《Magicapita [A Kingdom-Building Progression Fantasy]》


 The Story Has Just Begun

    Money was power.


    Capital was magical.


    Income was cultivation.


    In the world of Alaria, the most powerful cultivators of magic were the rich.


    Or rather, the rich were the most powerful cultivators.


    They owned most of the capital, amassing astronomical amounts of wealth and, thus, magical power. The richer they grew, the more mana they accumulated in the depths of their body. The more mana they accumulated, the more powerful their magic was.


    The result?


    A world with extraordinary inequality that beggared belief.


    Not only were the poorest of the poor entirely desperate in a civilization that was hostile and predatory to them economically, but they were also entirely barren.


    Entirely barren of magic, that was.


    The rich were the strongest.


    The poor were the weakest.


    The former lived lavish and luxurious lives on magiyachts and magimansions of unimaginable splendor simply by virtue of owning immense magicapita that bestowed upon them godly power.


    The latter, on the other hand, struggled to survive.


    They toiled away in the slums, scraping together leftover food from restaurants, diners, bakeries, and just about anywhere they could get food from. Shelter was limited to abandoned warehouses, decrepit homes, or any standing structure with a roof over its head.


    Life was not only a struggle; it was a struggle without end.


    A struggle without hope.


    The poorest struggled for as long as they lived, which often was not too long due to how dangerous the streets could be. Be it assault, robberies, or gang violence, it was all too easy to lose one¡¯s life. The unhealthy living conditions and lifestyle, with very little access to healthcare, certainly didn¡¯t help with life expectancy either.


    It was a life with almost no escape.


    And thus, very few dreamed of escape.


    Very few genuinely harbored any hope of escaping poverty.


    And why would they?


    It would be nothing short of a miracle for most of them.


    An overwhelming majority of them were unemployable and uneducated. They possessed no skill or knowledge whatsoever, magical or otherwise, and they were often deficient in reading comprehension and basic arithmetics. Due to being unable to afford any housing, they lived in slummy neighborhoods that were far from any avenue of opportunity.


    There was simply no way out of poverty or the suffering that came with it.


    And yet, there were those scant few who dreamed of escaping the abyss.


    There were those who dared to hope for a better life.


    There were those who yearned for more.


    Despite the endless hurdles and tribulations that the very world of Alaria seemed to thrust upon them to impede their paths, they still strove to reach for the light, dedicating everything they had to lift themselves out of the pits of poverty.


    C? was one of them.


    For as long as he could remember, he yearned to lead a better life; it was all he had ever striven for in this godforsaken world.


    He had slogged for much of his life to achieve this humble goal, going above and beyond to uplift himself from the depths of poverty through any and all means possible. In his school days, he was perhaps the one and only student in a class of miscreants in an underfunded school in a poor district who dedicated his everything to academics.


    It finally paid off when he got accepted into a decent college and yet, his trials and tribulations had only just begun.


    Education at the college level was not free in the Democratic Republic of Erendir. He was not exceptional enough, despite his greatest efforts, to get a scholarship. Additionally, his background in one of the most slummy and crime-ridden districts in the city destroyed his chances of getting a loan.


    Banks took one look at him and his high-risk, sub-prime profile and sneered at him before ushering him out of the establishment.


    Not only did it take working forty hours a week as a waiter to be able to afford the tuition fees for his bachelor¡¯s degree in magicommerce, but he also needed to walk two hours on foot every day because he couldn¡¯t afford housing in the posh district of the City of Colohen where his college and job were.


    It was a grueling and painful part of his life that had him cursing the unfairness of the world around him, and yet, he gritted his teeth and forged on. He studied like a madman even as many of his college peers partied, smoked weed, and generally exhibited behavior that was unconducive to their future success.


    He endured the oppression in day-to-day life that came with being poor in a wealthier district and thus entirely devoid of mana. Those who were richer could instantly sense that he had no magic, and that instantly altered the dynamics of his interactions with anybody else in the entire district.


    He was poor.


    And thus, he was weak.


    And he knew better than anyone what happened to the weak in this godforsaken world.


    And yet, he endured.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    He endured the angry customers who vented their frustrations and twisted power fantasies on him by exerting their mana. He endured bullies in college who came from rich and wealthy families and had more mana handed to them on a silver spoon than he had ever even seen in his entire life.


    He endured everything that the world threw at him.


    He endured all of it even as his hatred for the world around him festered.


    Hatred for this predatory world.


    Hatred for a world that was hostile to the weak and the poor.


    Hatred for a world that hated him.


    He endured and continued to work hard in college to get good grades to jump start what would hopefully be a lucrative career.


    And it finally paid off.


    His efforts eventually culminated three years later when he successfully graduated from his college with a degree in commerce.


    And yet, it was only when he landed a job as an assistant manager at a local food chain that he was able to obtain a salary that allowed him to eventually afford to rent the smallest of apartment rooms in the district. His plan was to accrue experience before applying for more lucrative positions in more profitable corporations, to continue grinding even harder as he worked up the corporate ladder.


    And it was only from then on, at the age of twenty-one, that his life began getting better. For the first time, he slept on beds that might as well have been that of royalty compared to the kind of places where he had taken shelter for most of his life. He ate healthy and even good food, at least compared to his diet in the past, and generally lived a more livable life that didn¡¯t push him to his very limit, both physically and mentally.


    Most of the income he made went into living expenses, but with each passing month, he managed to accrue some savings, meager as they were.


    And for the first time in his life, he meaningfully experienced the power of mana.


    With each leenar, the magicurrency of Elendir he earned, he felt mana filling up his mind. The more magicapita he accumulated, the more magical power he gained.


    It was the first time that he had ever experienced such power in his entire life.


    And yet, he wasn¡¯t able to use it, for he had no magic at his disposal. He didn¡¯t know how to apply this power that had begun filling his entire mind. He would need to master magic at a magicademy and learn to harness the power of mana.


    And yet, it wasn¡¯t even the best part of his new life.


    ¡°That would be me.¡± The cheerful voice of a woman behind him on his magiscooter drew his attention. ¡°With a life as shitty as yours, I am surely the best thing that has ever happened to you. Definitely a solid competitor. Top three at a bare minimum. I think I have a solid shot for gold.¡±


    A smirk cracked at the edge of C?¡¯s mouth. ¡°I mean, if the only way you can win is if you have no competition¡­¡±


    He chuckled as he felt a smack atop his helmet. ¡°Now then, back to recounting the past, Lilia.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes, because I need yet another overdramatized retelling of your life.¡± Her tone was sarcastic and mischievous.


    ¡°Ah, but therein lies your mistake. You see, it¡¯s not you who needs it, but rather¡­¡± He turned to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend behind him. ¡°It¡¯s me who does. After all, how can I appreciate what I have now if I forget what I didn¡¯t have then?¡±


    His tone was sincere.


    Until he met his girlfriend, he had a permanent scowl on his resting face. He lived life with a lot of resentment and anger toward the world around him. In the wealthier district that he lived in, he was surrounded by people who were born with more magicapita than everything he had to struggle for.


    Why were they born into a well-off family when he was born into a hellhole with filth and dirt?


    Why did they get everything for free when he bled in order to get even a fraction of what they had?


    Perhaps other people would have eventually moved on with a helpless resignation, but not C?.


    He wasn¡¯t able to move on.


    He wasn¡¯t able to accept it.


    At least, not before he met Lilia.


    Her arms around his waist tightened as she rested her head on his back affectionately. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to get all philosophical on me, you know. Let¡¯s go home. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be late to the Selvigs tomorrow.¡±


    C? smirked at her well-hidden embarrassment.


    He found her shy discomfort towards her heartfelt expression to be one of the many adorable parts of her that he loved with all his heart. It was fun watching her melt into a puddle of embarrassment each time he opened his heart to her.


    He looked forward to saving up enough money with her and eventually getting married to her.


    Perhaps for the first time in his life, he truly looked forward to what the future held.


    ¡°Maybe this world isn¡¯t so bad after all.¡± A faint whisper escaped him as he drove his magiscooter forward once the traffic lights turned green.


    And that was when everything went downhill.


    BEEEP!!!


    His eyes widened with horror as a truck came barreling down from his side, running a red light. Its white headlights blinded him even as time slowed down to crawl in his mind.


    Out of nowhere, he came to stare death in the eyes.


    Out of nowhere, a moment of peace and serenity had suddenly turned into one of terror and despair.


    And yet, he was all but powerless to stop it.


    BANG!!!


    The truck crashed into his magiscooter in a devastating collision. The ear-rending mourn of crumpling metal echoed through the air even as the sheer impact ravaged the scooter and the two people atop it, sending them hurtling across the magitar roads.


    One moment, they were simply out for an evening ride.


    The very next, their mangled bodies were skidding across the road.


    Their bodies bled profusely through countless wounds.


    Broken bones.


    Torn muscles.


    Ruptured internal organs.


    Raw agony was the last thing C? experienced, even as the world was consumed by the darkness of his unconscious mind.


    His eyes closed as he lost consciousness.


    And then, an eternity passed.


    Or, at least, what felt like an eternity of darkness.


    Until, of course, it finally ended.


    His eyes slowly opened as he finally woke up.


    The first thing he felt was discomfort.


    His vision was blurred beyond comprehension. The sterile scent of a hospital lingered in the air while the muddled noise of footsteps and murmurs reached his ears. The pleasant sensation of a soft, warm cloth covered his entire body.


    It was not enough to mask the fact that his body certainly felt different.


    And yet, unbeknownst to him, it was not his body that had changed the most.


    No.


    It was his mind.


    Strangely enough, he didn¡¯t experience the dazed confusion that was to be expected, considering the traumatic injury that he had suffered.


    No.


    Instead, a deep sense of clarity unlike anything he had ever experienced in his entire life, permeated his entire mind. As though a deep fog impeded his vision, his entire life had suddenly lifted, revealing a landscape as far as the eye could see. He felt like he was able to think in dimensions and directions he didn¡¯t even know existed.


    And that was why he knew.


    That was why the gravity of what had happened clicked in his mind from the moment he woke up.


    He knew what had happened.


    He knew what he had lost.


    He couldn¡¯t have known.


    And yet, he knew.


    He gritted his teeth as his expression contorted with guttural grief.


    A single whisper escaped him even as his voice quivered with an abyss of emotional turmoil.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    And thus passed what would go on to become one of the most defining moments of his entire life.


    A moment that would define not only his future but the future of the entire world as well.


    A future unlike anything he could have ever imagined.


    The story of C? had only just begun.

 A Tainted Gift

    ¡°Mr. C?.¡± The doctor¡¯s tone was gentle and disarming. ¡°I am Doctor Dane, the doctor assigned to your care and recovery.¡±


    Within five minutes of his awakening, C? was visited by a doctor and a team of nurses who immediately began tending to him. They stole glances at him with hints of disbelief and incredulity, as if they were looking at a ghost.


    And they were.


    C?¡¯s expression was ghostly.


    Dark.


    Eerie.


    A deep abyss of emotional turmoil lingered in the depths of his gray eyes.


    It weighed down on the atmosphere.


    ¡°¡­Mr. C?.¡± Doctor Dane¡¯s tone grew even softer as he tried to coax a response from C?. ¡°Are you¡­ having trouble understanding or hearing what I¡¯m saying?¡±


    The doctor gestured towards his ear as a hint of concern appeared on his face.


    C?¡¯s gray eyes shifted to the doctor with a piercing gaze.


    His eyes were bloodshot and wide open.


    A perilous intensity lurked in their depths, sending chills across the doctor¡¯s skin.


    A single whisper escaped C?.


    ¡°Lilia.¡±


    The air grew heavy.


    It grew heavy under the weight of the emotions that boiled in the depths of his soul.


    Sorrow.


    Misery.


    Despair.


    And amid all of them, hope.


    The faint light of hope still lingered in the depths of his gray eyes.


    The doctor hesitated. ¡°Mr. C?... I must insist that we first confirm your condition and state of mind¡ª¡±


    ¡°Where is she?¡±


    The doctor winced.


    It was but a whisper.


    And yet, it was sharp.


    It cut through the well-meaning words of the concerned doctor.


    ¡°¡­Mr. C?, we must confirm your state of mind and the neurological function of your mind. Please allow us to perform the necessary tests to verify¡ª¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    The edge in his whisper grew more intense.


    The tension in the air rose as C?¡¯s fierce gaze pierced deep into the depths of Doctor Dane¡¯s concerned gaze.


    The doctor heaved a deep breath as his demeanor changed.


    It grew more solemn.


    Serious.


    ¡°Mr. C?¡­¡± The brief hint of hesitation in his eyes was suppressed. ¡°I regret to inform you that Miss Lilia Mandal passed away thirty-six hours after the unfortunate accident. You have my deepest condolences.¡±


    C? trembled.


