Chapter 12: The Last Mage’s Disciple

A whole day passed.

The old man, barely regaining his senses, spotted Hio and opened his eyes wide.

“You—who are you!”

It seemed he didn’t remember Hio, who had appeared while he was only half-conscious, so Hio calmly explained the situation, and the old man soon gave a sheepish cough.

“Ahem. I don’t know who you are, but thank you. As you can see, I’m just a worthless old man, so I don’t really have anything to repay you with.”

“Ah, well. That’s all right.”

He was going to be repaid with a Skillbook anyway.

Hio brought out the vegetable soup he had prepared in advance and placed it before the old man.

“Please eat before it gets cold.”

The old man stared at the soup as if it were some strange object, then took a bite without another word.

…….

Perhaps it suited his taste, as the old man kept moving his spoon.

Watching him for a moment, Hio sat down beside him and quietly began to eat his own soup.

Inside, the only sound was the clinking of tableware, with no conversation.

Eventually, when the old man finished every drop and set down his bowl, he looked at Hio and spoke.

“My name is Berga Pavlenko. As you can see, I’m just an old man waiting for death.”

Despite his words, there was surprising strength behind the old man’s voice.

As if he still had an unfulfilled goal.

In response, Hio also set down his empty bowl and spoke up.

“I’m Hio. I have no parents, siblings, or friends—just a wandering traveler.”

Their first exchange was rather plain and simple.

***

Three days and nights passed again.

Hio was still inside the mage’s house, together with the old mage who had introduced himself as Berga.

His original plan had been to leave after picking up two Skillbooks from the empty dungeon, but that had completely fallen apart, so he was staying for now.

On the first day, Berga had told him he could leave whenever he wanted, but when Hio said he wanted to stay a bit longer, Berga simply nodded without complaint.

Maybe, in his own way, Berga had missed having company.

Or perhaps he felt a bit of sympathy for Hio, who wandered alone without parents or friends.

Whatever the reason, the important thing was that for three days, they lived together in the house of a mage, not in some dungeon called the Last Mage’s Tomb.

Berga’s condition was worse than expected, and his old body recovered slowly.

Still, since his visible injuries weren’t too severe, he managed to regain his strength and leave his bed after three days.

“Actually, this house goes down to the third basement floor.”

The day Berga recovered, he spoke to Hio as if revealing a huge secret.

Of course, Hio already knew this, but he played along.

“Wow.”

He definitely knew the way down, but for some reason, he hadn’t been able to access it.

Unlike in the game.

“What? You don’t believe me? Hahaha! I guess I’ll just have to show you something amazing!”

Now that Berga was back to his old self, he was just as Hio remembered: unnecessarily talkative, quick to laugh, and extremely proud of his useless magic.

That personality, for Hio, was a stroke of luck.

“Here, this is the path to the basement.”

Berga led Hio to a blank wall.

Of course, Hio knew there was a passage behind this wall leading underground.

Thanks to his in-game experience and the Mana Perception Prodigy Trait, he could sense the faint flow of mana.

But again, he played along.

It seemed like this was what Berga wanted.

“…There’s nothing here, though?”

“Hahaha! Of course, that’s how it looks to ordinary people. But—!”

Berga placed his hand on the wall.

“Now! What do you see!”

At that moment, the wall split in two, revealing a staircase leading down.

‘It’s not even a fingerprint scanner or anything…!

No wonder I couldn’t find it.

Trying to look genuinely surprised, Hio clapped his hands.

“Wow.”

“Hahahahaha! Amazing, right? Actually, I am the last mage in this world, the final heir of the legendary Pavlenko Family!”

Berga introduced himself with overwhelming pride, almost to the point of being burdensome.

“Ah, yes. I see.”

“Hmm? You don’t seem surprised?”

Of course, it wasn’t important to Hio.

Maybe he had won Berga’s trust in just three days.

Now he could finally go down to the basement, pick up the Skillbooks, and leave.

That was all that mattered as he headed downstairs.

“I’ll show you this place, but there are many research materials down there, so don’t come down carelessly.”

***

After passing the second basement, it wasn’t until they reached the third floor that Hio realized something was seriously wrong.

“Uh… Is this all?”

“Yes. More complicated than you thought, right?”

There wasn’t even a single thing that looked like a Skillbook on the second or third basement floors.

Just a mess of scattered paper.

And only then did Hio understand why Berga had shown him the basement so freely.

‘It’s not about trust… It’s just that there’s nothing down here.’

There was nothing to hide, since all that lay around were incomprehensible scraps of paper and no valuables.

‘…This is probably……..’

It seemed he had arrived before Berga ever obtained the Skillbooks.

“By the way, you didn’t seem very surprised when I said I was a mage.”

Berga asked, but with his head spinning, Hio just replied vaguely.

“I saw when we first met.”

Back in the game, he’d visited this place at a later point in time.

Still, he didn’t think it was a big problem.

He had thought the mage would be long dead, but here he was alive and—worse—there weren’t even any Skillbooks.

‘Is it just a matter of timing… or did the mass arrival of Possessors create some butterfly effect?’

The fact that he couldn’t know was the real issue.

“When we first met? What do you mean by that?”

Unaware of Hio’s complicated thoughts, Berga asked calmly.

“When you made that amazing Magic Circle and cast magic, remember?”

