novel-books Chapter 88 Teaching Under the Starlight
Chapter 88 Teaching Under the Starlight
The underground magic workshop of the Tohsaka residence is perpetually filled with the cool, astringent smell of preservatives and mercury.
This is the sacred place where successive heads of the Tohsaka family have sought the "roots," and it is also a secret room that is never opened to outsiders.
But today, this heavy oak door opened to a blond young man.
Arthur stood in the center of the workshop, his posture upright, wearing the white shirt and dark vest that Kui had prepared for him.
Despite his modern attire, when he stood in this room filled with mystical atmosphere, the ancient grimoires and gems around him seemed to pale in comparison in an instant.
"So, the first lesson in magic." Arthur turned around and looked at the two girls standing in front of him.
Rin was dressed in neat casual clothes, her face tense, her hands behind her back, looking like a top student ready for battle.
Sakura hid behind Rin, twisting the hem of her clothes with her hands. Her purple eyes showed both fear of the cold room and complete trust in Arthur.
"Father said you will teach us knowledge far beyond modern magic common sense." Rin raised her chin, trying to maintain the pride of the Tohsaka family heir.
"Is it some kind of lost gem magic? Or some high-level spirit summoning ritual?"
"None of those, Rin." Arthur shook his head slightly. "Those are the end stages of the art. Today, I will only teach you the source."
Arthur raised his right hand, and his slender index finger gently traced the first path in the air.
There was no chanting, no elaborate rituals, and not even any extraction of magic from the surrounding environment.
The moment his fingertips slid across the surface, the air in the underground workshop suddenly became incredibly heavy, as if a tangible "mystery" was descending.
Golden light burst forth from his fingertips, condensing in mid-air into an ancient and powerful rune—Guardian.
The light completely dispelled the lingering, chilly smell that had accumulated in the workshop over the years.
The moment that ray of light took shape, Arthur's consciousness stirred slightly.
He thought of Scáthach.
The woman who lived in the Land of Shadows and was known for her strictness, the one who painstakingly etched the knowledge of runes into his mind.
He remembered that at the end of that training, Scáthach placed the Guardian Rune before him and said only one sentence:
"Here, take this. Once you truly understand its meaning, you'll naturally get it."
Arthur had not yet learned this rune at that time.
Until after the Battle of Vortigern.
The connection that had been missing all along was suddenly established at that moment, and the protective rune bloomed easily and completely in his hands without any effort.
He then realized what Scáthach meant by "it will happen naturally".
The ability to protect is never something you learn.
The golden runes hung silently in mid-air, emitting a uniform and stable halo.
As the runes took shape, an extremely pure and vast wave of magical power swept through the entire room like a tsunami.
That was the breath of the divine age.
"Ugh...!"
Rin suddenly took half a step back, her pupils instantly contracted, and her small body trembled slightly uncontrollably.
The magic circuits within her body, upon sensing this power, didn't even dare to resonate with it, but instinctively chose to lie dormant.
As a genius of the Tohsaka family, Rin faced for the first time what it truly meant to be a "high-ranking being".
It wasn't a cold, rigid hierarchy in a book, but a deep-seated sense of awe and reverence for those in positions of power.
"What...what is this..." Rin's voice stammered, her proud facade shattered in the face of this absolute miracle.
"This is a rune, but the focus of this lesson is not on the rune itself, but on the state of mind you have when you inscribe it."
Arthur withdrew his hand, but the golden rune did not dissipate, instead emitting a soft glow.
He looked at Rin, his emerald green eyes filled with only seriousness:
Modern magicians view magic as a tool to reach the "root".
You were taught to conceal your secrets, accumulate strength, and discard superfluous emotions.
But, Rin, the magic I want to tell you isn't like that.
Arthur walked up to Rin, knelt on one knee, and looked directly into her eyes, which were filled with shock at that moment.
"Magic, or rather power, exists to 'protect what is important'."
Your magic only gains true weight when you unleash your power to protect the weak behind you.
Rin stared blankly at Arthur.
