The Villains I Taught Became Heroes

Winning the tournament didn’t really change anything special.

Of course, some wizards jumped at the chance to take Lena as their apprentice, but like, am I gonna hand her over to them?

After kindly sending them on their way, we returned to our little hut.

“I’m, I’m tired…”

Random strangers coming up saying things like, “Let’s do something together!” or, “I felt destined for you the moment I saw you!” or, “You! Be my apprentice!”—it was a LOT for introverted Lena to handle on our way back.

Rejecting each one must have been quite a task for her.

“Hehe… b-but I made some friends…”

“Yeah. Congrats.”

Yuria and Kanon returned to the Ivory Tower.

They were still over the moon about deciding to be friends during the after-party.

I patted Lena’s head while she chuckled and after seating her at the table, I got down to business.

“Congrats on winning, but that doesn’t mean we can skip what needs to be done.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Starting today, we’ll dive into intermediate magic.”

“Yesss!”

Naturally, the nature magic in Ragnarok is based on the four elements.

That means earth, fire, water, and air, and intermediate magic can be viewed as a collective term for spells based on these four elements.

“Basic magic carries attributes, but we can’t really utilize them. They just purely create attributes.”

“So what about attributes that don’t belong to the four elements?”

“Those will be for advanced magic.”

“Ah.”

Attributes like ice or lightning are the kick-off for advanced magic. Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t advanced spells among the four-element spells.

You have to get a good grip on how to use each attribute through basic magic before you can learn intermediate and advanced spells.

“The path to channeling magic is as follows. First up is fire property: Fire Arrow. It’s similar to Magic Arrow, but you’re infusing it with an attribute. Think of it as using two spells at once.”

“Um… is that different from overlapping?”

“It’s more akin to synthesis than overlapping. Alright. Give it a shot.”

With her eyes shut tight, while grunting, Lena conjured a fiery arrow in front of her. Genius, she learns fast!

“Firing it is the same as Magic Arrow.”

“Y-yeah!”

The Fire Arrow she shot flew halfway before the flames flickered out.

When Lena looked puzzled by that, I held her hand.

“Looks like you were too focused on the arrow itself. That’s a common mistake when moving up from basic to intermediate magic.”

“Hmm. You’re right. Let’s try again…”

After a few rounds of conjuring and shooting Fire Arrows, Lena managed to master it adeptly.

“Quick on the draw. Usually, it takes a week for regular wizards to properly use Fire Arrow!”

“Eh, hehehe… I-I’m just following Master’s teaching!”

“Nope, you’re just that good. Alright, shall we move on?”

Intermediate magic has a lot more than just Fire Arrow.

You have to master more than 80% of these to get to advanced magic, so let’s put in the work!

Fortunately, Lena absorbed everything I taught her without any complaints.

A talent any magician would envy.

Several days passed.

Just when I was about to check up on Lena, who had mastered one spell a day, I said,

“…Lena.”

“Yes, yes?!”

“Stay behind me.”

Saying that to Lena, who came out ready to enjoy today’s lesson, she looked confused as people began emerging from the forest. They were all dressed in black.

I had no doubt who they were.

“Is it the Asura sect?”

“Hehehe…”

A nondescript man at the front chuckled softly.

What a super annoying laugh.

As I raised my hand to confront him, he shook his head.

“Wait. Let’s settle this with dialogue.”

“The Asura sect wants to talk? Well, let’s hear what nonsense you have to bark about.”

“Return the Dark Church’s experiment. Then we might just leave.”

So it comes to this.

In the original plot, Lena gets dragged into the Asura sect and becomes the Silent Witch, acting under them.

It’s like the Asura sect is trying to make that future happen.

But am I crazy? Hand Lena over to them?

I shook my head.

“Lena is my apprentice. Do you think I’ll just give her to you?”

I haven’t even taught her intermediate spells yet; there’s no way I’d send her off elsewhere.

“Wind Javelin.”

A green wind flower bloomed at the tip of my weapon.

It instantly transformed into a massive spear of wind and flew towards the head of the man grinning in front of me.

–Kwah-chik!–

However, my Wind Javelin hit him but was stopped by a translucent barrier in the air.

That guy’s got a fine artifact, huh?

“Did you think I came here unprepared? Boys! Attack!!”

A dozen or so Asura sect members charged.

