Chapter 381, Look Ahead

I did not understand what Minerva had said.

She wanted to talk to me, and had even asked Lylia to escort her here in the middle of the night.

At first, I thought she was here to mock me for no longer being able to use arcane energy.
Although I haven’t known her for long, I somehow knew it would be in line with her unpredictable character to do that.

Still, in the end, that turned out not to be the case.
She had to make herself come off as such because she figured it was the only way to keep my interest.

But even with that in consideration, I still don’t understand the meaning of her words.

Minerva closed her eyes and said after a brief moment of reluctance,

 

“Five thousand years ago, when you left the Magic University… you should have become a warrior instead.”

 

Just moments ago, I was filled with rage, but now I’ve instantly cooled down… with an undescribable feeling surrounding my head instead.

 

“…W-wait.
So you’re saying I shouldn’t have kept on trying to be a mage?”

“Not quite — it’s not that you don’t possess any magic aptitude at all.
I have also used the Disclosure magecraft on Miss Lylia before coming here.
The result was that her light was noticeably of lower luminosity than yours.”

“Then…!”

“Yes, because you have never given up on being a mage — and as a result of your commitment — you have amassed a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the arcane arts… and achieved a level of capability high enough for you to defeat the Devil King with the other Holy Warriors.
Mister Asley, you are without a doubt one of the best mages in the world.
And, to be frank, I think your enthusiasm for the arcane arts is second to none.”

 

Minerva continued,

 

“Nonetheless, I will tell you again: you should have become a warrior instead.
You have been keeping up with your physical training every single day since you started learning from Master Tūs.
In other words, your physical capabilities have grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years.
Only a few years, whereas it took almost five thousand years for you to be able to invoke magic spells half-competently.
Speaking as a professor of the arcane arts, you have clearly made a poor choice.”

 

Now she’s using her position as a professor to get the message across.

My emotions and thoughts became… stuck, as if time had stopped.

But then, it’s true that Minerva, the one responsible for this feeling of stopping, also caused my time to start moving again.

 

“This phenomenon you are experiencing… I may know the cause of it.”

“…! You do!?”

“Like I said… MAY.”

 

Honestly, I’ve already known for quite a long time that my magic aptitude was low.

I mean, it was obvious enough.
I had to spend literal months to learn even a simple spell.

But I couldn’t just give up my dream of becoming a mage.

I never had any talent.
But thanks to the Drop of Eternity, I was able to steadily expand my body’s arcane energy pool, absorb knowledge into my instinct, and eventually make it so I’m able to release arcane energy.

All the time I had spent certainly produced results — that is a fact that will never change.

No matter what anyone says, it is the one and only, absolutely unchanging fact.

There was nothing wrong with those five thousand years I had spent.

All Minerva wanted to say was that, if I had gone down the path of a warrior, I would have grown much quicker and stronger.

 

“And now… it is about time for the main topic.”

 

What she had said up to now was her way of getting me to look ahead… probably because she had figured that the conversation would not move forward if she did not bring it up.

Suddenly, the expression on Minerva’s face turned even calmer than before.

 

“I see you’ve calmed down now.”

 

Minerva smiled, her enchanting eyes briefly gleaming beautifully like jewels.

 

“…Thank you.”

 

Feels like I’m finally thanking her for healing my hands, too.

I’ll have to apologize to everyone — Pochi, Lina, Tifa, Haruhana, and Fuyu — as well.

 

“You’re welcome.”

“Now, the main topic…”

“Of course.
First and foremost, I will assume that you understand now… that your soul is more suited for being a warrior.
Despite that, to the surprise of everyone, your arcane energy pool is… beyond enormous.
The energy flow being blocked now is presumably the result of you releasing all of it at once.
Perhaps…”

“…Perhaps?”

 

I asked back, and Minerva coughed to clear her throat… the unnatural way that Warren would do.

 

“It is because your body was startled.”

“……”

“Oh, you don’t believe me, do you?”

 

Minerva narrowed her eyes.

 

“No… I mean, yes, it’s pretty hard to accept — illogical, even…”

“WAH!!”

“–!?”

 

Minerva suddenly shouted out loud, causing me to take a step back.
She then pointed at me.

 

“I startled you, and so you were startled.
Despite your soul not being a match for it, you forced yourself to use arcane energy — which resulted in your body being ‘startled’.
Can you deny this simple logic, Mister Asley?”

“Ugh…”

 

No, I can’t… but also, I still can’t accept it.

 

“Well, assuming that that’s the case, how can my body be restored to ‘normal’?”

“If my guess is correct, it should return naturally if you pay attention to how you move as a warrior.”

“…? What does that even mean?”

“Right now, you are desperate to get your arcane energy back.
But because of that, the nature of your soul becomes biased — always turning to the arcane, breaking the state of tranquility.
It is true that you will recover with time, but if you want it to happen faster, it is best that you act as a warrior to restore the balance of your nature.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Hehehe… The first thing to do is to put it into practice.
As things are now, you are the one holding things back for yourself.”

 

I still can’t bring myself to accept it, but there’s… something… about this atmosphere — or, no, her distinct aura — that makes me feel as if I’ve already been won over.

 

“Now, let us return to Eddo.
I will give you a quick ride back there.”

“O-okay…?”

 

I nodded, and when I looked again, I saw that Minerva had started drawing a Spell Circle.

Wait… isn’t the Teleportation spell supposed to be of the fixed position type?

Looking closer, the Spell Circle Minerva is drawing isn’t anywhere as complicated… which suggests that it’s probably the House spell.

Then she invoked it…

 

“…Rise, House.”

 

A large dimensional gate opened up in front of her.

Minerva’s Familiar, huh… Now that I think of it, I’ve never gotten to see it before… Huh!?

 

“Well, well, if it isn’t Poer! I haven’t seen you since… that time you saved my life, yes?”

 

The voice is high-pitched but firm… and a motherly kind of gentle.

Those shining blue scales, that cobalt blue reptilian body…

There’s no mistaking it.
It’s the A-ranked monster that acts as the opposite of the Blazing Dragon — a Torrent Dragon.

And more importantly, the Dragon called me by the alias I had used back in the previous Devil King’s era… and even said that I had saved its life.

I turned to Minerva again.
She’s… smiling.
And now that I think about it, she’s got the same tan skin as one particular person in my memory.

Then there’s the thing Minerva said when on her first day in the magic classroom…

 

…That she came from ‘the north’.

 

Millennia ago, I’ve had a few confrontations with a mage who similarly came from the north.

She was an enemy… at first.

Employed by the Douglas household, she attempted to kidnap Bright and displayed strength equal to mine when she fought back…

She had a student, too — Myans Douglas, though the actually powerful one was the kid’s Familiar, Dīnō the Kaiser Dyno.

A Colbat Dragon appeared at the end of our first confrontation.

After that, they became our pursuers — but by the time we officially became Holy Warriors, they were no longer our enemies.

And yes, I DID save the Familiar’s life once, after its heart stopped beating as a result of an attack.

The Cobalt Dragon, winged reptile of torrents…

Her Master was Chiquiata the Mage of the North.

And the Dragon’s name was…

 

“…BLUE!?”

 

Hearing me break into falsetto, the Torrent Dragon gave me a gentle smile just like Minerva had.