《The Sage and the System of Magic》 Chapter 1: The Sage and the Magic Systems ¡°This world was once believed that a powerful demon opened the gates of hell and released thousands of demons unto this world after destroying all the human efforts of development. The demons were one step closer to ruling over the whole world until a well-known sage brought the demon down with its army. This resulted to an unstable effect causing the world to shatter bit by bit until the sage and his party gave their own lives into a huge magic source in order to reconstruct the world back to its first magic developments where demons were not yet strong enough.¡± These were the words cited along the lines of Dante, himself. The almighty sage who was engulfed by magic, consumed, but for the sake of humanity. Lots of people once believed the sage¡¯s existence but was covered in rubble by how the sage himself was able to attain the magic to rebuild the world once more. Generations passed by and fewer people took note of his existence until magic was researched more than worshipped. And it was once believed¡­ that a page of the ¡°Book of the Sage¡¯s Knowledge¡± still exists until today, that whoever comes contact with it, will possess the power of Dante himself. ¡°Mhnnn¡­¡± That was the only thing I could say¡­ right now that I just woke up and ready to see another day. ¡°Haruki~! Come down here. Breakfast.¡± I heard my mother downstairs, and I immediately replied, ¡°Yes.¡± But before me was something I couldn¡¯t comprehend. A torn page floating in mid-air. Scriptures that seemed unreadable but radiating with immense magical power. I lifted my hand to touch it as I was allured. The torn page vanished into thin air but I felt the massive flow of magic coursing through my veins. This wasn¡¯t normal for me as an eight-year-old kid. It¡¯s as if I am another person as soon as I touched the torn page. The intelligence was swift and entered my thoughts and memories. ¡°Haruki. What are you doing? Let¡¯s go.¡± A random voice popped out of my door. ¡°H-Hitoshi. I am sorry¡­ I was¡­¡± ¡°Brother. Now is not the time to get another round of sleeping. Food must not wait you know?¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± I replied to my brother. Hitoshi. I followed his command and finished our breakfast forgetting about the torn page earlier. It felt real but I can¡¯t discern its presence anymore. I sighed once again. If only I could read, I would¡¯ve understood what it said before touching it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are you holding that book?¡± Hitoshi said as I grabbed a book and tried to read it. ¡°Do you need help with that?¡± Good. That¡¯s a great start at least. ¡°Y-yes¡­ I can¡¯t understand it.¡± Hitoshi pointed at each words giving slight explanations of where I am at least. It seems to be a history about magic in this world. Man, I wish I could read. ¡°Why did you ask for this, Haruki? Are you interested in magic?¡± ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded. This book tells how it works pretty well, the way they use it and so much more. ¡°So these are the magical incantations of these spells¡­ They¡¯re actually pretty hard to read especially when you don¡¯t truly study magic.¡± Now that Hitoshi brought that up, I realized that everyone in this family focuses on a system they call the¡ºKnight Class¡». It is under the umbrella system most of the people in this world call¡ºClasses¡»It is embedded into the user ever since birth. ¡°You¡¯re the only one who is different here in the family. You possess the sorcerer¡¯s crest and at that¡­ under the category of mostly production and not for combat.¡± Hitoshi closed the book as he said this. ¡°It is quite strange that when you were born into this family, you didn¡¯t have any crest of combat¡­ Until now, but maybe you really did¡­ it¡¯s just that you never had time to condition it yourself.¡± ¡°...¡± I didn¡¯t say anything, now noticing that I did feel magic only now. ¡°Anyway, it is not that bad when you use production magic. It has many advantages apart from fighting. It can be used for augmenting items, enchanting, and all other stuffs.¡± Wow. That is bad. I never thought that it would actually affect me that way. Fantasy production units are the most important role in every party, not only as support but also as a carry¡­ in some cases. Underestimated. Even I felt affected by that. ¡°Heh. You don¡¯t have to feel so low, Haruki. There are a lot of opportunities out there as long as you strive harder.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Thanks to Hitoshi, I found a better way to read these books. In quite a terrifyingly fast development within a month. I grabbed a fair amount of books and brought it to my room upstairs and started reading them. Interesting. Magic in this world isn¡¯t only within one ¡ºClass¡»but is in all human beings. All the coexisting ¡ºClasses¡»is under the four systems of Magic. There is the ¡ºClose Combat Magic¡», ¡ºLong Range Combat Magic¡», ¡ºAgile Combat Magic¡», and lastly the ¡ºProduction Magic¡». Then falls under all the appropriate ¡ºClasses¡»according to their abilities. According to these books, ¡ºClose Combat Magic¡»is an effective way of handling melee weapons when up close. In some cases, sorcerers who are closer to the enemy with this system have an even more amplified strength. Apart from the ¡ºLong Range Combat Magic¡»they get stronger when they are far away, a little slower however in casting time but very helpful in terms of sniping enemies with long range weaponry. ¡ºAgile Combat Magic¡»is a weaker type of magic firepower but effective in quick casting and magic fire-rate. Then ¡ºProduction Magic¡», the magic that supports use. It contains what normal smiths, enchanters, and others use. The difference in this one is that¡ºProduction Magic¡»does not have firepower or amplification in any combat-based situation. I feel a bit sad of what I have for now but it is better than nothing I guess. There¡¯s not much I know for now but it¡¯s better than nothing I guess. ¡°Huh. Well, it seems like it is the time of the day. Haruki, you wouldn¡¯t mind having a sword duel with me, right?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Now that I remembered, Hitoshi is probably going to be the successor of this family I am currently in. Hitoshi and I went out of the house and pulled out a wooden training sword from the sword rack beside the pots outside the house. ¡°Here. Catch.¡± Hitoshi said as he threw it towards my direction. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for this day to fight you, Haruki. Now. Come¡ª!¡± Hitoshi pulled a sword stance that looked a little bit of common sword play. I held onto the wooden sword as if it was sheathed on my left hip. Back then, I was interested in classes immersed in katana sword plays, the sword mastery was quick and swift making it look very cool. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Strange stance. Well, I¡¯ll go first¡ª!¡± Hitoshi went straight ahead of me. I drew my sword as I evaded left holding the sword with both hands. Gah. Heavy. Blocking the sword head on with Hitoshi seems to be harder than I thought. Well, judging from my body structure and age, I¡¯m sure to suck at sword play for now. However¡­ This was part of the plan. I countered his attack slicing his torso downwards. ¡°I win.¡± ¡°W-wow¡­ I never thought you were this good.¡± Hitoshi nervously laughed. ¡°That swordplay, it¡¯s quite unique. Where did you learn that?¡± Hitoshi started asking me. ¡°Oh. Uhm¡­ books?¡± I wouldn¡¯t really want to let everyone know I just beat Hitoshi in swordplay, especially that this is an exceptional sword style coming from a traveler from Eadril. ¡°Wow, that was amazing, Haruki.¡± A voice came from the entrance of our house. Ah, father saw the duel. ¡°Hitoshi is quite right. Such a strange swordplay, I am actually eager to duel with you.¡± Ah, well¡­ No escaping it then. But father has a bigger structure than Hitoshi, this is going to be quite hard for me. Father exchanged places with Hitoshi as he grabbed onto a new wooden sword. ¡°Now. It¡¯s going to be my turn, Haruki. Come at me!¡± Father had more of an aggressive technique. Now that he is running towards me with his sword on the right¡­ Going the opposite direction would be better. I executed the same stance evaded right and crouched as soon as the sword slashed above my head. Now¡¯s my chance! I struck father¡¯s leg¡­ but he dodged it as soon as I could do it. Oh shit. He¡¯s retracting his sword from the slash earlier real quick. ¡°Nice try! Try this!