(Skyrith POV)

We had Clyde meditate in the fountain of spirits located inside the palace. It’s not the original. We only took the water from the original and poured it into a hole. The amount wasn’t that much. If we took too much then we could be cursed by the Dryads.

The goal of that is so that the spirits start assimilating with his damaged core. I reckoned that when his core got damaged, the spirits got confused and left his body. Spirits aren’t hostile towards non spirit mages. They’re just shy.

They rarely come out even when an elf spirit mage calls out to them. That boy was special. Spirits gathered even if he doesn’t call them.

“What happened back then?”

Zefra asked with a worried expression.

Her eyes remained on the light brown haired boy sitting in the water as fairies flocked onto his shoulders. They pulled his mouth and ears while laughing innocently.

Despite that, he didn’t lose focus. What a diligent boy.

“Well...”

I remembered what I saw.

‘What can I even call that?’

It was a gaze of a being that shouldn’t exist in this world. The being should’ve been gone a long time ago.

“Zefra... I want you to promise that you won’t tell anyone about this. Not even the council.”

She nodded with a serious expression.

“I... I think I saw the Spirit King.”

“...”

Zefra’s eyes grew wide and darted to the boy.

“...Huh?”

“You heard right. It might’ve been our god.”

“Lady Skyrith... Are you drinking your pills the alchemist suggested?”

“You little brat!”

I hit her with my staff on the head.

“How can you think I’m going crazy!?”

“But to say you saw our god himself...”

I shook my head at her disbelief.

“I’m not sure if it actually was him. The figure was a female being. Doesn’t our scripts state that the Spirit King was a blue humanoid man? He was also similar to the Titan Giants.”

“What...”

“Little Zefra, even I am not sure. She was a large white humanoid figure that looked down on me. When I looked at the figure on her hand, I saw Clyde in a balled up position. She looked like she was protecting something dear to her holding him like that.”

Even I was baffled by what I saw.

“I might actually be going crazy...”

I’ve lived for one and a half thousand years and this was the first time I’ve seen someone like him.

“You said he has high potential, correct?”

“Yes. I used my Spirit Eye and saw all the threads connected to his body.”

I nodded. The Spirit Eye her mother gave her that rests in her necklace is never wrong.

“Did you see anything else?”

She shook her head.

“I see... his potential isn’t just high. It’s endless.”

Zefra looked at me as if looking if a crazy person. Her face showed her confusion.

“I’m being serious. That darkness that spread throughout then entire room represented his potential. ‘Dark where there is no end to the light’. The darkness is his potential and the light his growth. There is literally no end to his growth.”

I sat down on the chair and fanned myself. My mental health can’t handle such overwhelming events.

I saw no end to his future.

If he had the lifespan of a high elf that lives 2000 years then his very soul could enter the realm of the deities. Did that being that looked down on me release all that power on purpose as if to brag or to instil fear in our hearts?

If it’s the latter then it worked. That boy could’ve become a great threat if he was raised in the wrong hands. From what I heard from Zefra, his heart is pure and his only determination for growth is to protect his family.

He has both a mana core and a spirit core. It’s something that never happened before in this world.

Why was he born with two cores?

That’s something I pondered on ever since hearing of that boy.

I just pray to our god that nothing happens to that boy that changes his heart forever.

...

◇◇

(Clyde POV)

I opened my eyes when I heard two figures approach me.

“Let us begin.”

Skyrith gestured for me to go towards her.

“Before we begin training, there is something I need to tell you.”

Her serious tone made me nervous wondering if I could continue being a mage.

“There is no way for you to live with your spirit core alone.”

“...”

My shoulders drooped.

‘What does that mean...’

“The only one who knows why you were born with two cores is the very god that made you. Since we have no way of contacting a god, we can only hypothesise.”

We arrived at the balcony of the palace.

The World Tree extended further into the air even though we were at the highest building in this kingdom.

“Here’s my theory. Your mana core and spirit core were made to work together. It might not be now but perhaps in the future. As we have little knowledge at hand, I want you to try using spirits to cast arcane magic. We will first get your body used to casting spells before moving further. Since you can use spirit arts, you can do the reverse of that too. Cast arcane magic using spirits.”

“I-isn’t that too dangerous?”

I heard people can explode from the inside if they use magic without a core.

“Fret not.” She took out a scroll. I was caught by the surprise when I saw the rune inscribed on the paper. “This is the 27th Abyss Rune deciphered in the Colchis Kingdom. The unknown wizard only calls himself ‘Phantom mage’ so we have no way of knowing who he is. You will cast magic without using this core. You will only use it to balance the amount of spirits you pour in yourself.”

While she was imbedding mana into the rune, she muttered “That person is truly amazing. I wish I can at least meet them.”

‘He’s right in front of you...’

Of course I couldn’t tell her that. The Magic Kingdom might abduct me and dissect my body to study my core. Even if Charlotte didn’t order me to keep it to myself, I would’ve kept quiet anyway.

