Magic

“If you say anything rude to the teacher, I won’t let you get away with it!”

“Of course, Lady Cecil.”

Allen was talking with Cecil in the second-floor hall.

It was early November. At the end of October, Cecil had summoned him as usual.

He’d thought it was just another errand, but it wasn’t. Cecil had said, “You’ve worked hard as my attendant for a whole year. Is there anything you’d like?” She wanted to give him a reward for his first year as her attendant.

His head filled with the strange notion of celebrating one year as an attendant while he thought about what to ask for. He considered asking for some of the sweets Cecil usually ate, but then remembered something and made his request.

Cecil had several lessons. Tutors came by throughout the week to teach her history, mathematics, languages, and many other subjects. One of them taught magic. That was probably because Cecil had talent as a Mage.

As a reward for his first year as her attendant, he asked to study with the magic tutor. He hoped the tutor would teach him specifically, rather than merely let him observe a lesson.

“Oh, that’s all you want?” Cecil readily granted his request.

Today was the day the tutor would teach Allen magic. Shortly after noon, an elderly man wearing a robe and carrying a staff arrived. He was Cecil’s magic tutor.

“So you’re Allen, then?”

“Yes. I look forward to learning from you.”

The bag the magic tutor held in the hand opposite his staff was larger than usual. Cecil had asked him to teach Allen this time. He had replied that he would need to prepare, so the lesson had been scheduled for a later date. It seemed he’d gone out of his way to prepare for Allen.

Allen and Cecil sat in the middle of the hall, with the magic tutor seated across from them.

“And your name is Allen, is it?”

The magic tutor pulled back his hood and spoke to him. He was a deeply wrinkled man, nearly seventy, with white hair and a beard around his mouth and chin.

“Yes, sir. Thank you for teaching me today.”

“Hmm. Is there anything you’d like to ask? Since I was told it would only be for one day, I prepared a few things just in case.”

As he spoke, he took thick books and a crystal out of his bag. Judging by what was inside, the bag looked quite heavy, but the tutor seemed stronger than he looked.

(Oh! He’s a good teacher. If he says I can ask anything, I should ask what I want to know.)

Allen asked the magic tutor the questions he’d been planning to ask after one of Cecil’s lessons.

“Then, sir, what are the conditions for using magic?”

He asked the question he most wanted answered. The tutor stroked his beard and murmured, “Hmm.”

“There is only one condition for using magic: whether or not you have talent.”

He stated emphatically that talent was all that mattered.

“You mean talents like Wizard or Mage?”

“That’s right. You can only use magic if you have the talent of a Great Mage, Sage, or Great Sage, too.”

“What about Priests and Saints?”

“Hmm, hmm. You certainly know a lot, Allen. Strictly speaking, the magic used by Priests and Saints is healing magic. The magic used by Wizards is offensive magic.”

“Huh? Are there no spells like support magic?”

“Oh? You really are quite knowledgeable, Allen. Sages and Great Sages use support magic. Well, some other Jobs can use it, too, but they still need the talent for it.”

The magic tutor stared at Allen as if trying to peer into his face, surprised by how much he knew.

(Oops. Maybe I’m asking too many pointed questions. I shouldn’t make myself seem too knowledgeable.)

Cecil was surprised by how eagerly Allen was asking the magic tutor questions. Allen seemed to know more than she’d expected.

As he listened, Allen took notes in his magic tome.

“I understand. Thank you. May I ask another question?”

“Of course.”

“How do you use magic?”

“Ah,” the magic tutor said, picking up one of the thick books he’d brought that day.

“You have to memorize the contents of books like this.”

He told Allen it was a beginner’s textbook, the same one Lady Cecil studied from, then handed it to him. The book was quite worn. Allen flipped through it.

“I-I can’t read it.”

(It isn’t Japanese. I’ve never seen these symbols before.)

The pages were densely covered in symbols. They weren’t Japanese, nor were they any symbols he’d seen in his previous life. They were unfamiliar, complex, geometric symbols, each one completely different from the others.

“That’s right. You have to memorize them. Each cluster of these characters makes up one spell.”

The magic tutor explained that Allen had to memorize them in order to use magic.

“Is memorizing them all I have to do?”

(Memorizing all this sounds like a lot of work for a Wizard.)

“That’s right. You have to memorize them so well that you can picture them in your mind.”