    He shook as an endless amount of sorrow and grief crushed his heart.


    He knew.


    He didn¡¯t know how he knew.


    But he knew in the depths of his heart.


    And yet, the agony he felt in the depths of his soul was as painful as could be.


    Too painful.


    His breathing halted, choked by emotion, as his heart palpitated uncertainly. His eyes rolled backward, earning an alarmed grimace from the doctor.


    ¡°Patient is going into shock!¡± He immediately held C? down as he lifted his patient¡¯s legs while a nurse hurriedly performed the medical protocols to administer the required first aid.


    The doctor pulled out a wand from his robes, one littered with strange symbols that glowed with mana. He pointed the wand at C?, murmuring a strange incantation.


    ¡°??????? ?????????.¡±


    A profound and ephemeral light enveloped his entire body.


    Magic.


    The gentle and warm light of the healing magic stabilized C? as he lost consciousness.


    And once more, he returned to darkness.


    This time, it didn¡¯t seem to last as long as it had the last time.


    It wasn¡¯t long before C? opened his eyes once more.


    For the first time for as long as he could remember, tears fell out of his eyes.


    He had hoped that all of it was just a long nightmare.


    One that would end the moment he got up.


    Perhaps he would wake up with Lilia by his side.


    But reality coldly doused his desperate hopes.


    She was gone.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    She was gone forever.


    He would have to live a life with her absence.


    He would have to live in a world without her.


    A maelstrom of grief, sorrow, misery, and despair bore down on the depths of his heart.


    ¡°Mr. C?.¡±


    The familiar old doctor slowly walked before him with an expression of concern. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    C?¡¯s eyes slowly turned to the doctor beside him.


    A single whisper escaped him.


    ¡°¡­Why?¡±


    The doctor was at a loss for words.


    ¡°Why did she have to go?¡±


    The old doctor¡¯s expression grew sympathetic. ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry for your loss, Mr. C?.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question.¡±


    His tone grew more piercing.


    ¡°Why did she have to go?¡± His gray eyes grew more forceful. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you save her?¡±


    The doctor shook his head helplessly. ¡°We tried our best, Mr. C?. I was in charge of both of you as my patients. She had suffered particularly severe damage to her liver, lungs, and kidneys. Far beyond what she or we could have healed with ordinary means.¡±


    ¡°Magic.¡±


    A sharp retort struck back.


    The doctor regarded him with a hint of remorse.


    An expert magical healer could indeed heal the wounds that the doctor described. Usually, hospitals had at least one of them on standby and on call to administer their services specifically for cases like this.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid to inform you that she¡­ didn¡¯t qualify for magical treatment.¡±


    C?¡¯s eyes sharpened with a piercing gaze. ¡°¡­Didn¡¯t qualify?¡±


    The doctor¡¯s eyes grew more sullen. ¡°The hospital¡¯s magical treatment approval panel judged that she didn¡¯t have enough magicapita for the treatment.¡±


    It was at that moment that hints of old, forgotten rage at the world began resurfacing from their slumber within him.


    He despised the way the world worked from the bottom of his heart.


    And now, a mind-numbing amount of fury erupted from the depths of his heart, fueled by the grief of his loss.


    ¡°They let her die because¡­ she wasn¡¯t wealthy enough?¡± A chilling whisper escaped him.


    ¡°¡­Her insurance didn¡¯t cover healing magic, either, I¡¯m afraid.¡± The doctor heaved a helpless sigh. ¡°Emergency aid doesn¡¯t cover healing magic. I did my best to treat her as well as I could, but I don¡¯t have the healing magic needed to heal ruptured and dying internal organs.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ the hospital could have saved her, but didn¡¯t.¡±


    Cold wrath boiled in the undertone of his whisper.


    The air tingled.


    The atmosphere grew electric.


    ¡°Where is her body?¡± His whisper quivered with grief and rage. ¡°I wish to see her. I wish to see her right now.¡±


    ¡°Mr. C?¡­¡± The doctor hesitated. ¡°Please calm down. What I need to inform you isn¡¯t going to be easy to digest.¡±


    C?¡¯s chilling gaze shifted to the doctor silently.


    ¡°I was going to inform you last time, but¡­¡± the doctor¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°Mr. C?, you have been in a coma for the past six months.¡±


    C?¡¯s pupils quivered with shock as his expression crumbled with horror. ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°Not only was your body gravely injured, but our tests and scans showed that you had suffered some brain damage as well,¡± he explained patiently. ¡°Frankly, after the first three months, we were almost entirely certain that you would never wake up ever again. That was why we were deeply and urgently concerned about your neurological state of mind before we answered your questions.¡±


    He stared at the doctor with stunned horror.


    ¡°Breathe, Mr. C?. It won¡¯t do you any good to fall back into shock.¡± The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder.


    It was only at that moment that C? realized that he hadn¡¯t inhaled for almost half a minute, immediately gasping for air.


    ¡°Six months¡­?¡± His eyes widened with horror. ¡°What about Lilia¡­?¡±


    He turned to the doctor with a fearful expression.


    The doctor lowered his head. ¡°¡­I¡¯m afraid that, in accordance with protocol, the hospital has disposed of her cadaver. The hospital¡­ disposes of unclaimed bodies after six months.¡±


    Pure fury and rage bubbled up from within the depths of C?¡¯s heart. The sheer wrath that erupted within him distorted his expression with vengeance, unlike anything the doctor had ever seen.


    ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry for everything that you have suffered through, Mr. C?.¡± The doctor lowered his head lightly. ¡°But I must insist that you let us conduct our cognitive, motor, and sensory neurological tests so that we can identify potential disorders or lapses in your ability and function as early as possible and treat and potentially even heal them as soon as possible.¡±


    C? wasn¡¯t even listening.


    He didn¡¯t even hear a word the man uttered.


    His gaze grew vacant.


    His eyes grew hollow.


    His body grew limp.


    His expression grew empty.


    He might as well have been a corpse.


    ¡°¡­How would Lilia feel if she saw you abandon yourself like this?¡±


    C? stirred.


    As though her name was the key to earning his undivided attention.


    Like a magic spell.


    ¡°¡­It would break her heart.¡± A whisper escaped him as a tear fell from his eyes.


    And that was when the full weight of her death truly hit him. Doctor Dane patted his shoulder as he broke down, sobbing uncontrollably at the loss of the person he loved the most.


    Tears fell from his eyes.


    They fell more that day than they ever had in his entire life.


    He had never been an emotive or an expressive person, having learned the importance of not projecting anything other than steely stoicism after all the years he had spent on the streets and the slums.


    And yet, today, a dam broke.


    A dam that held back an avalanche of emotion.


    He broke down with a flood of emotions for the rest of the day in a long-awaited cathartic release of grief and sorrow. By the time he calmed down the next day, it was only because his body physically couldn¡¯t cry any more.


    His eyes were so bloodshot that they were light red across the entirety of their corneas. His face was a mess, completely disheveled and unsightly after the tears that he had shed. He was exhausted at the depths of his soul.


    And yet, he hadn¡¯t forgotten the doctor¡¯s words.


    ¡°¡­Please conduct your tests.¡±


    ¡°We will get to just that immediately.¡± Doctor Dane smiled with a hint of relief. ¡°We have detected troubling signs, so we will administer particularly extensive and challenging tests to truly discern whether or not cognitive impairment has occurred or not.¡±


    Immediately, Doctor Dane and a nurse got to work as they subjected him to a variety of neuropsychological tests that measured the countless parameters through which the functions of the mind could be inferred.


    They administered tests measuring verbal, quantitative, and deductive cognition to truly investigate in detail whether or not his cognition was impaired or not. They measured his sensory acuity, fine hand-eye coordination, and motor skills to also verify the other avenues of neuromotor impairment.


    They expected to find at least some impairment and loss.


    They hadn¡¯t told him yet, because of very valid concerns about his mental state and whether it would trigger another state of shock, but the fact of the matter was that his cranium had been deeply injured in the accident. So much so that the hospital had essentially written off any chance of recovery from this particular patient but were still obligated to keep him in care as part of his right to emergency care.


    The fact that he woke up alone was miraculous enough.


    To be entirely free of any cognitive impairment would be even more shocking.


    Yet, what their tests revealed was far beyond anything they could have ever even begun to fathom.


    He displayed extraordinary cognitive function.


    He showcased an impressive amount of verbal intelligence while his quantitative, qualitative, and deductive reasoning were truly incredible. However, the most extraordinary avenue of cognitive function was his creativity. He displayed a truly otherworldly degree of creativity on the preliminary divergent thinking test that they administered.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Doctor Dane widened his eyes with bewilderment as he read through the results of the cognitive tests. ¡°This is¡­¡±


    He understood what he was looking at.


    ¡°Acquired Savant Syndrome.¡±


    An extraordinarily rare condition where a non-disabled person developed extraordinary aptitude in a particular domain or field after a brain injury or neurological disorder. For the first time in his entire career, Doctor Dane had run into a patient who genuinely possessed Acquired Savant Syndrome.


    An unimaginable boon.


    An unimaginable boon that came after an unimaginable price.

 Naive Desperation for Justice

    The diagnosis of Acquired Savant Syndrome was truly a shocking one.


    One that none of them could have ever imagined.


    And yet, as they continued extensively testing him with a battery of neurocognitive tests, the results became exceedingly clear. C? had come to develop a truly impressive aptitude in several cognitive parameters, particularly in the trait of divergent thinking.


    It was difficult to understate how rare the condition was. In the entirety of the world of Alaria, there were less than a hundred known recorded cases of Acquired Savant Syndrome. It was so astronomically rare that less than one in a million people who experienced some kind of neurological disorder or brain injury of any kind were diagnosed with Acquired Savant Syndrome.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see, Mr. C??!¡± Doctor Dane exclaimed with an excited expression. ¡°It¡¯s a miracle! You have been blessed!¡±


    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t get the reaction that he sought.


    His patient barely stirred at the otherwise stunning revelations.


    It couldn¡¯t be helped.


    It hadn¡¯t even been a day since he had woken up six months after an accident that killed his lover.


    The grief and sorrow were still fresh in his mind.


    It still consumed him.


    The doctor heaved a sigh, putting a hand on his patient¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Mr. C?, I know that you are hurting inside¡­ but you have been blessed with an extraordinarily rare gift. This gift can help you in any and all ventures. It will be a source of great power for you for the rest of your life!¡±


    C?¡¯s cold gaze shifted towards the doctor. ¡°¡­Will it bring everything that I have lost?¡±


    The doctor flinched at the frost in his words.


    ¡°Will it allow me to fix the past?¡±


    His voice was frosty.


    ¡°Will it allow me to travel back in time and heal her when the hospital refused to?¡±


    His voice sparkled with anger.


    Already, his grief had become fuel for his rage and hatred for the way things had unfolded. So much so that he wasn¡¯t even able to appreciate the gift that he had inadvertently received after losing the one person he loved with all his heart.


    ¡°Will it allow me to mourn before the hospital disposed of her like she was a piece of garbage?¡± he growled.


    The doctor shook his head helplessly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. C?. I truly am.¡±


    The man¡¯s heartfelt remorse for something that wasn¡¯t even his fault made C? feel a hint of guilt and regret.


    Doctor Dane didn¡¯t deserve to be subjected to his emotional turmoil when he was simply expressing heartfelt concern and care.


    ¡°No¡­¡± C? shook his head as his voice quivered with emotion. ¡°¡­I should be the one saying that.¡±


    He gazed at the doctor with soft eyes. ¡°Thank you for doing everything you could to save Lilia.¡±


    Gratitude could be heard in the depths of his voice.


    ¡°Thank you for saving my life,¡± he continued. ¡°Thank you for everything.¡±


    The doctor smiled warmly at C?. ¡°I was just doing my duty as a doctor, young man. You have nothing to thank me for. I only wish I had the healing magic needed to save Miss Mandal.¡±


    True regret could be heard in his voice.


    Unfortunately, even if he had possessed that power, he would undoubtedly have been sucked into the system. The cold, cruel system that would let an innocent person die just because they weren¡¯t wealthy enough to be worth saving. Even if he had had the power to save Lilia, he would have been unable to help her whatsoever.


    Cold fury, unlike anything C? had ever felt before, chilled in the depths of his heart as his gray eyes grew eerily perilous.


    It took every ounce of self-control to stop himself from quivering with wrath.


    ¡°Mr. C?¡­¡± Doctor Dane hesitated. ¡°We have yet to talk about the rest of your condition and your diagnosis. You have been through a terrible accident and our primary concern after you woke up was ensuring that your neurocognitive parameters were just alright. And now that we have confirmed that you have fortunately not only not received any impairment, I think it¡¯s time we brief you on the rest of your condition. Your physical condition.¡±


    They had been the most concerned about his mind when he woke up from a coma of six months, but that didn¡¯t mean that his physical body was entirely unscathed.


