Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Creating His Own Magic
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He was thoroughly uplifted. A healthy flush colored his wrinkled face.
After shaking his head in mild disbelief, Arthur replied.
"Brilliant. The idea that it's a transformation of language is truly impressive. That is the very essence of an incantation. A remarkable insight."
"Wow...!"
The children exclaimed all at once.
Though they couldn't understand most of the conversation, they knew it was extraordinary for Arthur to praise someone so highly.
Once the commotion in the classroom subsided, Arthur continued his explanation.
"The key to an incantation lies in arranging the most precise words in their most proper places."
Loan asked.
"What do you mean by precise words?"
"They are words that perfectly fit a given situation—words that can, on their own, describe a phenomenon and convey meaning, intent, and even emotion."
Loan had felt that way on rare occasions while reading books.
Certain words that made his cheeks flush or his heart warm, as if they had peered into his very emotions.
Expressions that were like magic itself.
"A mage shouldn't be lax with their language studies, then."
"That's right. A single word spoken with mana holds that much power. They are also called True Names, or Words of Power."
Then.
Arthur muttered a phrase in an incomprehensible language, likely the same one used in the formula.
A complex magic circle then flickered brightly in the air like a fleeting afterimage—
And immediately, on a completely different level from the flames Arthur had created so far—
A perfectly formed fireball floated before him.
It wasn't very large, but the intense heat forced the children, who had been leaning forward, to pull back.
"You arrange carefully selected words so they harmonize. Not a single particle can be used carelessly. It's like how 'The flower bloomed' and 'A flower has bloomed' carry different nuances."
"Ah..."
"Even a phrase standardized through countless trials and errors may or may not manifest magic depending on how the caster utters it."
"So you're saying that just knowing the words isn't enough for anyone to cast it?"
The class was now proceeding solely as a Q&A between Arthur and Loan.
Sophie bit her lower lip slightly, showing subtle impatience, but most of the children watched the exchange with great interest.
It was completely different from a normal magistery class.
"Yes. Intonation, nuance, speed, pitch, the balance of sound and air, the roll of the tongue, the shape of the lips, and the caster's emotional state—everything is organically interconnected. Only then does it finally react with the appropriate mana to create the phenomenon we call an incantation."
Loan understood Arthur's explanation in light of his own experience.
The people and trees that wept and laughed, moved by his readings. The emotion he poured into every single word to stir their hearts. The waves of mana that delivered it all.
The other children couldn't read in a way that moved hearts like he could.
It was no easy feat.
Loan spoke to Arthur, voicing the other children's perspective.
"That sounds incredibly difficult. It would be easier to just manifest magic without incantations or formulas."
The children let out a soft burst of laughter at Loan's words.
Even Arthur couldn't help but smile at Loan's seemingly innocent answer.
"Yes, it must seem difficult. But think about it. How hard would it be to instantly recall a complex drawing in your mind, exactly as it is? Is it really an easy task to manifest the entire process of an incantation with thought alone?"
"Is it difficult?"
"It requires a significant amount of mana, as well as the mind and body to support it. To put it simply, we consider such individuals to be 4th Class mages or higher. That's the Expert grade, the level of a Commander in the Union's 7th Division."
Loan flinched in surprise and gently pressed his hand over the pencil that had been moving on its own.
The subtle aura of mana that arose from this once again caught Arthur's attention, but for now, he didn't let on.
‘I am curious about what he's doing.’
Mages were people who observed phenomena and tenaciously interpreted them for the sake of understanding.
For the time being, Arthur wanted to simply watch Loan himself without any intervention.
Strictly speaking, he hadn't yet sorted out his thoughts on how to handle such a genius.
"Well, then. I think I've scared you enough about magic. Has your opinion still not changed, Loan?"
"Of course not. If anything, I've grown to like magic even more."
"Ho ho, is that so? I'm glad you're not scared. I was just about to start talking about the good things about magic..."
Arthur stroked his beard once and paused for effect.
"Magic is difficult to master, but in other words, that also means that skilled mages are rare."
"That must be true."
"An outstanding mage is welcomed by allies and feared by enemies. You don't even need to go as far as 3rd Class magic. If you can use a 2nd Class Fireball before graduation, that's more than enough to become one."
Loan nodded silently.
That wasn't a wish, but something he had to achieve.
"Good. Then we'll conclude the overview of magistery today. Starting next class, we'll begin studying the ancient language. I must say, I'm feeling motivated for the first time in a while."
Groooan...
Arthur paid no mind to the groans and glanced to the side.
The door opened and teaching assistants came in, handing out thick books to the children.
"It would be good to skim through it and think about the characteristics of the ancient language."
"Is this homework?"
Sophie asked.
"Yes. Let's hear your thoughts on it one by one next class."
Ancient Language Dictionary.
The thick dictionary was filled with the characters that had been written and erased on the blackboard just a moment ago.
Loan was thrilled, and he carried that feeling with him as he moved to his next class.
* * *
The magistery class had been fun, but the other classes were no less so.
It was far more enjoyable to learn directly from excellent teachers than to explore the knowledge and wisdom in books alone.
