The Five Ways
"My magic...?"
Lyrica is in a daze after learning that the headphones she had on her head just moments ago were the materialization of her magic.
"So that's why the headphone is speaking words that sounded like they came from a game announcer or something."
"Lyrica, what is your desire?"
The voice asked Lyrica while she was in the middle of processing everything in her head.
"Ha? Why would you ask something I already answered before?" Lyrica spoke in a slightly vulgar tone. "To live in peace and without trouble. That's my desire... What?"
After stating her desire, the headphone which is identical to the one Erika gave her, materialized overhead. Lyrica can't see it manifest, but she can at least feel the touching sensation of the ear pads wrapping around her ears and the headband connecting the two speakers from both sides.
"My headphones..."
Lyrica took the headphone with her hands and gave a long look at them.
"I can't believe my headphone just suddenly manifest out of nowhere."
"Well, it's no longer just a simple headphone." The voice said towards Lyrica. "It's a magical headphone."
After putting her headphone back on her head, the voice allowed herself to speak.
"Did you know that there are five ways magic can manifest within an individual?"
"Five ways?"
The voice listed all five as Inheritance, Exposure, Personality, Desire, and Negative Emotion.
Inheritance is where an individual can gain an ability similar to the previous generations of their family. Individuals with inherited magic abilities tend to be stronger than their predecessors.
"Inheritance is the most common way of how magic abilities manifest in Alteria." Informed the voice. "And, they consist of mostly elemental-based magic."
"Guess I should expect to see them often."
Exposure is when a person manifested an ability correlating to the environment that surrounds a person. Exposure is a base of magic abilities that follows shortly behind Inheritance in terms of consistency.
"So if a person is exposed to a cold environment, they can manifest magic abilities related to it?"
Lyrica asked the voice who replied with a resounding yes.
"Or if they are in a dangerous environment where there are certain instances that they have to run for their lives, an individual can manifest an ability relating to stamina or agility."
Personality is where an individual manifested an ability that reflects on who they are. Unlike the first two on the list, abilities that are born out of one's personality are rare.
"So an evil person can get a magic ability that reflects on what makes them evil?"
"Indeed."
Desire is where a person who wanted to fulfill their desires, starts to manifest an ability that helps them achieve that desire.
"Your magic ability falls onto this category." The voice mouthed. "Your magic manifests based on your desire to live in peace and without trouble which then materialized in a form of a device and a system from a game which gives you peace of mind."
"Oh..."
Among all five bases of magic abilities in Alteria, Negative Emotion is the one that stands out above the rest.
Magic abilities under this category are called dark magic. Dark magic is attained either directly or through corrupting one's magic ability with negative emotions.
"Wait, so this can happen even if a person already got their magic ability?"
The voice affirmed the curious Lyrica.
"There are some exceptions, but this method applies to anyone even if they already possess one magic ability."
Dark magic is considered the rarest of the rare. It is superior and more powerful than any other magic in Alteria.
"However, such great power comes with great danger."
"What danger?"
Lyrica came at the voice with a direct question.
"Well, negative emotion isn't the direct source of dark magic. Instead, it creates an ENTITY which is the real source of one's dark magic."
"Say what?"
This ENTITY, as the voice called it, is the result of one's accumulated negative emotions. They are the source of dark magic, as well as the thing responsible for corrupting one's magic ability and turning them dark.
They cling to their host to feed on their negative emotions, allowing them to grow and become stronger.
"What makes them dangerous is that they can take over the host's body the more you use their dark magic or the more you succumb to negative emotions."
The voice noticed the sour expression growing on Lyrica's face.
"They are terrifyingly powerful that even a demon would have a hard time dealing with them."
"Even a demon, you say?"
The more Lyrica learned about these entities, the more uneasy she was getting. Knowing the goal she wanted to achieve, Lyrica can't help but think that she'll eventually face demons and the entities the voice mentioned to fulfill her desire in the future.
"But worry not, because these entities are almost nonexistent, being that most dark magic users meet their end usually because they cannot handle their power."
Lyrica stared at the blue horizon with a solemn expression on her face.
"But there's still a possibility."
"... You're right."
The voice could not argue with that.
"Moving on, can you turn on your headphones for me?"
"Yeah."
Following the voice's request. Lyrica turned on her headphones.
[Systems Online - Headphones Connected]
Listener: Lyrica Ley Rael
Lv. 0
HP: 100%
MP: 20
dB Limit: 0
[Statistics]
Strength: 10
Durability: 10
Agility: 10
Stamina: 10
Senses: 10
Available Stat Points: 0
[Playlist]
Playable Music:
--> Jazz Harmony (Lv. --)
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Background Music:
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> Acquired EXP: 205
> EXP Required: 800
> Total EXP Earned: 205
A hologram projection, the same as the one Lyrica saw the first time she turned on her magic headphone, appeared right before her charcoal eyes.
It displayed what appears to be Lyrica's game character window, containing information such as her full name, level, health and mana points, and many others.
"Now that you know about all the five bases of magic abilities and learned where your power comes from, let us now talk about the power of your headphones."