    Most certainly not.


    ¡°This is going to be important, so please pay attention, Mr. C?.¡±


    What followed was a long list of injuries, conditions, and wounds that he had suffered as a result of the accident.


    A myriad of broken bones, damaged internal organs, muscle tears, large swathes of lost skin and flesh, and a multitude of other more minor conditions. Thankfully, six months had already passed since the accident, giving his body time to heal the worst of it under the care of Doctor Dane and the nurses.


    The scars on his body and across his face revealed that he had truly suffered a brutal and devastating accident. Scar tissue streaked across the entirety of his skin and flesh.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°We have deployed some basic healing magic to slow down muscle atrophy and nourish your body just enough to ensure that there is no severe permanent impairment of sorts. However, it will still take time before you fully heal,¡± the doctor explained. ¡°Unfortunately, this also comes with an extensive list of supplements, some medication, physiotherapy, and lots of rest. Additionally¡­¡±


    The doctor continued droning on and on about important pointers, notes, and a multitude of dos and don¡¯ts.


    The accident had ravaged his entire body, leaving so many health complications that it took an hour for the doctor to fully finish communicating everything he needed to C? about how to look after himself in the aftermath of the accident.


    ¡°¡­In general, do not push your system and your health too far,¡± Doctor Dane warned. ¡°You have not and will not fully return to the condition that you were in prior to the crash; it is best that you do not stress or strain yourself too much for the rest of your life.¡±


    The severe tone of the doctor¡¯s warning conveyed the importance of his prescriptions.


    And yet, C? couldn¡¯t even bring himself to feel the slightest sense of severity.


    Did it even matter?


    ¡°We have monitored your condition and have deemed you fit for discharge,¡± Doctor Dane continued.


    And yet, his expression was severe.


    ¡°Good luck, Mr. C?. It won¡¯t be easy. I have¡­ tried my best to minimize the burden.¡±


    His tone was grave.


    C? didn¡¯t understand at that time.


    He only understood when he was officially discharged as a patient and was presented the bill for any and all medical expenditures that had gone into his treatment over the past six months.


    ¡°7,800,000 leenars¡­?¡± C?¡¯s expression crumpled with darkness as he read through the long tabulated bill that detailed the extensive list of medical goods and services that he had consumed while in a coma. ¡°Are you¡­ serious?¡±


    The nation of Elendir merely recognized the right to emergency aid.


    Not the right to free emergency aid, unfortunately.


    What especially boiled his blood was that the bill included the cost of Lilia¡¯s healthcare as well as the cost of disposing of her body.


    ¡°Correct, Mr. C?,¡± the man replied with a cold voice as he adjusted his glasses. ¡°You may pay through cash or make a magital payment, if you please.¡±


    C?¡¯s stared at the man before with grave reckoning. ¡°And if I don¡¯t have the money to make the payment¡­?¡±


    ¡°I am afraid that we will have to charge you with debt defaulting,¡± the administrative executive¡¯s voice grew even colder. ¡°At which time you will be ordered by the court of Colohen to pay the mandated amount plus an additional amount in compensation for our legal expenditure. If you are unable to make the payment then, your assets will be seized and liquidated as compensation. And if you are unable to make the payment even with your seized assets, then¡­¡±


    His tone grew chilling.  ¡°Then I¡¯m afraid we will have no choice but to demand the courts to have you compensate our damages with manual labor under a court-ordered slave contract.¡±


    It was at that moment that all the grief and sorrow that boiled within his heart fully turned into hatred.


    Pure loathing unlike anything C? had ever experienced before boiled in the depths of his heart.


    Slavery was not outlawed in the nation of Elendir.


    It was not outlawed anywhere in the entire world, in fact.


    It had simply become a judicial instrument of remuneration and compensation in the event that a party could not uphold a monetary or financial obligation  in any given contractual or legal transaction. A power exclusively held by the judiciary of most governments around the world.


    Having always lived below his means, he never expected to even come anywhere near facing this much-feared judicial sentencing that he had actively stayed away from his entire life.


    It was a truly horrible fate.


    The mere threat of it sent shivers down his back.


    ¡°Do I need to make the payment all at once?¡± He gritted his teeth, struggling to rein in his wrath.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± The executive¡¯s voice grew more relaxed. ¡°It will be treated like an open-ended loan. You will need to pay interest, at a rate of about three-point-five percent, on the principal or the remaining amount until you have fully paid back every ounce of money. For a principal of 7,800,000 leenars, that should be about¡­¡±


    The man pulled out a calculator.


    ¡°Two-hundred and seventy-three-thousand leenars per month,¡± C? correctly stated, even as sought to keep his emotions in check.


    The executive raised an eyebrow with a momentary hint of surprise. ¡°¡­Precisely.¡±


    He pulled out a form and a contract from his briefcase before placing them before C?. ¡°Fill in the details and sign there at the bottom, and our business will be complete.¡±


    C? clenched his fist as deep consternation flashed in his eyes.


    The air grew tense under the weight of the fiery emotions that boiled within him.


    He wanted to strangle the man then and there.


    He wanted to rain down on him an onslaught of blows, pummeling him to a pulp.


    And yet, he couldn¡¯t.


    He was too weak.


    The man was brimming with mana.


    He was rich.


    As long as he gained even basic proficiency in any field of magic with even the slightest relevance in combat, he would be able to effortlessly dominate C? then and there. C? was almost entirely devoid of mana at the moment.


    A blood-curdling reminder that he had lost all his magicapita.


    The small, congested, and poorly maintained apartment that he had rented was gone. The scooter he owned and painstakingly bought to make his daily commute was also gone. The meager savings in his bank account was also gone. He had almost certainly lost his job, having been absent for half a year.


    Judging by how little mana he had left, he had lost almost everything he owned. He was so lacking in mana that even the administrative executive before him knew with a single disdainful and contemptuous glance that he was too poor to pay off the debt that he owed the hospital.


    He felt like he was being squeezed of everything he owned.


    It wasn¡¯t enough that he lost Lilia?


    Did he have to lose everything he owned, too?


    Just how much would this world take from him?


    Years of hard work, a frugal lifestyle, and steely perseverance had allowed him to lift himself up from abject poverty into something resembling a decent lifestyle. And all of that was robbed from him in the blink of an eye.


    STEP


    C? walked out of the hospital after signing the papers and undertaking a deep burden of debt. He found himself beholding the world around him for what felt like the first time in an eternity.


    The lifeless array of skyscrapers owned by massive corporations littered the downtown.


    A dark and desolate world.


    A world that trampled over the poor and weak.


    He gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists.


    Pure grief and rage boiled in the depths of his eyes.


    He truly hated this world from the bottom of his heart.


    And yet, there was the slightest glimmer of hope amidst the fury and hatred in his gray eyes. From the moment he stepped out of the hospital, there was one and only one thing that he cared about.


    The man who crashed into them with a truck.


    C? would ensure that he got what he deserved.


    ¡°Justice¡­¡± A whisper escaped him as his expression hardened with chilling vengeance. ¡°Justice for Lilia.¡±


    Little did he realize just how naive his sentiment was at the time.


    -

 Destroy and Create

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that this case has already been investigated and closed, Mr. C?.¡±


    C? gritted his teeth. ¡°What¡­?¡±


    ¡°It has been six months since your accident. This case has already been investigated,¡± the police superintendent before him replied sternly. ¡°We have investigated the accident and have come to the conclusion that no crime was committed.¡±


    C?¡¯s expression cracked with rage. ¡°No crime? That truck ran a red light! He crashed into us and killed a person!¡±


    ¡°Mr. C?, the records of our investigation suggest that it was you who ran the red light,¡± the police superintendent retorted coldly. ¡°We have multiple witness testimonies that it was you who recklessly drove into the road of ongoing traffic.¡±


    C? clenched his fist with cold wrath.


    Testimonies that he ran headfirst into traffic?


    Bullshit.


    His memory had gotten exponentially better after he was diagnosed with his Acquired Savant Syndrome. He was able to recreate the memory with perfection in his mind in three dimensions, as excruciatingly painful as it was.


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡± C? glared at the superintendent with a murderous expression. ¡°He was the one who ran headfirst into traffic. I urge you to do the right thing. You must charge the driver with manslaughter.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t happen, young man,¡± the officer growled. ¡°If anything, we ought to charge you with reckless endangerment and manslaughter for killing a beautiful young woman.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t investigate this case properly and bring justice to Lilia¡­¡± C?¡¯s tone grew menacing. ¡°Then I will have to take legal actio¡ª!¡±


    In the blink of an eye, the man¡¯s arm surged forward, glowing with magic as he lifted C? up by the collar.


    ¡°Listen to me, you little shit,¡± he growled. ¡°You have the gall to threaten me after I took the effort to look into your case and break the truth to you nicely and gently? I¡¯ll fucking kill you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re no officer of the law¡­¡± C? squeezed out with an expression of fury. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re just a pathetic, corrupt police officer¡­¡±


    The police officer¡¯s expression bristled with rage as he dragged C? out of his office with one hand despite all the stares the commotion drew, before literally throwing him out of the police station.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever come back here,¡± he growled, before returning to his office. ¡°I will beat you to a pulp if I ever see your face again.¡±


    C? gritted his teeth, grimacing as he got up from the pavement, immune to the puzzled looks he got from onlookers and passersby.


    And yet, not a single person stepped to help him.


    They had all seen what had just happened to him and by whom.


    None of them wanted to risk getting involved with someone on the other side of law enforcement.


    They simply moved on with their day, averting their gaze.


    Pure anger boiled in the depths of C?¡¯s eyes as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. The virulent intensity of the hatred that erupted in his heart exceeded anything he had ever felt in his entire life.


    His emotional turmoil only grew increasingly tumultuous.


    He struggled to rein in the ferocious hostility that emerged from the very core of his being.


    A deep abhorrence that lurked in the depths of his eyes.


    He hated everything.


    He always had.


    But in that moment, the sheer depth of malevolence he harbored against the entire world was so immense that it was palpable in every fiber of his being.


    He wanted to burn the world down.


    He felt a maddening urge to tear it down brick by brick with his own two hands.


    He yearned to do to the world what it had done to him.


    For what it had done to him his entire life.


    It wasn¡¯t enough that his father was gone and his mother died when he was born, causing him to be thrust into a broken foster care system from which he had run away many times.


    It wasn¡¯t enough that he was born with less than nothing to his name.


    It wasn¡¯t enough that he had been almost entirely barren of mana his entire life.


    It wasn¡¯t enough that he was born in the slums, spending much of his life struggling just to survive.


    It wasn¡¯t enough that he had spent his life clawing out of his way from the abyss of the streets, desperately trying to obtain something resembling a normal life.


    And now after everything he had overcome with a ferocious perseverance and determination, the world robbed him of everything he had ever worked hard to obtain.


    It robbed him of the one person that he had come to love with all his life.


    It robbed him of a life that he had gone through hell to build.


    It robbed him of justice for her death.


    In what was just a blink of an eye to him, he had been robbed of everything and left with crippling debt.


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡± he squeezed out with rage and hatred. ¡°Damn it all¡­!¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    If only he had the power to change it all.


    If only he had the power to change the entire world.


    If only he had the power to set ablaze the entire world and mold a new one from its ashes.


    If only he had the power to tear down this world brick by brick and build a new one from the rubble.


    If only he had the power to do the world what it had done to him so that it would never do it to anybody else.


    And that was when it hit him.


    That was when a thundering realization struck him.


    His eyes widened as time slowed down to a crawl in his eyes.


    ¡°¡®If only I had the power¡­?¡¯¡± A stunned whisper escaped him. ¡°¡­What if I could?¡±


    Wealth was power.


    Magical power.


    If he wanted the power to change the world then¡­


    ¡°I just need to acquire it.¡±


    It was precisely at that moment that he came to understand.


    It was exactly then that he comprehended.


    An epiphany exploded in the depths of his mind.


    Enlightenment dawned upon his very soul.


    The doctors had never managed to pinpoint precisely what field or domain he had Acquired Savant Syndrome for.


    And now, C? knew.


    He felt his mind expanding into a myriad of different dimensions of thought as he found the direction in which his Acquired Savant Syndrome had expanded his aptitude and talent for.


    ¡°Cultivating power¡­¡± he whispered. ¡°Cultivating wealth. Cultivating magic.¡±


    In the blink of an eye, his mindscape brimmed with an ocean of ideas. An inferno of imagination and creativity almost spontaneously erupted from within his mind, generating immense potential for creating wealth unlike anything he could have ever imagined before.


    An entirely new world of possibilities that he had been blind to before was now waiting for him.


