Okay, I can't complain.
When my master said he'd make it up to me for the fact that he made me lose experience (I had been unwilling to reveal Blue and thus the corpses of whatever I had hunted went to waste), I did not expect much.
Who knew he'd let Blue eat a god damn Wyvern.
"Tell the thing to eat up, I doubt that it'll be able to take the whole thing, so let it eat until you become a second layer mage."
Summoning Blue, he looked at me, and then at the Wyvern corpse my master had kept in storage.
I was sure he was asking me 'can I really?'
I nodded my head, and the worm eagerly jumped over to the corpse.
Nom nom nom
"...It's more than expected."
My master still seemed quite wary of Blue, and although I could not see his expression under the mask, I got the sense that he was dumbfounded after seeing Blue eat half the wyvern.
Several notifications immediately popped up.
[Wyvern x0.5 has been recognised]
[An unexpected variable has occured]
[Calculating...]
[An overwhelming feat has been acomplished.]
[A reduction has been applied, as the host did not honestly achieve this feat.]
[...]
[Quest: Become Stronger! Has been automatically cleared]
[Worn Out Ruby Ring has been repaired.]
[Objective 2 has been automatically cleared.]
[Reward has been deemed insufficient.]
[..]
[A suitable reward has been decided.]
[Trait: Dragon-Slaying (F) has been added to the status window.]
[Error!]
[Dragon-Slaying (F) has been downgraded to Dragon-Slaying (FFF)]
[Congratulations! Host has become a second layer mage!]
[A new quest has been issued]
[Learn!
Follow the teachings of Lich King Xerxes.
No rewards shall be awarded for completing this quest.
There is no time limit upon this quest.
There is no punishment for failure.]
'Alright, damn relax!'
I swiped away the screens, deciding to look at them later.
Right now, I was far more interested in testing out the power of a second layer mage.
"The second layer, you should be there now, show me something, why dont you?"
My master spoke with expectation, and I planned to deliver.
I felt my circuits had improved in quality, being able to output significantly more magic than before.
'This... has to be at least fifty percent more than before, right?'
The difference from being at the peak of layer one and the beginning of layer two was huge.
In my mind, I first constructed the circle for magic bullet.
After this, I constructed a second ring around the center circle.
I was unfamiliar with the process, so I chose something simple.
I wanted to try and increase the speed of the bullet, and thus drew lines towards the starting point of the bullet.
The second layer was crude, but upon it was were the instructions to gather more mana to the back of the bullet, creating a small explosion upon casting that would propel the magic bullet at far higher speeds.
ZZT!
A blue bullet whizzed across the vast desert, disappating at what looked to be almost a hundred meters away.
A huge improvement over my previous usage of the spell.
I looked towards my master, seeing if he had anything to say.
"What? Want praise? You ate a wyvern and this is all you could do?"
Apparently he wasn't so happy that blue had eaten half of the wyvern he had killed earlier.
"That's neither here nor there, but this is much better than before, right?"
"It'll do."
I had a very bad feeling in my stomach, feeling as if my master was thinking of something that would not end up well for me.
"Then, now that I've fed you, I should probably start the training."
The training I had been looking forward to now seemed quite scary.
...
"..Let me quit, please."
If Furio knew his training would be anything like this, he never would have agreed to become this lunatic's pupil.
"Ah, my circulation method is a bit harsh, but it's top tier, trust me."
It felt as if his entire body was screaming out in pain.
He had only been able to complete one cycle of circulation, and he already wanted to die.
"Seriously, you did pretty well for the first go, your memory isn't half bad."
Furio felt no comfort at his master's half hearted praise.
This madman's cultivation method was apparently specialised in increasing the output of one's magic.
To do so, one would have to forcibly twist their magic circuits together and fill them with mana, causing them to swell and expand.
Then, the magic in said circuits would be breathed out.
It was utterly insane.
Furio knew that a mana circulation technique could be painful to perform, but this was literally breaking him apart.
"N-no, there's no way I can fucking do this, it'll kill me."
"Well, what am I here for? Don't worry, you won't die so easily. Also, it gets easier once you've become used to it."
Before Furio could continue his complaints, his master raised his hand.
"Sanguine Supression"
A red mist engulfed Furio, and the pain he had been feeling quickly subsided.
'Healing magic? From a dark mage?'
Furio was confused, as dark mages were known to be unable to use any light attribute magic.
And obviously, light attribute magic was mandatory for healing.
"Stop questioning it, and complete another circulation."
"This is hell."
---
LOG 12 - LICH KING XERXES
A monster considered to be the strongest living dark mage. One way or another, he is considered a wanted man in practically every nation in the continent. In the five-hundred years he has been active, he has committed numerous genocides and drove several countries to ruin. In the past century, his activity has declined, as he has seemingly found a new mission in life.