Make Dark Fantasy Great Again-Chapter 19: The Price of the Promise (3)

“Dear disciple? It might be difficult, but could you maintain that state for a moment?”

“Leave it to me.”

Pop!

As Risir confidently answered, the mana and wind gathered in his hand scattered everywhere.

Since its creation relied on momentary intuition and instinct rather than refined experience and knowledge, the magic crumbled the moment will intervened.

“...What I meant was, just leave it to me. I didn’t guarantee I’d give it back—”

“Oh, he’s rebelling.”

Roera laughed playfully, casually fixing her hair messed up by the wind.

“Rebelling? Miss Roera, Risir would never do that. Actually, I misspoke. I meant to tell him to dispel the magic immediately, but my tongue twisted, and Risir just happened to notice, you see.”

<Damn it, Pamon. This is heartbreaking. Even a discarded lover wouldn’t be so pathetic. How did you fall so low?>

“I’m so sorry Master. I tried to concentrate, but I suddenly got distracted instead...I think it’s because I summoned it by relying on a fleeting sensation...”

Even as she joked around, Pamon was already analyzing the mana energy dispersed in the area. Her silver eyes gazed into empty space, her long fingers tracing the air as if touching droplets of water.

“This is the result of relying on a fleeting sensation?”

Pamon muttered meaningfully, looking at her surroundings.

“What is it? Is there an intruder or—”

“No, no. It’s not that...”

Pamon calmed Roera, who was about to stand up with her sword, and continued.

“I briefly scanned the atmosphere, you see. I guessed there might be some peculiarity I hadn’t noticed. For instance, the element of wind might’ve exceptionally strong.”

“Ah. So that’s why he was able to create that wind arrow-thingy earlier?”

“I thought so too, however...”

“...However?”

Pamon looked at Risir as she spoke.

“My disciple?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Are you feeling alright? Any discomfort anywhere?”

Risir calmly assessed his condition.

“I’m a bit tired, but not enough to worry about.”

“That’s good. Then, my disciple? Could you recreate that magic once more?”

Risir nodded and immediately began to concentrate.

“...”

A mass of mana formed—only to scatter before taking the shape of an arrow.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

Risir tilted his head, and he tried again. Again. And again.

“Huff...huff...”

This process repeated several times. His breathing became noticeably rougher, beads of sweat soaking his face.

“...”

Roera didn’t know magic. Therefore, she didn’t understand Risir’s current state, and that made her even more worried.

She glanced at Pamon, wanting to ask if it was alright for Risir to continue—but in the end, she kept the question to herself.

Roera hesitated to voice her thoughts as an outsider, especially with Pamon’s expression so gravely serious.

Meanwhile, the dark elf’s silver pupils, partially veiled by her smiling eyes, fixed on Risir with an enigmatic gleam. She murmured in astonishment.

“Is this really okay?”

Roera couldn’t fully grasp the meaning behind her question.

***“Huff... Huff...”

Risir’s clothes were already soaked with sweat. His legs trembled with fatigue.

Thud. In the end, his knees gave out and he collapsed onto the floor. Then he hurriedly checked his palm in surprise.

“Phew...”

A smile of relief spread across his face—the wind arrow he had just completed was still there. Though its size was noticeably smaller compared to before, this wasn’t simply to make it easier to control.

Why then?

Risir asked himself...only to remain silent.

He couldn’t answer his own question, as his current knowledge significantly lagged behind his abilities. In other words, his abilities were growing at a speed his knowledge couldn’t keep up with.

Risir could vividly sense the magic arrow he had created, and could even control it.

“Oh...”

An exclamation escaped Roera’s lips. The wind arrow, about the size of a bead, moved freely according to Risir’s gestures.

“Master?”

Risir immediately lifted his head to gauge Pamon’s reaction.

“...”

Deep contemplation. That was Pamon’s response. She couldn’t take her eyes off the wind arrow Risir had created.

Surely...

Pamon recalled the wind arrow Risir had first created. It had the shape of a regular arrow, and its structure was also straightforward.

He had structured the mana into the shape of an arrow and then implemented the properties of wind.

The problem was that Risir had yet to learn mana structuring, let alone controlling properties.

Mana structuring was the next step after mana control, but property control was in a completely different category. It wasn’t even an element included in the basics of magic.

How many steps did he skip just now?

There were countless steps one must go through from mana structuring to property control. Was it even possible to reach the destination while skipping those steps?

Pamon couldn’t understand this phenomenon with her current knowledge. Perhaps no mage could understand it.

Therefore, she formulated a hypothesis to understand. Perhaps...he had not skipped the intermediate processes. He might have already gone through them all, and was simply unaware of it happening.

“Ha!”

Upon reaching this point in thought, a laugh burst from Pamon’s lips.

“Master...?”

“Hehe. Well, well, Risir. I don’t know what it is, you must’ve made a really dumb mistake. After all that boasting too.”

Roera interpreted Pamon’s laughter in her own way, mocking Risir.

The bastard sitting on the floor and the wind arrow floating above his hand somehow looked pitiful. He started monologuing.

“What’s this? A scene of group bullying? Did the bastard son fail to escape his destined fate of contempt?”

“Pahah...!”

But the sound of laughter that ensued corrected their misunderstanding.

Pamon sank to the floor, her shoulders quivering as muffled chuckles slipped out, despite her efforts to hold them back.

After a moment, Pamon finally looked up.

