Once I woke up from a nap, I was again in a comfy place. It reminds me of the first time I woke up in this world. My hair was again being played with for the second time but I couldn’t make a fuss about it. My body was still limp so no matter how hard I willed my arms to move, they refused.

I opened my eyes and beheld Vivian. I wasn’t really surprised, as who else would be treating me like this. She had a pleased look on her face and was happily playing with my hair. It’s kinda like a cat and it’s catnip. It was clear she saw that my eyes were open, but she didn’t seem to care.

“Ahem.”

“Back to sleep now. ★” She used her hand to close my eyes and went back to playing with my hair.

“Hey! I’m not a plaything! Stop messing with my hair!” I swear this better not be a recurring thing...

“Fine I’ll stop, it’s just your hair is too floofly to not touch.” She exclaimed proudly. “Oh, by the way, tell me your talent, you passed out before telling me.” She poked at my cheek a few times.

I quickly replied back hoping she would stop poking me, “ I got The First Talent of the Multi-Worlds Summoner.”

Thinking about it, I wonder what exactly its properties are. Looking back at my knowledge of video games, and of this world, I believe I have a higher affinity for summoning compared to others and must have something unique that involves summoning. I’m not sure what Multi-Worlds means, but it makes me think of demons and gods, in the sense of otherworldly-ness. Maybe I can make pacts with demons, although I hate losing stats. I remember Fuutarou complaining that I only use gear that gives me positive stats rather than a risky combination of negatives and positives in this one MMO we played. Although I always beat him in duals with some noteworthy strategies.

“Wowie, a First Talent, that’s quite impressive. Although it doesn’t guarantee you possess a powerful ability, it only promises something unique.” She sounded very wise, it made me feel safer and secure around her compared to her playful side.

“Anyways, even with your First Talent, you’re still practically nothing-”

“Ouch, that stings,” I said sadly.

“If you didn’t cut me off so abruptly, I was going to say you need to learn how to use that First Talent of yours, and magic in general.” She sounded a bit aggressive when she said that.

“You’re going to teach me Vivian-san!?” My eyes lit up in childish excitement over this development.

“Of course I am, who else is willing to teach your sorry self.” She tried to sound like she was disinterested, but I could tell she was also similarly excited to teach me.

“Teach me well, sensei!” I said with childish delight.

Vivian sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She rolled me off her legs and got up from the grass.

I fell face-first into the grass, and yelled muffledly, “What was that for?!”

“Consider it my teaching fee,” Vivian said rather poshly. “We’re going to have to visit my shack, casting magic out in the open will attract the local wildlife. Something I’d prefer to avoid while teaching you.”

“Bringing me home already, that’s very forward of you, Shishō.”

“Tch, it’s a necessity, and stop changing what term you call me as.” She said rather rigidly in order to intimidate me I guess.

“Yes, yes ojou-sama.” I curtly said.

“Pshh.” At this point, Vivian gave up on saying anything and stormed off, presumably in the direction of her wondrous estate. I primly followed behind of course.

~~

Vivian showed me how to first channel one’s mana. It can be viewed as channeling one’s thoughts into a physical form. In this world, it’s important to be able to output one’s mana in a strong and consistent manner. It’s kinda similar to a pipe shooting water at a consistent rate. Any variations to the output could cause one’s magic to falter, or fizzle, usually due to not receiving enough mana or receiving too much which causes it to bloat and lose shape. Some talents allow deviating from this standard, but this is what is generally taught according to Vivian.

Another interesting tidbit was that incantations are optional in this world. If you’re strong enough in outputting you can basically just skip incantations. However, incantations can be used to strengthen one’s magic as it’s putting one’s thoughts into words. Which has more presence than thoughts. Also, if you’re weak with magic manipulation, you’re generally forced to stick to incantations as that means one’s thoughts are too weak to manifest physically.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

~~

I sat plainly in one of Vivian’s comfier chairs, it had a nice cushion and was very ornate. While a candle burned on the table next to me.

