Arcane Magic

Reaching the mountain base, Adam grabbed my shoulder, pointing out toward a cornfield about a mile away.

"I had em' park over there."

Walking side by side through the rows of corn, he asked, "So what are your stats now that you're not…?"

"Fat?"

"N-No—"

"Let me check."

Open stats.

---

[User: Henry Miller]

[Race: Juggernaut]

[Class: Spiteful Loser]

[Lv: 0]

[Xp: 0/100]

[Body: 10]

[Mental: 11]

[Senses: 10]

[Magic: 0]

[Skills: Racial ability (Uncanny Regeneration), Racial ability (Stomach Pocket-Dimension), Class ability (Fearless Resolve)]

[Traits: Racial trait (Starting attributes are unaffected by this race), Class trait (Attributes don't increase by leveling up), Class trait (Starting attributes are unaffected by this class)]

---

Still the same as the last time I checked it.

Looking over at Adam, I asserted, "Well, assuming that a score of ten is an average attribute score for humans, then I reckon I'm average all around the board with the exception of not having a lick of magic."

Then I asked, "What do they actually represent? Attributes, I mean."

"You didn't even know what they meant?! Why didn't you ask earlier?!"

I shrugged and stated, "No particular reason, I only thought of asking just now."

He yawned and explained, "Body is a metric that measures density and mass of the body. In other words, it is how tough, strong, and agile you are. My Body attribute score is forty."

I chuckled and said, "Yeah, that sounds about right for a gorilla man."

Tilting his head, he responded, "Well, it's the System that chose this. Personally, I would've preferred to stay human, or at least be an elf or something more beautiful than a half-ogre."

"Sorry, sorry," I said, choking back a laugh.

He sighed and continued, "The Mental attribute revolves around the capabilities and functionality of your brain. This entails things like improved memory, reaction times, problem-solving skills, and I'd assume it also has at least some effect on how your cerebellum modulates the utilization of strength and motor-functions. I only have ten in this attribute, unfortunately."

In that case, Mental seemed like an essential attribute for every character build. This was surprising as roleplaying games had conditioned me to see intelligence as a stat relegated to magic-based character builds.

Adam scratched his neck and continued, "Senses are simply all five senses. Those being touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell. I don't know for certain, but I think there is a major caveat to this attribute: pain sensitivity. It wasn't explicitly made clear, but if sense of feeling is improved by this attribute, it would stand to reason that pain would be more painful."

He nervously scratched his neck and relented, "I was very myopic before the System changed me, and my sight is still a little bad, so I only have nine in this attribute."

A slight smile formed in the corner of his mouth.

"And lastly, there is Magic. Essentially it increases the size and regeneration speed of your mana pool. I'm sure you know what mana is, but in this game, it's explained as latent energy in its purest form. In this attribute, I score twenty points or twice what you called average earlier."

"Way to rub it in," I muttered under my breath.

He grinned and held out his palm. A glowing purple aura appeared in it, concentrating near the center.

"Arcane energy: the magical ability of the wizard class," he said as the aura concentrated into a tiny ball of purple light.

"I have full control over it. I can bend it to my will and form it as I please."

The ball danced around in his hand like a moth fluttering around a flame.

"The oddest part is doing it feels like second nature—like walking or maybe speaking."

The concentrated ball of energy floated up to his fingertips, where he then shot it into the sky like a bullet.

"Magic missile." He said with a content grin.

I asked, "That's your ability, magic missile?"

"No, that is just one of the many things my abilities do. My abilities are called Arcane Magic Control and Arcane Magic Knowledge. Because of those two abilities, it feels as if I've studied how to use and control arcane magic my entire life."

I raised an eyebrow and stated, "You keep saying arcane magic with emphasis on the arcane part. Are there other types of magic?"

He stopped and turned to me with twinkling eyes.

"Yes, there is. From what I've seen so far, there is restoration, elemental, and chanting magic. And I'd be willing to bet that there is even more."

He lifted a finger and drew a floating lemniscate in the air with the magical energy projected from his index finger.

"I can't say this for all magics, but arcane magic is multipurposed, and it can do many things from magic missiles to defense buffs."

As the lemniscate fizzed away into nothing, a purple glow pulsed up and down his skin.

"For example, right now, arcane magic is strengthening my body."

I sighed and whined, "I'm jealous. My class is literal trash in comparison to yours."

He laughed and retorted, "With the stuff, I've seen you do I reckon you're powerful enough—"

"I won't be for long. Soon everyone will vastly overpower me, and I'll be dead weight thrown to the side like used tissue paper." I aggressively cut him off.

My sudden outburst rendered him speechless. He was completely caught off guard.

"H-Henry—"

"Sorry."

We walked the rest of the way in silence, eventually arriving to see the truck parked in a clearing.

The people had a look of despair on their faces. I could tell that their interpretation of this shitty isekai fantasy of mine was akin to the apocalypse. Women held their children wrapped in their arms, trying to comfort away the fear, terror, sorrow, and grief dowsing the flames of their innocence. The men sat with their faces in their palms, incapable of fully expressing the utter distress toiling them.

They were scared and confused—rightfully so. I knew how surreal all of this felt to me when it first started happening, but I can't even begin to imagine how it feels to these people who may have never even picked a videogame up in their entire lives.

My perspective on reality—no all of our perspectives had been simultaneously crushed. It was like we were trapped in some shitty virtual world, or maybe God was a hardcore nerd. For all I knew, we might've even been self-aware NPCs in a hyper-advanced videogame.

I didn't know. I had no clue. But what I did know was that I was responsible for anyone who got hurt. I couldn't let my silly isekai scenarios hurt people. I had to get strong enough to protect people.

Protect them from… my fantasies.