Chapter 17 - Today’s the Day of my Beginning

[Eh?… What?] Sybilla said looking stupefied upon hearing my reply. The next moment felt so quiet that it felt that I can even hear the wind if it blows. It's so silent that the threat of the dragon and our worries from earlier felt so far away. [Uh, well, I'm asking if maybe you can teach me dark magic instead.] […Didn't you just heard what I said earlier? Unless you are willing to sacrifice your recovery magic you can't learn dark magic.] [Is that really necessary?] […Excuse me?] I asked her once again. Isn't the dumb expression expression of the Goddess with her wings still wide open really pretty? I think that's the cutest expression you have. She'll definitely get angry if I tell her that though. But thanks to it, I can somehow forget that we are still walking on the brink of our deaths. [Sybilla, didn't you say that you have to use my accumulated knowledge and magic power for me to learn dark magic?] [Eh? A, yes…] [What should be a priest's level to learn dark magic at minimum? Should they be capable of using ?] [A priest's minimum level to learn dark magic? There's no way that they can use you know? A priest capable of that won't be unfairly treated in the first place. The highest priest that I was able to reach out was level 13. But even after sacrificing all of that priest's magic and magic power, that priest only learned level 2 magic at best.] I see. Level 13, huh. And here I am who learned back in level 4. [Hey, do you remember when did I get to level 8?] […Isn't it around the early parts of our dungeon crawl today? It was really fast. Around the time we beat the dungeon scarlet bats, I think— ah!] It seems Sybilla finally realized that something was out of place. [When we defeated the third dungeon scarlet bat… Russell never told me any level ups anymore after that. Even the stronger mage and archer goblins came out…] [Oh, you got it right. It seems like Cure Link was the last magic that I can learn.] [Then… Your level now should be…] Yes. No matter how many times we defeated monsters, it seems that my level can't go higher than this. [I'm a level 12 [Saint] now.] [12!? Then–] [I felt huge increase in my mana and magic powers since I reached level 9 but I haven't learned even a single new magic.] Sybilla seems like wanted to say something but immediately stopped. Well, it's not really the time choosing the right words to comfort me though. [Oh, I'd like to add one more thing. I am not the same with the Holy Maiden.] [Huh?] I've been feeling something really weird since I heard about the Holy Maiden's legend. I've been using magic all this time and haven't really thought of saving mana but I can't really imagine myself getting depleted at all. In fact, I'm starting to think that maybe I have an infinite amount of it. There's just too much. That's why I thought. [The Holy Maiden who should have been the same as me must have been level 9 to be able to use cure link without chanting. But why would she deplete all her mana in just a just a single village?] [Isn't it normal for mana to exhausted at that size? Why are you being so stupid…] [Yep, that's right.] [Oh, you know you are stupid?] [No, not that. Ah, we aren't in the same page at all. In short —] After considering and thinking lots of things, I finally arrived to a conclusion that connects all the dots. [In comparison to the Holy Maiden, I am more special. I think I won't suffer mana exhaustion even if I treated a kingdom. That's me, the [Saint] Russell's special trait.] Well, it took quite a bit of courage to imagine and say this conclusion. It's because I've always been treated as an inferior being a saint. But now with all of the things that have happened, I can now accept everything and I will never run away anymore from the past. There's no mistake. I am quite special. Sybilla looks she will collapse and fall on her butt as she kept opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something. I started to hold her hand with my two hands and grasp it so tight she would think I would never let go of it. [Sybilla, the Dusk Goddess.] [Ah…] [Once again, I would like to swear a Dusk's Oath with you. Please use 4 levels of my [Saint] class. A level and class who can not just use Extra Heal, but Extra Heal Link. Let me offer all of these magic powers to you.] Sybilla repeatedly looked at my face and my hands that are tightly holding hers. I closed my eyes and… Finally. I think she finally made up her mind as I felt another hand land over mine. [As the [Dusk Goddess], Sybilla. I hereby command the conversion of the [Saint]'s excess magic powers to [Dusk's Magi]. … With his excess magic only… Confirming necessary magic powers to be sufficient… … .] A dazzling light spread out from our overlapping hands. At the same time, something inside me seems getting bigger and mixing into something else as if causing its original colors to change. And then… A voice resounded in my head notifying me of a level up… as a [Dusk Magi]. So this is… Dark Magic. When I opened my eyes in surprise, I didn't expect to see something more astonishing. The black feathers of the [Dusk Goddess], Sybilla, had gotten darker and the wings themselves became bigger. Probably due to our Dusk's Oath huh… Sybilla gently touches her own wings with her finger and looked away and started to speak. [Russell… In the end, I tried to deceive you. I attempted to get close to you and get your magic power. Hey, Russell. Why would you trust someone like me?] [I didn't mean to trust the Dusk Goddess.] [Huh? Eh?] Sybilla looks confused and stupid when she heard me. Even if her image went on a sudden increase as she revealed that she is a goddess, if she keeps on reacting like this, it would always remind me of the true nature of Sybilla that I've seen and been with all this time. And that makes me feel at ease. [I was thinking of this earlier but when you convert someone's class, you can force someone even if they didn't agree, right?] […So you've noticed even that…] That's right. I didn't have any chance to do anything to Sybilla at all during the conversion. Sybilla bestowed me a class thru magic and had it stopped using magic as well. I tried to look into the process of the conversion where I can choose to refuse midway. But what I discovered is the fact that she can convert someone regardless of their wills using that magic. However, Sybilla didn't do so. Even if it is our lives at risk. Even if it could be her only chance to get her hands on someone like the Holy Maiden, the Saint, to be her own [Dusk's Magi]. Even if it's for the best if she converted me even against my own will, she still respected my decision. …And there's other one thing. I raised my hand and aiming for Sybilla's head. She quivered in surprise but sorry to disappoint you, this isn't a chop this time. I pat her head and started to stoke it gently. [Ah…] [You didn't lie with bad intentions so you don't need to keep your head so low. I did not trust the Dusk Goddess, Sybilla in the first place.] [Eh?] [The girl who rushed to the far-away village of Adoria to help the children and gave up her scouting on me, my adventuring senpai, Sybilla. That's the one I choose to believe in.] After saying it, I went out of the passage trying to avoid looking at Sybilla's face — so she won't be able to see mine as well. …Errr. Saying these kinds of things directly is really embarrassing. But… Those words really came from my heart. People tend to show their true colors in time of crisis. I remember the words Sybilla said when I initially refused. [And the fact that I can't hate you from what you said makes me hate you more…] That frustrated image of Sybilla as she struggled with her own feelings as I took the children as priority over the power that could have helped me with revenge. Those were the words that came out in what could have been our final moments as it's a decision with our lives on the line. I can't help but to think that it is one of the important characteristics of the Dusk Goddess. Yosh. I've made up my mind. Let's switch things up for now. [Gruooooooooo!] A big light had appeared in the passage during my conversion. The dragon must have been irritated when that happened. When the walls of fire gradually grew thinner, the fire dragon had finally realized that it was not able to kill us. [No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't be anything but on a supporting role…] I double casted wind barrier once again and started to walk in front of the dragon. [I caught up, Vince.] I raised my left hand. The fire dragon opens its mouth once again to release a breath of fire. I turned my left hand and aim at the center of its mouth. [Today, will be the day where I can finally be the protagonist! !] In response to my voice, an arrow made of black mana bared its fangs to the dragon aiming for its life.