¡± The sword hit inches away my neck in mid-air making father break his formation from the knockback. ¡°W-what was that?!¡± Hitoshi surprisingly said in the background. I got you this time, father. I kicked off the ground and slashed his torso the same way I did with Hitoshi. ¡°I win.¡± No matter how cool I sounded in my head¡­ I was panting heavily while saying that. ¡°What did you do just a while ago?!¡± Father looked quite estranged by me. ¡°Uh¡­ I simply focused a field of mana near my neck before you hit me since¡­ that part was kind of expected.¡± ¡°You what now?! And above all¡­ no chanting?!¡± Wait¡­ was it really that much of a big deal? I conditioned my mana and focused it in one area causing all of my mana to form an invisible wall that a normal sword couldn¡¯t break through¡­ not unless it was enchanted to break through ¡ºMana Wall¡». ¡°Heh. I never thought you would grow this fast. And weird.¡± Oi. Don¡¯t call your son like that. ¡°Yeah.¡± Not you too, Hitoshi. I guess there''s nothing I can do for now but try more of these magic I''m going to learn. They''re quite easier to handle than I thought. After casting this magic, I felt like there were more I can do but I couldn¡¯t specify it. ¡°Dinner is ready~!¡± I heard mother inside with the fresh smell of food in the morning. ¡°So, I''ve heard you defeated your own father! My oh my. That''s quite something.¡± Mother said in the midst of the feast, this surely made dad quite bothered while eating. Even my brother, Hitoshi, seems quite unpleased with what happened earlier. I feel like a total outlaw. ¡°That''s true. But I never thought he would reach that kind of level. I''m quite impressed.¡± Father just spoke out of the blue. Truly I felt even more comfortable because of the compliments. ¡°But this does not go without a rematch!¡± Okay. I take that back. During our feasting, shouting was heard indistinctly which seemingly came closer to our house. Suddenly, there were hurried knocks coming from our entrance door. Hitoshi opened the door and came out a panting stranger from the village. ¡°T¡­ there¡­ there are w-willows! One of our men was left behind and we couldn''t go back because of a strong enemy.¡± Willows, huh? Those things come from the wilderness. Mostly in forests when they are around living trees. They''re made out of wood because they are living trees that walk the earth. Quite docile, but when aggravated¡­ you might lose your skin, those wooden creatures sure have unwanted sharp things on their bodies. Hmm. No. It isn¡¯t the willows who are doing this, it is that ¡®strong enemy¡¯ they mentioned. ¡°What did it look like?¡± Before I could even ask, father went first. ¡°It was a huge dog! We couldn¡¯t get there anymore because of that thing!¡± The stranger exclaimed. I want to see that thing¡­ but of course, I am quite young to ask father to go with him. Even for me, I would probably die instantly in this frail body. I saw father, without finishing his food, gearing up before us. ¡°Please, please take care of yourself, honey.¡± Mother said with concern in her eyes. ¡°I will. Hitoshi and Haruki, you both stay here. I don¡¯t want you two to be harmed. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be back.¡± Wow, father looks and sounds cool with that armour on. But I am afraid I won¡¯t overlook this opportunity to test my skills here in this world. Saving father and finding my skills out is hitting two birds with one stone. After the meal ended, I was eavesdropping from the window on the second floor of the house. ¡°I believe that this won¡¯t be quite easy. Do we have any skilled magic-users here in this village?¡± That was father¡¯s voice. ¡°Skilled? I fear that is quite difficult to find nowadays.¡± ¡°Un. Except if we had people from the magic academy in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Tch. Forget the magic-users and let''s move! We can¡¯t waste time. We need to find a way to get this person back.¡± Father sounds quite pissed. Plus, is it really that hard to find skilled magic-users nowadays? Now I am curious what this magic academy teaches to magic-users. ¡°Let''s move before anything else happens.¡± Father and the other strangers walked side by side with him. Before we can safely assume that he is safe¡­ let me see if I can us ¡ºDetect Life Force¡». In this case, detecting life force works as long as you''re not facing against undead. If it was the undead, using¡ºDetect Mana Force¡»will be better. In this case, detecting the life force and the Mana would be easier to build up the image of what father is going to fight. After all it does not consume any Mana, or it does, it just doesn''t impact that much¡­ I''m guessing I can handle at least 2 kilometers of detection range for now. As soon as my Mana passively scanned the whole forest area, I felt a huge radiance of life force with a strong Mana force. Ah. That''s quite troublesome. Apparently, willows weren''t much to handle¡­ but I fear a hunter wolf isn''t a safe one to fight especially when you''re that few. Hunter wolves, by the name, are not the ones being hunted by the hunter. They make humans into preys. Some call these wolves demon wolf or giant wolf but I think ''giant wolf¡¯ is enough. I jumped down from my window and timed my landing with ¡ºNegate Fall¡». I grabbed hold unto a wooden sword by the sword rack. Un. This might do nothing but it will be enough for the proper time. I casted upon myself ¡ºConcealment Magic¡»and snuck towards the forest with father and his group. Chapter 2: The Sage Against the Hunter Wolf Just as I thought, it wouldn''t be quite easy to follow around using magic to conceal yourself. It tires you out easily especially when you move always. Well, this is what I expect from my body for now. Other than that, father and the townsmen haven''t found the hunter wolf yet. And from here, I already sense that there is a huge percentage of mortality once they encounter it. The most normal size of one hunter wolf is as close to a human being standing with both legs. Un. They''re quite big and difficult to handle especially when they become quite agile just to put you down. For now, I''ll stay in the shadows deactivating my concealment. It tires me out too much. Finally, within minutes, I heard a growl in front of father''s group. I already knew it was there. It came out hungry, rabid, and eyes that traced the air with its fearsome gaze. The beast''s fur, luxurious and gray. One of the townsman backed away slowly with fear in his face. ¡°What are you doing?! Don''t back out, you coward!¡± One of the townsman said, but because of the noise the wolf got a little aggravated with this and started walking cautiously around them. The wolf launched one of its claws once it jumped beside father hitting one of the townsman tearing apart his steel chainmail, rendering the man unable to move due to shock. This made father stab the wolf¡¯s hind leg but his sword didn''t pierce through the flesh. Due to this, father was sent flying by another claw attack that was unexpected. It seemed it has hit the chainmail of father. I concentrated an area with magic where father landed, cushioning his fall. By that time, I had to activate my concealment magic again, he might find me after I pulled off an unexpected ¡ºGravity Placement Magic¡»on the ground right where he landed. Father stood up still facing the wolf. Huh, I thought he would actually notice that. But one must not look away from an enemy. Mhmm. The wolf looked scared off the other men away and it looks like it is going to chase them. But before any of that happened, father caught the attention of the wolf when he shouted. ¡°OVER HERE YOU BASTARD!