From Now On, Call It Magic.
From Now On, Call It Magic.
If one were to name the renowned spectacles of Märchen Academy, the Magic Sword Grand Festival could never be omitted from the list.
The arena was already packed. The opening match of the year, the combat event, was a huge success.
"Wow... it's only a first-year match and it's already this packed."
Eric, a scout from the Mystic Gorge, murmured as he took a sip of his drink.
"Of course it's this packed. It's a combat event."
On the right, Colin settled in beside him and spoke up. She was a scout as well, of course.
"Still, the rules are simple, and it's easy to watch... I suppose it's inevitably a popular event."
Combat was an event that offered benefits to many spectators.
The simple one-on-one format made it easy to observe the individual skill of the competitors, and the sight of them clashing with full force inside the arena provided entertainment for the audience.
"Anyway... we've got a job to do. Let's get ready."
At Colin's glance, Eric immediately began casting illusion magic.
Today, they were to vividly capture the match and produce visual footage.
"I'm not sure if I can focus on the job. I might just end up watching Ivan in a daze."
"Enjoy it while it lasts. Try doing this for over ten years. Students stop looking like students and start looking like mere products."
"Ugh... you're saying something really horrible, you know that?"
Eric frowned, as if the mere thought was horrifying.
"And one more thing. We're not watching Ivan today."
At Colin's sudden words, Eric tilted his head.
"Huh? Then what is there for us to do...?"
"Plan. Focus on him and record."
"Wha...? What does that even..."
"Squad Leader Elysis said so."
"Ah."
Elysis. Those four syllables made Eric understand immediately. The Mystic Gorge way was to do as you're told.
"...Huh?"
Just as he was about to observe in earnest, Eric suddenly felt an ominous presence.
Just in case, he looked over at Colin, and she had a similar expression.
Their gazes simultaneously turned to the right side of the spectator stands.
"It seems to be coming from over there."
"Yeah, is it a Blood Demon?"
However, the faint presence soon vanished without a trace.
Still unable to tear his eyes away from that direction, Eric murmured.
"What should we do? Should we look into it?"
"Leave it be. A Blood Demon isn't something a newbie like you can just look into. First, do your assigned task properly."
—It's the match between Ivan Rose of the Knight Department and Plan of the Magic Department!
The announcer began the official commentary, and Plan and Ivan appeared inside the arena.
Colin confirmed once more.
"Got it? Don't miss a single move from Plan. The Squad Leader emphasized it dozens of times."
"Yeah, yeah... I got it..."
Eric looked at Plan standing opposite Ivan.
A face filled with nothing but absolute confidence, without a single gap. It, in itself, told anyone that he was no ordinary person.
A fierce spirit that wouldn't be cowed even with Ivan right in front of him, a chin that wouldn't bow even before countless doubting spectators.
An attitude of ignoring the disrespect directed at him.
He roughly understood why Elysis had told them to observe him carefully, but...
'And yet, they'd set aside Ivan for him?'
Eric still couldn't understand.
◈
A knight's Inherent Ability.
An intense power that elevates their status from a mere knight to a superhuman level. I was interested in it.
What commonalities did it share with magic, and what differences did it possess?
Today, I was determined to resolve that question without fail.
"Could it be that you're embarrassed?"
My thoughts were broken by a spirited voice.
Ivan's hand, extended toward me once more. I looked down at it silently.
Then I put my hands in my pockets and turned away nonchalantly.
"Plan!"
However, she blocked my path with quick steps.
"Didn't I tell you? Let's give it our best."
"Then do well, and that will be that."
"It's not that sort of problem."
Her expression became quite serious.
"Return magic has been cast, so we can be assured and display our best abilities without worry. Therefore, let us engage in this duel with proper courtesy and respect. I am suggesting we make that promise with a handshake."
"A verbal contract should have the same effect."
"Please, don't be like that!"
Ivan shook her right hand up and down vigorously.
Since it didn't seem like it would end at this rate, I reluctantly agreed to the handshake.
