Jared led Almeida to a spare room in the mansion and, at her command, was examined semi-nude.
“Ryo almost found out about the child you’re keeping inside you, didn’t she?”
“As expected of a dragon. Is that why you appeared before everyone at that moment?”
“I’m rather fond of my disciples, wouldn’t you say?”
Almeida placed her hand on his chest, sending magical energy as if searching inside Jared, her eyes narrowing with a nostalgic gaze.
“It’s been over a year since my last physical examination. This year has flown by.”
“It has for me too.”
“Just recently, you went berserk, didn’t you? I won’t ask the reason, but the surge of power reached me. That’s why I’ve come to visit you myself.”
“I apologize for causing you trouble.”
Although it had been less than two years, Almeida had been a strict yet kind mentor. Even though he had run away from her on his own, the fact that she had come all this way to check on her berserk disciple made him feel incredibly indebted.
“If you’re going to apologize, why not tell me? Why did you run away from me?”
“That’s…”
“You know, I’m surprised at how angry I am. More than that, I worried about you terribly and searched for you everywhere. I spent days searching, afraid you had collapsed somewhere again.”
“All I can offer are my apologies.”
Almeida, still touching Jared’s chest, asked, her heart filled with more regret than gratitude.
“When you first started, you complained about training all the time, didn’t you? But you’ve grown stronger. Despite your complaints, you never slacked off and greedily pursued power—you grew strong enough to defeat Haru the dragon, even while suppressing your strength by taking human form. So why did you abandon everything halfway through? I don’t understand.”
“I had things I had to do.”
“And I want you to tell me all about them.”
“Alright,” Almeida said, not hiding her dissatisfaction, but she didn’t press further. Grateful for her consideration, Jared apologized once more. Jared hadn’t run away from Almeida by choice. He had returned to the Capital City because he had things to do, as he had just said. Then, he had joined the Mage Association out of necessity. Although he had accomplished his goal, the reason he remained in the Capital City for so long was—he didn’t know how he could face his master again. However, saying it aloud would only sound like an excuse. He himself considered it an excuse.
“As I suspected, the cause of the berserk episode is the suppression of your power. Your body is still growing, but your magic power remains the same as before. That’s why your power is incomplete.”
“Incomplete, you say?”
Almeida removed her hand from his chest and nodded.
“Yes. Given the total amount of your magic power and your abilities, there’s no way you should only be at this level. You almost died fighting that girl, Pfeil, didn’t you? She’s strong, but if you had been able to fully unleash your true power—you would have struggled, but you wouldn’t have been in mortal danger. You would have won.”
“…No way.”
He thought it was a bad joke. He believed his victory against Pfeil, who had been so strong and a difficult opponent, was a product of his resolve and the people he had to protect. The idea of winning without risking his life sounded like a fantasy.
“You remember, don’t you? When you were just a thirteen-year-old child, I used a curse to kill and seal your immense magic power. If I hadn’t, you would have died from your abruptly blooming magic power invading your body.”
“I remember. But, just how much magic power did you seal?”
“Seventy percent.”
“—You’re lying?”
He knew his magic power was being sealed. After narrowly escaping death, Jared’s talent and magic power as a magician had bloomed spectacularly. At the time, the overwhelming magic power that awakened had nearly killed him. For a boy whose mind and body were not yet developed, excessive magic power was nothing but poison. So, Almeida had used a curse to kill and seal it. She had also taken measures to prevent the magic power from invading his body. As his mind and body grew, she planned to gradually release the magic power, allowing it to adapt to his body over time. The ultimate goal was to enable him to use his magic power fully—that’s what Almeida had asked of Jared.
“From my examination, I can tell that you can now release another twenty percent. It seems you haven’t been neglecting the self-training I taught you. I like that you don’t neglect your efforts.”
Jared could only be stunned by the fact that he had only been able to use thirty percent of his magic power. Even now, the total amount of his magic power was significant. The thought of it increasing was beyond his comprehension.
“Honestly, Jared, you’re an idiot. If you had continued training with me, you were supposed to be able to wield eighty percent of your magic power by now. Ah, what a waste. That’s why you’re stuck as a Court Mage Candidate.”
