(Re:Zero) Warlock of Fascination Chapter 12: Lily

Chapter 12: Lily

“Here we are.”

Walter stepped into a fairly spacious, dimly lit room with an assortment of weapon racks, shelves, and armor stands scattered around—most of them acting as placeholders for Knight outfits akin to the one Reinhard wore on a day to day basis, as well as armaments that Castor had seen a few people around the Astrea Manor holding.

“It seems the lighting around here is in need of some refreshing,” he faced the Fire Spirit hovering above Castor’s head, which was doing a good job of increasing the room’s visibility thanks to its natural luminescence. “It’s fortunate that you’re here, little one.” 

This was one of House Astrea’s many armories. Some were accessible only to direct members of the House, like Reinhard, the Patriarch, Heinkel Astrea, or the Sword Demon himself, Wilhelm van Astrea, who had married into the family—since they contained more sensitive equipment.

However, even though it wasn’t the main armory, the one Walter had stepped into was still important enough to hold one of the glistones Castor needed to form a proper contract with the eager Lesser Spirit hovering around him.

“Look at that, we’re not even contracted yet and you’re already proving helpful.” For some inexplicable reason, Castor couldn’t help but feel his mood improve while he was around the little ball of red light—a feeling which he didn’t mind one bit.

Even if I don’t know anything about this land’s Spirit Arts just yet, I can’t help but feel like you and I are going to make a good team. 

As if responding to Castor’s positive sentiment, the spirit did a cheerful loop around him.

Cute.

“House Juukulius gifted us these some time ago. Honestly, I think you’re doing us a service by getting one of them off our hands instead of just letting it needlessly gather dust here.” Walter picked up a white scabbard with purple accents, and a dark-purple gemstone situated at the bottom, right beside the hilt of the arming sword that it came with.

Of course, the gemstone was none other than a glintstone—the object he needed to serve as an Anchor for the spirit. 

“Does it have to be in the form of a sword?” He didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but unlike his Sword, Castor wasn’t much of a weapons guy unless it was something unique to this world that could stir his fascination like Magic.

“Haha. This is House Astrea, everything we do ultimately circles back to swords.” Walter handed him the scabbard, causing Castor to wince under its surprising weight. “Oh my. It looks like you’re in need of some strength training, luckily for you—you’re in the perfect place.” 

Why do I have a feeling he’s somehow going to segway my Magic training into swordsmanship training? Reinhard’s recruiter-like face came to mind. Damn Astreas.

“What do I do now?” 

“First, you need to bind the glintstone to you—all you have to do is pour a little bit of your Mana into it and it should recognize you as its owner.” 

“That sounds simple enough—” Before Castor could do so, Walter’s hand shot forward and clasped his wrist.

“And when I say a little, I wholeheartedly mean a little. Your Mana is unusually potent, so if you inject too much of it there’s a high probability that you’ll end up breaking the glintstone.” 

Castor gulped nervously. 

“A little. Got it.” 

Walter nodded contentedly and retracted his grasp.

In an effort to follow his words of caution, Castor activated Mark of the Scribe so he could read the currents of Mana that he had seen flowing through him back at the Loot House. All he needed to do was release a small fraction of the colossal Yang reserve that was dwelling within him into the glintstone.

Like a passing breeze. The ‘Fundamentals of Magic’ said that a considerable part of Magic was one’s level of visualization. In that case, I’ll visualize the glintstone like a delicate flower—and my Mana like a giant’s hand. If I do anything more than lightly graze it with my pinky finger, I’ll crush it into a fine paste. 

He took a deep breath, his hand creeping over to the precious stone.

Here goes nothing. 

He pushed the currents running through him closer to his hand, allowing as little of it as possible to escape through his fingers and pour into the glintstone.

“Mhm. That’ll do.” Walter approved, watching the glintstone start to emit a faint shine, and gradually shift from its dark-purple coloration to that of Castor’s beautiful bright-gold hue.

The stone had been successfully bound to Castor’s soul. He could feel it, it was now more than just an external object—it was a part of him. 

Instantaneously, the spirit flew over to the glintstone, beckoning Castor for something as its eagerness reached an all-time high.

“To initiate the contract, all you have to do is open up the glintstone to the spirit. You should be able to feel some kind of blockage resonating from the stone, once you release that blockage—the spirit will be able to do the rest.” Walter explained.

Indeed, I can feel a “wall” stopping the spirit from getting in without my permission. 

Seeing no cause for further delay, he opened up his glintstone, the spirit flying into the crystal without hesitation.

The creation of the contract had begun.

“The spirit will now attach itself to your Gate, like your Mana reserves—your Gate also has an extraordinary level of toughness since you were able to endure supplying the Young Lord’s Spatial Rend to such a comfortable degree, so I doubt you’ll feel a thing.” 

About a minute later, the spirit flew back out of the glintstone.

“I guess we’re buds now,” Castor smiled, watching the spirit boastfully fly around as it flexed the surge of Mana it had received from linking itself to his Gate. 

It seems I don’t need Mark of the Scribe anymore to sense the emotions of this— No—of my spirit. 

Most spirits were limited to how long they could remain in their physical form before returning to their glintstone to recuperate. However, Castor’s reserves were undoubtedly capable of keeping his Lesser Spirit manifested for as long as it wanted to be.

“You should give it a name, it’s a tradition for practitioners of Spirit Arts.” 

“A name? Hmm… Let’s see here.” He scratched his chin, staring at the spirit thoughtfully. 

