Why Am I So Good at Magic?
The Elmaster—Yriel—felt her body trembling.
It felt like she'd been struck by lightning. A profound shiver.
Most mages dismissed the flow of mana existing in nature as merely a phenomenon.
Like oxygen, just something that was there.
Even the Elmaster hadn't delved deeply into it, never seeing it as particularly important.
Now, hovering in the air before her eyes was a sphere of mana in brilliant, radiant colors.
Natural mana. Pure mana that, without exceptional talent, one couldn't even properly sense despite knowing it existed.
Had she ever witnessed such a pure crystallization of mana?
Entranced, she slipped her finger inside, feeling the tip burn away—yet no pain came. Only rapture.
"This is natural mana."
Ruen, Kian's teacher, said it casually as she snapped her fingers.
With each sharp pop, the mana sphere transformed in an instant.
No incantation followed. No magic circle either.
Ice Spear, Fire Ball, Magic Missile.
Not high-tier spells by any means. Basic attack magic.
But their scale and density were on another level entirely.
Pure magic forged from pure mana.
The spell Kian had just cast under his teacher's guidance was impressive, no doubt.
High output from minimal mana expenditure.
At least double that of your average mage—enough to call him the top among those barely into their thirties.
Even from the eyes of a tower master who'd instructed and observed countless mages.
But the magic right in front of her was something else altogether. Beyond even her own.
"Huuuh……."
A groan slipped from her gaping mouth before she knew it.
"Natural mana is a state of superimposed probabilities—"
Her gaze locked on the spell, she drank in Ruen's explanation.
Honestly, it didn't fully click.
Magic she'd wielded her entire eighty years felt as natural as sleep—utterly ingrained.
Draw mana from the mana core, shape it with an incantation. Simple as that.
But the words tumbling from Ruen's lips were utterly foreign.
Probability. Observation. Superposition.
She couldn't grasp it completely, yet her instincts as a mage seared the concepts into her mind.
A shiver prickled down her spine.
I have to hear this. Her instincts screamed it.
"But… how do you pin down that probability?"
Kian posed the question, lost in deep thought.
You needed at least some understanding to even ask that.
Meaning this young mage had surpassed the Elmaster in natural mana.
Even he, who'd never known defeat, felt no sting of pride wounded.
If anything, he was grateful to Kian for voicing the storm clouding his own thoughts.
Rather than answer, Ruen fetched a sheet of parchment from the far side of the Grand Duke's residence and tossed it before the Elmaster and Kian.
The Elmaster still couldn't decipher the magic inscribed on that magic circle.
But the instant the parchment landed at her feet, her body moved on its own.
"Haa…."
Her breath brushed hot against her lips. Hot, with no trace of discomfort.
Warm, like a child's breath.
To a child, everything in the world was brand new.
Which was why simply living meant exploring it all.
The Elmaster felt that same thrill.
Joyful. The world looked renewed.
Soon, everything around her faded, leaving only mana—and herself.
"What's up with her?"
At my question, Kian shrugged and shook his head.
They'd been trading questions right after grabbing the parchment, but Yriel had grown quieter by the minute.
Now she was sprawled belly-down on the stone floor, drooling and mumbling nonsense.
The sun had already dipped behind the mountains.
"How old did you say she was again?" "Around eighty, I think."
Gasp.
Fearing the old timer might flip, I snatched the parchment from the floor in a hurry.
"Huh…?"
Yriel blinked between the parchment in my hand and my face, looking half-asleep.
"Self-study's done for today!" "No, y-yes…. Got it…."
She mumbled like she might argue, then turned and shuffled off to her "room"—the stable.
Her slumped shoulders looked kinda pathetic.
"But… is it really okay making the Elmaster crash in the stable…?"
I nodded at Kian's worried question.
At least buried in hay, she won't freeze. The Grand Duke's Castle is toasty thanks to my magic.
Payback for trying to jump me.
The knight commander wanted her booted right then, but she's my guest, so I'll deal.
"Not that I'm mad or anything, but she kicked up a fuss right outside the Grand Duke's office. Ducal dignity and all. She oughta be thankful we're letting her stay. Yeah, totally not mad." "I didn't say a word."
Kian kept nodding on the way back to the inner castle, but kept sneaking glances behind us. Clearly still fretting over Yriel.
"How do you know Yriel anyway?" "Not much. Just chatted a few times back at the academy."
"Hmm…."
Back at the inner castle, I headed up the stairs to the second-floor guest room.
Alone in the room after splitting with Kian.
From the courtyard till now, one nagging worry filled my head.
Am I… actually good at magic?
The novel only featured two or three mages.
And I'd only met two for real.
Kian? Eh, just a scrub. But the freaking tower master reacting like that? Now I'm seriously wondering.
I knew my homemade magic system was offbeat compared to everyone else's…
Why tho?
Flopped on the bed, I raised my arm and peered at my palm.
Tiny hand.
Looks like a tween at best.
Yet the second I opened my eyes in this body, magic's principles clicked naturally.
Saw natural mana crystal clear. Knew exactly how to wield it.
Past-life physics knowledge or not, is this level of talent even plausible?
What kinda kid were you…?
No answers yet.
Muttering to myself, sleep finally won out.
The worry lingered even after waking.
Only clue so far: the gap between the original novel and this world.
Same names, same roles—but two who'd shown up with different looks and personalities.
First up: Arwen.
"Huh? Why aren't I a dude…?" "Yes!" "Cuz… I was born this way?"
Nothing from Arwen.
Left her looking baffled, gave a quick bow, and bailed from the office.
Next: Yriel.
Treked to the stable, but no sign of her. Not even a trace.
"Mister. Where's the kid who was crashing here?" "Ah! Lady Ruen, that blonde? Took off at dawn like her pants were on fire."
The stable hand, pitching hay, spotted me and came running.
"Hmm… Gotcha." "Wanna apple since you're here?"
Grabbed the apple from him, chomped a bite, and kept scouting the Grand Duke's Castle.
Courtyard, inner castle, outer castle.
Finally spotted Yriel up on the wall crossing the barrier.
"Lady Ruen! You made this battery too?"
She lit up on seeing me and bolted over with questions. I nodded.
"Then… could you share the magic circle with me?" "Nope. Second-year stuff."
Yriel smacked her lips, bummed out.
Bit farther off now. Got a full look at her.
Taller than me by maybe 10 cm, long platinum blonde hair.
Zero clue if boy or girl.
"Boy or girl?" "P-Pardon? Me?"
Simple question, and she jerked her head, started stuttering.
"Yeah." "D-do I have to say…?"
Suuuuper suspicious vibe.
"Hmm…."
"Hic!"
Staring her down, and now hiccups too.
Looked like her brain was tallying the pros and cons of spilling secrets.
"Don't wanna? Whatever."
Her personality doing a 180 from the novel was the real red flag anyway. Gender? Meh.
Not like I wasn't reborn in a girl's body myself.
Parked trembling Yriel for now and headed back inside the castle.
Gotta scope how the original plot's unfolding.
This itch of curiosity wouldn't quit.
To scratch it, I'd need to hit the novel's main stage.
"Hmm…."
Capital trip it is.
But ditching the shaky North behind? No way.
Brain revved hard, scheming a solution.
"Quantum entanglement…."
A thread started to form.