Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

“Then, show me a spell.”

Priya crossed her legs as she spoke, the sound of her velvet dress rustling softly as it flowed around her.

“A spell?”

“Yes, the one you’re most confident in.”

‘What should I use?’

Binaeril typically used elemental magic. He was proficient in wind and lightning magic, but ever since he began working with Eden, he had frequently used earth magic. However, the magic he was most confident in was something else entirely. It was the magic that had earned him praise for the first time.

From the tips of Binaeril’s fingers, a single snowflake formed. With just a hint of imagination, he could create a clearer and more intricate snowflake than ever before.

‘Ugh!’

However, even casting this simple spell brought a sharp headache. Priya observed his magic with a dry expression, noticing him grimace in pain.

“Looks like your mind hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

“No, I can do it.”

“Not really.”

Binaeril’s mind was exhausted from his fight with Dominic and the subsequent strain. Even casting a simple spell now caused him pain.

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

Binaeril expected her to suggest taking a few days’ rest. Instead, Priya proposed an entirely unexpected solution.

“Let’s try it in our dreams.”

Priya Merzina, after leaving the Holy Kingdom of Vitory, had been pursued by the church’s soldiers until she ended up in the Empire. Her obsessive cleanliness drove her to hide in Thornwinter Swamp to avoid the church’s trackers. During her time with her lover in the Holy Kingdom, she had been known by a nickname that instilled fear in people: the Enchantress. Priya Merzina specialized in magic that dealt with illusions and enchantments.

Priya exhaled a long plume of smoke from her pipe. The room gradually filled with the smoke, and Binaeril found himself being drawn into her dream.

“How does it feel?”

Her voice sounded muffled, as if his head was underwater. Binaeril opened his eyes. Although he had only closed them for a brief moment, he felt refreshed and clear-headed.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Haha, how long were you asleep? Well, that depends on when you wake up, doesn’t it?”

Priya was sitting in the same backless white chair as before, the pipe still in her mouth. However, everything around her had changed.

“Where is this…?”

“This is my dream. And at the same time, it’s your dream too.”

“What?”

Binaeril asked, looking puzzled.

“I told you to show me the magic you’re most confident in. I’ve figured out what kind of student you are.”

“Student?”

“Indeed. Handling magic so poorly means you’re neither a mage nor anything else. You’re just a student trapped in a narrow tower, wanting to be a model pupil.”

Binaeril felt a surge of indignation at her cold evaluation.

“Feeling resentful? Then try again. Show me the magic you’re most confident in.”

‘Alright, in that case…’

Binaeril thought of the Devouring Magic he had used in Fairhill to consume the hounds. Slowly, he began to visualize it and draw upon his magic.

‘What?’

Veritas. The power of Veritas wasn’t flowing into him. Priya, seeing his confusion, asked again.

“Why? Can’t you do it? Show me the magic you’re most confident in.”

According to Veritas, Devouring Magic consumed an amount of mana equivalent to a fourth-tier spell. Binaeril decided to cast a lower-level spell instead, a third-tier lightning spell.

“Heaven’s lightning, heed my call. Strike my enemy with divine retribution.”

But again, his mana was insufficient. Disheartened, Binaeril lowered his aim and finally managed to cast a second-tier spell. He felt ashamed.

Binaeril suddenly realized that without Veritas, he was nothing. All the magic he used came from Veritas. Without the Book of Truth, his mana capacity was only at a second-tier level, which wasn’t even enough to pass the Elfenbine’s Scholar exams.

“Hmm. There are two problems here.”

“What are they?”

“You think of magic in a rigid form.”

“It’s better to show than to explain.”

With that, Priya split like a slime, becoming two people.

“Fufufu.”

Both Priyas smiled identically. Then the two became four, then eight, then sixteen… Soon, countless Priyas surrounded Binaeril.

“Can you do this?”

“Me? Do this?”

“Or how about this?”

The Priya to his right melted away.

“Or this?”

The one to his left disintegrated into dust. Another sank into the shadows while sitting. Some turned to stone, some were torn in half, and others inflated like balloons and burst. It was like a nightmare.

Finally, only one Priya remained.

“I can guess the kind of magic you use without even seeing it. Freezing, burning, piercing, breaking, summoning wind, striking lightning… that’s about it, right?”

Of course, that’s the ‘conventional’ form of magic, isn’t it?

“Don’t you think you’re underestimating the potential of magic? Magic is the power of imagination.”

Binaeril reconsidered his understanding of magic’s definition.

“You can manifest anything you can imagine, as long as you have enough mana and willpower.”