¡± Bold move, but quite a good one. Now I am currently charging up my mana in my hands hoping that I would be on time. The wolf was slowly speeding up its pace towards father whilst it breathed heavily with rage. Father looked quite tired and irritated, this time he doesn¡¯t have his shield up. It seems like it broke when the wolf sent him flying. This is bad, if he keeps this up, he might surely die. The wolf started running towards him. Approximately ¡º6.0 Seconds¡»towards father. ¡º5.0 Seconds¡» ¡º4.0 Seconds¡» ¡º3.5 Seconds¡» Father won¡¯t survive this but I will surely do. The ¡ºGravity Placement Magic¡»was actually rigged with ¡ºPlacement Magic¡»giving me the ability to switch with father in a blink of an eye. I switched with him as fast as I could with a second left. The reaction of the wolf suddenly changed once I switched places, but this did not stop the killing intention of the hunter wolf. This is what I needed after all. I held unto my wooden sword and enchanted it with magic. Usually, enchanting is done within hours or days to perfect its usage and not break instantly. But when enchanted, even if you¡¯re in the production magic class, it will still break within its limits. Within a rough three seconds¡­ I might be able to enchant this sword with multiple ¡ºEnchantment Magic¡». It¡¯s coming. And Quick. ¡º2.0 Seconds¡»Now the sword is lightening up as the mana conditioned by its natural acclimatization. Here comes, ¡ºIron Break¡». ¡º1.5 Seconds¡»Times encloses once more. As the first enchantment engulfed the sword, unstable, but still useful for a brief time of four seconds. Next enchantment was ¡ºTrue Strike¡». ¡º1.0 Seconds¡»The beast is imminent and could reach me any time now. It raised its claws ready to strike me. And by that time, my father noticed me and had nothing to do but shout... ¡°Haruki!!¡± ¡º0 Seconds¡»The beast swiped my body clean with its claws but blood didn¡¯t come out. I faded to the air and appeared behind the wolf. My plan worked quite well. Before I placed the ¡ºGravity Placement Magic¡»I made sure that I cast another one in between my father and the wolf before I switched places with father. However, the ¡ºPlacement Magic¡»I used was special in most cases. It had a mix of ¡ºFalse Damage¡»and¡ºPlacement Magic¡». Making the damage null in its first attack. Now that is settled with and the beast isn¡¯t aware of my presence after ¡°dying.¡± I placed another enchantment to my sword. Last but not least¡ºCrystal Sword¡», an enchantment not used by any sword-users unless the sword has to be destroyed in exchange of a forceful blow. In this case, a wooden sword may not suffice, but given this magic will surely cut the wolf in half. My sword¡¯s life-span froze in time as if it looked like it was about to shatter. The hunter wolf felt the potent magic essence around it and directed its gaze towards me. ¡°You¡¯re done!¡± I shouted as I went across the wolf before hearing my sword became dust on my hands. ¡°Huh? It didn¡¯t even graze the beast?!¡± My father, in panic, tried to help me escape before the beast notices. Heh. That¡¯s what father thought. Within seconds, the wolf¡¯s head including its chest, were cut clean as it slid off the body before falling to the ground. My skills are quite useful, I am happy that I am able to use it this far. But before I tried to celebrate silently, father before me was petrified by the sight of the dead hunter wolf.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Impossible. An enemy like that¡­¡± Hmm. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s impossible about that. I didn¡¯t say anything, as I stood staring at father and the corpse. ¡°What did you do? Tell me?!¡± W-Woah. Am I in serious trouble now?! ¡°I-I just enchanted and enhanced the wooden sword I was carrying to the point of its breaking limit. S-so I¡¯ll be able to defeat the enemy.¡± ¡°B-breaking limits?! Enchantment? How come?!¡± I feel scared now. More scared than how I went head-to-head with the wolf a while ago. ¡°¡ºIron Break, True Strike, and Crystal Sword¡», those are the enchantments I did. Now please don¡¯t hurt me.¡± ¡°W-what? Why would I hurt you? The thing here is, I am amazed at those names. Not much people can do it here you know. Heck, I don¡¯t even know if those existed in the first place. No one can do that, more likely an eight year old kid!¡± Father looked quite mad but rather amused. ¡°Also¡­ What you meant by ¡®breaking limits¡¯? I¡¯m guessing you¡­ enchanted it¡­ to the point that it was unstable enough to be used, am I right?¡± Father followed up some more words. Amazing, he sure knows how to analyze pretty damn fine. Now that I remember¡­ This ¡®Haruki¡¯ had faint memories of his father being part of the royal army before but didn¡¯t know what his position is. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re quite right.¡± I replied. ¡°I see. This knowledge pays off then.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say this to anyone.¡± I cut him off whilst looking relieved. ¡°I don¡¯t want to draw attention to this family or anybody in this town.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± Father seemed shocked after I said that. ¡°For the betterment of my own development or of our family. It would be best not to let anyone know that an eight year old kid beat a ¡®hunter wolf¡¯.¡± Un. This is for the best. Judging by how word comes quick around humans¡­ it¡¯s honestly terrifying and with utmost annoyance. I felt like fainting whilst explaining¡­ my body is not accustomed to magic fatigue yet especially when one does not practice that much. ¡°A-Are you okay?¡± Before father can even reach me, the group that ran away slightly increased and more geared than a while ago. ¡°What? A-Are you guys okay?!¡± The men, looking at the beast with awe, ran towards us. ¡°It¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s father who did that. I¡¯m sorry, I lost my way in the woods. I thought I was going to die!¡± I, once again, abruptly spoke ahead of father. I looked at him with a gaze of agreement, hoping that he wouldn¡¯t break our accord a while ago. ¡°Y-yes. I fear that I have to take my son in for discipline. Sorry, men, for being a burden.¡± ¡°Huh? No! It¡¯s not a problem! You saved the village¡¯s neck after all. It¡¯s nothing to be worried about. At least you came here and your son didn¡¯t get hurt. We owe you our gratitude.¡± Yeah, it¡¯s going my way. I didn¡¯t want fame in the first place. As long as I remain a low-profile in this world, I¡¯ll be able to seek out the secrets in every corner without prying eyes. The men hauled upon the corpse, of what used to be the hunter wolf, towards the village for trading purposes. My father and I walked back home after greeting an unexpected visitor. The mayor was quite pleased with our job and gave us remittance before leaving us. As we arrived home, my father still seemed troubled about what I did against the hunter wolf a while ago. ¡°Forgive me. I hope I didn¡¯t make that much trouble for you.¡± I said. ¡°There was not a single troubling thing about what happened a while ago. I was just perplexed at how you are able to manage against the monster. And I never heard about your skills¡­ where did you learn them?¡± Books? Quite strange as well, if there were¡­ magic would¡¯ve been able to extend further than what I can do. I couldn¡¯t think of any¡­ as an excuse. ¡°Hah. Don¡¯t worry. Maybe it¡¯s just the power of protection coming from our god sage, Dante.¡± Father said. More importantly¡­ ¡®god sage¡¯? That sounds familiar. But more of that¡­ ¡°Who¡¯s Dante?¡± ¡°The god sage who made this world peaceful after defeating a powerful demon¡­ but I am afraid it¡¯s quite an old tale and no one considers that anymore. They believe that the magic of Dante is long gone and there¡¯s nothing left with that anymore. No one has evidences of Dante except there was one book that contradicted everyone¡¯s belief that the god sage truly existed and saved us. Or so we believe. It is quite hard to know if he truly existed. There are churches related to him¡­ and above that, no one has a clue if it was just man-made fantasy.¡± ¡°Hmm. Interesting.¡± I murmured as I walked side by side with father. ¡°Either way¡­ Don¡¯t plan on getting yourself in trouble.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t say the same.¡± I smiled at father making him sigh. We got home and saw mother looking at us. She looked really anxious. ¡°H-Honey! What happened to Haruki?!¡± Huh? Oh¡­ now she mentioned¡­ I am covered in blood. ¡°I checked his bedroom and it turns out he was missing¡­ and now he is right there with you?! DID YOU TAKE HIM ALONG?¡± ¡°N-NO!¡± Father, disempowered, fearfully ran inside the house. ¡°Mother¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t say anything and get inside!¡± Ur...urgh¡­ well¡­ I guess I have to follow her demands before I get killed. Chapter 3: The Sage and the Royal Capital Four years later¡­ ¡°Haruki~!