—The match will now begin. Three!
After the handshake, as we distanced ourselves, the announcer began the countdown.
Ivan drew the sword she had planted in the ground.
—Two!
She released a pure white aura. The sharp energy enveloped not only her body but also the blade of her sword.
Must be her Inherent Ability.
It was the first time I'd seen it, but it posed no problem at all. I'd proceed with observation and understanding simultaneously.
First, observation.
I would view all objects in the world 'magically'.
As I covered my eyes with Mana, all subjects began to be replaced by lines and circles. At the same time, I understood everything as a mage.
Lines began to appear throughout Ivan's body. Those weren't blood vessels; each one was a magic circuit.
The fact that I could see circuits meant that an Inherent Ability was, after all, merely one method of manipulating Mana.
It was no different from magic.
And if it was no different from magic...
'...Interesting.'
However, it appeared that an Inherent Ability didn't require 'understanding' or 'application' to manifest.
Simply deciding to use it was enough, which probably allowed them the leisure to fully concentrate on their swordplay.
Simply put, I could understand an Inherent Ability as a magic scroll carried within a knight's body.
This much, in a mere one second.
—One!
Ivan's center of gravity shifted forward.
It was just a preparatory motion, but it was quite formidable. So much so that her toes had already dug into the ground.
I also gradually released my Mana.
In order to grasp the content of the wall poster I had written and put up myself, the 'overwhelming victory' I had boldly declared...
I sharpened my focus to its very limit.
—Begin!
Immediately, Ivan rushed in like a streak of light.
No, precisely, she attempted to rush in.
"Not like that."
Crrrack—!
Ivan's head snapped back.
She couldn't kick off the ground as planned. Because my Telekinesis struck her forehead faster.
"Output it again."
"...?"
Ivan's head, which had been tilted back, slowly returned to its original position.
A look of bewilderment flickered across her face, but it was literally just for a moment.
Quickly recovering her serious expression, Ivan adjusted her posture and asked with her eyes.
"Again."
I replied briefly. There exist moves that are absolutely good, regardless of preference or taste.
It was only natural.
Because magic isn't a realm of emotion, but one of reason and calculation. Just now, your output had a distortion.
"Hoo."
Ivan steadied her breathing and then immediately kicked off the ground.
Simultaneously, a flash-like sword sliced through the empty air several times. A simple swing that far outran the sound.
Shiaak—!
The sound of the cleaving air assaulted my ears belatedly.
Minimal motion, a flawless trajectory, a speed hard to follow without focus.
Ivan's body and sword moved with such precision that it was hard to believe such a motion could be executed.
However, precisely because it was so precise, it was easy to observe.
I observed her 'lines' with a gaze mixed with interest.
It was not difficult at all if I utilized a mage's physical eyes to the extreme. Because her trajectories left behind lines.
The sword, swung with the aid of her Inherent Ability, carved a menacing print into the air, but as long as one didn't touch those lines, there would be no injury.
"Hraap!"
Shiaak—!
I dodged the continuing chain strikes with minimal movement.
I watched, and kept watching, the print she was carving as if appreciating a work of art, and then...
"This line would be pretty."
I found myself approaching.
Without retreating, I instead closed in and placed my hand on her wrist.
With just a very slight push, the sword's trajectory once again cut a straight line through the air. This was satisfactory.
"...!"
Ivan flinched, shivered, and stepped back.
"What are you doing?"
"You don't like it? It seems better to me."
Silence flowed for a while.
Shiaak—!
I dodged the sword swung once more.
"This time, you won't be able to see it, even if you try."
Muttering that, Ivan retreated far back. The speed of her retreat was equally formidable.
CRUNCH!
At the same instant, her figure vanished from sight, and the rocks along the ground blasted outward in every direction.
I fired three non-attribute orbs straight ahead.
And at the same moment, Ivan's body pierced through every last one of them and revealed itself.