    ¡°I just need to cultivate the power that I need to tear this world and build a new world for myself.¡±


    Had anybody else paid heed to what the crazy man lying on the road was murmuring to himself, they would have concluded that he had lost his mind.


    Tearing down this world and building a new one?


    Only a delusional fool could have possibly uttered such nonsense with complete seriousness.


    Any sane man would have instantly realized how mind-bogglingly and astronomically difficult even a tiny portion of the objective was.


    And yet.


    C?¡¯s eyes flared with a menacing intensity.


    He was serious.


    Dead serious.


    He understood just how maddeningly difficult it truly was.


    And yet¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible.¡± A whisper escaped him.


    In a world ruled by the powerful, only by becoming the strongest cultivator could he possibly change the world. Only by becoming the most powerful man in the world could he possibly tear down the existing evil order and replace it by building a better one in its place.


    And thus, while lying on the pavement outside a police station, he spontaneously carved a new goal onto his heart.


    ¡°I will become the most powerful man in the world.¡±


    His tone was laced with a fierce determination.


    ¡°I will become the richest man in the world.¡±


    His expression steeled with ferocious willpower.


    ¡°I will become rich and strong enough to tear down this entire world and forge a new one in its place.¡±


    It was the oath of a madman.


    A mission that he had already decided to dedicate his entire life to.


    Had anybody else gone through what he did, they would not have chosen to go down this path of madness. And indeed, of the countless people who had been abused and tortured by the malice of the establishment like C? had, none of them had sworn an oath to change the world.


    They too harbored deep resentment and anger towards the existing order.


    Yet, none of them had even considered, for even the slightest moment, that they could possibly destroy it. None of them had even conceived of even the slightest notion that they could not only destroy it, but could also build a better world.


    And why would they?


    It was beyond crazy.


    It was beyond maniacal.


    It was beyond lunatic.


    Language was too limited to fully convey just how nonsensically delusional such a thought was.


    It took a broken man with a broken brain.


    It took endless malevolence, hatred, and anger against the entire world to stare at it in its entirety and decide to raze it until there was nothing left and raise a new world where the old one had been.


    By the time his mental state stabilized and cooled down, it had changed.


    It had changed at its very root.


    For most of his life, he had lived with just one goal.


    To live a life worth living.


    Born in the slums, he would often walk past wealthier districts and neighborhoods with a dreamy look of envy.


    Spacious, clean streets and sidewalks.


    Luscious gardens and immense greenery.


    Large homes.


    An abundance magicars and magimobiles.


    He could almost smell the sheer amount of collective mana in all the magicapita in the air. The residents walked around with a sense of safety and wellbeing that he yearned to have.


    He had just achieved the very inception of that life before the world cruelly robbed him of his dream and the person he had come to love with all his heart.


    And thus, his goal had changed.


    He was not content with a ¡®good¡¯ life.


    His ambitions had come to swallow up the entire world.


    He would change the entire world.


    That was his new goal.


    STEP


    By the time he got up from the ground, he looked completely unhinged.


    Many would say he was.


    And yet, he was also entirely serious about the mind-bogglingly difficult and lunatic goal he had set for himself.


    ¡°How do I cultivate all that power? How do I cultivate all that money?¡±


    That was where the sheer impossibility of his quest was.


    He needed to not only gain enough money to be the richest man in the entire world, he also needed to gain enough wealth and power to single-handedly overcome the forces that sought to maintain the tyranny of the existing world order.


    Only then would he have gained enough power to create a new world from the ashes of the old one.


    A flicker of madness lit up in his eyes as his mind conjured a myriad of ideas through which he could possibly cultivate all the money he needed.


    ¡°Regardless of how I do it, it most certainly is not going to be through the salary of an assistant manager.¡±


    That was certain.


    No one had ever become a rich powerhouse of a tycoon with a salaried income.


    In fact, no one had ever joined the richest class of trillionels, people with a net worth of a trillion standard units in any given magicurrency, through labor income¡ªthat was, income earned through labor.


    There was only one way to become truly rich and powerful.


    ¡°Capital income.¡±


    Income by virtue of magicapita.


    The richest of the richest grew rich by virtue of ownership.


    Ownership of equity, bonds, resources, credit, intellectual property, financial instruments, and other forms of magicapita yielded much greater income than fixed salaries ever could.


    ¡°If I wanted to become the richest¡­¡± The intensity in C?¡¯s eyes grew. ¡°Then I need to cultivate capital income, not labor income.¡±


    It was easier said than done.


    And yet, C? was entirely prepared to do everything it took to cultivate all the capital income it took to become the richest of the richest, no matter how much time it took him.

 The Path of Success

    The capital-labor divide was one of the greatest drivers of inequality in the world of Alaria. Most of a nation¡¯s growth in gross domestic product went to capital income that was mostly concentrated in the hands of the rich as opposed to labor income which was what the working class and the poor earned. Dividends, profits, interest, and rents rose far faster and greater than fixed salaries which required active pressuring and continuous performance for even the possibility of a reluctant bump.


    C? was crystal clear that labor income could never help him reach his impossible goal.


    The only way he could get to where he wanted to was by ownership of magicapita; capital which bestowed its mana to its owner. He needed to have capital income and lots of it.


    And that obviously begged the question.


    ¡°How do I get my hands on all the capital income I need?¡±


    Simply getting one¡¯s hands on capital income was not the hard part; that could easily be done by purchasing equity on the Elendir Stock Exchange.


    The issue was that he needed to own a lot of magicapita that yielded a lot of income to eventually give him the power he needed. Enough to be the richest and thus the most powerful man in the world. Purchasing all of that on a public stock exchange would require him to already own all the money that he was looking for in the first place.


    ¡°How in the world am I supposed to get my hands on all the massive amounts of magicapita I need?¡± C?¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    Very few people had ever achieved even a fraction of the impossible goal he had set for himself.


    The handful of the most powerful and rich people in the world.


    That begged the question.


    ¡°How did they get their hands on all their magicapita?¡±


    That was easy to answer.


    ¡°Luck. Inheritance. Success.¡±


    C? could rule out the first two pretty firmly.


    His mother had died giving birth to him and he hadn¡¯t the faintest fathoming who his father was; he had absolutely no inheritance whatsoever. His life, on the other hand, felt like the world had conspired to play a sick game to test just how much misfortune it could stuff inside one person before they broke.


    He could not count on luck or inheritance to get him to the top of the world.


    That left just one other option.


    ¡°Success.¡±


    Some of the single most wealthiest people in the world obtained their wealth through commercial success. They started what were initially small businesses before those small businesses went on to become the largest magicorporations in the world. Simply by retaining ownership of most of the company, they obtained absolutely gigantic amounts of magicapita in the form of extraordinarily precious equity.


    If he was going to become the richest and most powerful person in the world to then tear it down and create a new world without injustice and inequality, then this was the only path forward.


    He would need to endeavor on commercial ventures in the hopes that he would eventually be able to hit it big.


    The very thought of it stimulated his mind. His imagination flared out of control, dreaming up countless visions and possibilities emerged in his mind that offered a multitude of paths that he could potentially walk to eventually achieve his goal of becoming the most powerful man in the world.


    There was just one problem.


    ¡°Even the cheapest possibilities require at least some financial stability and venture capital.¡±


    In the past twenty four hours after his discharge from the hospital, he had gotten a good grasp on his current circumstances.


    His job was long gone, obviously. There was a good chance that the diner that he used to work at would welcome him to his own position once more. His little flat room was also long gone, having received no rent, it most certainly wouldn¡¯t remain registered to his name. He was sure that his misanthrope of a landlord had disposed of all his personal belongings as well.


    He could feel the lack of mana in his mana core, indicating that he had lost all his savings too. The bank had most likely claimed his savings to cover his student loans.


    Thus, at the moment, the only magicapita he owned was his clothes, the cash in his wallet and, of course, his sovereign ownership over his body and his skillset. The debt he had undertaken most likely canceled that as well, resulting in almost no mana in his mind.


    Aside from that, he had nothing.


    He had absolutely no way of starting a commercial venture or start-up of any kind.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    On top of that, he was in debt for not just his own medical bills but also for Lilia¡¯s, a fact that truly enraged and festered the hatred that lingered in his heart.


    ¡°I need a job immediately to start paying off that loan. I don¡¯t want to end up as a slave.¡±


    As much as he disliked it, he would need to go back to working a job for the time being. He simply did not have the prerequisites to start on a venture.


    ¡°Back to struggling just to survive and save once more.¡±


    A scowl emerged on his face at the very thought of it.


    He had done it shortly after graduating high school when he applied for college. Commuting across districts on his cycle was truly tiring, but alas, it was something that he would need to do again until he had enough money to live comfortably.


    And thus, it began.


    The struggle of a lifetime.


    He knew that it would be tough.


    He knew that it would be the most difficult thing he had ever set out to do.


    Perhaps one of the most difficult things that anyone had set out to do.


    But, he didn¡¯t intend to fail.


    For now, his primary goal was to secure his most basic needs.


    ¡°I need food and shelter.¡±


    Both required money.


    Money that he didn¡¯t have.


    ¡°Food can be handled, but shelter¡­¡± His expression grew complicated. ¡°It¡¯s a luxury that I can¡¯t afford for now. I need alternatives.¡±


    There were no such things as homeless shelters in Elendir. The city and the country didn¡¯t give a damn about the homeless. Not only did they not give care, but they even designed cities with the express purpose of deterring homeless people from taking shelters.


    Hostile architecture was designed to prevent the homeless from being able to take shelter on benches, or vents. Often armed with inhumane means of preventing homeless people from being able to even rest.


    ¡°I¡¯d sleep in a bag on the streets¡­¡± He gritted his teeth. ¡°If not for the fact that I¡¯d get caught and locked up by the police.¡±


    Elendir actively spent taxpayer leenars to drive away the homeless who occupied the streets at night, all to ensure that the pristine image of the city was not sullied. Even the citizens of the more posh districts would go out of their way to report homeless people so that the streets could be entirely cleansed of them.


    That cut out simply living outside.


    ¡°My old employer¡­¡± C? murmured to himself. ¡°Would she let me sleep in the storage room at night?¡±


    He had been employed at a family-run restaurant for several years before his accident and coma. They were among the few people who had ever treated him kindly.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ just maybe¡­¡± C? dared to hope. ¡°Mrs. Selvig would let me sleep there for the time being.¡±


    That was how desperate his quest for shelter had gotten.


    That was his only hope at finding shelter in the middle districts of the City of Colohen.


    This was the only way he could avoid returning to the slums. It wasn¡¯t too long back before he returned to the diner that formerly employed him with the hopes of obtaining a job and free shelter. He wound up finding himself in the office of his former employer, shocking the woman where she sat.


    ¡°C?¡­?¡± An elder woman with red hair and green eyes arose from her seat in her office. ¡°Is that you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mrs. Selvig.¡± His tone softened a little. ¡°I have returned.¡±


    She walked over to him with a dropped jaw, as if she was beholding a ghost. ¡°You¡­ You woke up?¡±


    ¡°Very recently.¡± C? nodded gently.


    She arrived before him with a painful expression, wincing as she touched the scars that ran across his face and down his body. ¡°They told me that you, that she¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes.¡± C?¡¯s expression crumbled with grief.


    Mrs. Selvig heaved a shaky sigh as she shook her head with regret. ¡°¡­What can I do for you, C??¡±


    ¡°I was hoping that you could provide me with my old job, Mrs. Selvig,¡± C? softly explained. ¡°If you are able to do this for me, I will be eternally grateful to you.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± she exclaimed. ¡°You have worked at Selvig¡¯s Ristorante for six years! We would love to have you back.¡±


    A smile cracked at the edge of his mouth for the first time in six months. He had worked at Selvig¡¯s Ristorante ever since he got into college, trying to pay off his student loan debt as a waiter. After he graduated with a degree in commerce, he became a manager for the company.


    He wouldn¡¯t have made it if not for the kind couple running a thriving family-owned business.


    ¡°One last thing, and I¡¯m really sorry for imposing on you,¡± he continued with a hint of guilt. ¡°I hope that you will let me sleep in the storage room tonight, I¡­¡±


    His voice faltered. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t have anywhere else to go.¡±


    She winced. ¡°¡­I¡¯m afraid that won¡¯t be possible. Let me show you.¡±


    And she did. C?¡¯s eyes widened with surprise as the once spacious storage room of the diner was now entirely filled with all kinds of baggage and boxes, leaving almost no room for him. ¡°What happened¡­?¡±


    ¡°Supplies that we had purchased with a loan to expand our business. It was an idea we came up with to capitalize on the completion of the magical carriage system a few blocks away,¡± she replied with a hint of melancholy. ¡°Unfortunately¡­ our venture failed. Shortly after you were gone, our revenue suddenly plummeted. Customers started eating less for each meal and our revenues per customer fell significantly. Not only were we unable to scale our business, but we are also falling back on the monthly interest payments on the business loan that we took out.¡±


    C? frowned with a hint of surprise. ¡°Business isn¡¯t¡­ going well?¡±


    ¡°We are barely able to make ends meet with the heavy interest and falling income.¡± She heaved a sigh. ¡°I won¡¯t lie to you, C?. We are seriously considering selling the business and the plot in a few months. I don¡¯t know if we will be able to provide you with a job in the future. But you can work here for as long as we are able to keep things afloat.¡±


    C?¡¯s expression fell with severity.


