Damn Reincarnation

and rambunctious, was filled with a curious concern in front of this neatly-trimmed wizard.
On top of that, Hamel had even called him master? Though it was only natural for a disciple to be respectful towards his teacher, it was something that Anise couldn’t imagine Hamel doing in his mercenary days.

[I’m the one who raised him into this,] Anise whispered to Kristina with a sense of pride and fulfillment.

She wasn’t lying.
From the moment that Hamel had joined them as a comrade, Anise had spent a long time correcting his behavior and thoughts.
His dirty mouth, which was the most problematic, had always resisted being corrected in the end, but since it seemed like he was worried about insulting his master, this could be called a successful result.

“Sir Eugene, how one uses one’s magic is entirely up to the wizard in question,” Lovellian said with a grin after understanding what Eugene was trying to say.
“While it’s clear that I’m the one who taught you magic, that doesn’t mean I need you to become a pure wizard, Sir Eugene.
In fact, I would prefer it if you didn’t become such an ordinary wizard.
Because it would be a waste of your talents if you were to solely be a wizard, Sir Eugene.”

Eugene coughed in embarrassment, “Ahem….”

Noticing his embarrassment, Lovellian changed the subject, “Sir Eugene, I’ve already said this earlier, but a Signature is the essence of all the magic that a wizard has accumulated through practice and research.
What’s most important is what ‘type’ of magic the wizard himself has mainly been dealing with.”

In Eugene’s case, that was spells that assisted him in combat.

“Sir Eugene, you don’t need to use magic for your attacks.
Because rather than needing to use spells to attack, you are capable of creating stronger attacks without them.
If combat assistance is all that you require, that is more than enough.
That’s all you need to determine the direction of your Signature,” Lovellian advised.

“Once you’ve decided on a direction, you just have to work out a basic technique and then build it up.
Magic is used to create a phenomenon that doesn’t happen naturally, like lighting a spark in heavy rain or causing a blizzard in midsummer.
So all you need to do is come up with a technique that can create such unnatural phenomena,” Melkith picked up the topic with a chuckle as she took off the coat that she was wearing.
“Since you won’t get a good understanding if we just keep talking about it, allow this Archwizard and Great Spirit Summoner, Lady Melkith El-Hayah, to show you my Signature.
You should be honored to know that, of all the people who have seen my Signature, only a few have survived.”

Lovellian punctured her pretense, “But it’s not to the extent that it’s all that rare.
The other Tower Masters and Lord Trempel have also seen your Signature.”

“Stop saying such useless things and ruining the atmosphere when I’m trying to show off!” Melkith shot a glare at Lovellian before firming up her expression.
“Kid, as you may already know, I am the greatest Spirit Summoner in the history of this continent.
I’ve made contracts with the Spirit King of Lightning and the Spirit King of Earth.
So in my case, my Signature naturally has something to do with my spirits.
The name of this technique is….”

As Lovellian already knew what Melkith’s Signature was, he quickly withdrew backward.
He also gestured to Eugene and Kristina to follow his example.

While Eugene followed the order and retreated, he kept looking at Melkith curiously as she stood proudly in the center of the tower’s rooftop.

Melkith called out the name of her technique, “…Elemental Fusion, Trinity Force.”

A light flashed from Melkith’s eyes.

Boooom!

In an instant, black thunderclouds had formed in the skies above the Red Tower of Magic.
Formidable amounts of mana engulfed Melkith’s body.
Then, the entire land surrounding the Red Tower of Magic began to rise.

Melkith’s body rose up until she was standing high in the sky.
The earth that rose up from below wrapped around Melkith’s body and began to form a particular shape.

Boooom!

Sparks flew as lightning from the thunderclouds coiled around the shape being formed from the earth.

Eugene, Mer, and Kristina were all at a loss for words as they watched this scene.
Melkith’s figure could no longer be seen.

No, could it really be called unseen? The shape that appeared in the skies above the Red Tower of Magic… was a giant Melkith El-Hayah that had been made out of the soil.
If someone had to describe it… it looked like someone had sculpted a giant doll of her out of clay.
Although it was made up of earth, it didn’t really have the color of dirt.

