Byakuya asked me with a somewhat disappointed nuance.
To be honest, a spirit like Byakuya was far too high-level for someone like me.
That much was clear even back when I got hit by Fire Fist—just with that tiny bit of Karma, my bones were shattered, but my internal organs were completely protected.
That alone proved how powerful he was.
It was just that, because of the contract system that required Karma to be paid in equivalent exchange, I needed a Plan B.
Also, unlike constellations who never allow double contracts, spirits can enter into multiple contracts as long as the limit of the Stigma isn’t exceeded.
That was a key factor too.
“Don’t take it too hard. Each of us has different strengths and domains. Besides, it’s not like I’ve officially formed a spirit contract yet.”
“Yeah, yeah. I, Moonlight Duren, am not such an easy man. You said your name was Kim Sunghoon? I’d like to hear honestly why you want to form a spirit contract with me.”
Duren spun his spear around and pointed it at me as he spoke.
It would’ve been a bit underhanded, but since I knew Duren’s background—how he’d always been ignored at the academy just because he was dead last—I could’ve played the sympathy card.
Surprisingly for someone with his looks, Duren is quite the emotional type, so he might’ve even wiped away a tear and agreed to a contract on the spot.
But since this was the inner world of the Stigma, and Byakuya, another spirit, was watching as well, I was hesitant to lie.
So I decided to be honest and speak my mind.
“To be honest, I have no intention of becoming a spearman.
I know it’s meaningless to make excuses about lacking talent in front of someone like you, Duren, but still—my talent is truly, hopelessly awful.
That’s why I want to use Moonglaive as a kind of support to stand against the coming storm of fate.”
“A storm of fate, huh… I’m not really into fancy words. So if you’re not going to train in spear techniques, are you thinking of learning magic instead?”
“Magic is a discipline that depends even more on talent than spear techniques. I’d love nothing more than to learn even a 1st-tier spell, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.”
“Hmm.
So you won’t learn spear techniques, and you won’t learn magic either, yet you speak of a storm of fate.
From where I stand, it sounds like you just want to borrow the power of a spirit and flaunt it around without doing anything yourself.
Am I wrong?”
“It’s not unreasonable for you to think that. But what I intend to play is Spirit Chess.”
“What? Chess? You mean that game where you move pieces around to capture the king?”
“Yes. I don’t know if this is the right analogy, but even if I trained under you, Sir Duren, for ten years, the best I’d become is a mere pawn.
But if I can utilize you as a knight on the board, then I believe I can flip the entire game.”
“What? You’re going to use me as a knight? Puhahahahahaha!”
At that sudden, absurd analogy, Moonlight Duren burst out in wild laughter.
Then, in a flash of lightning-fast speed, he thrust his spear toward my eye and sliced off a single eyelash.
His spear technique was nothing short of divine.
It reminded me once again that, even though spirits are considered a rank below constellations, they are still heroes beyond the reach of ordinary humans.
And me?
I couldn’t even react, let alone sense any killing intent.
It happened so fast that my body didn’t even twitch.
Duren, perhaps misunderstanding my lack of reaction, pulled back his spear and spoke:
“Still, you’re not just all talk—you’ve got guts. Fine. I, Duren, will become your knight piece. But don’t forget—I’m not the kind of spirit who lends his power for free, got it?”
“Yes, I understand.”
The way Duren lends his power to his contractors is quite interesting.
It’s something like a “Ten-Part Spear, Hundred-Part Spear, Thousand-Part Spear” system—a sort of interest paid through effort.
Whether in regular training or during combat, if a contractor swings their spear ten times, Duren possesses their body and delivers a single attack on their behalf.
Naturally, if the number of spear swings exceeds 100 or 1000, the resulting strike becomes even more powerful—it goes without saying.
This is Duren’s unique contract method as a spirit: he values only the sweat shed through pure training without consuming any Karma.
I can confidently say that there may be spirits who grant more powerful abilities than Duren, but none with such excellent efficiency when it comes to cost versus performance.
***
“One of the biggest misconceptions students have when studying dark magic is assuming it’s connected to demonic power.
It’s true that demons do handle dark mana.
But a dark magician and a demonologist are completely different.
Dark magicians control dark mana, while demonologists submit to it.
The difference between the two is something you junior division students won’t truly understand yet.
Still, the reason you must learn even the basics of dark magic is because knowledge is power.
If you know your enemy and know yourself, you’ll never be defeated.
There’s no need to explain how understanding the dark mana used by demons can help you fight them.
That’s probably why you, Iris Lunai, a student from the Martial Arts Division, suddenly joined this dark magic class, isn’t it?”
“Eh?
Ah… yes.
The moment I came into contact with the Devil Doll, I felt its dark energy rapidly eroding my aura—it was terrifying.
I was lucky to win, but I realized that without countermeasures, I wouldn’t even stand a chance in future fights against them.
Professor Shiroko, could you perhaps teach me how to respond to that power?”
“As expected, someone with firsthand experience senses things differently.
That’s also why we never allow junior division students to fight Devil Dolls—it’s because they’d die before they could even gain experience.
In that sense, you’re quite lucky, Iris Lunai.
The only reason you were able to defeat a Grade 2 Devil Doll… is because you already had the answer within you.”
This was Professor Shiroko’s Introduction to Dark Magic, a course known for gathering some of the brightest magical minds from the junior division at Pantheon Academy.
Despite its infamous difficulty and notoriously stingy grading, the lecture hall was packed—far more crowded than usual for such a class.
Nine times out of ten, the students packed into the lecture hall were fans who just wanted a glimpse of Iris’s face.
A few outliers were there because they were drawn to Professor Shiroko’s decadent charm.
I was one of those outliers.
Of course, it was true that Professor Shiroko, being a dark elf, had an incredibly attractive appearance—but what interested me had nothing to do with that.
“What do you mean by ‘already having the answer’?”
“I mean it literally.
Dark mana has inverse compatibility with all types of mana except light mana.
That’s why, the moment you’re invaded by dark energy, even the most talented swordsman or mage is rendered powerless.
That’s why we resist Devil Dolls by borrowing power greater than mana itself.
One of the most well-known ways to do this is by forming a contract with a Constellation.
In fact, that was the very founding principle behind Pantheon Academy.”
“So are you saying that unless we borrow the power of a Constellation, no matter how hard we train, we’ll never be able to defeat a Devil Doll?”
“Well, that statement is a little misleading.
A person who achieves incredible feats through innate talent and blood-soaked training can eventually become a Constellation themselves.
It might sound like a distant dream, but if you become someone close to that level, you won’t need to borrow power from a Constellation anymore.”
I had been deliberately sitting at the very back of the class, burying my head in a book to avoid drawing attention—not just from Professor Shiroko, but from the other students as well.
When I suddenly felt a cold gaze brush past me, I flinched instinctively.
Could she possibly have noticed me?
Probably not.
Most likely, she just didn’t like that someone was blatantly dozing off during her class.
To be honest, if I had known Iris was already enrolled in the “Foundations of Dark Magic” course, I wouldn’t have bothered attending in person.
Using the Constellation’s perspective to observe Professor Shiroko from afar would’ve been much easier and safer.
Still, attending in person hadn’t been a complete waste.
Since the class focused on theory rather than actual spellcasting, it was one of the few where I had a shot at scoring an A+—a bright spot on my otherwise F-ridden report card.
When it came to pure theory, I was the best—no question.
Thanks to winning first place in the recent school trip competition, I’d managed to take a step back from the edge of expulsion.
But securing at least one A+ would put me in the safe zone, and bring both my body and mind some peace.