    He could hear the pain in her voice.


    He hated to see the few people he cared about suffer from the cruel realities that the world thrust on them.


    ¡°¡­Why don¡¯t you spend the night at our home?¡± she wondered with a concerned expression.


    ¡°No, I cannot possibly impose on you and your family more given the burdens that you are already facing.¡± C? shook his head. ¡°I will manage. I promise. Thank you for the job. I will see you tomorrow at the same time.¡±


    Despite her strongest insistence, he refused her offer to stay at her home. He knew that things were probably a lot worse for them than she let on. He merely accepted the little bit of cash that she gave him for basic necessities.


    If he couldn¡¯t stay at the restaurant, then there was only one place left to go.


    The Colohen Slums.

 The Colohen Slums

    C? would be returning to the place that he had called home for much of his life.


    He gritted his teeth at the thought, clenching his fists. ¡°Damn it, I swore I would never return there.¡±


    And yet, he had no choice but to head back to the Colohen Slums.


    On foot.


    His eyes flared with hatred and rage as he took one last look at the police station behind him, before he set out walking in the direction of the outer districts of the city. He would not have been able to make the journey in less than a day if not for the fact that he was closer to the Colohen Slums than he was to the central districts of Colohen City.


    And even then, walking dozens of kilometers after being discharged from the hospital was truly testing.


    Even if muscle atrophy had been prevented with healing magic, his body hadn¡¯t seen any activity in half a year. He wheezed and stumbled through town unsteadily as passersby steered clear of him, entirely unwilling to be near what appeared to be a drunkard.


    The cityscape changed as he got closer and closer to the Colohen Slums on the outskirts of the city. The buildings grew shorter and smaller as their infrastructure lost their extravagance and ostentatious splendor.


    Most notedly, they lost their magic.


    The enchanted structures lost their magic the further he went away from the center and to the outskirts as the magical runes that could be spotted across their surfaces appeared less and less prominent.


    The residential areas became increasingly more common and frequent as he traveled past districts on his journey to the outskirts.


    Simultaneously, the residential communities rapidly grew less lavish and luxurious the closer and closer he got home. Homes and streets alike quickly grew smaller and smaller and magimobiles followed suit. The sidewalks were dirty and littered with piles of garbage bags.


    The further and further he went towards the slums of the city, the state of the civilization grew ever bleaker and more desolate at a grim rate.


    As did the people who lived there.


    One could almost measure the growing gloom in the eyes of the people in districts further away from the city center.


    Elendir was not kind to those who didn¡¯t have money and power, which was most people in the nation. A large proportion of its people were living paycheck to paycheck, barely able to sustain a living.


    C? was even worse off than them.


    He wheezed and stumbled about as he struggled to make his way to the outskirts of the city. Barely having gotten his hands on some water and some cheap food at a restaurant to sustain his needs, he finally reached his destination after many hours of walking.


    ¡°Huff¡­ Huff¡­¡± he panted as he fell to his knees, drenched in sweat. ¡°Finally¡­¡±


    He had arrived.


    The Colohen Slums.


    A fetid and putrid odor lingered in the air, courtesy of the open sewer that hadn¡¯t been maintained in many years. The narrowing road might as well not exist, having been eroded over the span of many years.


    The infrastructure was decrepit and rotten. The congested array of crumbling homes and makeshift huts and torn tents amidst the ill-maintained and overgrown flora was suffocating. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from many different parts of the district.


    That was the telltale sign of the Collohen Slums.


    These districts were disconnected from the magigrid, the network of mana that flowed through the overwhelming majority of districts, supplying mana to homes and other infrastructure that was part of the public sector.


    The Colohen Slums were entirely barren of the magigrid. They couldn¡¯t even turn a light bulb on due to the absence of the magigrid that supplied the needed energy. Hence, the only source of light and warmth were fires that polluted the air with smoke.


    The very air was unhealthy and toxic.


    And yet, all of it was all too familiar to C?.


    He had spent most of his life in this place, after all.


    He had spent most of his life trying to get out of this place.


    Only for the world to rob him of everything he had ever cultivated, sending him back to the slums.


    ¡°Damn it all.¡± He gritted his teeth as he walked right into the slums.


    The familiar sights, orders, and general vibes of the Colohen Slums resurfaced old instincts and habits that he had begun to shed in his time away from the slums.


    The slums were a dangerous place. These districts were almost entirely abandoned by the city¡¯s police department as a result of the absence of a magigrid, taxpayer funds, and any merits in policing an area that the mayor perceived as too much of a liability to spend any magicapita on. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    One was generally not protected by the law in these regions as a result.


    C? kept his head low and his pace quick, tucking his hands in his pockets, and keeping his gaze fixed on the path ahead of him.


    He walked with purpose, as though he had somewhere to be and was running late. It was to ensure he didn¡¯t project uncertainty. There were people who were constantly on the lookout for licks¡ªeasy targets to rob.


    He also averted eye contact with many individuals he saw in his peripheral vision. Staring at people could be regarded as a sign of aggression that could easily get him in a lot of trouble. There was no point in potentially antagonizing an entire gang.


    Living in the slums meant living in a state of constant alertness. Being able to study people from the corner of one¡¯s eyes without directly looking at them. Being able to project deterrence in the way one carried oneself. Being able to navigate not just the district but also the people living there.


    This was where he was going to live for the foreseeable future, where he would be living until he had enough money to afford a flat with some roommates in some of the posher districts of the city.


    He navigated the familiar and desolate landscape of the slums, keeping to himself entirely as he looked for places of shelter that weren¡¯t already occupied.


    CLACK¡­


    He found an old deserted hut with no signs of recent utility amid a sea of other homes and huts. A simple inspection revealed almost nothing of value aside from pieces of junk, half a broken cot, and a window or two.


    ¡°Good enough, for now.¡±


    C? quickly found some abandoned scraps of cloth, making makeshift curtains to give himself some privacy. He tried binding the door to its frame with some crumbling fabric and rope.


    It was hardly secure, but anyone forcing their way through would most likely wake him up.


    Or so he hoped.


    Even though he had lived his entire life in the slums, it didn¡¯t mean he was perfectly safe and fine in this environment.


    The slums could be especially dangerous to those who were perceived to be outsiders. Thankfully, he took that into account with the sweat-drenched and dirty clothes he had on after a long journey on foot to the Colohen Slums.


    ¡°None of this would be a problem if I still had my mana,¡± he muttered. ¡°None of this would be a problem if I knew how to cast magic.¡±


    With the power of magic, the slums would be entirely benign. Almost none of the people in the slums knew how to cast magic and wield mana. Hell, even if they did know, it wouldn¡¯t have even mattered for they had no mana in the first place.


    Not even he did, and he had spent a few years of his life as a part of the very lowest echelon of low middle class.


    Magic was an extraordinarily precious and powerful field that gave one immense power. Naturally, it was not something that would be disseminated far and wide. As far as he knew, only a minority of human civilization had gained mastery of magic.


    It was mostly the upper middle class and the rich. They possessed the wealth needed to purchase the magic that they needed or wanted, which made them among the majority of people who cast magic


    It was possible to get one¡¯s hands on magic by virtue of state authorization. Joining the government, via any branch, department, or organization, opened up an actual possibility of learning magic. Law enforcement, and the military in particular, was able to get its hands on magic far easier than others.


    The private sector also offered opportunities to learn magic of course. There were institutions, academies, and even colleges that offered courses that imparted magic knowledge and skill to its students, producing a stable influx of witches and wizards into the economy. The magic they learned was labor magic, which was hyper-specialized for their particular occupations.


    This included applications in medicine, information magitechnology, magitronics, and other important fields.


    And yet, these young mages still accounted for a small portion of the populace.


    Up until very recently, C? had very little interest in magic.


    For most of his life, his only goal was to live simply.


    It was a goal that didn¡¯t require magic.


    All he had once wanted was to live in peace, sleep comfortably, eat decent healthy food, and breathe clean air. He wanted to live without having to spend every second of every day alert for dangers and risks.


    Now, however, his maddening ambitions had subsumed the entire world.


    ¡°I need magic.¡±


    A fierce light appeared in his eyes.


    ¡°I need the power of magic if I want to destroy this world and build a new one in its place.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just enough to become rich and thus have a lot of mana.


    It wasn¡¯t enough to blindly accrue vast swathes of money.


    No.


    He needed to master how to deploy it in combat.


    Otherwise, there was no point in becoming the richest and most powerful man in the world.


    ¡°My path to the top of the world starts tomorrow.¡± He closed his eyes that had already grown heavy with drowsiness.


    And thus, he simply fell asleep.


    Despite having slept for six months in a row, he fell asleep like a baby. His body was so exhausted from the sheer emotional and physical exertion that he fell asleep the moment his eyes closed.


    Unfortunately, he had underestimated how much he stood out despite his familiarity with the Colohen Slums.


    That was a mistake.


    STEP¡­ STEP¡­ STEP¡­


    His eyes slowly opened as he was woken up by noise.


    The noise of someone rustling around in his new makeshift home.


    His eyes widened as he shot to his feet.


    SPLAT


    ¡°Ah!¡± C? grimaced as a blade slashed his skin, leaving a light cut behind as the boy who wielded it darted out of the hut as fast as he could with a handful of the cash that C? had gotten from Mrs. Selvig.


    ¡°Dammit, fucking thief!¡± C? cursed, rushing after the boy.


    By the time he got out, however, the boy had long gone.


    He gritted his teeth with frustration.


    Yet, he wasn¡¯t surprised.


    Theft was the most common crime in the slums and also the easiest to get away with. One needed to be a very light sleeper to make it in the slums, and that was a habit that C? had unlearned after moving away from the slums.


    He had also been extremely exhausted last night, causing him to fall asleep much earlier than he normally would, and sleep much heavier than he used to during his time living in the slums.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± He spat on the cut, before tying it up with a cloth. ¡°Brilliant way to start the day.¡±


    He glanced at the dark sky that had begun lighting in the horizon.


    Dawn had arrived.


    His second day since waking up from his coma.


    The first day in his journey to fulfilling his dream of becoming the most powerful man in all of Elendir.


    -

 Analysis and Diagnosis

    He handled the wound as well as he could, before preparing for his first day of work. Using part of what little cash he had left, he first purchased a little bit of water and food from a local shack in the slums. He tried freshening himself, washing himself with what little water he had left after quenching his thirst.


    This kind of lifestyle was unpleasantly nostalgic.


    He has lived most of his life in this fashion, for the most part. Clean water was a precious resource in the slums; it needed to be rationed and used carefully. Old habits started to return after he started to shake the rust off.


    Eventually, he was fully prepared for the next day of work.


    He left the slums two hours before his shift began. He needed to walk a good distance to reach the closest outer district of the City of Colohen and catch the city magibus that would take him all the way to the thirty-fifth district, where Selvig¡¯s Ristorante was located.


    He knew exactly when he needed to leave by to arrive at work on schedule.


    Courtesy of having done just that for years.


    The journey back to the thirty-fifth district was one that reversed the decay of civilization. The deeper into the city they moved, the greater civilization grew, reaching its former splendor that deigned not to grace the poorer residents of the city living in the outer half.


    The morning rush of the people heading to work clogged up the roads, lengthening the already long journey even more.


    It was only when he saw the flying magitrains ascending and descending in the sky that he knew was close to his destination.


    It was two hours before he finally reached Selvig¡¯s Ristorante on foot after deboarding the bus.


    The moment he arrived at the restaurant, he immediately noticed several things.


    ¡°There¡¯s an insane rush for this hour.¡± He frowned upon noting the large number of people that occupied every single seat in the open-aired diner.


    Back when he used to work here, there normally hadn¡¯t been that many people at this hour. It was most certainly a pleasant change, nonetheless. More customers were generally a good thing.


    Thus, it begged the question.


    ¡°Why are revenues plummeting?¡±


    He didn¡¯t understand.


    Yet, it was his second observation that shed light on the mystery of his first observation.


    ¡°They¡¯re ordering lent or cochil¡­¡± C?¡¯s eyes lit up at the realization.


    Lent and cochil were extremely popular warm beverages fashioned from different magical plant species. The former was brewed by boiling magical lent leaves and the latter by boiling cochil beans, resulting in two flavor profiles that had taken the world by storm for many centuries.


