Ikuta properly preserves the body of the high elf using his new affinity and puts his bag with books aside at the house . The next day at school " Ikuta want to come to my house on Sunday ? " " Ehh why ? " " Because I'm the only one you haven't visit , you already visited Druk and Ezio "
Druk went on to argue that Ikuta shouldn't do it " Nisse , as a girl you shouldn't be inviting a boy to your house " " I don't have any other friends I'm close to so how about you visit I have some cousins who wants to braid your hair " " I could go but Druk said I shouldn't and I don't know why ? "
Ezio doesn't know since he lived in such a cramp house with his extended family " What's the problem with Ikuta visiting my home I visit his all the time with Ezio " " There's a difference Ikuta is an only child you have relatives over right ? " Nisse nodded " So bringing a boy as a girl is a bad idea "
" Fine " Nisse looked at Amber " Amber do you want to come to my home ? " " Ehh ? I can ? " " Yeah , you already talked to Ikuta so that makes him your friend and the friend of my friend is my friend "
" I thought it went the enemy of my enemy is my friend " " This is different Druk " Nisse turned back to Amber " So wanna come ? "
" I'll ask my family " " Okay be there after lunch " class started and continued without interruptions . Ikuta rushes home to find Ratatoskr " I want to ask a question "
" And what do I get " Ikuta took the fruit from yesterday " Here you can eat this something you normally have to eat " Ratatoskr's stomach grumbled and Ikuta asked .
" How did you survive for the past centuries ? " " I was stealing magic fruits from big orchards I couldn't get caught because I was too fast " Ratatoskr bragged " Of course you were how else would you make Nidhogg hate Vedrfolnir and the other way "
" So ? Are you going to ask about them ? " " No I only want to know where you stole the food from " " Last place I went to was somewhere around here "
" Okay then use this " Ikuta linked Ratatoskr with a dark eye " Can you move it around " " Of course I can I'm no amateur at using magic this ain't even that hard " Ikuta remembered what Ryela told him about while he was at school .
...
" I had a meeting with my partners they were so close to telling your father about it " Ikuta's heart skipped a beat glad that he dodged a bullet forgetting that his father is close to the government as the abyss manager and assumed Ryela was also close to it " I won't risk their lives telling them about your father's true identity "
" I won't be able to unless they have clairvoyance they wouldn't be able to accept the forbidden knowledge , that's why you were able to receive it because my father was around " Ryela thought how Ikuta knows it .
" How do you know that ? " " The adventurer had learned of that knowledge however he doesn't receive it until he reached the end of his life which is when he encounters him " " So I still have to avoid telling the others ? "
Ikuta nodded " The final and vital piece of the forbidden knowledge is witnessing the truth " Ryela looks at the cultist that Ikuta was controlling " So are you infecting these cultists with that kind of knowledge so that they give you more black mana ? "
" I only had one from the time I told you " Ikuta does consider using black magic but is worried about the affinity and proceeds to study the cultist's affinity to black magic at home .
He found a book on black magic and figured he might as well accept it preparing an excuse to hide his intentions in using it . He took the book to his room , shut the lights and read the book with the seeing dark spell .
' It's like playing a horror game at night ' "Black magic is the only magic that clearly sides with the left hand practice , the need to sacrifice others to obtain such power or to torment is what one needs to obtain it"
"Black magic is also associated with the worship of an evil god , however , this is false but the idea that there is a god that grants others the black magic from a live sacrifice wasn't unbelievable at the time before someone discovered a Lich which had no divinity left to die at the site of live sacrifice"
' So that's why there was a skull on the altar when I took over ' Ikuta didn't entertain the idea of pretending to be a false god but was rather curious about the lich . He went down to get more books away and took the relevant ones and opened the one about the lich .
"The Lich was the title given to the fake god found at the site , it had many runes on black magic contained in their body and the bones were stained by blood likely from the live sacrifices' blood which was how Black magic flowed into the body"
Ikuta compared how black magic flows through the blood the same way ice mana is in the air in winter "The Lich's skull has been an icon to mark black magic as a sinister force because it was where the mind is present , while it's bones were soak by black magic the skull had the most black magic"
' It would be useful for the cult , I've been using too much dark magic someone will eventually find out ' There were no instructions on how to use these left-hand arts in the book but only how to counter it . Ikuta closes the book and closes his eyes in the dark room .
He sees all the figures of the cultist in his mind and asks the duchess " Can I do that ? " " No without mind magic unifying the understanding of of left hand arts is impossible " " Is there another way I mean I'm going to be the one to learn it "
" It is possible , but you will need a better catalyst to do the work of unifying the understanding left hand arts , the body of the lich could work , it had soaked so many formulas of the arts " " But I don't know where it is " he wondered if he should try to ask his father about it .
