005

The days passed in the blink of an eye. Reya had shown her brother most of the fun things in the city.

Even now, it was nighttime because both siblings had been going back and forth across the city.

"You must be tired after being out for so many hours," said Shinka as he sat on the edge of his futon.

"Ahh, not really. And I need to have energy. Grandma and I will go buy ingredients for the farewell dinner," said Reya with a cheerful smile.

"I'm leaving in two days. Why don't you and Grandma rest today and go tomorrow? It's already quite late. It could be dangerous," Shinka asked, knowing there were probably hidden reasons, or maybe Grandma just didn't want to go out the next day.

"Oh, Grandma likes to shop at night. And don't worry, Kuoh is quite safe," said Reya as she walked into the closet.

"Alright, if you say so. I'll wait for you to change outside." Shinka left the room and waited in silence.

A few minutes passed, and Grandma and Reya bid farewell to Shinka, promising to return within an hour at most.

They didn't invite him, assuming he would be tired after spending the whole day out, seeing places in Kuoh. Of course, he didn't ask to go either; he had something more important to attend to now.

Seeing that his grandmother and Reya were some distance away, he went to the backyard of the house. Nearby was a small shed that served as a storage space.

Shinka had already been there a few days ago while helping his sister and grandmother tend to the garden. There were some gardening tools they used to care for the plants.

Shinka opened the door calmly.

Upon entering, the shed was intact. There was nothing out of place in it. Gardening tools, even a photo album with the different plants his grandmother had cared for over time.

The wooden floor was immaculate, except for one specific plank that was slightly concealed in one of the corners of the shed.

At first glance, the plank seemed ordinary, but Shinka immediately noticed it was different when he stepped on it. Even the first time he went to the shed, he knew right away that the plank was misplaced.

Misplaced on purpose, of course.

He approached it and easily moved it with some force. Underneath that plank, there seemed to be a staircase leading down to a dark place.

The wooden planks of the shed were quite wide, so a normal person could easily descend by removing just that plank.

Shinka got to work as he descended the stairs.

As he descended, Shinka remembered first why he was doing all this.

In his childhood, he heard several times that Grandma was a witch. Of course, those were conversations he shouldn't have heard, but fate had its way.

Secretly, he listened to several stories told by his uncles, and even his mother, when she was still alive, about Grandma.

All those stories seemed illogical, but most of them coincided. All those stories, and the secrets spoken in the family, ceased when Shinka and Reya's mother died.

Nothing was ever mentioned about magic again after that day.

Now Shinka had something certain. Magic is real. He didn't know if for everyone or just for him, but the "MP" in the system didn't lie. That was his mana quantity.

Shinka's feet finally touched the ground, and instantly a dim light produced by a torch began to appear.

'That torch just lit up by itself...' Shinka wasn't scared; he was prepared to face the reality of the world that same day.

If it turns out that Grandma really has the ability to use magic, it means Grandma has a system, or that magic is accessible to most beings.

In either case, Shinka hoped it was the first option, and that Grandma really had a system for years, given that maybe that could explain why he and his sister have one.

If it's the second option, then Shinka is in trouble because magic must come from some source. Someone before his grandmother should have used it, which implies that perhaps humans are not the only beings inhabiting the earth, aside from possible extraterrestrials.

If that's the case, then ghosts should be able to exist, biblical feats like parting seas could have happened, and it would even give rise to the popularly known gods being highly powerful magicians of the past, who were classified as gods by people who were unable to use magic.

Shinka walked slowly towards a small desk in the middle of the room. A pentagram was under his feet, made with what seemed to be chalk or something similar.

On the small desk was a thick book. The book had a black cover and Latin letters that seemed to be written in gold.

Next to that large book was a small Latin dictionary that didn't seem to have been bought long ago.

Shinka took the large book and admired it for a few seconds.

"Grammaria" was what it said in Latin. It doesn't have a meaning related to magic firsthand, but it translates to French as "Grammaire" so that it finally becomes "Grimoire."

Shinka understood it instantly. Spellbook.

The young man swallowed saliva and slowly opened the book.

It had a large number of mathematical formulas inscribed, but he knew it wasn't a math book. On the first page was a table of contents, and he went directly to the first thing it indicated.

Everything was in Latin, so Shinka understood it all instantly.

"Steps to Channel Luminescent Energy." The title said.

'It literally says luminescent energy. I guess it refers to mana, but said differently...'

It looked like a detailed tutorial written about channeling. The first steps had to do with concentration, then finding the mana core embedded in the heart of all beings, and subsequently using it to create spells with a set of mathematical and chemical formulas according to the desired outcome.

