Chapter 62
181 0 1
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

After Shalia poisoned by giving him something she shouldn’t have and discovering that he had a witch bloodline, Marcel decided to awaken it, becoming Sephana’s student as well as Claude’s.  

With this new arrangement, his life following his meeting with Ains has been very hectic and busy. Now he was studying and practicing alchemy, learning extreme magic control and unconventional healing methods in addition to his other daily activities. How did this happen? Well, it all began with Shalia and Allan being curious about what kind of witch Marcel was?  

[Flashback]  

Wanting to know what kind of witch Marcel was, the two aided him in finding out by having him try using the various gifts that came with being specific witches; starting first with the ones they were most familiar with: Alchemic witches.  

The two suggested Marcel try his hands at alchemy and after convincing or more like pushing him into doing it to discover as much as he could about the gifts of witches, Shalia and Allan began instructing him.  

Starting his journey into the abyss that is alchemy, the two had him start small with things like making a cloak, which turned out to be a success, or at least they thought so since Marcel was showing the gift that alchemic witches possessed. They thought he was like them and had him learn to make a few more stuff for them before they discovered that Marcel might be a whole different breed compared to them. After Marcel made the item they’d requested of him, the results caused them to ban him from ever showing his alchemy to anyone excluding those who already knew he was a witch, almost including his other friends in the ban.  

What was the reason for this ban? Well, the main cause of it was Marcel’s magic purity, or rather, what his magic makes. His magic is way too pure and unblemished compared to others that every ingredient he tried to refine gained the same nature as his magic: purity. All the ingredients were thoroughly cleansed of their impurities that whatever he made turned out the best of its grade.   

A simple magic staff he was told to make turned into an actual magic catalyst, capable of directing 100% of its user’s magic without any disturbance in the flow of power. This disturbance is normally caused by alchemists’ inability to thoroughly refine the materials used in making the staff. This disturbance made it that magic staffs, at their best, could only exhibit around 85 to 90% of the power they should theoretically possess, well, except for if a master like the ‘god’ himself made it but with Marcel around to make the items, the items could show their full potential every single time.   

Marcel was essentially the perfect living, breathing alchemic cauldron. Sure, this would make him a celebrity in the alchemic world if this secret was to ever come to light but what use is it if he’s turned into a living factory? Sure, that wouldn’t be allowed to happen to the Demon Lord’s wife and the entire craftsmanship world would protect him but the cost of such protection would be his freedom and rest.  

To keep their friend from suffering such a fate and to make some extra money because, who am I kidding, realizing your best friend can make premium goods without any big effort is enough to make anyone’s eyes sparkle with immense greed. They were no better but alas, Marcel still had to be protected so they decided to use their influence as famous alchemic witches to auction off his products in the largest auction house in Sizburn. Quickly after doing this, people willing to pay exorbitant sums of money for such treasures soon fought amongst themselves to attain Marcel’s produced items because they could.  

Although everything Marcel made turned out to be the premium goods within the finished product’s expected grade, he still needed to learn how to refine higher-ranked items one at a time. He needed to learn how to improve the overall quality of items like a normal alchemist although unnecessary because of whatever he is and how to combine seemingly random materials to create something good. It wasn’t because, ahem, their confidence as alchemists was slightly bruised by a rookie that wasn’t even a century old doing something they couldn’t. 

No, this wasn’t because with magic as pure and potent in quality as Marcel’s, he could become a master alchemist if he’s made to train but more of a ‘let’s teach this little prick who’s boss’ kind of situation. This plan backfired though as Marcel looked towards them with trusting eyes and the little freak was also interested and a fast learner. They were getting along swimmingly with their new alchemist companion and worst of it all was they enjoyed every second they spent with him. How frustrating!   

With that, Marcel and his two friends work with alchemy, practicing only when both they were with him as not to cause more of a stir than he already has. Seriously, why does everything about Marcel’s entire existence always puts him in danger? Marcel’s three maids are already freaking out from learning the news about their young master from Claude. Marcel’s not-so-safe situation anymore had caused them to become extra vigilant and together with all the other staff in the Demon Lord’s castle, they did their best to keep the bigger master’s fiancé protected without his knowledge. Marcel sees everyone jittery and wonders why but never gets a proper answer, ah poor ignorant boy!  

With Allan and Shalia’s little experiment, the resident of the castle along with a few other parties who knew about Marcel’s unique body also learned what he could do by transferring his unique attribute unto other things in various ways and now, Vitalis added the ‘Alchemist’ title to his other titles to make his life even easier. Just what was she thinking by making the life of a lucky boy like him even easier? Ugh, so partial!  

<< I can hear you, stupid narrator! >>  

Oops! Moving on, back to something that isn’t Marcel’s alchemy: his magic control training.  

Having agreed to teach Marcel more about how to control his immense mana that constantly made him unstable every time he got stronger if he became a witch, Sephana got to it. This skill was something any fully-fledged witch should have mastered in their early ages as a child. Since Marcel is technically an 18-year-old guy human-wise, it was still acceptable to have him start learning now.  

