Into the Flame
This Happy Mid-land was a very sweet, woman-centric world. So much so that even adulthood was defined based on women. Adulthood in this world was fifteen years old. By modern standards, that was quite young, but the people of Happy Mid-land did not see it that way. How could someone who could bear children not be an adult? That situation made no sense to them. So they set fifteen as the age of adulthood. And this year, I turned fifteen. I had clearly reached an age where I could take responsibility for myself.
Anyway. So what changed once I turned fifteen? In truth, not much. My daily life was the same at fourteen as it was at fifteen. After all, believing the world would change just because you became an adult was a child's delusion. That was only natural.
After finishing the usual house cleaning, I cooked as always.
“……”
“What is it?”
Kelton stared at me from the side. When I asked, puzzled, he answered quietly.
“You’ve grown taller again.”
“Have I?”
“Come here.”
Kelton had me stand against the doorframe and marked the top of my head with a knife. I turned to check the mark. I had indeed grown taller. By about one millimeter, hmm.
“Already 151 centimeters?”
“You’re growing fast.”
“At this rate, 3 meters 20 centimeters isn’t far off.”
My original goal had been 3 meters 50 centimeters, but after growing less than expected over the past five years, I had adjusted it slightly downward. I had grown 30 centimeters in five years, and reaching my desired height still seemed distant, so I needed to work even harder.
“……”
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
I tilted my head and opened the cast-iron pot to finish the meal. What’s for dinner today? Oh, meat stew!
“You eat this every time.”
“It’s the most reasonable dish given our current situation. I do vary the flavors, though.”
“That’s why I enjoy it too.”
We finished the warm meat stew and sat at the desk. After some time passed, tap. Kelton moved his court mage forward and spoke.
“Checkmate.”
“Did you spend the entire meal playing Arcana Chess?”
“I was drinking too.”
We had played countless games of Arcana Chess, but I had never once beaten Kelton. I had managed draws occasionally over the past two years, but that was all. My knight had never slain his king. Was this man actually a professional Arcana Chess player instead of a mage? How could he be this good?
Cough. Suddenly, Kelton coughed. I pulled out a blanket and draped it over him.
“It’s cold out, so of course you catch a cold wearing so little.”
“A mage born with the fire attribute stops being affected by the weather from the 4th rank onward.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
Come to think of it…
“Then why do you come inside every winter? If the weather doesn’t affect you, you could just stay out in the yard on the rocking chair.”
“Getting snow in my eyes and feeling annoyed is a separate matter.”
“Ah, I see.”
Kelton put his pipe in his mouth. Hiss. After lighting the tobacco, he took a deep drag and spoke.
“Ruina.”
“Yes.”
“How have you been lately?”
“About the same.”
My current magic rank was 2nd. The same as two years ago.
“Well, reaching 3rd rank already would be stranger.”
However, unlike before, I was no longer particularly behind. Generally, it took a week for a 0th-rank mage to reach 1st rank. It took a year for a 1st-rank mage to reach 2nd rank. So what about going from 2nd to 3rd? That usually took ten years. The fact that I, in my fifth year as a mage, was still at 2nd rank meant I was perfectly average.
“It’s reasonable to expect that someone who took three years to reach 2nd rank will take more than ten years to reach 3rd.”
“You say such cold truths sometimes, Kelton.”
According to the “promising sprout” theory, my future was obvious, but here was one amusing thing about life: even when the future was visible, nothing really changed. The only answer was to do your best in the present.
Huff. Exhaling smoke, Kelton leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on his hand.
“That doesn’t mean you need to rush.”
“I’m not rushing.”
“Even if you’re not, I’m saying this because you sometimes do strange things.”
I had never done anything strange in my life, so why did he have that impression of me? I felt slightly wronged.
At my reaction, Kelton stood up and continued.
“There’s plenty of time. If you keep steadily training, your level will rise. Look at me. Even living so leisurely, didn’t I reach 4th rank?”
“Reaching 4th rank as late as you did would be troublesome for me.”
“Then you just need to be moderately diligent.”
