Volume 1: Epilogue
(MC's POV)
Sigh…
'Am I starting to become a workaholic now?' I asked this question to myself while laying down on my bed. It's been a whole week since I've moved into this mansion and also since I've finished my first quest.
Since then, I have done almost nothing but toil away in the underground training room, training myself in many ways and being trained by Roy in the sword.
In the morning, I have breakfast with Gramps before heading down to the training to do my own training. If not for Aoi reminding me to have lunch, I would've stayed in there till it was time for Roy's sword training, which goes on for about an hour and a half in the afternoon.
After that, I continue doing my own training until around 5 pm before Aoi comes to pick me up, which is when I usually decide to call it a day and come back up above ground.
I do relax a bit after that though and indulge myself in games, anime, manga, or light novels, whichever mood I'm feeling at that time really. However, that only lasts about an hour before that tingling feeling comes back again and I start thinking and planning out my training for the next day.
Yep, if that's not the definition of a workaholic, I don't know what is.
This brings me now to the present, well about a few minutes ago.
"Roger, I think you need to lay off on the training room for a while. I've heard you've been spending your whole day there for the last week, I know you can handle it physically but I think this might start affecting your mental health sooner or later"
After dinner time, Gramps addressed this 'problem' to me with a concerned look on his face; and, honestly, I'd be very concerned too if a family member was doing physical training none stop from morning till dusk with the exception of stopping to have lunch.
So, I reluctantly(?) complied with his request….and I'm deciding to start magic training in the free time I have now!
Yeah, I know. I may be even worse than Ganyu except I train and she works, but I'd say it's pretty much the same.
Back on topic, I'm now going to start my magic training.
In the free time I have in between – after training and dinner time, and between after dinner and sleep – for the last week, I have done my own research on anything related to magic I can find in the memory of the people I killed and cross-comparing their 『Soul Boards』.
And what I found out was just as I expected, I too can learn to cast magic without a magic circle like how the demons did; the key to that lies in Magic Manipulation.
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『Soul Board』 [+]
Roger A. Stayv – Human/???
Age: 16 Rank: 38
Soul Points: 22
….
『Magical Power』
[Mana] 8/50 -> 10/50
….
[Magic]
- Magic Principle 3/10 -> 5/10
- Magic Creation 3/10 -> 5/10
- Magic Manipulation 1/10 (NEW)
- Angel Magic 1/10
- Fallen Magic 1/10
….
『Willpower』
….
[Charisma] 1/10 -> 2/10
[Appeal] 1/10
『Intuition』
[Instinct] 7/20
[Insight] 6/20
[Memory] 4/20 -> 6/20
….
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I found that all four demons have Curse Manipulation while Algor and the 6 mages I killed had no such things as Magic Manipulation, Spell Manipulation, or even Elemental Manipulation (Things I made up), so I figured that was the difference between the two groups and why one didn't need to use magic circles.
Then came the process of me trying to hypothesize why the mage group didn't have it, which came down to me finding out it was just something innate to the demons; this answer to me seemed like I had hit a wall and it stumped me for a while, but then I started thinking about it in Soul Board style.
After all, the 『Soul Board』 is all-powerful, there is simply no way it can't do something so simple as casting magic without a magic circle. This led my thought towards hidden stats, stats that don't show up until you meet a certain requirement.
Maybe Magic Manipulation, Spell Manipulation, or Elemental Manipulation, stats I made up, are hidden stats in the [Magic] section; if so then, all I need to do is just to meet those requirements.
I first started with getting my [Mana] to 10, then I tried upping Magic Principle and Magic Creation to 4, which didn't turn up anything but my [Instinct] was telling me I was going in the right direction so I added another point in those 2 again but...….nothing showed up.
However, I didn't lose faith or even for a second doubt [Instinct-chan] since I knew she can never be wrong and she proved it by telling me there was something missing. It isn't that I haven't reached the stat requirement, it was something else.
I pondered over it for a few more minutes but couldn't come up with anything so I went and took a bath. Mid bath, I pulled up and looked through the various screens I have, then my gaze stopped on my 『Job Class』.
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『Job Class』 [-]
Active: [Dark Wanderer]
Inactive:
[Archangel] [+]
[Dead Shot]
[Night Stalker]
[Flame Magus]
[True Mage]
[Swordsman]
….
=============
I saw that [+] and curiously tapped on it, and what came out was 2 [Empty Slot] icons. This was new since before the [Archangel] Job had no effect whatsoever, which was quite weird since Hikaru had the [Greater Angel] Job where he could use 6 other Jobs while having it equipped.
I just chalked it up to me not having the right condition for it to take effect and moved on with my day. In that time, I just used other Jobs to help speed up my training efficiency since they have that kind of effect along with a noticeable buff.