    More importantly, he wasn¡¯t able to spot a single dish on the table. Of course, it was entirely possible that people didn¡¯t eat heavy meals in the early morning, yet C? kept the intriguing observation in his mind.


    He immediately headed to Mrs. Selvig¡¯s office where she sat, crunching numbers on the restaurant¡¯s accounts with an expression of concern.


    ¡°Ah, C? my boy.¡± She got up. ¡°You¡¯ve come just on time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to get started on a good day of work, Mrs. Selvig.¡± C? nodded, keeping his expression schooled and composed. He didn¡¯t want to scare her with an angered scowl at the rotten day he was already having, not to mention the rotten life.


    ¡°Good, my dear. I will introduce you to the new staff later. For now, why don¡¯t you start by managing the supply deliveries? We¡¯re running low on cantleberries and mandeligs, additionally, we need more¡­¡± She rattled off some more requirements in rapid succession. ¡°Ah, that was too much to remember, let me note it down for you.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± C? reassured her. ¡°I remember every word.¡±


    He quickly assumed his former seat in a stall at the register¡¯s counter.


    Immediately, he jumped into work.


    From checking up on impending supplies and inventory management to billing meals, observing staff, and maintaining the accounts of the restaurant¡¯s revenue, he soon found his old tempo. Simultaneously, he continued studying the customers that ate at the place, making several more observations on them.


    All of them were dressed in semi-formal attire, clearly en route to work. That wasn¡¯t all. C? detected a faint hint of impatience in their conduct. He noticed that, in particular, they glanced at their magiwatches frequently.


    The crowd was large, and yet the customers left as quickly as they came, barely finishing a cup of coffee, if that.


    They didn¡¯t order a single dish, as if it simply wasn¡¯t worth their money.


    C? initially suspected that this was simply a morning matter.


    Surely, by lunch, people would order more solid food.


    Unfortunately, he was largely wrong.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Some customers certainly did have lunch, filling their bellies well and good with a long and slow meal.


    Most, however, didn¡¯t.


    They simply consumed a beverage before heading out in a hurry.


    The occasional person ordered an appetizer, but left the food half-eaten, as if they didn¡¯t even find it worth finishing despite having paid for it.


    It was a bizarre situation, and yet he understood what the problem actually looked like. They had gained an influx of customers, but for some reason that translated into lower revenues and fewer substantial orders.


    An entire day passed as he did his job while simultaneously observing the restaurant silently. He stuck around even after his shift ended, waiting until after the customers were finally done coming in. It was only after closing the shop did the Selvigs finally complete the formalities, quickly introducing him to the staff and registering him as a formal employee.


    ¡°C?, my boy.¡± Darren Selvig emerged from the restaurant kitchen, putting his chef¡¯s hat away as he regarded C? with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you after so long. My¡­ condolences for what happened.¡±


    The man loved eating food as much as he loved cooking it, having developed a paunch over the years. It was in sharp contrast to his wife Keela Selvig who was still as thin and fit as ever. The couple still glowed with warmth despite the cold blizzard that reality had thrust upon them.


    It wasn¡¯t too long before the three of them peered at the magiputer with a hint of anxiety. The screen of the enchanted artifact lit up with mana as C? navigated through the data stored within it.


    ¡°Four hundred and sixty customers in total¡­¡± C? murmured aloud. ¡°seventy thousand leenars in total across the entire day.¡±


    Instantly, their expressions darkened.


    That was half of what they needed.


    ¡°Dammit¡­¡± Mr. Selvig gritted his teeth. ¡°This is too little. At this rate¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe we need to spend more money on advertisements or improving food quality,¡± Mrs. Selvig mentioned with a hint of anxiety. ¡°I did notice that the few people who ate their food didn¡¯t finish it.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, my food is excellent,¡± the man grunted with a hint of indignation. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because we don¡¯t have enough staff catering to our customers. Or perhaps the ambience. We haven¡¯t refurbished the place in a while.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± C?¡¯s voice was firm. ¡°The problem is more fundamental. You have an enormous number of people coming in. They even take the time to read the long and extensive menu, but they still order only beverages. If the problem was the quality of your business, you would not have had such a large crowd of people entering.¡±


    The two of them stared at him with a hint of realization.


    C? shook his head inwardly. They were great people and good at their jobs within the business, but they didn¡¯t have a single bone of commercial acumen in them. His gaze shifted back to the enchanted device.


    His mind stirred as it computed all the observations he had made across the entire day with the results of the first day. Inferences upon inferences flooded his mind as it tried to worm its way to the underlying truth.


    He sensed he wasn¡¯t far.


    ¡°¡­Give me some more time,¡± he said with a stoic tone. ¡°I have an idea of what is happening. I just need a little bit more time to fully understand the big picture.¡±


    The two glanced at each other with a complicated expression. ¡°C?¡­ we have been seriously considering shutting down this restaurant and moving to a less popular district where the cost of living is cheaper.¡±


    ¡°Just give me a few days, and I promise that you won¡¯t regret it,¡± he vowed. ¡°That¡¯s all I ask.¡±


    His tone was steely with determination.


    His eyes flared with willpower.


    Intense emotional turmoil lingered deep within him.


    They simply stared at him for a moment.


    ¡°You¡¯ve¡­ changed,¡± Mrs. Selvig murmured. ¡°I felt it when you came in yesterday, but¡­ what happened to you?¡±


    His expression crumpled with intense rage for just a moment before he closed his eyes, suppressing it within him.


    A single word escaped him.


    ¡°Everything.¡±


    It took them aback.


    Mr. Selvig placed a hand on C?¡¯s shoulder with a hint of concern. ¡°I know you have¡­ suffered a lot, but if you ever need anyone to talk to, we¡¯re here.¡±


    C? nodded.


    ¡°As for the restaurant¡­¡± The man leaned back up with grim melancholy. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think we have any other choice, my boy. This¡­ has been happening for six months now. We have tried everything. Doubling the cooks. Increasing the cuisine range. Advertising. It¡­ hasn¡¯t helped.¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine, we¡¯re close to retiring age anyway. We¡¯ll just have to suck it up and¡ª¡±


    ¡°No.¡± C?¡¯s tone contained a sharp edge.


    One that stung.


    ¡°You can¡¯t.¡± He almost glared at Mr. Selvig. ¡°You can¡¯t shut this place down.¡±


    The air tingled.


    The atmosphere grew electric.


    ¡°All good things must come to an end, C?.¡± The man¡¯s tone grew heavy. ¡°You can¡¯t work here your entire life. Why are you so against it?¡±


    A hint of endless grief within C?¡¯s heart bubbled up to his face. ¡°You can¡¯t shut this place down because¡­ this is the place where I met Lilia.¡±


    The moment the words escaped him, a flood of memories washed through his mind. From the first moment they had met when he had been a simple waiter in the restaurant to the familiarity that had grown between them over the many months that she had visited the restaurant twice a day¡­ The growing conversations that they had come to have and her mirthful laughter at his awkward attempts to flirt with her.


    And their first date in this very restaurant. The Selvigs had put his tab on the house due to the fact that he was too poor to afford paying for the meal that he had treated her.


    This place meant a lot to him.


    ¡°I won¡¯t allow¡­¡± A whisper escaped him. ¡°I won¡¯t allow this place to shut down.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡­¡± Mrs. Selvig teared up as she pulled him into a deep hug. ¡°You are such a sweet boy.¡±


    Mr. Selvig¡¯s expression grew profoundly melancholic. It wasn¡¯t as though he was particularly happy about shutting the restaurant that he had started with his wife. In many ways, this restaurant was like the child that they had never had.


    It broke his heart to have to consider shutting it down.


    It had taken him months of financial straits to actually overcome his repulsion to the idea, and he still hated himself for the fact that he had accepted the possibility of shutting down his restaurant.


    C?¡¯s words simply rubbed salt in his wounds, but they also reignited a spark of his will to do what it took.


    ¡°C?¡­ you really think you can fix this?¡± the man asked with a solemn tone.


    In that moment, C? understood that he was being given a chance.


    Perhaps the final chance for a place that held a lot of memories for him.


    ¡°I will.¡±


    His voice was one of intense determination and willpower.


    The couple exchanged glances before turning back to C?.


    ¡°Then, we will let you give it a shot.¡±


    They felt strange changing their minds on some of the most important decisions and placing their trust in a young man who promised to fix their problems.


    And yet, their instincts told them they were right to trust him.

 The Meatbun

    Having earned their trust, C?¡¯s determination surged as he went all out, trying to identify the problem with the restaurant over the next few days. The capacity for thought he had gained due to his Acquired Savant Syndrome was put to good use as he dedicated all of it for the sake of figuring out what was wrong.


    First, he continued observing the customers that patronized the restaurant, cataloguing all of them mentally. Over the span of a week, he started focusing on patterns that were continuously recurring while he pondered the possibilities for why the restaurant was struggling to earn despite the influx of customers.


    And one by one, he ruled out possibilities.


    The first possibility he ruled out was food quality.


    Selvig¡¯s Ristorante had great reviews on the maginet as far as food quality went, and having worked in the restaurant for years now, he knew that the food Mr. Selvig cooked was beyond phenomenal.


    Over the span of twenty years, they had come to grow a popular local brand thanks to the phenomenal taste of their food. All it took was tasting a bit of their food to verify that it had not only not gotten worse, but had also gotten better¡ªthe Selvigs had put in the effort to improve the quality of their food in hopes that it would bring more customers.


    Another possibility C? ruled out was lowered spending thresholds.


    Interest rates were low and the economy was doing fine. Additionally, the custom-tailored suits and expensive magical artifacts of the majority of customers who limited themselves to purchasing beverages indicated that their spending threshold on food was probably not low.


    He could also rule out environmental factors, as they were entirely willing to consume beverages.


    Thus, it begged the question.


    ¡°Why are there almost no sales for any of the food items?¡±


    That was when he remembered one of the very earliest observations he had made.


    One that he had made when he entered the restaurant on his very first day.


    One that had slipped his entire mind.


    ¡°None of them remained for more than fifteen minutes.¡± Realization dawned on C?.


    It was not something that people normally kept track of, but C? did. Not a single one of the customers stuck around for longer than ten minutes.


    Was that a coincidence?


    C? recalled what Mrs. Selvig had told him a few days ago when she met him for the first time after his accident.


    It was an idea we came up with to capitalize on the completion of the flying magitrain system a few blocks away.


    ¡°Flying magitrain system¡­ fifteen minute time cap¡­¡± C? murmured as his eyes lit up with understanding. ¡°This¡­ this might be it.¡±


    He immediately darted to the manager¡¯s office. ¡°Mrs. Selvig!¡±


    The elder woman was taken aback by his enthusiastic calls, the wrinkles on her face accentuating with her frown. ¡°What is it, my boy?¡±


    ¡°How long is the wait for the flying magitrain system between landing and take-off?¡± he asked with optimism in his voice.


    She frowned at the mundane question that had apparently gotten him so worked up.


    Yet, she didn¡¯t deny him the answer.


    ¡°Fifteen minutes, why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°That must be it,¡± C? declared. ¡°Your customers¡­ they¡¯re not buying your food because the time it takes for it to be prepared and eaten exceeds their waiting time. Your restaurant is a proper diner where large quantities of food are prepared freshly from scratch. However, if each customer is capped at fifteen minutes, then they can¡¯t order your food and make it in time.¡±


    She fell into thought as she contemplated this possibility for the first time.


    ¡°You hoped to expand because you had predicted that the arrival of the flying magitrain system would bring you more customers, and you were right,¡± C? informed her with an energetic tone. ¡°However, you miscalculated because you didn¡¯t account for the shift in the nature of consumer demand. Demand for restaurants in this particular locality did indeed increase, but that was demand for fast and convenient food. Not a wholesome diner that serves wonderful fresh food that takes quite some time.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ makes sense,¡± she realized. ¡°Goodness, when you put all of it together like that, it really is that simple, isn¡¯t it? Silly us.¡±


    In reality, it was simple because C? explained simply. Sifting through the keen observations and systematically exploring and refuting each possibility all within the span of a few days was something that very few people would have naturally gone out of their way to do without any prompting of any sort.


    ¡°What do we do¡­?¡± Mrs. Selvig murmured to herself, concerned. ¡°If we had known this before, then we could have comfortably handled it. But now¡­¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    She feared it was too late.


    They were this close to shutting down the entire place.


    She didn¡¯t know if it was possible to turn things around this late in the game when they had already undertaken a lot of magical debt that was starting to suffocate them already.


    ¡°Everything can be fixed.¡±


    C?¡¯s voice firmly cut through her thoughts, drawing her attention. ¡°Just give me a chance to come up with a solution.¡±


    She gazed at him with a complex expression, before heaving a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this problem can be fixed at this point, C?. Frankly, we have already taken as many risks as we are able to with our previous business loan. So, unless your plans are entirely devoid of any monetary expenses, then¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t an easy condition to adhere to.


