Understanding the Basics

"We will learn magic the right way."

Learn magic the right way? What does that boy mean by that?

After I parted ways with Lugh that night, I immediately went home to sort out every grimoire our family collected throughout the years.

"Mother, can I access our storage room for a moment? I want to look for the grimoires that we stored last year." I asked.

"Ah Vanessa, my dear, it's filthy down there, you know? Are you sure you want to enter?" My Mother cast a worried glance at me. As members of the Hamilton family, we value cleanliness and getting rid of any stains in our clothing. There is a rule that most nobles agreed to, that being clean and looking elegant all the time is tantamount to exhibiting a great image. That's the reason why they're sensitive to dirt and stains.

"I'll be fine, Mother. I'll take a bath as soon as I get out." I replied, taking the storage keys from the drawer and proceeding to the next room.

Upon opening the room, I was already greeted by the measly smell of oil, wood, and rust. Nothing unusual when venturing to a place that is unorganized and dirty. Though the maids that we have often visit this place occasionally to try and clean it, due to the massive space inside, it's pretty much impossible for them to get it done quickly.

"Yikes, is that a rat smell?" I covered my nose as I trudged on the creaky oak wood floor. Normally, I would have already left this room as soon as I couldn't handle the odor, but I need to find those grimoires immediately.

That boy, Lugh Acrylis... He doesn't seem to act like a child. He told me that he was seven years old, and yet his demeanor is somewhat calm and collected, unlike that of a carefree and playful child. Perhaps he's an introverted kid in nature? I mean, I was also like that when I was ten, before I had an interest in learning about magic or runes in general.

The way that he expressed concerns about this generation's method of magic makes me somehow uneasy and intrigued at the same time. Moreover, that kid wants to learn about history at such a young age and can already comprehend a lot of complex topics. I'm probably seeing a prodigy about to bloom.

In any case, he told me to gather all of the grimoires. Maybe he wants to learn how to use magic, too?

"Hah, it feels weird doing the bidding of a seven-year-old child." I let out an exasperated sigh.

Upon reaching the center of the room, I moved the small boxes aside and made my way toward the large bookshelves in the corner where we keep old books and newspapers. I then used the stool to reach out to one box containing the stack of grimoires.

"W-Wait! Woah...!!!" However, I failed to take into account the weight of the box, and in an attempt to balance myself, I fell on my bum instead, scattering the grimoires on the dusty floor.

"Ow ow ow... hah... This is the worst." I crawled on the floor to pick up the grimoires. Out of curiosity, I decided to open one book and skim through its content.

As expected, all the information related to the spells itself are embedded throughout the whole book. But for some reason, I do feel like its incomplete by a certain degree. Well, I'm not entirely interested in reading this so I guess it's fine.

"Beginner spell magic, huh? Hmm, maybe this will be useful for tomorrow. I'll just ask Lugh for his opinion."

I picked up the other grimoires and stashed them away in a new box. I may have to ask our butler to ferry me tomorrow using our car so I can bring this all to him. With that, I left the storage room and headed to the bath.

***

I woke up early today.

The reason is that I wanted to roam around the local park for a bit to find a secluded area with enough space for conducting magical experiments. Though I say local park, I didn't mean the park itself where a lot of people hang out. I recently found out that there is an abandoned subway station underneath the park and that no one has been there for quite a long time now.

The subway itself was built a few decades ago, and apparently, they used some kind of magic stone to power up the train so that it wouldn't run on fuel or electricity. I'm impressed that they were even able to think of such a method for running a transport system. Unfortunately, do to a massive earthquake that happened a few years back, they stopped operating altogether.

"Are the Local Government responsible for ceasing operations? Or was it the nobles who ordered them to abandon it?" I muttered as I headed downstairs.

No knights or guardians were protecting the entrance, so I decided this place should be adequate for our session. It is a bit desolate, and the only light source we have is the sunlight coming from the entrance itself.

"This will do..."

After waiting for a few minutes, my very first student in this era finally arrived.

"Lugh...!" Miss Vanessa called out. She was carrying a box, which I assumed to be a stack of grimoires that I had asked for yesterday.

"Thank you for coming today, Miss Vanessa. I apologize if I picked such an inconspicuous place. The nobles do not like rancid areas, right?" I bowed my head.

"No, no, it's alright. I was a bit surprised when you said we're going to the abandoned subway, but I know you have a reason for this, no?" She smiled.

"I'm grateful for your understanding. You're right, there is a particular reason for this, but it'll have to wait. For now, I want you to treat this meet-up as highly classified. Everything you will learn or hear from this point on should be kept a secret." I requested.

"Lugh... I know that this is a weird question, but—"

"Let's start..."

I stopped her. It would be detrimental to my plan if I were to reveal everything and answer all of her questions from the start. The most realistic and optimal way to convert Miss Vanessa's perspective, similar to mine, is by gaining her trust first and slowly integrate my wisdom until she's ready to accept it naturally.

If I single-handedly throw away what I know at full force, she would miss the point and doubt me along the way. After all, I'm just a seven-year-old kid, she wouldn't believe anything that I would say without proper context. That's why I have to be patient and break her current beliefs in magic slowly.

"For now, can you tell me how the current generation of mages conjures a magic spell?" I asked.

