"It's fine, Merlin. Let's begin today's lesson," said the blonde girl Merlin had called "Lia."
"Ah, of course. But before that, why don't you have a match with your future retainer?
Don't worry, you can release half your magical energy. You don't need to worry about hurting him. He's half-dragon too." As he spoke, Merlin tossed the wooden sword in his hand to Lia.
Lia caught the sword Merlin tossed her with ease, the tuft of hair sticking up above her forehead bobbing slightly.
"Half-dragon too... is he? All right, since Merlin says so-
My name is Artoria Pendragon.
What's your name, boy?"
After hearing Merlin call him her "future retainer," Artoria understood that she could trust the unfamiliar white-haired boy before her, so she gave him her full name.
"My name is Sovell. Sovell Pendragon."
"What?!
Merlin, what's going on?! Why does he have the name Pendragon too?
My sister and I should be the only surviving Pendragons of our generation."
Artoria questioned Merlin with disbelief written across her face.
"He isn't a true Pendragon. He's an abandoned child of a white dragon whom Vortigern found in the forest of magical beasts."
"Merlin... you really don't mince words," Sovell said, sounding somewhat displeased.
"Sorry, that was rude of me.
In any case, he left Vortigern for certain reasons, and I saved him.
In return, he agreed to study under me and become your retainer in the future. From today onward, he'll train in swordsmanship with you every evening."
"All right, Sir Sovell. You have my deepest sympathy for what you've been through, but I won't go easy on you.
Are you ready? Here I come!"
Sovell watched the girl before him raise her wooden sword in both hands, her jade-green eyes meeting his silver gaze.
An oppressive aura bore down on him, as though he stood before a true pureblood dragon.
He swallowed instinctively and took a few deep breaths. Then his gaze sharpened.
"Come, girl of the red dragon."
Sovell reinforced his muscles and heart with magical energy. His strengthened dragon heart pumped out a steady stream of energy to sustain his dragon transformation.
The pressure before him eased considerably. He held his sword diagonally before his chest, ready to meet her attack.
"Three-
Two-
One...
Begin!"
The girl charged at him, slashing toward his chest.
Bang!
Her sword was knocked aside, the force of their clash making the wooden swords ring out.
Tap.
The boy swung his sword upward, but the girl braced her blade against it and blocked him.
Clack!
Then, before he could react, she twisted her sword with even greater speed, disarmed him, and thrust at him, stopping an inch short of his throat.
"I lost. Your swordsmanship is incredibly sharp, Artoria," Sovell said to the girl before him.
"No, Sir Sovell. For a beginner, your reactions were already quite impressive.
Merlin, how long have you been teaching him?" Artoria asked Merlin.
"Five or six hours."
"What exceptional talent. Well then, Sovell, I look forward to learning alongside you.
I'm not a king yet, and you're not my retainer yet either. There's no need to worry about etiquette. From now on, let's treat each other as friends."
Artoria smiled and extended her hand to the boy.
The girl before him was as lovely as a pure, delicate lily. Looking at her, Sovell couldn't help freezing for a moment.
He could scarcely believe that this petite girl was the "demon lord" who had defeated him in just three moves.
Then he came to his senses, stepped forward, and gently clasped her hand.
"All right. I look forward to learning alongside you too."
Watching the two children before him, Merlin's lips curved slightly upward. Things had begun moving toward the happy ending he hoped for.
Although Merlin couldn't fully understand or express human emotions, he still instinctively liked beautiful things, even if he couldn't understand their meaning.
The sparring session in the dream soon ended. After parting with Artoria, Sovell left the dream, opened his eyes, stood up, and said:
"My body really is still tired. Will you teach me magecraft today, Merlin?"
A breeze swept past, lifting flower petals into the air. A figure emerged from among them: Merlin.
Merlin tossed Sovell a black shirt identical to the one in the dream. As Sovell put it on, he replied:
"That's right. Magecraft is a required subject for any accomplished warrior too. Healing, binding, and swift movement are all spells you must learn.
But before that, I need to determine your magical affinity and Origin so I can choose what kind of magecraft to teach you.
Stay still and keep your breathing steady. I'll use my magical energy to examine your magic circuits."
Merlin placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.
Time ticked by, and Sovell felt a warm current traveling through his veins.
When Merlin's magical energy reached Sovell's eyes, he couldn't help marveling inwardly. This child's eyes... how fortunate.
Five minutes passed, and Merlin removed his hand from the boy's shoulder.
"Excellent talent. Wind attribute, and your magical Origin is 'Construction.' You're also fortunate enough to possess a pair of innate mystic eyes, the 'noble color' of mystic eyes.
Now, try gathering a small amount of magical energy in your eyeballs. Don't worry about damaging them if you make a mistake. I'll guide the flow of your energy."
