After the meeting, Jaesang Lee left his lodging and headed toward the nearby mountain.

The mountain was so dark that without magical light, it was impossible to see anything ahead.

But he had his reasons for hurrying.

“I need to understand the essence of black mana better while I have the time.”

Until now, he had focused on purifying and using the black mana he absorbed.

But with constant battles, he couldn’t afford to spend all his time on purification.

Hadn’t it taken less than three months to go from facing a low-level dark mage to meeting Min Haejin?

Jaesang had to acknowledge that time wasn’t always on his side.

“Are you sure about this, Contractor?”

Cynthia, who had been summoned, asked with concern.

Jaesang had asked her to attack him.

“I’m sure.”

“Really? Really, really, really sure?”

“Yes, really.”

Reassuring her, Jaesang enveloped himself in a mana shield.

“Promise you won’t get hurt?”

Still looking anxious, Cynthia gathered mana in her hands.

Jaesang had asked her to hit him with her strongest attack.

‘But maybe that’s too much…’

In the end, what she launched was merely a soccer ball-sized water orb.

Jaesang stood there, looking unimpressed.

“I said, hit me properly.”

The increased mana had enhanced Jaesang’s overall magical abilities.

And that included his connection with spirits.

Pure mana spirits.

With his current mana, he could unleash about 70% of the power he had once drawn from the Spirit Forest.

“But… what if you get hurt…?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“Ugh…”

If it had been a request from his past life, from Min Haejun, she would have refused without hesitation.

But now, things were different.

“That face of yours, asking like that, it’s really unfair.”

Jaesang’s smile was like an irresistible spell to her.

“…Gemut, if it gets dangerous, you’ll stop it, right?”

After hearing Gemut’s response, Cynthia took a deep breath.

“Really. I’m doing it?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Jaesang ready, she began to channel her mana.

The blue mana shimmered like water, enveloping her.

As it spread light in all directions, the air began to rise.

The mana slowly coalesced.

In front of her, a massive water droplet began to form.

Before launching the attack, Cynthia hesitated, looking at Jaesang.

His handsome face still wore a relaxed smile.

‘Don’t worry, just shoot.’

It was as if she heard him say that.

“If you get hurt, I’ll kill you.”

Resolute, she began to move the mana.

Soon, the massive water droplet shot toward Jaesang.

– Whoosh!!!

The giant water droplet flew with a splash and a gust of wind.

‘Let’s do this.’

Jaesang summoned the black mana within him.

Though its essence was the same as blue mana, it felt much harder to control.

Its violent nature threatened to burst in all directions.

Like taming a wild dog, the black mana raged.

‘…No.’

In a brief moment, Jaesang collected his thoughts.

‘The essence is the same. Black mana is still mana.’

And handling mana was…

‘What I’m best at!’

– Whoosh!

The massive water droplet sped toward him.

Cynthia covered her mouth.

The black mana surrounding Jaesang seemed out of control, thrashing wildly.

“Ge, Gemut!”

She called out urgently.

But Jaesang stopped Gemut.

The water droplet was now less than 10 meters away.

‘Mana is mana.’

9 meters.

‘Control isn’t the answer.’

8 meters.

His eyes glowed blue, and time seemed to slow as his thoughts quickened.

‘The essence of black mana isn’t defense. That’s why dark mages use decay as a shield instead of defensive spells.’

7 meters.

‘So.’

6 meters.

‘The answer isn’t defense.’

With newfound clarity, Jaesang didn’t try to control the black mana.

Instead, he unleashed it, allowing it to manifest its true nature.

5 meters.

The massive mana surged toward him.

4 meters.

Cynthia covered her mouth again.

3, 2, 1 meter.

The massive water droplet was right in front of him.

‘Devour it.’

The black mana shot out.

Though it lacked a defined form, the black mana, like a beast, began to push back the water droplet.

“…!”

Cynthia’s eyes widened.

As far as she knew, Jaesang had never used black mana before.

With just intuition and skill, he had mastered the black mana.

– Whoosh….

The black mana absorbed the water droplet, growing larger.

“How…!”

She was astonished once more.

A spell without a theme, absorbing other mana to grow stronger, as if it had a will of its own.

Cynthia’s mana was naturally absorbed by the black mana and then—

– Boom!

It exploded in a single burst.

The shockwave spread in all directions.

Amidst the fierce wind, Jaesang’s lips curled into a smile.

‘Success.’

It was much easier than he had anticipated.

“Contractor!!”

As soon as the wind subsided, Cynthia rushed over.

“Are you hurt?! Let me see your face! Are you hurt?!”

