Two men, one dark-haired and the other blonde, stared at each other. It had been a very long time since the villain, Raven Gravadain, had been “conscious.” Although his awareness had always been present, his control was never 100% there the last few years. The things he did—killing other Swords—wasn’t his intention.

As for the protagonist, Aurelius Gravadain, battling his half-brother, wasn't his intention. Though they had different fathers, they shared the same mother, and as the younger brother, he hoped to convince Raven to change his way. Their last confrontation was not within his control. His corruption had reached a breaking point, but no longer was that the case and Aurelius could deduce Raven was completely free from his corruption as well.

Aurelius wondered which Shield from his party managed to accomplish that. Sofia Magdalen or Violetta Valerie? Or was it both of them? Where was his team anyway? Maybe they were outside the bedroom, waiting for him. Nodding at Raven, Aurelius reached for the door. They would talk later, after he spoke with his party members first to learn what happened after the two of them clashed.

But what awaited Aurelius beyond the bedroom was sheer disappointment. His party members were nowhere in sight and there were two unfamiliar people, a little girl, and some man. 

Ophelia excitedly ran over to Aurelius’s side. “Sir Gravadain, you’re awake!”

The little girl seemed to know him, but he wasn’t exactly an unknown person in the continent of Decim. “You are?”

“It’s me, the little girl you rescued two years ago!”

Remembering the little girl he entrusted to the mayor of Town G, Aurelius smiled. Judging by her liveliness and healthy glow, the mayor seemed to have kept his word. “I remember you. How have you been?”

“Great ever since I left Town G with Teacher! You know, you really shouldn’t have left me with that mayor…”

And so, the protagonist was swiftly slapped in the face by the little girl. 

“What do you mean? Are we not in Town G right now?”

“No way!” Ophelia denied. “Right now we are in… We are in…”

“Slumbering Woods.” The one who spoke was the only other person in the room, and the voice was unexpectedly young for an old person, even pleasantly sounding to the ears, clear but with an airy quality.

Jun turned around and Aurelius was once again slapped in the face. Instead of an old person, it was a young man with short, fluffy, white hair. In this world, young people with white hair were disdained by others as a sign of evil. Jun didn’t realize he was a double “Dark Omen.”

Neither did Ophelia, who carried on with merriment. “Oh yeah, Slumbering Woods.”

“Oh.” Aurelius was dismayed to discover he was still in the same forest where he and Raven fought. Disheartened, he scanned the room for a familiar face.

“What are you looking for, Sir Gravadain?” Ophelia asked.

“My party members, have you seen them?”

Jun assumed they were probably dead if they weren’t around when he found Aurelius, but he kept silent. Some things were best left unsaid.

“When Teacher and I found you, there was only that other person.”

“Teacher?”

Ophelia gestured at Jun. “My magic teacher, Jun…”

“… Ainsley.” Jun finished for her. Strange, he had always believed himself to be “Jun Travis” but now he felt the name “Ainsley” was the true one.

Ainsley? Where had he heard that before?

“You’re a Mage?” Aurelius inquired with surprise. For a Mage, he was quite young, but maybe it was just the appearance of youth. There was that white hair.

“Something like that.” Jun muttered. Technically, he was an Archmage, the highest-ranked and most powerful of all Mages.

“Something like that!?” Ophelia was not pleased. “Teacher is an amazing Mage, maybe the strongest in the entire continent!” The little girl urged, yet Aurelius couldn't believe her. 

He offered her an amused smile. “I’m sure he is.”

Oblivious that she was being belittled, Ophelia continued her praises without pause. “Well yeah, with his magic, Teacher healed you and that other person and built this house!”

Now Aurelius wasn’t sure if there was a problem with his hearing. Healed him? Wasn’t Jun a Mage? Built the house? Never had he heard nor seen magic used in such a manner. At last, he truly gazed at Jun, taking in how beautiful the other man was despite his flaws. “How old are you?”

Other than the plot’s description of him having white hair, Jun didn’t know how old Townsperson B was nor what the rest of his appearance was like. Unfazed, he asked his apprentice. “How old do I look, Lia?”

