Chapter 20

The next day, they departed for the dungeons. John, Leyla, and Isak descended the stairs, ready to go for a few more floors, when they realized that the caterpillar was still there, blocking the road.

“It’s not dead, is it?” John asked as he approached. It looked disgusting, and he didn’t want to touch it.

“Oh, is this the thing bothering your progress?” Isak asked. He seemed surprised, looking at Leyla. The last time he saw her, she was teleporting all over the place. Common attack magic should be something easier to do compared to teleportation.

Leyla shrugged, not keen on describing the issue.

“Alright then, let me handle it.”

Isak pulled out his sword, and with a single move, he sliced the caterpillar apart. The caterpillar let out a sudden, eerie shriek, then fell silent. A sudden stink assaulted their noses, forcing them to return to the previous floor.

“What was that!?”

“Just an effect of killing giant caterpillars,” Isak said casually. “Don’t worry, the smell will fade in a couple of days.”

“Days!?” Leyla shouted.

“Yes, three to four should be enough. We can come back after that, just to be safe.”

“That’s a long time! How infuriating!”

John wasn’t expecting this, either. Looks like their quest would be delayed even further.

“Can’t you do something about it?” John asked. Isak shook his head, much to their disappointment.

“The gas these monsters let out are poisonous. There are ways to remove the gas with magic, but letting it be has some advantages as well.”

The gas would be absorbed by the neutral magic sources floating in the air, giving them an even more powerful source of magic. The poison also worked on other monsters. Since monsters rarely go up and down dungeon floors, the gas may spread and trap the other monsters in there, killing them.

“Urgh… But I really don’t want to wait…”

“We can do something else in the meantime.”

“Like what?”

“How about I teach you some magic?” Isak suggested. While John was still uncomfortable with him, he did need to learn magic eventually. The faster he learns, the better. It wouldn’t just help with the search for the chairs, but also with life after that. He wouldn’t be returning to Earth after this, so he welcomed any tips and tricks that could help him survive in this world.

“I don't need that,” Leyla said, walking away. “I’ll be returning first.”

John could understand why she was pissed. All the supplies they bought had just been rendered useless. They entered this dungeon bringing a lot of heavy stuff, and returned to the surface with all that stuff while making near-zero progress.

“I should have slain it the other day,” he heard Leyla whisper as she ascended the stairs. Isak let out a wry smile.

“Shall we get going?”

•••

The two of them stood beside a small river at the edge of the town. From where he stood, John could see the waterfall at the end of the river. He didn't have to worry about it, though. A lot of stories did involve falling down waterfalls, but he wasn’t close to the waters. The chances of him falling into the river was low.

“There are two kinds of magic source,” Isak began his explanation. “There are neutral sources and there are elemental sources.”

Neutral sources could be used for all sorts of magic spells, from simple fire spells to complex spells like teleportation. The fact that they weren’t tied to an element meant they had maximum versatility. Elemental magic, on the other hand, could only be used for the element it was related to.

“Neutral sources naturally float in the air, so you can pull on it as a source anytime you want,” Isak said. He formed a fireball above his palm. There was no fire nearby, but that wasn’t a problem when he pulled from neutral sources.

“Elemental sources, on the other hand, exist in the world around you.”

To demonstrate, Isak created a water ball.

“I created this by pulling in elemental magic from this river.”

Elemental sources were easier to use, as they needed little processing compared to neutral sources. Mages generally preferred using them. They weren't always available, however.

They could only be used to create magic related to their element. Water element creates water magic. John could also use it to create ice and vapor magic, but they needed some extra work to convert them to those elements.

“That extra work is less than when pulling from neutral sources, however. If you want to use a spell, consider if there’s a way to transform existing elements before going for the neutral ones.”

“Does that mean certain elements are always accessible?”

“Yes. Rock or dirt is easily found in the wild, and you need air to survive in the first place.”

Thanks to how common those elements were, many mages consider air-related spells as the most basic and easiest to use spells. That said, a master mage could use the availability of such elemental sources to their advantage. They could create an extremely powerful spell using a near limitless source.

“In the hands of a powerful mage, this river here can be used to kill the most fearsome of dragons,” Isak claimed, motioning toward the river. “But such a thing is difficult. People don’t have that much control over their magic.”

“Is magic that difficult?”

“Well, that depends. If I were to compare it… have you ever juggled balls before?”

John never did that in his adult life. He played with balls a bit during his younger years, but he wouldn’t call that ‘juggling’

“Simple magic like what I did is like throwing a ball into the air and catching it. Pretty simple, right? But to create powerful magic, you need to add more balls. Master mages could pull multiple elements, draw from many different sources, and unleash them in their own unique ways. Not all magic followed this principle, though.”

“There are some that don’t?”

“The teleportation magic your partner used is one such example.”

In this world, teleportation magic could only be drawn from neutral sources. There were a lot of neutral sources floating in the air, but converting them to something usable was much more difficult. To make matters worse, teleportation magic required those sources to be manipulated into something called location-based magic, or more commonly known as location magic.

This magic allowed the user to manipulate space at will. Sometimes, that meant teleporting themselves, others, or entire sections. Teleporting larger things required more source, which in turn required more mana to be used to convert that source. It also required more concentration and more mastery over magic as a whole. That was why not many people could utilize it. To make matters more difficult, the mage needed a clear picture of their destination. They couldn't teleport somewhere they have never been to before.

I doubt Leyla used any of that, though.

She didn’t strike him as someone who thinks a lot. It looked more like she utilized her powers as a laikaat to use magic. Still, in the eyes of the people of this world, she must be a kind of master mage, able to bend space so easily.

“But you should start with something simple. There are a lot of water element sources near us. Try creating something with that.”

“... And how do you do that?”

“Simple, really. Magic relies on making your subconscious conscious. Subconsciously, you’re already close enough to reach out for that water, and that water is also reaching out to you. But, because it remains in the background of your mind, nothing happens.”

“Making the subconscious into conscious…”

John closed his eyes. Like a person fumbling in the dark, he tried reaching out for that water. Yet, nothing happened. He opened his eyes, disappointed that nothing had changed.

“You’re not going deep enough,” Isak said.

“And how do I do that?”

“Believe in yourself.”

“... Huh?”

What do you mean by believe in myself?

Isak understood John’s questioning gaze and said, “You’re thinking ‘why aren’t I reaching anything’, are you?”

John nodded.

“You can’t do that with magic. To turn your subconscious into consciousness, you need to believe that you can. You can’t doubt it. You can’t wait until you succeed before you believe it. You need to believe you can, even if you don’t see any result.”

Such a line of thinking conflicted with John’s entire being. How could he believe something that didn’t exist? It didn't make any sense.

But… he stood in a different world. This wasn’t Earth. The rules of Earth didn’t apply here.

Can I really?

He tried again. Reaching even deeper.

“Just so you know, it probably won’t work on the first try,” Isak said. “Your belief may not be strong enough.”

“I’m supposed to just believe?”

“Yes. Believe in yourself like you’re someone who completely lost their mind.”

John couldn’t even push out an okay. He couldn’t even nod. He closed his eyes again.

And nothing happened.

“Don’t worry about it. It takes a while. You can’t let this discourage you, however. If it does, it’ll only make things more difficult for you in the future.”

Such was the mystery of the thing called magic.

“Let’s call it a day. We’ll practice again tomorrow.”

“Thank you for teaching me.”

“It’s alright. Besides, the more allies you have, the better, right?”

“Allies…?”

“Yep.”

Isak didn’t elaborate, instead beginning his way back into town.