Erielle Frost
Erielle Frost.
What the hell. Just what on earth happened here?
The metallic stench of blood and the sharp bite of chemicals were so thick they nearly paralyzed my nose and made my head spin.
Was she tortured?
Countless bandages layered over dried blood, injection marks riddling her entire body, livid bruises, and that pervasive medicinal reek.
This wasn’t mere torture. It was experimentation. Human experimentation.
Why? Why would anyone go this far…?
You live in a small village in the Empire’s northern territories. As the eldest boy in the orphanage, you never shy away from even the harshest jobs if it means feeding the children. While running an errand to another village as usual, you enter a cave to escape the cold and discover the remnants of a dark mage!
I was still trying to make sense of the horrific scene when the notification rang out and a status window appeared before my eyes.
The eldest in an orphanage? They created a clone body, yet it still carries the original backstory? Does that even make sense?
No… no. That’s not what matters right now.
Dark mage remnants. The window had clearly described this bizarre cave that way.
Dark mages. A cult that worships some unknown god and commits incomprehensible atrocities. I’d heard they’d grown far more active lately…
So this was what they’d been doing. Turning people into… this.
“……Those fucking bastards.”
I pressed my fingers to the arteries of the people locked behind the iron bars, checking for any sign of life. None. Not a single pulse.
“…….Ah.”
That was when I heard it—a sound coming from the deepest corner of the cave. So faint I would have missed it if I hadn’t been listening with everything I had.
“….Is someone still alive?!”
Heart pounding, I sprinted toward the iron cage in the farthest corner.
Inside the rearmost cell, a woman leaned against the wall, barely breathing.
“……Save… me…”
Her hair, white as fresh snow, was matted with dried blood. Her jewel-like purple eyes had lost all their light.
She looked as if she might slip away at any moment.
“Hey! Stay with me! What the hell happened here…!”
“….Run……….save…”
“…Damn it. How do I open this cage?”
“Cough… cough…”
I wanted to help her, but the solid iron bars stood between us.
“Oh, right—the water!”
I suddenly remembered the small canteen at my hip. I pulled it out and held it to her lips.
Gulp. Gulp.
She must have been desperately thirsty; she drained the entire bottle. After catching her breath, she finally spoke.
“Cough… It’s dangerous… You need to leave…”
“….What? What do you mean—”
“That man… will come back…”
…What? He’s coming back? Does she mean the dark mage?
“The dark mage? You’re saying he’s coming back?”
“…Yes. Cough… He’ll be here in less than five minutes. He always returns around this time to torture us.”
Following her weak gesture, I saw a small clock hanging on the wall.
What now? I had no means of defending myself…
That’s right. I still haven’t checked my status window.
In my panic I had completely forgotten. I immediately pulled it up, praying there would be something—anything—that could help me protect myself and save her.
Name: Venice
Age: 19 / Male / Condition: Feeling cold
Unique Ability (Magic Eye): Eyes that can see magic power. You can perceive the trajectories of mana and wield it more efficiently.
Unique Ability (Dark Mage Aptitude): You can wield a considerable level of dark magic. The Dark Magic category has been created.
Description: The power that denies the world. Dark magic. A force capable of creating miracles by rejecting the laws of nature. Currently classified as forbidden magic—extreme caution is advised.
Dark Magic Category
Unique Ability (Talent Grasp): You can analyze another person’s talents. Unique abilities and potential can be seen at a glance.
I’m fucked.
I’d heard the Empire had drawn its sword to eradicate the insane cult of dark mages that had been running rampant lately.
What did that mean? It meant if anyone discovered I could use dark magic, I could be executed on the spot without a word in my defense.
And according to the window, this was the northern region of the continent—the area with the highest concentration of dark mages and the one the Empire was cracking down on most fiercely.
Of all the things I could have gotten, why dark magic? Why not just regular magic…?
Dark Magic Category.
But there was no time to complain. I had no idea when the dark mage would return and tear me apart, so I reluctantly opened the category.
Dark magic or not, I had to survive first.
Mystic Eye (Lv: ???): The eye of the Demon God. Can comprehend the structure of all dark magic and perform inverse calculation.
Dark Spear (Lv: 1): The most basic offensive technique. Fires a spear of darkness imbued with power that denies the world.
???: Proficiency insufficient.
???: Proficiency insufficient.
???: Proficiency insufficient.
Mystic Eye and Dark Spear. Those were the only two I could use right now. But it was enough.
Just from the description, Mystic Eye sounded ridiculously overpowered. And since my opponent was a dark mage, I wouldn’t lose.
Step… step…
“H-he’s back…! That bastard’s coming back…!”
“Just wait a moment.”
“….What? What are you going to do?! Run and get help—!”
“I’m sorry, but it’s already too late.”
“….God damn it…”
There was no choice. The footsteps were already close; I could see a human silhouette moving behind the distant curtain.
I gave her a silent nod. She nodded back and leaned against the bars once more. I quietly slipped into the dark mage’s blind spot inside the cave.
Whoosh—
“All right, Erielle! It’s time for today’s experiment…!”
“….Get lost.”
“Ooh~ Why so cold? I thought we were rather close.”
“…Shut your mouth. I don’t want to hear your disgusting voice.”
“Aww, the young lady is so mean to her former butler!”
The woman’s name seemed to be Erielle. The young man who called himself her former butler approached her slowly, grinning.
“…I never should have trusted someone like you.”
“Hahaha! Don’t be like that~ You’re simply participating in a magnificent experiment for the great Demon God!”
The man laughed so loudly the cave itself seemed to shake. He spread his arms wide and began praising his so-called Demon God.