“Teacher, you look not a day past 25.”

“Sounds about right.” Jun palmed his chin. 

Aurelius was full of doubt. “You healed me?”

“Yeah.”

“Aren’t you a Mage?”

“Yeah.”

“Then how did you heal me when you’re not a Healer?”

Jun provided Aurelius with the same answer presented to Ophelia a year ago. “It’s all magic.” 

He didn’t mind explaining the various types of magic again. In the bedroom, Raven had been eavesdropping on this conversation. As he listened to Jun explain light and dark magic, he became enlightened. This person’s knowledge of magic was much more advanced than any other Mage he crossed paths with during his travels. 

“If you don’t believe me, I can show you after we eat.” Jun glanced in the direction of where Raven stood hidden behind the door. “You can join us too, other sir.”

Realizing he had been found out, Raven no longer bothered hiding and stepped out into the main room. “Thank you for healing me.” He said to Jun. Compared to Aurelius, Raven didn’t have as hard a time believing what this man claimed.

“You’re welcome.” Jun smiled and began to prepare and set the bowls on the table with Ophelia’s help. Raven noticed the blindfold.

“Your eyes?” 

Turning around, Jun untied his blindfold. Because he was almost certain they were Azazel and Elior, he wasn't against revealing himself to the villain or the protagonist. “I’m blind.”

“A Dark Omen…?” Aurelius was astonished, yet again. His tone caused Ophelia to stomp her feet, indignant.

“Teacher cured me of my burn scar.  Teacher is not a Dark Omen!”

“… What?” 

Today was a day full of surprises for Aurelius, whose worldview was crumbling away the better he got to know Jun Ainsley. While they ate dinner, Ophelia had no problems regaling the tale of how she met Jun and their journey together the past year. Jun kept quiet, allowing her to chatter away happily. But seeing was believing, and Aurelius didn't believe anything until Jun demonstrated he could use all magic types in front of him, even combining them.

“How is this possible?” He wondered aloud. “Our entire understanding of magic…”

“Just isn’t that developed yet,” Jun commented. “... And I’m a magical genius.”

“Who taught you?” Aurelius asked.

“Self-taught. Or should I say some Sage entered my dreams and taught me?” Jun joked while laughing. It was somewhat like that in the training room.

“I’d believe that,” Aurelius admitted.

“It’s late.” Jun yawned as he stood up and retreated to his room. Having used up most of his mana alleviating the villain and protagonist of their corruption, he needed to replenish it with sleep. “Time to rest.”

The following day Aurelius and Raven woke up to be served breakfast consisting of some fresh-cut fruit and leftover stew. They didn’t mind the leftovers as the stew tasted quite good. 

Aurelius still had some questions. “My corruption, did you cure it?”

“Yeah.” Jun dipped some bread into the stew and took a bite, savoring the taste. 

“How?” Aurelius gulped as he watched Jun. His throat felt dry.

Without impatience, Jun elaborated some more. This world’s knowledge of magic could use improvement, especially if people were willing to heed and learn from him.

“… That is why no one could ever completely cure corruption.” 

Not only did it require the combination of light and water magic, curing used up a significant amount of mana and concentration. Whenever the Shields in Aurelius’s party aided him, the time it took for him to feel normal again was hours spread over several days to accommodate some break for the Shields to persist. To think this person managed to cure his corruption in mere minutes—indeed a genius.

“If you think about it, when you destroy the Dark Flames, you are using the same kind of magic. I just don’t understand why Swords become corrupted over time…” It wasn't clarified in the plot so Jun could only guess.

“I can’t use magic,” Aurelius confessed. “I’m just a person capable of wielding a Sword blessed by the Father.” 

There was something like that in the plot, but Jun doubted Aurelius couldn’t use magic. Their knowledge might not be that advanced, but this world was teeming with mana, perhaps even too much. Jun thought about it a little before speaking again. “Do you mind if I check your magic aptitude?”

“You can do that?” Aurelius asked with wonder. Most people discovered they could use magic by accident. There had never been any means to detect one’s magical aptitude before.

