MAGIC

Panting footsteps echoed outside the throne room. Someone ran in, clearly in a hurry. The prince, now sitting on the throne as king, looked up.

Soldier (gasping, panicked): “King! King! King LUCAN!!”

The prince sprang up instantly.

Lucan: “What’s happened?”

Soldier (breathing heavily): “Your Majesty! The Aurora Kingdom has attacked! They’re sending thirty thousand foot soldiers, five hundred mages, and ten thousand horse-backed troops!”

Scene shifts to a city, then a quiet shed where Master and his demons were sipping coffee.

Rage: “Master… can you tell me what’s special about this weird, bitter drink?”

Master (calmly): “Just sip it, Rage. Come on… it’s tasty.”

Strength (shouting excitedly, trying the coffee): “I feel energy! Can I get more? Master, this is amazing! I feel so active!”

Master: “Oh, you like it? Good… but you cannot. Too much caffeine is harmful.”

Pity (curiously, in a weird accent): “And what exactly is… cufine?”

Master (sighing): “Quit this. Just tell me, where is Joy?”

Rage (hesitating): “Uh… he’s making some money, Master.”

Master (confused): “Making money? How?”

Rage (smirking): “He’s arm wrestling humans for money. If he loses, he gives ten thousand gold coins.”

Master choked on his coffee, eyes wide.

Master: “What the hell?! Ten thousand gold coins?! How did he even get that? That’s enough to buy a house in the capital!”

Rage: “I know… we don’t have that much. But, Master… Joy against humans is like a god against ants. They can barely move, they’re fragile, and he’ll survive for three days easily. If he even touches them, it’s over for those humans—but he won’t be harmed at all.”

Master (nodding): “Ah… okay, Rage. I understand. We’re leaving.”

A woman appeared before Master.

Woman: “Excuse me, sir… twenty silver coins.”

Strength (slamming twenty-one coins on the table, standing up): “Here.”

The woman walked away. Master placed his empty coffee cup on the table and started walking.

Master: “Hey, Rage… do you know where Love and Commander are?”

Rage: “They’re with the wolves. Love is training them, Commander assists.”

Strength: “Oh, that’s great! By the way… shouldn’t we learn combat while we’re here?”

Master: “No human can train combat to you. Not even our wolves.”

Strength: “Then what do we learn?”

Rage: “Magic.”

Strength (pumping himself up): “Okay! Great! Let’s do this!”

Master (perplexed, thinking aloud): “Wait… tell me… is magic strong? Because the fireball the old man fired was so weak that the shield blocked even the first layer. But the Strange Man’s hand passed all layers like butter when he grabbed me.”

Rage: “Magic is far stronger than physical strength. That old man just wasn’t strong enough to hit you.”

Master (nodding slowly): “Okay… I understand. So where should we go to learn magic?”

Suddenly, a loud, energetic voice rang out.

Joy: “I AM BACK, GUYS!”

He ran in, carrying a bag.

Master: “What’s in that bag?”

Joy (grinning): “Three thousand gold coins!”

Everyone froze.

Rage: “Okay, cut it out. I know a place. A very famous lady—teleported here from another world—teaches Master. Fee is one thousand gold coins.”

Master (eyes lighting up): “Take me there, Rage!”

Rage: “But… Master… the fee…”

Master (shouting in surprise): “One thousand coins for magic?! Fine… we’ll go.” (mutters quietly in disappointment)

Joy started walking happily in front of everyone.

Suddenly, a scream rang from above. A girl jumped from the rooftop. Time slowed. Joy’s eyes darted to Master. Master blinked, moving his head slightly. Joy ran and caught the girl mid-fall.

Above, boys holding swords jumped from the roof, landing flawlessly.

Boy (angrily): “Hey, you damn thing! Why did you catch her?! She was going to die! Now we’ll have to dirty our hands!”

Joy stared at the boy who had spoken. Suddenly, the boy’s vision changed. He found himself in a dark space, purple flames flickering in the distance. A figure, like Joy, appeared, burning with purple aura. Terrified, the boy stumbled and fumbled back into reality.

Boy (screaming): “Run! Monster! Monster! Monster!”

The sound of approaching horses roared. Knights arrived at the scene. At the same moment, a man entered and placed a hand on Master’s shoulder.

Man (smiling): “You’re safe now. They ran when they saw the knights. Those brats… bounty hunters. I’ll file a complaint about them harming a human. Don’t be afraid.”

Master (smirking faintly): “Excuse me, sir… can you tell us where the magic teacher—the famous one—teaches?”

Man: “Oh, so you want to learn magic? No problem. I’ll take you there.”

The group followed him. Master closed his eyes. His screen popped: OPTIONS – CALL A DEMON, CONTACT SOMEONE, UNLOCK NEW SKILL WITH AURA.

Master (selecting): “Call a demon.”

Love, training in the jungle, noticed the call.

Love (shouting): “Training… over! veyran “

Commander (Veyran), drenched in sweat, looked up.

Commander: “Yes? What happened?”

Love: “Master has called me. I’m going there. Just finish cutting wood and selling it for a bit of money.”

Love leapt from the rock and ran through the forest.

Scene shifts. Master reached a massive clearing—not deep, but wide. Twenty-five people struggled to destroy a huge tree. Despite repeated attempts, nothing happened. They seemed accustomed to failure.

Joy: “Stop hiding! I can see you even if I were blind!”

A girl, around nineteen or twenty, emerged from the bushes. Beautiful, yet radiating power.

Girl (mocking): “Very good, weak young man… but how do you see me?”

The group laughed. Master thought quietly: Oh god… Joy has been living for many, many eternities. This girl is tiny to him.

Joy (cheerful): “I’m sorry, ma’am. That was a misread. My name is Joy.”

Girl (frowning, amused): “Weird name… Uncle Hatoko, why bring them here?”

The man who brought them stepped forward.

Uncle Hatoko: “Hey July, they want to learn magic.”

The girl burst out laughing.

Girl: “What are you seeing? They have literally zero aura. Nothing is visible. They’re barely surviving, and you think they can learn magic?”

Master (pleading): “Please, ma’am… try once. Maybe I can learn it. It’s important. We cannot survive without magic.”

The girl blushed slightly.

Girl: “Okay… if you’re desperate, I’ll teach you. Maybe your willpower lets you gain a tiny bit of aura… but you’ll have to stay with me.”

Master (puzzled): “Huh? What do you mean?”

Girl (stumbling, embarrassed): “Ah… to increase your aura, you’ll have to be available twenty-four-seven to train whenever I want. Better live here.”

Master: “Oh… okay, ma’am. As you wish.”

Girl: “Follow me. First, pray here.” She pointed to a picture of a god.

Master (surprised): “Oh… how did you get this picture of the mythological gods here?”

Girl: “What? You were teleported here too.”

Master (sighing): “I don’t remember anything about my personal life. Only flashbacks… but I remember everything about that world.”

Girl (loudly): “Oh my goodness… epic! Now we have one more member from our world!”

Master: “So there are more members?”

Girl: “Yes, yes! But now… follow me. Let’s check your magic type.”

They reached the center where others were practicing.

Girl: “Try your hundred percent. Imagine flame in your hand. This may take weeks… even months. But no problem.”

She turned, and Master extended his hand toward the tree. His palm glowed like fire—but the tree did not burn.