She was already right in front of me. The speed she'd built up by manifesting her Inherent Ability was, in the truest sense, like a flash of light.
A single instant.
The circuit of that flash visible to the naked eye, the physical body that had made contact with my orbs three times... I compiled every scrap of information.
Inside my mind, I drew three formulas simultaneously.
Interference, Destruction, Illusion.
The combination of exactly those three would suffice.
Just as the sword clutched tight in Ivan's hand was about to pierce my lung—
Fwoosh!
Right after driving her blade into empty air above my shoulder, the female knight's body flipped completely upside-down in midair.
"...!"
Illusion, to make her believe she had landed the thrust.
Interference, to manipulate her body as though by magic.
Destruction, to rob her of all sense of direction.
Upside-down in the air, Ivan's gaze met mine.
As if time itself had slowed, I locked eyes with her bewildered face and spoke with my expression alone.
That isn't how you use it.
THUD—! THUD—! BOOM—!
Ivan's body careened madly across the ground. Unable to overcome her own momentum, she crashed all the way into the far wall and was buried in it.
But such things had already fallen outside the scope of my interest.
A spirit of inquiry, a thirst for learning, pure fascination... those had reared their heads.
Setting aside any desire to praise her practical skill or destructive power, Ivan was handling every last ounce of recoil from manifesting her Inherent Ability with nothing but raw physicality.
'Is the problem that it isn't accompanied by understanding?'
Whatever you use, understanding must come with it.
A mage's manifestations, which operate on a principle of equivalent exchange, are honest.
They expend Mana in proportion to the effect, and they can only wield magic to the extent that they comprehend it — which is precisely why the recoil is not so great.
But knights, who can realize these near-miraculous abilities as naturally as breathing, would feel little need to grasp the underlying principles.
Worse still, they might even be laboring under the delusion that they already understand them perfectly.
If every knight in this world was utilizing their Inherent Abilities in this fashion...
'Ten years... no.'
Their shelf life would be eight years at most. No — even that was being generous.
"...What did you just do?"
Ivan strode toward me, muttering. Regrettably, I was far too preoccupied with my own thoughts.
"...."
As I rubbed my chin, a smile crept unbidden to the corner of my lips.
Fascinating.
No matter how many times I turned it over, it was fascinating.
I wanted to pursue that fascination over and over, until every last shred of it was exhausted.
"Is this all you've got?"
"...?"
"Why don't you try something more?"
Ivan's eyes visibly sharpened. A pure-white aura once again enveloped her form.
She was manifesting her Inherent Ability again.
But the density was noticeably thinner. Which meant she, too, was subject to a limitation on 'total capacity.'
"Huff...!"
Roughly wiping the dust from her face, she kicked off the ground with everything she had, one more time.
This was different from before.
Like a bolt of lightning, Ivan came surging in, carving out countless straight-line afterimages.
Except... that very speed was the problem.
"Ngh—!"
Her sword missed me by a hair's breadth. Once again, Ivan twisted helplessly in midair and slammed into the ground — THUD.
"What in the... what in the world?!"
Ivan shouted as she seized her sword again. But the result did not change.
Number of times Ivan was slammed into the ground: two.
I confirmed that when an 'Interference'-type effect is applied to an Inherent Ability, it encounters inherent resistance.
Three.
THUD!
I confirmed that, unexpectedly, combining an Inherent Ability with the 'Support' type produced no additional synergistic effect.
Four.
CRASH!
I confirmed that it does interact with 'Harmonization' to some degree. However, pinpointing the interlocking gears would require further in-depth research.
.
.
.
Nine.
THUD!
I confirmed that even perfectly tracing the circuit of the Inherent Ability still produced deviation in the manifestation values.
In other words, to produce the same effect, a mage must draw a different form of formula. I committed this firmly to memory.
'Perhaps — if I approach it through Summoning rather than direct manifestation.'
Just as I was organizing the data—
"...I simply cannot understand."
Only when I heard Ivan's voice did I register that she was no longer charging at me.