“I’m not hurt. Oh, just a little scratch here.”

“Where! Where are you hurt?”

“Just a small scratch on the back of my hand.”

“Oh, really? Phew. So your face is fine. That’s a relief.”

“…”

Jaesang looked at Cynthia, exasperated.

“So, what just happened?”

“I used the nature of black mana.”

While pure blue mana could manifest in any form with great versatility, black mana, with its inherent aggression, was specialized for offensive magic.

That’s why he used the mana in an offensive form rather than for defense.

“Is that even possible?”

“It worked.”

“I can’t even do that.”

“It worked.”

Annoyed by his curt replies, Cynthia glared at Jaesang, but soon her mood lifted.

‘…He is handsome.’

His face was so pleasing that it felt like the real magic was in his looks.

“Hmm.”

“What? Is something wrong?”

“No.”

Jaesang shook his head.

The explosion from the mana collision.

Perhaps.

‘Could I combine the two types of mana to create a new kind of magic?’

It was still just a baseless possibility, a mere hypothesis.

But the thought of new magical possibilities made Jaesang’s lips curl into a smile.

“Let’s head back. I need to try this again tomorrow.”

Just as they were about to leave—

“Aaaah!!!”

A scream pierced the night.

***

Due to various incidents, most of the students had their schedules canceled and were stuck in their lodgings all day.

But not everyone stayed put.

There are always adventurous students.

Liz was one of those, sneaking out of her dorm at night despite Shin Haeryeong’s warnings.

After wandering around for quite some time, she found herself—

“Hmm~ Where am I…?”

Completely lost.

“Wasn’t this the right way…? Or not?”

Having come quite far, the road, with only a few streetlights, was perfect for getting lost.

There wasn’t even anyone around to ask for directions.

“Hmm~ Do you see anything?”

[Chirp….]

The small bird perched on her head responded dejectedly.

It was Gerard, a low-level wind spirit.

“Why are you sulking? It’s my fault for coming to a weird place.”

The little bird nodded vigorously in agreement.

“Hey! Don’t just nod like that!”

[Chirp!]

With its wings tucked at its sides, Gerard was scolding Liz.

‘Why is he like this lately?’

Liz felt a bit hurt by Gerard’s cold reaction.

Recently, the spirit hadn’t been as supportive as before.

When they first made the contract, he was so obedient.

‘Is he going through a rebellious phase?’

She brushed it off lightly, but Gerard had his reasons.

As a low-level spirit, he couldn’t think too deeply, but—

[This master is too careless!]

—he could think that much.

Gerard realized he had to be strict to protect his carefree contractor.

[Chirp!]

“Well, it’s true I shouldn’t have come out like this, but still!”

[Chirp!]

The little bird’s scolding continued.

Most of it was variations of “Why did you come out so recklessly?”

“You’re too harsh….”

Finally, Liz, feeling dejected, covered her face and sniffled, causing Gerard to flutter his wings in surprise.

[Chirp! Chirp!]

Hearing the sniffles, Gerard hovered in front of Liz’s face, unsure of what to do.

“Hee.”

But the sound that followed was not a sob, but a giggle.

“Heehee.”

Gerard saw it.

The corners of her mouth sneaking upward as she pretended to cry.

Liz removed her hands from her face and spun around, holding Gerard in her hands.

“Are you trying to comfort me?”

[…]

Feigning tears.

Gerard felt foolish for genuinely worrying, and his eyes narrowed.

She was a truly challenging contractor.

“Hmm. So, where are we, Gerard?”

Placing Gerard back on her head, Liz looked around again.

The dark surroundings were, unsurprisingly, no different from before.

“Hmm. Should we walk?”

[Chirp!!]

“Hey, staying here won’t change anything! If we keep walking, we’ll find a familiar path.”

Gerard tried his best to stop her, but it was no use.

Finally, Liz started walking, heading straight into the darkness without a moment’s hesitation.

She moved forward guided only by instinct, not bothering to look around.

“Wait… why are there trees here?”

When she came to her senses, she found herself in a forest.

In that instant, Liz went from being lost to being stranded.

Gerard, with his tiny beak, began pecking at Liz incessantly.

“Ouch! Gerard! That hurts!”

He was doing it on purpose.

“Hey? Wait! Gerard, hold on!”

Holding the furious Gerard in her hands, Liz began sniffing the air around her.

“This smell…”

It was the scent of dark mana.

A thick, heavy scent of dark mana, and it was close by.

“Should we check it out?”

[Kyuu…?!]

The spirit could sense the dark mana too.

Naturally, Gerard wanted to stop Liz.

