3 A new passion

Even after awakening Mark´s life didn´t change. He wasn´t dumb enough to throw away his education for a quick buck he could get by clearing dungeons. The job of a hunter was extremely dangerous, especially for the lower-ranked ones.

It was Sunday so Mark was doing his homework. Writing mathematical equations for hours, because the teacher wanted to make sure they actually learned, wasn´t fun. It also wasn´t effective because copying homework was a thing.

His mind drifted elsewhere as he started drawing scribbles on the paper. As he drew a little campfire on the paper the drawing shone and the paper caught on fire.

"What the fuck?!?" shouted Mark throwing the paper on the ground stomping out the fire.

"You alright?" a voice came from the living room.

"I´m fine, dad!" he shouted back.

Mark opened the window to let in some fresh air. He then tore off a little bit of paper and drew the same little fire symbol. At first, nothing happened but as he touched the drawing with his finger he saw magic power leaving his body traveling through the pencil lead. The symbol then started shining in white lighting up the paper.

'I´m a goddamn wizard.' Mark thought to himself in shock.

Even though he was awakened he didn´t take it seriously. He was not interested in running through hordes of goblins cleaving them with a sword. However, if he could create his own magic, then that would be a totally different matter.

He opened his browser and searched for 'Runes'

{Runestones are rare drops from dungeons giving the hunter who breaks them special skills}

'No, how about magic circles?'

{Magic circles sometimes appear when a hunter casts particular spells. Their meaning is not understood.}

'No, well let´s try skills then?'

{Hunters awaken special skills that are unique to their class. Skills come in a great variety with some people displaying unique skills.}

'Unique skills? Do I have a unique skill? What about magic circle images?'

He zoomed in on the first image which was a big magic circle of a spell called fire pillar. To Mark´s surprise, he could read the symbols written on the circle. 'Flame? Spew? Delay? Speed? Mana? Direction? Amount?' It looked like some kind of a program. However, it was written in vague symbols not in concrete words, making Mark fascinated by how does magic work.

The boy grabbed another piece of paper and started drawing many symbols with his pencil. It looked like a first grader's art homework, but in Mark´s eyes, it was a way he could cast magic spells.

Maybe he didn´t have to go to college or work in a Mcdonald´s if he became a hunter in a safe way. He could find a way to prepare for every possible foe and every unexpected circumstance by inventing his own spells for the specific situations. With his A-rank magic power, he could live freely, just by clearing D-rank dungeons. He will be called a coward for not using his power for the greater good, but so what?

'I won´t be hurting anyone, the pretentious lady from TV can go fuck herself. Saving the world isn´t my responsibility. I´ll be 18 in a month, then I can go to the dungeon. One month is enough time to prepare.'

[Next day]

Mark sat in the classroom with a brown hardback book on his desk. He didn´t sleep a minute, because of his fascination for the magic he could create. After several hours of testing, writing and drawing he finally created something he could call a magic spell. He then wrote the spell into an empty book he found while looking through some old stuff in the basement.

Page 1

Spell name: Stream of fire

Description: Mana is redirected from the book to your other hand, creating a magic circle between your fingers. By moving your fingers you can manipulate the intensity, distance, and temperature of the flames spewing out of your hand. You can also lock the settings by clenching your fist.

Under the description was the actual spell, which looked just like a bunch of random drawings. He was very proud of his creation so he brought his grimoire to school to work on another spell.

One thing he understood by doing many experiments, was that he had a lot of mana, but terrible control over it. He could decide if he sends mana out of his body or not, thereby activating the spells written inside the book, but he couldn´t control the amount of mana.

"You good? You look like you just woke up from your death." said a blonde-haired guy sitting next to Mark.

"I´m alright. Just a bit tired." answered Mark, rubbing his eyes.

"Did you do the math homework?" asked his classmate.

"Depends on whether or not you have 10 bucks."

"Oh come on, aren´t we friends?"

'We´re friends only when it is beneficial to you. You wouldn´t even hesitate to throw me under the bus if it was good for you.' he thought to himself.

"Everything has a price. My effort isn´t free, so If you want the homework give me ten bucks." Mark said with his hand outstretched ready to receive the money.

"Geez, you didn´t have to go all philosophical on me." said the blonde handing over the money.

Mark gave him the piece of paper and aimed his focus back to the spell creation. 'What if I create a barrier with one layer that is mana dense and another that is less dense than the air? Then I could use the mana sucked into the less dense layer to strengthen the denser layer, making the barrier stronger. That way I could effectively block attacks from magicians much stronger than myself with a low mana cost. I think this is worth a try.'

Finally having found his passion, Mark poured his heart into the grimoire.