Imagine making soup.

Yes, I mean the one you eat!

The perfect brew is made by adding several diverse ingredients to form a perfect blend of varying items. These opposing flavors combine as they complement each other, forming a delicious harmony.

The same can be said for Fusion.

Mixing mana of varying kinds together to achieve a more powerful result… wasn’t that just the epitome of mastery?

Just as it took great skill and time to achieve a desirable mix of ingredients and cook the ultimate soup, arriving at Fusion took an equal—if not greater amount of ability. As a result, it was hard enough for a Mage to mix his/her Mana with a Familiar.

Yet, this man in front of me could Fuse with a thousand… and right before my eyes… he combined his Mana with five separate Familiars.

‘This man… is most certainly the most skilled Magic User I have ever seen!’

He was stronger than my closest allies, even more skilled than the Grand Mages I knew of at the time. Judging by the quantity of his Mana, his control over it, and then the mastery of all those Familiars; no one I knew could defeat this man.

“As you can see… Grand Fusion Form is the more advanced version of Fusion. It allows you to combine more than one Familiar’s Mana. Naturally, your individual Magic will improve in this state, as well as the Bond Magic of every one of your Familiars. Finally, by combining the Mana of your various familiars, you can arrive at so many combinations of spells.” Neron lectured as I simply opened my mouth and ears in wonder.

“In my current state, I can make over a hundred Spells thanks to the combination of all my currently fused Familiars. If you calculate the nine hundred thousand Familiars in my possession, you should be looking at billions, if not trillions of spells I can access as a result of my combination.”

‘I-is this guy omnipotent?! With so many of them, wouldn’t he be able to do anything?!’

Those would have been my thoughts if I was a naïve individual. But I knew better.“I-it’s still not enough for you?” My voice leaked out as I seriously looked at Neron.

“No. Not in the slightest. For all I know, there could be a trillion more Spells I can not use. Isn’t that already plenty away from perfection?”

I understood his feelings because I was the exact same way. Some could call it greed or destructive obsession, but it was human nature to always desire more.

Before my death, I thought it would be simply satisfying to be able to produce Magic, no matter how simple or little. However, now that I had gotten my dying wish, I still sought more.

In that sense, I only thought Neron’s achievements were unfathomable because of my low estate. Once I reached the summit he was standing on, I would come to realize that there was still much to be achieved.

“My final goal… is to achieve INFINITY.”

The moment he said that, my eyes bulged… and I smiled widely.

“Me too!”

Our eyes interlocked, burning with passion for Magic.

Alphonse, my Magic Tutor, was a great man. He would be considered very powerful in this world—and his ability to use Original Magic placed him on the pedestal of Magic. However…

… Compared to Neron Kaelid, my grandfather was far too weak.

I didn’t mean this with only the idea of ability in mind. Sure, Neron was most likely more powerful than Alphonse… but that wasn’t all I was concerned with.

His eyes displayed the same kind as mine. We both wanted to reach the pinnacle of Magic, and we didn’t let the boundaries of common sense define our dreams. Yes, Neron was like me and I was like him. In that sense, perhaps… he would be the perfect tutor for me!

“Alright, then…” He muttered, and the energy around him faded away.

The environment went back to normal, and slowly, I felt the surge of excitement in my heart simmer down.

“… You should resume your training now. I expect good things.”

His brilliant smile and confident tone spoke volumes. It was as of he was certain I could achieve this feat.‘Throughout my life, I’ve always had people believe in me—my parents, my townsfolk… my friends­—and their encouragement gave me strength every single time.’

This time wasn’t going to be an exception…

“Sure! You just watch!”

… I was going to make sure never to betray the expectations of those I truly looked up to!

*******

A day passed.

Two went by.

And in no time… five days elapsed.

Evening came by, and I was still in the backyard of Neron’s staff office. The moon had already begun rearing its head, but the desire to leave was far from my heart.

“Looks like you’re still at it, uh?” Neron smiled, coming out of the back area of his office’s interior.

He had been sorting some things since he would be leaving the Academy in a short while. I didn’t let that distract me, though. After all, I was already very close to my desired result.

“Well, we’re going to be ending things now, Jared. I’m heading out. Plus, this is already Friday. You should enjoy the rest of the day before it’s over.”

The day was practically gone already, but I understood his sentiment.

“Well… that’s fine… I suppose that’s enough for today.”

Neron was outfitted a bit differently this evening.

He had a dark hooded cloak on, and his inner outfit was also raven-black. It was as though the attire was designed to blend into the darkness. His cool expression completely matched his noir clothing.

“Looks like you’re good to go.” I smiled at him. “Not going to take any luggage with you?”

The man just shrugged my question off. The fact that he was going on quite an important trip meant he couldn’t just go empty-handed, right?

‘Well, maybe his luggage is already at his destination… or he can use space magic.’

Either way, it’s not exactly a problem.