    And yet, it wasn¡¯t enough to deter him.


    ¡°I have a vision for the future of the restaurant, a vision where we overcome this problem and all your financial problems are fixed,¡± C? calmly informed her. ¡°I believe that this vision can be achieved. However, I¡¯ll let the two of you be the judge of that. All I ask is that you give me a chance to present my vision to the two of you.¡±


    Mrs. Selvig gazed deeply into his steely gray eyes.


    A smile cracked at the edge of her mouth.


    ¡°I thought you had changed, but you haven¡¯t.¡±


    A bittersweet smile emerged on her face. ¡°Your eyes still have the same drive and fire they had six years ago when you came into our restaurant determined to get a part-time job.¡±


    C?¡¯s expression softened. ¡°Back then, you hired me as a waiter even though you didn¡¯t need one, all because you didn¡¯t have the heart to turn me away. Now, I wish to repay that favor by helping you when you need it the most.¡±


    Her smile grew warm. ¡°Oh, you sweet boy. I don¡¯t know what the future holds for us, C?. But I promise that we will give your vision for the future of our restaurant serious consideration.¡±


    C? nodded seriously. ¡°That¡¯s all I ask for.¡±


    And thus, he got to work and fleshed out his own vision. It wasn¡¯t easy completing all of it on a short schedule when he knew that the Selvigs were seriously considering shutting down the restaurant that very month.


    Coming up with an elaborate and rigorous business strategy within the span of a single day or two to present a compelling and effective vision for the future was not easy.


    And yet, he did it.


    What surprised even him was that the most time-consuming part was not the actual brainstorming and detail-fleshing sessions. The most time-consuming part was actually creating the physical presentation that would allow the Selvigs to comprehend his vision as easily as possible.


    The actual solution itself was not nearly as difficult as he had expected.


    He understood why this was the case.


    ¡°My Acquired Savant Syndrome.¡±


    It changed the way he thought about business and commerce. A field that he had chosen to get a degree in only because it had the lowest barrier of entry. And even then, he had never been a remarkable student nor had he demonstrated an innate talent or knack for business or commerce.


    And yet, after he had been diagnosed with his Acquired Savant Syndrome, the very way that he thought about business and commerce had been changed at its very root.


    He felt that when he pondered about what was possible, it was as though his mind expanded to become a microcosm unto itself. A microcosm of ideas, possibilities, chances, and potential.


    He was flooded with creativity and imagination.


    So much so that it took effort to bring himself back down to Alaria.


    And by the time he came down, he had already discovered the solution. Now, the only task left was to convince the Selvig couple.


    ¡°And that is precisely what I¡¯m endeavoring to do in this little presentation,¡± C? informed the two of them.


    They sat before him, their  curious expressions laced with optimism and skepticism.


    They had a lot of affection for C?, but it was truly difficult for them to get their hopes up after six months of plummeting revenue despite all the measures that they had taken. As much as they liked C?, they weren¡¯t necessarily convinced that he was capable of solving all their problems.


    ¡°In order to convince you of my solution to the problem of plummeting sales,¡± C? began, ¡°I will begin by fleshing out the entirety of the problem in a more thorough fashion.¡±


    He flipped the first sheet on his little presentation stand, presenting a graph that plotted the restaurant¡¯s revenues over the past six months versus customer visits.


    It also featured a graph of monthly expenditure, which had increased ever since they had taken out a business loan for a failed venture, resulting in heavy interest rates that they were just barely managing to pay off.


    And lastly, it featured expenditure that was increasingly becoming a liability on the balance sheets. Much of the raw ingredients and other wholesale food supplies that they were accustomed to purchasing had begun sitting in their inventory as their food sales dropped.


    Many of the cooks and chefs that they had hired were also becoming a burden due to falling food orders and falling revenue.


    ¡°These are all the problems and liabilities that the restaurant is facing,¡± C? explained. ¡°The liabilities are certainly problematic, but they are not the central problem. The most important problem that requires a very fundamental solution is this.¡±


    He tapped on the graph of growing customer visits versus falling revenues. ¡°This requires a very fundamental shift. It requires a new rehashed business strategy that thoroughly addresses the most central reason for falling revenue¡ªthe food preparation time.¡±


    He shifted to the next page which featured a bar graph for the dozens of food items that the restaurant supplied and how long, roughly, each took to prepare.


    The fifteen-minute mark was marked with a horizontal line.


    Not a single one of the items that the restaurant offered could be prepared within fifteen minutes, save for beverages that were now the most ordered item on the menu because the customers knew that it could be prepared very rapidly.


    ¡°This needs to change,¡± C? announced. ¡°That is a fundamental and inescapable conclusion and unless you have some revolutionary way to halve the food preparation time, then the solution that I¡¯m about to prepare is the only solution.¡±


    He took out a magical quill, ruthlessly crossing out each and every one of the dozens of items on the menu.


    All except for one.


    Mr. Selvig¡¯s eyes widened with shock. ¡°You want to get rid of all the food items from my kitchen except for the meat bun?!¡±


    The air tingled with tension.


    The man was not pleased by this. ¡°These are recipes that I learned from my mother! These are recipes that I have worked on for years to improve! You want to just get rid of them?!¡±


    The atmosphere boiled tumultuously as Mr. Selvig lost his temper at the radical changes that C? was proposing.

 Commencing the Plan of Action

    Despite having angered Mr. Selvig, C? remained calm even. Mrs. Selvig tried calming her husband down with a concerned expression.


    ¡°Mr. Selvig, I understand that you are attached to the recipes,¡± C? began. ¡°But if you give me a chance, I¡¯d like to convince you of the merits of my reasoning.¡±


    The man regained some composure due to C?¡¯s calm tone and demeanor, yet the indignantly knit eyebrows remained furrowed as he folded his arms.


    ¡°The reasoning for my choice is rather simple,¡± C? explained with an erudite tone. ¡°As you can see, the meat bun is the only dish that is closest to being prepared within fifteen minutes.¡±


    He tapped on its bar graph, sitting at just slightly above fifteen minutes.


    ¡°Of all the dishes in the entirety of the menu of the restaurant, this dish is the only dish that can potentially fulfill the condition of being prepared within fifteen minutes,¡± C? continued. ¡°And the easiest, simplest, most cost-effective, and most revenue-positive way of bringing it within the required timeframe is to get rid of all the other dishes and make this dish your one and only item.¡±


    He turned towards Mr. C? with clear eyes. ¡°By getting rid of all the other dishes, the time needed to prepare this one dish will reduce significantly due to a drastically reduced preparatory load which allows for greater preparations into this one dish. Furthermore, with just one dish, you can begin preparing it even before the orders come.¡±


    There would only be one dish to order, after all.


    This would drastically reduce the time needed to serve the dish to a customer that ordered the dish.


    ¡°By my estimates¡­¡± C? flipped the sheet to the next one that displayed a before-and-after preparatory timeframe. ¡°The meat bun can potentially be prepared anywhere within five and seven minutes with the changes that I have proposed.¡±


    Mrs. Selvig¡¯s eyes lit up with a hint of optimism while Mr. Selvig stirred in his seat thoughtfully.


    ¡°Furthermore, if we are also able to supply special packaging that will make it convenient for our clients to eat it while moving without getting their hands dirty, then we will further increase the appeal of restaurant¡¯s food,¡± C? explained as he highlighted several design concepts that he had worked on to convey an idea of what he had in mind.


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t the only benefits,¡± C? continued, moving to the next page. ¡°There are several other additional merits and benefits to this proposed plan such as¡­¡±


    He tapped on several graphs and pie charts.


    ¡°¡­Lowered supplies costs, lowered labor costs, lower storage and inventory consumption, and lower food waste.¡±


    This was something that was truly attractive to both Selvigs.


    With revenue tanking and interest payments on their bad loan also sitting on top of all their other expenditures, the prospect of drastically cutting costs without compromising revenue was music to their ears.


    ¡°From the customer¡¯s perspective, the diversity of the food on the menu is not a positive,¡± C? explained. ¡°Your customer dynamics have changed. Ever since the flying magitrain system came in, your closest and greatest customer influx has been people traveling from the City of Colohen to other cities. These people are just looking for a quick and convenient meal.¡±


    He flipped to the next page, which featured a report on the sales of real estate in the entire district.


    ¡°Many of the closest residential homes have been sold by their former owners when prices for real estate in this district spiked due to being close to the new flying magitrain system,¡± C? pointed out. ¡°This means that many of your oldest regular customers are simply no longer around, as I¡¯m sure you have noticed. Your consumer market dynamics have changed and you will need to change if you wish to remain competitive.¡±


    His words truly struck a chord with them.


    They might not have liked some of the changes that C? was proposing, but after having heard his clear and objective rationales for them, they could not deny that they were the most logical and rational options.


    And yet, human beings were not rational creatures.


    ¡°C?¡­¡± Mr. Selvig shook his head. ¡°There are some things I just can¡¯t compromise on. These recipes¡­ They mean a lot to me. They are the only thing I have left of my mother after I came back from the army.¡±


    The man was a veteran who had spent several years serving in the Elendir military. He had lost his mother during that time period.


    ¡°Those dishes that you plan to scrap are dishes of love. They were recipes of my childhood, dishes that hold a dear place in my heart.¡± His tone grew melancholic. ¡°I cannot replace all of them with something as trivial as a meat bun.¡±


    A profound smile appeared on C?¡¯s face.


    ¡°That trivial meat bun was my salvation.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Mr. Selvig¡¯s eyes widened at his powerful words.


    C?¡¯s bittersweet smile deepened as his mind revisited an endless ocean of memories. ¡°You probably never realized it, but that dish that you call trivial is one of the warmest memories I harbor after leaving the slums. I remember how you would prepare it for me often after I came to visit the store after school. I remember how much love you put into it just for me.¡±


    Mr. Selvig¡¯s expression softened as he recalled those old days. ¡°Hmph, you remember something so insignificant¡­¡±


    ¡°It was everything to me. I still remember savoring the juicy and tasty flavors of the meat. I still remember how soft and warm the bun used to be.¡± C? closed his eyes as his powerful imagination manifested the dish and its taste in his mind. ¡°That meat bun is not trivial, Mr. Selvig.¡±


    He opened his eyes, directing a powerful gaze at the man. ¡°It holds a special place in my heart. And it has the power to win over everybody who gives it a chance. All I¡¯m asking is that you give it a chance.¡±


    Mr. Selvig heaved a soft sigh, smiling at C? with a hint of resignation. ¡°Since when did you gain such a silver tongue?¡±


    C? smiled wryly, maintaining his silence.


    Mr. Selvig sighed again. ¡°Even if I agree to this plan, C?, we don¡¯t have the capital needed to make such deep and sweeping changes in business strategy this late in the game. We are already on our final legs when it comes to this restaurant. We can¡¯t take any more business loans, either. Not until we have paid off our existing obligations.¡±


    That was indeed a stumbling block.


    The fact of the matter was that everything needed magicapita. They simply didn¡¯t have the money to change their business model much without eating deep into their retirement savings.


    ¡°Then¡­¡± C?¡¯s voice grew more determined. ¡°Let me take the loan. While I won¡¯t be eligible to take a large amount, we won¡¯t need a large amount for the changes that I have proposed, as not all of them require money. I should be able to secure enough to fully complete all the changes to the restaurant.¡±


    This time it was Mrs. Selvig who objected. ¡°Absolutely not! You are too young to be taking such debts on your shoulder for a business that isn¡¯t even yours. We cannot allow you to undertake our financial burdens!¡±


    C? smiled at her with heartfelt warmth. ¡°You saved me when I needed it the most. Now, allow me to repay the favor to you.¡±


    Mr. Selvig interjected before his wife could shoot him down again. ¡°I am willing to accept on one condition.¡±


    C? raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°You will gain half the ownership of the restaurant and half of the profits,¡± he declared.


    C?¡¯s eyes widened at that suggestion. ¡°That¡¯s too much!¡±


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t,¡± Mr. Selvig replied, smiling at him. ¡°This restaurant is dying, and if your plan succeeds, then it will live only thanks to you. You will have given it a second life by investing your money into it. You will have gained moral rights to the outcomes of the restaurant. It is perfectly fair and just.¡±


    Mrs. Selvig¡¯s eyes lit up as she too realized that her husband¡¯s suggestion was actually good. ¡°I think¡­ you are just right, Daren!¡±


    C? stared at the elderly couple that gazed at him expectantly, breaking into yet another smile.


    He didn¡¯t know he could still feel such warmth after everything that had happened to him.


