He clearly didn’t want to talk about it. He’d shut Kunon down before he could even finish his sentence. Yet somehow, Kunon was satisfied.
He felt like Clavis was saying this: “I won’t tell you what it is, but I will show you. Do your best to figure it out.”
The teacher had given him a homework assignment, so to speak.
One day, when Kunon figured out the answer, he would ask Clavis about it properly.
“So this is a divine flower…”
The group was nearly back at the dungeon’s entrance. They’d stopped at the second level, however, because the floor was littered with junk, and Kunon couldn’t spread out any ice. They would have to walk the rest of the way.
This gave Kunon a little break, allowing him to finally get a good look at the divine flower. He had already dispelled his A-ori, leaving the flower floating in the light membrane that resembled Sanctum.
It was a white flower tinged with a faint crimson hue. Its true coloring was somewhere between white and pink. Kunon had expected it to be bigger, and he was most taken aback by how lethargic it looked. The petals and leaves were drooping. If he’d passed this flower outside, he probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. He didn’t feel any special power from it. He was having a hard time believing it was really a divine flower at all.
In addition, there was a small light drifting around it, about half the size of a fingertip. According to Clavis, this was a light spirit. That had piqued Kunon’s interest, but…upon closer inspection, it just seemed like an ordinary ball of light. Like the flower, it didn’t feel special in any way.
In short, the flower appeared so ordinary as to be anticlimactic.
“It exhausted its power,” said Clavis. “That goes for the flower and the spirit. They’re both still newborn children.”
Kunon didn’t know enough about divine flowers or spirits to form a response.
“What do you intend to do with it, Professor Clavis?” asked Keevan. “If you don’t know yet, would you mind entrusting it to me?”
He clearly wanted to continue observing the divine flower, but Clavis shook his head.
“This isn’t an ordinary plant, so I don’t think you would be able to take care of it. If I gave it to you, it would likely link up with the spirit and run away again.”
It sounded like the flower was still a flight risk.
“Should we give it to Reyes, then? Or return it to the forest?”
“The current Saint doesn’t seem to know much about divine flowers, and returning it to the forest would just allow the same thing to happen again. This flower is newly born and not used to people. I think I’ll take care of it until it’s properly domesticated.”
A flower that needed to get used to people? Clavis spoke of it as if it were a puppy. That was more than a little weird, but it was probably the truth. The divine flower had run deep into the dungeon, after all.
“How are you going to help it get used to people? I want to know, too,” Kunon said, figuring there was no harm in asking.
“Using a method only light users can employ. There’s no point in me telling you about it.”
“But isn’t knowledge about divine flowers really difficult to come by? I might never get another chance to learn how to domesticate one. I want to know for future reference.”
“Hmm.” Clavis crossed his arms. “You’re not ready… Do you understand what I mean by that?”
I knew it, Kunon thought.
He’d asked that question knowing Clavis probably wouldn’t answer.
The teacher had probably held back for the same reason he hadn’t told Kunon about the Sanctum-like spell: It would have been premature. Kunon lacked the groundwork needed to learn these things. Clavis was telling him to ask again after he’d advanced further in his magic studies and sharpened his skills.
“…By the way, you’re not a woman, are you, Professor Clavis?” Kunon asked.
“Huh?”
Clavis’s calm demeanor slipped for a moment. Kunon’s question had thrown even him for a loop. The other sorcerers were taken aback, too. They had no idea why Kunon was asking such a thing.
“I mean… You know…”
You are using Sanctum. Kunon refrained from voicing that thought to avoid confusing the others, but Clavis likely understood what he wanted to say.
“I’m a man. Want me to prove it?”
“No! I’m good! I believe you! You didn’t trigger my lovely lady sensor, after all! I can recognize any woman in an instant! I’ve spent a lot of time training that ability!”
It had only taken one look for Kunon to realize Cassis was physically male, despite her dazzling thighs. Well, he couldn’t see her, exactly, but still. He was confident in his judgment on such matters. He’d even trained.
Anyway, that meant there had to be another explanation, and he could find it.
Clavis was a man. He wasn’t a Saint, but he could use Sanctum or a spell that looked just like it. But why?
“Well, do your best to figure it out,” said Clavis.
After asking his outrageous question, Kunon quickly lost himself in thought.
The light user watched him, amused.