NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 5
Good news. At the age of seven, in the spring, I saw “magic” for the first time.
When it comes to magic, it is the quintessential element of fantasy, active not only in TRPGs but also in countless fantasy stories.
It heals wounds, wards off enemies, soothes nature, and creates valuable medicines.
In every world, magic is regarded as important and has played a significant role. To tell the truth, I myself have often created and portrayed characters who wield such magic.
There’s the slightly intelligent village boy magician who becomes an adventurer chasing after his childhood friend, the exiled magic swordsman turned adventurer to earn a living after being expelled from his village, or the doctor who becomes an adventurer at the age of forty to extend the lifespan of their short-lived artificial life companion.
In these stories, magic proves useful in various scenarios and at times becomes the source of commotion. I already knew from certain stats that such a wondrous entity as magic existed in this world…
Unfortunately, in this particularly harsh setting, it was treated as an exceedingly rare skill.
It was the beginning of spring. The harsh winter had ended, the snow had melted, and the warm soil was ready to be tilled as prayers were made to the God of Fertility for the year’s safety. There was a modest feast being held, along with a party in the village square, but it was during this event that I saw magic.
However, it wasn’t particularly impressive magic. This occurred at a small market set up by a caravan that had arrived, capitalizing on the festival atmosphere to make some extra coins. Among the merchants attached to the caravan was an old man who served as both a scribe and a sorcerer. He reached into a small pouch, took out some powder, and produced fireworks. Such performances are typically commissioned by deputies or clergymen and constitute one source of income for sorcerers.
At that moment, I had high expectations. I thought perhaps the acquisition of magic skills would be unlocked like other technologies.
However, it didn’t happen.
Good news quickly turned to bad. I mingled with the children who excitedly begged to witness more magic and asked how one could acquire such skills. The old sorcerer then taught me, in a rather cruel way, the cold truth.
“So… young master, how many moons do you see?”
In response to his smile and question, I, like the other children, replied “one.”
Ah, wait. Come to think of it, among the names of locked magical skills whose details I couldn’t read, quite a few were related to the moon. So does that mean sorcerers can see a second moon, or even more?
However, he didn’t give me a specific answer related to the moon. Instead, he smiled pityingly and patted my head. The other children called me strange and left to go to other stalls, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave.
“Well, just wait a moment. I have work to do, you see.”
The old man must have been a good person since he didn’t drive me away and gave me his attention after finishing his fireworks display.
After cleaning his palm with a canteen and a handkerchief, he took out a well-used pipe and began to fill it with tobacco with practiced ease. As he did, he started to speak.
“Young master, what you saw earlier wasn’t magic, but sorcery. Either way, it’s not something you can master overnight.”
“What do you mean?”
When I asked, the old man lit his fingertip with fire, transferred it to the pipe, and lit the tobacco. Then he smiled.
“Can you tell the difference between magic and sorcery?”
Admitting I don’t know is the first step toward wisdom. Although I had some imaginings, I shook my head without presenting unfounded theories.
“Sorcery uses the elements of nature, while magic distorts nature itself.”
This somewhat abstract explanation can be roughly understood as such: Sorcery utilizes the mana, a kind of fuel that flows within our bodies, to trigger chemical reactions. Magic, on the other hand, uses mana to distort the rules that govern the world — for instance, the concept of gravity that causes objects to be pulled downwards.
The flame the old man lit on his finger, for instance, was a chemical reaction labeled “combustion” versus the concept of “burning,” leading to entirely different results.
The sorcery flame burns tobacco leaves inside the pipe, chars the pipe itself, consumes the surrounding oxygen, and ultimately returns to a chemical reaction.
For magic, if the old man’s intention was solely to burn the tobacco leaves, then only those leaves would burn, without charring the pipe or consuming oxygen. As soon as the mana within the spell runs out, the flame vanishes entirely, even if the tobacco is still smoldering. Conversely, magic fire can burn whether or not there is oxygen, even in heavy rain, as long as the magical structure remains and the mana doesn’t run out or the user dissolves it.
They might sound alike, but entirely different things occur. If used in an attack, a sorcery flame could be extinguished simply by rolling on the ground, but a magic flame won’t go out, even if covered with dirt. It was an incredibly formidable attack when you think about it.
As I marveled, the old man moved on to the next topic: how to wield magic.
Apparently, it’s not as simple as having magical power to wield magic or sorcery. All living beings possess mana in varying degrees. There’s no such thing as someone having none at all. The differences lie in how much you can store and the maximum amount you can release at any given moment. This is akin to the capacity of a water tank and the size of its faucet.
Then what distinguishes magicians from non-magicians? According to the old man, it’s the ability to use spells with a special “eye” that can see the “fabric of the world.” Magicians visualize the world’s structure with this special vision and weave spells, much like skipping threads in knitting.
This “how many moons do you see?” test was definitely meant to determine whether one possesses this eye. Some people are born with it already open, others gain it through some stimulus, and among humans, the latter group is overwhelmingly dominant. While there are methods to awaken this eye artificially, they’re rarely available.
The reason is easy to guess. Both magic and sorcery are specialized technical skills, and it’s convenient for them to remain exclusive.
If everyone could handle magic, its value would decrease. The influence of the nobles who utilize this power would decline, as would the voices of the magicians, so there’s no real incentive to spread these skills far and wide.
Thus, the practitioners of magic and sorcery keep their techniques secret, ensuring that touching magic alone won’t unlock related skills.
