I understood it perfectly.

What is a plant weak to? Fire.
It’s common knowledge.

And what am I?
A bastard child who caused my mother’s death during childbirth and brought grief and dishonor to my father.
In other words, an ungrateful child.

So, it seems that the fire element I possess worked perfectly against the plant zombie, and it was defeated without much resistance.

---

"Master?"

Now that I’ve calmed down, I need to stop these irrelevant thoughts.
I ask Master about the situation.

I bet she pulled some cute prank to boost the confidence of a disciple facing their first sparring match—

"Gogos~"

Master screamed.
She rushed toward the plant zombie, which had gone from being Gogos to being “Stop Stop Stop” as she approached.

With fidgety hands, she gathered the remnants of the plants that had once formed Gogos.

“That was my precious creation~”
"...Master?"
"It's fine, Lisir. Gogos will understand. It was a child born from the earth, and now it's just returning to it."
"Ah, yes. I apologize, Senior Gogos. May you find peace in the arms of the Plant Lord in plant heaven… Anyway, that's not what I wanted to say—"

I said this as Master picked up a seed from Gogos’ remains and turned to face me.

"Didn't you do this, Master?"
"Of course not. Why would I intentionally harm Gogos, who I consider like my own child?"
"The bastard child let out a bitter smile."
"Ah~ I'm sorry, Lisir~ I didn’t mean it like that~"

---

Master observed Gogos' seed for a while before speaking.

"Lisir? My disciple."
"Yes, Master?"
"What you just did—would you like to try it again?"

Master summoned another plant zombie.

This time, there were twice as many vines dancing in the air.
The vines were so thick that they could almost be mistaken for trees.

"...Master?"

My dear Senior Gogos.
It seems you were considered adorable in the world of plants.

Before me stood a towering plant giant, with multiple arms extending like the branches of a tree.

Unlike Gogos, it didn’t move.
It just stood there silently.

The original purpose of the sparring match, which was to help me improve my swordsmanship, had clearly been thrown out the window.

Master, we’re supposed to be learning basic addition and subtraction here.
What is this? Calculus? And why do all these squiggles look like English?

---

"Master, for reference, what I just did was simply swinging a sword. It’s not even worth calling swordsmanship."
"Yeah, I could tell."

Ouch.

“But Master, will I really face something like this with just a sword anytime soon?”
“This one is called Mumum.”
"Oh my, such a gap moe."

Master had already forgotten the original goal of improving my swordsmanship through real combat experience.
Instead, her silver eyes were focused on me, not my sword skills.

Ah, whatever. Let’s just go with the flow.

---

I swung my sword again with all my might.
The plant giant didn’t budge an inch.

Mumum, you’re making me look bad.
I can’t help but miss Senior Gogos, who exploded with just one of my strikes.

"I’m sorry, Master. I couldn’t finish off Mumum."
“What a horrible thing to say.”

Master went over to check on Mumum.

“Oh.”
“Oh, oh, oh.”

She let out a string of exclamations as she checked the plant giant, then covered her mouth with her fingers in surprise.

"Duran?"
"What is it? Stop making a fuss. And let me just say in advance, I refuse to go along with any plot twist where he turns out to be a swordsmanship genius."
"It's not about that right now."
"What?"
"Our disciple seems to have a natural affinity for a unique attribute."
"...Is that true?"

Master and the book exchanged curious looks. Even though the book didn’t have a face, I could tell from my years of experience with Duran.

"Uh, Master?"
"Yes? My dear disciple."

What’s with that nickname?

"What exactly is a 'unique attribute'?"
"A unique attribute refers to mana with a distinctive nature that affects its surroundings."
"A distinctive nature… like the plant thing I just fought?"

Master’s unique attribute is green.
In other words, my Master is like a Chikorita.

There’s her foolish but oddly fitting disciple, trying to understand through impolite but relatable comparisons.

---

Master shook her head.

"No, that’s just one branch of magic. Anyone can do the same thing if they learn the same magic. Though there might be minor differences depending on the details."
"Then what happens if someone with a unique attribute learns that same magic?"
"Let me give you an example."

She mentioned the 'Star' title, given to great mages who reach a historic status.
Master spoke of the Sage of the Red Tower, who held the title of the 'Ash Star.'

“His unique attribute was ‘combustion.’ Now, if he had learned the same magic I use to control walking plants, what do you think would happen?"
"Wait, would they just burst into flames?"
"Exactly. You’d see the spectacle of plants that move while burning."
"Then, what happens if the Ash Star uses water magic?"

Master gestured towards the ground of the training yard.
The dry earth slowly moistened, forming a small puddle.

"To create water like this in such a dry place…!"
Master scooped up the water from the puddle and sprinkled it into my hands.

"How is it?"
"Aha…"
"Stop acting up, you two."
"So, it’s just ordinary water, nothing special?"
"Yes, just ordinary water, as you can see. This magic was designed to create normal water. Since I don’t have a unique attribute, the result is exactly as intended. But what do you think would happen if the Ash Star used this spell?"
"Would he create water that burns everything it touches...? Like boiling oil or lava?"
"Yes, that’s correct."
"Uh... is there a magic that creates lava?"
"Curious to see what would happen if the Ash Star used that, right? He’d probably create lava that’s even hotter and stays molten for much longer."

---

A unique attribute adds a distinct nature to the magic, and sometimes enhances it.
Because of this, mages with unique attributes often excel in certain types of magic, and sometimes even create new magic that didn’t exist before.

