Latynia's True Colors and the Harsh Truth of Talent
Latynia's condition didn't improve easily.
No, maybe she's always been like this.
Honestly, it's a bit scary.
"Hey, Latynia was always like that?"
"Yeah. It'll probably last a few more years."
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"That's why I don't call her Latynia-nim and mess around jokingly. You should've been more careful."
"How was I supposed to know...?"
"Still, whenever someone tries to pounce on her, a guard shows up out of nowhere and makes it like nothing happened, so it'll be fine."
"That guard came with her to Korea?"
"...No?"
...Then he's useless.
Reading my expression, Ruphus added an explanation.
"Latynia-nim isn't serious about it, so she'll probably calm down after a bit."
"That's not serious?"
She was already planning for kids.
What happens if she gets serious?
Does she kidnap someone and force a wedding?
"Yeah. She's always been like that."
"Where does someone like that even come from...?"
"Her personality is blatantly different from her other siblings. She'll probably get used to it after some social experience?"
"What am I supposed to do until then?"
Ruphus said nothing.
Answer me, you bastard!
"...Something like that happened. What do you think?"
"Dunno."
"Yeah. What would you know?"
-Stroke, stroke.
I petted Vivian's head.
Her silver hair swayed with my touch.
It felt mystical.
To me, Vivian's very existence was mystical.
No matter how much I like silver-haired heroines, when in life do you meet a girl with silver hair?
That's the feeling I get looking at Vivian.
Mystical.
It's amazing that something like this is within my reach.
I want to help her live a somewhat normal life...
Even when I talk to her in all sorts of ways, she only gives one-word answers.
All day, her responses don't go beyond ah, uh, yeah, no, dunno.
Isn't she basically a parrot?
Now there's nothing else to worry about, so I should focus on Vivian.
Latynia's always been like that, so she'll figure it out somehow.
Now, about the Thirteen Palms Covering the Sky...
I've uncovered four abilities so far.
Touch of Pleasure, Resonance, Thousand Changes, Blockade.
Touch of Pleasure is straightforward. No need to think more about it.
Resonance... I mostly get it, but not completely sure.
I've only used it on Ji-ah.
Ji-ah's was romantic feelings, but from the description, it seems to work on other emotions too, not just romance.
I'll look into it later.
Thousand Changes is the biggest mystery.
When I first activated it, there was clearly a huge list of options.
But now it just says Imitates.
Isn't the description too simplistic?
And finally, number 12, Blockade. No matter how I think about it, it's an ability attached to Thousand Changes.
Even now, the Thousand Changes Vivian's fiddling with is absorbing the surrounding mana...
Ah!
A bolt of lightning struck my mind.
This will work. This has to be it.
I closely observed Vivian and imagined Thousand Changes not absorbing mana.
At that moment, the mana being absorbed into Thousand Changes wrapped around Vivian's arm instead.
"Ah... ugh."
Vivian looked up at me.
No expression, but I could guess what she was thinking.
This is enough.
I imagined the Thousand Changes in Vivian's hands absorbing mana.
As expected, the mana wrapping her arm started getting sucked back into Thousand Changes.
The Thousand Changes in my hand doesn't absorb mana.
"Sorry, Vivian."
I stroked her head, but no reaction.
Normally she'd shake her head and respond...
I picked Vivian up and met her eyes.
...She whipped her head away.
Ah, seriously...
"Why are you so cute!"
I rubbed my face all over her furiously, and she floated Thousand Changes in the air with both hands pushing me away.
The feel of her baby-soft cheeks... what did I do to deserve this?
I stopped rubbing and looked at the floating Thousand Changes in the air, and Vivian looked at it too.
Then she hugged it in surprise.
Was that unconscious? No, more importantly—
"Vivian, you knew how to use magic?"
Vivian, who had turned her head away, didn't answer.
After that came a long, long experimentation session.
I split Thousand Changes into multiples, merged them back, imagined it absorbing lots of mana, imagined it releasing mana...
And in the process, I confirmed part of a new ability.
(...)
11. Fixation
- Fixes. Releases.
(...)
It was as straightforward a description as Blockade.
Literally an ability to fix a state or release something fixed...
Just in case, I placed my hand near Vivian's heart and thought of releasing the magic, but nothing happened.
As expected, it's not magic—her heart itself has changed.
On top of that, I learned one more thing.
Thousand Changes can copy and use the abilities of the Thirteen Palms Covering the Sky.
Thinking back, I'd been using it unconsciously like that.
Now that I know for sure... this opens up some fun plays.
The next day, I handed Thousand Changes to Ji-ah, who was waiting at the usual fork in the road like always.
"Here, take this."
"What's this?"
"One of my abilities. Cool, right?"
"Y-yeah... uh... hmm. It feels nice, though."
Ji-ah didn't seem that interested.
Even seeing it change shapes as I thought didn't impress her much.
Then how about this?