This was the Elemental Fusion, Trinity Force.
It looked as if Melkith had just become a giant.
Of course, this wasn’t the body of the real Melkith.
Melkith stayed in the center of this gigantic earthen doll, and by linking her mind to the earthen doll’s body, she was able to control it perfectly.

Crouching in the air, Trinity Force, the giant Melkith, opened its mouth and asked… “Well, how is it?”

Its smile was exactly the same as that of the smaller, human version of Melkith.

“I’m talking about this voluptuous body made of dirt.
It’s a perfect recreation of my body’s three sizes.
I can also freely change its outfit to whatever I wish,” Melkith revealed.

The three spectators on the rooftop couldn’t say anything in response to Melkith’s proud statements.

“Those aren’t the only great things about my Signature!” Melkith continued excitedly.
“This body is no different from an incarnation of the Earth Spirit King, so while in this state, I can control the earth to my heart’s content.
And all the energy required to move this gigantic body is supplied by the power of the Lightning Spirit King!”

Melkith stretched out one giant hand in a demonstration.
As she snapped its index finger and thumb, a formidable force of lightning gathered at the fingertips.

“Fufufu! In the form of Trinity Force, I might be able to crush the Abram Royal Palace with just one gesture of my finger, no…?” Melkith trailed off thoughtfully.

“It’s fortunate that Lord Trempel isn’t here to hear that,” Lovellian commented dryly.

Melkith defended herself, “Not even I would say something like that in front of the old man who’s extremely loyal to the royal family, you know?”

“Then stop talking nonsense and get down here,” Lovellian impatiently instructed.
“White Tower Master, I’ve already said this in the past, but while it’s undeniable that your Signature is outstanding and impressive… its outer appearance is disturbing.”

“That’s my face you’re talking about!” Melkith roared back.

“But there’s no need to make it in your own image, right?”

“I’m not afraid to love myself,” Melkith declared.

The huge Melkith formed a cradle with her hands and rested her chin on it in a cute pose.
Lovellian just made a disgusted expression and turned his gaze away from the sky.

“…Its outer appearance might be disturbing, but I think the White Tower Master’s Signature will serve as a good example for you,” Lovellian reluctantly admitted.
“It is the essence of all the magic she has accumulated over the years and the embodiment of her ideals.”

As Eugene scanned Trinity Force while holding Akasha, he found himself agreeing with Lovellian’s words.

An Elemental Fusion, this definitely wasn’t a wrong description.
Melkith had used herself as the center of the fusion to combine the Spirit King of Earth with the Spirit King of Lightning.
It was close to impossible to create such an existence with just mana, so she had formed a body out of soil with the power of the Earth Spirit King and then used the lightning of the Lightning Spirit King as its power source.
With that, Melkith was able to fully deploy the strength of both Spirit Kings while also supplementing them with her own magic.

“It’s unfair that I’m the only one showing off my secrets, Red Tower Master.
Aren’t you going to show yours as well?” Melkith goaded.

Lovellian huffed, “I was going to show them even without you pressing me.”

After drawing a sufficient distance away from Eugene, he formed a hand sign with both hands.

“Pantheon,” Lovellian called out.

There was no need for any long incantations of complex spell formulas with his Signature.

The Red Tower Master, Lovellian’s specialty was summoning magic.
So his Signature, Pantheon, wasn’t a spell that caused any phenomena, like the Signatures of other Archwizards, but instead was a spell that summoned creatures.

Thanks to that, Lovellian’s Pantheon had the advantage of overwhelming speed.
In contrast, Melkith’s Trinity Force couldn’t help but require a lot more time for chanting and application.

The same went for the Signatures of other Archwizards as well.
However, Lovellioan’s Signature could summon a ‘door’ from a different dimension just by forming a hand sign and calling out the name Pantheon.

Booom!

A huge door fell from the sky.
The door was covered in complex engravings.
In the past, after Eugene’s duel with Jeneric had ended, Jeneric, who had refused to accept the outcome of the duel, restrained his hostility the moment that Lovellian descended onto the scene with Pantheon.

