Chapter 22: A world of magic

The sun was already up, but I was still inside the Queen's house.

They still needed some time to gather what they wanted to give me, so I didn't have any other choice but to wait. Of course, I could leave immediately without what the Queen had planned to give me, but that wasn't a smart thing to do given the dangerous journey ahead of me.

In the meantime, I simply talked to her for almost an hour.

She was very curious about my old world, so I spent my time answering her questions. She had trouble imagining the technologies I was describing.

“You don’t have any magic, but guns to fight and cars to move. Strange world”

'Stranger than a hamster who shows its butt to provoke me?'

I swallowed those words and answered.

“Well, we also have phones, computers and many other things I miss.”

Her eyes were sparkling.

I immediately realized that I shouldn’t have told her that.

I had to spend a huge amount of time answering her questions. She was clearly exhausted but didn’t want to rest.

It wasn’t surprising.

She seemed very curious, so someone who came from another world was probably the most incredible thing she could imagine.

I answered all her questions. It was my way to thank her for her kindness. Without her, I probably would have died in the forest or I would still be wandering aimlessly wasting the precious time I had left.

I was glad to see her smile. With the cute looking hamster on her shoulder, it was a beautiful view.

It was difficult to think that they could kill me when they wanted.

Never trust appearances.

I made this vow while looking at their beautiful and harmless appearance. It wasn't my old world anymore and I knew that if she wanted to use or kill me, there was nothing I could do to stop her.

After all, I was just a small child.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to know that you’re at the mercy of anyone. She wasn’t the kind of person to benefit from it, but I didn’t want to become the tool of someone like I was for the past four years.

Hopefully, there was a way for me to escape this fate.

It was to continue learning magic.

In this kingdom, talent in magic was above everything else.

If I could become a powerful mage with a high rank in various elements, I would be able to protect myself. The King would also favor me.

My goal wasn’t to become a Master mage. Not yet at least. I wanted a goal I could attain.

There were differences between each rank in magic, but it wasn’t rare for a Scholar mage to beat someone with a higher rank. After all, it all depends on how you use your magic.

However, Master mages were mysterious existences and something almost impossible to reach. The classical rules didn’t apply to them. Even the King didn’t dare to offend a Master mage. They weren’t almighty, but they were still a very different existence.

Incredible and terrifying at the same time.

I didn’t know how many Master mages there were in our kingdom, but everybody knew there were at least ten Archimages.

They were the members of the Magic Council

They weren’t officially a part of the Dorell Kingdom even if several members came from this kingdom. It was because of their power that they could create this independent force.

The noble houses desperately wanted to enroll a Master mage.

This was easier said than done, as there were few things they could offer them that they couldn’t take by themselves.

It was this kind of power I wished to possess.

I didn’t want to bow in front of someone like my grandfather. I didn't want to be helpless anymore.

In this world, there were many rules to avoid chaos, but only one law.

The law of the strongest.

These thoughts crossed my mind as I watched this unfathomable Queen and her mysterious pet. She was almost within arms reach, but I knew that her existence was much further away than that

After a couple of hours of intense talking about my old world, the Queen seemed satisfied or was too tired to continue, it was hard to say.

“I think I will rest for a bit now.”

“I will leave then… Your Highness”

She frowned a little after hearing my words.

“You don’t have to call me that way. Just call me Hirillë as you did before.”

I hesitated but finally nodded.

“I will.”

She gave me a tired smile.

It was time to leave her alone to rest. She lay down on her bed before telling me she wanted to see me later.

I wanted to inquire about how long it would take to gather their gifts, but I was afraid of sounding impolite, so I kept quiet.

I left the house as to not disturb her.

The sun blinded me when I exited her dark house.

There wasn’t any way to know the hour in this world except by using the sun. It seemed the astronomical laws of my old world were the same here. Just by looking at the sun, I knew it was a little before midday.

When my eyes finally adjusted to the daylight I was once again surprised by the beauty of this town. For someone like me who lived before in a small human town, it was really different. Especially since I lived even before that in a polluted and dirty city. The changes were like the difference between heaven and earth.

I breathed with delight, filling my lungs with fresh air and began to walk in the city.

I met various elves on the way. They were all extremely beautiful with hair more or less silver. I was curious why the Queen was the only one without this hair color, but I didn’t dare to ask. After everything she did for me, I didn’t want to be rude.

As the Queen said, they weren’t hostile toward me. In fact, they were more curious about me than anything else.

Nearly half of them never saw a human before. It was understandable because the youngest elves spent their entire life inside this forest without any human coming inside.

I also noticed that only male elves had a bow. The only exception was Hiraliel. I was curious about that, but I didn’t see her during my stroll. I wished I could talk to her before I left.

As I was wandering inside the city, I found a place empty without too many trees near it.  The place was deserted. It was quiet without any other noise except for a few animals and the sound of branches moving with the wind.