At that, Berga suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“You… you saw that?”

“Yes……?”

“Say it again. You really saw that?”

His unexpectedly intense reaction was a bit alarming.

Normally, Skill users could watch each other’s Skills without issue.

It wasn’t something you could just copy by watching anyway.

“Yes, I did see it… Was I not supposed to?”

“No! It’s quite the opposite! Say it again! What did you see?”

“That strange Magic Circle appeared, and then the magic…”

As he retraced his words, Hio realized something.

It wasn’t that seeing it was the problem.

Most people would just think, ‘Oh, he used a Skill,’ and move on.

But Hio had specifically mentioned the Magic Circle.

“That’s it! That’s it!”

Berga leaned in so close it was uncomfortable.

His eyes sparkled, not at all like those of a dying old man.

“Magic Circles are formed from mana—you can’t see them with the naked eye! But you’re saying you actually saw it!”

“…Uh? I’m not sure what you mean…….!”

Sensing trouble, Hio tried to make excuses.

“Hahaha! It’s too late to try to hide your talent!”

But Berga’s eyes had already gone wild.

“You’re my disciple now!”

He’d been chosen as a disciple.

By the weakest mage in the world.

***

There were players who tried to study magic.

Actually, there were quite a few.

Magic was always the heart of an RPG.

Besides, the Point Shop openly sold magic tomes.

They were pretty expensive, but still much cheaper than a Skillbook.

That’s why, in the early and mid-game, many players believed there was some hidden secret in magic and devoted themselves to it.

But the results were disastrous.

[Title: Magic Tome, damn it! Absolute crap!]

[Title: Lost all my points on magic tomes. I quit ᄉᄀ]

[Title: Who was the idiot who said there was something in magic?]

[Title: RPG without mages = trash game]

Some users didn’t give up for over a year, but in the end, they all reached the same conclusion.

A game without magic is trash!

[Magic is dead.]

[Absolute garbage, useless job.]

[Even beggar NPCs look at you with pity if you say you’re a mage.]

The learning time, casting time, and mana cost were all so high, but the power was pitifully weak.

It really was total garbage.

And yet…..still.

“Magic is great! Magic is almighty! Learn magic from me! You’ll be happy! As the last disciple of the great mage in this world…….”

Yet here was this old man right in front of him, shouting ‘Long live magic!’ and trying to gaslight him.

But more than that, Hio needed to figure out how Berga had gotten the Skillbooks, so he tried to steer the conversation.

“That’s enough, old man. By any chance, were you somewhere else before coming here…….”

“Hey! Old man, you say? Call me Master!”

“…Sigh!”

“Hmm? What was that?”

“Nothing.”

This old man, crazy for magic, wouldn’t listen to a word.

Things were getting really annoying.

According to the plan, he’d get two Skillbooks here—one to sell for funds, and one to learn for his evolution, then raise his Endurance to 1000 and evolve it.

But instead, the supposedly dead mage was right in front of him, demanding he become a disciple, passionately preaching…

‘Where are the Skillbooks anyway…’

‘Could things get any more tangled?’

‘Magic. Magic, huh……..’

No matter how he thought about it, it was a no-go.

It was already proven to be trash in the game.

“Being your disciple is a bit……..”

“But you witnessed the greatness of magic!”

“Well, it was interesting, but that’s all……..”

“Magic is great! Once you learn it, you’ll understand!”

“Can we have a more productive conversation……..”

“Disciple! Magic! Disciple! Magic!”

“Damn it!”

He was sure now.

This old man was senile.

‘…Should I just give up on the Skillbooks?’

It was clear there were none left in this dungeon.

Whatever route Berga had used to get two Skillbooks, with ten thousand Possessors arriving two years ago, there must have been all sorts of changes.

Those Skillbooks might never come here at all.

‘Still, that’s a huge waste.’

But giving up without checking properly seemed like too much of a waste.

Thinking of their value… maybe he should just become Berga’s disciple and raise his favorability.

Even if he didn’t get the Skillbooks, he might at least learn where they originally came from or where they went.

‘…Yeah. I’ve come this far, it doesn’t make sense to leave empty-handed.’

That was his thinking.

He decided to become the last mage’s disciple.

“Then, please teach me.”

It was really a lighthearted decision.

“Magic is truly amazing… Hm? Are you serious?”

“Well, it was interesting to see.”

The mana moved in sync with Berga’s gestures.

The shining rune of mana and the restrained beauty of the formation.

The feeling he’d had when he first saw it was certainly one of wonder.

“A mage… is looked down upon.”

But when Hio agreed to become his disciple, Berga’s face turned serious.

“A once-prosperous discipline. But after repeated decline, it’s now a profession no one remembers. In ancient times, mages were respected by all, but now they are laughed at by everyone.”

“…Didn’t you just say it was great and amazing?”

“Of course! That’s because those fools don’t know the depth and greatness of magic. Magic is great!”

“That’s enough, then. Please teach me. I’ll give it a try.”

Reaching out to the slightly gloomy-looking Berga was almost a habit.

Like the handshake you exchange when forming a contract.

A hand extended without much meaning, just to match the mood.

But when Berga took his hand, his face brightened more than ever.

“I look forward to it! My disciple!”

Something poked at a corner of his heart, making him feel a bit uneasy.