Stone Mage: Revenge of the Villain System

“So you are saying that you have fooled not one, but two inspectors into letting you pass the Triannum without having much Flame in the first place?”

Professor Espinella chuckled in both admiration and disbelief.

“I still have passed it by killing the dummies as requested. So it was not cheating, I just used….. alternative methods.” Ronin made a small grin.

Espinella shook his head. “No, no, I’m not berating you for ‘cheating’.”

“In fact, I am astounded.”

“However… You did mention that you were not born with a Flame. And in order to activate runes, you need at least a little bit of Flame.”

“Not to mention this…. darkness that you have created. Has your family never known you were capable of such darkness? And I mean your real one.”

This was when Ronin decided that it was time he asked:

“How did you know about my true family, Professor Espinella? Since when have you known me?”

Professor Espinella just smiled at him.

Fine, then. If he won’t answer he’ll gain it from his thoughts.

(The Headmaster said it was not time for him to know yet. That he must know his destiny by himself.)_.

Ronin blinked. ‘The Headmaster?’

As far as he could remember from Maellan, there was no Headmaster in the Academy.

There was only the Council, and the Head of that Council was Lord Perdrix Blanc D’argent. Pavone’s father.

And before him, the one who ruled over the Academy was also the Council Head.

So who is this Headmaster?

“Let’s just say, Ronin, that I have great hopes for you. I have heard about you from a friend, and many were astounded to have the first ever Commoner student in school.” He said.

He went over to Ronin’s side. “I can feel a different kind of Flame in you. Your heart moves in a much slower rhythm than any living human, and yet you still function well.”

“Slowly, if you increase your own Flame, you may morph even without my hands crushing your heart.”

Ronin raised an eyebrow. “That’s all it takes? I just have to increase my Flame?”

“Yes. And then it is up to you what you aim to morph into.”

He pulled out a chart. “Every stone has carbon, so potentially, every stone can turn into a diamond.”

“Even you can become your diamond, your flesh burned into crisp and then compacted with enough pressure.”

In this chart, there were all kinds of stones and how their transformation process would be if they were turned into a diamond. He pointed at a certain part.

[Bituminous coal–> Anthracite –> Graphite —> Diamond ]

Ronin took the chart. “So every time my flame increases, I have to go to becoming an Anthracite first, then Graphite, then eventually Diamond?”

Espinella nodded happily, his glasses bobbing. “Isn’t Morphology wonderful!? Many people think that Hero Mages are the most powerful, but I beg to differ.”

“We Morpho mages have the capacity to turn things into something completely different. Rebirth. Ashes to diamonds, diamonds to ashes.”

Ronin nodded. ‘And I get to be ‘rebirthed’ as I level up. Is that right, Kai?’

Kai just teleported by his side, unseen and unheard by Espinella.

“Yes. Once you reach Level 50, you will become an Anthracite. And when you reach Level 100, you could become Graphite.”

‘How did I became Obsidian as Level 100 Ronin Dreadborne, then?’

Kai stayed quiet. His mind just repeatedly says:

(Cannot spoil, cannot spoil, cannot spoil, cannot spoil, cannot spoil, cannot spoil, cannot spoil, must not spoil in my head.)

Ronin sighed, and just went over to ask the master Morpher himself.

“How about obsidian? Can I become one?”

Professor Espinella blinked. “Obsidian? Only daemons have Obsidian Heartstones. As well as Abyssal gods…. and they have perished a long time ago along with the Lord of Darkness.”

“Just out of curiosity, professor.” Ronin said. “After all, from what I remember….”

“Shouldn’t Obsidian be made from magma? And magma can be made of any molten rock. So potentially, can that be applied to my Heartstone?”

Professor Espinella nodded. “Yes….. Potentially, every rock can become Obsidian, yet at the same time…. Not.”

“What do you mean?” Ronin asked.

“The magma would only melt and burn your Heartstone, and the magma itself will be the one to turn into Obsidian. Some remnants of your former Heartstone may remain.”

“It’s more like coating rather than morphing. You can’t fully melt your heart, it would…. Well, you would die, of course.”

Ronin just grinned. “That’s the purpose of rebirth, isn’t it? You can’t be reborn without dying in some way. You lose some and gain some.”

Professor Espinella frowned. “But Ronin, aren’t you more excited with the idea of becoming a Diamond?”

“If you could just somehow increase your Flame to greater heights, and I would be the one to put pressure on it…”

“You’ll be the first Diamond Heartstone mage after eons of not having one! An artificially created Diamond mage!”

Ronin nodded blankly, taking a quill and ink. “Yes, yes….. That does sound promising.”

He scribbled something in the chart.

[Bituminous coal–> Anthracite –> Graphite + Magma —-> Obsidian? ]

He gestured at this to Professor Espinella, who shifted from foot to foot while thinking of something.

“It is possible…. yes…..” He frowned. “If you have the Heartstone of a god.”

“Magma is too dangerous. Even when you cultivate your Flame into surviving many metamorphoses…”

“In the end, you would still be setting yourself on fire just to become Obsidian.”

He chuckled nervously. “You could not possibly take out your Heartstone just so you could melt it. You either find a way to bring the magma inside without damaging your organs and heart…..

“Or surviving burning everything completely, until it reaches your very core, your Heartstone. Both have very low possibility of being achieved by a human, this rebirth is simply impossible—“

“And phoenixes get reborn with fire, professor.” Ronin countered. “Completely turning to ashes.”

“You are not a phoenix, Ronin.” Espinella sighed.

“Even when our hearts have stones within them, you are still flesh and blood. Flesh and blood do not survive extreme heat and pressure as stones.”

“It cannot be done. And you would have to find a very hot and dense source of magma in the first place. Most of which too deep below ground, and you need to quickly pass through it.”

Ronin raised an eyebrow. “Pass through?”

“Obsidians are made not just by heating, but very quick cooling of magma. If you stay there for too long, you may just melt into magma too. That’s it.”

“You cannot pass through quickly a pool of lava, and even if you have a sort of anchor tied to you, it will burn down with how hot the lava needed to be to morph you.”

“We’re talking about a speed of not more than 3 seconds, Ronin. You need to get out of there within 3 seconds. And you won’t be able to move because of the heaviness and the pain of it all.”

Ronin frowned, and listed down the two impossible things he needed to be Obsidian.

“So a Flame as high as god’s, and inhuman speed to not die as molten magma in the end…. I think I can do it.”

Professor Espinella observed him from head to toe. He then asked.

“Why do you want to be an Obsidian so much? Is it because….. You are incarnated from the Abyss?”