It was quite complicated, and Shinka probably wouldn't have been able to deduce any of this without his special abilities, but he had the opportunity now.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Shinka closed his eyes, and his meditation ability activated.

[The skill "Hyper Concentration" has been added to your skill repertoire.]

[Due to your previous knowledge, the skill "Hyper Concentration" has been raised to level 5.]

Shinka didn't pay attention at all and continued to concentrate.

[Concentration Lv.6]

[Meditation Lv.10]

Suddenly, Shinka felt something flow.

[The skill "Mana Flow" has been added to your skill repertoire.]

[Meditation LV.10 Achieved.]

[All requirements to combine the skill are met.]

[Meditation LV.10 combines with Mana Flow LV.1, and become Mana Meditation LV.MAX]

[The skill "Mana Meditation" allows you to recharge your magic energy and expand it gradually.]

Shinka's brown eyes opened in unison, and not because of what the system said, but because, in his hand, there was a semi-transparent circle with characters in Latin slowly rotating.

"Focus." That was what it read on the circle.

It was a basic spell, just for practice, it had no use beyond projecting itself if the spell was cast correctly.

[The skill "Focus Magic" has been added to your skill repertoire.]

Shinka stopped using magic and opened his status.

[Status]

[Name: Shinka Kusaka.]

[Race: Human.]

[Aliases: None.]

[Health: 50/50]

[Mana: 4/5]

[Magic Power: Low. (Supernatural)]

[Attack: High. (Human)]

[Defense: Medium. (Human)]

[Speed: High. (Human)]

[Skills: Mathematician Lv.27, Rationality Lv.37, Speed Reading Lv.24, Accelerated Thinking Lv.11, Sleep Resistance Lv.19, Polyglot Lv.MAX, Mana Meditation Lv.1, Split Thought Lv.1, Strength Lv.30, Running Lv.18, Training Lv.15, In-Boxing Lv.10, Out-Boxing Lv.10, Muay Thai Lv.10, Jiujitsu Lv.10, Shokotan Karate Lv.10, Kyokushin Karate Lv.10, Hyper Concentration LV.5, Focus Magic Lv.2, Acting Lv.10]

A new feature had appeared in Shinka's status. Now he had a section for magic, which had a low but supernatural range, surpassing the human threshold.

Probably humans had a maximum of 1 magical energy within them, and since Shinka had 5, he was already classified as supernatural.

Remembering for a few moments how he felt before and after casting the focus magic, Shinka got moving.

[The skill "Memory" has been added to your skill repertoire.]

[Due to your previous knowledge, the skill "Memory" has increased to level 20.]

[Memory LV.20 Reached.]

[All requirements for skill evolution are met.]

[Memory LV.20 turns into Hyperthymesia LV.MAX]

Shinka extended his hand into the air, and without focusing, a blue circle appeared in his hand.

[Focus Magic LV.6]

His skill had jumped levels rapidly.

Normally, an average person should cast the spell a few times to become properly familiar with it, but given Shinka's newly acquired skill, he was now able to remember every sensation in detail from past events.

Understanding how mana moved within his body when using the spell for the first time, Shinka simply copied the important part of the previous process.

This would exponentially reduce the repetition process for learning a spell.

Instead of practicing it 1000 times before getting a good result, he only needed to practice it a maximum of about 5 times to get something more than decent.

Shinka opened the book again and quickly scanned every corner of the book to take advantage of his newly acquired skill.

If he couldn't forget anything, then he would observe, feel, and use everything in his power to absorb knowledge as quickly as possible.

In his quick scan, he noticed that there were only about six intact pages in the entire grimoire.

The others were stained with ink, or were incomplete pages, or were missing altogether. It was a thick book but essentially useless due to its lack of content.

Without finding anything else interesting there, Shinka took a final look around the room and put everything back in its place before leaving.

Now he had the knowledge of new spells in his mind.

"Magic concealment spell, invisibility spell, reinforcement spell, inspection spell, senses enhancement spell, magic sphere spell, and an incomplete magic spear spell."

The magic spear spell was one that was incomplete, but it had enough legible information for Shinka to interpret it to a certain extent.

Back at home, Shinka practiced a bit with the easier spells before his sister and grandmother arrived.

He understood that he should practice diligently when he returned to Takido, the neighboring city to Kuoh where he resides with his uncles.

But he would be attentive to when his grandmother and sister were not at home, to practice his skills a bit.