He wakes up to hear Claire and Louis come home " Ikuta you home ? " " Yeah " he goes down carrying the book " Uhm what happened to the Lich ? " " You mean the black magic Lich ? " Ikuta nodded " The Lich were stored and sealed away in a box " " Really ? "
Louis nodded " He won't revive right ? " " Maybe black magic is closely related to the soul " Louis said ' Maybe I can get magic of the soul through that ' " So the Lich may resurrect themselves " " Is the Lich made from the bones of different people ? "
" No rather the Lich absorbed the black magic of the people , did you read the book talking about black magic ? " Ikuta nodded " They said that the Lich soak the blood of sacrifices to absorb the black magic , just like how there is ice mana in winter right now "
Claire looks at Ikuta to see that he had obtained the ice affinity in the form of a block " Oh you got an ice affinity and it looks like it's really high quality although not as good as your dark affinity "
" Back to Black magic , just like White magic , Black magic is also present in the soul it wouldn't be wrong to say that Black magic itself is a portion of a person's soul " " So that's why you call it a them ? " Ikuta asked .
" You shouldn't be that attentive to details , you're a kid " " And I'm not supposed to be this smart as a kid but dad let me and supported me " Ikuta argued back " You don't have to worry about the Lich in the first place there is no way the Lich would revive right now "
" It's because I denied their self , now there is no one to react to the pain and suffering " his father said " Why can't they name Black magic something else ? the name is so boring " Ikuta said trying to act like a kid .
" You think you can say the same to white magic ? It used to be called Holy magic but because it takes away the joy of a target it was shunned back to white magic and you can't exactly say that joy can be that pure you also have the joy of murder "
Ikuta pretended to shiver by making his Niflheim affinity react " But nobody can argue the result of white magic , which is why the church always wear black clothes to remind themselves that the right-hand path that they took has its imperfections "
" Speaking of churches you should visit one " His father said " The teachings of the church are highly restricted for the sake of any unprepared walkers of the right-hand path but they do have soul magic to determine it "
' I really need soul magic ' " So want to go to the church on Sunday ? " " Can I go early I was going to visit Nisse's house with Amber after lunch " " Yes but you could be late for that " " I'll tell her then " Ikuta went to inform her and went to bed .
' Now for the deal I made with Ratatoskr ' He took over the dark eye while Ratatoskr was chewing on the fruit he offered ' This is a lot of fruits but it would be wrong to just steal from it but '
He had the teachings of nature and figured he could use this location as inspiration to help Yukina ' Yukina I found a place where you can observe to learn how to make more fruits " He didn't know what he could do for Yukina and gave her the dark eye connection and cast the seeing dark on her .
' Here you can read the ancient teachings of nature with this spell just be quiet when you read it " Ikuta dozed to sleep while Yukina opened the book ' Wow this spell is so useful '
She could read the book and spent the entire night watching the lifeforce course through the roots of the trees that produced special fruits .
The next morning Ikuta wakes up to see the book closed with the back on top showing that Yukina had already read it " Yukina ? " " Let me sleep I read the book already " Ikuta sighed " You shouldn't have done that "
" I wanted to " Yukina said with a tired voice " Even so you should be resting since you live with the sun " " No it's okay I haven't even had any good sunlight since winter came , it's so cold outside "
Ikuta looked outside and decided to absorb some of the ice so that Yukina could go out for some sunlight . The frost of Niflheim surged into Ikuta's affinity decreasing the amount of snow outside " It should be much warmer than it was a while ago "
Saturday class wasn't very bad nothing big happened and all Ikuta did was get some information about the left-hand path and the right-hand path . Nisse got to know Amber and her interest .
Ikuta returns home to see some of Yukina's roots spreading outside " Hello Ikuta " Hearing her cheerful voice convinced him that what he did had worked .
" How was the sun ? " " It was very warm unlike yesterday I get to bath on the light for the whole day using the green growing at the roof . And I made some deliveries Hestia offered to help after I gave her more fruits "
" That's great and what about the squirrel ? " " Oh he was asking if he could stay " Ikuta doesn't know what kind of value Ratatoskr has to put on the table considering that he only was known as one of the trio .
" I'm not sure what he could give us maybe we should keep him in case I need something ? " " Would that be okay ? " Ikuta thinks about the familiars that were present " Not sure , but I could ask " Ikuta calls his father to ask about it .
