Chapter 3

After retrieving the bunnies, Sylvano gave Edward 2 to celebrate his first catch and the pair parted ways.

As Edward walked quietly home, a rabbit in each hand, he crossed paths with Roxy the sorceress.

Edward stopped, unable to put his thoughts in order, he wanted to meet Roxy but it was too sudden, and at the same time the opportunity was perfect, there was no one around and the girl seemed in a cheerful mood observing the surroundings.

Quickly the forty-year-old girl's gaze fell on Edward and she smiled and gave him a friendly nod.

'It doesn't matter, it's now or never! I absolutely must learn the incantation of a spell at least!'

As Roxy was about to pass him, Edward called out to her. "Excuse me ! Y-You… The people of the village say that you are a very powerful mage, is that true?"

Edward wanted to feign admiration, but he quickly realized that he was actually excited to chat with a high-level mage.

The girl lingered a few seconds before answering "Oh, yes it's true I'm a very great mage !"

Edward looked at her for a moment in silence, stunned by the attitude of the pseudo-young girl.

'I guess she is still troubled by Rudeus' superior talent, giving him compliments is very efficient.'

"Say could you show me a spell!"

"Eh ? Oh yes I guess" With these words the girl stretched her left hand forward and concentrated for a long time with her eyes closed.

Edward stared blankly at her 'does she try to do wordless magic like Rudeus… It's… It's a bit pitiful actually'

Roxy sighed before picking up her staff and chanting.

"Oh blessing of the waters, offer your abundance and spread grace in these places in the course of your stream. Water Ball."

In front of Roxy's stick a ball of water magically appeared. No, in fact it literally appeared by magic before rushing towards the sky and exploding, releasing a small rain in the distance, making a rainbow appear.

The girl turned to Edward "So what are you..."

Interrupting her, Edward gave her a look of admiration, "Wow! It was so cool! I want to try !"

Without waiting for the answer from the blue-haired girl, Edward turned and repeated the same incantation "Oh blessing of the water, offer your abundance and pour out grace in the course of your stream…"

'Please let it work, my plan relies entirely on this moment!'

"Water Ball!"

At the end of the incantation, the two held their breath waiting for a result, Edward suddenly felt a great surge of weakness and then a sharp pain in the level of the heart.

However he ignored the pain and focused his gaze on his hand only to see no result.

"Eh ?"

The result was far beyond Edward's expectations, as a reincarnated he didn't necessarily expect a divine outcome, but he clearly wasn't ready to see no effect from his attempt.

Roxy behind him sighed "For a moment I thought two geniuses were born in the same village, but guess not, not all kids can be good at magic."

Edward turned to her, staring blankly, the pain in his heart slowly fading away.

Roxy looked at him for a few moments before panicking and fidgeting "Ah, I said that out loud, right? I-I'm really sorry, I mean you're just a kid don't worry, you can definitely become a great mage in the future!"

Edward continued to watch her, however he wasn't listening, his vision blurring slightly and he quickly lost his balance crashing forward.

'Damn why do I feel like this when the spell didn't even work...'

Before he could think more, he felt himself slowly fading, leaving Roxy to panic at the sight of the youth collapsing in front of him.

'Did I drain all my mana… No, I don't know why but I think it's something else…

**********

Later, Edward slowly came to his senses, opening his eyes he saw a ceiling he did not know.

As he slowly remembered what had happened, he sighed looking down at his hands.

'Am I incapable of using magic?'

Suddenly he heard a conversation in the next room.

"So this kid passed out after trying just one spell, right?"

"Y-yes, I showed him a spell and he had to try before I could stop him…"

"Aah… Don't worry Roxy it's not your fault, after all not every kid can be as gifted as our little Rudy!"

"Zenith is right, don't worry too much, after all the kid is fine, he's just passed out."

Edward frowned at their conversation "Don't tell me she took me back to Rudeus home…"

Choosing not to delay the inevitable too long, Edward got up from the bed he was lying in and headed for the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it wide.

In front of him was the entire Greyrat family along with Lilia and Roxy.

The five simultaneously turned their gazes on him.

Rudeus looked at him with a little fear in his eyes, hiding behind Paul's leg who simply scratched his head, Roxy looked at him with a complicated look while Zenith and Lilia approached him quickly.

"Are you fine ?"

'...Damn, that's the worst first impression I could have made'