Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 284

Chapter 284

Shadow Cast by the Wind (5)

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The relationship between humans and Dark Mages is one-way.

This is a matter of fate, and it shouldn’t be a difficult statement to comprehend.

‘Humans can become Dark Mages, but Dark Mages cannot become human.’

A very simple and clear proposition, and an immutable law.

The word ‘human’ in the above statement encompasses most of the races in this world.

Elves, Beastkin, Dwarves, including all beings with intelligence, the ability to use magic, and possessing emotions and reason.

Any being capable of using magic, even if it were a squirrel or a dog, could contract with the otherworld, offering their heart to taint their mana black.

In exchange for their heart, a mage could gain power and knowledge beyond their innate talent, and also become assimilated into and understand the unknown world.

There is a famous story of a mage who, while researching Persona Gates, couldn’t resist his curiosity and contracted with a powerful persona, but lost all his knowledge, magic, and even reason because he couldn’t withstand it.

However, in gaining immense power, mages do not only offer their hearts.

It was common for them to offer not only their emotions but also their reason, and they were not only unable to live as humans anymore but also had a restriction placed on them that they could only survive by consuming the hearts of ‘their own race before becoming a Dark Mage’.

A Dark Mage of elven origin would need elven hearts, and a Dark Mage of human origin would need human hearts.

There are very rare exceptions.

It is said that a child born between a Dark Mage and a member of another race with an extremely low probability of 0.000001% can survive without consuming hearts, and can even be born with the powerful abilities of both a Dark Mage and a human…

but the above story is merely a legend, as no one has actually seen such a case.

This is because Dark Mages are incapable of reproduction.

Even if such a being existed, it would likely die the moment it was born.

Dark Mages do not wish to include in their society a weak Dark Mage who has bred with a mere human.

‘So much for racial traits.’

The Witch’s King.

Or the Shaman of the Seasons.

Or the Worst Witch.

Or the master of the Tower Lord of the Verdant Tower.

Or… ‘Scarlet Maiden’.

With her milky white hair and golden eyes, she had a brutal name that didn’t suit her appearance at all, and she slowly mulled over and searched through the knowledge stored in her head.

Every race has its ‘racial traits’ determined.

Elves prefer vegetarianism, Dwarves are good with their hands, and humans must necessarily form groups.

However, these are not absolute and vary fluidly depending on the individual.

For example, in the last century, due to a certain peculiar elf who liked meat, many young elves began to enjoy meat, and there are Dwarves who do not hone their craftsmanship at all but instead focus solely on magic, and humans who shut themselves up at home and do not engage in social life at all, and so on.

Racial traits can change at any time depending on the surrounding circumstances and individual tendencies.

But there is one thing.

‘The fate of a race’ does not change.

The Mauro tribe was born with the innate talent of all individuals being born with magic power of at least 3rd class.

However, this trait had a drawback.

They could never reach a level above 8th class, and if they did not reach 7th class by the age of 50, they would dissipate into mana and scatter into the air.

The Mauro tribe once prospered thanks to their innate power of 3rd class from birth, but as the number of those who reached 7th class gradually decreased over time, they eventually became extinct 500 years ago, and now only traces of their civilization can be found.

That is the fate of a race.

An immutable law that no being on earth can change, no matter what they do.

-…What is going on?

Scarlet stared at Anella without even thinking to smooth down her hair that stood up like down.

Thud!

“Wh-what…!”

“Wait, wait a minute…”

Stella’s first-year cadets, disguised as villagers, dropped even their wands and took a step back.

Were they scared?

Half right, half wrong.

“Human… she was……”

The appearance of the hideous black liquid mass surrounding Anella began to peel away, revealing the young and cute girl hidden within.

-It can’t be…

The magic Scarlet used on them was nothing special.

She had cast an ‘illusion’ on Anella’s eyes to make her see Stella’s cadets as villagers, and inserted Baek Yu-seol’s talisman into her heart to only show her ‘true form’.

In other words, she suppressed the true form of the Dark Mage that was being hidden with Dark Mana Control so that they could no longer hide it.

Stella’s cadets, who had never seen the true form of a Dark Mage, simply thought Anella was a monster based on her appearance, and naturally tried to kill her.

But now.

That hideous appearance of the Dark Mage is shattering and scattering.

Hair wet with sweat and clinging to her cheeks, small and cute features.

When Anella, who anyone would praise as having an angelic appearance, emerged from the form of a hideous monster, the effect was multiplied, causing Stella’s cadets to lose their will to fight in an instant.

-My magic, it’s been dispelled?

No.

No.

Scarlet shook her head.

Her perfect spell could never be dispelled.

However, Anella’s ‘true form’ had truly been stripped away…

she had acquired a human appearance from a hideous Dark Mage.

-That’s impossible.

Something is wrong.

The true form of a Dark Mage cannot have a human appearance.

It’s just…

It’s not possible.

The world is set that way.

Snap!

The sound of something breaking strongly echoed vividly in the witch’s ears.

It’s not some kind of wordplay about the string of reason snapping.

The billions of gears that make up the laws of this world.

One of the many gears that mesh together to create the story has collapsed.

It was a very small law.

Important laws like ‘water flows from top to bottom’ or ‘the world will end in 10 years’ did not change.

However, the very minor law that ‘Dark Mages cannot become human’ was broken and fell out of the framework that constitutes the world.

-Ha, haha…

Scarlet dropped her broom and covered her mouth with both hands, laughing.

She got goosebumps all over her body.

She even felt like her head had been blown open.

