V1.1 Chapter 2: What Makes a Genius, Genius?

"If others can do it, then you can do it too." A quote I usually hear from my elders. But, is it really true? People have different sets of talents, resources and even personalities. What a person can do depends on these three. But if all of us are different then can we really say that we can do what others can do? No, that is wrong. Some people are blessed with good things while others only have a few. Sometimes, hard work is not enough to get what you really want. There's always someone better out there, someone who can do magnificent things with minimal effort. Someone... who's called a genius.

***

Morning came. After breakfast, I immediately asked Emily to teach me magic.

"H-Hiiro? Why do you want to learn magic?" she inquired with a puzzled look.

"It's just that... When I saw you use magic before, I thought you looked cool."

"C-cool? I'm not really..." she murmured while averting her gaze by looking down.

"And I thought that if I learn magic... I can fight beside you and protect you."

She stared at me as if verifying the gravity in my words. "Hiiro..." she smiled. "Alright, I'll teach you magic."

I'm sorry for lying to you, Emily, but I need to do this.

***

Under the dying tree, we've decided to take the lessons near the house. Attentively, I listened to her while she discussed the basics of magic.

Life energy determines when a living being would die. Having a little of it means it would die early, and vice versa.

However, when a living being dies before all of its life energy is depleted, the remaining life energy will then fuse with the surrounding energy, creating mana.

This mana is what mages use to create certain phenomenon like shooting fireballs, controlling animals and other things. This event is called magic.

"Then... How can I use magic?"

"Y-you just need to learn how to control mana. There are two ways to do this," she replied while holding her scepter with both of her hands. "You can either write a rune or use a magic tool. The first one is much harder since you need to write the runes manually. The second one requires writing lesser symbols, some don't even need one since it's already programmed inside the magic tool. For low to mid-tier spells, if you practice enough you'll eventually learn to cast it without an incantation. However, for using high-tier spells, without a good magic tool, you will need an incantation,"

"Hmm. I see. I see. That kind of makes sense to me now." I murmured, remembering how she did all those things in the forest. "Then, how do I write a rune?"

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized, with a low-pitched voice while gazing to me with a concerned look. "I can't teach you how to write a rune today."

"Hmm? Then what am I going to do today?"

"I-I'm sorry, but you first need to meditate," she answered, softly.

Based on what she said, in order to control mana, one needs a huge amount of concentration. Since I don't need to eat nor drink, I meditated for three days straight. Emily continued to watch me even at night. She also seemed to be stitching something during my meditation.

***

Suddenly, I found myself at the rooftop of a building, looking at a girl standing at the side ready to jump.

"Stop!!!" I shouted. "Haruka, Stop!!!"

"I'm sorry," the girl replied, jumping backwards.

Soon, a bunch of words echoed all over the place.

Murderer... Killer... It's your fault... She died because of you...

The atmosphere became dark as if I'm the only one present there.

"Stop..." I retorted. However, the voices continued to ring in my ears. "Please, stop..." I said these words continuously while kneeling and covering my ears. "Please, stop!!!"

The ocean of voices finally ceased. I raised my head and saw a woman with short black hair, standing in front of me.

"Wake up, Hiiro," she spoke. It was Haruka. "Wake up, Hiiro."

***

"H-Hiiro... Wake up... Hiiro..."

Hearing a familiar voice, I opened my eyes. "Emily? What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

"N-nothing. It's just that. You seem to be in pain while meditating. A-are you okay?" she asked while holding her scepter with her 2 hands."

"Yes. I'm sorry if I made you worry."

"I-it's okay... A-anyway, I think we can now proceed to the next step," she replied.

"Really? Then, I can finally..."

"Y-yes, I'll teach you---" But before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly fell down.

"Emily!!!" Fortunately, I managed to catch her before she hit the ground. "You're burning hot!"

Her voice was very hoarse from the fever. "Hiiro... I'm okay." she coughed feeling the pain in her throat. "We... We can still continue your training."

"No, you need to rest. I think you've been watching me for the past three days without sleep."

She repeatedly resisted at first, telling me to continue practice but I managed to convince her to take a rest. I then quickly carried her back to her house and nursed her.

So even necromancers can get sick. I don't get her. Why would you do this thing to someone you've just met? Why? Just because I saved you that one time? It just doesn't make sense. To the point of sacrificing your own health for me, why are you doing this, Emily? Are you really not Haruka?

