After spending a few hours training in the Training Center, Leo managed to increase his Mastery Rank for Black Bullet to ‘C’, and his total mana just broke through 1,000.
“Leo.” Miss Camille called for him after his training ended.
“Yes?”
“Starting today, we will be focusing on training your magic.”
“Seriously?” Leo couldn’t believe his ears.
“I have to admit that you have tremendous magic talents; it would be a waste to not train it properly. However, this does not mean you can stop training with the sword. Do you understand?”
“I understand! There’s no way I would just give up on swordsmanship after putting so much effort into it! I am going to keep improving myself until I can defeat Khrome with nothing but my sword!” Leo said in a motivated voice.
“Good. Also, before we begin your training tomorrow, I want you to find another reason to grow stronger.”
“Huh?” Leo raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner.
“Everybody should have a reason for getting stronger. Your match with Kayn was what pushed you to grow stronger. However, now that you have defeated Kayn, you will need another motive,” she explained.
“If you just train just for the heck of it, you will not progress as fast.”
Leo pondered for a moment before nodding his head, “All right, I will try to find a motive. However, it sounds easier said than done.”
“Take your time. You don’t need to find a reason by tomorrow. Rushing it would also have a negative effect.”
Leo made his way back to the old dorm shortly after.
“Leo, there’s somebody following you.” Lilith suddenly warned him.
“This feels nostalgic. Do you know who it is?” He asked.
“Yes… It’s—”
Before Lilith could even respond, a familiar voice resounded, “Stop right there!”
Leo turned around to see a petite figure stepping out of the shadow and approaching his direction.
“It’s you again? What do you want now? I have already proved to you that I am not a zombie or whatever you thought I was.” Leo frowned after recognizing his stalker as Nina Wraith.
“Yes, I am well aware. Since that day, I have been wondering why I sensed dark magic from you even though you’re not an undead, nor can you use magic. After seeing you at the Magic Arena today, the dark magic emitting from your body grew many folds compared to before.”
“And now… You reek of dark magic. Leo… You have a Dark Magic Affinity just like me, don’t you?” Nina Wraith narrowed her eyes at him, her gaze as sharp as the tip of knives.
Leo felt like he was naked before her gaze, but his expression didn’t change.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have a Dark Magic Affinity? That’s nonsense. If I could use magic, I wouldn’t be fighting with a sword.” He sneered.
“You can lie to me all you want, but I can see the truth. Although your mana was too weak for me to notice it before, I can see it very clearly now— the mana flowing through your veins. And judging by the mana fluctuation around you right now, you were just practicing with dark magic, weren’t you?”
Leo swallowed nervously after hearing Nina’s words that struck gold.
‘What the heck is up with this girl?! Why does she know so much?!’ He cried inwardly.
“Leo, this little girl has Spiritual Eyes. She can see the others’ mana flow with just a glance, and since you have the same Magic Affinity as her, she can see you even more clearly.” Lilith said to him.
“Why are you hiding the fact that you can use magic? According to the rumors that I have heard, you have never used magic since you came to the academy, so everyone believes that you’re a cripple.” Nina suddenly asked him, believing that he had been hiding about his magic talents for some reason.
“Why would I be a cripple just because I cannot use magic? The rest of my body functions properly.”
Nina sneered and spoke in a cold voice, “If you cannot use magic in a world of magic, what else besides a cripple could you be?”
“You say some pretty harsh things…”
“It’s the truth, and it’s how society sees people who cannot use magic.”
“Whatever. I don’t have the time or energy to deal with your nonsense. I’m going home to sleep.” Leo started walking away.
To his surprise, Nina Wraith didn’t follow him.
She merely watched as his back disappeared from her view.
“For what reasons are you hiding such tremendous magic talent?” Nina mumbled in a low voice after Leo left, her eyes filled with frustration and confusion.
Although the other students and teachers cannot see what Nina Wraith sees from Leo, including Miss Camille and Headmistress Eve, in Nina Wraith’s eyes, Leo is constantly surrounded by an overwhelming dark aura that sends chills down her back whenever she looks at him.