“But…”

“But?”

“Isn’t that the way only those who have reached the pinnacle of magic can perform?”

Priya sighed.

“My goodness, this is why rookies fresh from the magic tower are so pathetic. They only want to do things by the book, exactly as their professors taught them. They limit their own potential.”

Binaeril felt a sting at her criticism. He realized that he was included among the idiots she mentioned.

“Can you really only do what you’ve been taught? Think about it. Have you ever tried to use magic in a way that wasn’t taught in the tower?”

‘Come to think of it…’

There was something. A unique skill that other mages couldn’t replicate: his incantationless magic.

Binaeril felt a sense of discomfort. Reflecting on it, he realized that Priya had demonstrated her magic several times but he had never heard her utter a single incantation.

“Priya, uh, teacher?”

“Oh, drop the formal titles. I hate that rigid stuff.”

“Then, um, sister?”

Priya’s lips curled into a slight smile.

“How do you use magic without incantations?”

Priya tapped the pipe she held with her fingertips.

“Thanks to this little thing.”

“What is it? An artifact?”

Priya chuckled lightly and responded,

“No, nothing like that. Just a favorite item. Incantations are just one of many ways to trigger magic. For me, inhaling the smoke from this pipe acts as my magical trigger.”

“Then why do they teach incantations at Elfenbine?”

“How should I know? Probably because it’s the simplest trigger. But,” Priya paused, then drove her point home, “those who can only do what they’re told will only grow as much as they’re allowed to. Understand, kid?”

“…Yes, sister.”

“Good. Now, it’s time for the second harsh truth.”

“…I’m ready.”

Priya recalled her former lover, a man known as the Knight of Salvation. She used an analogy to explain her point.

“Let’s say there’s a man who wants to become the greatest knight.”

Binaeril thought of his brother upon hearing the analogy. By chance, they were both thinking of the same person.

The analogy continued.

“To become the greatest knight, he travels the world, collecting treasures: impenetrable armor, a ring that enchants people, a sword that cuts through anything. With all these artifacts covering him, he becomes the greatest knight he dreamed of being. But here’s the question: Has he truly achieved his goal?”

“No… I don’t think so.”

“Exactly. Without those treasures, he’s just an ordinary man. Relying on borrowed power will never make him truly strong.”

Priya poked Binaeril’s chest with her finger.

Her words and finger pierced Binaeril’s chest like a dagger. Dependent on someone else’s power. Perhaps it wasn’t Veritas who was parasitically relying on him, but rather he who was parasitically relying on Veritas’ power.

“A weapon too powerful won’t let its wielder grow. You need to become strong enough to match it.”

Without Veritas, Binaeril was just a fledgling mage barely capable of second-tier magic.

“So what should I do?”

“What kind of question is that? To run well, you need to run. Similarly, to use magic well, you need to practice magic. Here, in my dream.”

“But you said you’re leaving soon.”

“Look at you trying to cling to your sister. Don’t worry. In my dream, a day can pass like a hundred days. That’s why my nickname is the ‘Enchantress of Illusions.’”

Priya was indeed an extraordinary mage.

“In this place, you don’t need to eat, drink, or sleep. Train to your heart’s content. I’ll be watching over you.”

Of course, there was a risk. Letting Binaeril into her dream meant bearing a magical burden. The longer he stayed, the heavier the burden on Priya. However, she did not reveal this to Binaeril. Her kindness was due to her lingering feelings for the name “Dalheim.”

“You’ll need an opponent. How about this?”

From the ground, a human figure rose up.

“This is…?”

It was the image of Dominic Schiller.

“Try your best against him. I’ll be resting.”

Priya left Binaeril to his struggle and returned her focus to the real world. While Binaeril was likely fighting hard in the dream, his face in reality looked peaceful. Priya approached him and covered him with a piece of cloth like a blanket. She saw a fleeting resemblance to Yunnaeril Dalheim in the young boy’s face.

“Really surprising.”

It wasn’t just that the stranger was the younger brother of her former lover that shocked her. What truly astonished her was something else. Both brothers were in possession of cursed objects.

“We have some things to discuss, don’t we? I’d prefer if you dropped the act.”

She spoke to the empty room.

-Really surprising, indeed.

A shadow rose behind her, revealing itself. With black, tousled hair and crescent-shaped eyes that hinted at hidden malice, it was Veritas, the Book of Truth, manifesting its form.

-For a mere human mage to see through my existence?

“Ha, ridiculous. For a mere object to dare provoke Lady Priya?”