Chapter 88
After a brief moment of worship for Lady Seir, Mea's lesson continued.
"As I learned more about Eclipto, I discovered he had two wolves as children, and created summoning magic to call them as my next Devil Magic."
Solargarmr and Managarmr.
Wolves said to devour the sun and moon.
It was the magic I envied most among all I'd seen.
"But my third Devil Magic created through Eclipto's pact is a magic that consumes the body of targets affected by mana erosion."
I didn't know all of Mea's magic.
Even without commanding through the Brand, she'd answer if I asked, but I never had reason or time to inquire.
"Do you see the difference?"
"You mean between the second and third magic?"
"Yes."
Mea created three magics from her pact with one Devil, Eclipto.
First was mana erosion.
Second was familiar summoning.
Third was body decomposition.
Between the latter two, the difference would be...
"The second uses a different authority than the first magic, but the third is based on the same authority?"
"Excellent. Perfect answer."
Clearly satisfied, Mea gave a small applause with a rare gentle smile.
"Without forming pacts with new Devils, the easiest way for a Devil Sorcerer to grow stronger is to increase their means. Either delving deeper into a borrowed authority to create advanced magic or borrowing different authorities to add new magic."
Once created, Devil Magic's form was fixed.
Though casting speed and output could increase with skill, there were limits.
For example, with Blink, the core was spatial movement within my detection range.
As my proficiency increased, I could take companions from one to two.
Though small, Rei is surprisingly heavy.
Despite the height difference, Rei and Leaf weighed similarly.
Must be the muscles.
Anyway, while existing Devil Magic could grow like that, my Blink wouldn't become magic that could teleport me to a completely unknown place.
"Deepening and addition."
"Though both require a larger price than the first—no, forget that. That's meaningless for Roman."
That's true.
Even now, my Devils talked about my capacity for Devil pacts—my level's limits—before price.
My level had grown enough to form a pact with a Duke like Procell as my third Devil, but not enough for a fourth pact.
However, additional pacts with my Patron Devils were possible.
Meaning I could have one more, either deepening or additional, with one Devil.
[Could've had three more if we hadn't taken this one.]
[Tsk tsk. Without this Bath Duke, the covenant-bearer wouldn't even be here.]
Anyway, this was quite a choice to consider.
Which Devil—no—which authority to secure.
Seeing me deep in thought, Mea offered another opinion, "In my view…"
Just as I perked up my ears to hear what advice my skill tree consultant would give this time.
"...Roman's most crucial magic is Exhaustion."
I raised my eyebrows at Mea's unexpected assessment.
Leraje's excited voice echoed in my mind.
[Ha! This dark elf knows her stuff! Does she know how to fight?]
"Exhaustion? Not Blink?"
[Hey Roman, explain what that means properly?]
[What is there to explain? This kind of rebuttal is only obvious.]
[Roman's clueless about magic. The dark elf is right.]
[Hmph. Having not witnessed the true extent of my authority, such shallow insight is inevitable. Had they seen even a fragment of this Bath Duke's power that controls all creation, such assessment would be infeasible.]
Leaving behind the Patron Devils' heated claims echoing complexly in my head, I focused on the vibrations reaching my eardrums.
"Exhaustion is correct."
"Could I hear why?"
"Blink is powerful. Spatial magic creates enormous variables by its very existence. But ultimately, Blink severely lacks offensive capability."
"Ah... that's true."
"While Blink is absolute for escape or retreat, it's insufficient for defeating enemies. Rather, the path to victory lies in Exhaustion."
Mea scribbled something else on the board.
She divided my potential opponents into three categories:
Those stronger than me, those similar, and those weaker.
"Weak enemies are simple. Just don't let your guard down and you'll win. Same with similar ones. Even if they're careful, you have Blink. Unless they know about Blink, they're bound to lose. Blink has that much potential."
[So they do have some eye for talent.]
[Some? You mean precise.]
Mea's explanation continued through the Devils' local broadcast.