It reached a point where he dared to wonder if these moments, where he could do nothing but study, might be the happiest time he would ever experience.
Of course, not many children felt that way.
Most children signed up for a moderate number of electives and returned to the dorms or their homes early, while those who signed up for many classes agonized over the homework they were given.
Sophie, who was in the latter group, was no different.
"Ugh, homework, homework, homework... Why did I sign up for so many classes? I really dug my own grave."
The last elective: dance.
The only students taking the class were Loan and Sophie.
"Loan, so you filled your schedule with classes except for lunchtime? For the whole week?"
Now that they were alone, Sophie asked Loan in a considerably friendlier tone.
"Yeah. There's a lot I want to learn."
"When are you going to review, and when are you going to do your homework?"
Loan tilted his head at Sophie's question and then said.
"Hmm... I paid close attention during class, so I don't think I need to review. As for homework, I finished everything except for magistery during the breaks after class, so I don't think it'll be a big problem."
"..."
"What?"
"You know, you can be surprisingly infuriating, right? I just tend to forget about it because of your face."
"Me?"
Loan tried to recall what part of him might have seemed infuriating and remembered the 'attitude of empathizing with the other person' he had read about in books on etiquette and conversation.
Being honest, humble, and considerate of others all at the same time was indeed not an easy task.
Loan apologized to Sophie.
"I didn't consider your situation. I'll try to be more understanding in the future."
"..."
Sophie somehow found that apology even more annoying, but she liked the forward-looking word 'future,' so she nodded silently.
Having spent the whole day together, Loan and Sophie had become friends before they knew it.
* * *
After the last class ended.
Loan headed to the dormitory, located in the innermost part of the school grounds, with Sophie.
The Pobel family wasn't affiliated with the Union. He didn't know the details, but Sophie had mentioned she'd left her family to live in the dorms.
Sophie asked.
"Where's your room?"
"Over there, second to last on the first floor."
The Union's dormitory was completely different from the relief shelter, aside from the fact that children of similar ages lived there.
Two-person rooms equipped with individual beds, wardrobes, and desks.
The facilities were excellent, and conveniences like meals were also very good.
However, his roommate had been nowhere to be seen for two days.
Sophie, who had walked with him to his room, glanced at the room number again and nodded.
"Ah, so you're in the same room as Lucas."
"Lucas? What's he like? I haven't seen him once yet."
"I don't know him well either. It's not easy to catch a glimpse of him. He's probably out causing trouble somewhere outside of school right now. He's a problem child, so don't worry about him."
"Oh..."
"Well, I'm off. See you tomorrow."
Loan decided to follow Sophie's advice and not worry about it any further. After returning to his room, he immediately immersed himself in his own tasks.
The only homework he hadn't done today was the one assigned by Headmaster Arthur.
*Tap—*
First, he read the ancient language dictionary page by page, trying to understand its characteristics.
The ancient language was quite difficult, even for Loan, who had a talent for languages.
He memorized as he read, but several hours passed just trying to grasp the rules of character formation.
The ancient language's geometric morphemes held meaning in themselves, and new words were formed by combining and arranging them.
Furthermore, even words with the same shape could have different meanings depending on the context, making it difficult to grasp their true meaning.
‘It's a very complex script.’
It was difficult to understand just by looking at the dictionary.
Loan tried to decipher the formulas for Fire Arrow and Fireball that he had written down by breaking down the meanings of the words.
He also reconstructed the incantation into written form by comparing the headmaster's pronunciation, which he had memorized by ear, with the phonetic symbols in the dictionary.
The formulas the headmaster had merely used as examples became another textbook for Loan.
Thanks to this, Loan was able to understand the usage and meaning of the ancient language to some extent, and furthermore...
‘Now that I know and can interpret the ancient language, I can also see how formulas are constructed.’
In short, Fireball was a prime example.
It was an equation pieced together so that variables—the space the ball would occupy, the size of the flame, the unseen force pulling it downward, its velocity upon firing, the variable position of the target, and the power required to make it all possible—could be defined by the caster's mana.
‘The phenomena I saw were the process of those conditions being realized, and the result was the Fireball.’
When he realized that magic was the act of uncovering, understanding, and then reproducing the fundamental principles and universal laws of all worldly phenomena and nature, he was filled with a natural sense of awe.
‘Magic is truly amazing. Now I understand why it's called a discipline that pursues wisdom and truth.’
Even a small spell required considerable understanding.
But on the other hand, he himself had used telekinesis without going through such a process.
He had seen mana directly with his eyes and moved it according to his will.
‘To be precise, I was controlling the flow of mana. Telekinesis is probably also composed of a logical formula, just like Fireball...’
Moreover, he also had the experience of dispelling an existing formula.
He didn't know the method, but he had broken Le Tell's dark magic simply by attuning the mana.
The realm of intuition, where understanding, interpretation, reasoning, association, or judgment did not intervene.
Looking at it from these various perspectives—
‘With my current mana, I can't use powerful magic right now. In that case, why don't I just create magic that suits me?’
For Loan, it was a very natural progression of thought.