He had to memorize the numerous complex symbols well enough to picture them in his mind. Then, while imagining those symbols, he would expend magic power and cast the spell.

“Once you’ve memorized them, can you use any spell?”

“Of course, it isn’t as simple as just memorizing them.”

There was a process to learning magic. First, you memorized the symbols written in the book. Then, you had to cast spells many times. On top of that, you had to overcome God’s trials again and again.

(I see. So you have to use magic a lot and level up, too.)

Allen tried to make sense of it in his own way.

“By the way, can you tell if I’m able to use magic?”

“What?! Allen, you don’t have talent! What were you listening to just now? You can’t use magic without talent!”

Cecil reacted to Allen’s question. Why would he even ask that? Allen was supposed to have no talent.

“Hmm. Well, since I heard you wanted to take a lesson, I brought a crystal that can tell whether or not someone can use magic. We can find out with this.”

It seemed to be a common question among students: whether they could use magic. The tutor explained that this was a simpler version of the crystal used in the Appraisal Ceremony. It could determine whether someone had a Job that allowed them to use magic.

“Oh!”

(So he’s brought out some kind of mysterious tool! This can tell whether a Summoner can use magic.)

It was much smaller than the crystal Allen had seen at the Appraisal Ceremony years ago. The tutor placed a small crystal, about ten centimeters across, in front of Allen. He said it would react to people with the talent to use magic.

“Now, place your hand over it.”

“Yes!”

Allen enthusiastically held both hands over the crystal.

But nothing happened. He held his hands over it for a while, but the transparent crystal didn’t react at all.

“Hmm. As I thought, you can’t use magic.”

“Huh?”

(Seriously? Then...)

A nightmare he’d considered many times but tried not to think about flashed through Allen’s mind.

“Give up. You can’t use magic without talent.”

Cecil tried to talk sense into Allen, who was utterly shocked.

“What happens if Lady Cecil places her hands over the crystal?”

“What?! Are you doubting what the teacher said?”

Cecil angrily grabbed Allen by the neck. As they tussled, the magic tutor stepped in to mediate.

“Now, now, Lady Cecil, that’s enough. Since we’re here, why don’t you place your hands over it? That should convince Allen.”

(I’ll be convinced, so please show me what happens when a Mage does it. I can’t breathe.)

While Cecil choked him, Allen pleaded with his eyes for her to place her hands over the crystal. “Fine, then,” she said, letting go of his neck, and held her hands over it.

The crystal began to glow yellow, as if responding to Cecil’s hands. Its light was warm like the sun.

“Hmm. Yellow means Mage.”

(I-it lit up.)

Allen stared blankly at the sight, utterly shocked. He’d had days to think of other questions to ask before the magic tutor came to the mansion. He’d even hoped to see some magic, but now none of that mattered.

(This is bad. The Summoner Job is a complete joke.)

Allen’s stats as a Summoner were as follows.

Health A

Magic S

Attack C

Durability C

Agility A

Intelligence S

Luck A

Stats were ranked S, A, B, C, D, and E, with S giving the greatest increase each time you leveled up. Allen’s Intelligence was S.

(My Intelligence is S even though I can’t use magic. And because of that, my Attack and Durability are only C.)

Allen figured that his other stats were low because his Intelligence was so high. But that high Intelligence didn’t let him use powerful magic. Nor did his Summons’ stats increase along with his Intelligence.

Even with all that Intelligence, all it did was make him quick to learn. It was completely useless. And his other stats were low because of a stat he couldn’t even use.

To Allen, having no choice but to wield a sword and attack with these stats was like making a Mage carry a greatsword—utterly inefficient.

(This really is a joke Job. Maybe they lowered my stats to compensate for the blessings my Summons give me? How did things end up like this?)

A few possible explanations came to mind.

He’d angered God by filing complaints for about half a year, and had been turned into a joke Job.

The crystal was broken, and he’d be able to learn magic once his Level or Skill Levels increased.

There was some incredible meaning behind his S-rank Intelligence.

(C-could this have happened because I spent half a year complaining during the Appraisal Ceremony? Elmea-sama, how could you do this to me?)

Allen stared blankly into the distance. The lesson with Cecil’s magic tutor, given as his reward for the anniversary of his first year as her attendant, came to a quiet end.