-Really, just one mere human twisted fate…?

Even a 9th-class mage, the Twelve Divine Moons, a divine beast, a dragon, even the Progenitor Mage, could not do such a thing.

But a mere boy not only played with fate but also completely shattered a law.

-That child, where is he now…?

Scarlet belatedly searched for Baek Yu-seol’s location.

He seemed to have just arrived at the village, walking with Hong Bi-yeon along a secluded path nearby.

-Finally… you’re here…?

Baek Yu-seol must have checked the guideline message.

He could have come here from the beginning if he had wanted to.

Scarlet had expected that.

Yes, at first, Baek Yu-seol seemed to be moving in a hurry.

At that speed, she thought he would arrive in at least three hours.

But, lo and behold, Baek Yu-seol did not arrive even when the other first-year cadets arrived, and only after four days had passed and Anella had become human did he reach this place.

At that moment, Scarlet felt dazed.

-Could it be, he noticed my existence from the beginning…?

She had set up a small stage to test Baek Yu-seol.

This very Persona Gate.

However, the boy did not move as Scarlet intended, but moved slowly and leisurely, arriving just in time after all the events had ended.

As if…

To mock Scarlet’s intentions.

-You knew this would happen from the beginning, Baek Yu-seol.

A hollow laugh escaped her.

Having lived as a witch for hundreds of years and being able to manipulate even 9th-class mages like puppets, this situation where someone had escaped her chessboard and was running around freely was very shocking and unfamiliar to her.

“What’s going on?”

“…It’s the other cadets.”

Baek Yu-seol and Hong Bi-yeon belatedly joined the group of ten cadets, and only then did he see Anella for the first time, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Anella? Why is she here?”

He hurriedly ran over, cut the magic binding Anella with his sword, hugged her, and checked her pulse, barely feeling that she was still breathing.

The other cadets were puzzled by Baek Yu-seol’s reaction and asked.

“Baek, Baek Yu-seol. Do you know her?”

“Uh… I do. She was an exchange student during the summer vacation.”

“What?”

“Crazy, why is a real person in a Persona Gate?”

“We were the only ones here when we came in, how…”

Regardless of the other students’ surprise, Baek Yu-seol was shocked for another reason.

‘What is this…?’

[Currently, ‘Anella’s’ status has been completely cleared of ‘Dark Mage’s energy’.]

[Race, Human.]

[Confirmed as 99% human.]

Her appearance hadn’t changed at all, only the dark magic power had been removed, and Anella’s status had completely changed to human.

It wasn’t time yet.

The process of returning Anella to human was quite arduous and required a lot of time and preparation.

He had been too busy to pay any attention to her.

While Baek Yu-seol hadn’t done anything, Anella had returned to being human on her own.

‘…Could this also be the butterfly effect?’

As he blankly stroked Anella’s cheek, her eyebrows twitched and her eyes opened.

“…Ah.”

A faint smile formed on Anella’s lips.

“Hello…”

“W-wait. Don’t talk, just wait.”

While Baek Yu-seol was looking for a cure, she lost consciousness again, and someone behind him couldn’t bear to watch and tapped his arm.

“Commoner, move.”

“Huh? Why…”

“Emergency treatment kit.”

“Ah…”

When Hong Bi-yeon held up a white first aid box, Baek Yu-seol laid a care blanket with a recovery function on the floor and laid Anella on it.

Then, as Hong Bi-yeon began to treat her, the other students, as well as Bandiyun, who had been watching from behind, rushed over and quickly treated Anella.

Fortunately, there were no fatal injuries, and although there was a lot of bleeding, it was at a level where she could recover with enough rest.

As the cadets who had finished treating Anella wiped their cold sweat and stood up, a guideline message from the Persona Gate appeared in the air.

[The girl who wanted to be human spent many nights alone in the forest, shedding tears because of her hideous appearance.]

[The girl longed for the love of the villagers to become human, but what she received in return was abuse and disgust.]

[In the end, on a frozen winter night when her dream was not realized, she took her last breath in a place no one knew, covered in fallen leaves and snow…]

That was the original story.

[Congratulations!]

[You have successfully cleared ‘Shadow Cast by the Wind’ by adapting it into a beautiful story!]

[May the girl who achieved her dream of becoming human be happy in that world.]

[The world will end.]

The sky darkened, and the space gradually began to fade.

The complete end of the Persona Gate.

They had successfully cleared the 3-risk persona perfectly.

Baek Yu-seol met Hong Bi-yeon’s eyes and smiled awkwardly.

“In the end, we couldn’t do anything because we were taking it easy.”

“…Sorry.”

“There’s no need to be sorry. We had a fun time, didn’t we?”

As Baek Yu-seol shrugged and smiled as if it was nothing, Hong Bi-yeon also smiled and nodded.

In the end, she swallowed the words ‘me too’ back down her throat.

Not yet…

She didn’t have the courage to say it.

“Let’s go back.”

As Baek Yu-seol carried Anella and walked out of the Persona Gate.

The witch lamented at her own fading appearance along with this world.

-Ah~ Is this it for this time?

Since her main body couldn’t move, she had summoned an illusionary doppelganger, but she had used up too much mana creating a small Persona Gate and playing with the talisman, so she had run out of energy.

-I’ll go back today and come again next time~

The witch smiled and looked at Baek Yu-seol’s back as he walked away, holding Anella, for the last time.

-A person who can change fate.

If he can change not only small fates but also big ones.

-…I like him even more.

And so, along with the Persona Gate, the witch’s form completely disappeared.

End of Chapter