Chapter IV

After exiting the library, Sara-chan took me to the central garden.

"There's a small clearing just past the tree line bordering the perimeter of the garden, Roland-sama, you can practice your mana there." Sara-chan said with confidence.

"Okay, thanks, Sara-chan." I said. Hm... is this area really secluded? I guess not many people hang around the garden except the servants and maybe my family members.

"Can you keep watch, Sara-chan? I also want you to keep your distance from me as well." I asked.

"Yes, Roland-sama. I'll make sure to be on the look out!" Sara-chan affirmed in a cute salute.

#1 Reliable Maid: Sara-chan!

I continue to the middle of the small clearing just a few minutes and sit down. Keeping my eyes open this time, I start focusing on my mana. I notice heat waves start to form around me and vapor starts coming from my body. I don't feel any different... No light headedness or any other symptoms of MP loss. I continue to concentrate harder, and I begin noticing a change in the vapor leaving my body. It's glowing? Why's it glowing? Am I going even further beyond? Will I lose my eyebrows and grow long hair?

I also notice that the grass around the area I'm sitting in is starting to look burnt. Oops. Looks like I need to go to some other area with no organic substances to avoid a wild fire.

I stop my concentration and stand up. I start walking back the the garden while thinking about the change that happened to the vapor leaking out of me. Hmmm.... Hmmmmmmm.

Is it that? State of change? From a solid, to a liquid, to a gas, and then.... Plasma?

...

Holy shit I can produce plasma?! That's so cool! First, I'll have to check if my MP had changed at all if I want to experiment any further.

"Status."

______________________

Name {Roland Vestal}

Race {Half Human/Elf}

Age {22}

Class {None}

Title {Useless Bastard}

LVL {3}

HP {22/22}

MP {???/???}

STR {7}

AGI {11}

INT {32}

DEX {14}

LCK {3}

-Abilities-

::Ultimate Mind::

You mind is able to process thing rapidly, and is immune to mind-based attacks

::Great Stamina::

You have an extraordinary amount of stamina

::Unlocked Potential::

Your innate potential has been unlocked

::Skill Acquisition::

Allows you to gain skills from doing certain actions

-Skills-

::Mana Manipulation::

Allows you to manipulate your inner mana

-Blessings-

::Life God's Protection::

You are able to survive an otherwise lethal attack once a week

______________________

(A/N: I changed the Unlocked Potential and Ultimate Thinker abilities to be broader so that I have an easier time bullshiting the MC's power.)

Hmm. No change in the question marks. I guess it's either infinite, or I have an inconceivable amount of MP. Infinite or inconceivable.... it's the same difference, I guess.

After reaching Sara-chan, I asked, "Hey, is there a place with less vegetation around? I don't know if you felt it, but it got pretty hot over there..." With the heat I produced to incite a change of state of a gas to a plasma, I wouldn't be surprised if even Sara-chan felt it from here.

"Ah, I was wondering what that heat was, Roland-sama! I thought there was a heat wave today! It's getting close to summer, after all." Sara-chan said, excitedly, a few beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Ahem, yeah, so... Is there a rocky place devoid of anything that can easily catch fire?" I asked again.

"Yes there is! The Young Miss uses it all the time for her practice! It's the Wizard's Training Arena! I didn't bring you there because it's not as secluded as here, but the arena should be able to handle even the hottest of flames!" Sara-chan explained.

She didn't ask how, or why, it got hot. She's a bit air headed at the weirdest of times.

"Good, then let's go there." I said.

Being seen there shouldn't be too much of a problem since Isabel-nee uses it to practice spells.

As we made our way to the arena, I spotted two small shadows in the corner of my eyes.

Huh? What was that? I looked at the area in question and found nothing there. Suspicious. I turned around ignoring whatever it was and continued following Sara-chan.

Then I heard loud rustling to my right and left.

"Wha-?!?" Before I could finish, two small masses collided with my head.

""Nii-san!!"" Shouted the two shadowy beings.

My little brothers, huh? Isabel-nee said I would meet them later.

"Oof, okay, okay, get off me please!" I said in a struggle. I only have a measley strength of 7 after all.

""Sorry!"" My brothers said at the same time. They're identical twins aren't they? Once the two let my head go, I got a good look at them.

