Episode 1064
Episode 1064
When his disciple suddenly displayed such burning enthusiasm, the Young Prince was taken aback.
Just moments ago, he had been grumbling as if he didn't want to do it at all.
So why the sudden change?
'But I'm not that surprised.'
The prince quickly accepted the situation.
Upon reflection, his disciple had always loved magic—especially difficult spells.
It wasn't strange at all if the mention of high difficulty had sparked his competitive spirit.
-"I see. Disciple, has this high-difficulty magic awakened the pride of the mage within you?"
"Huh? No... I just wanted to use Professor Verdus as a mount..."
"...?"
Yukveltire stared intently at her junior.
She had mentioned crawling on all fours, but she didn't recall saying anything about riding on her back.
-"Understood. In that case, I'll assist you with all my might, Disciple! Please summon a spirit."
The prince clenched his fist and spoke.
Lee Han nodded and summoned a low-tier fire spirit.
Among his many contracted spirits, the sparrow-shaped one—one of the friendlier ones—appeared and chirped above his head.
-"...Not that spirit, Disciple."
"Even I can tell that's not the right one."
With Yukveltire, now recovered, adding her input, Lee Han waved his hand dismissively and summoned a squirrel-shaped low-tier frost spirit instead.
-"Disciple, summoning such cute spirits twice in this situation is suspicious no matter how you look at it. Were you trying to show off?"
"...I admit there was a bit of that."
The first time had been a mistake, but the second was closer to showing off.
Yukveltire opened her mouth as if she couldn't understand.
"Why would you brag about spirits like th—"
"If you insult my spirits, I'll challenge you to a duel, Senior."
"......"
Yukveltire took two steps back.
Looking at her junior now, she was reminded of the time she had angered Diret.
-"This golem seems worthless. You should break the contract and find a new one."
-"Hey, get out."
-"I was giving you accurate advice for your own good, and this is how you—"
-"Disappear. Just vanish forever."
After that, Diret had refused to acknowledge her greetings for about a week.
Yukveltire suspected it was because of Black Magic. The Black Magic faction made people irrational.
Given that the junior before her now was also from the Black Magic faction, the logic seemed quite plausible.
"The spirit Master mentioned must be the Thunder King. But I recently summoned him, so I'll have to wait a while for the sigil's power to recover."
-"That's not it."
Lee Han was puzzled by the prince's response.
Huh?
"Then... the Tribune of Rain and Wind?"
Upinum was also a powerful high-tier spirit, but like Perkuntra, he didn't have a summoning sigil that allowed direct invocation.
-"You've contracted with a spirit like that too? Disciple, you're truly beloved by spirits."
The Young Prince was amazed.
A spirit's title or rank was a simple indicator of its strength.
A spirit capable of calling itself a Tribune was certainly not weak.
"??"
Of course, Lee Han's confusion remained unresolved.
If it wasn't Perkuntra or Upinum, then what was he talking about?
'But Arna is a star, not a spirit...'
-"Disciple... you didn't forget about the spirit in your staff, did you?"
"...How could I?"
Only then did Lee Han recall the spirit residing in his staff.
The hornbeam spirit who called himself the King of Fighting Tree Spirits—Saratan, the spirit imprisoned within the staff.
After the staff's core was reforged with the Spirit King's Sacred Wood, this spirit, who had barely regained his strength, was violent enough to attack Lee Han on sight.
Had the Black Book not intervened within his mental world, Lee Han might have truly lost that fight.
"I only thought of spirits I could summon immediately when you told me to bring out a spirit. And this spirit is an extremely wicked and vicious one."
Lee Han immediately tattled on him.
-Wh-what... What did I even do?!
Saratan shrieked.
For a while, it had seemed like the mage bastard had forgotten about him, so he'd been lying low and staying quiet inside the staff...
"See? He can respond immediately, yet he's been deceiving me all this time by pretending not to exist."
-You never called for me! ...
Gaaahhhh!
Lee Han mercilessly poured mana into him, just like when he'd subdued him before.
Caught in his scheme, Saratan quickly declared surrender.
-I was wrong! From now on, I'll definitely come out first and help you!
"You said that last time too, then stayed quiet, didn't you?"
-...
Well, there wasn't really anything to help with... GAAAAAAHHH!
Saratan wasn't entirely wrong.
Given that the enemies Lee Han had faced since then were overwhelmingly powerful, even if Saratan had awakened, there wasn't much he could do with his limited Authority confined within the staff.
At best, he could use Authorities like replenishing mana, accelerating plant growth, or reinforcing the staff—none of which were particularly useful against formidable foes.
Of course, just because something was true didn't make it the right answer. Recalling the recent powerful enemies he'd faced, Lee Han vented his anger at the spirit who hadn't helped.
This bastard is even worse than Perkuntra!
Normally, only the staff's owner could hear the screams, but the Young Prince detected the resonant wavelengths of the souls oscillating between master and slave.
-Calm yourself, disciple.
"But Master, do you know how much I've suffered because of this spirit? I had to fight for my life inside the mental world, and my mandragora nearly died because of this bastard!"
-...?
Saratan paused.
He understood the first part, but he had no memory of the latter.
-W-Wait. The mandragora wasn't my fault, it was that dragon...
