Terlo Krauber, the genius who would overturn the history of the Krauber Family.
It had already been a week since he began learning black magic.
Yet Terlo’s skills showed little sign of improving.
He could copy something almost immediately after seeing it once, but he had no opportunities to see anything new.
After all, his father, Doristen, was ultimately a necromancer befitting the Krauber Family—one who barely possessed the minimum qualifications to call himself one.
As a result, their lessons focused on theory rather than direct demonstrations.
As always, Doristen held a book on black magic in his hands that day.
“Terlo. Practicing the same thing every day must be tedious, so let us try something new today.”
“Yes. I like practicing the same things too.”
Doristen felt troubled that they had made no progress for several days.
He knew Terlo’s progress was slow because he was the one teaching him.
Terlo probably knew that as well.
Yet he had never once shown any displeasure.
Even now, had he not just said that he liked practicing the same things?
Terlo’s attitude made Doristen wonder whether he was being selfish.
‘I told him to learn from me because I feared he might be placed in danger….’
That was how dangerous it was to learn black magic from just anyone.
There was no shortage of people who pursued power through improper means.
Such people inevitably schemed behind the scenes.
Doristen did not want to expose his son to that kind of danger.
Yet now, his decision seemed to be doing more harm than good.
It was keeping Terlo from developing his genius-level talent.
‘Finding him a proper teacher must be the right choice.’
But no suitable candidate came to mind.
After all, only one person in the entire Doiten Kingdom could truly be called skilled.
If not him, Doristen could not send Terlo away, which meant he would have to bring a skilled practitioner here from another country….
Even if he offered a great deal of money, there was no telling whether anyone would come all the way to this place.
‘Is he truly the only option?’
Doristen recalled the only skilled black mage in the Doiten Kingdom.
He was a gaunt man as prickly in temperament as he was capable.
He was qualified to attend royal council meetings.
The problem was that he usually never attended them….
‘Hmm. Come to think of it, he attended the latest meeting for once.’
The subject of the meeting had been the sharp rise in incidents and accidents of late.
During the meeting, the man had revealed that he had identified the criminal organization responsible for them.
He claimed he had investigated after suffering direct harm at their hands.
However, the organization had turned out to be larger than expected, so he requested support from the royal family.
More precisely, he asked whether the allied nations could be persuaded to send several capable people.
Considering the safety of the Doiten Kingdom, it was a perfectly reasonable request.
‘Of course, that man is only taking action because he suffered a loss himself.’
Otherwise, he was the sort of person who would not have cared what happened.
What mattered was that he needed capable people more desperately than anyone at present.
Even if they requested aid from the allied nations, there was no telling how many people would actually come.
In the worst case, no support might arrive at all.
‘Terlo is not yet an expert.’
But it was obvious that he possessed tremendous potential.
Once the man saw Terlo’s genius, he would have no choice but to covet it.
‘However… If Terlo learns from that man, he will end up participating in the effort to take down the criminal organization.’
That worried Doristen deeply.
But for the sake of Terlo’s growth, it could not be helped.
He could not hold on to his son forever.
Terlo’s desire to learn black magic was immense.
And he possessed the talent to support that desire.
‘As his father, I cannot stand in the way of his future.’
The worries that came with that decision were something Doristen would simply have to endure.
Moreover, unless he acted now, the man would have no reason to accept Terlo as his student.
Doristen decided that he needed to arrange a meeting with him soon.
‘Does he truly enjoy it that much?’
Even now, Terlo’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the open book.
Doristen felt proud of him, yet also apologetic and bitter.
***
After Doristen changed his mind, Terlo’s training routine changed as well.
Previously, Doristen had selected books on black magic from the study, and the two of them had read them together in the training ground while attempting what they described.
Now, Terlo went to study alone and read the books by himself.
‘I will find you a teacher. Until then, read the books in the study and build up your knowledge. Ask me if there is anything you do not understand.’
For some reason, Doristen had looked deeply worried, but Terlo did not care either way.
The mere fact that Doristen was allowing him to do all this was already completely different from his previous life.
In his previous life, he had not even been allowed to enter the study whenever he pleased.
Now that he could come and go freely, it felt like a dream.
‘What should I read today?’
Reading was more enjoyable than he had expected.
He could learn about things he had taken for granted, as well as matters he had never even considered.
He also discovered many different kinds of black magic.
‘It’s a shame I can’t imitate them.’
Still, his father had said he would find him a teacher soon.
Before long, he would be able to do so.
Once he began learning properly, perhaps he would discover why he had been unable to reproduce them.
Until then, he only needed to follow Doristen’s advice and steadily accumulate knowledge.
After wandering between the shelves, Terlo moved to the third bookcase.
He had finished reading everything through the second bookcase the previous day.
‘Hmm.’
As he always did, Terlo searched for the book that interested him most.
Then an especially old-looking book on an upper shelf caught his eye.
‘What kind of book is that?’
Curious, he climbed the ladder in front of the bookcase.
When he pulled out the old book, he found that nothing was written on its cover.
Tilting his head, Terlo grabbed another book within reach, then climbed back down.
‘I wonder what it’s about.’
Terlo sat at the desk and opened the old book first.
Contrary to his expectations, there was nothing particularly remarkable written inside.
He was rapidly flipping through the pages when his hand abruptly stopped.
‘What?’
Why was this drawn here?
The illustration had faded with age, but there was no mistaking it.
It depicted one of the black forms.
The black forms that only Terlo could see.
Something he had believed was visible only to him was plainly drawn in a book.