“Um, what will happen if I regain fifty percent of my magic power?”
“You’ll become stronger. Much stronger than you can imagine. Your magic power will permeate your body even more, making it much easier to handle. Also, your total magic power will increase, so you might not experience magical fatigue anymore. You’ll have more applications for magic, shorten incantations, and expand your interference with spirits—it’s all good.”
Jared was speechless, stunned into silence. Even with his current magic power total, he experienced magical fatigue. Just as physical exertion causes shortness of breath, rapid use of magic power leads to fatigue. If it depletes, he could faint, and his life could even be threatened. Jared had always considered this normal and had pushed himself recklessly. Yet, he had completed all the missions assigned by the Mage Association, and his only defeats were against Pfeil and Ryo. Therefore, Jared had never imagined that the vast majority of his magic power was sealed. He had believed that his current state was the true extent of Jared Murphy’s power.
“You would have had no problem becoming a lesser Court Mage in this country. But if you regain and learn to wield fifty percent of your magic power—I can promise you that by the time you reach adulthood, you’ll be stepping into the same realm as me.”
“…I’ve been so surprised by everything you’ve said. I don’t know what to say. But just one thing—”
“Go ahead and say it.”
“I don’t want to stop being human.”
“Hey! Don’t say something so impolite! I’m human too! Of course, I’m long-lived, and I pride myself on having mastered my chosen field as a magician, but I have no memory of stopping being human! Besides, were you looking at me like that?”
Almeida, who looked younger than Yeny despite being over five hundred years old, became displeased at being mistaken for a non-human, puffing out her cheeks. Jared knew she had lived for over five hundred years, even though she appeared younger than Yeny. He had many questions about why her appearance was frozen in time and why her lifespan was seemingly endless.
“This is simply rude. I’ll address the image of me inside you later, but let’s get back to the topic.”
Still pouting, Almeida pointed at Jared.
“First, I will help you regain fifty percent of your power. Then, I will work with you one-on-one to help you wield that fifty percent. Looking at the way you fought Ryo and the way you moved when you threatened me with a knife, self-training alone is too slow for growth. I’ll help you regain your senses through practical combat training.”
“—Ugh.”
“What is it? Do you not want to?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to…”
He could easily imagine himself collapsing, unable to breathe, and possibly dying. Almeida was strict yet kind, but her strictness was incredibly severe. Practical combat training sounded good, but it was essentially a battle. His master, whom he could never defeat, would attack him with overwhelming force. He felt he should praise his past self for surviving in such an extreme situation where the only way to live was to become stronger. Of course, she had probably gone easy on him, but even so, recalling it made him want to cry from how difficult it was.
“If you can learn to wield fifty percent of your magic power, you’ll gain enough ability to become the top Court Mage.”
“You’re saying such ridiculous things again—”
“Did you just call me ridiculous?”
“I apologize!”
Jared, who had let his tongue slip, knelt and bowed his head in apology as he was glared at. He remembered how he used to get punished by Almeida for carelessly saying something extra in the past. It was nostalgic yet terrifying.
“Since you’re my beloved disciple who has just reunited with me, I’ll forgive your slip-up, but don’t let it happen again.”
“Thank you!”
“You know, mages in this era aren’t all blessed with talent and magic power like you are. Even you, in an era when magic was at its peak, would only be considered upper-middle class, not top-tier.”
There was a time when magic was commonplace, and mages were not as rare as they are now. In the present day, much of the magic from the era known as the “Golden Age of Magic” had been lost, and the quality of mages had drastically declined, as Almeida had told him countless times. Jared had been repeatedly told that he should be grateful to his parents for being born in this era with such magic power and talent.
“The top Court Mage position is based on the rarity of their power, allowing them to hold that rank, but you’ll eventually surpass the third-ranked mage who specializes in combat. However, Jared—I want you to quit being a Court Mage after serving for two or three years.”
“…Why?”
“Times may change, but humans don’t. Mages will always be tools for war. I don’t want my dear disciple to live his life as a Court Mage who is only sought after for battle.”
Almeida’s words carried a hint of sadness, and Jared found himself at a loss for how to respond.
—
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