No matter how powerful a dragon her contractor was, seeking out the source of dark mana alone was dangerous.

Especially in a deserted forest.

Gerard didn’t have much experience, but he didn’t need any to know this was a bad idea.

“Ouch, ouch… why do you keep pecking me?”

He had to stop her.

Facing a dark sorcerer alone was out of the question.

But Liz was undeterred.

In the end, all Gerard could do was hope nothing bad would happen.

As they followed the scent, they ventured deeper into the forest.

‘Wait, over there.’

Whispering, Liz hid behind a tree.

‘Huh? Is that… Jaeho?’

In the distance, she saw Bae Jaeho.

It wasn’t the first time she’d caught a whiff of dark mana from him.

During their first spirit studies class, when she met Gerard, she had smelled it briefly then too.

‘Wasn’t a mistake after all?’

As Jaeho began to look around, Liz held her breath, hiding behind the tree.

‘Did he notice me?’

She covered her mouth with her hand, watching carefully.

– Crunch, crunch.

Fortunately, Jaeho seemed unaware and walked away.

Only when his footsteps faded completely did Liz emerge from behind the tree.

[Kyuu…]

Gerard looked worried.

He was concerned that his contractor might continue this dangerous pursuit.

“Let’s go.”

[…]

The moment his fears were realized, Gerard covered his small face with his wings.

He considered trying to persuade her but quickly dismissed the idea.

He couldn’t recall a single time Liz had listened to him.

[Kyuu…!]

In the end, all Gerard could do was steel himself.

He vowed to save her if she ever found herself in danger.

With that resolve, the wind spirit folded his wings tightly.

“Gerard, you’re all fired up too!”

That wasn’t it.

“Great. That’s the spirit. We have to satisfy our curiosity.”

[Kyuu…]

Gerard sighed deeply, half-closing his eyes at Liz’s obliviousness.

Then suddenly.

His round eyes caught sight of something.

[Kyuu…! Kyuu!!!! Kyuu!!!!!!!]

Gerard frantically flapped his wings, hitting Liz on the head.

“Ouch, Gerard! What’s there…?”

Turning her head in the direction Gerard indicated, Liz froze.

Less than ten meters away, something stood.

‘A black figure…?’

It had a human shape.

But was there ever a human three meters tall?

At least, not that Liz knew of.

And those red eyes!

‘It’s not human!’

Even Liz couldn’t help but feel fear in the face of the unknown.

She tried to back away slowly.

But at that moment.

The black figure’s head turned towards Liz.

“…!”

After a brief pause, the figure spotted Liz and grinned.

White teeth gleamed in the darkness.

Trying to suppress her fear, Liz forced a smile and waved.

The black figure responded briefly.

[Ah….]

“Ah? Saying hello?”

Liz spoke casually, despite her tension.

But in the next instant.

– Thud, thud, thud!!!

The black figure started charging at them.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!”

[Kyuuuuuu!!!!]

There was no time to decide who reacted first.

Both Liz and Gerard screamed.

They ran without looking back.

“What is that, what is that, what is that!”

[Kyuu!!!!]

“Okay! I won’t do this again next time!!!”

Unable to argue with Gerard’s blame, she fled.

After running for what felt like ages.

Liz stopped and looked back.

“I-I think it’s not following us?”

The sound from behind had ceased.

The scent of dark mana had vanished too.

– Rustle!

“Eek!!!”

Startled by the sudden noise, Liz shrank back, retreating.

– Rustle, rustle.

She clamped her mouth shut.

Something was approaching.

Was it the black figure from before?

“…No. I won’t run.”

Liz steeled herself.

“If it’s dangerous, I have to deal with it. The others could get hurt.”

As a dragon, she wouldn’t be easily threatened.

[Kyuu…!]

Gerard nodded, sharing her resolve.

“Let’s go!”

[Kyuu!!!!]

Without hesitation, they ran towards the rustling sound.

If the black figure appeared, they planned to attack immediately.

[Kyuu! Kyuu!]

Gerard was the first to charge.

His tiny beak pecked furiously at something.

Liz prepared to throw a punch too.

But something felt off.

“Ouch! What is this! Who’s there!”

A human voice?

Liz halted her punch and looked ahead.

The forest was shrouded in darkness.

And there, standing before her.

“…Teacher?”

It was Lee Jaesang.

“Liz?”

Gerard stopped his attack and returned to Liz, looking confused.

“What are you doing here?”

Tears welled up in Liz’s eyes.

With a hiccup, she rushed forward and grabbed Lee Jaesang’s arm.

“T-Teacher…!”

“???”

Completely baffled, Lee Jaesang could only tilt his head in confusion.