Chapter 5

–[My name is Russell Paul. I’m an unlucky genius black wizard.]

How could he forget his first meeting with Russell?

Lucion still hadn’t forgotten Russell’s words because it was the first time he had said he was a genius himself.

“So… well, you said that in the first place, right?”

Lucion swallowed the urge to curse and asked politely.

[Yes, I told you that the only reason I chose you was because of your mental strength.]

Russell brought up the story without a sting on his lips.

[The most important thing for a warlock is this mental power.]

Russell’s finger pointed at his head.

[Black magic is a kind of magic created to control the darkness of one’s self, and to prevent the corruption of its wielder you need to have a strong mental power.]

“I know that.”

Lucion drove Shandra into the woods off the side of the road, wondering if Russell’s words would last.

[The power to control the darkness is called the mental power. Even if you’re corrupted, if you’re mentally strong, you can get away from being controlled by the darkness.]

“Is my mentality that strong?”

[You will not go astray, at the very least.]

Russell’s short answer helped Lucion gain greater grit.

Even if the ghosts didn’t directly harm him, he endured more than a decade of their actions and verbal abuse.

[You can be proud of that.]

“Is that so…?”

Lucion smiled bitterly.

[Anyway, you’re basically mentally strong, so I thought you didn’t have to go through training in this area.]

“Then, do you usually start with mental training?”

[Yes, exactly. More precisely, before you go through the ritual to become a warlock, you have to start training and you’ll eventually come across that process.]

Lucion performed a ritual to face his own darkness on becoming a warlock. Through this process, he recognized the darkness that resides in him and was able to use it.”

“In the first place, I don’t remember hearing the word mental training.”

[I put it off before to explain it to you now.]

Lucion breathed calmly at the brazen words of Russell.

“Ah. Are you? You should. Is it possible for a smart teacher to lie to me?”

Russell changed the subject with a slight cough.

[You need darkness to use black magic, not mana.]

Then, Russell waved his finger.

[You can use darkness after a ritual, but that doesn’t mean you can use it right away. You have to go through the process of feeling the darkness again.]

Lucion glanced at Russell, slowing Shandra down.

[This is the biggest challenge. Darkness has control over its form, so it resists, unlike the Mana.]

“What happens if you don’t feel the darkness?”

[The ending is obvious. You’re doing this and that because you can’t control the darkness. If that’s the case, then I’m only on my way to becoming a corrupted warlork who’s forgotten all the image of warlock so far.]

“Can’t the fallen warlock be brought back? You don’t just have to wait for your ending, do you?”

Russell grinned at Lucion’s question.

[What do you think?]

“It’s possible.”

[Well, let’s explain the method next time and start by feeling the darkness.]

Russell pushed the subject back.

[‘Isn’t it boring to teach everything at once?’]

Russell smirked at the look on Lucion’s face, which was so distorted due to his cliff-hanger.

[Anyway, this stage is called the Wailing Wall. No matter how blessed you are by the Darkness, or how many of you have held a ceremony to become a warlock, you can’t get over here.]

Hearing that, Lucion’s already hardened face was more wrinkled.

[But I don’t know if it’s the same for anyone else, but you can skip the dark phase as well.]

“What’s the reason this time?”

[Thanks to your dark magic contract with me.  I mean, the contract.]

“…Well, can I just say I’m allowed to?”

[Perfect.]

Russell immediately grabbed Lucion’s shoulder.

‘……!’

Lucion suddenly felt a chill spreading throughout his body.

It felt like he was hit by the cold wave of winter with his bare body, so even pure white steam leaked out of his mouth.

‘Oh, this is crazy….’

He saw with his own two eyes the black smoke that spread all at once around his own body.

‘Is this the Darkness?’

“Pooh!”

Shandra jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of darkness.

However, Shandra soon walked closer to the unconscious Lucion, who had lost his balance.

Ttagttag. 

Lucion’s teeth meshed together.

The coldness that spread all over his body disappeared, but the aftermath was too great.

[This is the darkness. It’s very cold.]

Russell still didn’t let go of his hand that was holding Lucion’s shoulder.

[And it will hurt a little bit because it’s your first time.]

As soon as Russell finished his words, black smoke that had spread outside Lucion’s body came back into his body once again.

“..Keueok!”

Lucion’s eyes darkened the moment he felt it.

‘I wondered if I would feel this way if I drank poison.’

‘I didn’t even know my body was leaning because I felt like there’s an acidic solution melting my gut inside.’