“Output.” Purplish and blackish mana poured straight up from my right hand. It looked like a dark laser beam, but it was generally harmless. It felt like clouds were pouring from my hand.

“Close.” The stream slowly started to fizzle out.

The incantations I was saying were simple thoughts that let me do the basics of mana manipulation easier. Vivian was intrigued by my word choice, she usually thinks of “Go.” and “Stop.”

Output. This time the mana slowly poured out again from the same hand. It seems that if I think of Output, the mana is slowed. Maybe I can do some tricky ploys with this.

Close. The wild magic did a strange dance and slowly dispersed. Most of it went into my hand, but some of it spilled out and got absorbed into the ground. I’m not sure how magic works as an object or matter in this world… It’s odd how most of it disperses into my hand, and some can disperse into the ground. The run-off magic doesn’t do much, and it’s not like the run-off affects me, as my mind doesn’t really feel much fatigue from these basic magic exercises. Actually, I wonder if mental stimulants work as ways to boost one’s one ability with magic. During one of my exams, a few people took some to focus better, so I wonder…

~~

“How are the exercises treating you Nifuji-kun?” A curious Vivian in purple loungewear strutted into my room while I was playing around with mana.

“Nothing much, I have some basic manipulation abilities. I can do the exercises with incantations and without.” I plainly said while sitting in one of the ornate chairs.

Vivian yawned, “That’s impressive for a guy who just got here, anyway, I’m going for a quick nap. No weird stuff ok~>”

She later proceeded to walk into a dark hallway while purple flames lit as she passed them into a bedroom, which ghostly closed behind her. I guess that’s a no-go zone.

Wow, that was somewhat dismissive, “Have a nice rest Vivian-san.” This is probably the go-ahead to start messing around with magic.

I went around Vivian’s house. Although I described it as a manor earlier, I simply jested. Actually, I should drop the nobility routine haha. Anyways, it’s a medieval-styled large European house. It’s two stories tall and is pretty wide. It’s quite comfy, and homey. The only problem was that the lamps on the wall only turned on whenever Vivian walked past them, so I had to carry a handheld lamp to see properly.

Picking up a lamp, I started heading out of my room. It was a spacious interior, with a basic table and chair alongside a bed. It had the essentials and was minimally decorated. I began the walk towards the back of the house, I figured I could test out some other exercises I thought of.

~~~

Setting my lamp on the grass, I took aim with my hands at a rock. “The mana I hold within, take shape, and come forth as an arrow.” I thought of an arrow in my head too for good effect.

A hazy, purplish magical arrow appeared in front of me, but then fell to the ground. When inspecting the shape of the arrow, it was a bit oddly shaped on some ends, and also was crooked. While grasping it, it slithered its way back into my palm and disappeared.

Let’s try that again, “In the form of a constructed arrow, I command thee, fly with intensity.” This time an arrow appeared and shot towards the rock. I watched with awe as it flew, and then hit the rock. The arrow didn’t go through the rock, but it made a hole in it at least.

“YES!” It was one of the first projectile spells that I’ve ever cast.

I’m not sure what caused the first arrow to flop as it did. I’m pretty sure it’s my inexperience, Vivian told me beginners have trouble casting magic and had to vividly describe it with incantations in order for it to conjure itself correctly. I’m not sure how the second arrow fared in its form, it flew so I wasn’t able to examine it in great detail. But I presume it probably looked like the first one. The most logical conclusion was that I didn’t command the arrow to fly, but I can probably ask Vivian later. I hope that rock I shot wasn’t a favorite rock of hers or something.

Ahhh, what is that feeling? A sense of pain? I feel my thoughts are beginning to themselves flip, aNd p̶a̶i̶n̶. Intense heat soared through my head… It seems I hit my limit with magic.

I soon felt cold grass while my legs gave out from underneath me, and I soon found myself squirming on the ground.