    ¡°Then, I accept your offer.¡± C?¡¯s eyes grew determined. ¡°I will apply for a business loan that will help us change this restaurant¡¯s business strategy in return for partial ownership over the company.¡±


    ¡°Oh my dear boy¡­ Welcome to the family business!¡± Mrs. Selvig pulled him in for a warm hug.


    C? grinned. ¡°Thank you for having me. I have no doubt that we will be able to revive the restaurant and make it a hit.¡±


    He was truly enthusiastic about joining the Selvig restaurant as part owner. He hadn¡¯t expected that Mr. Selvig would make such a fair counter-offer without batting down his offer, ensuring that it was a win-win.


    What C? was doing was truly risky and dangerous, but he truly harbored a profound level of confidence in his plan. When he closed his eyes he could very vividly imagine the success as though he was experiencing it in the present.


    Ever since he woke up in the hospital, his capacity for imagination had grown greater and greater, allowing him to picture anything he desired with astounding detail and clarity.


    The more vividly he could picture them, the more certain he grew of them.


    That was why he was extremely certain about the success of this restaurant that held a special place in his heart.


    ¡°Well.¡± His clear gray eyes opened, directing a determined gaze at the old couple. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, then let¡¯s begin with this plan starting tomorrow.¡±


    And they did.


    The very next day, C? applied for a small business loan. The Selvigs even bumped his income up so that he would be eligible for a larger sum. A week later, his application was approved and he got his hands on a loan of five million leenars, which was most certainly a hefty lump sum of money.


    And thus, C? was made partner in Selvig¡¯s Ristorante while all those funds were immediately dumped into reshaping the business model. C? even began managing the supply chain of necessary ingredients, negotiating deals with suppliers to cancel existing supply contracts with agricultural suppliers for ingredients that were no longer necessary.


    Simultaneously, he redirected the partial cash-backs that he was able to get and the loan funds to bumping supplies needed for mass-producing meat buns. They also commissioned the purchase of additional culinary magitechnology needed to increase the production of meat buns from the kitchen.


    Additionally, they also commissioned artists and merchants to acquire the production of special meat bun wrappers that allowed them to be consumed without dirtying one¡¯s hands or spilling food around.


    They even commissioned posters and a new restaurant board featuring a light meat bun logo.


    Naturally, this took time.


    Time that they could just barely afford, thanks to the loan that C? had taken, keeping the place afloat despite their falling revenues. They needed to pay their waiters and waitresses, as well as their cooks, their salary in order to keep them around while the restaurant underwent its transformation.


    The transformation was far from smooth, of course.


    There were plenty of small complications that arose all the time. On the supply side, plenty of suppliers refused to cancel an existing contract. There were also delays from the artists making the billboards and posters and delays in the supplies of culinary magical artifacts that were needed to produce meat buns in a short amount of time.


    And yet, not only did the original plan account for these complications, C?¡¯s divergent thinking and imagination allowed him to overcome them with creative solutions, successfully overcoming every single roadblock.

 Magic

    ¡°Here you go, lad.¡± Mr. Selvig threw a book at C? one day.


    ¡°Woah¡­¡± C? caught it, perplexed. ¡°What¡¯s this¡­?¡±


    Mr. Selvig grinned. ¡°It¡¯s a book about magic.¡±


    C? shook where he stood as eyes widened with shock. ¡°What¡­?¡±


    He turned the book slowly to its front with quaking hands. Faded as the title¡¯s magiprinted lettering was, it was still very legible.


    [The Foundations of Magic]


    ¡°You had mentioned in our talks in the past few months that you wanted to learn magic, right?¡± the older man said. ¡°Well, there you go. That was the guide that I managed to sneak with me when I was discharged from the magic corps. This was before the Twilight Rebellion many years ago, so security was quite lax back then. You won¡¯t be able to get your hands on something this special these days.¡±


    C? understood the value of this book more than anyone else.


    Although everybody possessed some tiny speck of mana at bare minimum, most people didn¡¯t know how to wield magic. It was a godly power of the elite, wielded by only a small portion of the human population.


    Any and all knowledge of magic was special.


    It was not something that you could get through open public channels.


    On top of that, its spread was controlled by the magical association and was even partially regulated by the Ministry of Magical Affairs of the Elendir government in accordance with the provisions of the Magical Rules and Regulations Act of 1016.


    That was why getting his hands on this book was nothing short of a boon for C?.


    ¡°Mr. Selvig¡­¡± His eyes flashed with pure gratitude. ¡°How can I even begin to repay you for¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, lad.¡± Mr. Selvig shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t just give it to you out of interest. I also gave it to you out of concern.¡±


    C? stiffened. ¡°¡­Whatever could you be talking about?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t play stupid with me, lad,¡± the old man snorted. ¡°You may have fooled my wife, but I was in the army. You can¡¯t hide those wounds from me.¡±


    His eyes swept over C?, noting well-hidden bruises, cuts, and wounds. ¡°¡­This is from the slums in the past few months, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    C?¡¯s expression grew grim.


    After his return to the slums months ago, he had failed to blend in and keep himself out of danger.


    While old instincts and habits for his safety and concern returned, he simply wasn¡¯t as adept at living in this environment like he had been prior to the five years spent away from there.


    Partly because he had wanted to actively unlearn all those habits.


    Why would he want to sleep lightly in order to wake up at the blink of an eye to danger when he could sleep deeply in a safe and secure home? The same was true for a lot of different habits that he had cultivated and then actively unlearned.


    And now, that decision had come back to bite him in the ass.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ll be able to learn with just the foundations, but¡­ I know you¡¯ve changed a lot after you woke up. You¡¯ve gotten sharper. And your mind¡­ you¡¯ve grown so much brighter than before,¡± Mr. Selvig remarked. ¡°I have a feeling that¡­ we might see a surprise. It¡¯s a pity that there¡¯s no one to teach you, though.¡±


    ¡°What about you and Mrs. Selvig¡­?¡± C? wondered aloud. ¡°I have seen you use magic, even if only on very small stuff, from time to time. You used to be in the military, too! Can¡¯t you teach me magic?¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t touched that stuff since before you were born, C?. Not since I started this restaurant. We can barely do the most basic stuff, but if you¡¯re serious about your ambition to learn magic, then inheriting our many, many flaws will be bad for you. It will be best if you find yourself a teacher. You could even enter some of the magicademies around the nation if you truly wanted to.¡±


    C? wasn¡¯t too optimistic about that.


    Magicademies were notoriously difficult to get into. They were usually very expensive, and often came with some strings attached if he successfully gained a scholarship.


    There was no such thing as a free lunch; nobody would just foot the bill to produce a mage without anything in return. Scholarships were usually accompanied with decade-long work contracts from whichever party offered to foot the bill.


    Even banks that offered student loans for magicademies demanded magical labor for highly extended periods in return. If he applied to the national universities that were among the most prestigious in the entire nation, he would need to commit to extensive periods of governmental services.


    The only other hope was being taken on by a Mage as an apprentice, but that was even more unlikely.


    ¡°Well, you can think about it in the future.¡± The elder man shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere until this project of transforming the restaurant is complete.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    C? nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true. Thankfully, we¡¯re in the final stretch. Just another two weeks, and we will be done. Though, there is plenty of work to be done even after. I suppose for now I will have to be content with just this book.¡±


    ¡°As long as you get that, have at it.¡±


    C? did just that. He excitedly finished his work for the day, managing supplies of food ingredients, art, posters, while tracking customer activity. And when he was finally done for the day, he quickly buried himself in the book with alacrity.


    [Introduction]


    [Magic.


    A power that allows one¡¯s imagination and willpower to bend reality. A tremendous power that has come to shape the modern world with its titanic impact on human civilization. In this book, we will explore the foundations of magic not just as a phenomenon, but also as a vast field of human pursuit.


    We will explore the many ways that magic can be categorized based on operations, requirements, and applications, among other things. We will also explore the fundamental laws of governing magic and later even introduce the tenets of mana cultivation.


    This book will only explore the basics and foundations and is not meant to serve as a means to actually master magic at all¡­]


    C? impatiently swept to the first chapter, unwilling to read the boring drawl in the introduction.


    [Chapter one: The Fundamental Phenomenon of Magic]


    [In this chapter, we will explore the very core phenomenon underlying all magic without exception. To do that, we must first uncover the very nature of reality itself.


    All reality is comprised of two fundamental aspects: Form and Physicality.


    Form refers to the information that describes any given phenomena while physicality refers to the existential substance that operates in accordance to the information of the form. Any without both is not real and is not subject to causality.


    Magic is the process of warping reality by creating the form of the magic, known as eidos, in the mind through imagination and memory and imbuing the eidos with mana, which serves as physicality, through the force of willpower. The convergence of eidos and mana results in the birth of reality known as magic.]


    C?¡¯s eyes widened with shock at this simple but stunning revelation. ¡°Form and physicality¡­¡±


    His tone betrayed the wonder that hid beneath it.


    ¡°Magic is truly magical.¡± His face lit up with amazement.


    Thus far, his drive to learn magic had always been entirely because he deemed it a necessary tool for his quest to destroy and rebuild the world as he saw fit.


    And yet, comprehending magic for the first time ignited a different fire from within him.


    One of passion.


    ¡°I¡­¡± A faint whisper escaped him. ¡°I want to learn magic.¡±


    Simultaneously, the grief, hatred, and anger he felt at the world erupted within his newfound passion.


    ¡°I need to learn magic.¡± His gray eyes flared with an intensity that he kept hidden from the Selvigs.


    And yet, he now found himself thrilled at the prospects of having learned it.


    ¡°More¡­¡± A hungry murmur escaped. ¡°I need more.¡±


    The next chapter moved on to a topic that very naturally followed the first chapter.


    [Mastery of Eidos]


    [As explained in the first chapter, the eidos is the information detailing the form of magic, dictating how the magic will manifest, interact, and appear in reality. The actual information exists exclusively within the mind as a three-dimensional image overlapping with the real world and can be created in many, many ways. Let us explore some of them in this chapter¡­]


    C?¡¯s eyes lit up as the second chapter of Foundations of Magic explored the various ways in which mages created the eidos.


    A lot of forms of eidos mastery boiled down to memory.


    Strongly associating an eidos with a particular external trigger such as a magical circle constructed out of runes linked to special images in the caster¡¯s mind or incantations associated with said trigger that one say aloud to trigger an associated memory. C? grew fascinated that one could even create eidos with a pattern of body movements!


    ¡°Wow¡­¡± he whispered in fascination. ¡°Mages are so incredible for inventing so many creative ways to create form for their magic. But¡­ why not just create the eidos out of pure imagination and thought?¡±


    Visualizing extremely vivid, clear, and detailed images had become child¡¯s play for him ever since he woke up in the hospital. It helped with creating his plan for the restaurant, fleshing out the details, and foreseeing unforeseeable problems.


    ¡°Maybe it doesn¡¯t work if you create it out of imagination or thought?¡± He frowned as he read on.


    Much to his surprise, as if anticipating his questions, the book readily supplied the answer.


    [Creating eidos out of imagination and thought alone is almost impossible simply because of how extraordinarily difficult it is. While one might think that it is simply easy to visualize things in one¡¯s head and have them materialize in the real world with mana, in reality, visualizing detailed and clear images with the level of precision and consistency needed for it to serve as an eidos through pure imagination on the spot is extremely difficult to do.


    The average person cannot even begin to visualize high-definition three-dimensional eidos with a lot of information contained in them limited to vague blurs and flashes that are fleeting and do not last very long.


    Ultimately, is it too difficult for the conscious mind to be able to visualize the level of detail and the amount of information needed to constitute an eidos through spontaneous imagination and thought alone.]


    C? frowned. ¡°Really? Too difficult?¡±


    He had gained a decent amount of mana in his body in the past few months thanks to having come to own magicapita in the form of currency from his salary and his loan in addition to profits of the restaurant.


    ¡°I wonder if I can¡­¡± He turned to a sheet of paper at his desk.


    As he gazed at it, his imagination overlapped his vision, picturing it burning. He exerted himself, closing his eyes as he visualized even the finest details of the magic. He could see how the fire enveloped the paper, burning it as it turned the white paper black, as it curled and began crumbling. He visualized with immense detail how the plumes of smoke erupted from the fire. He pictured, with deep clarity, the flickering and glowing form of the flame consuming the paper.


    And it was just that, an empty image in his mind.


    ¡°It needs physicality¡­¡± he realized. ¡°It needs mana.¡±


    He recalled what the book had told him.


    ¡°Imbuing eidos with mana through the force of willpower.¡± His eyes flared with determination as he let both his burning determination to master magic and his newfound passion for it drive the mana within his body to the empty form of the flame consuming the paper.


    What followed shook him.


    FWOOSH!


    The paper burst into fire as the quivering flames burned it to ash.


    Just as he had imagined.