“It depends on your answer, Master.”
Master Avana’s gaze sank even lower.
Yes, those eyes.
The kind that made me question the kindness she occasionally showed me.
So I had no choice but to stay on guard.
Just then, Psyche rushed out from behind her.
“Master! You shouldn’t be moving yet!”
She grabbed onto Master Avana’s waist, trying to guide her back inside. But Master Avana stood her ground as if she had taken root, staring daggers at me.
The veins on the hand gripping her staff stood out.
She looked ready to attack me at any moment.
I raised my right hand, and embers floated into the air.
Master Avana’s eyes widened.
“You’ve already learned to control fire?”
“Fire suits me better than water. If you intend to harm me, I’ll draw this flame inward. Who knows what might happen then?”
Master Avana spoke calmly.
“Perhaps nothing will happen.”
A subtle pressure weighed down on me.
But so what?
I’m a desirable talent that every magician would want to claim. No need to be scared.
I flashed her a grin.
“Exactly. That’s why I said no one knows. Maybe nothing happens, or maybe Kalasta appears. Maybe this fire suddenly flares up and consumes everything. Like I said, no one knows.”
At those words, she drained her strength from the staff she was gripping.
She must have heard my murmuring earlier.
That’s why I said it.
She let go, and her staff disappeared into her robes as if being absorbed.
“I didn’t take out my staff to attack you. I was wary of Kalasta. So lower the flames. Let’s talk first.”
“That’s what I wanted.”
I lowered my hand slightly, guiding the ember down.
It slowly descended to the ground.
Forget comparing it to moving my hands and feet.
It’s even easier than that.
Psyche looked back and forth between me and Master Avana.
“So? What answer are you expecting from me?”
“The truth.”
“The truth?”
“First, tell me why you took me as your disciple.”
Master Avana’s expression darkened.
“I told you. To be Psyche’s mate—”
“Got it. I’ll leave.”
I turned around.
Thirty degrees.
Hmm.
Ninety degrees.
Not yet?
One hundred twenty degrees.
She should be speaking by now.
One hundred sixty degrees.
I’m sure I read this right.
One hundred eighty degrees.
I can’t just stop now.
“Wait!”
There it is.
I turned my head as slowly as possible, just enough to glance at Master Avana.
Her expression was urgent.
“Yes, I’m listening.”
The tips of her ears trembled slightly.
“It’s true that I chose you as Psyche’s mate. But there’s great danger in that. I never told you that part.”
I folded my arms.
Just like Kalasta.
“Fine. I had a feeling there was something shady. Tell me exactly what it is.”
Master Avana glanced at Psyche with an anxious expression.
Psyche hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly.
Why does she need Psyche’s permission?
Master Avana finally spoke.
“Psyche is a High Elf.”
“……”
“She has the purest elven blood. Among humans, she’d be akin to royalty.”
Similar to what Kalasta said.
“Alright. And?”
“One defining trait of High Elves is their beauty. Extreme beauty. And that makes them dangerously sought after.”
I looked at Psyche.
She certainly was beautiful.
“Dangerous because she’s beautiful? That sounds like a fairy tale.”
“It’s not a story. It’s reality. As a High Elf’s magical level rises, they regain more of their natural form. They become even more beautiful. And as that happens, magicians—whose hearts grow emptier over time—start to covet them.”
I tilted my head.
“I don’t quite understand.”
“You’ll naturally come to understand as you progress in magic. The stronger a magician becomes, the more special they perceive themselves to be. In other words, everything else starts to seem worthless. Like how an adult loses interest in a child’s toys. That’s why they seek rarer, more precious things—to obtain, to own.”
“……”
“When Psyche was born over a decade ago, our tribe sought a way to protect her. A High Elf born after centuries. Every seer capable of foresight magic was summoned.”
“Foresight magic?”
“The ability to predict the future. Their prophecy foretold that around this time, a young male human magician would emerge in the Marshall Empire. And that only by forging a deep bond with him would Psyche survive. I believe that magician is you.”
“……”
“Only you can protect our Psyche. You alone have the strength, the wisdom, and…”
“And?”
Master Avana hesitated.
Then, lowering her gaze, she continued.
“I apologize for not telling you all this earlier. I thought it was something I could reveal gradually. That’s all. I never intended to deceive you.”
This could still be a lie.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Then, Master. Why did you tell me not to make a contract with Undine?”
Master Avana answered without hesitation.
“I told you—it’s dangerous. You can’t even control telekinesis properly yet. You can barely move objects, so how could you manage an intelligent familiar? It could be catastrophic.”
Kalasta said it was because Master Avana feared my growth.
It’s still unclear who’s telling the truth.
She could still be deceiving me now.
Then, Psyche suddenly started walking toward me.
She had shed her usual cuteness and now radiated an alluring intensity.
She must be seriously angry.
“If you come any closer, I’m leaving.”
“Leave, then. Idiot.”
She stomped toward me without hesitation.
Ah.
I should leave.
But my feet wouldn’t move.
She was right in front of me, grabbing my collar.
Setting everything else aside, she was just too beautiful.
I had even moved under Kalasta’s overwhelming presence.
“Why can’t you just believe us? Huh? Why do you have to question everything, suspect everything, challenge everything? Why can’t you just trust us?”
