Chapter 4

About 2 years has passed since I was reincarnated. My legs and waist were starting to become strong enough for me to walk on my feet.

And I was beginning to learn this world's language.

I still haven't got my gold-finger. Maybe there was a delay in delivery? After all things would not happen as planned every time right?

I got in safely. So, now what? Would the delivery happen or did it get lost? Do I still proceed to steal the wonder? Can I do something else in the meantime?

Hah, maybe I can consider this my second chance. I don't know I could succeed in quest of " The Voice". But before I fail or succeed I can enjoy this world. Hmmm.

Having decided to live on seriously, I started to consider what I could do.

What did I need in my life?

As a baby, there was little I could do. The most I could do was to bury my face into someone's chest.

And when I did that to the maid, she made an unhappy expression. That maid definitely hated kids.

It's important to be literate. Therefore, learning this world's words was my first assignment.

There were five books in this house. Could it be that books in this world are expensive, or that Paul and Lilia don't read books?

It was probably both these reasons. It was unbelievable to me, who owned hundreds of books. Even though most of them are philosophical books. And they aren't any use for me now.

<<Around the World in your Life>>

This is a guidebook that contains the name and unique characteristics of various countries in this world.

<<Monsters, Ecology and Weaknesses - Greyse>>

A book that described the monsters that appeared in the Greyse region, and ways to handle them.

<<Guide to Magic>>

A guidebook that explained how to use magic attacks, from the beginner rank to the Elementary rank.

<< Anfree Alman Legend>>

A fairy tale about a summoner named Anfree Alman, who traveled along with his companions, battling the demon gods, saving the world, punishing evil, and rewarding the good.

<<Adventurers and the Labyrinth>>

It's the adventure of seven talented swordsmen of different sword styles who encountered each other, and entered the labyrinth.

Leaving aside the two battle novels, the other three let me learn a lot.

Especially the guidebook about magic.

To me, who came from a world without magic, the things recorded here got me really interested,

Reading through it, I understood a few basics. First of all, magic can be broadly classified into four categories.

[[Attack Magic]] --- Attacks a target

[[Healing Magic]] --- Heals a target

[[Summoning Magic]] --- Calls out something

[[Reinforcement Magic]] --- Let magic reinforce something

Four types. Easy to understand.

There are various functions, but according to the guidebook, magic was originally developed for war. It still isn't really used much besides battle and hunting.

Secondly, to use magic, you must have mana. Conversely, as long as you have mana, you could use magic. There are two ways of using mana.

[[Use the mana within your body]]

[[Draw out mana from something that contains mana]]

It must be one of these two. I can't think of a good example. It's probably something like a home generator for the former, and a battery for the latter.

A long time ago, people used only their mana to use magic; as generations passed, magic was researched into, the difficulty spiked, and the mana required increased exponentially as a result.

This was fine for the people who had a lot of mana, but those with lesser mana couldn't use that sort of magic. Thus, the magicians of the past thought of ways to draw out mana from elsewhere to fulfill the magic's requirements.

Third, There are two ways to activate magic.

[[Incantation]]

[[Magic Array]]

There's really no need to explain here, right? To activate a spell, either to utter a chant through the mouth, or draw a magic array. Magic arrays were the norm a very long time ago, but at incantation is currently the mainstream. In the distant past, the simplest incantation required about one, two minutes. It wasn't very long, but this method was very difficult to use in battle.

In contrast, once a magic array was drawn, it could be used repeatedly. There was a certain magician who successfully reduced the incantation time. Thus, incantation became the norm.

The simplest incantations took about five seconds, so basic magic attacks could be used with incantation. But unless the situation was urgent, complicated magic spells are still cast with magic arrays.

And finally a person's mana is set when they are born. A normal RPG increased your MP as you level up. But this doesn't look the case in this world. Basically, everyone's a Warrior by profession.

