46. Discipline (3)
46. Discipline (3)
- 1 -
Lately, my hobby had been reading books on various types of magic and sorcery.
The more I looked, the more mysterious phenomena and theories filled the pages, and since the spells I experimented with after reading manifested exactly as described, reading became all the more enjoyable—so to speak.
『Traits - Necromancy... Swordsmanship Introduction, Specialization: Lightning Magic, Specialization: Freezing Magic, Specialization: Flame Magic, Advanced Specialization: Curses, Mana Overadaptation』
Moreover, since such a hobby actually converted into real abilities, and I could even confirm it with my own eyes, how could it not be fun?
The 'Specialization' trait was proof that upon mastering the knowledge of a particular sorcery or martial art and embodying that knowledge, one could digest, to a certain degree, even yet-unlearned techniques within the same field.
Since I had gained four types of it, you could probably tell just how deeply I'd been delving into magic.
Just in case, I had also stocked up on various genres of novels, left and right, but those had mostly just gathered dust.
Kwadeudeuk!
"It must not have been long since you properly began learning magic, yet you're already capable of handling three attributes... that's amazing!"
Hmm.
To be honest, I felt proud. Not only through the System's power, but because I could show off the knowledge I had personally accumulated and its results to someone.
Seeing Sonia, who usually had a relatively negative attitude toward me, with eyes sparkling, felt like a different kind of fun compared to telling Evangeline or Shue, who always gave positive reactions—or so I felt.
"Truly, it's an incredible talent."
"It might be. But you'll definitely be able to do it too."
"Do you think so?"
"It's fate. You were the one who kept learning new magic even when you couldn't properly handle mana, weren't you?"
And so, I ended up in a position that felt slightly like I was deceiving her.
As I suppressed the guilt that arose inside me, I ended up teaching her more earnestly than I had originally planned, and then...
『Traits - Magic: Detection, Magic: Protection, Magic: Flame Barrier, Magic: Arrow of Freezing, Magic: Chain Lightning Strike, Specialization: Curses, Mana Overadaptation』
I came to realize that she had a talent for 'Curses' beyond what I had imagined.
In other magic, she had barely mastered one spell each, but in this field, she learned easily and successfully integrated the 'Poison Arrow' and 'Absorbing Plant' spells she already possessed, transforming them into a Specialization trait for Curses.
"I'm not sure if you'll be pleased, but you possess a natural talent for curses."
"It did come to me rather easily..."
Magic in this world was constructed by materializing phenomena—based on material, spiritual, elemental, and outer-universe coordinates—through the mage's inner world.
Among those, Sonia excelled in the quality of communicating with the spiritual world and other dimensions.
It was a talent specialized not for general magic, but for curses, necromancy, magic with conditions familiar to the Demon Realm, spirit arts, or necromantic arts.
'Should I consider this fate as well?'
In the end, the reason she hadn't advanced quickly in the Mage Guild was largely because she had been suppressing her mana, and because her talent wasn't compatible with the common magic of this world.
Perhaps because discovering such magical talent was quite a shock, Sonia's expression was dark.
Of course, I had no intention of leaving her to calm down in that state.
"Wipe that look off your face. Isn't it a good thing? You have talent in at least one area, and it happens to match well with what your teacher possesses."
"I... suppose so?"
"Indeed. Power is ultimately just power. Just as the same knife differs when held in a chef's hand versus a murderer's, the same goes for this thing called magic.
And if miracles can be performed by your hands, yet you complain because it's not the kind you wished for, to those who lack even that, it would truly be nothing but arrogance."
"Yes. I understand."
Sonia nodded her head firmly after hearing my words.
And so, that day's first lesson concluded after we confirmed her talent for curses and resolved to focus on mastering one of the elemental spells that could protect her.
Still, for the first day, it was quite an excellent harvest.
- 2 -
A few days after I started the lessons with Sonia.
"Your true nature really cannot be corrected, can it?"
I pressed my fingers to my temples at the headache brought on by another subject of my teaching.
Lately, the ones I was teaching something to hadn't been just Sonia.