“Why?” A cold voice slipped from my lips before I realized it. “Try living like me, Psyche.”
She wouldn’t understand.
She was probably some kind of elven princess.
“How could you, who have never been a slave, possibly comprehend my life? Maybe if you had been born a slave, you would. But I wasn’t just born into it—I was born a noble. Can you even imagine that?”
Her ears drooped.
Tears welled up in her large eyes.
“You think my life was easy? You think I wanted to be a High Elf?”
“……”
“I knew. The moment I smelled the scent of fire and iron on you, I knew. You’re my mate. You’re the one who will protect me for the rest of my life. Otherwise, how could I possibly like that smell? Why would an elf love the scent of fire and iron?”
“You said it was just a preference.”
“That’s right!”
She yelled, then wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks.
I didn’t understand.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I pity you.”
“For what?”
“For you. Because you’re pitiful.”
“……”
“Even when fortune finds you, you can’t bring yourself to believe in it. That’s so pitiful it makes me want to cry. Why?”
“Shut up. I’ll be the one to decide whether it’s fortune or not.”
“Then, is this not fortune? Just what kind of life have you lived that you can’t even believe in luck? Hm?”
“…….”
“Did you have to grip onto that ember so tightly just to be able to ask? Could you only open your heart once you were prepared to leave at any moment? Did you have to secure the upper hand just to be able to reveal your true feelings?”
Psyche, shedding tears, was neither adorable nor enchanting.
She was simply, purely beautiful.
“I don’t know. Maybe that’s just the kind of person I am.”
Suddenly, Psyche lunged forward.
Her head was next to my face, and her arms wrapped around my back.
The last time I had embraced someone…
I couldn’t remember.
Still, the warmth of another’s embrace was undeniable.
It felt sleepy, like sinking into a warm bath.
“Don’t go anywhere. Stay with us. Stop doubting everything! Okay? Just stop doubting. Stay with us. Okay? Don’t doubt anymore. Stay with us. Stay, Ran.”
She whispered the same words over and over.
Like a spell, they seeped deep into my heart.
If I only considered the sincerity in her voice, it felt like I could believe her completely.
But belief wasn’t just a feeling.
Without time to support it, true trust couldn’t exist.
Of course, there had to be a beginning.
I gently pulled away from her embrace.
Then, I looked straight at Psyche’s tear running face.
Ah.
So this is what it means when they say your mind goes blank.
It really does go white.
“Alright. I’ll believe you. For now, Psyche.”
At that moment, her face lit up like the rising sun.
Her tearful smile was something beyond mere beauty.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
She threw herself at me again, pulling me into another embrace.
Seriously.
Elves are so light.
A little over a month had passed since that hug with Psyche.
Master Avana continued teaching me psychokinesis, while Psyche became even colder toward me than before. She brushed off that day as nothing more than an act of pity.
I didn’t think too much of it and kept studying psychokinesis. It was so fascinating that I devoted all my time to it, aside from eating and sleeping.
After learning to control fire, moving water became easier, so Master Avana instructed me to keep focusing on fire-based psychokinesis.
Of course, just in case, I never brought Kalasta’s ember inside the clearing.
The scope of my abilities gradually expanded. I moved wind. Then stone. Then wood. The range widened until, eventually, I could move almost anything in the world.
This morning, like always, I was practicing in the open. With my left hand, I controlled the wind, while my right hand guided the water.
Manipulating gas and liquid required entirely different approaches, making it incredibly difficult to handle them simultaneously.
But after consistent practice, I managed to control them separately with each hand.
Lowering my hands, I muttered to myself.
“Whew. I’d like to be able to do it with just one hand, but that’s still too difficult, huh?”
Psychokinesis was ultimately about visualization.
Just because I was controlling two objects didn’t mean I needed two hands.
Or rather, hands weren’t necessary at all.
To truly move things with only my mind, I needed to study even more.
As I was lost in thought, something caught my eye at the edge of my vision.
“Huh? Count Furst?”
Emerging from the forest, Count Furst stepped into view. A single purple butterfly before him flickered out, vanishing in a burst of light—he must have followed its guidance.
Noticing my psychokinesis training, he wore a look of surprise.
It made sense. In just a little over a month, I was already controlling both wind and water.
He spoke.
“Ran, it’s been a while.”
I greeted him in return.
“Hello, Count. What brings you all the way here?”
He nodded.
“I have a request for your master.”
At that moment, the door to the cabin swung open, and Master Avana stepped out. She was dressed in human attire.
“Welcome, Count. Come inside. Ran, would you like to join us? You’ve been so absorbed in psychokinesis lately that you must be getting bored. It wouldn’t hurt to see what real magic looks like for once. Think of it as a little change of pace.”
Bored, huh?
That’s a little unfair.
But watching Master perform magic did sound interesting.
Real magic.
The way she said it made it seem like something incredible.
Considering she had spent over a month preparing, it was bound to be impressive.
I nodded eagerly.
“Alright!”
The two of them entered the cabin, and I followed after them.
Naturally, I was about to head toward the lake, but Master Avana sat at a small table instead. So, both Count Furst and I took seats there as well.
“Tea? What would you like?”
Count Furst waved a hand dismissively.
“I won’t be staying long. We’re in the midst of battle preparations.”
Only then did I notice the faint scent of gunpowder clinging to him.
