CH 208

My First Magic

When I woke up——the old man in front of me was already awake, and I too regained control over my own body.

“You’re finally awake. Head to the practice room and try out if you have actually learnt how to use magic or not.”

“………..there’s a lot I want to say but, I’ll give my thanks first of all. Thanks to you I have become capable of using magic I think.”

“Fohoho, you underestimate magic. The most you’ll manage on the first day is to control mana.”

“No, I’ll definitely use magic today.”

I smiled towards the old man who claimed it’d be impossible for me to do so.

While my body was taken over, I was as focused as I am when facing a really strong opponent.

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I had engraved every little sensation I felt when the old man used magic straight into my body.

I was still a bit uneasy about the spell chants but, I’m confident I can perfectly reproduce every exact action for how he controlled mana and then used magic.

“Well aren’t you a confident one, but magic is not so simple. Your body is not well suited to using magic in the first place, and this method we used skipped many steps to get you to understand how to do it.”

“……….And so you think it’d be impossible for me? Alright, how about we make a bet?”

“A bet? As in, whether you’d be able to use magic by the end of the day or not? ——–Hmm, gambling is for fools. In the first place, I doubt you have anything that I would want, so how would you make it a fair bet?”

“The jewel that Esta had. I’ll give it to you for free. Sounds like a good wager to me no?”

I boldly spoke to the old man.

This was honestly such a farce but, if he’s so confident in saying that it’d be impossible for me, then why not bet on it.

I’m confident I can do it, and he’s confident I can’t.

As a means of settling our continued spats and arguments today as well, this was the best way to do so.

“………..I am a bit confused as to why you’re this confident. Surely, this wasn’t some trick and you could always use magic or something right?”

“C’mon as someone who literally controlled my body you should know better than anyone, I have never used magic in my life. So, what will you do? It’s fine if you want to run away though.”

“……………….interesting. Alright, I’ll allow myself to fall for your cheap bait. But, if you fail I will have that jewel for free, make no mistake.”

“of course, if I am unable to use magic today, you get the jewel. On the other hand, if I do manage to use magic, you will owe me one big favour for the future.”

“Very well, provided it is something I can do, I will do whatever you want. ——of course, that is if you do actually use magic today.”

Saying that, the old man began to laugh loudly.

I am definitely going to succeed and make him pay for making fun of me all this time.

And so began my practice to use my magic as well as my duel with old man.

If I do it, it’ll be killing two birds with one stone, so this was a must-win battle for me.

Leaving the room, I returned back to the practice hall with the old man.

I headed back to the place he was using magic with my body, and instantly began trying out my magic.

“Now is where you will realize that your body was able to use magic because I was using it, and not you.”

“Shush. Be quiet now.”

I made the old man, who was trying to rile me up, shut up and concentrated entirely on using magic.

The first wall was how to cover myself in mana.

Depending on the sensation I had carved into my mind as my guide, I tried unleashing the mana within me.

I couldn’t release mana evenly from my entire body like the old man did but, I could tell that mana was flowing out of the centre of body.

Sensing myself release mana with my own strength, I ended up smiling but…….

I also realized something important.

“My mana………hasn’t recovered yet?”

“uppupup, finally you realzied! You woke up soon after I let go of the control of your body. Right now, your body is pretty much out of mana.”

Since I didn’t really pay attention to how much mana I had left, I didn’t really fully comprehend it but now I finally further realized that it was my body that was firing magic just awhile ago right in this exact location, not the old man himself.

Which meant that the amount of mana left inside me was miniscule, and even as I’m getting used to manipulating mana, I’m using more mana on top.

Considering the amount of mana left in me, the amount of times I can actually try to use magic is only a few.

So this is why the old man has so boldly proclaimed that it was impossible for me to do it today, because he knew how little mana I had left.

“You knew yet you kept quiet huh.”

“Why should I tell you? Fohoho, now I get that jewel for free!”

Even though he’s an old man, he skipped around me like a happy child.

The students in the hall were looking at us weirdly, yet he didn’t care and continued frolicking around.

Certainly, the situation just became far worse but, I’m not the type to give up so easily.

I fully remember the feeling of using it still, it’s fine as long as I succeed at my first proper try.

But first, I need to get used to this feeling of using mana.

This also continued to consume mana but if I panic and try and use magic too soon, it won’t work so I patiently practiced.

After that, I practiced how to stop the flow of mana next.

………………….Alright.

Since it was similar to practicing using skills without speaking with Alyazi-san, while the overall feeling was different, I think I have a good grasp on the fundamentals.

Now, I just have to gather this mana into my hand.

Releasing my mana from inside, I stopped within my body and then, I concentrated it all into the palm of my hand.

I practiced this process on repeat again and again.

Since I was as focused as I am normally only in important battles, I still hadn’t forgotten the feeling of using magic.

……….now I just need to turn this mana into actual magic.

The thing I was most worried about was the chant still, but back when I was practicing with Esta in Realzard when she was still learning, I accompanied her chanting practice so it’s not like I haven’t done it before.

I took a deep breath, and then began the chant.

” ‘One of the four gods of creation of the world. The light of judgement that illuminates the world and incinerates evil. I will illuminate the light on the path which is darker and redder than blood. Take my body as your own and show thy strength- [Fireball].’ “

I chanted the spell, and released the accumulated mana in my palm.

Although I felt that I had used more mana than required——from my palms burst forth a ball of fire the size of my head and flew towards the puppet in front of me.

The [Fire Ball] I launched blasted directly on the puppet, and dissipated with a small popping sound.

Honestly, I was a bit annoyed by the extra loss of mana but, this was a success regardless.

I wanted to make a smug face just to rub it in to the old man who was almost certainly watching from behind but………

But this last spell completely exhausted my mana.

I thought that I could at least fire a couple more but, I guess the old golem guy was just that good at perfectly manipulating the mana release.

With my inexperienced mana control, I ended up using 2-3 shots worth of mana for just this one try.

I was hit with a dizzying sensation, and I lost all my sense of balance.

I couldn’t tell what was the floor and what was the ceiling and I fell to my knees while still trying to endure it but I was unable to suppress the nausea that made my head swing.

Slowly the pain hitting my head grew more and more, and my vision that was still spinning also began to go dark.

I could tell that someone called out to me while I lay collapsed but I couldn’t even tell what they were saying.

I decided to just give up on trying to struggle against the fatigue that was hitting me——-and slipped into a deep sleep.