Chapter 79: An Old Book

My usual routine swiftly began as soon as I returned back to the village. The trip to Boarder town, however as surprising it might have turned out, were three good days of leisure and rest regardless and I was determined to make up for it.

Besides, throwing my whole self into training was the only way I could get my mind of the chilling meeting with the old beggar.

After returning, I was able to catch up with Don and the others who were eager to hear my stories regarding the outside world. And it happened so I was just as much eager to tell them about it.

I told them every single details and emotions I felt since taking off from the village and how boring and calm the trip turned out to be — to the colorful lot of Adventurers we met at Shally's Ale.

Then I told them about Lana.

I told them about how I might have somewhat of a snotty cousin who was socially awkward and narcissistic, and a little sociopathic, and arrogant, and haughty...but was also confident, proud, incredible, brave, awesome and magically talented.

"Sounds like a brat." Don and Kyle rebuked as one and Leon could only nod silently in agreement.

I chuckled wryly at that.

"Well despite she being older than us, she's still a kid after all." I said, trying fight in for Lana's image among my friends.

"Still doesn't give her the right to act that way around you or anyone else... especially around you. Whereas you're more incredible than her." Don refuted sharply.

"But she's a nice little girl, guys. I promise."

"Uwa~ there he goes again, talking like an old geezer."

"Didn't you just say she was older?" Trise and Leon remarked, one after the other.

"What are you talking about?" Don rebuked the two in my defense. "She might be older, but age is but a number. Reo is far more incredible. The only thing she's got over him is being able to use magic."

"Of course you'll be the one to say that," Leon snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Don is such a Reo fanatic." Trise added.

"This Lana, is she okay though? You said she had a recent horrible experience before you left." Lia asked, ignoring the banter of the other kids, genuinely concerned.

I smiled then nodded.

"She's fine. Lana is more tougher than you think. I already told you she was incredible."

" You seem to really have a high impression of this girl, huh. You're not suddenly falling for your cousin, are you?" Kyle interjected, with a playful grin, and I was forced to suppress the urge to smack off as all color drained from my face.

"Don't joke around, Kyle. First of, we aren't actual cousins, were more closer to it. Second of all, I had to take a lot of restraint when dealing with her for a whole day. Lana is seriously a handful." I sighed exhaustedly.

"Even for you to say that...looks like you had it rough with this girl." Don muttered, in slight shock.

I shook my head and sighed.

Then I smiled.

"She's just a lonely girl. And I decided to be one of the first people there for her. With hopes that in the nearest future, you guys will too." I admitted wistfully.

"..." The kids remained momentarily silent. Some displaying wistful smiles of enlightment and others and sighing helplessly.

Until Kyle rebuked.

"Now you've done it, you lady killer."

"Eh?"

"There he goes again, winning another heart." Don shook his head with a helpless seeming smile.

He added.

"You really are incredible."

"Eh?"

"If you said that to her with that same smile, I wouldn't be surprised if the poor girl has sleepless nights for a few days to come." Trise sighed in the same manner.

"Eh?"

"...Playboy." Lia uttered then turned away.

"So while we were here swinging swords, you were out there stringing hearts." Leon remarked dryly, his gaze piercing.

Strangely it felt I had received five brutalized arrows to the heart.

"...Eh? Seriously guys, what are you talking about?"

.

.

.

.

That was one of our break days, and it ended with each of us returning home just before sunset.

I returned back to my room and threw myself against the fluff of my bed, face first.

Then like that, I remained. Letting myself to be carried along the serenity that ensued.

Then my mind began to wander.

"Magic...huh..." I muttered, reviewing all I had come to learn from my short time in Boarder town.

I was reincarnated in a world of fantasy; swords and magic, Dungeons and dragons — a world built around a civilization thriving off magic.

In this world, about only a decent half of the population we're gifted with Magic Talent. It turned out not just anyone could use magic, though I'm still not clear why on that.

Those gifted with Magic show first signs of their talents during early stages of puberty, specifically, from the average age of 12. There were those who showed signs a little later than that, but those were considered late bloomers so to say.

Then there were those who showed first signs of Magic Talent some years even earlier.

Those were considered Gifted and Geniuses, like Lana...

...then there was me.

I couldn't even begin to ponder my anomaly and quickly moved on with my thoughts.

When those with Talent awaken their magic, they are bound to certain things called Attributes. And among these attributes, there were some considered particularly rare called Variant Attributes.

I still wasn't clear what those were.

I seemed to have understood a little more about magic, only to have even hundreds more questions and interests concerning the subject.

A muffled groan escaped my lips from the bed.

In the end, I couldn't clearly get anything substantial from Lana. If only the girl weren't so complex and frustrating to deal with.

Despite all that I had learned, I could not help but feel unsatisfied. Perhaps even more so than before.

If there were any solace in all of this, that would be that my vague and future vision concerning magic has only become a little less vague. I was now able to judge when it would be ideal for me to reveal my talent.

Even if I knew that, I still couldn't wait till I turned 12.

And the universe knew that would probably be my best option. Awakening earlier can amount to some unwanted and unnecessary attention, but if I were to awaken at the average age, perhaps even later, no one was sure to bat an eyelash towards me.

But I still couldn't wait. Seven to eight years was a long time for my standards. I wanted to do magic, and I wanted to do it now. The incessant urge only grew further with more ambition. It felt like I would explode.

"There's no use thinking about it... it'll only make it more excruciatingly unbearable." I groaned once more and sat up.

For now, I was just going to focus entirely on swordsmanship. And once I've gotten a decent foothold on the arts...then... I'll just have to see what next.

With that I got up from bed and bent to pull out a small hidden wooden box from underneath, when a certain old worn book fell against the floor.

"Ah. This was from the Old beggar yesterday." Suddenly filled with wild unpleasantness, I reached for the worn out book.

It was dirty with soil, oil and grime, and those were only three of the substance I could only guess was. The cover was dark and old; it's pages torn, wrinkled and frail.

The old book rested in my palms, the slightest force likely to crumble it to dust.

The old book had been the last thing in my mind ever since my run in with the old beggar. I was simply out of it, and from there, various things just happened that I totally forgot.

I could still smell the old man's stench all over it and I could only frown from hurling over.

I took a sit once more on my bed, then carefully pulled open the book from it's frail covers.

"~[...There are five publicly accepted major types of Attributes ranked by rarity... various forms of Mana ranked by purity... hundreds of thousands of Spells ranked by superiority...and millions of spells ranked by diversity...all the this...was known as Magic...]~"

So the books' opening pages read.

***

So it begins