“Ugh…”

Finally awoken from his slumber, Peter let out a groan in agony. The boy’s body screamed in pain, his muscles only barely kept together with the multitude of bandages that were wrapped around him. He tried to lift himself by the elbow, but the effort only resulted in another round of mind-numbing pain running rampant through his entire being.

[Easy now, your body is still hurt.] A familiar voice called out to him.

“Gee, thanks for the reminder,” panting for air, Peter answered. “Can I get some healing now?”

[Even if you were to use my power right now, it would not be sufficient.]

“Why? Wasn’t I healed almost immediately the night of the fight?”

[I told you, it was a one-time thing.] Balam answered, shrugging in the cross’s dimension. [That whole spiel pretty much drained all of my reserves, and that was just healing. Now that you have Carnnenwan, we have to be even more conservative with our strength.]

Of course, the demon was lying. He did have a bit of reserve left, but it was all spent in his temporary control of Peter’s body and knocking out the guard with his magic. The rest was spent putting the boy’s body back to its previous state, thanks to his rough treatment of it with sudden movements and chokeholds.

“So basically, I’m still stuck like this,” Peter, unaware of this fact, could only scoff. “Then what’s with the promise?”

[I figured you need a bit more… tangible reason.] the Demon chuckled. [And besides, it’s not like you can’t heal with my powers. It’s just a much slower process than you expected.]

“How long are we talking, then?”

[Two days at most.]

“How long was I out?”

[It took you about a day inside the cross, so… about that much since you were knocked out.] The demon answered. There was the fact of the trial in two days’ time too, but since he didn’t have a reasonable excuse to know of the matter, Balam chose to ignore it for now.

“Fine by me. Now what do I do?”

[What else? Learn all you can, and wait for the chance to strike.]

“Learning, huh…” Peter could only let out an awkward laugh. The boy had never learned properly in his life, but all of his knowledge was from his various experiences during his time on the isles. Though it was different from the old, boring teaching that he was subjected to, just saying the word in front of him was enough to make him lightly flinch.

And it looked like his partner had already known all too well.

[Not a fan of learning, huh?]

“You can say that.”

[No worries. Think of it like information gathering. The more you gather, the better you can grasp the situation. Makes it a lot more exciting than learning, isn’t it?]

“No, but it’s necessary at least.”

[Good enough for me. First, let’s talk about actually fixing your body.]

On the corner of Peter’s mouth, a smirk slightly formed. “Finally. Let’s get on to it, then.”

[Whoa whoa, hold it right there. Who said that I would be the one to fix you?]

“Huh? What do you mean?” Peter’s eyes widened in shock.

[Like I said, I ran out of gas. But you, on the other hand, have plenty, since you’ve never cast any magic before. So, if I can establish a link between us, I can let you “borrow” the principle behind my power, but use your reserve to heal you. It’s also a great way to let you have a feel of mana flows too, to help you connect with my magic better.]

“I see,” Peter nodded. “That should be very useful then. Show me.”

[First, close your eyes.]

“Excuse me?”

Peter thought he’d misheard. After all, why would his request to show the way begin with closing his own eyes? The process itself sounded like nonsense, but it strangely made sense with the following explanation from the demon:

[By closing your main method to observe the world, you open up your remaining senses, like how blind people have acute hearing, for instance. It’s the same principle with magic; what we call “magic” is just another way for us to perceive the world. By closing off your senses, you open that “sixth sense” that connects you with the world around you.]

“I… guess,” though doubt persisted in the boy’s mind, he followed the instruction nonetheless.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

[Next, raise your hands and cover your ears. Oh, and remember to cuff them, not just have them flat-out touching the ears.]

“Wait, don’t tell me the next step is…”

[Next, hold your breath.]

“Are you trying to help me or kill me?”

[Just breathe with your mouth, we only need to block out the sense of smell after all. Keep it slow and steady; too fast of a pace could ruin your perception.]

“... Fine. I’ll trust you just this once.”

Though Peter tried his best to follow through, his current state was still not the best to achieve complete shutting off of his senses. His cuffed hands covering the ears only caused the boy to hear his own veins pumping blood in and out of his ears. Since most of his injuries were on the torso, breathing with his mouth caused the muscles in the chest and stomach to move, creating an acute pain that coursed through. And thanks to the constant pain, his breathing was groggy and discrete, only barely enough to keep his broken body from totally collapsing.

Yet, amidst the almost torturous experience, within Peter’s mind, there was something.

Even if he was forced to explain it, the boy couldn’t put it into words. All that he knew was, there was definitely something that he felt. It was an odd sensation, as if it existed like any regular object right in front of him, and at the same time, it was misty and unclear like an intangible concept that was imprinted deep within his subconscious.

[Did you see anything?] The sound of Balam’s voice echoed within the boy.

“I… think I did.”

