The Mysterious Black Magician

"Brother," sitting beside him, his sister suddenly whispered at him.

Yman glanced at Yana while making a "hm?" expression.

"I'm so happy that you don't look lonely anymore."

He blinked his eyes several times as he could not get her meaning.

Noticing his befuddled face, "I mean, my brother has many friends now."

His mouth curved upward. "I see…" 

In his mind, 'So, in Yana's eyes, he looked like that before, huh.' But the reason for his smile this time wasn't for himself.

He was happy that he was able to make his sister happy.

As the only family he had, Yana was very precious to him. So, seeing her having a fun day was godsent for him.

If not because of her, perhaps he was already a deadly weapon at the moment, whose sole purpose was to take human lives. At least, there was still humanity left in him.

"I also noticed my brother was frequently smiling these past days."

"Did I?"

"Yes, bro!" She brimmed with a smile.

Yman smiled at her and nodded slightly.

Perhaps he is.

After their picnic, Yman and Sistela began their training for Advanced Resonance.

Just as Almina said, Yman realized that it wasn't easy to learn. Well, that was the case for most of them, but. Most of them widened their eyes when Yman showed an early sign of learning it. Even Bob and Chloe who had yet to learn it was no exception.

"H-he already unlocked the initial stage on the first day of his training?!" 

"Forget about a day, it's not even an hour since they started."

"On top of that, he didn't even receive the proper lecture regarding it."

"And Miss Almina only gave him the basic information."

Jami, along with the others, were dumbfounded as they were looking at Yman's figure envelope by brilliant mana.

Currently, Yman and Almina were sitting, back to back, under a big tree.

Everyone noticed Almina's red face, but none of them were pointing it out.

"P-Perhaps, Miss Almina was a good trainer."

Chloe muttered. Beside her, Rea, who was watching in silence, furrowed her brows. 

"Miss Rea, here!"

Yana came with a cup of tea in her hands. She handed it to Rea.

"Thanks."

In Rea's mind, 'That Crimson didn't even try to help her a while ago. What an ungrateful bodyguard! Yet, look at him, having a good time with that girl. Humph!'

She thought and pouted.

To reply to Chloe's mutter, "Isn't it because My Bro is motivated to learn because it was Miss Almina herself who's teaching him?" Bob said with a wry smile.

Since Bob's voice was louder than necessary, all of them heard it, except for Almina and Yman, who were currently in deep concentration. 

For some reason, after hearing Bob's words, Rea felt a displeasing feeling deep inside. But, she could not tell what it was. Especially when Yman's back and that Almina girl's back were touching each other. She felt an inexplicable feeling regarding it.

Jami and the others were awe-staring at Yman's figure while muttering dumbfounded comments.

It took her several days to master the initial stage of Advance Resonance ability. Yet, Yman was able to do it in a few minutes when they started their training.

"Isn't the initial stage involving mana controlling?" Dianne asked out of a sudden. With a face that seemingly she just remembered something.

"Yeah. What of it?" Jami asked with a befuddled expression. Even Maku was looking at Dianne, with a face demanding her for her reason for mentioning it.

"I mean, isn't Yman also the first person who was able to control his mana in our first assignment with Elder Nitan?" Dianne explained.

"Eh, is that true?" Maku asked. She didn't hear it as she was yet to transfer at that time.

Jami, on the other hand, pumped her fist against her palm. "Right! I remembered it now!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, I see. So, Yman bro was actually a talented person," Bob muttered while touching his chin.

Since the initial stage of Advance Resonance involves mana controlling, it was easy for Yman to pass it.

Behind him, Almina was shocked to learn that Yman was already able to break through the initial stage of Advance Resonance. She almost lost her concentration. It would be bad if it happened as it would damage both their mana output.

Using her own mana, Almina was guiding Yman's mana. However, while she was doing it, there was an uneasy feeling that Almina could not explain what it was.

It seemed as though a ferocious beast was hiding within him. But Almina could not describe it. Sweats were dripping all over her face, towards her body.

Even Yman noticed her back starting to wet like it was being poured by water. But he chose to ignore it because Almina instructed him not to lose his focus no matter what happened.

Even Jami and the others were wondering what happened. Why was their leader dripping with sweat? They could not help but feel curious about it. 

There should have been a great difference in their amount of mana, especially that Yman was still under the False Path stage.

Among those who succeeded the Advanced Resonance, Almina was one of the fastest who learned it. So it should be easy for her to guide Yman's mana which is a newbie at the moment.

Honestly, as talented as she was, everyone already expected it. 

Regardless, while staring at Yman's glowing mana, they noticed something weird.

"Why was his mana gray in color?!" They thought.

His first day of training ended with a positive result. But, even though he learned the initial stage, it wasn't helpful to him in the final stage of the competition.

"Too bad. If only Yman was able to train the Advanced Resonance a bit earlier, he might learn it before the final round of the competition," Jami said to others.

"Well, it can't be helped," Dianne replied.

"Miss Almina, are you okay?" Suddenly, Maku asked Almina after noticing she was silent the whole time.

Currently, they are heading back, riding Yman's Hell Chaser Bird.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine."

Although she said she was fine, she failed to hide her puzzled expression. It seemed as though her mind was floating somewhere. 

The next morning, the plaza, where the final competition was going to be held was already full of people, who wished to watch the final round.