Chapter 1 : The Basics of Magic

"First of all, I must tell you that this isn't exactly from the Nasuverse but rather a revised version by me, simplifying many things.

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"The Faust family gave birth to a true genius."

This was one of the many rumors circulating among the mages of high society, and it was not just a rumor. The young heir of the Faust family could only be described as a future great mage. However, what nobody knew was that he was not just a genius; he was also a reincarnated individual.

In his room, the young Julius Eltram Faust, barely 4 years old, was currently reading a beginner's magical grimoire. Julius was a child with short raven-black hair and black eyes that gave a unique depth to his gaze.

From a very young age, he never ceased to amaze his family. At barely four months old, he had already begun learning to speak and read before even learning to walk.

What nobody knew about him was that at one point, he could have been the god of this universe forever. However, he had given it all up to become a mere mortal again. This new world was very different from the previous one: it was filled with mysteries of a completely different level, and the laws were much more flexible. Society had developed divergently, with mages and gods as authority figures. Technology was no longer as advanced, making room for more mystery and an archaic society.

The foundations of civilization varied from country to country, but a common element was the limitation of technology to mages. It wasn't really technology anymore but magical objects. The technologies available to ordinary humans were very primitive compared to those of the previous world, frozen in a state close to the Middle Ages, and as the world was now governed by "universal laws" rather than the laws of physics, such technology could no longer exist.

Calmly, after finishing the book, he closed it and placed it on his bed.

"It seems that the basics of magic haven't changed, even after the great rewriting."

"Today, Julius finally received permission to begin his magic apprenticeship. Even though he already mastered the book's content, he deemed it important to check if any modifications, even minor ones, had been made.

If one were to use a modern analogy, magicians would be like hackers attempting to send an command to the world to modify a phenomenon. However, the global firewall stands against the hacker, making it more challenging to use such commands.

With his thoughts organized, Julius made his way to his mother's office, Felicia Eltram Faust, the current head of one of the main branches of the Faust family. The Eltram branch was considered the Faust branch that had contributed the most to the development of magic, besides being one of the oldest. It had even contributed much more than the original branch, which struggled to provide a talented heir. Its political power was comparable to that of the original branch.

Although talented, Felicia hadn't discovered revolutionary breakthroughs or brought about major innovations in the field of magic. However, her work was significant in political and financial realms, improving the Faust family's relationships with its subsidiary branches and other mage families. She had negotiated advantageous partnerships that filled the family's coffers to the brim.

Julius reached the door and took a moment to breathe deeply, preparing himself mentally. Then, he opened the door. Upon entering, he saw his mother putting a book away in the library. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he ran towards his mother, looking joyful. "Mother!" he exclaimed before throwing himself into her arms.

Seeing her child, Felicia's busy demeanor immediately transformed into joy. "My little angel!" she exclaimed, embracing her son.

Although Felicia was a middle-aged woman, she always looked young. She had long, perfectly groomed black hair, and her eyes were as black as her son's. Her appearance was complemented by an elegant dress and jewelry."

"Even though mages generally don't pay much attention to the lives of ordinary humans, they are often very protective of their heirs, almost like a normal family in that regard.

But for Felicia, it was much more than that. She was a true mother hen, surpassing the usual standards of protection and attention towards her heir.

She hadn't married for love; her marriage was purely political. Her husband came from a rather modest mage family, but he was born with considerable talent both in research and with a magical circuit far superior to average. He wanted a place in the Mage Tower's politics; she wanted a good heir. Despite these circumstances, she felt a deep love for her child and showered him with affection.

"So, what's up? Haven't you read the grimoire I gave you?" she asked with a tender expression.

"Yes, exactly. I just finished it and came to tell you!" replied Julius, as if it were perfectly normal.

Surprise initially crossed Felicia's face, then she couldn't help but doubt what Julius had just said. Even though it was undeniable that Julius was a genius, it seemed almost impossible for a child his age, even a genius, to grasp the basics of magic right away. Understanding these concepts from the start was a remarkable feat. If what he claimed was true, then she had seriously underestimated his abilities. Being aware of his surroundings from such a young age was one thing, but possessing such high cognitive abilities so early on was another, and if what he said was true, he would be considered one of the greatest geniuses in the field of magical research.

Felicia took on a teasing tone with her son: "If what you're saying is true, then summarize the grimoire in 4 points."

Julius adopted a serious expression in response to his mother's question, although he didn't really take it seriously. "Okay… The five main points addressed in the grimoire are the World, the Mystery, Magic, and finally the Mage." He commenced, taking the front stage as if rehearsing before a crowd of multiple people gazing at him intently. 

"The first point; the World, It should not be confused with the planet but rather refers to the fabric that constitutes the reality in which living beings exist. The rules governing the world apply only to those who live in it and do not affect the rest of the universe. Although the world itself does not possess a distinct personality, it includes numerous beings that represent it, such as fairies and divine spirits. Mages must connect to the world to use magic, and this applies to any species capable of using the mystery."

