Source magic

Although he couldn't buy clothes as casually as last time, Cross really has no knowledge about fashion, he couldn't even name a few types of clothes and seems to have no normal sense of aesthetics.

Although he found a popular store, when he passed by various clothes, he felt like they were all the same and didn't know where to start.

The shop assistant next to him also noticed Cross's dilemma, so she walked over to his side and introduced to Eve.

However, no matter how hard the shop assistant tried to sell, Eve had no reaction, still that expressionless face, and during the time when Cross was fully recovering his magic and didn't give Eve much magic, she became even more indifferent to "other things".

Seeing the unresponsive girl, the shop assistant could only look at Cross, trying to find a breakthrough from him.

Unexpectedly, for any clothes she introduced, Cross's only answer was "okay", which made her very troubled.

Suddenly, the usually unresponsive Cross spoke: "These clothes are a bit big, right? Are there any that fit Eve's size?"

Since he knew Eve's body size in every detail, after carefully examining those clothes, he found that they were all too big, just like the ones they bought before.

Are clothes for Eve's body type hard to find? Children's clothes were a bit small.

"It seems...no, but we can customize them."

After comparing the clothes with Eve for a few times, the shop assistant also felt a bit embarrassed.

"No, don't bother with that."

Instead of spending time customizing clothes, it's better to modify them with magic on his own. Although he has never modified clothes before, compared to making an android, it shouldn't be too difficult.

"Just pick three or four clothes you recommend."

"Ah...okay."

The shop assistant was caught off guard for a moment, she had never seen such a customer before, but she still carefully picked out a few clothes that were more suitable for Eve.

When they were about to pay, Cross suddenly froze.

--- The puppet in the old city was killed, and it was done with the same technique he is familiar with for this kind of puppet... Could it be that there are "magicians" in the old city as well?

"What's wrong?"

"No, nothing."

Quickly finishing up their business, the two left with the clothes. "After all, I'm not in the best condition, so we'll have to wait until next time to investigate the old district," Cross said. Knowing that there were mages in that area was already a significant gain. Besides, the puppet had traveled through many places before it was destroyed, so they had a basic understanding of the old district's terrain. "It's an interesting city."

Since they finished their work quickly, there was still plenty of time left. Cross looked at Eve and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to show her around and also use the time to recover some magic power by eating some good food.

Such leisure time was rare.

...

At night, Cross and Eve returned to their room after a carriage ride that took them around almost all the important locations in the Telvis Empire. Unlike yesterday, there was no disturbance from Clarissa and Melissa.

Cross put Eve on the bed and sat in front of the shabby table, taking out the information that Harlan had secretly given him before.

"The Dark Age, an age caused by a 'tyrant', his army destroyed the holy pillars that people relied on for survival, and mercilessly slaughtered church personnel. However, this age ended with the tyrant's defeat, and the seven surviving warriors who defeated him were later known as the 'Seven Heroes.'"

As one of the Seven Heroes, Cross was familiar with this part, but the following paragraph caught his attention.

"For some reason, the tyrant's army did not attack the common people, and he conducted many inhumane experiments on church members during his march."

"Experiments?" Cross opened the attached report and saw that the contents were very useful for him as a "mage." Harlan had intentionally inserted these files among the others.

The title was "Qualitative Experiments on Magic." "Magic" was divided into two categories, one was the source magic called "soul," which resided in every part of the body, including bodily fluids.

The result of exhausting source magic is death, but as long as source magic is not completely depleted, it can gradually recover with mental rest.

At the moment when a creature's physical body dies, source magic changes in nature and becomes "external magic."

"So, when a creature dies, the source magic, which is the soul, becomes external magic? What is external magic?"

Because the ultimate goal is to complete the "resurrection magic," which is the most difficult part of creating a soul, Cross has an unusual interest in this area.

And even he, who has always been using magic, does not understand the detailed classification of "magic."

The second type is "external magic," which is magic flowing in the world. External magic is generally stored in the "magic circuit," which is similar to "blood vessels" in the body, and organisms that generally use magic also consume "external magic."

The recovery of external magic can only be achieved by absorbing external magic from other substances through eating for humans without special talent.

The efficiency of this behavior is extremely slow, so the recovery period is usually about half a month.

"Have I always been using external magic? No... When a creature dies, the soul turns into 'external magic,' which is ordinary magic? Then..."

A drop of cold sweat flowed down Cross's face. That is to say, "resurrection" is a huge joke. The soul disappears at the moment of death and becomes ordinary magic. It is impossible to retrieve the soul, even with the magic of creating an identical body, like Cross's use of artificial humans...

How could this be possible!

Doesn't this negate everything he has been pursuing? People cannot be resurrected? How can Cross accept this fact?

"No..."

That's precisely why the "Holy Grail" is needed, right? If there is a "Holy Grail," maybe it can violate this rule.

While Cross was pondering, Eve, who had been lying on the bed, crawled up and walked to his side. She lowered her body and passed under his arm, sitting on his lap.

For an exhausted artificial human, getting as close to her master as possible is much more "comfortable" than lying on the bed.

Looking at the petite girl who was being intimate with him, Cross's frowned expression relaxed.

"Yes, precisely because it seems 'impossible,' there is meaning in exploring it, right? How can a magician who pursues the truth be stumped by such a problem?"

The purpose of showing these things to Cross might have been for Harlan to express that he had also studied "Resurrection Magic". However, putting that aside, Cross found another noteworthy aspect in that research report - that the source magic could gradually recover as long as it was not completely depleted and the mind rested.

After reading the report, Cross realized that the magic he had been using was the external magic stored in the "Magical Circuit". If he could successfully use source magic, his available magic power would increase dramatically as long as he didn't overuse it. Source magic was present in every part of the body, even in body fluids.

Cross chuckled bitterly. So, he had to learn to manipulate magic not just by relying on the perfect orbit for running magic, the Magical Circuit, but by using his whole body?

How could such a thing be simple? The so-called "Magical Circuit" was a simulated nerve that a magician had in his body. The external magic obtained through food flowed like blood in the "circuit". At this point, as long as a ritual array was constructed, a chant was recited, and the "Magical Circuit" would automatically work and complete the "magic". But without relying on the Magical Circuit, Cross was currently unable to perform magic.

"It seems that the road to using source magic is still far away." However, Cross was now different from before. He knew this concept and as long as he kept practicing, he would eventually master the method of manipulating source magic and using it to cast "magic".

Harlan must be able to use "source magic". The gap was indeed significant.

"Wait... for example, magic such as walking in the air, which I am already very familiar with, can be cast without chanting and doesn't seem to consume much magic power. Is it because... my body is already very familiar with that magic and consciously uses 'source magic' instead of consuming 'external magic'? Because Cross remembered very clearly that when he used the "walking in the air" magic for the first time, it almost consumed half of his magic power.

Then, he used this magic repeatedly on the cruel battlefield of the "Dark Ages", and his body had become accustomed to it, so the amount of magic power consumed had decreased, and the chanting could also be discarded.

"I see." He had unknowingly used "source magic," so magic consumption had decreased. If he could seize this feeling... it might not be so far away from mastering the method of manipulating source magic.