Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Magic

Shu wandered through the forest, floating above the ground. As a high-level spirit called "High Ghost," he could move easily through the difficult terrain of the forest. He was grateful for this ability.

What's more, he didn't need to eat or sleep, which was a definite advantage. It would have been troublesome to be forced to survive in the forest without knowing anything.

(Oh, I've found a little goblin.)

By chance, Shu stumbled upon a stray goblin and activated his ability "Life Drain." He had become accustomed to it, so he quickly drained its life force. The drained life force was converted into magical energy and stored within Shu. He also knew that he could absorb magical energy from the bodies of defeated goblins and other creatures like wolves, deer, and bears.

He had discovered this through repeatedly defeating goblins, wolves, deer, and bears, and had noticed that the amount of magical energy obtained from normal animals like wolves, deer, and bears was quite small. Conversely, goblins and some wolves were capable of providing a fair amount of magical energy. This led him to believe that some creatures possessed particularly high levels of magical energy, which he referred to as "monsters."

"Gugaaaaahhh!?"

The goblin let out a dying scream.

As a last ditch effort, it sometimes screamed to call for its companions. After such a scream, at least a few more goblins would show up.

Shu floated up into the trees to hide in the branches and leaves, waiting for them to arrive.

(Now, how many of them will come?)

He had not yet evolved from a High Ghost, but he believed that he could do so by accumulating magical energy in this way. And growing stronger was fun.

Perhaps because his ethical sense from his past life had only remained as knowledge, he didn't feel any aversion to taking lives. In his past life, he had grown by consuming the lives of livestock and other animals, and he viewed this in the same way. As a predator, he didn't feel much guilt about it.

However, this was only the perspective of a predator, and he didn't consider what it would be like to be preyed upon himself.

Shu did not forget that he too could be in a position of being hunted.

Rustling through the grass, two figures emerged.

Shu thought it was a little goblin and tried to activate Life Drain, but soon realized it was something different.

(That is... a human!)

It was undoubtedly a human, with a Western-looking face, probably in their early teens, still retaining some childishness.

"Look! It's the corpse of a little goblin!"

"I wonder if someone did it? It's creepy because there are no wounds..."

Shu wondered if that creature really was a little goblin. He then hid in a tree and eavesdropped on the conversation between the two boys.

"Is it a disease?"

"If so, we should burn it, right?"

"Right."

One of the boys thrust his arm towards the little goblin and began muttering something. With this, the tip of his palm began to glow blue-white and began drawing geometric patterns.

It was indeed a magic circle.

Even Shu, who had been watching intently, was a little excited.

(Magic? I have to observe this!)

Every time the boy muttered something, the magic circle continued to be completed and eventually became a circle about fifty centimeters in diameter. When the glow reached its climax, the boy shouted.

"Fireball, Fireball!"

However, the magic circle was broken with a snap, and the magic that had gathered dispersed into the air.

Of course, not even a trace of fire appeared.

Shu also tilted his head.

And the boy put his head in his hands and shouted again.

"Damn it! I failed again!"

"It can't be helped if Fladge isn't good at magic. Wasn't the last magic test just a fluke? Fladge lacks imagination, even though he has a fire-type magical outfit. If you just imagine it, the magic circle will form on its own."

"I know... damn it. I'll just burn it with my magical outfit."

"Huh... are you really going to do that?"

"Miguel, shut up."

Apparently, the formal name for the magic circle is a magic formation.

Anyway, the boy named Fladge extends his right hand again at the small goblin and surrounds it with magical power. Then, something like a gauntlet is attached to his right hand.

Even Shu is surprised by this.

(Is that...!?)

Then, a fireball flies out of Fladge's gauntlet and hits the goblin directly. It has more power and quantity than the fireball he tried to activate with the magic circle earlier.

The small goblin was burned up in no time.

"Heh. This is nothing if it's under my magical outfit."

"Sigh... You waste so much magical power. You know that the magical outfit doesn't use much magical power, but it takes a lot of magical power to deploy, right?"

"It's okay. My magical power level went up to B rank in the last measurement! S rank is not just a dream!"

"Okay, okay. I got it."

After hearing this conversation between the two, Shu organizes the information.

(The difference between magic and magical outfit... magic is a technique that is activated with magical power and imagination, and magical outfit is a unique ability, like my 'Life Drain'...) 

If that's the case, there is a possibility that Shu himself can use magic.