The one on my left was a boy with light brown hair cut into a messy boyish bob with a small cowlick on top facing slightly to his right, and his right eye was ocean blue and his left eye was a light brown. He had good facial features and was sure to grow up handsome.

The other boy to the right looked exactly the same except mirrored. His right eye being light brown and his left being an ocean blue, and his cowlick facing slightly to his left.

The traditional fantasy world twins. How cliché.

"So... you guys are my little brothers? What are your names?" I smiled as I lowered myself to get to their eye level.

"Oh yeah! Mother said you might forget things while you were sleeping!" Said the one to my left.

"He wasn't sleeping dummy! Mom said he was attacked by evil people and they hurt him!" The one to my right corrected.

"Oooh... Hey, hey, Nii-san! Were the bad people destroyed?" The one to my left asked in excitement.

"Of course they were destroyed! That's what Henry-san said!" The one to my right answered.

These two sure are cute. I pat them on their head to quiet them down and said with a grin, "Haha, you guys sure make a cute pair! I'll feel bad for all the girls whose hearts you two will break!"

""Heh, mom says the same thing all the time!"" They both say in unison while smiling.

"So what are the names of my two lil bros?" I asked again.

"I'm Victor!" The twin on the left declared.

"And I'm Vincent!" The twin on the right added.

Just as they finished introducing themselves, a booming voice could be heard a few meters away.

"Little Masters! Where have you been?! You should be in class right now!"

Another middle aged maid came over, looking a little frustrated.

She was a remarkably tall lady with grey hair tied to a low bun, intimidating purple eyes, a strong jaw and, surprisingly for her apparent age, a muscular looking body. Her sleeves are rolled up and I can see her rippling forearm muscles. She looks like the head maid-type.

""Oh no! The demon has appeared! Run!"" Victor and Vincent yelled and ran away.

"*Sigh*... Hello, Young Master, it is good to see you in good health. I apologize, I must go and take the Little Masters back to their classes." The maid said as she bowed.

"Don't worry about it, their education is important after all." I replied shaking my hand dismissively.

"Thank you, Young Master. Have a blessed day." She bowed once again and took off after the twins.

Well, now that the tornado has passed, time to enter the training arena.

I entered with Sara-chan through the thick doors, and looked around. It was a pretty basic arena like area, no seat for a potential audience though. A few scorch marks can be seen here and there, possibly from Isabel-nee using fire magic.

I told Sara-chan to watch the entrance from the outside as I was gonna try something a little more dangerous. I stood a little ways away from a stone dummy that was already in the arena, attached to the ground.

I stook my hand out and concentrated on my mana and focused it towards my palm. Only my palm started emitting vapor this time, er, visible mana, I should say, and I imagined forcing out the mana like a bullet and towards the dummy. A small wave of the visible mana shot out of my palm.

The visible mana looked like it shot towards the dummy about as fast as a pitchers throw in baseball. 90-ish miles an hour?

Pretty fast.

The dummy was unaffected though. The mana was in a vapor form after all.

This time I focus harder on my outstretched palm to heat the mana faster and hotter. The vapor began to start glowing again and a purple-ish white glow began to dance around my palm. It kinda looks like fire, but at the same time like lightning and a liquid all at the same time.

Well, I guess it would look like lightning... lightning is a plasma after all...

This time I tried forcing it out faster and in a straighter line. This took about 6 seconds.

*CRACK*

*PING*

Whoa!

The dummy appeared with a glowing red hole the size of a baseball in its head along with the wall behind it. Wow, that's alot of power. Of course it is, plasma is super fuckin' hot! Well, this isn't entirely plasma, it's also mana. I guess it's a mix of both since mana is partially physical.

Anyways, I heard the familiar ping again and I bring up my status to see what changed.

"Status."

______________________

Name {Roland Vestal}

Race {Half Human/Elf}

Age {22}

Class {None}

Title {Useless Bastard}

LVL {3}

HP {22/22}

MP {???/???}

STR {7}

AGI {11}

INT {32}

DEX {14}

LCK {3}

-Abilities-

::Ultimate Mind::

You mind is able to process thing rapidly, and is immune to mind-based attacks

::Great Stamina::

You have an extraordinary amount of stamina

::Unlocked Potential::

Your innate potential has been unlocked

::Skill Acquisition::

Allows you to gain skills from doing certain actions

-Skills-

::Mana Manipulation::

Allows you to manipulate your inner mana

::Mana Blast::(NEW)

You can generate a beam of pure super-heated mana from your palm

-Blessings-

::Life God's Protection::

You are able to survive an otherwise lethal attack once a week

______________________

Oh, a new skill. Nice.