"All right. I'll leave it to you, Merlin." Sovell relaxed and directed a thin strand of magical energy toward his eyes. Just before it reached them, another force took control of it.
Sovell's eyes gradually began emitting a blood-red glow, like the most precious rubies.
Jewel mystic eyes-the second-highest rank!
Merlin's heart trembled for a few seconds.
"Having innate mystic eyes is fortunate enough, but jewel rank as well... Sovell, look into my eyes. Let's test the power of your mystic eyes."
"This isn't something to joke about, Merlin. From your tone, my mystic eyes seem to be quite high-ranking."
"Don't worry. When I took control of your magical energy just now, I examined your mystic eyes. There was no sensation of sharpness, distortion, or burning in that energy. They aren't directly offensive mystic eyes."
Hearing Merlin's words, Sovell stopped hesitating and raised his head to look into Merlin's eyes.
As the son of an incubus, Merlin had eyes as beautiful as amethysts, enough to make an ordinary person freeze for a moment just by looking at them.
But now, as Merlin gazed into Sovell's blood-red mystic eyes, he felt as though he faced mountains of corpses and seas of blood. An immense pressure weighed on his body, and even the flow of magical energy within him seemed to have been forced to slow.
No, it didn't merely seem that way. It really had slowed.
Merlin took out his wooden sword again and discovered that, if he used only the human portion of his power, he could barely even hold it steady.
Merlin tried running and casting magecraft under Sovell's gaze. A moment later, he said to Sovell:
"Very powerful mystic eyes. My strength, speed, stamina, and rate of magical energy flow have all been reduced by a third or even more.
What are they called, Sovell?"
Sovell thought for a moment, then answered:
"Mystic Eyes of Submergence.
My body isn't mature yet, so they can't exert their full power right now.
At full power, they halve the strength, speed, stamina, and magical energy flow of anyone I look at. Once they mature, they'll also be able to interfere with the mind.
Activating them also increases my Magecraft Resistance to other people's magecraft.
Under certain conditions, they can reduce another person's attributes by as much as two-thirds, but I'll need to experiment to determine those conditions.
If I use them on someone with no magical defenses, or whose Magecraft Resistance is far lower than mine, their thoughts should stop immediately, allowing me to take control of them as a puppet.
They can do many things, including but not limited to controlling a person's body and probing their memories.
And unless I deliberately dispel the effect, or someone uses purification magecraft of a higher rank than my mystic eyes, that person should remain a 'puppet' in my hands forever."
"Sovell, use your mystic eyes as little as possible from now on. If you use them too often, something quite frightening might happen."
Merlin warned Sovell, though his tone hardly sounded like a warning.
"What might happen? Damaged vision, or even blindness?"
"No."
Merlin rejected Sovell's guess and explained:
"Although excessive use of mystic eyes can damage your vision, that only happens when the gap between the body and the eyes is too great. If the body can't withstand the mystic eyes, blindness becomes a possibility.
But you don't need to worry about that at all. Although your mystic eyes are jewel rank, second only to the legendary rainbow mystic eyes, your half-dragon body is more than strong enough to withstand them. It's quite sturdy.
The 'frightening thing' I mentioned isn't whether you'll go blind. It's the possibility of someone taking your eyes."
"Taking my eyes?"
Merlin replied:
"That's right. Ordinary mystic eyes are a form of single-action magecraft that turns the eyeballs from passive receivers of information into a means of influencing the outside world. But they can only perform simple mental interference, such as charm and suggestion.
Innate mystic eyes, however, are called 'noble color.' They're an exceptionally rare gift that may not appear even once among a hundred thousand, or even a million people.
Even the lowest-ranked innate mystic eyes, 'Pure color,' are sought after by countless powerful individuals. All the more so for the ranks above pure color: 'gold,' 'jewel,' and 'rainbow.'
Do you know the legend of Medusa, the youngest of the three Gorgon sisters in the Greek Divine Realm?"
Sovell considered it for a moment, then answered:
"The snake-haired monster who could petrify someone with a single glance? Her eyes were mystic eyes?
In the legend, the Greek hero Perseus eventually beheaded her, and her head was mounted on Athena's...?!"
Sovell looked at Merlin in shock, as though he had suddenly understood something.
"Do you understand now?
Of course, you don't need to worry about being beheaded and mounted on some shield one day.
Medusa's Mystic Eyes of Petrification are an exception among exceptions. All you need to do is pour magical energy into them to use them.
But other mystic eyes can also be obtained with nothing more than a magecraft transplant ritual. If you use yours too frequently and attract the attention of those old monsters who may or may not exist, then unless you intend to hide in Avalon forever, the fewer times you use them, the better."
Before you continue