I nodded obediently. I had no intention of rushing my advancement anyway. I was still so young—what reason was there to hurry?
“Where are you going?”
“I received a request. The village chief asked me to deal with some goblins causing trouble nearby.”
“Should I come with you?”
“No need for two mages to move for mere goblins. Stay here and train quietly.”
With those words, Kelton left the house. After seeing him off, I headed to the workshop.
A mage’s training was static. And dry. Observing elements endlessly in search of an undefined answer resembled the life of an ascetic. No one knew if that path was correct, because no one had ever walked it before. There were no seniors. The mages who claimed to be seniors had all walked different paths.
The only thing that could give a mage an answer was one thing: themselves. Perhaps mages were so indifferent to one another because everyone walked their own path.
Flicker. The flame burned inside the lamp. I had been living this life for five years now. Training had become as natural as breathing. But getting used to something and achieving results were separate matters.
I opened the lamp and drew the flame inside into the air. The flame sliced through the air according to my will. Lost in thought for a moment before its brilliant light, I pondered.
Flame held no discrimination. Everything was simply fuel for equal combustion. However, there were rules. Depending on the material, the flame could burn fiercely or weakly.
Hmm. I tilted my head to the left. Something… something was still just out of reach. I had thought so much, and even tried emptying my mind in case overthinking was the problem, but the clue to the next rank still eluded me.
I had consulted Kelton about this once.
“Could thinking too much be the problem?”
“My master was an 8th-rank archmage, but his mind was always noisy.”
Even an 8th-rank archmage was fine with it, so overthinking wasn’t the issue. In other words, it all came down to one answer: a lack of sensation.
I crossed my arms and rocked my body back and forth. Sensation, intuition, instinct—I had never felt lacking in these before, but as expected, you never knew until you tried.
Thud. I stopped rocking and lay down on the floor, fixing my gaze on the round flame floating in the air. I muttered inwardly. Just as Kelton said, there was still plenty of time. I shouldn’t approach this too desperately—let’s take it easy.
I stood up. The flame moved gently at my touch. When no inspiration struck, it was time for magic practice. Today, I would practice until my mana was completely depleted, then go to the market for ingredients.
“Hm hm~”
I hummed as I controlled the flame. Under my perfect control, the flame wandered leisurely through the workshop without burning anything. Was perfect control itself suppressing the flame’s true nature? Since when had flame been controlled by human hands? Fire, flame, was dangerous and beautiful precisely because it could not be controlled.
A sudden thought struck me, and I hurled the flame magic at the firewood piled in the corner of the workshop. The wood burst into roaring flames—fierce, incredibly hot. The flame did not interfere with me. Yet for me to interfere with the flame felt unfair. Claiming I wanted to understand the other while keeping my distance was arrogance.
I approached the fire. Even though it was my own magic, it was hot. That was only natural, since I had abandoned control. Slowly, I reached my hand in. My skin burned. Without stopping, I leapt into the flames.
In the agony of my entire body burning, I closed my eyes and felt the fire completely. For a long time, continuously, without end. My magic had been holding back such an intense power. Even though I could control magic, I had released it. Yes. Fairness was born from mutual loss.
Hiss. The moment I exerted my will, the flame vanished. Staggering to my feet, I grabbed the recovery potion from the shelf and poured it over my body. Feeling my body recover, I collapsed onto the floor.
“What on earth—”
And then Kelton entered the workshop. Looking around, his gaze fixed on the half-burned firewood before turning to me.
“Ruina, your face…”
Kelton’s lips moved as if he had much to say. I smiled and forced out my voice.
“But I succeeded, didn’t I?”
“What am I supposed to do with this reckless girl…”
“Five years is twice as fast as average, so next year I’ll reach 4th rank, and the year after, 5th rank.”
“What kind of calculation method is that?”
Kelton let out a long sigh. He looked exasperated, yet also seemed to be surrendering to something. Breathing heavily, I ignited a flame in the air. A fireball the size of a human head shone brilliantly.
3rd rank, the Yeonwi Mage. That was the level I had reached fifteen years after reincarnating into this world.