"But what about enemies stronger than Roman?"
"If they can't be finished with one Blink, they'll quickly prepare countermeasures."
Viola would read Blink itself with some sort of sixth sense, and the Professor would probably restrict it with Word Magic like Don't use Blink.
"To defeat such strong enemies, Exhaustion is the only winning move."
Magic that infinitely eroded the opponent's power with each stack.
Assuming it hit, Exhaustion had the potential to drag stronger enemies down to equal or weaker levels.
But another thought occurs.
"Wouldn't deepening spatial authority to create attack magic be more powerful?"
"It would be strong, but."
Mea pointed between “strong enemies” and “similar enemies” on the board.
"It would only work up to here."
"Ah..."
I'd forgotten because they always cooperated when I used it, but my Blink only worked smoothly with mutual consent.
If companions used autonomous defensive magic defense or defensive techniques, it failed from mana collision or coordinate misalignment.
Even if made it offensive, it wouldn't be much different.
It would only work on targets with weaker mana output than mine.
Or I'd need to draw on Seir's authority more strongly, which was also difficult in the short term.
"I see."
"Long-term, Roman might be right, but who knows how long that would take."
The peak was definitely higher with Seir's side.
Maybe Procell's too.
But for immediate strengthening, Leraje was the correct choice.
In terms of proficiency, Seir's side might be more familiar... but Leraje's isn't far behind.
Since using magic bullets meant using Exhaustion.
I've decided.
"Mea's right."
I'll go with Leraje.
Sorry Lady Seir, but right now raising my immediate power is important.
Who knows what other Abyss Worshipers might run wild?
"Your second Patron Devil is an archer?"
"You can sense that too?"
"No. Deduction. Usually, using poison means having means to apply it."
Oho.
That makes sense too.
There's a reason the Tang family of Sichuan focuses on shadow techniques.
Isn't it to more easily poison targets through ranged attacks?
In that context, Mea was clearly an experienced Devil Sorcerer who had contemplated Devils, easily reading that Leraje, who possessed toxic attributes, would have archer characteristics.
"Then there must be an infallible hit authority."
"Infallible hit?"
"Exhaustion requires contact to apply. But a Devil holding a high rank wouldn't lack the means to ensure application."
[Correct. That dark elf's really smart. Good eye and reasoning. Roman, from now on, learn Devil Magic only from that dark elf.]
Leraje had become infinitely pro-Mea since earlier.
[It is a mere judgment within given options. A half-measure that cannot provide completely different routes like me. Pact-bearer, ignore Leraje's words just now.]
Let's do both.
Seir for the big picture, Mea for the small picture.
The sizes match too.
"Anyway, you're saying to go with an infallible hit. So it becomes additional magic?"
"That's right."
The direction cleared in my head.
Seir's side for specializing in spatial deepening.
Leraje's side for additional specialization to gain various means with Exhaustion as main.
Procell... on hold for now.
I can bring it up again after building more proficiency.
Anyway, once the path was set, hesitation could hit the curb.
"The second pact can be more informal than the first. The existing pact seal will substitute for the summoning circle. Think of the Devil's name and authority. Then make a pact for the desired magic."
No need for that when they were all listening from the start.
[Simple matter.]
Leraje's corresponding deity was the famous Artemis.
Therefore, infallible hit authority would be Leraje's most fundamental authority.
You could call it a basic implant.
As the pact seal writhed and added new strokes, knowledge of new magic was engraved in my brain.
However, it was nearly impossible for a human body to fully contain a higher dimensional being's authority.
The degraded fragment of authority was given to me with restraints.
Once touched, from the second shot, it would definitely hit.
When the magic took complete form within me, Seir spoke first.
[Der Freischütz. The Magic Marksman. This time, no name could be more fitting!]
Oh, I've heard this name before.
So it was an opera name.
First time knowing that.
But sorry, my brain came up with an even more fitting name.
"I'll call it 'Tag'."
This is right.