4. Another world (4)

The next day, I decided that I would keep pushing my magic to its limits every day, which increased how much I could use it. Since I could recreate the right feeling, using magic without mantras became quite easy. I hoped to master Beginner mantras for each branch of magic soon.

By "Beginner mantras," I meant the most basic mantras used for attacking. These include mantras like Waterball and Fireball, as well as other beginner-level mantras.

Mantras are divided into seven difficulty levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Saintly/Holy, Kingly, Imperial/Emperor, and Divine/God. Typically, trained witches can use intermediate-level mantras from their focused discipline of magic. Once someone can recite mantras with a rank higher than Advanced, they are recognized as a Fire Saint or Water Saint, or whichever branch they choose.

Saintly/Holy. I somewhat hope to become that good someday. However, my magic textbooks only include fire, water, wind, and earth mantras up to the Advanced level.

The Beginner-level water mantras listed in the thick book are as follows:

Waterball: launching a water ball projectile.

Water Shield: causing water bursts to rise from the ground, forming a wall.

Water Arrow: sending a water wave about twenty-five centimeters long towards the target.

Ice Smash: attacking opponents with ice mounds.

Ice Blade: creating a sword made of ice.

All of these are Beginner mantras, but the amount of magical power they require is significantly different, roughly between two and twenty times more than the basic Waterball mantra. Speaking of fire magic, the amount of magical energy you put into the mantra affects the temperature of the result, so it makes sense if intermediate-level ice mantras work in a similar way.

***

Three months later.

"Wow, Allen really loves that book, doesn't he?" my mother said with a smile as I was lost in thought with the Magic Textbook in my hand, as usual.

My parents seemed not to mind the way I always carried that book around. Even when I was eating, I kept it tucked under my arm. However, I never read it in front of them—not because I wanted to hide my talent, but simply because I wasn't sure about the world's view on magic here. Back in my old world, for instance, the pursuit of magic had been something, you know, where they would burn you at the stake for being considered heretical.

Of course, considering my magic textbook is a sort of practical guide, magic might not be considered heretical in this world, but that doesn't mean people might not still view it with some ambiguity. Maybe magic is something you only do when you're an adult. If nothing else, wizards risk passing out if they use it too much; people might think it could stunt a child's growth.

Wholeheartedly, I decided to keep my magical talent a secret from my mother for now. Because of that, I had to practice reciting mantras outside the window, so there's a chance I might get caught. But I didn't have many options. Not if I wanted to test how fast I could cast my mantras.

Our maid (whose name is apparently Liana) sometimes looked at me suspiciously, but she hadn't caught me at all, so I'm pretty sure I'm safe. If people try to stop me, I won't fight them, but I don't want to waste my childhood while I still have it. I need to flex my talent now, before it becomes rigid and too set. Now is the time for me to make the most of things.