Alexis Julka—this man whose surname had now been changed to 'Samigina'.
He was an elite-grade magic swordsman I had collected this time, an adventurer with considerable desires. At the same time, this man, who possessed a nature as wild as his desires, was the subject of my teaching.
"I'm telling you, this is all a waste of effort. If someone could be corrected in such a short time, then wouldn't some barbarian over there become a saint just as fast, hm?"
What I was trying to teach him was etiquette.
Naturally, it was the etiquette of this world's nobility. Because the place where he would have to gather information and personally operate for my sake was the social circles of this kingdom's 'Southern Capital'.
One might ask what kind of nonsense it was for someone who hadn't been in this world long to teach another person noble etiquette, but it hadn't taken me as long as one might think to qualify as a teacher.
It was because, perhaps thanks to 'Nobility', merely reading books related to etiquette a few times was enough to quickly adopt that conduct.
"Don't boast about your stupidity... Hoo."
"Stupid! Despite how I look, I get praised by the ladies for my intellect! I say!"
"Ah, sure you do."
From what I saw, the reason this lesson wasn't ending well was a problem with the student's qualifications.
They say that knowing and teaching are completely different matters, but I had even read through 'Etiquette Lesson Books for Young Masters/Ladies' for this purpose.
So, you couldn't help but think it was the fault of the person who couldn't understand a lesson that even a child would grasp, could you?
'He's probably not truly stupid.'
Seeing that his survival instincts were outstanding, I understood that rather than being stupid, his brain just didn't work in this direction, or something like that.
Even so, it had already been over a week since I started teaching this fellow etiquette, and five more days had passed since contracting with Sonia.
While Sonia's side was making rapid progress, this side's results were sluggish, so it could only be more frustrating.
- Tak.
In that situation, the one who offered an unexpected solution was none other than Evangeline.
"You say you'll do it?"
- Dalkak.
"'You are setting the student's standards too high, and teaching too leniently.'...?"
"Uh... wait a moment. What are you two talking about? Huh? This feels really ominous."
After a moment of thought, I nodded toward Evangeline, signaling her to handle it as she saw fit.
Then, exuding a slightly pleased feeling, she approached Alexis and... began her own style of education.
No, was this more like discipline through the rod?
Ttaak!!
"Ack! I, I got it! I say!"
If I were to make an appropriate analogy for this... I'd have to say it was really a generational difference.
If my education was from the 2020s, then Evangeline's was from the 1980s, so to speak.
'Come to think of it, this might actually be right.'
The current era was one closer to the medieval ages.
The concept of human rights existed, but it was an era where many things took priority over protecting those rights.
For example, things like life or power.
Furthermore, it was an era where having a strong ego made survival easier than listening to others.
Ttaaak!
"Uwaaack!"
So, in order to pound a certain way of thinking into someone, it was indeed necessary to use a more 'rapid' method rather than respecting the person's heart. Especially in a case like this fellow, where you had to ram knowledge into a head that had never turned in that direction at all.
And also, in a case like mine, where a superior was dealing with a subordinate.
Just look now.
Ttak!
"Ack! A case where you hit the same spot again...!"
You could see that Alexis wasn't looking down on Evangeline at all, couldn't you? Unlike when he would subtly relax his posture in front of me.
In the end, it seemed my qualifications as a teacher didn't match this era.
Something to reflect on.
Ttaak!
"I got it! I said I got it! I just have to not scream! I say!"
'Admirable.'
As time passed, Alexis gradually straightened his posture.
And in front of him, Evangeline—her body looking like nothing but white bones—took a disciplined stance and taught perfect etiquette.
'Was she truly a knight? Or a noble? ... Perhaps.'
While watching Evangeline in particular, I imagined what she might have been in her past life.
Curiosity was inevitable.
Because the her before me was displaying flawless, perfect manners, even to my eyes, which held etiquette recognized by 'Nobility'.
'Perhaps, she might have been a champion or a hero.'
There had been such cases in Milden 1 as well.
Extremely rare events where a past hero or champion became corrupted and joined a Dungeon Lord's forces, or a summoned creature turned out to be a hidden hero.
