Chapter 165
Simon and Lete stood up from their spots.
After kneeling for several hours, Simon couldn't even get up in one go. His legs were numb, and he staggered. Lete clicked her tongue in dismay.
"Ah, what a wimp, can't you get up already?"
...As expected of a priest, every word she spoke was conservative. Still, Simon was the one receiving her guidance, so he didn't complain and kept a smile on his face.
"The first subject you'll learn is the core of priesthood, 'Blessing Studies'. It's white magic that enhances yourself and others with divine grace."
Lete placed her hands on her waist and explained in a clear voice.
"And the blessing we'll practice is Strength. It's the most basic physical enhancement blessing. We'll start with this."
Lete took out the Blessing Studies textbook and opened it to a page with the magic circle for Strength. She then explained each divine formula in detail until Simon could replicate it on the ground with a twig. Only after that did she tell him to try drawing it with holiness.
Simon absorbed all the information like a sponge and gave it a try.
'I can do anything.'
Vwooom!
It had become simple now to generate holiness at his fingertips. He then began tracing the structure of the magic circle in his mind using holiness.
'Ooh.'
The holiness writhing in Simon's hand was like an obedient child.
Unlike Darkness, which took years just to shift from emission to form alteration, Holiness moved exactly as Simon imagined.
Of course, just because it moved well didn't mean forming a magic circle was easy.
He could barely manage the circular shape, but completing the divine language and internal details was quite difficult.
"Huu."
The 20th attempt.
Once again, he succeeded in drawing the circle but failed in the formula.
"You lack faith. Faith."
Lete was giving him constant advice from the side. At some point, she had laid down in the grass and was furiously scribbling in the textbook.
"What are you doing?"
"Summer homework."
"..."
Lete wore a brusque expression.
"What, got a problem?"
"No. Just saying, good luck."
Simon was a student too, and he understood how tough summer homework could be. Leaving her be, he focused again.
'Lete's method is the standard priest method. I'll go with mine.'
Simon believed that the biggest issue at hand was "habit". His habits from drawing magic circles with Darkness were unintentionally interfering with Holiness.
Darkness had the property of "memorization". With basic black magic, just recalling the name and main rune would automatically complete the formula.
But holiness didn't work that way. Once a magic circle was partially formed, even a brief lapse into the subconscious would cause it to collapse.
'So then.'
Simon gritted his teeth.
'I'll manifest the image whole.'
Holiness was freely controllable and deeply connected to the mind. Unlike Darkness, it didn't need to be drawn piece by piece.
'The completed circle in my head…'
Simon, bringing his concentration to its peak, visualized the magic circle in his mind and lowered his gaze to his left hand.
'Bring it out!'
Vwoom!
The holiness that had been wriggling in his hand spread out like wide dough. Into that spread, the divine characters Lete had taught him began to embed, one by one.
'Not enough!'
Simon bit his lip.
'Imagination and concentration alone won't cut it! I'll cover the rest with insight!'
Mana, Darkness, Holiness.
Mage, Necromancer, Priest.
There's no real difference.
Since they all begin at one origin, they must all reach the same truth in the end.
The letters in the magic circle began to shift slowly. Simon brought forth all the knowledge he'd learned in Keyzen.
He carved paths for the holiness to flow, created breathing holes for circulation. When resistance formed, he twisted the route to allow flow.
There was no need to overthink it. All he had to do was let holiness flow through every part of the magic circle.
Simon solved the circle like a quiz, and at last—
Vwooooom!
The magic circle was complete. Lete, who had been doing her summer homework lying down, looked up at Simon with eyes like a startled rabbit.
'What the hell is this guy!'
He really completed the magic circle.
After only one day of trying white magic!
Her body trembled.
"I'll test to see if it works."
Saying that, Simon carefully placed his palm on the white magic circle.
"...!"
As the magic circle was absorbed into Simon's body, he felt an unknown energy surging through him. At the same time, a red-and-white tail spiraled around his body.
'Power!'
Simon approached a nearby tree and punched it without using Darkness.
Boom!
Leaves rained down from the impact as Simon clenched his fist.
He could clearly feel the strength increase.
"I did it, Lete! That was a proper blessing, right?"
"..."
Lete, who had been wearing a blank expression, suddenly turned her back. Then she began scratching the ground with her fingertip.
'Is this even possible? It took me a whole week to make that, and he did it in a day? And he doesn't even believe in the Goddess?'
She started to think this person was shaking the very foundation of the faith she'd built with such difficulty.
Lete was supposed to say something, but stayed silent for almost ten minutes. Finally, Simon cautiously asked,
"What are you thinking?"
"...That I want to beat the crap out of you."
"How refreshing."
Simon chuckled softly.
"What are you going to teach me next?"
Lete stared blankly at Simon.
A necromancer using Holiness.