PSSS

The spell gave off smoke and formed the shape of a purple circle.

“Take off your shirt and push this core into your body.”

I nodded.

The temporary core shouldn’t be too difficult to control. It was only basic space and calculation that made it so easy to decipher. But it all had to do with suitability. My mana was able to accurately intertwine the veins in the pattern of the rune.

By the way, there exists 106 runes discovered in the Red Abyss dungeon. Only 34 have been solved so far. Each of them have their own effects. There was even one that can mimic a person’s voice if they applied it to their neck.

It felt like I chewed mint gum and drank cold water when the core entered my body.

“Ho? Your body is cleansing itself.”

I heard squirting noises and saw puss coming out of my pores. The slimy murky stuff looked so disgusting the way it fell down on the ground.

It reeked of impurities causing me to hold my breath.

“Does it feel familiar having this core?”

“Yes. Somehow, my broken fragments are merging with the artificial core.”

“Splendid. That means the rune works. Ah, that person is a genius.”

I smiled thinly while focusing on connecting my mana veins to the new core.

“As Phantom has stated in their notes, this core can only last two days. These things are fairly cheap that even commoners can enjoy casting magic if they were born without cores.”

Skyrith began muttering with sparkling eyes.

“There was a case where one person even grew a small core after using the rune for a few months. Lord Phantom is truly magnificent. That arrogant Viria woman must’ve went into a frenzy when she heard a mage other than her was able to decipher a rune.”

They say that the [Core] rune is one of the most difficult runes to decipher in the entire world. If the theory of magical world hopping is number one then the temporary core would be at number ten.

“Remember, don’t cast arcane magic using your temporary mana core. If you do then I won’t help you fix your core.”

“Y-Yes. I’ll do my best.”

I closed my eyes and gathered spirits around my body.

‘She’s right. My spirit core is reacting to the new mana core.’

It’s sharing its energy just like it was back when I had my original core.

The childish spirits began gathering around me.

–King?

–Brown boy king?

They floated around me and released their energy to bind with mine. Were they checking to see if I’m really a spirit user? Their little bodies jiggled with sparkly dust.

–King! King!

–Play! Play with us!

A flock of spirits landed on my body and began playing with the fairies.

Skyrith chuckled.

“They really do love you. What differentiates you from other spirits mages in our race...? Hmm...”

She took notes while glancing at me. I was still on the ground, absorbing the little spirits. They entered my body little by little so as to not injure my sensitive spirit core.

!!!!

I felt a rush of pain in my chest and clutched it. The throbbing was even ringing in my ears.

“Don’t panic. This is your first time using arcane magic with spirits. Unfortunately, you have to do the chants.”

I nodded and wiped the blood from my mouth.

‘I know that much...’

I only ever use chants for my strongest spells. Or if the spells are new and it takes time getting used to them. In that case, it’s usually spells intermediate level and higher.

If I could describe what I was going through, then I’d say it was similar to writing with a hand you’re not used to writing with or learning a new language. I did the chants of the spell, finding it rather hard to cast it as usual.

Back then, I could cast magic with my eyes closed after reading the spell chant only once.

After doing the chant, I felt my body searching for the something that’ll act as the fuel for the spell.

I found it. A little spirit was aimlessly wandering inside my body. I pulled it into the temporary mana core and extracted its energy.

It rejected me a few times but after getting familiar with me, it allowed me to use its power.

“That’s it.”

When I opened my eyes, I saw a gentle ball of wind hovering above the magic circle above my hand. It was the first spell I casted upon learning magic in this world.

[Gale].

My magic circles were usually green but for some reason this particular one was purple.

“You don’t have to fire the spell. Keep it in your hand and slowly get used to the new feeling.”

Skyrith corrected my posture when I was about to lower my arm. The spell continued blowing like the wind. I felt the spirits slowly fuel the spell when they sensed it.

“By letting the spell continue burning like this, your spirits will get used to applying energy even to your arcane magic. Now remember, this is only possible because of the love they have for you as their master. Arcane magic is far different from spirit magic. It would feel like they’re in a pool of bugs applying energy to such a spell. They want to do their best for their master to carry out his will.” She pointed her staff at my chest, “Your will.”

She manifested a chair using wood style magic and sat down. She placed down a tea set after rummaging inside her bag.

Her attitude was like someone sitting at a beach.

‘Shouldn’t she be seriously teaching me!?’

After taking a sip, she spoke, “As you are someone with a large spirit vessel and we are in a mana rich environment, continue keeping the spell up for the entire day.”

“WHAT!? The entire day!?”

“After this then we move on to your other spells. Each and every one of the spells you’ve learned so far. This is important should you lose your mana core again the future. The next step will come when you finish step 1.”

She smiled and took another sip.

Even sitting down for too long is torture to someone like me.

I cried silently and did as my master said.