When I Tried to Learn Magic
"……."
Woooong—.
The magic tome.
"Eek…! Urgh…!"
And then terror and madness.
According to genre conventions, one particular genre popped into my head.
The number one genre that spells doom if you're isekai'd into it.
Please tell me it's not…!
Fuck… I should've realized it back when there were no goblins or trolls around.
Switch it up to a different genre, damn it. Where's my genius mage from romance fantasy?!
I left the room and headed outside.
The magic tome… I decided to seal it away for the time being. It wasn't some book packed with specialized magic knowledge, nor was it the kind that accumulated knowledge over time.
I put Kiara to work cleaning the room. Honestly, it hadn't been easy because I was scared shitless, but after watching her blow away the grime so effortlessly, a bunch of thoughts crossed my mind.
'…….'
"Cl-cleaning? I'll do it!"
Hmm. Judging by her actions, she might actually be easy to handle. Felt like looking at a pure, innocent girl.
Of course, the reality was a psycho who could burst a person's head open. But since things had come to this, I decided to keep my relationship with Kiara going.
For one, she was a mage, and she'd probably come in handy for something down the line.
Was that too thoughtless?
Eh, couldn't be helped. This was the best I could manage after thinking it over.
For now, let's quickly offload the gear and head to the library.
Mortus, divided into districts A through E, had public facilities in each one—like libraries or bathhouses.
But customers were everywhere, so most shops clustered in central Mortus. I headed there to sell my gear.
"Hmm, this one's stretched out too much to use."
This fat fuck needed to lose some weight. The complaint rose in my throat, but even I could see it was fucking bloated, so I just nodded silently.
I pulled out the gear I wanted to keep and sold the rest at decent prices. Not bad—made a tidy sum. Gear really does turn into cash.
I considered saving something for Kiara, but since the crazy bitch wandered around in a bikini, she probably didn't need shit. Sold it all. Just keep rocking the bikini. No ulterior motives here.
The library was dead empty. Just one guy who looked like the librarian, and no one else.
Made sense—who had time for a library when scraping by was a full-time job? And this was the D District branch, to boot.
"A visitor to the library? Now that's something."
The librarian eyed me as I glanced around.
"Looking for a particular book?"
The guy had such narrow eyes, I wondered if they were even open. Real-life squinter character existed, huh.
"Books on history or magic."
"Anything on magic or alchemy? Won't find it in D District."
Hmm, about what I expected. Slap "magic" on anything, and the value skyrockets—even if it's not a real book.
"History's in 1-2 over there."
I went to the spot he pointed out and scanned the shelves. Tons of books, all covered in dust like no one had touched them in ages.
I pulled out the thickest-looking one.
History of Mortus
Thick as hell and heavy enough to use as a weapon. Blasphemous thing. I carefully flipped the cover to the first page.
To sum up the early parts: Some alchemist called a "sage" on the continent hit a breakthrough in alchemy, and the whole place boomed like crazy.
The era of trading goods and gold directly came to an end, ushering in the age of the Alchemical Coin. This magnificent invention was the perfect currency, transforming into any object based on the amount paid—from food to armor, weapons, and even "life" itself if the value was high enough.
But then one day, a labyrinth appeared on the continent.
It teemed with unknown creatures that threatened lives, yet it spewed forth countless relics and magic stones. But in this complacent age, no one dared enter the labyrinth. Knights deemed it dishonorable, mages dismissed it as a waste of time. Left abandoned, it eventually unleashed a colossal catastrophe.
Hmm, felt like reading a fantasy setting bible. The rest was familiar territory.
The labyrinth break happened, pushing the world to the brink of annihilation. Everything perished except a handful of massive cities. The survivors built the sturdiest walls and unbreakable barriers.
And one of those surviving cities was right here: Mortus.
I closed History of Mortus and grabbed a few more books.
The Church of Light and the Seven Gods
Chronicles of the Overlord
Hmm, definitely no books of the type I wanted—like ones compiling monster info or magic-related stuff.
I skimmed what I'd grabbed and headed back to the shelf. Right as I went to slot them back in…
'……?'
A dull green-covered book caught my eye.
Tome of Alchemy
Was this here before? I glanced at the librarian.
"……."
He'd clearly said no magic or alchemy books. That's when I felt the weight of the magic tome in my pocket. Hmm.
Stepping out of the library, I felt the heft of two books in my pocket now. Heavy—these were some big-tiddy vibes.
The sun had set, sky pitch black. But the streets buzzed with people, probably explorers just back from the Erosion Zone.
'Should I head back out?'
Truth be told, I wanted to test some magic. I could still see those blue-glowing particles in my vision.
Of course, I had a pro mage like Kiara, but I couldn't exactly test spells at home or in the street.
I sorted my thoughts and headed home.
"Ah! You're back!"
Kiara greeted me with a beaming smile as I entered. Her voice sounded pretty excited.
"Hehe…."
She glanced cautiously at the room. Unlike the filthy mess at first, it was spotless now.
Water mage power, huh?
"Should I clean more…?"
I stared without a word, and her ears drooped. Those big, sparkling eyes filled with sadness.
I reacted quick.
"Gasp! I must've walked into the wrong house! Sorry! This can't be our place—it's too clean!"
"Hehe."
She looked pleased.
"Huh? Magic?"
"You probably guessed, but I'm actually a mage."
"I… didn't know that…. But I don't have much to teach you about magic."
Kiara raised a finger, and a tiny water droplet floated up. It reminded me of the Erosion Zone chaos, and I flinched involuntarily.
"Hmm… If I had to compare, it's like cooking."
You take the ingredient called mana and turn it into a dish called magic. That's the basics.
Apparently, you need mana circuits—an organ like a blank slate at first.
Kiara used water-affinity magic, turning her mana into water. She could use other magic, but since her circuits were dyed blue, nothing matched water's efficiency.
"Water magic has its downsides, though."
"Hm?"
And then I learned something unbelievable.
Using water magic produces excess moisture, which gets fully absorbed into the user's body.
"That water from before? Wasn't a mistake—just leftovers."
Hmm… sounded like an excuse. But if true, it explained her ideal outfit. Clothes during water fights? Annoying as hell.
Come to think of it, what was my magic?
"Er… Hard to say from explanation alone. Mind if I show you?"
Kiara couldn't follow, so I reluctantly gathered the particles into a tiny ball.
A marble-sized transparent orb appeared in my palm.
"Wind-affinity magic."
Huh. Thought it'd be neutral, but it had an element. Wind, eh…
Looked like a solid all-rounder attribute. Wind's always pulling its weight everywhere.
"But it's weird…."
"What is?"
"When we first met, I didn't sense any mana from you…."
…Yeah, one thing bugged me.
Woooong!
Talking mana made my right pocket rumble.
"Maybe I was off 'cause I was in bad shape…."
Sharp answer, but Kiara dropped it, assuming she was wrong.
"Um… hey…."
"Yeah?"
Kiara fidgeted, head bowed.
"When do we eat dinner…?"
Oh right, skipped dinner.
'…….'
Normally it'd be beggar rags for a meal, but my pockets were flush now.
I glanced at Kiara.
Smooth skin. That texture screamed premium diet.
And this chick packed some real power.
Hand her a Mortus nutrient bar, and we'd have a riot.
Truth was, I hated those too. Fine, splurging on stew house.
"This stew is deathly delicious!"
"Ugh! This is weird!"