NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 10
Chapter 10
On a beautiful afternoon, Nahun was in the backyard garden with Seere. He was peeling delicious fruits as a reward for Seere’s perfect completion of the training written in the training journal.
Looking at the fruit that seemed sweet just by looking at it, Seere’s eyes sparkled. Nahun picked up a piece with a fork and showed it to Seere.
“Here, Seere. This fruit was given by His Majesty Citri. It must be tasty, right?”
“Yes~!”
“Just in case there’s poison, I’ll eat it first….”
“Not like that… I didn’t put anything like that…!”
And there was one more person in the garden. It was Citri, the ruler of the 71st floor and a high-ranking Demon King who had once been ranked 12th. Unlike the comfortably seated Nahun and Seere, Citri was struggling to crawl across the grass.
It wasn’t that Citri had any unusual preferences. It wasn’t that she enjoyed this; it was because Nahun’s magic power covered the entire backyard. Because of this, Cain, who was supposed to assist Seere, couldn’t get close and was watching them from a distance.
Nahun said to Citri, “I told you it would be better to rest for a day.”
“Shut… up…!”
Yesterday, in the training ground, Citri couldn’t reach Nahun until the end. Even when she sat yawning in the training ground, when she was distracted by playing with Seere, or even when she intentionally sat down to teach Seere.
Nahun had suggested that Citri take a day off to adjust her condition, but she had come today, perhaps feeling quite hurt in her pride.
“I’ll definitely punch you…!!”
“I hope you see results.”
Nahun spoke leisurely, but in truth, he was surprisingly amazed at how quickly Citri was adapting.
‘She wasn’t ranked 12th for nothing.’
Just yesterday, she couldn’t move at all, but now she was crawling around. Although she was moving very slowly, considering she had adapted this much in just one day, it might not take long for her to land a hit on Nahun.
“Teacher, Teacher.”
“Hmm?”
“Please teach me.”
“We had class in the morning, didn’t we?”
They had completed all the lessons and training for today. But it seemed Seere was not satisfied. Seere said while tightly hugging a teddy bear.
“I want to learn more.”
There was a limit to how much one could learn. If one pushed too hard and ended up in poor condition the next day, it would turn out to be a waste of a lesson.
However, when Nahun looked into Seere’s eyes, he decided to give her a little extra class. No teacher could refuse to teach when faced with pupils full of curiosity and determination.
“Well then, I’ll give you a brief overview of the advanced course of what we learned this morning.”
“Yes!”
Nahun collected the magic power he had scattered around. An immense amount of magic power was absorbed into his body. Citri, who had been struggling to crawl, looked up at him as the sudden pressure disappeared.
“Let’s take a break for a moment.”
“Haah… fine.”
Citri herself realized that she was reaching her physical limit. Nahun hadn’t said to take a day off for no reason. She lay down in a big ‘X’ shape on the grass, trying to catch her breath.
Nahun spoke to Seere.
“Tell me what you learned today.”
“How to use the magic power that spreads in the air!”
“You remember well. That’s called external magic power. What effects can you achieve by using external magic power?”
“I can use magic that requires a higher amount of magic power than my available magic!”
Originally, the type and power of magic one could use varied depending on the available magic power, but a loophole existed: using the magic power floating in the atmosphere.
This method couldn’t be used in the human world or the heavens, where the concentration of atmospheric magic was low, but it was entirely possible in the Demon World, where the concentration of atmospheric magic was very high.
Since Seere was young and her body had limitations on the circuits that could be formed, this loophole was essential for her to wield strong magic.
Nahun nodded, confirming that Seere’s answer was correct. He then proceeded to explain further.
“You said you would gather the scattered magic power and use it as your own, right?”
“Yes!”
“Well, how can you catch the magic power that floats freely in the air?”
“Hmm….”
Seere seemed to be deep in thought. Her answer after contemplating was as follows.
“I’ll ask it for help!”
The idea of talking to magic power, which was merely a type of energy and not a living being, carried the innocence of a child. Nahun asked Seere.
“How would you ask for help? Magic power won’t understand our words.”
“Hmm….”
“In fact, there is a way to ask for help.”
“Really?”
Nahun always kept in mind that Seere was a seven-year-old child. Even when teaching something, he thought it was quicker to explain the theory at the child’s level of understanding.
“We can’t talk to it, but our magic power can talk to it.”
“Because it’s the same kind of magic power?”
“Exactly. So the answer is….”
Nahun scattered his magic power around again.
“You spread your magic power and bring the magic power that’s in the air to me. Your magic power becomes friends with the wandering magic power and brings them to me.”
Explaining from the perspective of a child did not make his theory incorrect.
Magic power responds to magic power. Nahun’s words utilized this characteristic. After scattering his magic power and collecting it, the external magic power that reacted to his magic would be pulled along as well.
Of course, absorbing it into one’s body and turning it into one’s own magic was impossible, but the magic power collected in this way could be exchanged for the cost of activating magic.
“Friends!”
“Yes, by using the power of friends to use magic, you can cast stronger magic.”
Nahun asked Seere.
“Would you like to try it yourself?”
“Yes!”
Seere slightly closed her eyes. Then, magic power flowed out from her. Thanks to her daily training of expanding her circuits, Seere had become accustomed to flowing her magic power out.
“Good, slowly spread your magic power wide.”
Nod nod.
Seere, maintaining her focus, slowly spread her magic power around. Nahun, of course, and even Citri could feel her magic power enveloping the surroundings.
Citri slightly raised her body and looked at the concentrating Seere.