He wanted to try practicing right away, but unfortunately, there are still two boys left. He doesn't want to do anything unnecessary and get caught. Shu is currently a spirit, but it seems that he can be seen by others. He wouldn't be able to handle it if he were attacked by mistake.

He decided to stay quiet for now.

And above all, because of the death cry that the little goblin just let out, goblins should be approaching. If Fladge and Miguel fight the little goblins, he might be able to understand more about magic and magic armor.

He continued to observe with such expectations.

Then, as expected, five little goblins appeared.

"What?! Five little goblins?!"

"Fladge, I'll use magic armor too!"

Miguel said that and circulated his magic power. The next moment, he slammed both hands on the ground. At the same time, vines started to grow from the feet of the five little goblins and entangled them in one go. Although it was easy to escape from the vines, Fladge shot a fireball faster than that.

The fireball that flew out of the gauntlet burned the little goblins along with the vines.

"That was close...!"

"Haah... I'm tired."

"Miguel's magic armor is an area type, so it consumes a lot of magic power, right? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, somehow. At times like this, I envy Fladge's standard armor type."

"Hey hey, what are you talking about, even though it's a rare area type?"

"Hahaha, sorry."

A new word came up again.

Shu thought about it again. 

(The types "area-type" and "armor-type" are probably types of magic equipment. The armor-type looks like armor, like Fladge's gauntlet, while the one Miguel used is probably area-type because it has the ability to affect specific areas. If that's the case, there are probably other types as well.)

And another thing that caught Shu's attention was their clothing.

(They're wearing identical clothing. It looks like a uniform. Could it be a school that teaches magic or sorcery? No, it could just be part of regular education. Anyway, this power seems to be something common among humans.)

Fladge and Miguel were wearing the same clothing, and there was a badge-like object on their left chest. Since they had just mentioned a magic test, Shu's deduction shouldn't be wrong.

"We took down the little goblin, so that's enough for today's self-training. Let's go home."

"Yeah."

As Shu was lost in thought, the two of them started to leave.

It was an unexpected encounter, but Shu had observed the first humans in this world and discovered the power of magic. Unfortunately, magic equipment seemed difficult, but there was potential for magic.

Shu's heart skipped a beat.

(Was it magic power and imagination for magic? It would be amazing if I could create flames with just that...)

It would be dangerous to suddenly create flames with an unknown power. Shu had no intention of dealing with dangerous things with an unfamiliar power. So, he decided to try something relatively safe, like water.

After confirming that the two had disappeared into the distance, he extended his hand and imagined.

(Calculate enthalpy, ionic covalent bonding of hydrogen and oxygen, input parameters for pressure and temperature, calculate entropy, liquidation of water, calculate surface tension and interfacial energy, adjust to the minimum value, determine the formation into a sphere, adjust for gravitational parameters.)

Using the knowledge of physics that he possessed, he imagined a water sphere.

After calculating the thermal energy to envision the bonding of hydrogen and oxygen, he calculated the entropy based on the pressure and temperature to compute the state. Given the current parameters, liquid was the appropriate state, so he imagined it and then proceeded to determine its shape. By incorporating the interfacial energy between water and air and the surface tension of water, he adjusted for gravity and minimized the energy. When the energy is at a minimum, it is most stable, and this becomes the natural state. At this point, the energy is at its minimum when it is in the shape of a sphere.

As a result, the water sphere was created.

There were some rough parts, but he skipped over them.

Nevertheless, the magic circle was successfully formed, and the water sphere floated above Shuu's hand.

(Hmm, surprisingly easy. And the magic circle floats on its own. It's pretty cool.)

The magic circle was inscribed with geometric patterns and mysterious equations, and although the content was incomprehensible, it stirred his heart a little. If Shu's prediction was correct, this magic circle should not be a meaningless string of characters and patterns.

The magic circle must have meaning.

With that in mind, Shu entertained the next image.

(Fix the state of the water sphere, parameterize the radius, calculate the surface area, substitute the viscosity of air, substitute the direction and speed of the wind as parameters, calculate the air resistance function as a function of velocity, apply a reaction to each resistance during ejection to maintain the shape, and determine the movement speed.)

Then an additional pattern appeared in the magic circle, and the water sphere flew rapidly in the direction of his outstretched right hand. It hit the ground and was slightly dented. It was quite powerful.

However, since it took some time to activate, some ingenuity would be required for practical use.

It was a technology worth researching.

(If done well, it could become a strong card.)

Shu made that judgment and began analyzing the research on magic.