"If it touches my hand again, I can transfer that excitement thing exactly? Like this."
"So this is... haaahk!"
Ji-ah suddenly collapsed.
Wasn't it fine last time?
I'd activated the ability without much thought...
"Huh?"
"Do... Do-jun-ssi...?"
"It was fine last time, so I thought it wouldn't work on you anymore..."
"I was holding back!"
Ji-ah's face turned beet red as she shrieked.
She grabbed my hand and dragged me into the bushes.
We skipped morning classes that day.
"Seriously... why'd you do that?"
"You seemed fine last time, so I figured it didn't work on you anymore..."
"Ugh... anyway, never do it again. Got it?"
"Yep."
I'll do it again later.
The reactions are definitely different. I like seeing a new side of Ji-ah.
This time, I'll be careful not to get caught...
"Do-jun-ssi?"
"Yeah? Nothing."
"Suspicious..."
Ji-ah's getting sharper.
I need to be more careful from now on.
The classroom for the lecture on understanding other races was steeped in silence.
The random reseating made it awkward, and Instructor Olivia Sangri was unusually preparing her lecture.
Her first proper lecture after a month of the regular semester schedule?
Typical witch eccentricity.
Standing at the podium, she started the lecture while blatantly showing she didn't want to do it.
"She's better at lecturing than I thought."
"Yeah. Pretty surprising."
The lecture was surprisingly good.
Maybe because she's a heteromorph herself, she explained each race's basic traits, peculiarities, and ways to get close—solid content.
If she can do this well, why hasn't she before?
The reason revealed itself soon enough.
"And that's the end of the lecture."
Prism lectures are basically three hours.
Usually, an hour twenty minutes of lecture, then twenty-minute break, and resume.
Usually.
About an hour in, Instructor Olivia abruptly cut off and left.
Like her smooth explanations up to then were a lie, a sudden change.
"Huh? Is it ending like this?"
"Seems so? Her personality hasn't changed."
"It was a decent lecture... ending like this feels awkward."
"Well, the instructor has her reasons."
More concerning is whether tomorrow's lecture will be normal too.
Honestly, I'd prefer she keeps doing it like this.
Waiting two hours feels like a huge waste.
And unlike before, no Ruphus or Ji-ah now.
Two hours alone with Latynia? Worry creeps in about her overreacting weirdly again.
"Do-jun-ssi? What are you planning to do now?"
"Dunno..."
Suddenly no plans.
Have I been too focused on Ji-ah? Solving her issues left me goalless.
I still have goals like the Great Labyrinth and unraveling the Thirteen Palms Covering the Sky, but they're distant—no immediate motivation.
Suddenly, it felt like the Thirteen Palms Covering the Sky might have combat-related stuff too.
Combat... combat...
"Latynia."
"Yes?"
"Do you know much about martial arts?"
"I only know basic magic... for close combat, ask Ruphus."
"Right, Ruphus. Thanks."
Ruphus was already at the classroom entrance, waiting for us.
I'll bring it up on the way to the library.
"Martial arts? You?"
"Yeah. Suddenly interested."
"Why not learn magic instead? You don't look like you've ever touched a fishing rod in your life, and now martial arts out of nowhere?"
"Just a whim."
Ruphus circled me, inspecting, then started kneading my arms.
Chills ran down my spine.
Ji-ah... help...
"Hmm..."
After thoroughly checking my body, Ruphus let out a groan.
He gropes people casually and now sighs?
So rude.
Beastmen are...
After deep thought, Ruphus spoke.
"Give up."
"What?"
"Too late to start using your body now. Look for another path."
"Can you decide someone's life that easily?"
"Easily? My eye is sharp. I can tell at a glance. You have no talent."
With nothing to do, I headed to the training grounds.
Protective magic circles are always active, so awakeners and mages can train safely.
I rented a private room and went in.
Better facilities than expected.
I can't trust Ruphus's words.
No talent? No way.
I gripped Thousand Changes and changed its form around.
Even enlarging it doesn't change the weight.
I transformed Thousand Changes into a massive hammer that'd crush a man's chest.
Men are hammers!
But the weight wasn't enough—didn't feel right.
Next, the eternal weapon debate winner: a spear.
As a gamer, I know spear basics.
Lan, Na, Chal, right?
Swinging and thrusting around, but it didn't feel natural.
W-well... it's just unfamiliar...
Next, two-handed sword.
...Too light, no power behind it.
Then shortsword, longsword, arming sword... nothing moved as I wanted.
Do I really have no talent?
"Pfft."
As I despaired over my talent, someone snickered.
Turning, an unfamiliar woman leaned at the door, watching me.
Arms crossed, her chest barely showed—made me sad just looking.
I recalled Thousand Changes and approached her.
"Excuse me. This is a private room."
"Pfft, sorry. I passed by and saw something too funny..."
This woman had just invalidated all my efforts by barging into the private room.
She wounded my delicate heart.