¡± ¡°Coming!¡± Hello. Once again. I''m Haruki Tooru. Under the Tooru family, once was part of the royal capital, but now supervising the provincial areas with the friendly mayor by our town. And since I found out my father is actually part of the royal army¡­ We¡¯re a special few whom worked our way up the ranks. Not that I know much about that, but my blood in this current life says otherwise. During my eight year-old times, I found out a torn page which gave me the powers to understand magic quick and with a little bit of practice. Until now, I never knew the reason why it happened. ¡°You''re finally going, huh? I''ll miss you. Don''t forget to send us mails about your stay there.¡± Mother looked teary eyed. But before any of this happened. Prior to few months ago, I planned out my search of magic development in this world in the royal capital¡­ Solfeigh. My family told me to supervise the town with my brother¡­ but I wanted to do something else. Of course their reactions wasn''t what I expected it to be¡­ but they agreed to me otherwise. I wanted to follow my goals and figure out further lengths with this level of magic. My level of magic. Production. And growing up to become the only sorcerer in the family, of knights, is what I wanted. Honestly I never really wanted to be a noble¡­ but it¡¯s fine since we worked our asses off to be able to access this rank. I¡¯m much more proud at my family than myself. I don¡¯t deem myself as a noble anyway. ¡°Now that you¡¯re going. Make sure to keep safe and stay healthy, okay?¡± Mother kept on worrying and kept on giving me items to bring along the way. ¡°D-Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be fine!¡± I smiled lethargically. ¡°Don¡¯t forget this, Haruki.¡± Hitoshi made his way towards me and gave what seems to be a necklace for gathering Experience Points (EXP)¡­ something that can strengthen you along the way. ¡°Father and I, thought that it¡¯d be nice for you to keep this necklace. We don¡¯t know what this is really since it is stocked inside the stockroom that we have. Maybe you¡¯ll find it useful or something.¡± ¡°T-thanks.¡± I feel like I am a dumper with these things on me. They don¡¯t even know what it does! I heard a carriage stop behind me as I look at my family once more. ¡°Your carriage is there. Please¡­ don¡¯t get into any more trouble, okay?¡± Father smiled at me. ¡°Heh. You too, father.¡± I took turns of waving as I became distant from my family¡­ Yup. It¡¯s time. My adventure begins now. I scanned through my thoughts and I knew I was on the right track. The study of magic. Not only that but many more subjective things await me in this adventure I choose to partake. A day passed by and I¡¯m boarding my carriage again after taking a stop near the main city and unto the royal capital. ¡°Young Master, we¡¯re finally nearing the royal capital. Is it okay for you to stay up there?¡± Ah yeah. I chose to lie down above the carriage because it felt quite boring sitting inside the carriage. Plus, I really insisted doing so. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry. As long as it doesn¡¯t rain.¡± I replied. Well¡­ The weather looks as if there is 0% chance of raining. The sky is very blue and the clouds are high above scraping the skies like cotton. ¡°I heard that you¡¯re going to one of the famous schools of magic. ¡®Zauber Magia Academy¡¯ was it? I heard there were quite a lot of nobles there as well.¡± ¡°Hmm. Is that so? Well, it¡¯s fine really. I¡¯m quite interested about the history of this world anyway so¡­ I might as well dig deeper.¡± I replied to my carriage driver. ¡°Haha. Might as well be, young master. Let¡¯s just hope that nothing bad happens to you there.¡± Now that I remember¡­ Student identifications here in ¡®Magia¡¯ is quite fancy and has its own determination of what system you are. I fear that I won¡¯t be accepted in some parts¡­ now that people will know my class and system in magic. We wore what seems to be black in color as a normal clothes. The cloth is honestly quite prestigious than any school back in my former life. The mixture of white and black with this coat as a school uniform is great. I looked over to the capital which looked finally nearer than ever. The beauty of a lively capital was before me¡­ Living in the provinces is lavish but I didn¡¯t expect that the royal capital still had that much green around it. When it comes to mainland cities, you instantly think of cities covered in infrastructures to the point that there is no grass and trees present anymore. Truly beautiful. It was as if I am still in the provinces. Stuck in those thoughts. I found myself nearing the main gates of ¡®Solfeigh¡¯ the royal capital. I am not very familiar with the landmarks here in the capital but I see beautiful buildings. Now that you know it, the capital really looks humongous when you finally get close to it. Knowing that you came from the mountain tops is surely a beautiful view once you see the capital from a high place. The capital is surrounded by a huge stream of water, somewhat almost like a huge river. Then it has extensions of bridges around it for easy crossing towards the capital. Apart from admiring the view, I saw students with the same uniform as I have. Some wore white or blue and especially black, but all had the same logos of Magia on their coats. I wonder what the differences are¡­ ¡°Young master, this is going to be my last stop. It is nice spending much time with you on the trip. I will be sure to send your regards to your family. I¡¯ll be off now.¡± The carriage driver slowly became far from me as I waved a farewell to him. I walked towards the main gates along the bridge and then the guard saw me in the Magia uniform and called me out. ¡°Ah. A new first year student, huh? That¡¯s quite interesting. There are a lot of students enrolling nowadays.¡± ¡°Really? Although, why are you calling me out?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, you forgot to line up. Haha. This is where the first year line is.¡± I looked behind me and saw a lot of people. Ah. Shoot. This is so embarrassing. I silently walked towards the end of the line. I sighed out with frustration. I clearly had no intention of not noticing the line. I was so enthralled with what I was seeing. Most of our identification are placed inside our notebooks so it won¡¯t go missing. Identification papers are hard paper that is better placed inside the notebook to ensure safety. That¡¯s what the guidelines of the school told me before I came here. ¡°A...Ah! N-No!¡± I heard a voice of a girl in front of me as I was looking at my notebook. I peered in front of me and saw a troubled bespectacled girl looking towards the huge streams of river surrounding the capital. ¡°M-my papers!¡± H-huh¡­? Oh. Her papers are flying away towards the river¡­ She looks very troubled by it¡­ I can¡¯t really turn a blind eye. Aghhh! Why do I have to act so heroic?! I quickly casted a spell under my breath. Un. This would be a good idea.¡ºHalt Momentum¡»The paper froze in mid-air as I casted another spell under my breath. This time it will be bringing it back here, that¡¯ll be nothing other than¡ºManipulation Magic¡», that¡¯s also where Telekinesis co-exists with other magic just like ¡®Halt Momentum¡¯. I controlled it all the way to my hands preventing it from flying again. ¡®Manipulation Magic¡¯ has demanding features to it depending on what you are controlling. The weight. The way it needs to be moved or such. In this case, I didn¡¯t feel much difficulties with controlling a paper in mid-air. If I was still eight years old, it would be in a medium state of mana consumption and that¡¯s bad. ¡°Th-thanks. But other than that¡­ That was so amazing!! How were you able to do that?¡± The girl looked allured to what I did a while ago and she is now questioning me with all her might. ¡°I¡­¡± Why can¡¯t I speak for some reason¡­ Now that I realize¡­ I don¡¯t usually talk to girls back then. Why am I feeling so nervous?! Calm down heartbeat! ¡°It¡¯s¡­ just ¡®Manipulation Magic.¡¯¡± ¡°W-wow that¡¯s amazing. You might¡¯ve come from a family full of noble sages who taught you that. I am so envious.¡± ¡°Haha¡­¡± Actually, I came from a family of knights and I use an underestimated system of magic¡­ there is nothing worthwhile in me. ¡°Oh forgive me. I am Chiyako Furukawa. I am not a noble in any way¡­ but I strive for the best!