‘But narrator, why are you telling us irrelevant and boring stuff like Marcel learning extreme magic control? You could just skip forward to show us what we all want; the development between Marcel and the Demon Lord in the future.’ Someone’s probably this, right?  

Well, the answer’s simple! Stuff like this has more to do with the aftermath of events to come. As all over the place as this entire tale might seem, it must all come down to a fine conclusion or at least, a half-decent one. Besides, what’s supposed to happen after the final victor of the Demon Lord’s and Marcel’s battle is decided? The end? Haha, so funny!  

Okay, back to where I left off. Right, Sephana’s Q&A! To discover which path, she was going to take to teach the little guy, she first had to know a few things.  

“How do you draw magic from inside yourself to use?” She asked.  

“Um, I don’t! It just comes naturally. I think it and it happens!”  

“Okay, I see! How about the amount of magic power you use when casting spells?”  

“Don’t really pay much attention to that but I’ve tried paying more attention to it since I learned Allan’s ‘Spell Catalyst’ technique and the Demon Lord’s magic control technique but those two don’t work well for me. As much as I try to control it, it sometimes just doesn’t work, like when one does something they aren’t used to.”  

“Hmm, I see! Then let’s begin!” She said, having already an idea of how to continue. Before she began putting the idea she had into motion, however, she first had to conduct a little experiment.  

Having figured out what to do with the ‘little monster’ as she calls him, she immediately got to it and had Marcel... cast as many spells as he could in repetition until he couldn’t anymore. This was tedious and after a while, the spells started breaking up and some started going rogue.  

Oh, and this was all done in a darkness-spatial element composite spell-created space that was there, in her lab before he knew it. She told him to cast the spells without worries like everything would be fine and being skeptical at first, he used wind and waters spells before when nothing happened to the things in the room he could only see as outlines of their former existence, he went big with his favorite elements: fire, ice, and lightning, then earth and all the others, except well, the summon element because it isn’t appropriate for this particular occasion and strangely, his connection to Ains outside has somehow being weakened. Just what was this power that can even cut of connections to souls? Spoiler, it’s just someone’s aura and Sephana’s jobs and titles have more to do with soul-related affinities than any other of the Demon Lord’s Chosen Ones. Whoops, did anyone forget all about the Chosen Ones or just me?  

Ahem... back to business. After casting spells like a madman till he couldn’t anymore after forty-five minutes of repetitive casting which eventually cause them to destabilize and run wild. Sephana had him stop before he hurt himself, not that it mattered since she could fix him up. After that, she began explaining something very important that Marcel apparently never learned because of his ‘special situation.’  

Normally, a magic caster has to first do two things before they begin spell casting: one, deducing the amount of magic power needed for the transfer of spells from the dreamscape to reality, and two, drawing out said amount from their magic pool for the spell before trying to cast them. It might sound complicated but it isn’t, if you aren’t Marcel, that is.  

The reason Marcel can’t seem to control his magic properly as his power grows is that his body isn’t giving him the necessary time needed to take this step. His magic pool is constantly being filled with magic directly from the source. This means that whatever amount of magic he takes from his pool for things like casting spells or strengthening his body is refueled, and this comes with a very big problem.  

When he started casting the spells Sephana had him do earlier, he began having fairly good control over his magic and continued to maintain it for about twenty minutes but then after he switched to much the bigger, more powerful spells, things quickly spiraled out of control. He could no longer measure the proper amount of magic power needed for the spells, although that entire process normally happens subconsciously.  

His magic pool was constantly getting refilled and he began taking larger and larger amounts of magic from his reserves until eventually, it was so much and almost unnecessary that the spells’ power increased beyond their intended power and almost threatened to hurt their caster as well. This is the biggest problem Marcel has and don’t get me started on what happens every time his magic reserves’ size increases with his strength.  

Whenever Marcel’s magic reserves’ capacity increases, he faces a problem that threatens to destabilize his growth and potentially kill him. With each growth in his overall magic capacity, control over the magic within it gets even harder and unstable. Let’s say, for example; let’s say Marcel needs one percent of his magic power to cast a certain spell he needs after getting stronger. When he tries to take out that one percent of magic power he needs, his body automatically sends him what he needs but anyone who knows basic math should know that this one percent increases with the increase of his overall magic capacity.   

As someone who usually doesn’t bother with small details, Marcel doesn’t subconsciously change the one percent he needs to fixed parameters like ‘one percent of my former magic capacity’ or ‘just enough that the spell doesn’t go awry’. He just keeps it at a constant ‘one percent’. As you might have guessed, this makes it even harder for someone with infinite magic power constantly filling up his reserves to give subconscious orders like ‘two percent more of my magic reserves’ when it’s always at a hundred percent capacity.  