Can I blast mana beams from other parts of my body?

What if I blast it directly from my mana organ? It shouldn't affect my heart as I don't feel the heat from my own mana.

The blast should come out faster since the mana within me doesn't have to travel all the way to my palms, right?

Let's try it.

I turn to face the dummy again, my chest pointing towards its direction, and concentrate my mana, forcing it out in a super-heated form from the middle of my sternum. This time it took 10 seconds. Not any faster, but oh well.

*CRACK*

*PING*

Holy shit!

I look to the dummy, or what's left of it, only to find a hole the size of a basketball in the wall.

The mana blast from my chest came out bigger and more concentrated than the one from my palm. I guess it's natural since it can directly from my mana organ as opposed to my hand.

Let's see what this new skill is.

______________________

Name {Roland Vestal}

Race {Half Human/Elf}

Age {22}

Class {None}

Title {Useless Bastard}

LVL {3}

HP {22/22}

MP {???/???}

STR {7}

AGI {11}

INT {32}

DEX {14}

LCK {3}

-Abilities-

::Ultimate Mind::

You mind is able to process thing rapidly, and is immune to mind-based attacks

::Great Stamina::

You have an extraordinary amount of stamina

::Unlocked Potential::

Your innate potential has been unlocked

::Skill Acquisition::

Allows you to gain skills from doing certain actions

-Skills-

::Mana Manipulation::

Allows you to manipulate your inner mana

::Mana Blast::

You can generate a beam of pure super-heated mana from your palm

::Mana Ray::(NEW)

You can generate a ray of pure ultra-heated mana from your chest

-Blessings-

::Life God's Protection::

You are able to survive an otherwise lethal attack once a week

______________________

Hmmm.

Blasting enemies with beams coming out of my palms, and my chest and my MP is basically as infinite as the ARK reactor. Am I Iron Man? No, I don't have any armor and I can't fly...

Unless...

Fuck it. What have I got to lose? I may get injured but I should be up and running after getting healed by some doctor, right?

Let's try it.

I remove my shoes and start concentrating on both palms and the bottoms of my feet. I force out my mana from those points, but instead of 'throwing' the mana, like I did before, I keep it attached to those points and reverse the direction so that they give me lift. I start very slowly, cautiously increasing the heat until it turns to plasma, then increasing the power. I start feeling lighter until I notice I'm a few centimeters off the ground.

"Whoa-- ooof!"

Much like Iron Man in the first movie, I struggle to keep balance and fall straight on my ass.

"Shit... I'm gonna need alot of practice, but it's a good start." I said as I grimaced, rubbing my sore butt.

This is fun and all, but let's learn some regular magic. I want to make giant earth walls and huge fire pillars!

I turned around to exit the arena to speak to Sara-chan.

"Um, Roland-sama? Are you okay? I heard loud sounds... I didn't interupt as I thought you wanted to keep whatever you were doing a secret." Sara-chan said with concern.

"I'm all right, although my butt's a little sore." I said in a good mood.

"Y-your butt?! ...D-do you want me to... check?" Sara-chan said while blushing.

...

"*Cough* No, don't worry about it, it okay. Anyways, do we have any spell books or something that can teach me how to cast magic?" I said steering the conversation away from my ass.

"Oh, um, yes, I can get them for you now if you'd like?" Sara-chan said, recovering from whatever delusions she's thinking of.

I send her off to get the books I wanted, and in the mean time I re-enter the arena and continue practicing my balance while floating.

------

In the time Sara-chan came back with the books I requested, I've managed to improve, and now I'm a (self proclaimed) expert in floating around. No skill for it though. Maybe I have to actually fly?

I'm not to confident in flying just yet, though. I don't want to crash and splatter my brain all over the ground. I'm better off trying to learn to fly when I'm over a body of water. In the mean time I'm satisfied with floating close to the ground.

When the entrance to the arena was opened, I cut off my concentration, and waited for Sara-chan to enter.

"Here are the books you've requested, Roland-sama..." She said while looking hesitant.