The result of such events was one of two things.
Rapid strengthening of the summon or mercenary, or the severing of the relationship.
"..."
As I entertained such thoughts, before I knew it, Evangeline in my mind had taken the form of a beautiful swordswoman with flowing blonde, silver, or black hair.
A figure that demonstrated perfect courtesy like that of a knight, but moved with a much more free-spirited vigor.
'... Perhaps I went too far with that.'
Then, shaking my head, I pulled myself out of the fantasy.
It seemed I had spent too long on a thought that was still just a delusion.
"I'll leave Alexis to you then, Eve. Do your best."
- Ttak!
"Wait! Wait a moment! Lady! Save me! I say!"
Listening to Eve's cheerful reply and Alexis's pain-filled scream, I exited the room they were in.
Judging by that state, all the corrections seemed likely to be completed within three days at the longest, so it was time to consider the next matter.
- 3 -
'Come to think of it...'
With the time I now had after handing Alexis's education entirely to Evangeline, I first decided to examine the dungeon's current state.
『Dungeon of Demon Lord Candidate 'Libertas' Lv. 4』
『Alias - None』
『Possessed Wealth - 13,087 V』
『Continental Fame - 3 (Made 'Unnoticed')』
『Demon Realm Fame - 168 (A Newbie That Those In the Know, Know)』
『Core Activation - 772/792』
After briefly glaring at the wealth value, which felt uncomfortably unrounded, I shifted my gaze to the overall picture and felt satisfied again.
'Still, even considering I started with good abilities, this is quite a fast pace.'
Considering the difference between the game and the current reality, I could now trigger attacks—waves—on the dungeon as I pleased, so I could push the growth speed even higher.
Taking that into account, even if I couldn't call it incredibly fast, it could still be called quite fast.
It wasn't like in the game where a fixed amount of time was consumed for dungeon maintenance, but that time couldn't be made exactly zero either.
The only problem was that this growth was malformed.
'From now on, I need to focus on the growth of the dungeon and summons rather than myself.'
Naturally, a dungeon wasn't all about the Dungeon Lord growing alone.
In 'Milden 1', there had been a solo-carry meta where you endured the early game by raising just one Dungeon Lord, but most of those cases couldn't survive the mid-game if the summon gacha failed, let alone transition to the late game.
'The current situation of my dungeon is similar to that.'
I too, though it was supposedly to place an elite adventurer under my command, had ended up hastily raising my own essence to the high-rank level.
In contrast, those possessing the highest essence among my forces were Shue, a high-rank mercenary, and the contracted elite adventurers Jin-kyung and Alexis.
Among them, since Alexis had to be sent back outside, my practical top forces were Jin-kyung, who was unstable depending on the situation, Shue, who was generally reliable but still only at the high rank, and Evangeline, who could temporarily exert power comparable to them if wrapped in my buffs.
Only by pulling their power up more stably could I aim for the dungeon's safety and expansion simultaneously.
'In the end, the dungeon and the Lord are one body.'
Once the Dungeon Lord became stronger, the dungeon's 'Magical Domain Conversion' also progressed further, and the momentum created that way gradually began to leak outward as the Lord grew.
Unless the dungeon itself possessed overwhelming power or was located in a completely remote area, it meant the time had come to be wary that humans could now perceive the dungeon.
Instead of keeping the entrance open and having adventurers come looking, I had to figure out how to hide better and consume them in other ways.
To do so...
- ...Go a...way... - !!!
"Huh?"
It wasn't through the physical voice, but something perceived by a secondary, additional sensory organ.
Tak!
"Thank you."
- Dalkak.
After sitting on the chair that one Skeleton had nimbly brought, I decided to watch that spectacle for a moment.
- Don't call me sister. You're neither my sibling nor my sibling's friend.
Closing my eyes and focusing my will through one of the 'Eyes of the Necromancer', the distant scenery became visible, the sounds became more detailed, and a scene unfolded.
As expected, the two figures who stepped onto the stage shown in that way were familiar to me.
It was Sonia and Maria.