“I’m sorry, Risir. I mean, the sight of you playing with that cute little magic arrow is just too adorable, you know?”

“...I think I might be a little hurt by that.”

“And...”

Pamon fell into thought.

“Pft...!”

And burst into laughter again.

“Risir?”

“Yes, Master.”

“What on earth are you?”

“...Sorry?”

Pamon started kneading Risir’s face with her hands.

“Where did this mysterious, precious little thing appear out of?”

“Mafter...?”

“Dear disciple?”

“Yes, Mafter.”

When an individual sensed mana, manipulated it, and shaped it into desired forms, they finally became a qualified mage. Structured magic was the standard by which mages proved their qualification.

Risir had proven his qualification. And—and—and...she didn’t know. What had Risir proven? What had he just achieved?

“Congratulations?”

“...Uh?”

Because she didn’t know, Pamon decided not to dare define it. She simply celebrated his talent and qualities.

***Having poured all his mental and physical energy into a short period of concentration, Risir fell asleep immediately upon resting.

The remaining three—Pamon, Roera, and Duran—resumed their meeting, their discussion centering solely on Risir. They deliberated over Bendel’s possessions, specifically identifying which ones could benefit Risir in the present.

It was then that the talk of Bendel’s secret vault came up. Actually though, there was nothing secret about it. A prestigious family like Bendel would naturally have such a vault hiding family treasures. It was an open secret known to all who should know.

The problem was the vault’s location and its contents, which...

“Only the patriarch knows that.”

“Ah~ That works out well~“

“...Works out well?”

Pamon left the house after leaving behind that meaningful remark.

A few hours later, she returned as if nothing had happened. with a hideous plant zombie carrying a large chest beside her.

“...”

For a moment—just a brief moment—Roera thought to herself.

Ah, should I just go back to Bendel?

Spending time with Risir and Pamon, Roera’s world was collapsing moment by moment.

“Well then. Since our business is over, shall we prepare to leave? Hayeren, I mean.”

***

[Title : What's this rank about?]

Content : they keep mentioning 'rank' in the story. Is it basically the same as level?

: yh pretty much. levels 1–4 are rank 1

: Levels 5–9 are rank 2.

: levels 10–19 are rank 3.

[OP] : oh wtf people were hyping me up for being rank 3, turns out I’m weak af

: by player standards  yeah. but in the game universe Rank 3 is still considered strong, lol

***

[Title : Levels\

Content : you know how combat power vastly varies depending on rank right

Feels almost impossible to win if there’s a rank gap

: its important but not absolute.

: ye players can compensate with skill.

: NPCs can occasionally flip ranks in events, too.

[OP] : what makes that happen?

: skill boi

: put simply imagine you’re [Level 30, Face (Ugly)], and you lose to [Level 10, Face (Hot)]

: great analogy bro.

[OP] : great analogy my ass

: So that’s why we keep losing...

***

[Title: How Do I 100% Clear Hayeren?]

Content:

[Image]

Here’s my completed Destiny list. What else do I need to clear?

: beat the Witch yet?

[OP] : how do I beat her if she’s unbeatable u fuckface

: why u swear man...

: understandable tbh

: That part isn’t meant to be completed in one go.

: The idea is to roam the region, clear events, and use the rewards to level up and farm gear. then u crush Fates with your spec. u literally can’t beat Fates without completing events first

[OP] : I’m Level 27 rn, can’t I beat the Witch at this level?

: Beat her and prove it, and I’ll give you a penthouse, 20 Bitcoin, and a Tesla with full options.

[OP] : bruh what level she even at?

: <Link>

[OP] : LMFAOOOOOOO

[OP] : why the shit did they put this shit in the starter area?

: this what most fates are like ya

: its especially because she the boss there

: honestly tho, compared to bosses in other areas, the Witch is a saint.

: fr lol.

***...

...

...

***

■ A Party Has Been Formed ■

■ Risir

Level: 10

Race: Human

Class: ???

■ Roera

Level: 21

Race: Human

Class: Swordsman

■ Fienne

Level: 31

Race: Progenitor

Class: Mage [Mind Magic / Blood Magic]

■ Pamon

Level: 58

Race: Dark Elf

Class: Mage [Nature Magic / Shadow Magic / Black Magic]

***While all the others were asleep, Pamon headed to the Hayeren library in the dead of night.

“Ah. I thought it’d be here too.”

<That’s...yuck. Isn’t that the autobiography of that lunatic who wanted to marry a mirror?>

The Radiant Star. Known for his extreme narcissism and a myriad of eccentricities born from it, he was infamous across the land. Yet, despite his notorious reputation, he was undeniably one of the greatest mages of the current era, earning the title of Star solely for his magical prowess.

<A great mage bearing the name of a Star, printing autobiographies at his own expense and spreading them all over the world...What is this, some cheap promotional novel? Why would you want to read such a thing?>

“That’s exactly why I want to read it.”

<What?>

Due to his innate talent combined with pathological self-love, the content of the autobiography was truly outrageous.

That’s why Pamon burst into laughter.

<Huh? How absurd is it for you to laugh like that?>

“Well, it says he reached the realm of Rank 3 within a week of learning magic? And in the process of mastering structuring, he suddenly acquired property control as well.”

<...Uh? Isn’t that Risir’s story?>

“You’re right.”

<Say what?>

Pamon closed the book with a thud, shaking her head.

“Turns out my disciple’s story is even crazier than this guy’s.”