Even if it was at Anna's request, even if she needed an ally, she was starting to wonder if this wasn't sheer madness.
Teaching this man white magic, could that become a true threat to Efnelle in the future?
If they stood on opposite sides of the battlefield someday, would she regret what she did today?
"What's wrong, Lete?"
"...."
She let out a deep sigh and slowly stood up.
No matter how many times she thought it over, the conclusion remained the same.
Trying to interpret the Goddess' will with her narrow, mortal perspective as nothing more than a mere human, it was foolish.
"Holiness is the power granted and recognized by the Goddess."
Strength returned to her eyes.
"I'm certain there's a reason the Goddess has given you holiness."
She couldn't make the mistake of misinterpreting the Goddess' will based on her own judgment. Wasn't that what Efnelle constantly taught?
"Just promise me one thing."
She spoke, her eyes intense.
"Whether you believe in the Goddess or not, whether we end up fighting in the future or not, when you use white magic, never stray beyond the proper path."
"Yeah, I promise."
Hoo. Lete sighed and nodded coldly.
"Then, let's move on to the next."
* * *
Simon learned the foundational and core white magic spells from Lete.
Strength from Blessing Studies, Holy Arrow from Holiness Dynamics, and Heal from Healing Arts.
Since he had only just learned them, he couldn't use them in real combat yet, and needed much more practice.
And one more thing. Now that Simon could wield both Holiness and Darkness, using the two powers simultaneously was an entirely new frontier.
For example, if he maintained Internal Darkness Divergence while applying Strength to his body, the two powers would often clash, and one would typically cancel out.
To fight using dual forces, in Double Core, he'd have to train this aspect separately as well.
For now, Simon focused purely on learning white magic. Lete spent the first day on theory, and from the second day onward, guided him with repetitive practice to build stability.
'This is fun.'
Simon was practicing running while maintaining Strength on his body to improve its stability.
Casting the blessing wasn't the end. He had to constantly manage his holiness to ensure the blessing didn't wear off.
'Learning something new is so damn fun!'
With a beaming smile, Simon suddenly picked up speed mid-run. Lete, who was running beside him, shouted out in alarm.
"Ah, what are you doing? Why are you suddenly sprinting like that?!"
"I just felt like running!"
"Just do as I say! Ugh, seriously!"
The refreshing breeze blew away his sweat. Simon didn't let the blessing fade even once.
After class ended and he returned home, a new mission awaited him.
"Simon, go make a visit to Butant Village."
"Yes!"
A patrol mission to one of the villages under the Leshill Territory. There were no large cities in the rugged Leshill mountain range.
Dozens of small villages were scattered across the mountains, and patrolling them was a duty of the Leshill heir.
"Father."
"What is it, Simon?"
"If I complete the mission safely, could you teach me black magic?"
Richard, who had been cleaning the floor, opened his eyes wide. Lete, who was slumped on the sofa from exhaustion, looked at Simon like he had completely lost his mind.
"But haven't you been training in white magic all this time?"
"I can't afford to neglect black magic either."
Even though it was vacation, Simon didn't plan to waste a single second. During these two months, he intended to improve both his black and white magic to the fullest.
"Haha! You'll end up learning it to death whether you like it or not once you return to Keyzen, so what's the rush?"
"It's a spell I won't be able to learn even after I return to Keyzen."
"What do you want to learn?"
Simon inhaled lightly and answered.
"Corpse Explosion."
Bwahahaha!
At those words, Richard burst into a loud, booming laugh like a madman.
Simon was startled. He realized this was the first time he had ever seen Richard laugh so openly.
"That's a high-level black magic spell you normally don't learn until second year."
Simon saw a spark flash in Richard's eyes, and though it startled him, he kept his composure and said,
"Yes, I had a chance to taste it once, and I want to master it before the sensation fades."
If it hadn't been for the sudden vacation, he would have gone to Aron and begged to be taught. But circumstances had changed. And with such a remarkable necromancer in front of him, there was no way Simon would pass up the opportunity.
"Teaching it isn't difficult, but if you expect a Keyzen professor-level lesson from me, you'll be disappointed. Those people are the best of the best. When it comes to teaching, they're several times better than me."
"Just knowing how to do it is enough. Please!"
As Simon bowed his head, Richard stroked his chin.
"Alright, but there's a condition."
He pulled out a pair of bracelets and anklets from his subspace and dropped them on the floor.
"All of these are artifacts cursed with Exhaust. If you can wear them and make a full round through the village, I'll consider it."
"Really?"
"Of course! Hahaha!"
Simon quickly sat down and fastened the cursed bracelet.
Watching him blankly, Lete stood up with an obviously exhausted look and headed toward the master bedroom.
There lay Anna, wrapped in black bandages. Lete slumped down next to her and leaned in with a dazed expression as she muttered,
"...Ms. Anna. I swear, every man in this house is completely insane."