I think I’ve got it! 

When he looked at its red luster, it reminded him of the Spider Lilies planted around House Astrea’s front entrance.

“How about Lily?” 

The spirit gleefully bobbed up and down, conveying its approval.

“Lily it is then.” 

Castor was now an official user of Spirit Arts, a rarity among even the magically advanced Kingdom of Lugunica. Most of them hailed from the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko—since the place had the largest population of resident spirits.

“Now that you and Lily are bonded, would you care to give your newfound abilities a test run?” Walter smiled knowingly. 

“Do you even have to ask?” Castor smirked in return.

𑁋

They returned to the Garden of Lassitude, and all those surrounding Walter and Castor took a moment to stop and stare at the latter—the scene of all the Fire Spirits gathered around the Tree of Reid rushing over to him still fresh in their heads. 

Moreover, none of them glossed over the fact that Lily was now standing by his side.

“There’s a reason we keep the Garden open like this, you know?” Walter began. “When everyone trains together, it’s easier for them not only to spar with one another—but to give each other pointers and discuss their techniques as a collective. As prideful as we are in our techniques, not everyone is born a genius, so it’s important they have each other to bounce off and support one another’s growth.”

“Did Reinhard also train here?” 

Walter’s posture tightened. “Only for a short while, the Young Lord awakened his powers at the age of five, and by the time he was eight, he was better than any Royal Guard the Kingdom could produce. Rivaled only by elites like Sir Wilhelm and the Head Court Mage.” Shortly after, his voice grew somber. “That’s also when the Reinhard Law was introduced.”

“That doesn’t sound very fun.” 

“It isn’t, it’s a law that prevents the Young Lord from leaving the Kingdom since he’s acknowledged as a National Threat. It’s also supposed to serve as a knot to keep him tied to the wishes of the Kingdom, which as of now, is dictated solely by the Council of Wise Men.” 

Castor scratched his temple. “But if it’s just a law—then it’s not actually like it’s binding him right? Physically speaking, if Reinhard wanted to, couldn’t he just leave?” 

“The Young Lord’s heart is not that simple.” He stated firmly. “However, like I said, that’s something for you and him to personally handle.” 

You say that as if something’s already been established between us. I’d say it’s all just an attempt to tie me to this House, considering that I’m pretty talented according to this world’s standards. However, I know better than to assume Sir Walter is such a shallow person. 

At the very least, he’d take the old Librarian’s words into consideration as a gesture of respect. As far as he could tell, he was genuinely worried for Reinhard’s well-being.

“Now, while I may be unable to provide you much direction when it comes to Yang Magic, Fire Magic is well within my capabilities.” Walter opened his palm and pointed it towards the sky, conjuring a small wisp of fire above it. “The important thing to note is that Fire Magic is not simply about harnessing heat. It’s about controlling temperature. For example, if you lower the temperature of the Mana in the atmosphere enough like so—” 

Castor’s eyes sparkled with wonder as a distinct crackling sound reverberated throughout the atmosphere.

“—you get ice.” Icicle shards gathered around Walter’s hand. “The same can be done with Water Magic, it’s just the process that is different—” 

“I understand.” Castor audaciously interrupted. “With Fire Magic, you’re removing the heat from the atmosphere, but with Water Magic, you’re directly chilling it to create ice.” 

If one were to imagine atmospheric Mana as “gas”, then this is basically just advanced condensation. 

Walter nodded. “The sharpness of your mind will serve your spellcraft well, however—” 

Thwack! 

He chopped Castor on the head.

“Ow!”

“—it’s bad manners to interrupt your teacher while they’re instructing you. So I’ll kindly ask you to refrain from doing so from this point onward.” 

“Sorry,” Castor pouted while massaging his scalp.

“As long as you understand,” Walter continued. “Ice manipulation is a more advanced technique, so for the time being, we’ll start you off with something more foundational.” He shifted his hand into a finger-gun and pointed at the sky. “Goa!” 

Fwoosh! 

A sleek, blazing streak of fire shot up into the air. Illuminating the night sky and earning what Castor could only interpret as a round of cheers from the Fire Spirits circling the Tree of Reid.

“Why don’t you give it a try?” 

Castor grinned, turning to Lily. “Think you can do that as well?” 

She darted towards Castor’s hand and positioned herself in front of his index finger. 

Our Gates are now connected—all I have to do is call upon the Mana stored inside Lily and channel it as my own. 

He inhaled sharply, pointing his finger upwards just like Walter.

“Goa!” 

Castor’s basic Magic training had begun.

Fwoosh! 

“Well done.” Walter clapped, hiding his inward astonishment to prevent Castor’s ego from over-inflating. It was the number-one killer of talent after all.

Even though it was abundantly clear that Castor was exceptionally gifted with Magic, the fact that he was capable to perfectly replicate Walter’s Goa immediately—but also do so when calling upon the strength of a spirit for the first time was a sign of something truly remarkable.

At this rate, it won’t be long before he captures the attention of the Court Mages. I don’t want to be the one who limits his growth, but as a former Court Mage myself, I’m aware of how pretentious they can be. 

Furthermore, there’s also a big rift between them and the Royal Guards—won’t him becoming a Court Mage drive a wedge in the formation of a potential relationship between him and the Young Lord? 

Ultimately, the butler shook his head, clearing himself of such thoughts. 

I suppose we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Until he leaves the Astrea Domain, the chance of him being spotted by a Court Mage is practically null. At least I hope so.