¡± Now that I realized¡­ She looks way cuter when she smiled. With the mixture of her looks and paired with the glasses. It truly suits my type. Wait¡­ No! Now is not the time to be affected by this. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I am Haruki Tooru. I¡­ can say that I am noble. Haha.¡± ¡°Oh? So you¡¯re a noble? That¡¯s cool. So I may be right that you came from a famous sage family¡­ except¡­ I never heard of that family name¡­ hmm¡­¡± It¡¯s because we aren¡¯t, we are a bunch of knights which had an unwanted sage. ¡°That¡¯s interesting, you¡¯re also from Class B, and in the same year as us.¡± ¡°O-oh, that is true, after all. I am quite new here as well.¡± Chiyako frankly spoke. ¡°I hope our social classes don¡¯t make any differences between the both of us. I really hope you will take care of me in the future.¡± I bowed my head before her and she seemed abashed by it. ¡°W...Whaat¡­? N-no! I-It¡¯s okay! You don¡¯t have to be formal!¡± She begged me to refrain from bowing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I am not fond of being an upper class person, it is truly not my intention of being one. My family just worked hard to earn that status.¡± ¡°Oh? Is that so? Then it is nothing to worry about. As long as there is hard work done by your family, success will always be the result!¡± Fair words by a cute girl. I had nothing else to say but to smile at her as she did too. It was too bright. I wish I never smiled and embraced hers instead. ¡°Identification please.¡± I gave my notebook and they put a stamp in one of the boxes in the corner of my identification papers. ¡°Hmm¡­ What is this for?¡± I asked Chiyako. This means that you are able to go in and out of the royal capital without being intervened by the royal capital guards. And it also gives us advantages. Some other boxes over here is exclusive to some of the people here, it can be stamped even more if they found out you are a noble coming from a noble family.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°That means they can access a lot of things when it has approval stamps?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Wow, she is actually very informative. I like being around her, this way, I can be able to understand more of my surroundings. ¡°Now that I realized, you don¡¯t know these?¡± ¡°Ah yeah. About that¡­ I came from the provinces you see¡­¡± ¡°Ooh¡­ That¡¯s so interesting. I am from a city near here actually. And also knowing the fact that you came from the provinces is so interesting and pairing with your impressive magic¡­ You¡¯re so mysterious. As mysterious as the province people.¡± I just snickered in return to her statement. Obviously, a city girl like you who hasn¡¯t seen the provincial areas is quite normal to not know what it is to be in a province. ¡°Now that I know you''re a noble¡­ why aren''t you wearing those white coats then?¡± Hmm¡­ So those white coats are for those who are nobles¡­ ¡°I don''t want to stand out too much. Wearing something like that is awkward honestly. People have different insights about you.¡± I replied. ¡°Hehe. That''s true. I like what you said. Now¡­ off to the next rendezvous point. Let''s get a seat together in the school ceremony okay? I''ll meet you by the school entrance. Bye bye~!¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yeah¡­¡± She is very energetic and quite fun to be with. This is a good thing. I have personal developments as well. Mhmm. Time to attend that school ceremony she talked about. I walked my way towards various shops scattered across the royal capital square. It sold different weapons, items, clothing, and many more. It all looks pretty but it''s expensive. What a word. Even if I''m a noble I still find it hard to handle expensive prices. There was a bookstore as well, my oh my, I would like to check out their stocks. But it was early in the morning and the shops were all closed yet, readying for the wave of people in midday. Woah¡­ that must be Magia. It looks beautiful from here. I really feel quite nervous going all the way here just to learn different things. I grabbed a folded message that said: ¡°Greetings. We have received your mail. Thank you for sending this message, Tooru family. Your presence here is a great addition in the studying environment of Magia. We would like to speak about our subjects for the first years¡­¡± The message then explained to me the various types of subjects that didn¡¯t include only magic training but sword training. This is very cool. The bell rung from afar and I noticed I was late for the ceremony. I ran towards the gates of the school and was intercepted by what seems to be my seniors in this school. ¡°Hello there! The auditorium right this way~! Please make haste before you get late!¡± The onee-chan just told me as she pointed at a building that fit the image of ¡®auditorium.¡¯ By then, I didn¡¯t notice that there were signs along the sides of the passageway towards it. I smiled and bowed then walked away. Hmm, it seems like there isn¡¯t anymore vacant seats¡­ what am I supposed to do? I saw someone waving at me¡­ it couldn''t be me right? I looked behind and looked at the person waving at me again. Ah. It wasn¡¯t any mistake that I was being waved at. Chiyako? I think that¡¯s her name. I rushed towards her and sat on the chair she kindly reserved for me. ¡°I¡­ really appreciate that. Thank you so much.¡± ¡°No problem! That was at least paying you for getting my identification with those COOL MAGIC!¡± Heh. She¡¯s so enthusiastic about magic as well¡­ but both of us aren¡¯t that different. ¡°Heehee~! This doesn¡¯t pay that much. But at least I helped, right?¡± She smiled at me. Again, I can¡¯t take the brightness of her smile and simply nodded. ¡°Students of Magia! We welcome you with a warm embrace. Thank you for coming and letting yourselves indulge with our prestigious magic and sorcery development and studies. And we hope that this will help you along the way of becoming the royal capital¡¯s best students¡­¡± Along the lines of what seems to be the head of this school, he said. ¡°Now you may know, and quite obvious, Magia isn¡¯t the only school of magic that teaches here in the royal capital, and because of that, there will be competitions against one school and another to test the students and determine the school of winning!¡± I leaned towards Chiyako. ¡°That¡¯s honestly fun.¡± ¡°I¡­ I think it is. Hehe.¡± She replied but she seemed uneasy. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I-It¡¯s just that¡­ I am interested in the way magic works out fine but¡­ I am not quite confident about my firepower in magic.¡± She pushed her spectacles once more and her eyes affixed once more towards the stage. I see¡­ I didn¡¯t say anything in return anymore because I don¡¯t have much idea of how she handles magic. I also looked at the stage and listened to the principal until the ceremony was finally over. ¡°Haah¡­ Now that¡¯s finally over¡­ I wonder what we¡¯re going to do today.¡± I laid back at a bench near the cafeteria with Chiyako beside me. ¡°Well¡­ I heard that we will be in the same classes and await for further instructions by our homeroom teacher.¡± ¡°Oh we are? Hmm. Alright then.¡± I shifted my gaze from her to the sky and wondered. The world of magic really packs a punch to my life¡­ but I never asked why I got the crest of magic by the time I was eight. Most of the crests are given instantly by the time they were born¡­ but I heard that I was given the crest late. After touching that weird torn page around that time. It was surely real and I truly felt something from that. But I can¡¯t guarantee that it was the reason why I had magic. Apart from that, I can¡¯t also discern the writings on it by the time. It¡¯s all a blurry image right now. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Haruki? You seemed troubled.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s nothing.¡± Un. I shall deem it nothing for now¡­ Maybe one day I will cross paths with that memory again and solve it by that time. ¡°C-Can we exchange identification? It¡¯s weird but¡­ I just wanted to look at your status.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, sure. Let me borrow yours as well.