That was just how unorthodox and terrifying Pantheon was.
While overwhelming speed was one of its strengths, another strength that Pantheon had when compared to other Signatures was its randomness and unpredictability.

“This door itself is a Summoning Object that I’ve spent my whole life creating,” Lovellian said as he stroked the iron gate posts of Pantheon, which was towering beside him.
“And contained within the secondary dimension that’s connected to this door are all the Summoning Creatures and Summoning Objects that I’ve either collected or created throughout my life.”

This included everything from an ancient monster that had been lurking in a dungeon deep underground to a supreme hybrid that was created by cross-breeding several different monsters — the chimera, or even a curse whose true form had been sealed away within a magic book, etcetera.

It wasn’t just living things either.
Summoning Objects, like the golems created by Lovellian and other wizards of the Red Tower of Magic, and other non-living monsters that could move on their own were also kept dormant within Pantheon.

“Only I know what Summoning Creatures and Summoning Objects will emerge from this door.
By opening this door, I can create a large army by freely summoning all of my Summoning Creatures and Summoning Objects.
However, that alone isn’t enough to explain the pride I have in my Signature,” Lovellian said with a bright smile as he turned to look at Eugene.
“I’m able to freely combine the Summoning Creatures and Summoning Objects stored within this door.
To put it simply, I can create a chimera from any of the materials stored within the door.
Depending on what combination I come up with, the purpose it’s meant to be used for will change, along with the power of the Summoning Creature itself.”

“That’s why the Red Tower Master’s Pantheon is so hard to deal with.
You never know what might come out of that door, but the power of the synthesized creatures made by combining his existing Summons is completely unpredictable,” Melkith said as she dispelled Trinity Force and leaped down from the sky.
“The most terrible thing about it is that there are really no restrictions on the combination of the objects stored within Patheon.
So, that means he could mix a hundred different Summoning Objects with a hundred different Summoning Creatures in order to create a single creature that has all of their combined strengths.”

“I’ve never done something like that.
I’ve never wanted to do so, nor have I ever desired an opportunity that would require me to do so,” Lovellian said with a wry smile as he banished Pantheon back.
“As you can see, my Pantheon is the pursuit of my heights as a Summoner.
I hope my Signature will be of use to you, Sir Eugene.”

“…Pantheon and Trinity Force…,” Eugene mumbled to himself as he considered these spells.
“…Um… do you have to come up with the name of our Signature yourself?”

“Huh?” Lovellian grunted.

Eugene elaborated, “I was wondering if you might be willing to come up with a name for me, Master—”

“What are you talking about, kid? The Signature is the crystallization of a wizard’s knowledge and the realization of their ideals! Of course, it should be named by yourself!” Melkith fired off an objection with a confused expression.

That… that was something Eugene also understood.
However, Eugene wasn’t very confident in his ability to name things.

“Ignition,” Mer whispered.
“And Asura Rampage.”

“I’ll kill you,” Eugene immediately threatened.

“Eclipse,” Mer continued unabated.

Eugene’s expression twisted into a scowl as he pinched Mer’s cheeks.

“It hurts,” Mer whined.

“Don’t lie.
You can’t feel pain,” Eugene pointed out.

“It hurts in my heart.”

After saying something like that, how could anyone who called themselves a human, bear to keep pinching her? Eugene quietly let go of Mer’s cheeks.

Mer continued to give her opinion, “However, Sir Eugene, I think that the name Eclipse is pretty cool.
Didn’t you come up with that name after giving it a lot of thought? It’s also similar to the real thing.
Dying the sun black like a solar eclipse—”

Unable to endure listening to any more of this, Eugene stuffed Mer’s head back into his cloak.

“What’s Eclipse?” Melkith tilted her head to the side and asked, but Eugene clamped his lips shut tightly.

‘…Still, it seems that Eclipse is better than Asura Rampage or Dead End…,’ Eugene admitted to himself in his heart of hearts.

1.
The original text uses the equivalent Korean idiom of making sure that the advice becomes part of your blood and flesh. ☜