“I have to touch you. Just holding your hand is fine.” Jun held out his hand and waited. When Aurelius placed his hand in Jun’s, he blushed. This man was too good-looking. “Hmm…”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, you just have too much potential.” Wasn’t that a good thing? Why did Jun sound hesitant? Frankly, Jun was upset there was someone capable of wielding such strong light magic, even more so than himself. What happened to being a genius? “Do you mind if I take a look at your Sword?”

“I don’t mind,” Aurelius said. “But I don’t know if you’ll be able to hold it…”

Most people suffered a rebound when trying to wield a Sword and they weren’t capable of it.

“Should be fine.” Jun shrugged. Aurelius retrieved his Sword and passed it over with some hesitation. Upon seeing Jun grip his Sword without any repercussions, he was again in awe. “Hmm… So that’s what it is.”

Aurelius scooted closer to Jun. “What is it?”

“I can’t confirm until I check the other sir…”

Raven, who had been sitting there the entire time and had been paying attention, spoke: “You can call me Ray.”

He reached for Jun’s hand and firmly held it. Recognizing that he hadn’t properly introduced himself, Aurelius interjected, “And I’m Ark.”

“Hmm, ok.” Jun was already assessing Raven’s body and magical aptitude. These two men, half brothers, were virtually each other’s opposite. No wonder one was the protagonist and the other the villain. “Can I check your Sword too?” 

Raven promptly handed his Sword over. After checking both Swords, Jun confirmed his suspicions. In that case, was it the same situation for all Swords? Aurelius couldn’t contain himself anymore and grabbed Jun’s shoulders. “What is it?”

“Well… I believe that Dark Flames are just an accidental, natural occurrence when fire magic and dark magic happen to merge…”

As for the Swords, both Aurelius and Raven had several types of magical aptitude. While Aurelius could wield light, dark, and water—light being his strongest aptitude—Raven could wield light, dark, and fire—dark being his strongest aptitude. Their physical Swords were something akin to magic staffs, meant to channel their light magic into the Sword.

Perhaps it was the only way the people of this world knew how to use light magic to attack. However, because the Swords were a “channel,” wielders with the addition of dark magic aptitude would inadvertently become corrupted. After all, dark magic was exceptionally attracted to other dark magic, which was why Dark Flames always pursued Jun.

For someone like Raven with an especially high dark magic potential, it was easy for him to be corrupted. This was also why he wasn’t as effective as a Sword as Aurelius because he lacked the crucial water magic aptitude. Based on what the plot implied, it was plausible all Swords had at least light and dark magic aptitude if they could all be corrupted.

“You said the Sword was blessed by the Father?” Jun asked Aurelius.

“Yes, it is said he was given each Sword by the God of Life.”

Father. God of Life. These terms sounded somewhat… familiar.

—

A/N: I am debating whether or not to completely rewrite the next arc, because I was unsatisfied with it. If I do, I will recycle it for part of my next story idea. I haven’t started writing it yet and don’t plan to until I’m completely done with editing this one. But here’s a little preview: 

深い川 Fukai Kawa / Deep River

The guild Deep River only has 5 members, each one a god: Demon Berserker “REN”, Merman Enchanter “Whimsical”, Dark Elf Mage “KEN”, Dragon Knight “Ego,” and Human Farmer “YuYuYuki.”

Wait...

Human?

Farmer?

Who the hell would choose such a boring race and NPC-esque class? Also, since when was there a farmer class!?

Morgan Yuu wanted to enjoy his summer break by playing a peaceful single-player 2D farming simulation game. But in a futuristic world dominated by VR and VRMMORPGs, such retro games were obsolete. Alas, he was stuck with the game Rhea’s Gate, the popular new VRMMORPG. Why? It was the only VRMMORPG that offered a Farmer class. No matter what, he, Morgan Yuu, was going to play a farming simulation game!

Guide/Sentinel Setting with Gaming Elements/LitRPG, a harem with 4 MLs, transmigrator/reborn MC uke/shou, Gender Bender (as always lol)

One day, I will stop writing poly stories… Cough. But not any time soon 😆