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± We exchanged Identification Cards (IDCs) inside our notebooks and peered through the information. Impressive¡­ She uses ¡ºLong Range Combat Magic¡». Most of the long range combat magic-users uses staffs in order to amplify the effects of their casting once they are able to keep their distance. Others don¡¯t use staffs for a reason, yet I can¡¯t fully comprehend the importance of magic amplifying weaponry. But there is an empty space here that says¡­¡ºClass: ¡» Well¡­ we¡¯re both not sure of our desired classes yet. ¡°You¡¯re using production magic, huh?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yes, that¡¯s true, is there a reason?¡± I took a glimpse at her and she was smiling again. ¡°I admire production magic you know¡­ It has the specialty of making magic in terms of support, it¡¯s truly an industrious type of magic.¡± She seems like she really likes magic¡­ but why this? ¡°Why so? You are quite the good one actually. A long range combatant.¡± I asked her. ¡°A...Ah¡­ Haha. You see, it¡¯s not my forte to be outside in the field. I always feared violence when it comes to magic.¡± A true angel but I seriously beg to differ. ¡°No matter where you go and what system you are born with. You are destined to learn and protect the ones you love.¡± And even if I said it like that way, it doesn¡¯t make me cool. ¡°Y-You¡¯re right! I like what you said, Haruki. You¡¯re more than meets the eye.¡± ¡°T-thanks, I guess?¡± I smiled nervously as she shook my hands with sparkling eyes. She is definitely wife material. But I still doubt that I said anything cool. The school bell rung again and the students were instructed to make way to their classrooms to start the introductions. We arrived inside the main building and into our classroom. There stood a middle-aged man that looked at his students lethargically. ¡°Good morning¡­ I¡¯m your homeroom teacher. Sigh.¡± C-Could he be a little bit sensitive about this? ¡°Right. I am Drent Wilsdorf. Let¡¯s see if we can make this a good year, huh?¡± What¡¯s with that introduction?! Is he even fit of being an instructor?! As soon as I finished ranting in my thoughts, I heard whispering along the corners of the classroom. ¡°Wilsdorf¡­? Isn¡¯t that one of the best magic-users out there?¡± ¡°I heard he came from a noble family of famous sorcerers.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem like it. But that¡¯s amazing!¡± Woah¡­ this guy is quite famous in this place. Although, that name surely does ring a bell, I just don¡¯t know where I heard that name¡­ No, maybe it is nothing. Instructor Drent took a glimpse around the room and caught his eyes on me. W-what¡­ what does he want? Why is he looking at me. As soon as I was about to panic internally, his eyes shifted away towards the other people inside the classroom. Later on, Drent introduced the class along with the guidelines of the school with a lazy attitude that made the people quite awkward. Everyone stepped on the stage and stated their names along with where they came from, and what system of magic they use. ¡°I am Haruki Tooru. I came from the mountainous province called Fjall Imperium, also known as the ¡®mountain empire¡¯. I use production magic as my specialty. Nice to meet you all and I hope we¡¯ll be able to study alongside one another.¡± I heard slight whispers of jeers and sarcasm but I didn¡¯t seem to get annoyed by it. It was an expected reaction after all, except¡­ Chiyako still seemed impressed by me. ¡°Interesting¡­¡± I heard a slight whisper from Instructor Drent but it was followed by, ¡°Alright, head back to your seat¡­ next.¡± I sat down and wondered what was that all about. Interesting? How am I interesting? Was I too obvious of being noble blood? I¡¯m sure not everyone knows the nobles governing in the Fjall provinces¡­ ¡°Remember that your dormitories are separated from the nobles. First years are separated from the other years as well. I hope this will help you guys out. You¡¯re grown ups now.¡± Instructor Drent yawned. The day felt long but it finally ended. ¡°Hey, Haruki. It¡¯s really nice to know where you came from. Your province really has a nice ring to its name, you know?¡± ¡°I guess so. Haha.¡± ¡°Also, don¡¯t get too affected by the reactions of our classmates about your system of magic, it all depends in our efforts.¡± ¡°Wow. You¡¯re more than meets the eye, Chiyako.¡± I smiled. ¡°G-gosh. Don¡¯t use my words against me. Anyway, see you by the dormitory.¡± I was about to leave the classroom until I was called by Drent. ¡°Yes, sir?¡± ¡°Haruki, right?¡± I nodded in reply. ¡°By any chance¡­ are you aware of any torn pages along the Fjall regions?¡± ¡°H-huh¡­ No¡­¡± Torn pages? Did he mean the one I had contact with four years ago? ¡°Yes. This might sound weird but¡­ I felt somehow familiar of your presence. And this isn¡¯t the normal mutual feeling between distant acquaintances or whatnot¡­¡± ¡°...What is it then, sir?¡± ¡°You¡¯re Dante, the sage god, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°H-Huh?¡± Chapter 4: The Sage and the Exploration of Magia ¡°Dante? N-no¡­ I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. I don¡¯t have anything related to the sage god.¡± Why am I being interrogated all of a sudden? ¡°Hmm. Sorry. This is quite a strange question to ask. I am sorry, enjoy your year by the way.¡± Drent made his way towards the door until I stopped him. ¡°Yes. I may know something about that torn page you are saying.¡± As soon as I said it, his face looked very intrigued. I, then, explained what happened to me during my eight year-old period but couldn¡¯t get the gist of what it truly meant. ¡°I see¡­ I got mine when I was trying to convince my parents to enroll in a magic academy like Magia back in those times¡­ I was fifteen years-old until I saw a torn page emerge before my eyes¡­ However in your case, you never had the magic system until you came contact with this torn page. Other than that... As you said, it had immense power, that I had nothing else to do but read it before touching. It said ¡®blood is bound.¡¯ Other than that, I have no idea what it meant¡­ but it gave me extra knowledge of some magic spells I never heard off¡­ And as far as these years¡­ you¡¯re the only one I felt connected to.¡± ¡°I wish I knew what that torn page in my part meant¡­ I am sure it can clear some rubble as well¡­¡± I placed my hand on my chin. ¡°Anyway¡­ Let¡¯s not be problematic about that. I am sure you¡¯re using the power of that torn page safe and well. Let¡¯s talk about this once we¡¯re able to come up with an answer.¡± ¡°W-wait¡­ before you go. Why did you ask if I was Dante?¡± ¡°...¡± Instructor Drent looked quite perplexed in his own words as well. ¡°As much as I don''t believe on the god sage¡¯s existence on this world¡­ an echo can be heard from your resonance¡­ however, it¡¯s all so misunderstood maybe. These torn pages aren¡¯t quite the detailed ones you know¡­ other than having three words to describe itself¡­ the other contents of the page is encrypted by some sort of ancient language.¡± ¡°...¡± Now I am the one that is at lost. ¡°Ah. Whatever. It¡¯s really gonna get late if you don¡¯t head over to your dormitory. I¡¯ll catch up as well once you guys are there. I¡¯ll assign you to your rooms.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± I exited the main courtyard of the school and headed towards the dormitory area where I met people waiting by the benches outside. Hmm, these people might be waiting for instructions as well. A blond boy stood up and approached where I was sitting and started speaking. ¡°So. I''ve heard of your name. Tooru. Your hard-earned commoner blood finally reached noble, huh? Well, let me tell you something. It doesn''t change anything. If you''re a commoner you will be forever.¡± I really have no intentions on aggravating this person or anything but he has serious issues in attention-seeking. ¡°I don''t have any concerns with your shenanigans, excuse me.¡± Maybe that''ll work. Disrespecting this guy is just the same as being immature¡­ just keep relaxed when handling these people. ¡°How dare you? You''re a commoner and a production marked crest! How can you even move with that filth?! But I, Delvus Suliard, am a close range combat magic user! I bet you can''t even lift a sword against me.¡± Delvus Suliard, huh? So he''s part of the mainstream nobles here who expect the world to be served on a silver platter. ¡°Your passionate words doesn''t even match the sharpness of your blade.¡± I snickered. ¡°Why you little¡­!¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Before something rash happened, instructor Drent showed up to break up the conversation. ¡°If you''re going to duel. I suggest planning this tomorrow. Geez, it''s just the start of the semester and someone is already having a duel.¡± ¡°Yes. Yes! I''ll show this commoner who can fight better with swords and magic.¡± Delvus arrogantly said while walking away from us. ¡°I don''t have any concern of you having a duel¡­ but make sure to go easy on him. I have a feeling that you may actually be able to kill him with a lift of a finger.¡± Instructor Drent patted my shoulder. ¡°How do you know I''ll do that? Isn''t that a bit overreacting? I haven''t even learned basic combat magic in duels.¡± I have to fully admit¡­ The magic I learned from the torn pages may help me in terms of fast progression on magic development¡­ However it doesn''t improve my knowledge about other spells. I was, rather, limited to a few spells I learned when I fought that beast with father back then. And within those four years was a damp silence in my Mana circulation. The only moments I attained magic were solemn, but I think fighting with this knowledge for now will be sufficient against Delvus¡­ as long as I remember father''s swordsmanship training. ¡°Haruki, you seem to be deep in your thoughts¡­ are you really going to fight, Delvus? I''ve heard that he learns royal swordplay.¡± Chiyako spoke beside me. ¡°Is he really¡­?¡± That''s quite troublesome now that I know. But it would be easier if I''ll deal with him using this swordplay I have learned ever since. Good thing I practiced learning the Tengyokukenryuu, (Ìì˜O„‡Á÷), which means Divine Extremities Sword style. The Fjall region used to be inhabited by the Eadril people that came from the eastern countries, they traded with the people of Fjall. Other than that, there are solemn traveling practitioners of that style. Now that I remember, I haven¡¯t bought a sword yet¡­ maybe there are swords that are shipped from Eadril to the royal capital¡­ ¡°Haruuuki. Don''t think too deep again. I might lose you this time.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I''m sorry. I just remembered something.¡± ¡°Heeeh¡­ And because of that, you missed the assigning of the rooms. But don''t worry, you''re just a floor below me. I''ll show you once we get to the stairs, and by the left you''ll be able to enter your room in an instant. Easy, right?¡± Chiyako smiled while explaining. ¡°Hehe¡­ I guess it is. Thank you.¡± She headed upstairs leaving me in the living room of the dormitory. ¡°Haruki¡­ was it?¡± A gray haired girl, that was a little bit smaller than me, approached me. ¡°U-uhm¡­ yeah, is there something you want?¡± ¡°...My name is Emilia Delacroux. I am interested in knowing you.¡± Hmm. That''s quite strange, I never thought someone would just socialize with me in an instant. Without any thought of it, Emilia handed over her IDC to me and gestured to borrow mine as well. ¡°A..ah¡­ here¡­¡± I held onto hers as I borrowed mine. Emilia Delacroux, huh¡­ Such a noble name. I''m not quite familiar with the nobles of the royal capital but she might be someone famous. Other than that, agile combat magic system, huh? Crests are sometimes not seen unless the person casts their magic. In most cases, crests are seen embedded on the arm or the hands of the person. I never got mine until I came to know about the mysterious torn page. ¡°Production magic¡­ you might be able to¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± I curiously looked at her when she fixed her gaze on me. ¡°N-no¡­ sorry, I didn''t mean to bother you with trivial matters. Here''s your IDC back, I''ll head off to my bedroom. Thanks for taking your time with me, Haruki.¡± S...strange¡­ I didn''t get the meaning of what she was about to say. But it doesn''t matter for now, I have to rest. I have a duel that I didn''t basically arrange¡­ whatever, I''ll just do it. It''ll be too late to back out for now. I walked upstairs and entered my room. ¡°What¡­ what happened here¡­¡± I said out loud as I entered my room. Everything is¡­ sliced. The walls are vandalized. My bed is torn like it was slashed by a sword. ¡°Who did this¡­?¡± I frowned while I clenched a fist. ¡°Hahahaha! Look who''s angry. You''ll be thirsty for victory, won''t you? I told you. Being my opponent will make you suffer the differences of the commoner¡¯s world from the nobles. HAAAAHAHAHAAA!¡± Delvus laughed while walking away with two dudes who seemed like hired goons. ¡°Oh. I guess I will have to show you the differences as well.¡± I whispered to myself. My frown wasn''t there anymore, but rather, a smile of excitement. I entered the room and sat near the bed and pulled my notebook from my coat pocket. Un. While the night passes, I''ll spend my time revisualizing that torn page I saw back then¡­ I started scribbling some magic circles I learned from the sorcery books Hitoshi gave me when I was 9 years old. The basics of making magic circles are definitely based on the perspective of the magic user himself, not everyone can have the same but can replicate it. Just as the same way of visualizing magic, magic can be seen as the same thing but when the magic user makes his own image¡­ it will be his own idea of what he is creating.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. This comes with the mixture of ideas and that is why magic theory is connected to magic development. Thanks to the late and famous magic users in this era, we can make even more advanced magic. And especially, casting magic without the use of chanting. I was able to attain the power of the torn pages when I touched it. The power and knowledge was immense to the point that I could make magic appear without saying anything or to at least shorten the time of casting. But the power of the torn page lasted for a few months when I depleted my mana one time against the hunter wolf. And even if I still have the power of the torn page, it wouldn¡¯t help me to figure out other magic¡­ it would be up to me to find out. The night is getting colder as I sat still concentrating at the magic circles before me. ¡°No¡­ This isn¡¯t going to help me.¡± I whispered to myself. I knew that in the first place, I wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the complexity of the torn page¡¯s power¡­ however, remembering the magic I used at that time could be a better reference than the one written on that paper. Time passed by¡­ ¡°Aaahh~¡± I yawned and stretched as I looked at my progress on the notebook. In some degree, the usage of production magic is limited especially in combat, however I have never used a single combat magic like elemental damage to opponents. Now that I remember what I used to do, enchanting the wooden sword without the proper magic circles for it. And due to that, the wooden sword broke because it was across its limits. In another case, father wasn¡¯t expecting the way I used my magic. And as far as I know, not everyone can enchant a weapon to almost 3 and above enchantments. Heck, two is already powerful and too rare to be seen in this era. What the hell is up with this power¡­ Now that I am able to see the overview of what I did before with these basic magic circles. Next from what I remember, is the usage of concealment magic, physics manipulation, Placement magic, and rigging magic placements as well. I remember these but now looking at it¡­ I swear that it is a lot more complex than I thought. I sighed and got shocked when I saw the clock at 2 in the morning. Ah! It¡¯s already that late?! I was just analyzing over these¡­ Guess I never know when to stop until I am tired. I yawned once more and head towards my bed forgetting to turn off the lamp lighting my desk¡­ ¡°GAH!¡± I instantly woke up as the door of my bedroom burst opened. My sweat began to rush out of my pores and my eyes quickly scanned the room of any threats. It was dark and nothing was seen in the naked eye. It was in the dead of the night that this incident is happening. ¡°Haruki¡­ Haruki¡­¡± I heard a voice calling out to me from the hallways towards my open door. I stood up and clenched my fist and repeated ¡®it¡¯s nothing¡¯ over and over again in my head. Time to wrap this ruse up. I casted¡ºMagic Light¡»that hovered over my hand then I tossed it over to the door making it light up the wall on the hallways. I-It¡¯s nothing! Why did I even throw it?! It doesn¡¯t matter, I can make another one after all, I casted the second time. And this time, I walked towards the door slowly but surely. As soon as I approached my open door, I peeked over to my left and saw the hallway connected to a broken hallway that floated across of what seems to be another world. ¡°Woah¡­ What happened here?