Terlo felt as though he had been struck in the head with a hammer.
“…….”
He returned to the first page and began reading the book carefully.
The book as a whole concerned the black forms….
It was filled with the author’s various conjectures about what the shadow-like black forms were, as well as the principles and reasons behind their visibility.
One final sentence caught his attention more than anything else.
‘When the tree with the longest shadow meets the spell, a new path shall open.’
Terlo furrowed his brow.
‘The tree with the longest shadow?’
A shadow changed depending on the sun’s position, but its length was generally proportional to the size of the object casting it.
After skimming the book further, Terlo gathered that the tree was located on the mountain behind the Krauber Territory.
In that case, the tree with the longest shadow must refer to the largest tree on the mountain.
‘The largest tree….’
There was a tree Terlo had used as a training target in his previous life.
It stood in a secluded place halfway up the mountain.
It was hidden so perfectly that he had only discovered it by chance after losing his way.
Its trunk was so thick that it would have taken several spans of his outstretched arms to encircle it, and it was so tall that he had to crane his neck to look up at it.
Because he had trained in secret, he had chosen the tree that looked strongest in the entire forest….
If that tree was the one mentioned in the sentence,
‘Does “the spell” mean one related to the black forms?’
<Connect.>
It was the spell that linked Terlo to the black form beside a living creature.
Unfortunately, he had never used Connect in front of the tree.
He had always climbed the mountain alone, so there had never been any reason to use it there.
Terlo was intensely curious about what the “new path” meant.
Whatever it was, it was undoubtedly connected to the black forms.
‘I need to climb the mountain.’
Ah, but before that….
Terlo picked up the old book and left the study.
There was something he needed to ask his father, Doristen.
A servant told him that Doristen had gone to the training ground, so he headed there and found his father taking a brief rest.
“Father.”
Doristen turned at Terlo’s call.
“Oh, Terlo. What brings you here? Is there something you wish to ask?”
Instead of answering, Terlo walked over and held out the old book.
“Do you happen to know anything about this book?”
Doristen’s eyes widened briefly.
Then he asked, sounding genuinely curious,
“Why do you ask?”
“Hmm. The illustration and explanation inside seemed fascinating.”
Unable to reveal his ability, Terlo offered a vague excuse.
Doristen’s expression immediately cooled.
“…I see.”
He seemed strangely disappointed.
Just as Terlo began to wonder why, Doristen continued.
“That book is an heirloom passed down through our family…. An heirloom is bound to carry some meaning. However, none of our ancestors ever discovered what that meaning was. Even I do not even know what the writings inside signify.”
‘An heirloom?’
That meant one of their ancestors had been able to see the black forms, just like Terlo.
At the same time, it meant that aside from that ancestor and Terlo himself, no one knew anything about them.
Terlo felt an urgent need to climb the mountain at once.
The sentence claiming that a new path would open was, in effect, something only Terlo could understand.
‘It might as well have been left for me.’
Terlo hurriedly said goodbye to Doristen.
“Knowing that it was a family heirloom answers my question! I’ll go back to the study and finish reading.”
“…? Very well.”
Doristen answered awkwardly at Terlo’s sudden haste.
Terlo paid no attention and left the training ground.
The servant Bail, who had been waiting outside, immediately followed him.
“Bail. I’m going out for a little while, so cover for me in the study. Make sure Father doesn’t find out I’m not there.”
“W-What? Where are you planning to go alone, Young Master? It is dangerous! And how could I possibly keep him from noticing…?”
“You’ll have to find a way. I’ll be back.”
“Young Master! Ah… Young Master!”
Despite Bail’s desperate calls, Terlo only continued walking forward.
The answer to a mystery he had failed to solve in his previous life might be within reach.
Dawdling in a situation like this would have been an unforgivable luxury.
***
After reaching the mountain behind the estate, Terlo examined every tree as he climbed all the way to the summit.
He wanted to make sure there was not another tree larger than the one he had in mind.
But as expected, the tree he had used as a training target was indeed the largest tree on the mountain.
“Phew. This is exhausting.”
Terlo caught his breath while staring at the enormous tree before him.
The mountain might have been small, but searching the entire place was no easy task.
‘Still, it’s better to be certain.’
Suppose the tree mentioned in the sentence was not the one Terlo had in mind.
Even if he used the spell in front of it, nothing would happen.
Then he would have to search for another, larger tree afterward.
And he would do so while burdened by needless disappointment.
But now that he had confirmed this was the tree, even if the attempt failed, he could simply move on and search for a different spell.
‘Then, let’s see.’
Now that he had caught his breath, Terlo was about to use the spell when he suddenly stopped.
‘Damn.’
Now that he thought about it, there was no black form here for him to connect with.
Dismay washed over him, and Terlo pressed a hand to his forehead.
‘I never thought my habit of climbing up here alone would become a problem like this.’
Just in case, he chanted the spell into empty air….
As expected, nothing happened.
He looked around, but not a single animal was in sight.
Just as he began wondering whether he would have to climb back down and return later,
‘…!’
Something suddenly occurred to him.
‘A skeleton!’
Connect was an ability that allowed Terlo to control a living creature by linking himself to the black form beside it.
Because he could already control skeletons, he had never once considered using Connect on one.
There had simply been no reason to cast it.
But this was the perfect moment to try.
‘Skeletons have black forms beside them too.’
<Vitalize.>
HSSSS—
Within the rising black smoke, a skeleton rose to serve as Terlo’s test subject.