Chương 411: (404) 6.18. The Truth Will Set You Free

Shia's words echoed across the silent party, and Vin winced as the very same thoughts going through his head were revealed to the rest of the world. For his part, Shuvo acted like Shia's words were a physical arrow to the gut, and he staggered backwards, clutching at his chest as his face went pale.

"Grumbling Gods," Urluna said, letting out a weary sigh as she finally managed to make it to Vin's side. She'd been mere feet away, but hadn't managed to reach him before Shia called out.

"You claimed to be an Explorer. I didn't realize you were also a mage."

"Sorry… I didn't mean to cause a scene," Vin admitted, turning a bit red as he realized that just about every single one of the three hundred elves was staring at them now. To his surprise, he heard the unmistakable sounds of crying, and he realized Shuvo had taken a seat on hard ground, all but withdrawing within the folds of his too-large cloak. Pinching her brow, Urluna muttered something under her breath before turning and waving at the rest of the village.

"I'll deal with Shuvo. Go back to celebrating!" Not needing to be told twice, the rest of the elves did just that, launching themselves right back into the loud revelry as though nothing had happened. Shia gave Vin a confused look from across the party, and he shook his head, motioning for her to stay over there and not interfere any further.

"Shuvo, let's go someplace quieter," Urluna said, actually scooping up the scrawny elf and carrying him in her arms as they retreated away from the powerful drums and sounds of cheering. Vin stood there for a moment, unsure if he should be a part of this or not, before the Tamer turned and motioned with her head for him to follow. Once they could hear themselves think again, Urluna put Shuvo down, taking a seat on the cold grass beside him and gesturing for Vin to do the same.

"Shuvo, I know you're upset. But you did sort of bring this upon yourself for lying to us all these years." Sniffling, Shuvo poked his head out of his robe, wiping a running nose on the back of his wrist as he looked at the older elf in confusion.

"…You knew?"

"Of course we knew. We're not stupid," Urluna snorted.

"The entire village knew. We might not have anyone capable of casting magic here, but plenty of us have crossed paths with wandering Shaman while out traveling. We didn't know why you felt the need to lie to us, but we were fine playing along until you decided you were ready to tell the truth." As Shuvo continued sniffling and collected himself, Vin raised an eyebrow as he turned toward Urluna.

"So you all knew he wasn't actually a Shaman? That seems just as mean going along with the façade that he can actually use magic, doesn't it?"

"Shuvo may not know magic, but that doesn't mean he's not incredibly useful," Urluna argued.

"You saw what he can do. His powders can melt through stone or turn a flickering ember into a roaring flame. He's nursed dying animals back to health, and his power was tantamount in turning the deranged ones away the few times they reached the gate. He's far from powerless."

"I'm an Alchemist," Shuvo whispered, taking in a shaky breath, before letting it out and sitting up a bit straighter.

"I always wanted to learn magic, but I didn't have anyone to teach me. The closest the System offered me when I became an adult was Alchemist, so I took it with the hopes that I'd be able to prestige into a spellcasting class. But I still hadn't found a teacher by the time I hit level 20, so I became a Wild Alchemist instead. Then The Renewal happened a few months back, and I thought I'd get another chance. But the System still refused to offer me anything other than Alchemist!"

"Back on our world, our people were scattered," Urluna explained, giving Shuvo a sorrowful look.

"We live in small hunting villages like this one. There are great beasts that roam the lands, and the more people who gather in one place, the higher the risk we attract their attention. Because of that, while we do get the occasional visitor, it is rare for mages to actually show up at our village. Shuvo's parents were killed shortly before his sixteenth birthday in a monster attack that claimed nearly thirty lives, and none of us could bring ourselves to admit that we knew he was lying."

Vin nodded along with the explanation, all the while watching the still-sniffling Alchemist as the elf stared at the ground. It couldn't have been easy living a lie like that for so long, and Vin realized his heart went out to the poor elf. He tried to imagine an alternate world where he'd learned of the wonders of magic, but never got the chance to experience it for himself. If the elder of Sakis had never offered him the artifact to help him unlock his mana sense and start him down his long journey.

From the elder, to Shia, to Ethan over in Sakis, Vin had had no end of knowledgeable teachers willing to instruct him in the ways of magic. Shuvo hadn't had any of that, and had been forced to make the best of a rough situation. Almost before he even knew what he was saying, Vin felt his mouth moving.

"I can teach you some magic." Urluna blinked and Shuvo froze mid-sniff, looking up to stare at Vin with wide eyes.

"…You mean it? Even after I threw acid at you?"

"It's not like any of it actually hit me. And I am sort of responsible for all this," Vin admitted. Even if it was Shuvo's own fault for lying in the first place, seeing as the whole village knew the truth and had been fine going along with it, he couldn't help but feel like it was their fault this had all happened. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Well, Shia's fault, if he were being honest. But he had been the one to approach the fake Shaman in the first place.

"I'm not exactly the best teacher, but I have had a few students so far," he admitted.