Shandra quickly folded her legs and let Lucion go unharmed.

“…Te-, Teacher. This is….”

[I thought she was just a freak, but she’s a great horse.]

Russell said, clapping his hands nonchalantly.

Lucion bit his lips tightly because he hated the look he was giving.

[I can’t help looking at you like that. It’s painful because darkness is the process of making your body run excitedly.]

“Purreung..”

Shandra stared at Lucion.

It was as if she was asking if he was okay, Lucion wanted to pet her but he couldn’t even move a finger let alone stroke her head.

His whole body was drenched with cold sweat.

[Let’s see. You’ll be fine soon.]

Russell looked at Lucion’s physical condition and laughed.

Surprisingly, Lucion was dumbfounded by the sudden disappearance of the pain as Russell said.

He got a bit annoyed.

“Aren’t you supposed to tell me this beforehand?”

[I told you it would hurt a little.]

“How is this a little?”

Even with Lucion’s shrill voice, Russell still giggled.

[Well, anyway, now that you’ve felt the darkness, you’ll be able to see something different from before. Breathe out slowly.]

Lucion leaned against Shandra and slowly inhaled, catching his breath.

Then, he felt that something inside his body was moving arbitrarily, but strangely, it didn’t feel bad.

Russell smiled as he read Lucion’s changed expression.

[Darkness has now adapted to your body, so it won’t hurt like before unless you utilized it completely.]

“……?”

Lucion paused at the fact that it could hurt again.

[Did you forget that there’s no form in the darkness? When you’re done with it, the darkness that kicks back is a whole new darkness, so you have to take time to adjust.]

“…Do I have to keep on experiencing it like that?”

Lucion said with a stiff face.

What the hell is this nonsense?

‘I don’t want to suffer from the same pain I had  a while ago.’

[Though that’s a very shitty thing… Well, unlike Mana, darkness is as resilient as it is. ]

“Worthy enough to endure the same pain again?”

[For example, if you are to fight a wizard, would you be able to hold on for two more days after the wizard’s mana runs out?]

The difference was greater than Lucion thought.

Surely it was worth living with. Apart from the dislike of pain, everything else is an advantage.

[Now, debuff, the pillar of black magic. So, let’s start with the basics before we learn magic that can actually indirectly affect the opponent.]

Lucion looked at Russell with an absurd look at the words that out of topic while going out.

[How are you going to run when you don’t even know how to crawl yet? Don’t you know the basics are the most important?]

“I thought you were telling me one for self-defense.”

[As long as you don’t get caught by people, you won’t need it. Even if you learn the basics, you can use it to fight with someone. Black magic isn’t exactly inflexible like normal magic.]

“The biggest problem is not getting caught.”

Lucion clenched his lips tightly.

[Let’s set aside that for now.]

Russell rested for about two beats and brought it up again.

[No matter how much you build a wall with the world, you must have heard that black magic is frivolous.]

“Yeah. I’ve heard that they’re pathetic.”

[That’s true.]

Russell nodded lightly.

[It’s because it’s designed to avoid fraud.]

“Please tell me more specific conditions.”

[One of the conditions under which negativity builds up is your negative emotions. The representative emotion is the will to live toward the other person.]

Russell raised his finger.

[Two, unprovoked violence using darkness. It doesn’t matter if the other person has negative feelings for you.]

“What difference does it make if you’re gonna hit anyway?”

[Darkness is a characteristic that’s easily prone to negativity. The difference between a person who is not corrupted and a person who is corrupted is only by a thin piece of paper.]

Lucion nodded to Russell’s response.

[Third, murder. No matter what the reason is, you can’t commit it. It’s not that you can’t do it, but if you do it, you’ll be more vulnerable to negativity and gain a lot of it.]

Russell’s middle finger was then folded.

[Four, insulting death. There’s a code of conduct on respecting the dead. Of course, it doesn’t matter if you get permission from the dead. And that’ll be it for now.]

“That’s pretty tricky.”

Lucion struggled to raise his upper body and looked at Russell.

[But the dark magic is strong. It’s not a lie to say that you can do great harm to one person just by using the basics.]

Lucion also knew that black magic was strong.

Although fallen in the novel, Lucion rose to the position of interim boss two years after he learned black magic and to have that huge leveling up only proved the incredibility of dark magic.

‘I think it was a huge leap of achievement for the original Lucion.’

[Maybe your world will be turned upside down.]

Russell smiled smugly.

[While we’re at it, let’s do it right away. Do you see the tree next to you?]