***

The next day, after Emily became well again, she continued with her lectures. She taught me how to write a basic Fireball rune.

"By the way, Emily, why elemental magic? Not necromancy?"

"B-because you said you want to learn magic," she replied, softly while looking down.

Magic? Of course, I want to learn magic. But isn't it easier to teach me necromancy instead? Since you're a necromancer and... Hmm... Come to think of it...

"Emily, you're a necromancer right? How come you know elemental magic? And you seem adept at it too..."

There was a slight pause before she answered. "My mother... was a genius when it came to magic. She was the one who taught me how to use elemental magic," Emily replied with a sad look.

It seems she can't get over on what happened to her mother. I wanted to cheer her up, but I guess if she doesn't want to talk it out, it's better not to push the matter. This way, we can keep up with the learning.

"H-Hiiro, let's begin with rune writing," she spoke with renewed determination.

"Okay."

That's right. Emily had a family here. She was born in this world. That's why, she can't be Haruka.

"Before we proceed to incantation, you first need to master writing a rune." Emily sat on the ground and wrote something, then spoke with her usual soft voice. "You can write a rune on anything: the ground, the trees or even in the air." After she completed writing, the rune on the ground glowed. "Today, you will write a rune on the ground until you can make it glow like this one."

Excited, I started writing one... two... three runes. I kept writing and writing, hoping for it to work, however, none of them even flickered.

"Emily, can you help me with this? I can't seem to get it."

"L-let me see..." Emily inspected my scribbling. "I see. Y-you wrote this part wrong. A-also, this line should be connected here. You should make a circle here."

"But... I did put a circle there."

"B-but Hiiro, this is not a circle," she insisted pointing at where the circle broke off.

"O-Oh. I-I see. Sorry. Thanks."

Ahhrrrggg, this is really hard. Art is my worst skill. Even my penmanship is bad. Who needs drawing when you can just edit photos on the computer? Who needs writing when you have a keyboard? Sadly, they don't have computers in this world. Ahhrrrggg, I wish these are all numbers!

"Calm down Hiiro. All you need is to adapt..." I repeated to myself going back to my concentration. "...Okay, let's do this again."

"Uhm, Hiiro, who were you talking to?" Emily asked. Perhaps she thought I was talking to some spirit.

"Myself. I'm talking to myself."

"I-I see," she replied softly.

I know, I'll just imagine them like computer codes.

"Let's try that." Calmly, I imagined myself writing a computer code in a paper. After the rune is finished, it still didn't glow.

Tch, as if imagining this as a code will help me improve my drawing.

"Ahm, Emily, can I practice my penmanship and drawing skills first? I don't think I can write a good rune with my current self."

"Okay, Hiiro, if that's what you want." Emily blushed for some reason. "T-then, I guess, I should help you."

"Thank you." We then spent the whole day on the table trying to improve my drawing skills.

***

A week had passed, but with the help from Emily, the rune I wrote on the ground eventually glowed.

"Yes, finally, I can write a decent rune."

"Hiiro. You finally did it!" Instantly, she jumped forward and held my right hand.

"Uhhm..."

Realizing what she just did, she separated from me. "I'm sorry," she apologized, blushing while repeatedly bowing her head. "I-I got carried away."

"I-it's okay. I don't mind," I assured while inspecting the rune to keep me distracted.

"H-Hiiro, please wait here," she spoke, softly. "There's something I want to give you."

She then ran back at the house. A few moments later, she came back carrying which seemed to be a gray robe.

"T-this... this is for you," she quickly said. "I-I made a robe for you since you don't have clothes right now."

"Emily..."

"S-sorry. D-did you not like it?" she asked, looking down.

"N-no. I like it very much." Immediately, I put on the robe. "H-how do I look?"

"Y-you look good," she replied with a joyful smile.

There was none, but if I had eyes, I was sure, I would cry.

"Thank you, Haruka..." I blurted accidentally.

When I looked at Emily she made a confused face.

"U-Uhm... H-Hiiro? Who's Haruka?" she asked.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just that, you look similar to someone I know that I mistake her as you."

"I-I see," she replied looking down with a sad look.

"A-anyway. I really thank you for this robe. I'll definitely treasure this.""

"I'm happy..." She said softly still looking down, but I can somehow notice her blushing face.

"Emily..."

Her reaction just now. It only proves that she's not Haruka.

"Uhm. Emily, what do we do next?"