"Both of them managed to earn magical prestige classes related to their base class, so I'd say that counts as successfully teaching someone magic. Or at least the bare basics." Shuvo's expression went from sorrow to excitement in the blink of an eye, and the elf scrambled to his feet, all but dragging Vin to his own in order to hug him. As Vin was yanked back and forth, the elf laughed, hiccupping as tears flowed for an entirely new reason now.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've been waiting my whole life to hear someone tell me those words! I promise, you won't be disappointed!"

"Of course," Vin said, looking over Shuvo's shoulder at Urluna, who was smirking as she watched them.

"…I'd like to reiterate that I've only had a few students. And by few, I mean literally two. I can't make any promises."

"That's alright!" Shuvo said, letting go of him as though he'd burned his hands and giving him a two-handed salute that looked almost like he was cupping the sides of his face.

"I promise you, I won't let you down, master!" Oh no… What have I done?

"Well would you look at that, it sounds like we have something else to celebrate tonight beyond the fall of the deranged ones," Urluna chuckled, turning and shouting at the rest of the party before Vin could stop her.

"Shuvo has been acknowledged by a wandering mage! He is going to learn magic! Actual magic!" A cheer erupted through the hundreds of elves, and somehow, they started partying even harder than they had been moments before.

Vin discovered that their giant drums were far more durable than they looked as a handful of the elves started up a wild dance that involved them physically hurling themselves with the beat at the giant instruments as they danced, bouncing off them and literally using their bodies to play part of the song. As the distant party ticked up in merriment, Vin dragged his hands down his face, praying he hadn't bitten off more than he could chew.

While it was true that he'd helped Ronald and Wanda with their magic, turning them into a Magical Baker and a Magical Fisherman respectively, he really hadn't done much more than show them some basic runic formations to get them started, and offer a word of advice here and there. He wasn't exactly the type to sit people down in a classroom and teach lessons.

He'd certainly never viewed himself as a master before, and he couldn't help but compare himself to Shia's genius of a master as doubts shot through his head one after another. Granted, it sounds like sharing runic formations might really be ninety-percent of what makes a magic instructor an instructor. I mean, all one has to do is correctly copy them within their mana pool to learn the spell. Sure, it's definitely hard, especially starting out. But there's not too much more to it than that.

Vin calmed himself down with a few breaths, realizing he was freaking out over nothing. He'd been fine with Ronald and Wanda, he'd be fine here, even if Shuvo wasn't an Earther. Though if he took on many more students, he had a feeling Spur was going to go back to trying to not-so-subtly suggest starting up a genuine Mage's Guild to go along with the other guilds within Terra.

Their original deal was that he'd help start the first generation of mages, and then the Stone Mages of Sakis and the Druids of the Sacred Forest would help out with the future ones. Vin simply didn't have time to do much more than share a runic formation every now and again.

"When do we leave?" Shuvo asked, causing Vin to flinch as he realized the elf was standing far too close to him.

"Leave? What do you mean?"

"As his master, Shuvo will follow and learn from you," Urluna explained.

"Until he becomes a mage of his own, he will follow in your footsteps."

"Alright, I'm willing to teach you magic, but you can't shadow me like that," Vin said, holding up a hand to stave off the worry on the elf's face.

"I'm an Explorer, I travel all over Edregon. I go to some seriously dangerous places, and I already have a team that I'm not looking to add any newcomers to. I'm willing to bring you back to Terra if you'd like, or I can pop by this fragment every now and again, but my teaching methods will be the same. I'll drop by every so often to provide you with a new runic formation to work on, and once you finish that, I'll give you another.

Sorry if that's not what you imagined your time learning magic would be like, but that's all I can offer." Shuvo definitely looked a little disappointed to hear that studying under a master wasn't going to be quite what he'd always envisioned, but the mention of learning actual runic formations brought a smile right back to his face, and he nodded eagerly.

"I'll go with you then! When I eventually return to my village, I want to be able to say I'm a Shaman in truth. No more lies."

"That's our Shuvo, spoken like a true Shaman!" Urluna shouted, grabbing the young elf and hoisting him up onto her shoulders.

"You'll make us proud and become a powerful mage, I just know it! But for tonight, we celebrate!" As Urluna dragged the new heart of the party over to the rest of the elves who continued celebrating, Vin could only shake his head and sigh. Shia showed no signs of slowing down at the buffet table, and had gotten into what looked like an eating contest with some of the larger elves. Her serrated teeth gave her a rather unfair advantage, allowing her to chew her food twice as fast as any of the others.

A fact they were only just now realizing as she blazed ahead of them.

"Well, Reginald," Vin said, looking down and sharing a look with the rat poking out of his pocket.

"Things will be interesting once we get back to Terra. But I think it's safe to assume we're not getting back until tomorrow. Wanna join the festivities? I think I see a cheese platter over there." Reginald gave him an excited squeak and rubbed his hands together, and Vin snorted, following orders as he joined the crowd of partying elves, if only for a moment. He was no Scule, but how hard could sneaking away with a whole platter of cheese really be?