" Sure I can get you one ? What kind do you want ? a dark affinity spirit would be hard but I could find you one for ice " " Uhm I already have one in mind ... can I get the Ratatoskr ? " " What why so specific ? "
" Because I want one that's fluffy ? " " That would be hard to capture after all Ratatoskr can go through different places but it would be weakened you might be able to bring that parasite back to its form which is rather impressive if it were alive "
Ikuta thinks of how he could benefit from Ratatoskr and keep his mouth shut from most of the information he already knows to keep out an uproar " I found a squirrel who calls himself Ratatoskr " " WHAT ? "
He rubs his ears " he came to eat a fruit Yukina made I've been feeding him while he is tied up and sleeping I told him my name and him telling me his but I want to keep him here ? " " That would be very hard , you might get criticized for it but I do have a different kind of contract to keep that from happening "
" Thanks , dad " " You're welcome now just to be sure you should keep him tied up " " Okay " Ikuta went to the attic and told Ratatoskr about it " I see that would be a good idea , fine I will agree to it so can you untie me ? "
" No Dad said I shouldn't do it yet you might run away and take all the fruit or even branches from Yukina " " Oh I won't do that " " I gotta listen to what my dad said so just go to sleep " He was annoyed to hear that and decided there wasn't much to do .
The past days of trying to escape had exhausted him and he accepted the idea of sleep . Claire and Louis arrive home a little late and Ikuta goes down " We prepared the contract for you and Ratatoskr , it was a popular contract when the adventurer put it out for show "
" Thanks " Ikuta was excited to get Ratatoskr by his side and went to the attic with Claire to secure the contract " Oh good you are asleep " His father stretched out a dart with the symbol found in no smoking signs except the cigarette showed something else .
"During and after ragnarok" he stabbed Ratatoskr with it and created another dart with a crossed that showed three Z's and another one that showed Ratatoskr's name and Ikuta's ' What is dad doing ? ' " Hmm what the ? Oh you again and who are those humans behind you ? "
' Why did dad do that ? ' " Good good good I removed all his knowledge about me and he won't remember anything important about ragnarok " " Ikuta come here we are gonna complete the contract now "
" Hey before that tell me what the contract is about ? " Ikuta was glad that his father believed the lie he made up and only preserved the pieces of memory that he lied about " Okay now we can start the contract "
" Alright then what will you offer ? " Ratatoskr asked and Ikuta tried his best to play along with what the squirrel remembers " I will offer fruit made by the child of Yggdrasil " " Then I will offer my service in tending to the world tree "
" Is that what you do ? " Ikuta asked surprised " Yes " Ratatoskr and his father answered " My dad said you , Nidhogg , Vedrfolnir were parasites " " Haaa ? The audacity I'll have you know I have not fallen that far however I must congratulate you young man for being able to feed Yggdrasil's child with this much lifeforce "
' Dad erased his memory for this purpose ' Ikuta assumes that his father's purpose in wiping out the memory was to make the squirrel more useful . He decided to act accordingly .
' Yukina pretend that the Ratatoskr was someone you just met , don't say anything about after and during the death Yggdrasil I'll tell you more about it later "
Yukina being a child made it easier to believe whatever Ikuta said but she only stayed quiet for the rest of the day " Hey Yggdrasil's child aren't you gonna say anything ? " Ratatoskr asked confused .
" Well you have only left your seed for a while and since you are her child I will have to call you young mistress " Yukina felt strange hearing the more dignified version of Ratatoskr talking to her in comparison to the very desperate and begging for food version .
' Yes I know it's weird for Ratatoskr to be like this but bear with it , the Ratatoskr that stole your food must have his reasons to be like this , for now pretend that you were just getting to know Ratatoskr more . "
" Uhm my name is Yukina " " Ahh what a beautiful name to think I would be the first to wake up to serve you this is great young mistress " Ratatoskr sense Yukina's body's status " Hmm it seems you have been exposed to too much ice let me clean up the snow around the house for you "
Ratatoskr's eyes brightened with lightning and dashed through the house to shovel the snow while Ikuta was glad that nothing bad had happened yet " We'll have to feed him more of Yukina's fruit " Louis said and Claire went to Ratatoskr to talk to him .
Ikuta didn't know why but when dinner came Claire explained what Ratatoskr's situation was like " So it turns out he has been frozen for too long and only woke up after Yukina sprouted , he came a long way and you two should know the rest ? "
" Yep I introduced him my name and he gave me his although I feel sorry for tying you up " " No worries young master , it was only the contract's condition which wishes you to protect Yukina from any pest . But I won't be able to handle all the pest that comes our way so I hope that Nidhogg and Vedrfolnir will come to my aid in protecting and tending to the world tree "
Ratatoskr then turns to Ikuta " But I must say Young master the amount of life force you are giving to the young mistress is plentiful , even though she will eventually be more independent this amount of life force shouldn't be present in you perhaps it took a long time for a child of Yggdrasil to sprout "
' So this is the backstory ' " Anyways it looks like Yggdrasil's was right to send us three into Niflheim but I must say young master your ice affinity matches Niflheim's climate " " Oh really ? " " Ikuta is a genius to be able to figure that out " Louis said .
