Basic Magic

So, magic did exist in this world, but that didn't mean I was really skilled in it. I remembered that I had to grind first to use magic in that game, goddamn RPG mechanic. It was either by reading a book of magic or using a training dummy after reading a book of magic.

Thanks to my friend's dumb advice, I really rarely fill any of my skills thanks to the repeating death flags. I decided to mod the game to add guns, modern weapons, and even spaceships in one drastic instance. Needless to say, it made things easier. But goddamn, the recipe for that thing was hard to get. Then there were other mods that I installed. I kinda like the 200 mods gaming run, if you ask me.

However, I really needed to learn the stats on that RPG itself. Why? Because several skill checks in the game were the deciding factor between life and death. However, without any measurement unit called "pause" and "inventory," I wouldn't be able to tell how strong I was.

Although this world wasn't that radically different from Earth, it didn't mean I could slack and not learn about this world to its bone. I meant, I knew how to identify your broken bone and fix it, but I wouldn't be able to determine which food was safe to eat or not. Why did I know that was a consideration?

Later in the game, one of the random events was Leupold giving the main protagonist a mysteriously-looking fruit. Eat it, and you'd die instantaneously. What a pain. Even your own brother accidentally killed you without him knowing it. That was why I spent today in the house's library.

The maids and the butlers were questioning me with a phrase such as "Cathleen, aren't you too little to learn that book?" or "Woah, young miss, you suddenly become so dilligent, I'm grateful for that." Either way, I was rather thankful that they didn't suddenly take the book out of my hands.

The library was relatively complete for a house that was. Book racks were towering several times my height, or I was perhaps too little to grab it. Thankfully, a stair could be pushed into places to pick up the books that were probably a quarter of my current weight. Either throw it to the ground and hope no one noticed, which never worked, or don't even think to pick it up.

Still, the small book was manageable. At least, I had read several books for magic and one or two books about the kingdom where I live as of now. Interesting read, if I have to say. History rarely bore me, especially when it became complicated.

The kingdom was the Grantis Kingdom. The current king was named Albert. My family was a direct descendant from the 3rd king of this kingdom, one of the main reasons for my noble status. My father was a Viscount, and my mother was a viscountess. Our family trees were pretty much spreading into many different branches, which I wouldn't even bother to remember.

About magic, I learned the most basic form of magic, the lighter. It was a simple magic spell created by channeling your energy into the finger. Its mechanism was also simple. Just imagine that a flow of energy moved towards your thumb.

And then, snap your finger. "Bam, a fire appears." I looked at the lighter-like fire on top of my thumb. It wasn't much, but it was indeed an excellent trick to use and have. It was not like I was smoking, but it should be handy to light something up on fire.

Suddenly, someone opened the dimly lit library. A figure appeared, my older brother, the eldest one. He was seven years older than me. So, probably, he was around 16 and in high school. His name was Joseph. A little less wordy than Lobaev.

"Cathleen, it's so dark here, what are you doing in the library?" He asked, commenting at my only light source, a lantern.

"Just reading books." I smiled, gifting this dear brother of mine a gentle innocent smile.

"Reading heavy books, huh?" He looked at the book. As I said, a quarter of my weight and probably as thick as my own body. Yeah, even the medicinal textbook wasn't this thick, and people expected someone to read it? Give me a break.

"Yes. Look at these colorful pictures," I pointed my hand at a drawing. The drawing of someone creating a fireball and firing it at a dummy. It looked like an accurate picture. There might be a magical spell involved in the making of this thing. I was not interested in it, but If I answered otherwise, this one person would think that I was trying to be cool and act mature.

"Ah, magic? Cathleen, do you like magic?" Joseph made a light out of his hand. I didn't know how, but his hand suddenly glowed light white fluorescent light. It was beautiful and bright.

"How do you do that?" I asked as I observed his glowing white hand.

"Magic, simple, really. It's just like how you create fire from your hand, just like before."

"You peeked?" There wasn't any way for him to know that unless he peeked, but that was out of calculations. Besides, I didn't really have the right to be angry if he peeked. I was nine. The concept of privacy was probably nonexistent.

"I did, sorry, hehe," He just laughed. What an arse brother. "Anyway, do you want me to teach you this spell since it seems you are able to use that basic flame spell. What do you say, Cathleen?"

Hmm, a magic spell wouldn't hurt, I suppose? Besides, I doubted I'd meet him later in the future. My brother wasn't in the game for some unknown reason. Perhaps, he was way older than I was, so he might attend the university sooner than me.

Then again, I lost my noble status, so something else might happen between this time gap and the game's time gap. Could I save my noble class, though? It would be rather convenient if I could do that.

"Ok, first of all, use the same mechanism as that lighter spell, but this time, spread it thinly to your entire hand,"

Basically, the same thing, but instead of the tip of my thumb, focus it on my whole hand, got it. I tried to do the exact same thing, and nothing has happened yet. Was there something wrong with my technique? Or maybe it had something else that I missed.

"Alright, now, instead of a snap, try to imagine a light appear from your hand." I tried his advice, and suddenly, my right hand glowed as bright as a flashlight. "Not so hard, isn't it? To control it, just change the flow of the energy into your hand."

How to describe the sensation of magic? It was rather complex. Imagine that you had something similar like a tap connecting each joint of your hand, and you could open and close it. It was how it felt for me, but I doubted that it was how my brother felt it. Nevertheless, now my hands had turned into a bright flashlight.

I closed down the energy flow into my hand, and it stopped glowing. What a convenient thing to have. It might help me read in the dark or something, but it still required energy, and tiredness wasn't exactly something I liked. One of the risks of using magical energy, I guessed?

"And Cathleen, don't overdo it, alright? Neural heat buildup is bad for your health."

"Neural heat?"

"You know, the thing that will make your head go hot."

What oversimplified information. "What do you mean?"

"If you use magical energy that you can, you will cause some adverse side effects."

"When is too much is simply too much?" I asked.

"You'll know it when it happens. In the meantime, I really hoped you don't do anything stupid, alright?"

Stupidity and kids were inseparable. Of course, I'd experiment with magic. Jeez, brother, you put too much faith in a bit of child, don't you know that? Ah, it was not like I'd summon a dragon or something. I just wanted to learn magic because that was the only thing I didn't have any grasp on.

Math? I knew two plus two was four. Science? I still remember basic sciences from high school. Still, if it was about human anatomy, I think I could quickly master it. Magic? Abacadabra something something didn't do anything for me, so yeah. Magic would be my priority.

Besides, it was better than studying manners that might not be used in the future by me. It was obvious, wasn't it? I just thought that all of the manners would only be important if I faced the king or any other members of high royalties. Still, my mother wanted me to do it.

And that was how life in the nobility family, you would be asked to be nice to anyone, maintain good relationship, etc. But I knew that we all were humans. Then again, I wasn't going to be in here for long. Still, better enjoy it while I could.