The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 110
Helion’s team has decided not to leave the Central Church for the time being, so Finn and I would also stay here and receive their teachings.
Today marked the first day.
As part of my usual routine, I maintained a seated meditation for three hours to expand my mana capacity and enhance its output, then moved on to the next training.
Since I had started at dawn, it was still early in the morning.
Feeling lighter, I summoned Kry, which I hadn’t fully tamed yet.
The process of turning a wild beast into a familiar involved making it understand who the stronger one was, but I had no intention of hitting or injuring Kry.
That might have been different if it were a beast I had encountered in a dungeon or the wild.
Kry had originally been in human care, and such methods could backfire and be ineffective.
The most commonly used tool in this situation is the Suppression Magic Circle.
This was a type of familiar magic used to tame a familiar without causing injury. I was able to use it because I had forcibly taken away Kry’s original owner’s authority.
So, just as always, I unfolded the purple magic circle while watching Kry, who growled.
“You’ve become much calmer.”
I suddenly noticed a change in Kry’s growl.
Although its spirit had been somewhat broken due to continuous training, it used to grind its teeth in constant vigilance and threat. Now its tone had shifted.
Just as animals communicated different things with their sounds, familiars did too.
I sensed a new tone in Kry’s whimper, closer to a sob.
“You don’t need to be afraid.”
I stopped the magic circle, made eye contact, and extended my hand.
I thought about placing a mana stone, something it liked, in my palm but decided against it, feeling it might not be necessary this time.
For some reason, I felt it wasn’t needed.
⎯Growl, grrr.
As the pressure that had been suppressing him vanished, Kry let out a rough noise, as if trying to rebel again, but its energy was completely different from before.
I calmly met its gaze.
Its red eyes seemed vulnerable. The longer I stared, the more I felt a sense of pity.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Kry realized I wouldn’t harm it.
–Kkiing.
It lowered its tightly coiled tail and burrowed into my arms.
The guy had finally opened the door to its heart.
Ding!
⎯Your familiar magic has reached the level of <Comprehension>!
Of course, no such status window appeared.
But this was the second time I’d reached comprehension.
Just like the first time, I didn’t need confirmation to know it.
At last, I could learn the next stage of familiar magic from Helion—the multi-fusion technique. I had been told I could only learn it once I reached the level of comprehension in familiar magic.
Let’s review what Helion hadn’t fully explained before.
***
So that was it.
I remembered there being a mention of Helion having wings in the later part of the description, and now I knew why.
On the afternoon I reached the level of comprehension in familiar magic.
I received Helion’s teachings, and it was a completely new technique, different from dual or triple fusion.
Who would have imagined it? To <wear> a familiar.
It was a spell that covered your body with the familiar, just like equipping a weapon or armor.
That was why Helion had wings and flew through the sky—he had <worn> a wyvern familiar.
They said that when you truly dedicated yourself to mastering a sword, you became one with it, like a martial artist who had reached the pinnacle of their skill.
… still, as someone who cared deeply about familiars, I felt some resistance when I first heard about <wearing> them.
I couldn’t help but imagine stripping their skin and using it as material for clothing.
⎯Watch closely.
Noticing my rare display of discomfort, Helion assured me there was no need to dislike it and demonstrated the technique himself.
Just as described in the novel, he had wyvern wings.
He soared through the air, gracefully circling several times before landing.
Seeing it in person made me realize there was nothing grotesque or disturbing about it.
It felt entirely natural.
It was like seeing a familiar that had undergone dual fusion—completely seamless, as though it had always been that way.
Like fusion, this technique also amplified abilities, but there was a limit to how many familiars you could wear at once.
The main difference was that it was far more complex than dual fusion, requiring difficult calculations and intricate processes.
While imitating the technique might not be too hard, fully mastering it would likely take some time.
‘Still, it’s an attractive technique.’
There was a world of difference between borrowing the power of a familiar and using it directly.
Take my shadow familiar, Darkie.
Instead of merely using Darkie to stretch and block physical attacks, if I could wear him like armor, I could eliminate any openings in my defense.
Helion also mentioned that, eventually, I might be able to wear familiars that had undergone dual fusion. That was as far as his own familiar magic went.
Beyond that, the territory remained unexplored.
Though Helion usually spoke with a detached tone, the more I thought about it, the more incredible his words were.
Despite not specializing in familiar magic, he was at the forefront of the field, having reached the level of comprehension.
There might be heroes who could perform triple fusion, but none who could wear their familiars, which made this realm even more specialized.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve heard of wearing familiars.’
Considering how much Vargan cherished and was interested in familiars.
I was sure he would have known about this if it were widely taught.
So, it must be Helion’s unique magic.
… how many unique magic did this person have, anyway? Teaching them so casually without even mentioning their significance.
Surely Helion knew how valuable unique magic was to a mage.
The more I learned, the more astonished I was by him.
Anyway, back to the training.
After witnessing Helion’s unique technique of wearing familiars, he explained its theory to me and walked me through the calculation process.