She narrowed her eyes. "Well, according to the grimoire, the most basic magic spells can be cast using two important factors: First is the incantation, and the second is Magical Energy or Mana."

"Incantations?" I tilted my head. In my seven years of living in this new world, I haven't seen anyone cast magic because of the current technology. That is why I couldn't be certain of their methods until Miss Vanessa explained it to me just now. I never heard of someone using incantations to cast their magic. At the very least, I didn't use any chant when I was writing the codex a thousand years ago.

"To put it simply, we, the current mages, use incantations or chants to help visualize the spell properly. And then by following the steps in the book, we use magical energy inside us to converge it into a singular matter, and the spell will activate. That's the gist of it." She explained.

"In other words, you use the chants as the primary source of imagery and fuse them with the concept of magical energy?" I confirmed.

"Yes, well, there is no other way to conjure it other than that, right?"

You couldn't be any more wrong than that...

"Miss Vanessa, is it okay if you could demonstrate casting a spell right now?"

"Hmm, I don't mind. So you do want to learn magic after all. I was confused why you'd ask me such questions, but I guess for a growing smart boy like you, you'd be interested. Hehe~" She replied.

I have the feeling that she's misunderstanding me right now. Which is perfectly fine.

Miss Vanessa dropped the stack of grimoires on the floor and picked up one book. She then skimmed through the page and closed it after a few seconds. After that, she grabbed something from her bag. It is a medium-length stick with a meticulous engraving on the handle.

"Umm, what's that?" I approached to take a closer look.

"This is a Magic Wand..." She waved it.

"Magic wand? Is that a weapon?"

"No, no, it's a tool given to us mages to use to control our magic properly. Hmm, now that I think about it, I guess you could also call it a weapon depending on the use."

"What? You use it to control magic? Are the mages can't control magic?" This is incredibly stupid.

"Huh? Well, umm... You could say that not every mage on this continent knows how to conjure a spell. There are cases where a certain mage would flunk the incantation, or they can't process their mana altogether, leading to a failed attempt. So we use our wand to control our constitution while casting. The wand absorbs the magical energy, and it reduces the erratic flow so we can generate the spell effectively."

My word. This is the first time I'm hearing all of these information and I'm honestly flabbergasted. 

"What about the incantations? Do mages really need those?"

"Well, they do. After all, no one has seen anyone cast a spell without chanting..."

Seriously...?

"If anyone could do it, I bet they'll get a position inside the Crown Loyalists roster or even get recruited by the Holy Order of Arcane Arts." She continued.

That's natural. Considering how this nation is treating mages as tools for war, they wouldn't hesitate to recruit anyone who has incredible magical prowess to their ranks. All for the sake of keeping dominant within the continent. But still, I'm utterly speechless that these Holy Order punks ruined the way mages conceive magic.

"I'm ready now..." Vanessa made a stance with her wand pointing toward the wall.

"Please show me."

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. "Crackling pulse of the Lightning Empress; Zhapfia! Bow to this directive and strike my enemy! Volkaris!" (lit. Lightning Bolt).

"Eh...?"

A whirl of magical energy poured toward her wand and into its tip. Upon casting the spell, the air surrounding the wand crackled, generating a flicker of bolts cascading toward the lance, shooting a concentrated lightning pulse toward the wall. The firepower itself is decent enough to bore a small crack in the cement.

"Haha! How's that, Lugh?! Did you see it?! That's a magic spell." She pumped her chest proudly.

"Mhmm, great job. I knew from the very moment that you had a talent for this. Your mana shade turned Faint Yellow upon unleashing the spell." I approached her.

"What? What's a Mana Shade?" She blinked.

"I'll explain it later. But for now, all I can say is that your talent is wasted in this blasphemous practice. I hate it." I clenched my fist.

"Huh? W-What do you mean?"

I walked toward Miss Vanessa and grabbed her wand. "You don't need this tool..."

"W-What?! Wait! What are you going to do with my wand—"

I snapped her wand into two pieces and threw it on the ground.

"Noooo!!! My wand! Lugh, why did you—!!!"

With a snap of my finger, a small flame erupted from where the wand fell and burned it to a crisp.

"Eh...? W-What? What happened...? A flame magic?" Vanessa's eyes widened as she stared at the ground, then glanced at me.

"Let me show you what TRUE magic looks like, Miss Vanessa.

I took a step back and raised my hand.

There's not enough magical energy in the surrounding nature because of the desolate space. But whatever, it'll be enough to demonstrate a single spell at least.

Numerous visible magical orbs appeared at the palm of my hand, forming a veil of centralized energy. Using the original formula from the Hundred Original Spells Codex Arkanum, I prioritized the construction of the element: fuel, oxygen, and heat. The three matters that serve as the nexus for the chemical reaction. And by applying the diluted magical energy from the surroundings and imagining the form, I created a...

"Ignis Emberis..." (Lit. Original Fireball)

A large ball of flame erupted from my palm. I then aimed it at the cement wall that she used for a target a while ago and blasted it at point-blank range. A heated shockwave wailed through the hidden subway, causing small debris to fall from the ceiling. The wall exploded on impact, and a cloud of dust streamed through the ground.

Miss Vanessa remained still... She could only utter a few words.

"N-No way..."