5 Chapter 4 - Meeting the General...

After teleporting near the town, I spotted the presence immediately. It was a middle-aged elf. I stayed behind trees and followed the man till he stopped behind a tree, looking at the cave's entrance.

After he stayed there for a bit, I decided to walk up and talk to him.

"Um... Hello? What might you be doing here?"

This made the man jump. He slowly turns his head and looks at me. All color in his face drained. I could see his body trembling.

Oops... I guess it would be scary if someone sneaks up behind you in the middle of an empty forest. Too late now...

"Oh, sorry for scaring you. I noticed that you were coming this way, so I decided to find and follow you here. Guess that sounds a bit weird, sorry!"

The man blinks at my words, then bows. "I-I'm sorry, Sir! Please f-forgive my imprudence."

Sir? What is with this formality? I decide to ignore that part and start to question him.

"So, who are you, and why are you out here?"

"Oh, sorry! My n-name is Endo Ken. I'm a retired general from Elvavia. I came out here to see you, or rather to see if you were home..."

Huh, He came to see me? That doesn't make sense. I just arrived into this world yesterday. Plus, I been staying in this area, minding my own business. How does he know I exist and is living here? Maybe he is mistaken...

"Umm... I'm sorry, but I think you are mistaking me for someone else."

"Oh, okay! Please forgive me again, Sir!"

'I don't think you do!'

Ugh... Forget it. Talking out here is kind of weird. I guess I should invite him into the cave.

"Do you want to continue talking in my cave? Should be somewhat more comfortable than talking out here."

Ken blinks but then agrees. We walk into the cave and sit down on some stones. We sat here for a while, only awkwardly staring at each other. 'It's tranquil in here...'

Is there anything we can talk about? We just met, but we been sitting in silence almost the entire time. Oh! Maybe he can tell me more about magic. I do have all books about magic, but there are so many books that it might be hard to find the exact book I want. The search bar is useful; however, I don't know what the titles of the books are called so... It more comfortable to have someone teach me, I guess.

"Hey, Ken. Do you know how to use magic?"

"Huh? Oh, umm, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing really, but can I ask for a favor? Could you teach me how to cast magic?"

He stares at me blankly. "I c-can, but I assume that you are well-versed in magic since you noticed me right as I stepped out of Elvania."

"Well, I'm accustomed to magic, but I'm by no means an expert. I would like to learn about magic through a person, though..."

He blinks at me again. After a minute of thinking, he looks at me. "Sure, I guess I can teach you some of the basics."

"Really? Thanks!"

I bow to show my appreciation.

** Endo Ken's Point of View **

Why would the Blue Devil ask me to teach him magic? He says he's accustomed to it, but I do buy it. Right when I met him, I cast [Magical Eye] to see how powerful he was. The spell informs me that he has an immense magical aptitude and tremendous magic capacity. His power is exceptionally high that he could give the gods a run for their money.

Also, every time I look at him, my body trembles and wants to run away. Right now, if what he says is true, then he has no clue how high-level spells work. If he learns, then he could easily disrupt all the magicians in the world. I have no choice but to teach him. He already powerful enough to destory me or the world...

"Okay, let's begin. First, magic is divided into two sections: magic aptitude and mana. Mana is part of your magic capacity, which is how much mana you can hold. Spells require mana to activate. If you don't have enough mana, then the spell will fail.

"Magic aptitude is the caster's magical ability. The higher it is, the more likely the caster can cast high-ranking spells. It is also tied to their ability. More excellent aptitude means the caster can learn faster, and the spells they cast will have more power.

"There are a total of nine types of magic: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light, Dark, Null, Space, and Extra. Each of the types has subsections within them. For example, healing magic is a subsection of light magic. Do you have any questions so far?"

"What is extra magic?"

"Ah, this type is unique. Many spells don't fit the other eight types, so those spells are put into a different type, extra. For example, [Mind Control] is extra magic. Extra is also the rarest of the types, right under null.

** Imai Akuma's Point of View **

The more I listen, the more I want to master magic. It all like the games I played! Magic is so cool...

"Okay, so how do you cast a spell?"

"There are many ways to cast a spell. The most common but weak way to conjure up a spell is to chant a verse. 'O God of Creation, give me the power of the blazing sun and doth me with power. I summon a ball o fire to burn my target!'"

Right as the says this, a baseball size fireball appears from his hand.

"This is the basic of spells, [Fireball]. Some can ignore this step, however, and just use an incantation."

He tosses the Fireball into the water, then holds out his hand. "[Fireball]!"

Right as he chants the spell, a magic circle appears and summons a fireball about 1.5x the size of his last spell.

"As you can see, using the chant rather than the verse is more powerful. Most users can only reach this level of casting, though. Some can go to the next level and can use custom chants. They can link one chant with other spells. Experience magicians don't even need to chant; they can say the spell in their head.

"And then, only a few mages can cast a spell without chants. They summon a magic circle and configure it to what they want. This is the most powerful way to summon a spell, but it takes decades to learn. Those who can use it can only use it with one or two spells."

Okay, I get it a bit more now. Oh! I have an idea. "Okay, Let me try something."

I hold out my hand and close my eyes. I think about a fireball as I did before, but this time, I think about the process of fire and how it's made. Then I imagine how the ball is compressed into the fire. After a bit, I open my eyes and cast the spell in my head. '[Fireball]!'

Particles fly toward my hands, forming a magic circle. Then a fireball spawns off of it. It's about 10x more significant than my last spell and nearly 20x more substantial than Ken's. The flames are also blue instead of orange.

I aim it to the lake and toss it into the water. Once it impacts with the water, it splatters flames everywhere. Ken looks at it, dumbfounding.

"I-impressive! You cast a spell without physically chanting. It also took you less than a minute. I can tell this is your first time or maybe 2nd time using the spell since you struggled for a little bit..."

Nice, Ken, praised me! This magic stuff if so cool. It's kind of similar to programming, but a lot more fun!

"Oh, it's about to get dark. I should get going now..."

Huh? Oh, shit! I forgot the time.

"Your right! I'm so sorry for taking up your time."

"It's okay. Well, bye!"

He bows and then takes a couple of steps until he was half of a meter out the cave. Then he stops... Hmm, what is he doing? Don't tell me he is lost... My answer soon got answered when he turns around, grabbing hold of his sword. He charges at me with his sword in a stabbing position.

"Huh?!"

...