¡± I thought aloud and looked all over the atmosphere of the world. It looked wonderful but different at the same time. It was as if time wasn¡¯t moving in that place. The skies were magenta and the sun and moon wasn¡¯t present at all. There I saw a man standing from afar calling upon me. ¡°You may not be able to approach me at all, well, at least for now.¡± The man started speaking in my head. ¡°Hence, I am fully aware of that and so are you. I apologize for such a sudden outburst of calling you upon here¡­ in this dreadful place.¡± It continued speaking. ¡°Who¡­ who are you?¡± I hesitated asking but it went out of my mouth. ¡°That¡¯s for you to know someday¡­ I wish I had more time to talk to you¡­ but I am afraid that this environment is very, what can I say? Unfriendly.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry for now¡­ but I have to explain this to you really quick before time runs out. The world of yours may be in danger and you¡¯re probably the only one who can change the course of this danger. But not only you of course, you need a companion with you, it doesn¡¯t matter if you are a lot or anything. As long as you can fight against this danger¡­ Your world will be fine against anything. The torn page is everything you¡¯ve got. Venture out¡­ and you will understand.¡± Wait¡­ the torn page? Who is this person? Why does he know about the page? Could he be the person who made these magical abilities? ¡°S-sir?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Haruki.¡± ¡°Sir.¡± I saw the ceiling lit up by natural light that my bedroom is filled up with. It seems to be morning. My hand is raised up towards the ceiling when I said ¡®sir.¡¯ Who was that person? And what about changing the course of this danger? I don¡¯t understand this for now and I¡¯ll just take it for granted. But this doesn¡¯t make me less cautious, now that it is implanted on my head¡­ I don¡¯t have any way to deny that. Venture out, huh? Did he mean that I am going to embark on an adventure with some people? I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to convince them with this idea. Hmm, it may be possible because of my experience with the torn page¡¯s power. That may work then¡­ I sat up and felt the slit open part of my bed that I forgot about. ¡°Oh yeah, the noble guy did this to me.¡± I said to myself. While I was looking at the slices on my bed, I heard knocking coming from my door. ¡°Haruki, wake up, it¡¯s uh¡­ breakfast.¡± Judging from this voice, this might be Chiyako. I opened the door and said, ¡°Good morning.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ What happened to your room?¡± Chiyako gasped as she looked over my shoulder that I tried hard enough to block. ¡°Guess there is no hiding from it then, huh? Haha. Well, this is quite my problem you see¡­¡± ¡°Is it that noble guy again? He is really looking forward to fight you in a duel Haruki.¡± ¡°Yeah, if I don¡¯t accept his proposal, it¡¯ll be worse than it is now.¡± ¡°Well, I guess you have to do what he wants you to do. But other than that, I don¡¯t want you to suffer bad news by the time you wake up! There¡¯s food downstairs¡­ and uh¡­ make sure to uh¡­ wear something decent before opening the door for someone okay?¡± Oh¡­ what¡­ WHAT??!! I was wearing boxers all along and I didn¡¯t notice! ¡°I¡¯m very very very sorry!¡± But before I apologized Chiyako already ran downstairs. I sighed¡­ but it was caught up by the strong smell of food that was very alluring. ¡°That smells really good¡­ Yup. Time to clothed up and eat, there¡¯s a duel later and I won¡¯t go there with an empty stomach!¡± After clothing up, I went downstairs and ate with the other dormitory people I am with. ¡°Well! If it isn¡¯t Haruki eating with his friends, don¡¯t think that our duel is over. Remember, you¡¯re just a wannabe noble with a system weaker than anybody.¡± Delvus walked up towards our desk with a couple of people behind him. Wow, it might be so hard to manage when you live together with this asshole. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. Besides, I think that it isn¡¯t really necessary to fight regarding the fact that I am ¡®weaker¡¯ than you.¡± ¡°So you are admitting that you are hopeless¡­ But this doesn¡¯t change anything, my hobby is to crush insects like you¡ª!¡± Delvus was about to start a racket until he was abruptly stopped by someone. ¡°I believe that is not needed, Delvus.¡± Instructor Dante showed up with his arms crossed by the entrance of the dormitory. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to play with food, even the noblest of people work hard enough to have a meal before them. Go back to your dormitory areas now, I believe your adviser might be looking for you and your friends.¡± ¡°Tch.¡± Delvus retreated with his group while glaring at me. ¡°Haruki, if you¡¯re going to fight that boy, know that there is a probability of destroying your reputation.¡± Instructor Delvus started explaining. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that but if he keeps on giving me trouble, I¡¯ll have to do what I have to.¡± It is going to happen after all, without proving the fact that I can fight¡­ nothing will change. Explaining peace to fools won¡¯t work. ¡°Now with that ruse over, let¡¯s start with the essentials of the school.¡± Time passed by when Instructor Drent started explaining the ins and out of the campus with the different facilities located around the school. He explained the directions to where the Gymnasium, training grounds, library, research stations, and nearby local market outside the school. ¡°This is the royal capital after all, no doubt that there will be an accessible store outside and also inside of the school.¡± Chiyako started leaned towards me. ¡°Wait, there is also inside?¡± I replied to her but we were overheard by Instructor Drent. ¡°Yes, there is. That is the cafeteria area of the campus where they sell many things. Not only food, but also useful supplies along the way of the students. Can you listen now, Haruki?¡± ¡°Y-yes sir.¡± I sighed and glared at Chiyako who was acting like she didn¡¯t do anything. Whilst Instructor Drent was talking one of the teachers approached him with a bunch of students behind him. I noticed that it was Delvus and some of his goons I saw earlier, other than that, some were students I didn¡¯t know. ¡°Instructor Drent, I believe there was an official statement of a duel yesterday.¡± Wait, it was an official thing? Nobles really get somewhere fast just by waving money on people¡¯s faces. ¡°I see, it is a coincidence that you approached us in an open field just to get this over with. I, Drent Wilsdorf Instructor of Year 1 Class-B, approve of this duel.¡± The rest of the class saw me walk up to the side of Instructor Drent while Delvus stood right in front of me. ¡°You¡¯re going down.¡± Delvus smiled at me mischievously. I didn¡¯t say anything in return this time. It was too early in the morning to digest so I felt aloof and calm. ¡°I, umpire of this match, Lucas Deucatix, shall judge and secure the safety of the contestants.¡± Alright. This shall do it. I felt ¡ºDuel Shield¡» before me that was casted slowly. It is an official way of shielding contestants in order to avoid injuries. I noticed that it was too thin for a fight like this, was it really that safe to begin with? I never even read about the rules in duels. ¡°Wait, before you start, what are the rules.¡± I asked Instructor Drent. ¡°Don¡¯t kill your opponent and win by a checkmate.¡± Okay, that wasn¡¯t clear enough¡­ but if it was something like that then I don¡¯t have to worry about dying¡­ maybe. And since he didn¡¯t say anything about prohibited actions, I shall use a little bit of magic I made from my free time. ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t have any weapon.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s something you have to figure out yourself since we already started the duel.¡± ¡°W-wait!¡± Once I said this, it was already too late to do something. Using magic would be enough then.