I looked at her curiously.

"What's the matter? If you have something to say, you can go ahead and say it, no need to hold back." I told her reassuringly.

"Um... it's just that... you- I advise you not to get your hopes up, Roland-sama. You couldn't exactly cast any magic successfully before... despite having so much MP." She says, unconfidently.

"Oh, is that right?" I responded.

So that's why Old Roland was called a 'Useless Bastard'.

Lots of MP, and no way to use it? I mean even if I can't cast any magic, it's okay since I've found a way to use my mana to attack and, potentially, to fly.

"So how would I go about learning this magic? Is there a special way to do it, or do I just read it?" I asked Sara-chan, ignoring her earlier statement.

"...You read it and the knowledge on how to use the spell automatically enters your mind, Roland-sama. I've heard that wizards who successfully learn a spell unlock an ability called 'Magic Menu'." Sara-chan said hesitantly.

Read it and it automatically enters your mind, eh?

What an RPG-like mechanic. Let's try it.

...

I've read the magic book in its entirety and nothing is happening. No ping sound or anything.

Welp, I guess that's that. No earth walls, and no fire pillars.

"I guess it still no good, huh... all you can do is manipulate you inner mana..." Sara-chan sighed.

"It's fine, Sara-chan. I told you the God of Life gave me a blessing, right? It's called Skill Acquisition. It allows me to learn skills that I'm compatible with and it's probably similar to the 'Magic Menu' you mentioned." I reassured her.

"...Really?" She looked up at me, half in doubt.

"Yes, really. Would you like to see the skill I learned earlier?"

Sara-chan nodded, still looking somewhat doubtful.

I turn around towards the stone dummy, which is half vaporized, and said to Sara-chan, "That was me by the way."

Sara-chan turned her eyes off me and towards the poor dummy, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Wha- h-how? Really?!" She says, looking more excited than before.

"Yyyyep." I said it's I raised my hand towards what's left of the stone dummy.

Hmmm...

Instead of going through the motion of concentrating my mana then focusing to my palm, I instead activate 'Mana Blast' by saying the skill name in my mind.

*CRACK*

I blasted another hole the size of a baseball into the dummy.

That activation was pretty fast! I think the concentration way was about 6 seconds? Activating it through my skill menu took about 1 second, and with barley any power decrease. This is pretty OP. If I can blast with both hands, one after the other, I can reduce my attack time by half!

So anyways, I started blastin'.

I raised my other hand and fired Mana Blasts one after the other, turning the rest of the poor stone dummy into dust.

Well not really. It's completely vaporized. There is no dust.

"So how's that? I can just use mana directly instead of spells."

I turned back to face Sara-chan.

"..." She stares blankly in the direction of where the dummy was.

Did I go overboard?

"...*Hic*..." Sara-chan sniffled.

Wait, why'd she start crying??

"Roland-sama!!!" Sara-chan yelled as she jumped towards me for a hug.

"W-what??" I asked, confused as to why she's crying.

"I'm just so...*sniff*... happy! You've learned magic! ... A weird one... *hic*... but magic none the less! I won't have to see your sad face again..." Sara-chan said as she cried into my chest.

Wow, was Old Roland that depressed about it? Sara-chan must've really care about him. I mean, I guess I would too, if someone I knew and took care of was depressed all the time.

"There, there. It's okay Sara-chan, don't cry." I said as I patted her head.

She's still crying.

...

Can we go now, please? When's lunch? I'm getting kinda hungry.

I stood there for around 20 minutes before Sara-chan finished and became embarrassed.

I'm too hungry to tease her, so I just asked her about lunch.

Jeez, what a caring maid I have.

==================

Author here. Big chapter, eh? Although I think alot of words are just the status menu. Hopefully the thought the MC had of being Iron Man wasn't too forced. Also, sorry for changing a few things about his abilities. As I mentioned earlier, these changes, I think, would make it easier on me to bullshit the MCs power. This is a half wish fulfilment, half plot story after all. (And some of that plot will involve lots of "plot" if you know what I mean. No explicit r18 stuff though (no sex scenes, just mentions of it and descriptions of naked bodies), I'm not at all confident about writing those scenes out, and I think it's cringe when all people write is 'Oh yeah, your **** is so big!' blah blah blah.) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have a good day!