“I want you to bring a ghost to me, not a tree. All of my life I have been hunted.”

[…Are you serious?]

Russell knew how much Lucion hated ghosts.

It was one thing to make a difference and another matter to face the most feared being in the world.

“Yes, you told me that if I became a warlock, I could keep a ghost under my feet.”

[That’s true, but… are you going to be okay?]

“I’ll turn it upside down as you say.”

Russell stared at Lucion.

Soon, he sighed with a look of no hesitation.

[All right, if you want.]

Exactly!

Russell flicked his finger.

Lucion felt his heart sink at the sight of ghosts appearing from somewhere like fish coming by throwing rice cakes into the river.

[Hey. Has anyone come to see me after a long time?]

Among the ghosts, a man with a scar on his eye laughed at Lucion.

Lucion held his breath and clenched his fist.

[He’ll do it.]

At once, Russell grabbed his neck and flicked his finger back.

The ghosts that flocked began to flee as if they had seen something scary.

[Lucion. Do you remember that ordinary ghosts and people can’t see or touch each other?]

“I remember.”

[But the darkness makes it possible.]

As Russell smiled, Lucion also smiled viciously.

[Huh, warlock? You?]

The ghost stuttered in fear.

For ghosts, their greatest enemy was not the priest, but the warlock, who could see ghosts.

Russell laughed, ignoring the ghost’s words.

[Now, close your eyes and move the darkness to your hands. Once you whine that you can’t do it, you can force yourself to do it, so don’t panic.]

‘I’m whining…?’

He couldn’t understand what Russell was talking about, but Lucion closed his eyes, recalling the cold sensation he had felt earlier.

When he calmly drew a path to his hands, the darkness began to move.

‘There’s no whining.’

However, he had been wandering around because he didn’t know where the darkness should go.

[Show me the way. It doesn’t matter which way.]

Lucion thought briefly to Russell’s voice.

‘Move it to where I’m pointing.’

Lucion gave orders with the idea of flagging the target like a strategy game.

Only then did the darkness turn to Lucion’s hand.

Hurr. 

Darkness appeared in Lucion’s grasp like a flame.

Lucion opened his eyes at that moment.

“Darkness appeared in my hand.”

[He’s a warlock! He’s a real warlock!]

The ghost shrieked and trembled just by the presence of black smoke.

‘Is the darkness really this submissive?’

Russell had a 20% stake in Lucion under the contract, so he could see how the darkness was moving. He was taken aback when he saw it.

It was impossible to move the darkness to his hands for the first time the user manifested it.

When Lucion was in a hurry, he moved the darkness to the point where he learned his senses.

[‘Is Lucion’s darkness a different kind?’]

Russell hid his doubts.

[Hmm, hey Warlock. It’s my fault! I’ll never stand out again, Warlock!]

Lucion watched the darkness, listening to the ghost’s dog whistle.

The smoke was very noticeable. And the darkness flew by itself because of its lack of form.

Lucion once again vowed to look at himself as a warlock.

‘I must learn the form of an auror too.’

[Can you feel the darkness connected to you?]

“Yes, I can feel it.”

[You know what makes a warlock different from a wizard?]

“Darkness … waits for my words.”

Lucion said even though he knew it was crazy.

It couldn’t be heard, but it was as if the darkness was whispering to itself what to do.

[That’s it. A spell? A magic ceremony? I don’t need anything like a wizard. As long as the darkness feels connected to you, you have the control over it. So, order it to punch the ghost!]

‘Slap!’

Lucion ordered as if he had waited for this moment.

Shaaa.

Darkness stretched from Lucion’s grasp toward the ghost.

For some reason, the surroundings seemed to get cold.

Whoops!

The darkness became a sharp whip and beat the ghost.

Of course, there was no blood, instead, there was a black scar formed on the ghost’s body.

“…Ha.”

Lucion managed to exhale with a cheerful sound.

The black smoke that had appeared in his hands had disappeared earlier.

[Ugh…]

The ghost looked at himself as if he had lost his soul in pain.

Deep fear was seen in the eyes.

‘He’s afraid of me. The ghost is really afraid of me.’

Lucion bit his lip.

His heart was burning with the slow rush of emotions.

‘I’m no longer…’

As Russell said, his world had already changed.

The last painful time passed quickly through his head.

‘I’m no longer your prey…!’

Ghosts were no longer to be feared.

‘You guys should be afraid of me now.’

Lucion looked at Russell with joy.

To his surprise, Russell was silent.

[‘Is this possible?’]