This is probably the only downside to having infinite magic power. It destabilizes your body and makes you not only unstable inside but outside as well as your own spells threaten to destroy you. It also makes it even harder for someone like him who’s always making progress in strength. Even the Demon Lord’s magic control technique doesn’t help much anymore. If this continues, his magic strength will far outrank his body’s and that will make him highly unstable. To combat this, Sephana has to result to that type of training.  

To solve this problem unique to only Marcel because let’s face it, he was born to be special, she had to give him atomic-level conscious control over the magic inside of him. He needed to know how to control it to the smallest detail and in this way, affect his subconsciousness to solve some of his problems. If he can control the magic inside his body by heart, he can stunt any problems he faces after he’s magically stronger while waiting for his body strength to catch up. For now, he’s relatively safe but after his magical strength starts overpowering his physical, he will be in constant danger. A shame.... whoops, you aren’t supposed to know that. Almost let a big secret slip there.   

Back to business! Sephana, after what she’d just examined from studying Marcel’s body while casting spells for almost an hour, asked him further questions on how he casts his spells.  

“I just visualize and cast.” He answered and the lady, couldn’t help but facepalm herself. This was the missing link between his magic control and spell-casting. This little guy just let it rip, not even consciously try to do the magic amount calculations or the other stuff he has to before beginning the casting process. That... is so sloppy!  

For her next question, she asked, “Do you ever try to estimate the amount of magic needed for the spell you’re casting?” She figured he at least did that much once in a while. After all, she added that to her explanation earlier.  

Marcel let out an awkward laugh and answered, “No! It just happens naturally as well.” Ah, how much Sephana wanted to punch him in the face because he was missing even the basics of magic control will never be known to the world.  

She took a deep breath in before sighing, “Listen, Marcel! Being a mage isn’t easy, just like how being a doctor doesn’t mean you can cure any ailment. As a doctor, do you know the primary think I work with?”  

“Healing spells, natural remedies, and special magic?”  

“Nope, it’s cells. They exist in each and every living organism and they control natural processes. Our natural healing, five or six senses depending on who we are, and even how we age. They’re what literally gives beings with physical bodies life and we’d all be spiritual lifeforms without them.” Sephana explained.   

“Ooh, they sound interesting!” Marcel’s eyes sparked with vigor as he stared at her. Sephana thought to continue explaining because this had a lot to do with Marcel’s training anyway.  

“Do you know why we live much longer lives in the demon realms than in the human realms?”  

“Um, the magic and air quality of the world here is different?” Marcel was unsure if his answer was enough but he was sure that the two things he mentioned have a lot to do with the inhabitants of the demon realm’s longer lifespan.  

“And not just that, the cells in this world are highly advanced and intricate too. The cells in our bodies are so advanced that they can even process and use magic power to keep themselves fresh, like rejuvenators. You must have also noticed that you heal a lot faster now compared to your former self. Cells also help with fighting diseases and help our bodies evolve too. We live much longer, less diseased lives compared to humans thanks to them.”  

“But why are the cells of humans much different from ours?” The little guy asked the doctor who was glad he was interested in learning from her. Normally, when she spoke about this in front of her 713 pupils; yes, she has those, they looked full of dread and utterly miserable instead of interested. They looked like they were getting tortured compared with Marcel who listened attentively. She was enjoying this lesson she was giving Marcel.  

“It’s because humans were built that way. Their creator probably did that on purpose to get them to adapt to their surroundings eventually and thus, made their bodies much weaker. Humans are still in the middle of evolving, make no mistake, and someday, they might stand on equal grounds as us, well... if they don’t destroy themselves along the way, that is.” She smiled heartily. How could this woman talk about such serious matters with a bright smile like it was no big deal?  

After that, she continued to explain in further detail along with their connection with physical strength and magic before finally elucidating on what doctors did as well as their difference from priests and other healing magic users. To treat the sick, according to her, a healer or doctor uses their magic control skills to not only empower and manipulate cells to serve a specific function but to also see different parts inside their patient’s body, noticing even the slightest activity of the cells inside the body. Sephana can do a lot of things thanks to her mastery of magic control and manipulation skills.   

For Marcel’s training, he was first going to practice magic control and further his understanding of how magic and the skills the Demon Lord and Allan bestowed upon him by adapting it into something that works for him with the knowledge he’s been given. After giving Marcel this assignment, she said that she had some business to deal with and that she would be back in a few days’ time, expecting that by the time she returns, he would have already learned to move magic around in small objects like heart dummies. After that, she changed her appearance with magic control then she grabbed a bag, which she doesn’t need, but it’s full of cream puffs, then teleported away. Ha, these prodigy siblings and their transformations? Just how many personas do they have anyway?  

[End of Flashback]  

Now that Sephana has sort of half-done her job and left what she considered the bare minimum for him to practice on and figure out for himself, he’s been very diligent. Ugh, he’s the type who actually works when told to. Minor pushover but that’s fine, I guess.  

1