On the other hand, anyone can self-awaken these skills without guidance, but that’s inefficient, and I had already noticed that on my own. Even though it’s a natural process — after all, the original magicians must have self-awakened — I avoided it due to the inefficiency.
Self-awakened sorcery or magic suffers from low success rates and poor fuel efficiency. The fluctuation in judgments such as “hit success” or “damage” is significant.
And I’m someone who prefers fixed values. Unfortunately, I didn’t want to invest in mastering such a fuel-inefficient random skill. Even if the base was average but had high potential, it might have been worth considering, but not the other way around. If only my stats had a “luck” value, it might have been a different story.
So, how does one acquire these skills through the proper route?
Simply put, one has to pay.
There are two ways. Become an apprentice to a sorcerer or enroll in the Magic Academy attached to the Imperial Capital, which accumulates knowledge of magic-related technologies and serves as an institution to train bureaucratic sorcerers. Either way, it requires a sum of money astronomically high — the kind that would force you to sell your farming rights to afford it.
“It’s impossible for me, isn’t it…?”
“Well, that’s about the size of it, young master. Sorry now… but I’m too old to take on apprentices.” The old man chuckled apologetically, and puffed out a cloud of smoke.
Then, he glanced around cautiously before reaching into his robe.
“Now, since I’ve told you a bit of a story… can you keep it to yourself?”
With an impish smile, I nodded vigorously without hesitation. I must have looked precisely like a seven-year-old, desperate and innocent.
“Well then, here. It’s something I no longer need.”
He reached into his robe and handed me an old ring, carefully placing it in my hand. It was an indescribable color, somewhere between silver and lead, undecorated with any gemstones, but deceptively heavy for its size. Clearly, it was made for an adult’s hand, as even the pinky finger of my current body barely fit.
“This might lend you its power if fate grants it.”
“Thank you, sir! But why would you—”
“Give you trash?”
This time, I vigorously shook my head. I briefly had a thought, but I suspected that this ring was more than it seemed.
“It’s not trash! It’s so—”
“Splendid?” The old man laughed heartily, another puff of smoke escaping from his lips.
“Indeed, this was something I used when I was young. But it’s really just a plain old ring with little value.”
No way, it sounds important to me. By RPG standards, this old man could be a great sage, and the ring might have been crafted using lost technology from a thousand years ago. Somewhere down the road, someone might see it and gasp, “Is that—!?” I knew it.
“Well, you never know, magic might come to you through an unexpected opportunity. It’s possible it’ll bring you strange good fortune.”
He winked and patted my head. Then, grabbing more powder from his bag, he suggested I leave since he still had work to do.
It was a spring of good news, bad news, and receiving something significant…
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Actually, I had witnessed miracles even before magic. And as a Japanese person, I’m quite devout, and even if there isn’t any practical benefit, I have a feeling of reverence for the great existences above.
I do hold that feeling…
“Ahhh… something about higher worlds…”
Since I heard a revelation from the God of Fertility in a Mass when I was five, I’ve had a strange feeling that if I chose faith, it would be like oppressing subordinates. Thus, I’ve kept the “Faith” category skill unacquired.
The religion of this world, from what I’ve learned from priests who showed interest, is basically a polytheistic system with no unified myth. It makes sense when you consider that powerful beings actually exist.
Still, there are those who claim to be the all-knowing and all-powerful sole deity, along with their followers. There must have been good men who walked on lakes or turned stones into bread in this world.
But they only have authority within this world. Not like bodhisattvas or Shiva who transcend the universes; they’re local deities still in the process of training to gain the right to create “new worlds,” as stated in the flavor text of the upper-tier faith skills.
In other words, that “subcontracting” phrase, which has become hazy over time, wasn’t actually a lie. It’s kind of sad and worldly when you think about it, reaching even the divine realms.
Since revelations began unlocking faith skills, I’ve felt an unwanted favoritism due to these silent “connections.” It’s like when someone whispers, “He’s related to the chairman,” about a newcomer at work—it makes me uncomfortable.
Both sides are uncomfortable.
Still, I do acknowledge that faith skills can be convenient. Faith is the mysticism bestowed by higher beings using their authority to bring “miracles” to the faithful. Naturally, unlike magic, it doesn’t require mana and instead relies on the depth of one’s faith.
What’s more, since miracles are the acts of gods wielding authority, there are no failed activation judgments—though resistance and hits are separate topics—and they’re fuel-efficient.
But… I can’t shake this strange feeling. Maybe it’s the religious tolerance ingrained in me as a Japanese person combined with my years of experience as a corporate employee creating friction.
Basic faith skills are set inexpensively, and it’s hard not to suspect some intentional design. Consequently, while faith skills are certainly not weak, they’ve consistently held a low priority in my consideration.
It’s not a system where using magic locks out faith, so I could always cling to divine protection, but watching priests during the spring festival perform miracles like “turning scattered soil into petals” leaves a bitter taste in my mouth…
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【Tips】 One drawback of faith skills is that since their activations are controlled by gods, actions contrary to divine will are entirely impossible. For example, using them for fraud, indiscriminately harming co-religionists or innocents, or unintentionally triggering religious wars.
As viewership numbers steadily grow, I find myself dancing with excitement. Everyone loves the ideas of different worlds and TRPGs!
I enjoy the process of building a character, pondering the best way to develop them, so I’m taking a slow, gradual approach starting from childhood. I’ll list the stats once we reach the end of youth.
Looking forward to your thoughts!