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized, softly while averting her gaze on me. "T-then, let's go back to training. S-since, you are now ready to use magic, we can now go to something more advanced."

"Advanced?"

"Y-yes. This time, you will write the rune in the air," she added. "Even though you can still cast a spell on runes written on a solid surface, in an actual battle, it's impractical to do."

I see. She's right. In a battle, people tend to move constantly while fighting. Casting a spell on a solid surface each time will make it predictable.

"Writing in the air is harder than writing on a solid surface," she added. "You need a great amount of concentration and imagination for it since you can't see the runes until you complete it."

Perhaps that's what the meditation is for.

"Now, I will show you again how to cast a fireball." Emily wrote a rune. "Oh, Goddess of fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!" after the chant, a fireball appeared, made its way into the river and burst into a jet of steam. "Now, Hiiro, it's your turn. You just need to imagine there's a wall in front of you."

-First Try-

There's a wall in front of me. There's a wall in front of me. There's a wall in front of me.

Raising my fingers, I wrote the rune in the air. "O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!!!" However, nothing happened.

I worked through my rune once more, but it produced the same results.

-Sixth Try-

"H-Hiiro, y-you need to concentrate more," Emily stuttered while shouting. "You also need to imagine the rune you're writing and not just the wall itself. You need to picture it. The symbols, shapes, lines... everything."

Calm down Hiiro, you can do this. First, imagine the wall. It's in front of you. It's hard and smooth. Now, start writing. Imagine every shapes and symbols and write them all on that wall. They should be properly placed and perfectly connected. Concentrate on the image...

The rune appeared in front of me, and this time, it finally glowed. "O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!" Unfortunately, my hand exploded into flames.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

In a quick response, Emily cast some sort of water magic to put out the fire.

"Hiiro, you did it," she congratulated.

"But... I failed."

"No, you almost did it. You just wrote the rune too slow; the fireball wasn't released on time. You just need to hasten your writing," she added while looking at me with sparkling eyes...

"Gotcha."

However, the results remained the same for about five times.

This is harder than I thought. I need to move my hand faster. Okay, let's do this again.

-Twelfth Try-

"O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!" This time, the fireball exploded in my legs. Emily then cast the water magic again to put out the fire.

"You're almost there, Hiiro," Emily shouted. "This time your incantation was way too fast. You need to time both the writing and the incantation."

Future results stayed the same.

-After so Many Tries...-

I am covered in smoke. My bones are charred black, but I'm glad they didn't break. I guess I need to take a bath later. However, I refuse to let go of my training. I'll try it again one more time.

"Oh, Goddess of fire. Descend and lend me thy strength. Fireball!!!" Unfortunately, I still failed.

Hours passed, I tried and tried, each having a different result. However, all of those were failures, and a lot of times, I almost hit Emily.

I need to be careful.

"O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength. Fireball!" A fireball burst forth from my hand and hit the river.

"Yes... Finally, I've done it!"

"Yey," she shouted, running towards me. "You did it, Hiiro. You did it."

"Thank you, Emily. I wouldn't have been able to do it if you weren't here."

"N-no, it was because of your own talent that you did it," she said while looking down hiding her blushing face. "But still, I never thought you would be this good. It took me at least one month just to cast a fireball."

"Really? I guess because I've meditated for a long time."

"You're a genius, Hiiro," she added.

There was a bit of silence before I could respond to her. I saw the face of a certain girl.

I already know you're not Haruka, yet why? Why do I still see her in you?

"Hiiro?" she asked.

"Sorry. I just remembered someone."

"I-I'm sorry you have to write runes to cast magic," she apologized while looking down. "I-I don't have any other magic tool for you to use and my scepter had been programmed to be only usable by me so..."

"Naah. It's okay," I replied while patting her head. "It's also good that I learned the basics. So, thank you for teaching me."

"N-no," she replied while looking down, blushing. "I just taught you what I know."

"By the way, do you know any magic for traveling to other places? Or maybe to other dimensions?"

"I-if it's traveling to other places, there's teleportation magic, but I don't know how to use it," she replied. "About traveling to other dimensions... This is the first time I heard about it so I don't know. Sorry."

"It's okay. Thank you for answering."

It seems it won't be easy going back to earth. I also need to regain my flesh back but since Emily also doesn't know why I became a skeleton instead of returning to being human, I guess I'll worry about it later. I need to focus on one problem first.