With dual fusion, he had only demonstrated it, letting me figure out the rest, but now that the difficulty had increased, it seemed like he wanted to save time.
For the next three days, I dedicated all my time, except for expanding my mana capacity, to mastering this technique.
Despite that, I hadn’t even reached the level of imitation yet.
That was because the formula that made up Helion’s body and soul was different from mine, meaning I needed to develop a new version of the technique that suited me.
If Helion hadn’t personally explained the formula to me, it would have taken not months, but years.
“Are you making progress on the assignment I gave you?”
Helion, perhaps noticing that I hadn’t left my room for a while, came to check on me.
It was now night.
The morning sun had just been rising when I began, but now the day had ended.
“It seems things aren’t going smoothly. Even Student Vargan has his struggles.”
“…”
Helion wasn’t here to tease me about my difficulties, so I wondered what his real reason for visiting was. I glanced at him.
“Student Vargan. Do you want to fight me?”
What was he saying now?
***
“For the next month, it seems I’ll be handling matters at the Central Church. It might be difficult to train every day, but I’ll make time in the evenings to give you some practical lessons.”
“If you had told me that from the start, things would have been fine.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“Your jokes, Lord Helion, are not funny at all.”
With Helion’s sudden challenge, I stepped outside and headed towards the training ground.
Since this was the headquarters of the heroes at the Central Church, there were all kinds of facilities set up for training and maintenance.
These places were spacious and well-finished, just like the ones at Academia.
We were standing on a tiled training ground with no roof, and because it was nighttime, the visibility was rather limited.
Though there were brightly lit areas elsewhere, Helion must have chosen this spot with the intent of factoring in the effects of the external environment.
“If Student Vargan can inflict even the smallest wound on me, you win. If not, you lose. How does that sound?”
“Are those the only rules?”
“Ah, as a penalty for being your teacher, I will only use magic from a single category.”
As Helion said that, he began gathering his mana.
His hands glowed with a yellow light, as if thousands of fireflies had converged in one spot.
He said he would only use one type of magic, but he was obviously preparing his main skill, holy magic, just to target me.
At this rate, all of my dark-attribute familiars would either be severely injured or wiped out. Naturally, curses would be almost useless, too.
“Isn’t it fascinating? My main magic happens to be the perfect counter to yours.”
“Not really. There are as many types of magic as there are people.”
After all, there were even saints here…
Helion nodded in agreement.
Then, with a rare smile, he provoked me further.
“Hurry up and prepare, Student Vargan. If it ends too quickly, it won’t be much of a lesson, will it?”
“I’ve already begun.”
I had been ready for a while now.
Helion. Even before you started gathering magic, I had already cast multiple curses⎯
“⎯ you might want to prepare again.”
Suddenly, the invisible threads of curses I had secretly bound him with were severed.
A faint yellow light flashed and completely nullified all the layered curses I had cast.
The method I used against Caliculea was utterly ineffective this time.
I hadn’t expected it to work, but seeing my spells being torn apart so easily felt a bit disappointing.
“…….”
“What did I tell you?”
It seemed that Helion was determined to draw out all my strength, even if it meant using harsh methods.
He summoned a holy sword and shield, crafted from holy magic—the same ones he used when he fought Archbishop Ami.
Holy magic was especially dazzling at night.
I narrowed my eyes against the blinding light. He was really going all out…
I got it now.
Helion was reserving his final judgment about me and had decided to focus on nurturing my growth for the time being.
Whether I would be an asset or a liability to the church in the future was unknown, but he was doing what he could.
This also meant that, no matter how much I grew, he believed he could still kill me if necessary. This was another form of provocation.
Well, fine.
If Helion had made up his mind to help me grow, then that would be great. Regardless of his intentions, as long as the process aligned with my own goals, I would take advantage of it.
The church might be trying to use me, but I could just as easily use them.
“Since Lord Helion insists, I will give it my all.”
I summoned multiple magic circles, prepared to use every familiar I could.
I wouldn’t hold back with my curse magic either.
After all, I had more than enough mana to spare.
Just as he said, this was the perfect opportunity to face my greatest foe—holy magic, wielded by none other than Helion himself. How could I pass it up?
I confirmed with Helion once more.
“The condition for my victory is to inflict a single wound on you, right?”
“Yes. Even the smallest scratch will count.”
“Understood. As your humble student, I will do my best to leave a deep scar on your god-like body.”
With those words, I took my stance.
In my hand, I gathered the curse of decay.
My most destructive spell at the moment.
I would be staying at the Central Church for about a month.
Would I be able to wound that monster of a man in that time? It was a tall order, considering even Archbishop Ami couldn’t manage it.
⎯Boom!
Without any signal, we both moved at the same time.
The battle showed no signs of ending. Even as the night passed, the heat of the training ground didn’t wane.
The reason was.
The only rule for victory was to wound Helion.
Just that one thing.
……
In the end, even on the night before I had to leave, I couldn’t land a single scratch on Helion.
There was no monster quite like him.