‘Is that the magic power of a seven-year-old?’
This was the first time Citri had seen Seere’s magic power up close. It was astounding. She didn’t think she had been that capable at just 7 years old.
‘…….’
Citri felt again, deep down, that this alliance must not be allowed to fail. Even if she thought everyone else was useless, the mere existence of Nahun and Seere seemed to hold enough value.
“Alright, now try to collect your magic power.”
“Yes.”
Seere began to slowly gather the scattered magic power again. Compared to Nahun, who could spread and gather magic power instantly, she was relatively slow, but given her age, it wasn’t slow at all.
“Huh?”
However, Seere made a peculiar sound, as if feeling something strange. Nahun laughed with a fond smile at Seere’s reaction.
“Does it feel strange?”
“Yes….”
Seere had a puzzled expression on her face. It was because she felt alien magic power, which wasn’t hers.
“What feels strange now is not your magic power, but the magic power floating in the air. You’ll be using that.”
As Nahun spoke like that, he introduced a magic spell to Seere that she couldn’t currently use with her available magic power.
“Try to follow along.”
“Yes.”
Nahun showed Seere a specific spell. Suddenly, someone yelled in surprise.
“What are you teaching her, you!?”
It was Citri, who had been watching their class. Seeing her surprised expression, Nahun tilted his head.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, rather than a problem… how do you know that magic?”
It wasn’t because the spell Nahun was trying to teach was strong. It wasn’t too early for Seere to learn the magic either. The reason Citri was so shocked was….
“It’s a lost ancient magic!!”
It was because it was a form of magic that didn’t exist anymore.
‘Ancient magic?’
Nahun pondered internally. He had just used one of the spells from the memories that had flowed into him.
‘Is this lost magic?’
After a moment’s deliberation, he answered Citri.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How do you know that?!”
Nahun was not using a form of magic that was lost due to its power. It was just that he had used an ancient form of magic, which didn’t exist in current times.
“Because it’s not utilized anymore.”
Nahun’s vague response made Citri narrow her eyes. She wanted a proper answer, but Nahun had no intention of answering. He naturally continued the lesson he had started with Seere.
“Alright, Seere. Try to follow what you saw earlier.”
“Yes!”
Seere slowly began to attempt the magic Nahun had demonstrated. The spell, despite being lost, was something Nahun had taught her that was quite simple.
Fire Magic. It was a seemingly simple spell that ignited flames in the air without any medium, though it was slightly too early for a child to learn.
Because the required amount of magic power was relatively high. This was because creating flames in an area without any medium consumed a significant amount of magic.
Today, fire magic still existed, but the methods were far more intricate than the simpler forms of fire magic that had once existed in ancient times. However, Nahun demonstrated to Seere how to use it in a much simpler way than the fire magic of today.
“You use some of your magic power and all the magic power you collected just now to create the flames.”
Nahun whispered to Seere.
“Imagine the beautiful flames rising in your heart.”
“…Yes.”
Seere thought of the magic Nahun had shown her and began to visualize flames in her heart as he had said. Slowly contemplating the matter, Seere gently opened her eyes.
“Fire.”
『 Ignis 』
Flames flared up. Not through the current method, but through the ancient method using “runes.” Seere’s eyes widened in surprise at the flames she had created with her own effort.
Nahun reached out to her, patting her head and praising her.
“Well done.”
“Hey, eheh.”
Seeing Seere smiling brightly after receiving praise, Nahun also chuckled lightly.
“You’ll have to learn to use the wandering magic power. For that, you’ll also need to practice quickly pulling out and gathering magic power, right?”
“Yes!”
“Continue to do your regular training diligently, and you’ll be fine.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
As Nahun watched Seere smile, he turned to Citri, who had approached him.
“The matter of hitting me is a story for during training, Your Majesty.”
“That’s not it.”
Citri pointed at herself and said.
“Teach me the ancient magic, too.”
“No way.”
It was a sharp answer. Citri stared at Nahun with a blank expression for a moment, then came to her senses and asked again.
“Why not?!”
“Well, it’s because we haven’t built enough trust between Your Majesty Citri and myself.”
“What… trust?”
“Yes. I believe that we are not yet at a level of trust where I can teach you the ancient magic I know.”
Nahun stroked his chin, contemplating.
“If you wish to learn, I would like our relationship to grow a little closer.”
“…You want our trust to deepen, huh?”
“You’re quick to understand.”
“Alright.”
Seeing Citri answer without hesitation, Nahun tilted his head. Citri smirked slightly and lowered her head. Then she whispered in Nahun’s ear.
“Then, I’ll come to your room tonight.”
“…What?”
Nahun momentarily didn’t understand, but then grasped Citri’s intention and stiffened his expression. Citri was smiling confidently, but that wasn’t her intention at all.
Nahun tapped his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
“…Your Majesty.”
“Hmm?”
“What are your views on sexual concepts?”
“W-What’s wrong with that!? Isn’t that what you wanted? To build trust between men and women, naturally….”
“I’m not talking about building trust between men and women; I’m talking about the trust between the 72nd and 71st floors. Do I really need to explain this to you?”
“Oh.”
It was then that Citri realized she had grievously misunderstood. Remembering her earlier suggestion, she turned slightly red from embarrassment.
“Forget what I said….”
“Understood. Now that you’ve properly understood, I hope next time you’ll bring a proposal that intrigues me.”
“…Got it.”
Seere, who had been sitting in front of them, could only tilt her head, not understanding the conversation between the two.
“Huh?”