[Good. Focus. Keep that sensation going.]

The boy continued without another word. From the darkness of his mind, that something grew brighter and brighter by the second. Peter never opened his eyes, but he could tell that he was seeing it, directly facing it with his very soul.

“It’s like… an orb. A bright, brownish-orange orb, like the sun at dawn.”

[Earth it is then. Our elements are compatible too; talk about luck.]

“Now what?”

[When I healed you that night, what did you see? How did you feel? Remember everything you can about it, then replicate that image in your mind. If you can do that, your body will attempt to heal the same way I used it on you.]

Peter didn’t answer as the boy focused all of his mental energy on reminiscing the miracle he felt that night. How tiny yellow orbs of energy filled the air, lighting up the dark sky as if it was daytime. How his entire body was enveloped in a soothing light as if embraced by a cozy fire during a winter day. How his muscles relaxed as each of those orbs hit him, melting away any pain and worry.

True to the demon’s words, on the outside world, Peter’s effort was paying off. However, the boy’s control still left a lot to be desired.

Instead of bright, yellow dots of energy, Peter’s magical power ended up manifesting as larger orbs with the same tint of orange as his original mana. There were nowhere nearly as many as the scenery that night – only a dozen of them at most gathered around the boy – but each of them was much more condensed in both size and intensity. And when the boy, still completely unaware of his doing, tried to absorb them as he did on that night, disaster struck.

“Gack!”

Peter gasped before the sudden and sharp pain, almost to the point of opening his eyes. His body jolted wildly as if just struck by lightning. Meanwhile, every single muscle in his body felt like they were being scorched asunder, even to the point of his nose catching a whiff of burnt flesh. Of course, it was all in his mind, but because it was the case that it was much more dangerous.

[Focus, Peter!] Shouted Balam. [Steady yourself! Keep your magic flow going, no matter what!]

“Trying… here…” The boy gritted his teeth. The bandages wrapped around him turned mushy and damp with crimson, while the sweat pouring out of his body was enough to fill a river, but even amidst that pain, Peter still realized that his flesh was indeed being filled up. Agonizing as it might be, the “treatment” was working as intended, and so, he had to bear this pain and continue, even if everything else within him said otherwise.

Nonetheless, the boy persevered, and after one excruciating hour, he was indeed healed.

“Huff… huff…” Peter panted wildly, lying defeated on the hard, rocky floor. Looking at his current state, more would mistake him for injuring himself rather than treating himself.

[Not a bad first attempt. I must say, you’re quite the natural in magic too.]

“Save the compliment… for when I can actually heal…”

[At least your wounds are all healed, right? You’re just sore all over the place.] The voice in his mind chuckled.

“Never… make me do that… again…”

[I’ll keep that in mind. But, now comes the more important matter – what did you learn from it?]

“Magic… is imagination,” the boy concluded.

Since his mind was so ingrained with the image of yellow orbs healing him, the healing magic that Peter did for himself was also energy orbs that filled his body. Everything else could be replicated through his senses, or to be more precise, his past experiences. The heat from the orb came from the soothing effect that night; the brightness reflected the unnatural light, and even the sensation of his flesh growing back – those were all experiences that Peter had lived through. And through those life experiences, his mind recreated them in his image – in other words, imagined them back to reality.

[Correct.] Balam’s voice sounded in confirmation. [What we call “magic” is just “imagination”. Each and all of us have our own reserve of magical power called mana, and by shutting off our other senses, we connect ourselves to the mana within us, and then invoke it to the outside world according to our image of it. The more vivid your “imagination” is, the more powerful your “magic” becomes.]

“But isn’t that a bit inconvenient for combat?” The boy asked. “If every time I had to follow all that stuff you made me do just to cast a single spell, my head would probably fall right off my neck.”

[Of course.] If Peter was facing Balam, the boy could see the demon nodding in agreement. [That’s why even though everyone has their own mana, the actual number of people who can wield magic in combat is few and far between. And none of them were actually using magic the way I taught you either; since no one was able to keep their own “imagination” sharp, they had to come up with another way – formularize it, quantify it. Thus, the concept of “enchantment” was formed, and “spells” became the backbone of their magical progress.]

“Wait,” hearing this, Peter interjected, his voice slightly irritated. “If there are spells and chants, then why didn’t you teach me that from the start?”

[Because think about it conversely, my dear partner. No matter how fast the chant might get, there is still a limit that it can achieve, right?]

Peter nodded, though he was aware that the demon was likely unable to see him.

[On the other hand, if you can somehow sharpen your mind itself, then you’d be able to hone your “imagination” to the point of achieving magic’s true nature. In other words, your speed in both offense and defense will be exponentially greater than any regular practitioner of magic that you might see.]

“But… how do I do that?”

[What else, my friend? By practice, of course. And you happen to have the best teacher beside you right here.]