What about me? Hmm. Apparently, the amount of mana one possessed was hereditary. The fact that my mother was capable of magic meant I could probably hope for certain amount of innate mana. It's a little worrying. Even if my parents are talented, I don't think my genetic makeup is capable of that.

Even if it fixed, there might some loop holes that could be used. Maybe such things are considered a secret ?

In any case, I began to try out the simplest magic.

The guidebook contained methods for both incantation and magic formation, but since incantation's the norm, and as there is no place for me to draw magic arrays, I started with incantation. It seems that the more complicated a spell was, the longer the incantation time would be. In fact, extremely complicated spells had to be chanted in conjunction with magic arrays; that's not a problem in the beginning , however…

It seems a skilled magician can use magic without incantation. Voiceless incantation, or reducing the chants; Something like that. But why was it that a skilled person didn't need incantation?

The amount of mana required to cast the technique doesn't change, and even if you level up, your MP won't increase either... Or was it the more skilled you are, the less mana you'd use?

No, even if that does decrease one's mana usage, there's no reason to skip steps.

I hold the guidebook in my left hand, stretched out my right, and read out the words.

"Let the power of God bestow the protection of water on the place I demand, let crystal clear flow here, WATER BALL"

I felt the sensation of blood gathering in my right hand. My blood feels as if it's being squeezed out, and a water bullet the size of a fist appeared in front of my right hand.

"Whoa!!"

The moment I showed amazement, the water bullet fell onto the floor, dampening it. The book said the water bullet should be shot out, but it had fallen instead. Perhaps my concentration had been broken, causing the spell to fail.

Concentrate, concentrate...

The sensation of blood gathering in my right hand. This, this, this feeling ...Mmmm.

I once again raise my right hand, recall that feeling from before, and imagine it in my mind. I don't know how much mana I have, but it's best not to think that I can do this many times. Concentrate, and let every attempt be successful.

First, I had to imagine it, then repeat it over and over in my mind, then cast it in reality. If it ended in failure, I'll imagine it again in my mind. Until I can do it perfectly in my head.

I should have no problems if I practice using this method... I hope.

"Brea…the..." A deep breath.

I send the blood flowing from my toes and top of my head into my right hand, using that feeling to gather power. And then, have the feeling of firing it out from my palm… Carefully, carefully. With every heartbeat, gathering it bit by bit...

Concentrate, squeezing out waterrrrrrr...…

"HAH!" I unconsciously shouted like a monk, and the water bullet came out.

Plop. The moment I showed surprise, the water bullet fell way too quickly.

"... Ah."

Huh…I didn't chant just now, right? Why did...? What I did was to recall the feeling of using that spell and imitating it in my mind. But can it be that just redoing the flow of the magic made incantation unnecessary? Was voiceless incantation that simple? Wasn't it supposed to be an upper class technique?

"If it's that easy to succeed, what's the use of incantation?"

Even a beginner like me can cast magic using voiceless incantation. Concentrating the mana in my fingertips, and determining the shape in my mind.

That was basically it. In that case, incantation was completely unnecessary. Everyone can just do this instead.

(... Hm.)

Can it be that incantation's the activation of magic?

There's no need to replicate the feeling of gathering blood; I can just complete it if I let out my voice. It might be something like that. It's just like an automatic car. One can actually change it to manual and it'll still work. "Incantation will automatically cast magic."

There'll be several advantages to using incantations. Firstly, it's easy. Instead of explaining it as gathering the blood from the blood vessels in my body, everyone can simply recite it and succeed instead? Both teacher and student will have an easier time.

And after teaching this over and over again, it'll become [[incantation is something quintessential]].

Secondly, It's convenient to use. Needless to say, attack magic's meant to be used in combat. Instead of closing your eyes and going "mmmmmmm" while concentrating, it's faster to recite it quickly. It's a question of which is easier, to run with all of one's strength while drawing a clear picture, or to run with all of one's strength while chanting.