The First Light
My new teacher's name was Jef, a self-proclaimed great archmage.
"Um, now that I've become your disciple, is there really nothing I need to do?"
The Instructor back in the village hadn't made me perform the full nine bows from the martial arts novels, but he had still planted a wooden sword in the ground and made me kneel and swear an oath of sorts...
"You said you call the person who taught you swordsmanship 'Instructor,' didn't you?"
"Yes, well..."
"Having the same title would be awkward."
Couldn't we just put a name in front of the title?
"Master—yes! Call me Master."
"Yes! Master!"
Honestly, watching Master's antics made my enthusiasm cool a bit, but I didn't show it. I was the one who needed him, after all.
"Julian, Emma—from today on, I shall teach you magic."
"Yes!"
I answered loudly because I was interested. In contrast, my sister, who was learning as a freebie, stayed quiet.
Master's lessons were difficult. Magic wasn't an easy discipline to begin with, but the words and terms Master used were so advanced that understanding them was even harder.
My sister beside me was in even worse shape. She seemed to have understood none of what Master said, her eyes glazed over as if her brain had overloaded.
"Hmm, was it difficult?"
"Ahaha..."
"When I give a lecture, the Academy and the scholarly societies go into an uproar, you know."
It probably wasn't empty boasting. When I'd read the books Master had written, I'd thought they were truly impressive. But Emma and I were complete beginners at magic... Of course we couldn't understand it easily.
For several days, I went back and forth to the secondhand bookstore and learned the basic theories of magic.
My sister, who had been taking the lessons with me, had already given up on learning magic and spent the time staring blankly. Master seemed to realize this and didn't force her to learn.
And the next day, perhaps bored of sitting through the lessons beside me, my sister said she would return to the village.
I respected her decision. Instead, I made a different request.
That request was for her to transport my alchemy supplies back to the village.
To that end, I set aside a day and went out to spend money. Lighting a fire every time I did alchemy was inconvenient, so I bought a magical tool stove and a large cauldron as well.
Ah, nothing says alchemy like a cauldron.
"I bought a scale too..."
Until now I'd been mixing things by rough estimate, but to establish proper recipes, I figured I needed to know the exact quantities, so I bought one.
It was a balance scale, so the accuracy was on the low side... but I bought weights along with it. The weights made for precise measurements were especially expensive, and my money dwindled rapidly.
I wanted to buy various other tools as well, but I didn't have enough money.
The cauldron, the scale, and the stove were all expensive, so I'd spent every last coin I had.
"Emma, can you carry all of this?"
"Yeah. No need to worry."
She had mana, so she could strengthen her muscles. Still, it seemed like an awful lot of luggage.
"Um, be careful not to break the glass ones."
And I was worried the items might get damaged.
"Yeah."
"You said you'd come back, right?"
"Yeah."
"When you do, let's eat something delicious together."
"Yeah."
Seeing my sister's expression brighten, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. This must be why people say family is a good thing.
After seeing my sister off toward the village and turning around, I found Master watching from behind.
"So that's what you were buying so much of."
"Ah... well."
"That alchemy book you bought back then?"
"Yes."
Master stroked his beard, pondering.
"Was that thing real?"
"Yes, but there were so few recipes—combination methods—that there was almost nothing I could actually make."
Master said he wanted to see me perform a combination once.
When we returned to the secondhand bookstore, he prepared everything so I could combine right away, and I hid my secret recipe for Scrap Iron and instead made a simple ointment to show him. Master began examining the finished ointment with a scholar's eye.
"Impressive, to be sure, but the effect is nothing special."
"Right?"
The ointment's efficacy wasn't bad, but it paled in comparison to the healing of Holy Magic or recovery magic.
It was worth researching, but with magic and Holy Magic already existing, it would be hard for it to gain much recognition—that was Master's opinion.
"When I go back to the village, I plan to research it in my own way."
"Well, once you learn magic and Holy Magic, you can call yourself a mage, so pursuing your own research isn't a bad idea."
He explained that mages who weren't combat mages often became scholars, and scholars conducted their own research and presented it to the academic world. Master himself was a scholar, and he seemed to think that I, his disciple, had also set my path toward scholarship.
After finishing his look at the alchemy, Master casually dropped a remark.
"This alchemy can be described as a technique that uses mana to restructure materials and create new forms or abilities. Fundamentally, it's no different from magic."
Magic, too, restructured mana to produce new phenomena. Looking at the fundamentals, this alchemy was the same act of restructuring with mana to produce a desired phenomenon.
"That alchemy book was from a thousand years ago... Perhaps it was a technique created based on magic."
When magic was first created, various research and experiments had been conducted, and Master suggested this might have been one branch of them.
"I see."
"Well, with a superior discipline like magic existing, it would have been hard for it to gain the spotlight."
"I don't mind."
I was diving into alchemy because I wanted to... to find a way to become a man again. So I had no intention of giving up.
"Then let's continue studying magic theory."
Right, magic came first for now. Reluctantly, I set alchemy aside for a while.
Learning magic wasn't easy. For one thing, there were formulas—math problems, which were a pain. At least I had mathematical knowledge from my previous life, so I could learn them quickly.