---

"So, you see, a unique attribute is like a blessing for a mage. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of mages are born with one."
"..."

After Master’s lecture on unique attributes, I looked down at my hands.

"So, what you’re saying is my status just went from 'Bastard B-' to 'S+,' right?"

Master smiled playfully.

"Oh my, how calm."
"Given that you’re spouting nonsense in this situation, it seems you’re definitely a rare one."
"Is that so? How was I supposed to react, then?"
"If it were Duran, he’d be rolling on the floor screaming."
"I’m a book."
"And you, Master?"
"Me? Hmm. Let’s see."

Master paused for a moment, her face showing she was indulging in a pleasant daydream.

"If it were the type of unique attribute I wanted, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep for days from the excitement."
"The type of unique attribute you wanted...?"

Now that I think about it, what is my unique attribute?

As the cold-hearted bastard I am, instead of celebrating the fact that I gained a unique attribute, I’m more worried that it might be something useless.

Master seemed to read my thoughts and showed me the seed she had taken from Gogos.

"Lisir. How does this seed look to you?"
"Isn’t it the core of Gogos, the walking plant? But it looks pretty ordinary."
"Now, come over here and look at this."

Between the vines of the plant giant, I could see a seed nestled in its center.

In terms of shape and size, it looked the same as Gogos’ seed.

But its state was different.
Roots intertwined around it like veins, pulsating as if it were alive.

Is this the difference between being alive and being dead?

"It’s not because Mumum is still alive."
"Sorry?"

It’s as if Master could read my mind.

"Gogos’ seed should have been like this too. Even if its body was destroyed, the magic and traces within its core should have remained. But not only was Gogos’ body destroyed, its core was also—no, wait. Can we even call it destroyed?"

*Tap, tap, tap.*

Master tapped her lips with her fingers, eyes closed.

When Master does that, it feels like she’s performing some mysterious magic that knocks on the doors of deep memories.

After a brief pause, Master lifted her finger and exclaimed, "Ah!"

"Yes, let’s call it 'restored.'"
"Restored?"
"Yes. The core wasn’t destroyed. It was restored to its normal state, as it was before it was imbued with magic."
"Restored to its normal state... Normalization..."
"Normalization? Oh, I like that! It’s the perfect term."

Master clapped her hands, excited by the word I had inadvertently muttered.

Ah, no. My brain is rapidly being corrupted.

"No, Master. Let’s just stick with 'restoration.'"
"No, no~ I think Lisir’s term is more accurate. As Lisir said, Gogos’ seed was 'normalized' under the influence of Lisir’s unique attribute. If you had enough power, Mumum might have ended up the same way."
"So... is my

 unique attribute 'restoration'?"
"It’s too early to say for sure. It could be destruction, or conditional disintegration. That’s why 'normalization' is the most fitting, catch-all term."

Damn it. This is driving me insane.
I barely escape from the thoughts corrupting my brain and manage to continue speaking.

"Could this be the reason I wasn’t affected by your cognitive-reduction magic?"

*Clap, clap, clap, clap.*

"Exactly. That’s another example~ Even though you were affected by the magic, your unique attribute kicked in and 'normalized' the situation~"
"Master, please... restoration..."
"Oh my~ Oh my~ Duran~ It really seems like my disciple Lisir has a unique attribute~"
"This is absurd. Are you telling me the Vendel family has been neglecting a person with a unique attribute just because he’s a bastard? Even if they’re a family of swordsmen, they could’ve noticed something like that."
"Does that mean I was the first to recognize my disciple’s true value?"
"When you brought back that noble bastard as the reward for a contract, I thought you had finally lost your mind."
"I suppose we can call it the 'normalization' of the contract~ My disciple’s unique attribute at work~"
"..."

The dark elf and the book spent a while happily repeating that particular word.

---

At the Vendel family’s main house, in the lord’s office.
The grand windows overlooked Hayerren.

But standing by the window was not the lord of the Vendel family.

“It’s truly a beautiful place. Hayerren.”

The woman was the head of the Diltan family, a neighboring domain to Vendel’s territory.

Her audience was held quietly and without any reception. She would leave as soon as their conversation was over.

The Diltans and the Vendels had long been in a geographical conflict, clashing over large and small disputes for many years.

But today, that conflict seemed to be coming to an end.

---

“Are you truly alright with this?”

Vendel asked, his tone uncertain.

“As you already know, that child is—”
“Of course I know. How could I not when it involves my daughter?”
“...”
"Likewise, you know it’s a family matter for the Vendel family, so you must also be aware of my daughter’s situation."

The head of the Diltan family turned her gaze from the window.
She let out a deep sigh.

"I’m not thrilled about marrying off my daughter to a half-blood Vendel either."

Vendel did not take her words as an insult.
Nor did Diltan.

To noble families of such pure, prestigious bloodlines, bastards were considered such disgraceful creatures.

---

"I only hope this can be the knot that ties our two families together."
"I understand."

It was a moment where the only person involved who knew nothing was Lisir, as his engagement was being arranged behind his back.

---

Diltan’s head barely concealed her dismay as she looked at her daughter, who sat across from Vendel.
The girl, fragile like a dandelion before its seeds scatter, appeared weak and harmless.

"Is this a dream? That Lisir would be my husband..."

Hearing the talk of their engagement, the girl smiled like a sunflower.