The Harmony of Shadows and Light

Even at the Holy Academy, located at the foot of the mountain, darkness was already falling.

By the time Zane headed to the dormitory after his afternoon classes, it was hard to see even an inch ahead without a flashlight.

But today, things were a little different.

A moon approaching fullness cast an intense light, mixing with the deep darkness unique to the mountains, coloring the path with a strange gray hue.

Thud- thud- thud- thud-.

Someone was walking leisurely alone on the mountain path leading to the dormitory.

It was Zane Cromwell.

The reason he returned home later than the other cadets was simple: as soon as class ended, he conducted various experiments in a secluded forest.

Zane closed his physical eyes and opened his mental ones, focusing on his inner mana hole.

Black and white.

The two types of mana were separated like water and oil, clashing fiercely inside the mana hole.

Every time the black mana threatened to run wild, the white mana would intervene, stabilizing the mana hole.

'... This is strange,' Zane thought.

There were many different colors of mana in this world: white mana used by priests and paladins, and elemental mana such as red, blue, yellow, and green, wielded by magicians of each element.

Of course, black mana was the key to using dark magic.

Each type of mana had its unique characteristics, and inexperienced users could easily be overwhelmed by those traits.

The characteristic of black mana was its constant impulse. It was a force responsible for both destruction and reconstruction and was the fastest, most violent, and most intense energy of all mana.

This destructive nature of black mana often led black magicians to madness.

If you broke that madness down even further, it included anger, gluttony, lust, sloth, envy, greed, pride... and so on.

Black mana also flowed through the blood vessels faster than any other type of mana, causing a vicious cycle of destruction. The more black magic one used, the greater the impulse to use even stronger spells.

That was why madness was inevitable for a warlock—almost like a family member.

'Even I had a hard time completely controlling the impulse of black mana.'

The more black mana accumulated in one's body, the stronger the impulses became, and as they overlapped, control of reason slowly slipped away.

Even Zane, the most powerful black magician in history, had been no more than a madman before he reached the highest levels.

But now...

'... Amazing. This body does not fall prey to madness.'

Zane found it remarkable that even with so much black mana surging within him, his current fragile body remained peaceful.

Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk...

He felt a strange gray equilibrium forming as the white mana calmed the black mana before it could spiral out of control.

Just like the mountain path, dyed gray by the mixture of darkness and moonlight.

'The harmony of white mana and black mana...'

It was completely unexpected.

White and black mana, once thought to be polar opposites, were supporting each other in perfect balance.

The original owner of this body, Zane Cromwell, possessed a small amount of white mana, which was why Zane could even notice this phenomenon. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have thought to use white mana at all.

Zane felt like he had found the key to reaching even greater heights in black magic.

It seemed white mana could suppress black magic's worst weakness: mana overload.

For now, things were fine, but as his black mana increased, the white mana would need to increase proportionately. Otherwise, it wouldn't be able to stop the black mana's rampages.

'... I need to diligently accumulate divine power.'

Zane had spent his entire life focused only on black magic, so he had no idea how to gather white mana.

But he had nothing to worry about.

The Holy Academy, where he was now, was the most prestigious sacred academy on the continent.

If he just stayed attentive, the professors would likely start sharing their secrets.

Their knowledge would fuel the creation of an even more powerful, and evil, warlock.

'I guess I need to appear like a model student.'

He didn't have to force himself to be a model student, but it would be beneficial if he could maintain the appearance of one.

The closer he got to the professors, the more opportunities he'd have to access valuable resources.

At that moment—

"..."

Zane suddenly stopped halfway down the mountain path.

He sensed something ominous behind him.

Rustle.

The sound of something moving in the grass reached his ears.

'Three people... no, four people.'

There had been humans following him for a while now. At first, he thought they were just cadets heading to the dormitory, but it seemed they were trailing him with purpose.

Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the wind broke the silence.

Shh! Bang!

Zane reflexively caught the object flying toward him.

At the same time, shadows hidden in the grass began running swiftly toward the school.

Zane examined the object in his hand: an oddly shaped crossbow bolt with a blunt tip.

It wasn't designed to pierce, but rather to hit and cause pain. If he hadn't caught it, the impact would have left a bruise.

Searching through Zane Cromwell's memories, Zane tried to identify who might have done this.

'Who are these guys?'

But there were so many potential suspects that he couldn't narrow it down.

'... How annoying.'

Then, he noticed a piece of paper tied to the middle of the arrow shaft.

It seemed this wasn't just a simple act of harassment.

Rustle.

Zane held the note up to the moonlight, revealing its contents.

[Come to the abandoned warehouse by midnight.]

The handwriting was scrawled in blood.

It certainly didn't look like a love letter.