And only then did her utterly wretched condition catch my eye.
Everything about her was a mess. Hair and body caked in dust and dirt, an ankle that looked decidedly un-supple, as if sprained.
Ivan was already battered beyond recognition. Only the flash of light still burning in her eyes remained intact.
The moment I saw that sorry state, my expression crumpled. I spoke first.
"There's no time for you to be lying around, Ivan."
Straightening my clothes, I looked down at Ivan, who had essentially become one with the dust.
"...I still have a great many questions."
There were no cheers from the stands, and no jeers either.
Only a silence bordering on the void.
"If you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
Needless to say, I did not mean that I intended to take a single step myself.
—Therefore, set your worries aside and simply advance.
I had pondered, and pondered again, what kind of vista I ought to show so that other mages might be able to set aside their fears.
And at last, the conclusion was reached.
Nine times.
In a single instant, my mind synthesized every scrap of information gleaned from slamming Ivan into the ground nine times.
'Summoning.'
Summoning — but not mere summoning.
The present address to be transported to.
The conviction that I shall advance.
The creation of which I speak as a mage.
Denial and transformation, to push aside the world as it stands.
An unyielding attitude that bends before no one.
The praxis I have stressed to the point of death.
An exemplar to someone.
A hope to be carried forward.
I approached the act with the heart of one summoning the very essence of those things.
Taking the total volume of my Mana into account, I insisted on efficiency.
Fortunately, the high level of Ivan's swordsmanship worked in my favor.
Precisely because her swordplay was executed with minimal, elaborate motions, I too would be able to expend only the bare minimum of Mana.
Drawing the Magic Circle alone was insufficient. I pressed both palms together and slowly rotated them, as if meshing the teeth of interlocking gears.
BOOM—!
At last, with an explosion, the summoned entity revealed itself.
As the smoke cleared, Ivan's eyes went wide.
Golden hair the color of a wheat field, full lips — there was not a soul in the arena who did not recognize that appearance.
"...That's me."
Ivan murmured under her breath.
It was true. I had summoned a construct modeled after her as the source.
The hand gripping Ivan's sword trembled faintly. Her eyes blazed wide and she clenched her teeth.
"What in the world are you thinking?"
The aura coiling around her grew terrifyingly fierce.
"I will not ask twice. What do you mean to accomplish with a mere doll that mimics my appearance?"
The aura, now whipping around her like a storm, made her fury unmistakably clear.
I met her golden eyes without flinching.
"Ivan, who has devoted her entire life to the sword. Ivan, whom I have observed for only nine exchanges...."
And then, perfectly composed, I recited:
"Now, which of the two do you suppose will demonstrate superior swordsmanship?"
A vein stood out vertically on Ivan's forehead. She erupted with rage.
"You... you mean to mock me!"
CLANG!
But as Ivan charged, the construct parried her sword flawlessly.
The female knight's eyes flew wide open.
"What...?"
Ivan clenched her teeth and began to swing her blade in earnest.
CLANG! CLANG! CLA-ANG!
Sparks flew ferociously as their two swords clashed. The thunderous roar battered the ears, and with every footfall against the ground, chunks of stone went flying.
"Coward...! Hiding behind—!"
Ivan tried to slip past the summoned entity and go for me, but the construct moved swiftly to block her every time.
"Come out! Face me directly! Fairly and squarely—!"
And at last, the construct's body began to wreathe itself in a pure-white aura.
The circuit I had read from Ivan had been implanted inside it exactly, and just now, it had manifested.
"Well. Something like this, I suppose."
At my words, Ivan's shoulders quaked. Her lips parted slightly.
"What is this.... How in the world, how in the world did you... my Inherent Ability...."
The sword in her grip was trembling faintly.
"Even the swordsmanship...."
"That's not swordsmanship."
I cut her off mid-sentence.
"How can you say something so rude, Ivan."
And then I corrected her.
There is a clear, distinct term for this phenomenon.
"From now on, call it magic."