My father had always instilled in me the ironclad rule that "magicians must be ruthless" and "everything is for the root."
It was as if, at this moment, a crack had been violently torn open by this gentle yet unshakeable starlight...
Then, Arthur turned his gaze to Sakura.
"Sakura, come here." He held out his hand.
Sakura timidly stepped forward and placed her small hand in Arthur's warm palm.
"Your constitution is very special; it has an extremely rare imaginary number attribute."
Arthur took her hand and guided her toward the golden rune.
"Imaginary numbers are all-encompassing shadows that also devour everything. If they fall into the wrong hands, they will bring endless torment... Now, close your eyes."
Sakura obediently closed her eyes.
"Do not be afraid of the darkness, try to feel the ether flowing in the darkness."
Like the breathing of plants in a flowerbed, mystery is not cold; it is alive.
Under the gentle guidance of the Arthurian Dragon's Furnace, the magical circuits within Sakura's body began to operate in an extremely smooth and warm manner.
She felt no pain; instead, she felt a warm, magical force, like sunshine, dancing on her fingertips.
"I...I can feel it," Sakura said with her eyes closed, a pure smile on her lips. "It's so warm, Brother Arthur, it's not scary at all."
……
Just a door away in the corridor, Tokiomi Tohsaka stood quietly in the shadows.
He held in his hand the ruby cane that symbolized his status as the head of the Tohsaka family.
But at this moment, his palms were already sweating, and the veins on the back of his hands were slightly bulging due to excessive force.
As one of the top magicians of the era, Tokiomi was more perceptive of the magical reactions occurring inside the door than the two children.
That wasn't magic; that was a miracle of magical proportions.
That was the most primitive and highest-level "divine mystery" that had not been corrupted by any modern magic theories.
Just by feeling the aftershocks of that magic through a door, Tokiomi felt an almost suffocating sense of oppression.
"The power unleashed to protect...?"
The golden runes hung in the workshop for a long time before finally dissipating silently as Arthur gathered his consciousness, leaving only a trace of warmth in the air.
Arthur looked at the two of them.
Rin stood there, her hands behind her back, resuming her "I wasn't shocked at all" expression... she was making quite a effort to maintain it.
Sakura stood quietly beside him, her fingers gently pinching her cuffs, her expression much more relaxed than when she entered.
There was only a light, lingering feeling in her eyes, as if she had just experienced something new and hadn't fully processed it yet.
"That's all for today," Arthur said. "Is there anything else you don't understand?"
Rin paused for a moment, then turned her head to one side in an extremely natural manner, her voice carrying her usual tsundere tone.
"...Not yet, I need to organize it myself first."
This is her method: when faced with something she doesn't understand, she should first try to digest it herself, and only speak up if she can't digest it.
Arthur nodded, didn't ask any further questions, and shifted his gaze to Sakura.
Sakura gently shook her head, thought for a moment, and then added softly, "...Very interesting."
"That's good."
The workshop was quiet for a moment, and Arthur bent down to put the several books he had taken out for reference back in their places.
Rin's eyes followed his hand for a moment, finally landing on an ancient book on runes that she recognized on the bookshelf.
She flipped through the book, which was filled with dense annotations. But the moment that rune took shape today, she suddenly felt that the words in the book seemed to have become simpler.
She didn't say anything about it.
Arthur finished tidying up, straightened up, and looked at the two of them. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"
Rin immediately raised her head, about to speak, but then paused, quickly weighing the options in her mind.
Saying "continue the lessons" makes it sound like she's eager to impress Arthur.
But if she says "whatever," that's not Rin Tohsaka's style.
She straightened her cuffs and spoke in a tone that suggested, "This suggestion is entirely for the sake of the bigger picture":
"Tomorrow is a holiday," she said, her chin slightly raised.
"We can take magic lessons later; it's not right to stay cooped up at home all the time." She paused, as if trying to find a better reason for what she was about to say.
"And you've been here for so many days, and you don't even know what Mayor Fuyuki looks like, do you?"
As a mentor, you can't possibly be completely lost about where you live.