" Even the act of imitating the climate would be hard but you did it maybe you should go visit Niflheim , Who knows how long it will take for Vedrfolnir and Nidhogg to get out of the ice " they finish dinner and Ikuta decided to hide the truth about Ragnarok from Ratatoskr .
' Yukina doesn't know about it yet ' ' Yukina don't tell him about the monster and we can't tell him about the real Ratatoskr " Ratatoskr followed Ikuta to his room and he pretended to be a curious child .
" Why did you go to Niflheim to be frozen ? " " Because Yggdrasil predicted that one of her children would sprout I must say this is the first time I heard that but it's the world tree I'm talking about "
" So she froze you to care for Yukina ? " " Yes and to do that all three of us were sent there as soon as Ragnarok came so I wouldn't know much about it even if you had asked me " " Ikuta make sure you got to bed " Louis yelled from the kitchen .
" I know , so what do you three do for Yggdrasil ? " " We do a lot of things that she can't do , we made sure nobody touches her branches from being used to make weapons without permission and we get rid of pests that try to harm her in anyway "
" Oh that's so nice to hear that you do something else than let Vedrfolnir and Nidhogg hate each other " " No that was only done for one time now I act as a courier for both of them to keep their deal with Yggdrasil , Nidhogg watches the roots , Vedrfolnir watches the exterior branches and I take care of the rest of it "
" Didn't Nidhogg eat the roots ? " " Because that was the only way for the dragon to get her food through the root vegetables , while she does get rid of pests I have to deliver them to Vedrfolnir to dispose of , if not Nidhogg breaks it down to feed Yggdrasil "
" So Nidhogg is a vegan ? " Ikuta asked " Yes , I for one do like meat which means I enjoy the culinary explorations of mortals " Ratatoskr kept talking about the culinary achievements of the mortals in the past before ragnarok while Ikuta fell asleep .
The next day they left Ratatoskr at home to tend to Yukina while Claire took Ikuta to see the church " We are here to apply the permission to obtain white magic " " Then wait over there " Ikuta waited looking at the crystal ball wondering if there was a specific condition he needed to get it .
' What is the benefit of white magic ? ' " You will gain access to a new kind of magic however this is just like black magic that requires a source however if you have many joys in life there won't be any effect of using that joy as a source in white magic "
He was still worried not liking the idea of using his own soul a vital piece of a person as a source of power " Now let's test your soul " the nun said as Ikuta reached out touching the crystal shining it .
" Wow amazing this light is so beautiful " the nun was amazed by the light but Ikuta knew why it was that big according to the answer of the duchess " A candle in the darkest night is the brightest "
He understood why it would shine this bright because the fear he had of a possible future had asked him to hope to survive it " Beautiful so much hope and dreams you will have so many to spare for yourself even if you give some to others "
" So I pass ? " " You did not just pass the test you could be the greatest white mage of course if you wish to use it for yourself I will understand you are still young , you shouldn't go sacrificing yourself for others "
He remembered the words when his father said it " You don't have to help others Ikuta , you should be a kid which means you should be selfish be more selfish I have a lot to give you " Ikuta nodded at the nun and he walked to Claire .
" He's eligible he has a strong will and hope in his heart " The Nun held the book and lent it to Ikuta " Take it and please be kind to yourself " Ikuta nodded as he carried the book close to him thinking about all he would be learning from it .
" We'll put the book away so you can visit Nisse as soon as you have lunch " " Okay " Ikuta opened the book to learn more about it and heard his father " Hahaha finally I get my hands on this thing "
Ikuta knew this was what his father hadn't gotten yet because of the requirement . The book had many words centering around the path of righteousness , there was also a need to be able to have a strong will to focus on the path .
"The reason why this is called a church is because there was a symbol that the people had worshipped before but this also perished" " It's the same story as the Lich " "The Paradise is where all the good went , people associate this realm to Valhalla however this idea is wrong"
"Paradise is not that it is in fact a place made for the people of good and would protect it from any that will disturb its peace"
" I don't like this " His father said " Ikuta closed the book and his father started ranting " Paradise protecting the ones inside is nothing more than finding the source of its power , it's literally like the core but more twisted , you gain the great joy , but Paradise only ever wanted simple joy like a full stomach , not a student who enjoyed learning "
Ikuta heard that the source of white magic should be simple to be easy to extract it's why it's so hard to get black magic from a student who is stressed in answering a life-changing exam " I bet the only reason this paradise hasn't been destroyed is that it has been collecting too many souls "
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