Magic circles? It would be nice to be able to draw them all, but that was difficult, so he said to memorize the ones for magic you used often, and carry a book of magic circles to look at and draw when needed.
Moreover, magic circles were mainly used when making magical tools; cases of using them to cast magic directly were rare. And the most important thing in using magic, he said, was the user's will.
"In the end, magic is the act of restructuring mana through the user's will. That's why if your mind is gone or you're in a state of confusion, you can't use magic properly."
Will, huh...
In the mornings I learned theory from Master, and in the afternoons I learned practical skills. Of course, I still couldn't activate magic yet.
For several days I worked hard to use magic. But I still couldn't use it properly.
"You're working hard again today."
I had been living at the inn, but after my sister left, I was staying at Master's house. That way I could learn for longer hours.
"I have to work hard."
"I've taught you all the basic theory, so all that's left is for you to digest it."
"I know."
"Once you can use magic, I'll let you learn the Holy Magic you desire."
Magic was fine, but what I really wanted was Holy Magic.
Holy Magic, specialized in healing more than regular magic, would be more useful to the village. Of course, if I learned magic and became able to make magical tools, that would help the village too, but...
Magical tools required equipment, thorough knowledge of theory, and understanding of magic circles, so they were difficult.
Finishing my stray thoughts, I sat in a lotus position and focused my mind.
Then, following the formulas, I manipulated my Holy Power and tried to realize the magic.
I could already release it. Now all that remained was to manipulate the Holy Power I'd sent out of my body with my will.
"Hmm..."
I could feel Master watching me.
"You're doing well. Your Holy Power is gradually taking form."
Master's words were disrupting my concentration. No, I shouldn't resent that. If my focus broke over something this small, what about other times? Was I going to ask monsters and magical beasts to please stay still so I could concentrate while fighting them?
That was ridiculous.
So this wasn't interference.
I could feel the movement of my Holy Power clearly. The Holy Power that had begun moving as I wished, I deployed according to the formula.
The Holy Power that had taken form began to form a single law.
Now, by speaking the activation key, that law would be applied to reality.
"Light."
The inscribed law manifested.
Before my eyes was a sphere radiating bright light.
"Congratulations."
I felt a bit embarrassed. Light... a basic magic, yet one with excellent performance.
"Th-thank you."
How long had I been under Master? Twenty days or so? I'd succeeded in activating magic before a full month had passed.
Could it be that my talent lay not in the sword, but in magic?
Just as I was starting to get excited, Master spoke.
"It's too early to celebrate. This is where the real work begins."
"Yes!"
No matter how hard, no matter how painful, I would keep moving forward. There was absolutely no giving up. Whether to become a man again or for the sake of the village.
Let's do this!
My sister returned to the city on the fortieth day since I'd started learning magic under Master.
A little over two weeks? My sister had been going back and forth between the village and the city without rest.
"Emma, you're here?"
"Yeah."
"The stuff was fine?"
"Yeah. I put it away properly at home."
I could trust her with that.
"Look at this."
I showed her me using magic.
"Light."
Besides the basic magic, I'd succeeded in manifesting various other magics. The activation time was still an issue, but that was gradually getting shorter too.
"Congratulations."
"I'm learning Holy Magic now too, you know? Once I learn this, it'll be useful for the village, right?"
"Yeah. Not absolutely necessary, though."
There was a reason I wanted Holy Magic. Our village wasn't a safe place. The border was close, and there was a forest swarming with monsters like the Forest of Delusion nearby.
A village in such a remote place couldn't possibly be peaceful. Monster and magical beast attacks happened frequently in our village. There was a reason we had a self-defense force. We had to fight to survive, and in the process, there were victims.
I can't tell you how heartbreaking it was every time.
"No, if we just have healing magic, we can help the people who are suffering in the village."
There were many who were left with aftereffects from injuries. There were those who had died protecting the village. If even one person in the village had been able to use Holy Magic or magic...
They might have survived without dying.
"That time back then..."
My sister started to say something, then stopped.
That time back then... someone I—no, we—knew had died trying to protect us.
That incident had left a deep wound in our hearts.
Because that person had been very close to us. Yes... it was the story of my sister's older brother, and my older brother.
Why was young Emma regarded as the next village chief? Partly because she was strong, but mainly because the original next chief had died.
Our brother who was twelve years older than us... I was seven and Emma was eight. There had been a magical beast attack, and as the next chief and as a man, he had stepped forward boldly. But he was hit by a poison needle and died.
In truth, the poison needle had been aimed at me. Seeing it, our brother had stretched out his arm and protected me. And he took the poison needle instead.
The problem was that the village had no proper apothecary... It wasn't that there was no antidote at all, but it couldn't neutralize the monster's poison. In the end, our brother wasted away and died.
"Forget about our brother."
"You shouldn't say that, Emma."
I was adopted, but to Emma he was her real older brother...
"Yuli, forget it and live your own life."
"It's not like that."
I did regret what happened with our brother. But I wasn't dragging it out.
I simply wanted power so that I wouldn't regret things later.
"If I learn it, it'll definitely help later, right? That's why I'm working hard."
So that I would never regret again...