I sat on the ground to enjoy this peaceful moment. My heart was calm, but my mind wasn’t. I couldn’t help but think about everything I learned. In the end, we didn’t speak about Lost magic enough to understand what happened that day.

However, not knowing the truth wasn’t what bothered me.

The words of the Queen replayed in my head.

I needed to get stronger.

Therefore, it was time to use this magic once again.

This desert place was perfect for that. Even if I lose control, no one will be hurt.

I stood up and breathed slowly.

I gathered mana in my right hand before raising it.

I imagined the cold spreading in front of me, like that day.

I closed my eyes to help me concentrate and tried to remember the coldness I felt while I was trying to free Amanda.

The ice covering my hands.

The cold spreading around me.

The fear and helplessness seizing my heart.

It was as if I was back to that moment.

I gritted my teeth and triggered my magic.

It was only the second time I used the Sacred magic of ice, so I wanted to be cautious. I didn’t gather much mana, but it was enough.

Or so I thought.

When I opened my eyes, nothing had changed.

I tilted my head, not understanding. After a couple of seconds, I realized that I didn’t use enough mana.

I tried again, but this time I gathered a huge amount of mana in my hand. Nearly as much as the first time I used the sacred magic of ice. I imagined the cold once again. Imagination was the key to use magic according to Gandalf. I was a dreamer in my previous life. It wasn't complicated for me to imagine something as simple as ice.

I triggered my Sacred magic.

*BOOM*

I opened my eyes after I felt magic leaving my hand.

However, after seeing the result, I was shocked.

I wasn’t expecting that.

The magic left a small mark on a huge boulder a dozen feet away from me.

“Why?”

It was the only question on my mind.

I came closer to the boulder and put my hand on it.

There was no doubt.

It was a failure.

I didn't use my Sacred magic of ice, but a simple waterball.

I failed, but I couldn’t give up so easily. Therefore, I tried again.

Each time I increased the amount of mana in my magic.

However, I chained failures.

After several failed attempts, I fell to my knees breathing heavily. My rapid breathing wasn’t because I couldn’t continue, but because I couldn’t calm down. This situation was incomprehensible to me.

That day, there was no doubt that I had used ice, so why couldn't I use it now?

I tried using the Sacred magic of ice again, but I couldn’t.

“SHIT!!!!” I shouted as loud as I could.

This frustration was hardly bearable. I was completely lost about what to do.

As I was starting to lose hope, I heard a small laughter behind me.

I turned my head only to see the horned hamster laughing.

“It’s not the time to piss me off, damn hamster”

I was ready to vent my anger on this little devil when I heard light footsteps behind me.

“Is something wrong Sillath?”

It was the Queen.

“Hirillë!!!”

A smile appeared on my face. I hoped she could help me understand what was wrong with this magic.

The Queen was startled when I explained to her that I couldn’t use Sacred magic anymore.

“I didn’t know something like that was possible.”

I was angry with myself.

I wanted to never use this magic again after Amanda’s death, but when I gathered my courage to train this Sacred magic, it wasn’t possible anymore.

I didn’t know if this was a joke, but the damn hamster found it hilarious. It was rolling on the ground while making strident noises.

Its laughter was difficultly bearable. I felt a vein pop up on my front in irritation.

“Sacred magic is a rare ability. If you used it before then this means that you have the ability to do it. This is the biggest obstacle for the majority of mages. I saw many Sacred mages, but they obviously never told me their secret. As a result, I don’t have the slightest idea how to use Sacred magic. I’m sorry Sillath”

I sighed after hearing her words but it wasn’t surprising. If she wasn’t a sacred mage herself, then she couldn’t explain what was wrong with me.

“It's a shame, but I don’t think you should spend your day trying to use this magic again.”

I pondered for a while after hearing her advice.

She was right. Several mages spent years trying to master a Sacred magic on their own and most of them failed in the end. I didn’t want to lose as much time.

Moreover, I had other worries.

I was a Sokeï mage, but the only element I could use effectively in fights was water. I became a Scholar water mage by learning the barrier magic ‘Water shield’ that taught me how to control the speed of the water I produced. However, it wasn’t the case for the other elements. If I wanted to become stronger, I could train exclusively my water element to quickly pass the second barrier and become a Wise water mage, but it would be a waste.

Why use only one element when you can use four?

Therefore, I put my Sacred magic problem aside and set myself the goal of becoming a Scholar mage in the other elements.

I hoped the Queen could help me train, but she still looked tired.

“Do you know where I could shoot magic? I don’t want to damage the trees.”

“You want to shoot magic? In that case…”

She made a small move with her hand. I only felt a slight disturbance in the mana around us before hearing a huge noise behind me.

I turned around and saw the earth rising before taking the shape of practice targets.

She controlled the form, so she was at least a Wise earth mage.

I made the same deduction with Amanda.

