"Urghh..."
Opening my eyes, I found myself sleeping with my head on the desk, my hand still loosely clutching the mirror.
Lifting myself up, a sharp pain ached in the back of my head.
However, it was kind of self explanatory why I even had these headaches.
Countless pieces of information were flowing through my head. Things that, if spoken aloud, would earn nothing but disbelief—or worse, a one-way trip to an asylum.
Magic
A word most people use for impossible feats or read about in stories. But, even if it seemed absurd, it was real.
A spiritual power that allows someone to work a miracle in a heartbeat.
Although, that wasn't the only thing whirling through my mind.
Memories—ones I didn't recognize—had somehow embedded themselves into my mind. Not just unclear dreams or scattered thoughts, but moments I had never personally experienced.
I quickly grabbed the quill and paper lying next to me and started to write down all the things that I was able to remember.
The memories—mine and not mine—were all jumbled together. It was hard to keep track of them and also to differentiate them from mine.
So the best thing I could do for now was to write down as much as I could, before I thought of all these memories as normal.
At the same time, I could get an overview of what was even going on.
After some time, I put the quill down and looked at the piece of paper, where multiple things were scribbled down.
}————{ Situation }————{
Name: Wendel Ely Maelstrom
Age: 12
- Has never gone outside of the temple. No known mother or parental figure aside from "Father".
- A rather awkward kid who seems to be unable to connect with others properly. He speaks in a rather short and quiet manner.
- Was told by his father to study the basics of magic.
- Seems to have a sickness which leaves him incapable to use magic himself, however he doesn't know the cause of it.
- Some memories seem to be only partial and near impossible to decipher.
- There seems to be not only humans and animals, but also monsters, demi-humans, spirits and countless other beings.
- Currently resides in an underground temple which is within the continent of Rydeon. One of the 3 known continents in this world as well as the largest of the 3.
Within it seems to also be some kingdoms as well as other organizations that own different amounts of land. Some territories are also blacked out as they are 'Monster Tombs'
- The biggest country appears to be the Rados Empire.
- Monster Tombs are wild territories ruled by powerful monsters.
}————{ End }————{
Looking over the page, my eyes started to narrow.
Even though I'd tried to write down all I knew, it wasn't really much. Most of the memories that I'd gotten were either miscellaneous or pretty vague.
Still, it was enough to form a rough picture of the boy's life. Locked away in his room with nothing but books for company.
Despite that, he was bright. He'd already learned part of the theoretical side of basic magic. The only problem was that it didn't help in finding out what was wrong with this body.
"Damn it...."
Only thinking about the situation I had gotten myself in, made me frustrated.
The most confusing part however, seemed to be that the rage I had held in me when having died, was gone. No matter how hard I tried to get angry, nothing happened.
It was as if I'd forgotten how to feel entirely.
'There's no use dwelling on that. I need to focus on understanding this world first.'
I glanced toward the massive bookshelf on one side of the room.
'For that, I think it wouldn't be too bad to read some of these books myself.'
Walking towards the giant bookshelf, I tried to focus myself a bit.
"Seems like they're arranged alphabetically..."
From A to Z, a full wall of texts, some clearly worn and frequently used, others collecting dust.
"I should start with M... Let's see... Magical Summoning, Manifestation, Mana Petrification—ah, here we go."
Mana Conversion And General Magical Knowledge
I reached up on my tiptoes, fingers brushing the spine. Just barely within reach. I gave a small jump and tugged it free, landing softly on my feet.
"Puh..."
I then looked at the book for a second time and brushed the dust off it.
The book was heavier than expected. Black hardcover, gold letters—plain and unassuming.
Not thinking too much, I proceeded to open it and started reading.
'Okay, let's try reading this...'
It didn't take too long until I was engrossed in the book, flipping page after page in near silence, the only sounds of my breath and the soft rustling of parchment.
It was really interesting.
According to the book, Magic seemed to be simply the blanket term given to this subject.
Originally, there seemed to have never been anything magical.
It all began with the appearance of almighty beings.
Beings now referred to as Gods.
They began gifting something called Mana to the world. Infusing it into animals, humans, even plants. Over time, nature itself adapted. Everything living slowly evolved to contain mana within.
"So… nature changed in response to mana's presence."
I bit my nails, a habit I'd always had when deep in thought.
'Hmmm... Humans and animals alike produce mana. But there are several factors such as age, constitution or talent and other aspects that influence the amount.'
The Mana of living beings can be infused into things which aren't of natural origin, so basically man-made objects and tools. People started calling these artifacts.
However, mana couldn't be transferred between living beings. Each person's mana was too unique.
'So basically, one could compare Mana in a way with the principle of blood groups, just that each person has their own individual one....'
Click!
A fingernail cracked from my biting.
"So that is the origin of magic as it is known today. But that leaves the question on how to use the Mana inside one's body."
I flipped a few pages further and reached a chapter called Mana Conversion Basics.
Below the title, there were 7 symbols that formed a circle together. On top of that, each symbol was connected with the other symbols.
Beneath them was a breakdown:
}————{ The 7 Attributes }————{
Fire
Water
Electricity
Wind
Earth
Abyss
Light
Every living being has at least one attribute—some rare individuals can have several.
An Attribute describes basically the nature of one's Mana. Personality, talent and Mana Capacity are the major factors that decide the amount of Attributes one gets as well as which.
For example, a short-tempered, quick-witted person may have both the Fire and Electricity attributes.
Attributes can however also be combined, opening-up new subdivisions such as that combining Water and Fire can create Steam, making it possible to use Steam-based Spells.
Attributes dictate spell affinity. A person with Wind proficiency will struggle to use Abyss spells.
Highly skilled mages can even manipulate natural elements around them that normally have their own Mana—like controlling a river's current instead of conjuring water.
}————{ End }————{
'This is insane...'
It seemed that one could do pretty much everything if they had enough control over their mana and also the fitting attributes.
"This...so many possibilities..."
Ideas flooded my mind, a surge of curiosity and creativity threatening to overwhelm me..
"But....what happened with those gods....there is no mention if they still exist or anything else...."
And then I saw it, a 3rd chapter: HEDER
When I had flown over the books pages earlier, I hadn't seen this chapter. Even now it was relatively short, however it seemed to hold some interesting information.
"If I understood it correctly, then, the gods weren't immortal beings but also had a limited lifetime."
Click!
Another fingernail broke due to continuous biting.
"Whenever a god died, they left behind a Rune—embedded in an object or place. These Runes held their power like a sealed vault. If someone encountered a Rune, they'd undergo a Trial. If they succeeded, they'd receive a fragment of that god's power."
A frown appeared on my face.
'So it's possible to gain power greater than magic itself... by finding one of these Runes?'
However, I then saw the last paragraph:
'Though considered a blessing, Heder is a double-edged sword. For every light, there is shadow. As much as it is a gift, it is also a curse.'
Click!
This time, blood droplets started running down my finger.
"Tsk!"
I looked at my finger for a moment and then brushed it off as only a small burning sensation.
However, as I had lost my concentration, I suddenly remembered something.
The circular hall, in which I had been earlier, had a spear standing in the middle of the room which I brushed off as decoration. But it also had some symbol engraved in it earlier as it also exuded golden mist.
"Don't tell me...."