A simple enough explanation which he managed to present without much trouble. Though some aspects were tricky to understand, for someone like him, who was used to giving conference at the mages academy, it was easy to summarise the basic principles.

"The World categorizes living beings and natural spirits according to a hierarchy, non-magical beings at the lowest and most common level, and divine spirits at the highest rank, following an order in which the world prioritizes an entity. Humans are not supposed to use the mystery, so mages are not considered natural by the world and therefore do not have a spiritual rank. Spiritual rank does not necessarily define a level of power but rather the extent to which the World allows these beings to use the mysteries. The World is connected to Akasha, and its limits and possibilities were mysteriously defined during the creation of the planet and cannot be altered."

Raising his second finger, the boy continued his explanation, "The second point addressed by the grimoire is the mystery, which is the foundation of all magic. It is a fragment of power of different types that comes from Akasha. It is the source of all supernatural and natural phenomena such as Magic, Authorities... It is governed by one of the universal laws in which the states of mysteries accumulate over time and strengthen with age, making ancient objects more powerful. Magic itself is a mystery, but not all mysteries are magical. A clear example is the Authorities, which are powers belonging to divine spirits allowing them to actualize phenomena without logical processes, simply because the user has the right to."

After finishing summarizing the first and second parts of the grimoire, Julius took a breath of fresh air. For him, composing a thesis had become mundane given his past experience. The reason he stopped in the middle was mainly that he wanted to observe his mother's reaction. For now, she looked at him with a rather shocked expression, but she couldn't hide her smile, which held a touch of pride, visibly proud of her son's genius.

He gathered his thoughts for the next half of his explanation, taking some moment to prepare in his little momen of pause. 

"The third part of the grimoire addresses the subject of magic in simple terms. Magic is simply controlling one's magical energy to send an order to the world, which then utilizes a specific phenomenon. To achieve this, incantations are used to speak to oneself in a state of self-hypnosis. The more sense these incantations make to us, the more we optimize the energy loss. Furthermore, the more we practice a particular spell, the more our magical circuits adapt, reducing losses by becoming more precise."

"The more supernatural, rare, or abnormal the phenomenon one wishes to activate is, the more difficult it becomes, requiring more magical energy and potentially causing repercussions. Additionally, humans are not supposed to be able to use mystical arts, which is why the world opposes mages by attempting to crush the mystery they try to activate. To counter this, mages have invented what they call magical crests, capitalizing on a universal rule that states the older a mystery is, the more stable it becomes by accumulating layers and accomplishments."

'There were cases of families finding other ways of countering such an effect. But those methods were highly inefficient and abandoned by those who used the current system. He was curious to know what they were, as knowledge as outdated or useless as it may seem to some was still knowledge that further expanded one's understanding of magic. That alone made it valuable enough for him to read more into it. While some were rather barbaric with ritualistic procedures that required sacrificing, most were in fact similar to parts or the magical crest creation — serving as a block to build the final profuct. Who am I kidding, there might as be another method that will emerge in the future, so magical crests could end up following a similar fate to these ones without the passing of time.'

"These crests serve as symbols for mage families, acting as archives that record and crystallize the spells engraved within them, stabilized by the accumulation of mystery over generations. Mages inscribe inside them all the spells they have learned throughout their lives before passing them on to their heirs.Hence the reason why ancient mage families are considered the strongest and most talented, as they have accumulated generations of work. There is no impossibility in magic within the framework of the world's rules because magic acts as a reconstitution of pre-existing phenomena. Therefore, it is impossible to use it to create new mysteries because there is a 'wall' preventing human wisdom from doing so."

Finally, Julius moved on to the most important part.

"The term 'magus' refers to humans endowed with a magical circuit and trained to use it. They train their magic through generations with the ultimate goal of reaching Akasha, also known as the Swirl of the Root, a metaphysical place holding the absolute truth about the universe. Whoever reaches this place can do everything, understand everything, know everything, and create any type of phenomenon, even creating new ones. Whoever reaches this place literally becomes a god."

Obviously, such a goal was nigh impossible to reach. Even thousands of years of accumulated knowledge, the blood, sweat and tears of countless generation were less likely to reach such a goal than a random Devil walking down the road getting chosen as Lucifer for no reason.

But of course, people were stubborn, some bordered at the edge of insanity.

"To achieve this goal, mages have created different thaumaturgical foundations, a general term used to refer to different magical schools like astrology, necromancy, alchemy, etc. There might be differences between the various thaumaturgical foundations, but the fundamental basis remains the same: 'Utilizing the magical energy inside the user's body to connect to the world and transform the external world.' Mages often, but not necessarily, descend from ancient magical families, as the affinity with magic is passed down through blood. More than just a name, the term 'Mage' defines an entire set of beliefs and lifestyles, the foremost being the desire to access the 'Truth', whatever the cost.

Faced with the synthesis her son had just presented, Felicia was left speechless. In the end, all she could do was applaud and finally compliment him.

"Incredible, I'm impressed!"

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