Watching him, I summoned Dark Spear and crept silently up behind him.
Killing a person should have given me pause.
But this dark mage had already shed his humanity. He was nothing more than a beast wearing human skin. So I felt no hesitation.
“…..You’ll receive divine punishment for this.”
Erielle noticed me approaching from the corner of her eye and spoke up, deliberately drawing the dark mage’s attention.
He watched her with interest before opening his mouth again.
“Hmm…? You’re unusually energetic today. Did you recover some strength?”
“….Nonsense.”
“…It’s almost as if a little rat has sneaked in!!!”
Whoosh—!
Damn it. He already knew. The man spun around, summoned a Dark Spear, and hurled it at me. I dropped low and barely managed to dodge.
“You knew I was here?”
“….You dodged that? What a quick little rat.”
I had read the trajectory with Mystic Eye, but the dark mage had no way of knowing that. He looked genuinely surprised.
“….Be careful!”
“Quiet, Erielle! After I deal with this rat, I’ll finally turn you into the vessel of the Demon God today!!”
Sh-sh-shk—!
Three Dark Spears flew at me, but I saw their paths clearly through Mystic Eye and evaded them all.
…I can see it.
The trajectories of the dark magic. The ‘denial’ contained within it. Understanding of Dark Spear flooded into me.
Dark Spear has leveled up from 1 to 2!
“….What are you doing?!”
“Hahaha—! What a crazy rat! Fine! I’ll kill you quickly!”
Instead of retreating, I charged straight at the dark mage. At the same time, I summoned a tiny Dark Spear too small for Erielle to see from where she was.
“…..You! You’re one of us…! Then why are you suddenly—!”
“………”
When the dark mage saw my Dark Spear, he was shocked that another dark mage would attack him—and furious.
But I’m nothing like you disgusting bastards.
“Die already, you son of a bitch!”
The dark mage twisted his face and launched five Dark Spears at me.
Crash—!
“…..Huh?”
I stared at the core of ‘denial’ inside the incoming spears and poured dark mana into Mystic Eye. The spears vanished mid-air.
“Just die already, you trash.”
“H-how did you—?!”
Stab—!
“Guh…!”
I used inverse calculation to cancel the new spear he tried to summon in panic, then drove my own Dark Spear through his throat.
“How can you use inverse calculation…! Cough. Only the Demon God can—!”
“……You don’t need to know. And you never will.”
“You… fucking—!”
Thud.
I pierced his heart. The screaming dark mage finally fell silent.
“…..Haa. Finally quiet.”
Clatter.
I searched the wide-eyed corpse and found a bundle of keys. I walked over to the cage holding Erielle.
“…..You’re surprisingly strong.”
While I tried key after key on her lock, Erielle, who had been quietly watching me, spoke.
“….That guy didn’t look it, but he wasn’t weak.”
“I just got lucky.”
“………”
Good grief. There were so many keys. It took forever to find the right one.
“If I tried to harm you after you freed me, what would you do? You shouldn’t trust me so easily.”
“You don’t seem like the kind of person who would. Am I wrong?”
“…………”
Click.
I finally found the correct key. I turned it, and the iron cage opened with a metallic groan.
“Take my hand.”
“…..Mm.”
When I reached out, Erielle stared at my hand for a moment before grasping it. She rose to her feet and stepped out of the cage.
“….I’m finally out.”
Her hollow eyes scanned the inside of the cave. Her gaze was sunken, unreadable—whether from sadness, rage, or something else entirely, I couldn’t tell.
Crash—!
Erielle hurled a sphere that had been emitting dark mana from a desk across the cage. It shattered on the floor.
The moment it broke, the faint trace of mana she had left began to surge back into her.
If my mana was like water in a small basin, hers was an entire ocean.
Most people’s mana swirled gently around their hearts. But Erielle’s was compressed into a single tiny orb.
That orb began devouring every speck of mana floating in the air.
“…Haa. This should be enough.”
—Sever.
At her short incantation, every iron cage holding the other victims split cleanly in half. The spell was so precisely controlled that not one of the bodies inside was harmed.
“…Help me.”
“Of course.”
I helped her carry the dead out of the cave and bury them in the ground.
Erielle stood before the graves, closed her eyes, and offered a silent prayer.
“….Thank you. You saved my life.”
“I only did what anyone should have done. Someone else would have helped if I hadn’t.”
“…..What’s your name?”
“Venice. My name is Venice.”
As I answered, I used Talent Grasp on her.
Name: Erielle Frost
Age: 20 / Female / Condition: Injured
Unique Ability (Child of Mana): You possess god-given mana reserves. Your mana is as vast as the ocean and as powerful as a raging river. All mana-related actions receive divine correction!
Unique Ability (Magic Eye): Eyes that can see magic power. You can perceive the trajectories of mana and wield it more efficiently!
Unique Ability (Archmage Aptitude): You were born with the talent of an archmage who will be remembered throughout history. Your understanding of mana surpasses all others, and you can wield it as naturally as flowing water!
Potential: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (100 out of 100! You possess the qualities of a hero who will command this era!)
The endless list of unique abilities hit me with the same shock I’d felt when I first saw Cerise.
“Venice. I am Erielle. Erielle Frost.”
“I won’t forget your name.”
With those final words, Erielle vanished into the swirling snowstorm. I could only stare blankly after her.
…Oh, right. The errand!
I had been on my way to another village to deliver something. The note in the basket said I had to arrive before nightfall.
When I looked up, the world that had been bright white with snow was rapidly growing dark.
“Crap, I’m in trouble!”
I snatched up the basket I’d left inside the cave and hurried along the path indicated by the note.