.”

“O-Ohhh... Yes... Finally, it’s time!”

“But before that, we’re going to keep doing mock battles for a little longer.”

“...Oh.”

“J-Just a little longer, okay?” she added quickly after seeing the look of disappointment on Sain’s face. “There isn’t much time left until the field exercises, so I can’t teach you all the spells you need to build a solid foundation. Instead, I’m going to do a bit of research and figure out the best spells for you to focus on.”

“...I see.”

He was so close. All he needed was a little more patience. He took a deep breath, then slapped his cheeks with both hands and shook the disappointment out of himself.

There was still some training to do.

The mock battle resumed.

Whereas Sain was pumped and ready to go, Marni remained her impassive self, starting things off with the same volley of Darkus as before to keep him busy. This time, however, he went on the offensive.

“Darku!”

His spell was now powerful enough to be a real threat, forcing Marni to actively move out of the way. As the missile flew past her, she took a moment to examine its quality.

Good. He’s actually doing the conversion.

While there exists the concept of “elements” with regard to the magical energy that permeates the atmosphere, that energy is ultimately nothing more than fuel. Gathering a bunch of fuel — that is, dark magical energy — and plopping it down in a pile isn’t going to result in a spell. There needs to be a process of conversion, in which the nature of the magical energy is transformed and it acquires the proper qualities. This process, which needs to happen before the spell is activated, is a fundamental skill of magic, and Sain had finally learned how to do it.

Satisfied with her apprentice’s progress, Marni decided that it was time to move to the next phase of his training.

“Spirits of the lost abyss, seize with cursed arms — Darku Halden!”

Using an incantation, she unleashed a dark spell that caused countless shadowy hands to shoot up from the ground around Sain’s feet.

“Gah! Darku!”

He leaped back and fired his projectiles toward the oncoming limbs. Marni calmly observed him as he fended off her attack, neutralizing the ethereal hands one by one by striking them with his own spell.

It’s not just me. He really does move well.

She didn’t know why, but Sain moved with the footwork of a seasoned veteran. There was a polish to it — an almost ruthless efficiency — that could only be acquired through sheer experience.

He’s downright awful at dark magic, but he’s unnaturally good at everything else.

His reactions were quick. He had presence of mind. And most importantly, he never let his guard down. These were the qualities of someone who truly understood how to fight.

I was going to teach him some beginner-level spells, ones that are easy to use, but if he can move like this, then it might be a better idea to teach him something more practical.

He took advantage of every opening he found to throw out an attack. Refusing to be put on the defensive, he kept on the move, fighting both the barrage of pellets and his own fear to press forward. His actions were bold and deliberate — signs of a man who was not avoiding defeat, but seeking victory.

If he had just one spell... One good spell that could deliver the finishing blow... He’d morph into a completely different beast.

She saw in him an unwavering resolve to keep fighting. To never give up. What Sain had was the will to win, and she’d be a fool to squander it.

“I’ve made up my mind,” she said, signaling the end of the mock battle. “Sain, for the next phase, you’re going to learn practical magic that will actually be useful during the field exercises. Here’s the catch: I’m only going to teach you one spell. We don’t have time for anything more.”

“Should I assume that means this spell you’re going to teach me is particularly difficult to learn?”

“Yes... I wasn’t planning to teach you this spell, so I haven’t used it in the mock battles. Come over here. I’m going to show you how it’s done.”

With him standing beside her, she lifted her arm and held it out to the side. Dark magical energy coalesced in her palm, gradually lengthening into the shape of a long, narrow spear.

“Dark Ray!”

She swept her right hand across in a wide arc and launched the dark javelin forward.

“W-Whoa... Whoaaaaa!”

Sain let out a breath of awe. He’d never seen a spell like this before. This was no entry-level dark magic. It dwarfed Darku in both speed and power, cutting through the air like a shooting star made of pure darkness and leaving a shadowy trail behind it as it sped toward its target.

“Well? Did you get a good look?”

“U-Uh... Sorry. I swear, I looked as hard as I could. I didn’t even blink. But it was still just a blur. God... I can’t believe how fast that thing was. Once you let that fly, it’s over. There’s no running from it...”

“Not bad for a first look. You noticed all the important features,” said Marni before turning to him and beginning her explanation in earnest. “The spell I’m going to teach you is called Dark Ray, which produces a very fast projectile with high penetrating power. In the hands of a skilled user, it can be effective even against monsters that normally should be too powerful to fight. In fact, with good enough aim, it’s theoretically possible to defeat any opponent with a single shot. If you manage to learn this... you’ll be a useful member of the team during the field exercises.”

“Wow... This is an amazing spell... But how come I’ve never seen anything like it before? It wasn’t mentioned in any of the textbooks I read in the library tower, either.”

“This is a spell created by us dark elves. It’s not in any of the regular textbooks.”

“...You mean this is some sort of secret dark elf magic? Are you sure you should be telling me about it, then?”

“The training you’ve been doing at night is based on a well-established dark elf training routine, too. I mean, sure, it’s not something we go around telling everyone, but it’s not exactly a secret, either. Also, it’s too late to worry about that, anyway.”

Sain nodded, relieved to hear that they weren’t breaching any ancient dark elf protocols. Then, he grinned.

“Mmhmhm... Finally, after all this time... I, too, shall have an ace up my sleeve... A dark magic spell that can deal a decisive blow! Haha... Ahahaha—”

“By the way, I should mention that it’s very difficult to learn,” she added in a soft voice, causing him to freeze mid-laugh. “Dark Ray is a spell that dark elves developed by themselves, so there’s no clear definition, but by human standards, it would probably be classified as advanced-level magic. It’s one thing for us to be using it; our race is naturally gifted at dark magic. For you, it’s another thing entirely. I doubt there are many humans who could use a spell like this.”

“...Advanced-level magic,” he murmured, his excitement wilting visibly as he repeated her words.

Magic spells were put into four categories based on how difficult they were to learn: beginner, medium, advanced, and master. For advanced-level spells, it was commonly understood that only those with considerable talent would ever be able to learn them. Such people were few and far between, and admittance into this exclusive circle doubtlessly required one to be blessed with abundant natural gifts. If Sain wanted to master this new spell, he would have to join their ranks. The question was, did he have what it’d take?

“Are you getting cold feet?”

“...Hah, of course not. Both me and my feet are all fired up to go. Advanced-level magic? Bring it on. I’ll learn it, one way or another,” he declared more to himself than anyone else.

Marni could tell he was putting on a brave front, but at the same time, she was also sure that he had every intention of turning his words into reality. She knew the kind of person he was. He certainly made bold claims, but they were backed by a dogged determination. That was why she’d decided to teach him this spell.

“I think you will, too, Sain. I believe in you,” she said, causing his expression to brighten. “We’re done with the nighttime training. From now on, you’re going to focus on learning Dark Ray. Once classes are finished, we’re going to spend two hours each day with me teaching you the spell. Then, it’s mock battles until curfew.”

“Got it. We’re still doing the mock battles, huh.”

“It doesn’t matter how many spells you learn if you can’t use them in a real fight.”

Sain nodded, the gesture both an expression of understanding and commitment.