Clearly, the dragon had barged in and messed with the mandragora—it wasn't his fault!
Back then, he'd barely managed to clear his name after being falsely accused!
"Was that so? Fine, I'll exclude that one then."
-......
"But you did attack me—that's undeniable."
-W-Well, yeah, but...
The Young Prince waved his hand, cutting off their argument.
-Enough. Both of you, stop. That's not why I called you here. Now, Spirit.
As he spoke, a powerful spiritual energy surged from the wooden part of the staff Lee Han was holding.
Astonishingly, Saratan—who had been completely sealed within the wood—was being released!
Startled, Saratan stared at his rugged, wooden-formed body. It was his true spirit form, one he could only move in the mental world.
This... this body's power! This body's power!
-Now then, let's—
"I'll kill you, you brat!"
The moment his strength returned, Saratan roared.
A massive hammer, woven from ebony and walnut wood, manifested in place of his fist. Infused with both mana and spirit energy, it was a weapon of retribution meant to smash the infuriating mage in one blow.
-Listen to—
"Shut up! I don't know what kind of punk you are, but thanks for unsealing me. But there won't be a second time! If you don't want your painting shredded, keep your mouth shut!"
Saratan snarled, glaring at Lee Han. But Lee Han simply stared back at the spirit without a hint of tension.
Saratan flinched at his nonchalance.
What's this?
"Your arm's gone."
Huh?
"I said your arm's gone."
What kind of bullsh— Gah?!
Only then did Saratan realize the massive hammer he'd formed on his arm had vanished.
That wasn't all. Next, his legs disappeared, and his body abruptly crashed to the ground.
Thud!
And then, he found himself utterly unable to move.
This was on a completely different level from being at a disadvantage and losing while sealed away.
Even after being freed, how could he be this powerless?
Saratan was more shocked now than when he had been sealed away by spirits in the distant past.
Th... tha... how... wha...
-Spirit. Shall we have a little talk now?
The Young Prince in the painting spoke gently without changing his expression.
That very attitude made Saratan even more terrified.
Shu... shu...
-It can't be helped. I didn't want to use this method, but...
The Young Prince gestured once again.
Lee Han could feel it.
The extraction of Saratan's spiritual soul from his physical form, which had been anchored to the basement floor.
And then, that soul was absorbed into the painting.
With the spirit's soul now trapped in his grasp, the Prince cupped his hands together as if in prayer and closed his eyes.
"!!!!"
Lee Han was stunned.
He had seen the spirit emotionally shaken a few times before, but this was the first time he had seen it trembling so violently in sheer terror.
Just what was he doing?
While Lee Han was still reeling, the soul returned to its original state. Coming to his senses, Saratan opened his mouth.
I... I must have lost my mind. Please, allow me to become the mage's footstool! I must have lost my footstool. Please, allow me to become the mage's mind!
-That's quite alright. Thank you for understanding. More importantly, it seems your tongue has loosened, so why don't you rest for a moment?
"Wh-what in the world did you just do?"
Lee Han asked in a hushed, astonished voice.
If this method worked, perhaps even spirits who avoided Lee Han in the future could be persuaded.
-It's a simple method, my disciple. I showed him the deepest depths of my soul and persuaded him.
"......"
Just what kind of soul could terrify a spirit like that?
Lee Han was amazed but thought to himself, 'Hmm. That wouldn't work for me.' If a spirit saw the deepest depths of his soul, they'd probably scoff, 'What kind of petty creature is this?'
-Spirit. Currently, your Candle Heart of Essence is sealed within this staff by a powerful binding.
Please allow me to become your footstool!
"?"
Saratan meant to say, "I know," but the aftereffects made his mouth blurt out something else entirely.
Unfazed, the Young Prince patiently encouraged him.
-Come now. Pull yourself together.
Y-yes...
-Do you know how to undo that seal?
This mage bastard... no, sir... I believe the seal melts away when the staff's Authority is used and resonates.
-Correct. But you shouldn't rely solely on my disciple. You must also cultivate yourself, Spirit.
If it's about assisting the mage, I'm already doing that...
"When have you ever?"
At Lee Han's words, Saratan pretended not to hear.
Honestly, it wasn't entirely his fault that he hadn't had the chance to help.
The Prince shook his head.
-I'm not talking about assisting my disciple. The cultivation I speak of refers to refining your own virtuous heart. If you don't hone yourself, no matter how much your power is restored, you'll never escape that staff.!!!!
Saratan felt as if he'd been struck on the back of the head with a club. 'Th... these damn spirits! They pulled something like this?!' Having just been deeply moved by the Prince's soul-persuasion, Saratan hastily asked,
Th-then what should I do? I don't have the confidence to cultivate a virtuous heart.
"What kind of creature even is this?"
Lee Han muttered in disbelief.
Here he was, barely managing to keep up as it was, and this one was already giving up before even trying.
Yukveltire shook her head sympathetically beside him. Unlike her naturally virtuous self, this spirit seemed beyond redemption.
-Don't worry. There is a guide who will lead you down the path of a virtuous heart. If you follow that guide, you too can cultivate a virtuous heart, Spirit.
Wh-who is it? Another spirit I know?
-No. It's my disciple here. Observe his actions, follow them, and learn from them......
For a moment, Saratan nearly snapped out of his brainwashed state.