“My Dark Magic Affinity pales in comparison to his Dark Magic Affinity, yet he’s acting as though it doesn’t even exist! And to think there was another student besides myself with a Dark Magic Affinity in this school this entire time! How frustrating!”
After stomping the ground a few times like a child in a tantrum, Nina Wraith disappeared into the shadows.
The following day, Nina Wraith went to the infirmary.
“What do you need from the infirmary so early? The day has just started.” Miss Camille asked her.
Nina closed the door behind her and stared at Miss Camille with a serious expression on her face.
“This is about the request I accepted from you before.” Nina spoke after a moment of silence.
Miss Camille immediately narrowed her eyes and stared back at Nina with a threatening gaze.
“I thought we had an agreement to never speak of this again after we finished our business.” Miss Camille spoke in a cold voice.
“No, I agreed to not tell anyone else about our deal. I never said anything about forgetting it.” Nina’s face remained as tranquil as a still lake despite being pressured by Miss Camille’s gaze.
And she continued to speak, “The reason you had me check on Leo was because you suspected that he could use magic— specifically, dark magic, right? Why else would you choose me out of everyone in the academy?”
“You…” Miss Camille was dumbfounded by Nina’s words.
After a moment of silence, Miss Camille sighed, “Since you already know, there’s no point in trying to hide it from you. I already knew that Leo had a magic affinity for dark magic, so that is not the reason I asked you to do that job. That’s all I am going to tell you. What are you going to do with this information? Tell the entire school that Leo can actually use magic?”
“Why would I do something like that? Do I look like someone who would enjoy doing something that dull? I don’t even gain anything from exposing Leo.”
“Then why are you asking about Leo? Why do you care about him?” Miss Camille asked.
“Because I am frustrated that he’s throwing away such tremendous talents! His Dark Magic Affinity should be at least S-Rank, so why is he playing around with a sword when he could be studying dark magic with me?!”
Miss Camille’s eyes widened slightly after hearing Nina’s words.
“You… Are you jealous?” She decided to ask.
“That’s nonsense! I have never been jealous of anybody!” Nina immediately refuted such claims.
“That’s only because you had no reason to be jealous. You’re the only student with a Dark Magic Affinity in this entire academy so you had nobody to compare to. However, now that you realize there is actually another person with a Dark Magic Affinity in this school, who even has more talent than you, you’re experiencing jealousy for the first time, and you’re worried that he might steal away your uniqueness within the academy.”
“Sh-Shut up! I am not jealous!” Nina shouted, her eyes starting to get moist.
‘Seriously? That infamous Nina Wraith who is known for lacking emotions is on the verge of crying over something like this?’ Miss Camille was dumbfounded by Nina’s reaction.
“I get it… You’re not jealous…” Miss Camille sighed.
“Anyways, if you’re not jealous, why do you care so much about Leo?”
“I-I want him to help me with my experiments! There are some things that I cannot achieve with my A-Rank Dark Magic Affinity, so I want him to do it for me!” She said, revealing her true reason for approaching Leo.
“You’re really close with Leo, aren’t you, Miss Camille? Can you convince him to help me? I will do anything you want! I will even return the Necklace of the Dead to you!”
Miss Camille rubbed her eyes and sighed, “Sorry, but I cannot convince him to do anything. I am only helping him to recover his strength and treating his amnesia. If you want him to help you, then you will have to ask him yourself.”
“T-Then is there anything that Leo wants? I will give him that thing in exchange for his help!”
“I have no idea. You’ll have to ask him about that by yourself as well.”
Nina gritted her teeth and tightened her small hands into a fist.
“Come to the Training Center today after school hours. Leo will be there. Whether you can convince him or not will depend on you.”
“And you better not mention our business to him because I will kill you if you do.”
Nina didn’t say anything and left the infirmary shortly after.
“Witch of Necromancy… What a pain in the ass…” Miss Camille sighed afterward.