As they rushed me, filled with wizards and swordsmen, Lena shouted,

“F-Fire Arrow!!”

Suddenly, powerful flames burst forth from behind.

Dozens of Fire Arrows hung in the air.

Lena shot them off in a hurry, shouting,

“M-Master! I-I’ll fight too!!”

Even the Sylph she summoned nodded and unfolded her wind.

The Fire Arrows that took flight became even stronger when met with the wind.

I didn’t even teach her about attribute enhancement, but she’s using it already. What a wonderful pupil, she really picks up on things fast!

“Gah! You pathetic Dark Church experiment!”

Few stood up to the powerful arrows of fire created by Lena and Sylph.

That means the ones here are just some regular weaklings.

Indeed, they are just the vanguard.

After dispatching the enemies who were reeling from Lena’s Fire Arrow, I approached the one who looked like their leader.

“Ha! Did you think I’d just stand here and take it?!”

His body began to swell. The Asura sect’s technique of enhancing their physical body through evil power.

But like, does the captain know any techniques or just a couple?

“M-Master!!”

At that moment, arrows of water and fire shot forth.

The one barely holding up the array of attacks wore a sly grin.

“Ha ha ha!! Don’t underestimate the power of the Asura sect!!”

“Honestly, I’m not underestimating the Asura sect. I’m just underestimating you.”

I charged toward him while he relied on his artifact to defend himself as I swung my sword.

Apparently, he didn’t expect me to approach and strike.

The magic he was using was Magic Shield, specialized for defending against magic attacks.

That means he’s vulnerable to physical attacks.

His surprise must have gotten him; he took my hit completely.

“Gyaaah!”

An arm flew off.

As the magical shield broke, fire and water arrows began to puncture his body.

“Uuuurgh…”

He quickly found himself riddled with holes and died.

Approaching Lena, who was sweating coldly, I asked,

“Are you okay?”

This was probably her first kill.

While Sowol is strong enough to handle it, Lena’s always been kind of fragile mentally, so I was worried.

As expected, Lena’s face had gone pale.

“I-I killed a person…”

“Well, sometimes you have to kill.”

“Is… is that so?”

“Yeah.”

I patted Lena’s head.

If she’s going to keep living in this world, she needs to get used to killing people.

I held Lena’s hand tightly.

“To protect something precious, you need to be willing to be cruel. So with this, you could say you’ve become a bit stronger.”

“…I-I see. Thank you!”

“Good. That’s the spirit.”

Her answer was good, but inside, I felt a bit of a sting.

Still, this was a pain she had to face someday; I just hoped she could endure it.

“Uh. Um… Master.”

“Hmm? What is it? Got something to say?”

As I gathered the bodies telekinetically, Lena spoke up.

What is she gonna ask?

I had a rough idea, but when I asked, Lena nodded slightly, her eyes trembling.

“Um… when you say I’m a Dark Church experiment… are you talking about me?”

Wow, she’s grown.

In the past, she would’ve probably buried her head in fear and not even brought it up herself.

Well, what to do about that?

Seeing these guys showed that the Asura sect would keep coming, and eventually, Lena would find out the truth anyway…

I might as well just tell her myself.

“Lord of Fire.”

I pulled out any valuables I could from the bodies and burned the rest.

Looking down at the burning bodies in the pit, I explained to Lena.

About the Dark Church.

About the Asura sect.

And even about the experiments being conducted by the Dark Church.

“S-So… I was, uh, a Dark Church experiment… is that it? I see… Um… Master.”

“Did I take you as my apprentice just because you’re a Dark Church experiment?”

“Eek! H-How… did you know?”

“I could just tell by looking at your face what you’d say.”

“Hehehe…”

“I’ve been fighting the Asura sect long before I met you. Of course, I knew they had Dark Church experiments. But that’s not why I took you as my apprentice. I chose you, Lena.”

There aren’t many who have talent in magic like you do.

“R-Right… I see…”

Lena murmured quietly and nodded, then looked at me directly.

There was no fear in her eyes. I thought she might despair or feel defeated once she found out she was an experiment.

“E-Even if I was an experiment of the Dark Church in the past… well, the current me is your student, Master!”

“And?”

“So, um, I don’t want to go to the Asura sect!”

Her firm resolve made me smile.

“Neither do I intend to send you there.”

Maybe to the Ivory Tower if it would help you that way, but not to the Asura sect.

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