At that moment when I saw the 2 [Empty Slot], something clicked in my head. 'This is it, the final piece to the puzzle' I thought, and my thought at that time was indeed correct.
The moment I switched my active Job to [Archangel], I felt a warm tingly feeling spreading through my body, and then my body felt light as a surge of mana rushed to my back.
And in the next moment, I saw – reflecting on the surface of the watch in my bathtub – a pair of pure white feathery wings that visibly shone in a soft and gentle glow.
I was stunned shock by this sudden course of events that I stay still for what felt like minutes before snapping out. I then reached out my hand and faintly brushed my hand against the wings, it was far softer than I could ever imagine.
My bed that I believed to be made of angel feathers was nowhere near this level of softness, not even close.
After I finally stop being infatuated with my own wings, I tried to make them disappear and they just closed up before disappearing from my sight. Then I called them out again just to make sure I wasn't dreaming and they materialized out of thin air.
Confirming that I was not dreaming, I made them vanish again before turning to my 『Soul Board』 where there was now a new stat right below Magic Creation.
Magic Manipulation
I clenched my fist while keeping in the urge to shout before instantly putting a point in there. After that, I was so excited that I rushed to finish up my bath, got dressed, and headed to my bed.
I laid down to get comfortable and tried to sift through the new knowledge that was inputted straight into my head, keyword 'tried' because I wasn't successful in doing so the first time and the second, third, fourth, and so on until I grew a bit frustrated.
In my frustration, I dumped 2 SPs into [Memory] without looking back and it worked like a charm. I spent until maybe midnight and barely managed to process a bit over a tenth of the entire thing, I just gave up and went to sleep after that.
That was yesterday.
Then, waking up in the morning of today, I started processing the rest while doing my everyday routine just like how I described earlier. I wasn't really able to focus much on the training I do alone so there wasn't much progress outside my sword training with Roy.
Now, this brings us back to the present again. I'm just on the verge of finishing, just need 1 or 2 more hours till I'm done, then I can finally start my magic training. I'm getting giddy just from the thought of it.
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(Third person POV)
Somewhere in Italy, there is a church that resides quite a ways away from any town.
At this time of night, it was usually quiet and peaceful, what with it being past midnight and everyone already in their beds, sleeping.
However, tonight seems to be different as everyone, even the younger members, were very much up and awake. Of course, it was no party or celebration of any sort, no kind of event would warrant even the younger members of the church to be awake past midnight.
No, everyone in the church was awakened from their sleep by a monumental event that would surprise even the higher-ups within the church.
On the early 'morning' of this day, a part of the church – the bedroom of the nuns – suddenly lit up in a brilliant holy light that would blind all that gaze upon it.
If looked on be normal people, it would just be that, bright white lights and that's all. However, for those who were in the supernatural world, they would feel the surge of holy power overwhelming their senses as they bathe in the presence of such pure and gentle light.
Everyone in this church was in some way involved with the supernatural so it is no surprise that they were pulled from their slumber by it.
The elderly head priest and the more elderly nuns of this church quickly snapped from their daze and rushed to the source of the light. While the other members may not know what this light represents, the head priest knew exactly what it was.
It was the light of an Angel, the close children of God. He was excited and also afraid to meet such a being, excited as it will be his first time and afraid for the reason why an Angel was sent here.
Even though he himself knew there was nothing wrong going on, Heaven might know something he doesn't. He was afraid he might have disappointed his Lord in some way.
Soon, he and the others arrived at the bedroom of the nuns to see every one of them gazed on in awe and confusion at the corner of the room where the holy light was concentrated.
Everyone except the young girl who was still very much peacefully asleep and was at the center of the light. She was small – young and cute – maybe around 13-14 years old with long blonde hair with split bangs over her forehead and an ahoge sticking out the top.
The head priest widened his eyes with disbelief at the young Holy Maiden being the center of the light, his eyes quickly turned to the symbol of a pair of white wings floating atop her chest, slowly descending down.
As the symbol descended onto her chest, the light shrank down, converging on a single point where her heart would be. Soon, the light faded out as darkness crept in from the doorway and the windows, only the moonlight illuminated the room.
However, even in this dim room, all those who were there could see a white tattoo of a pair of wings inlaid on her chest faintly glowing through her nightwear.
As soon as this finished, the young girl's eyes fluttered open, showing that she possesses beautiful green eyes. She slowly sat up and adorably rubbed her eyes before turning to the peanut gallery with a confused and nervous look.
"W-w-what is g-going on?" She shakily asked in a small voice, totally oblivious of the event that transpired prior to her waking. She was still unaware of the fact that it was super early in the morning, and yet she can still see every one of them so clearly.
End of Volume 1