"Before I start teaching you, Cid, you need to be more cautious. Don't let other people learn about your magic so easily."
Riveria sent the younger members of her familia ahead to scout, while she remained behind to instruct Cid.
This was Riveria's own sense of responsibility.
She already understood the details of Cid's magic—but that knowledge was something she had obtained out of necessity as his instructor.
Cid was still new. He probably didn't even realize he needed to be on guard. But Riveria was no longer the wild seventy-one-year-old country girl who had once escaped her homeland.
Astraea hadn't even told Loki about Cid's magic. She had spoken to Riveria privately, one-on-one.
Riveria could not betray that trust.
Originally, the most troublesome part of the training plan had been Ais.
The moment she entered the Dungeon, she might lose control and wander off on her own.
That was why Raul and Ankie had come along—to keep an eye on her.
And yet, all it took was a few words from Cid, and Ais had become obedient. Riveria's preparations had been rendered pointless.
As for Ais glancing back now and then, putting on a pitiful expression—clearly hoping to stay behind and "learn dragon-slaying magic" too—Riveria ignored it completely.
"I understand. I'll be more careful in the future…" Cid answered obediently, not letting Riveria see what he was really thinking. "Lady Riveria's epithet is Nine Hell—because Lady Riveria can use nine kinds of magic."
Loki was a famous figure in the mythology of Cid's previous world as well.
But in those myths, Loki had been male—and more akin to an evil god.
In this world, however, Loki was Orario's leader, a guardian of order.
Did that make any sense?
Once he connected the dots with his past-life mythology, Cid arrived at a perfectly "reasonable" hypothesis—
What if Loki Familia is actually the boss of the Dark Faction?
A Dark Faction pretending to be the Light, clawing its way into the position of top dog—now that was dramatic. Exactly the kind of development Cid enjoyed.
And there was more.
In his previous world's myths, Loki—as a god—had sired a number of notorious offspring.
Fenrir, who would one day devour the Allfather Odin.
Jörmungandr, the world-encircling sea serpent.
And Hel—the goddess of death.
Hel's name was written "hel." In Japanese romanization, it was often rendered as "heru."
Meanwhile, Riveria's epithet—translated into English—was Nine Hell. In Japanese, that would become Nine Heru.
So the question was… why would an elven royal—a flawless, dignified archmage—be branded with the title of a "goddess of death"?
Cid was already starting to doubt Riveria's true nature.
Finn's name also came from myth—though not Norse.
Rumors claimed his thumb could sense danger ahead, much like his legendary counterpart.
Cid couldn't help wondering whether Finn would end up being outshone by his own successors someday.
As for the names of Orario's adventurers, Cid had long had suspicions.
After investigating repeatedly, he could confirm that the names of this generation—and the next—were deeply tied to the myths of his previous world.
So this wasn't coincidence.
Something big was going to happen in their era… or the one immediately after.
Conveniently, Norse myth also featured an apocalyptic black dragon—just like this world.
As the god of lies and trickery, wasn't it perfectly plausible for Loki to collude with that world-ending black dragon, rewriting a fate that should have ended in destruction?
Would the grand Norse tragedy—Ragnarök—play out in this generation?
That was why Cid had initially guessed that Ais might be of the Black Dragon's bloodline.
A hostage placed in Loki Familia—proof of an alliance between the dragon and Loki.
Unfortunately, judging from Ais's reaction… he had guessed wrong.
But being wrong about that didn't mean he was wrong about everything.
Cid's curiosity about what Loki Familia truly was only grew deeper.
"That's right," Riveria said. "Do you know why I can use nine kinds of magic?"
Of course, Riveria had no idea what Cid was thinking. She had no clue her familia had already been labeled "suspected mastermind" inside his head.
"I've heard some rumors," Cid said, repeating what people said outside. "They say it's because you're elven royalty and have a special talent—something about modifying different chants and linking them together, creating magic with even greater power."
Outside of Loki Familia's upper ranks, almost no one knew exactly how Riveria's magic worked.
But as one of Loki Familia's three pillars, Riveria was watched by countless eyes.
Her overly long chants—and her unusually powerful spells—were things outsiders could observe.
It was said that each of Riveria's three spells had three different chants, making it "nine kinds of magic," which was how she earned the title Nine Hell.
In a world where most people only had one slot for magic, Riveria truly stood apart.
If you investigated and thought it through, you could roughly guess the shape of the truth behind her reputation.
Still, Cid privately felt that adding chant lines wasn't a very clever approach.
Even with parallel chanting techniques, long chants were a serious combat liability.
Riveria could ignore that flaw only because she stood behind an overwhelmingly strong team.
Cid was different.
He was the invincible Eminence in Shadow.
When facing a true powerhouse, he was obviously going to fight one-on-one!
If Riveria's "secret technique" was simply "make your chant longer," Cid wanted no part of it.
"More or less," Riveria said vaguely, clearly unwilling to reveal too much.
There were countless speculations about her magic in the outside world, and quite a few of them were surprisingly accurate.
For instance, Riveria's unusual traits really did come from her elven royal blood.
"Lady Riveria… I'm not an elven royal," Cid said, wearing a face full of insecurity that was the exact opposite of what he was thinking inside. "Even if you teach me, I probably won't be able to learn it, right?"
That attitude, too, was something he'd learned from Raul.
That guy could be personally taken out for instruction by Riveria—and still doubt himself at every turn.
A truly excellent mob-template.
And now, Cid finally understood Raul a little better.
Just like Riveria, Raul had the backing of a powerful team.
But for Cid, a spell that knocked you out cold after one use was meaningless.
He had been judging Raul with his own values and assumptions—so of course he had misunderstood.
Realizing he still hadn't fully "inhabited" the role of a mob, Cid learned a great deal (namely, acting).
"The problem with your magic isn't power. It's consumption," Riveria said. "So what I'll teach you isn't adding chant lines to increase power—if anything, it's the opposite."
Riveria had no idea Cid was internally dismissing her unique ability. She hadn't even planned to teach that.
Extending chants was Riveria's exclusive talent—something she couldn't teach even if she wanted to.
But shortening chants?
That was something she could teach.
The power of Cid's spell wasn't the issue. The issue was that if he couldn't use magic in daily training, then his Magic stat would never be properly exercised and improved.
That one devastating move needed to be refined into something he could use routinely.
Only then could he train and raise his Magic ability.
"How long is your chant?" Riveria asked.
"Three words," Cid replied.
"How many words?"
"Three words."
"…How many?"
"Three words."
"..."
Riveria fell into a long, heavy silence.
That's… ultra-short chanting.
How does ultra-short chanting produce limitless power?!
Generally speaking, the longer the chant, the higher the spell's output—wasn't that how it was supposed to work?
Was this… even magic as she understood it?
....
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