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A mage who could control the speed of his magic was a Scholar mage. If he could also control the shape then he was a Wise mage. Amanda explained this to me clearly. Even if I didn’t know how to become a Saint or a Master mage, I was sure of that.

I hesitated but finally couldn’t hold back my curiosity.

“It’s incredible. If this doesn’t bother you, can you tell me your rank as a mage.”  

She seemed a bit surprised but wasn’t offended either. She made one of her usual dazzling smiles before answering with her soft voice.

“It doesn’t bother me at all, Sillath. I’m a Wise water mage and a Master mage in wind and earth elements.”

I made her repeat again.

It was just too incredible to believe it blindly. If I didn’t trust her, I’m sure I would think she lied to impress me.

I finally understood why the other elves worshipped her. She was kind, but her power was no joke. A Master mage had a complete control over the element. This meant she could use wind and earth the same way she used her limbs. Moreover, she was an elf so she obviously had a huge amount of mana.

Since coming to this world, I tried to change. I tried becoming a good person without the pride I had in my previous life.

However, it was easier said than done. When people around call you a genius all the time, you end up believing it yourself. I was proud of myself. I was proud of my talent in magic, but in front of her, I realized that I was insignificant.

I knew she was strong, but I didn’t imagine she was a Master mage of two elements.

It wasn’t her intention, but she shattered the pride I had in my magic. The fact that I couldn’t use Sacred magic anymore didn’t help either.

It took me some time to digest this new. However, it was probably a good thing. Excessive confidence could be fatal. I needed to know my limits.

After calming down, I started shooting earth, wind and fireballs at the target the Queen had made. She was sitting on the ground without making any noise.

I started a couple of minutes ago until she raised her hand.

I was surprised but quickly stopped to look at her.

“Sorry to bother you Sillath, but why are you doing this?”

“Well, I’m training my magic. I try to shoot elements as fast as I can to learn how to control speed. It’s the first step to learn the first barrier magic, isn’t it.”

“You’re right and wrong at the same time.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it’s true that this exercise is important at the beginning to learn to control the speed of your magic but there is another purpose.”

I was startled. It was the first time I heard that.

“Shooting magic without moving doesn’t exhaust you physically. Therefore, you can concentrate and use your magic rather than lose your focus by running around. This exercise allows you to train your body's affinity toward mana and not your physical strength. I told you already, humans don't have a body with a high affinity, unlike elves. At the end of the exercise, your body will adjust. After some time you will be able to use more mana coming from your soul because your body's affinity toward mana would have risen."

The soul produced our mana but needed a strong body with a good affinity to use its full potential.

Humans didn't have a body with high potential so they could only bitterly train to raise this affinity. When the ability of the body to handle mana rise, the natural restriction of the soul to protect the body would weaken. Therefore, the mage would be able to use more mana and as a result more magic.

I summarized in my mind her information before concluding.

"Then this kind of training is useless for someone who doesn't have a soul producing a large amount of mana."

In my opinion, raising the tolerance and affinity of your body was significant only if you had a strong soul producing a large amount of mana that your body couldn't naturally handle without training.

However, Hirillë slowly shook her head in denial.

"No, it's also important for those with weak souls because our body can also produce some mana after raising its affinity. This kind of exhaustion training raises our affinity toward mana, but also help in raising the amount of mana that our body produces. Of course, the amount is less important than the soul and for you, it's totally useless but for people with weak souls it could allow them to become real mages."

“I understand, but I don’t see what’s wrong about that. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.”

“Why do you want to kill birds?”

Different worlds, different idioms…

“…. Well, it’s just an expression from my world, don’t worry. It means that this exercise allows me to do two things at the same time. I have a strong soul, so I need a body with a high affinity to support it. If it also allows my body to naturally produce some mana then it's only beneficial.”

“Ah!!! I feel stupid asking you that. Well, it’s true but for you, it’s nearly useless.”

“Useless?”

“Yes, even if you have an incredible mana pool that your body can't handle yet, don't forget that you are only partially human. There is no point in doing this exercise. For your body to be able to contain so much mana, it mustn't be ordinary. With a soul so powerful, able to produce so much mana, it would be impossible for a weak human body to support it even with the natural restriction created by your soul because you're still a child. When you grow up, your body's affinity will naturally rise much higher than what a human can do. When you will become an adult, I'm sure that you will naturally become able to use all of your mana.”

I nodded after hearing her words.

“Well, it’s true, but I still need to pass the first barrier magic.”

She sighed while shaking her head. Her hair moving along gracefully.

“Do you know what a barrier magic is?”

“Well, it’s…”

I stopped mid-sentence. I understood that I didn’t have the right answer this time either.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s just an illusion.”

I was surprised but simply waited for her to continue.

“Ranks, barrier magic, Sokeï mage… All of these are just illusions. It’s only a way to classify the mages between them. The kingdom invented barrier magic to help the people training. Without this, the number of decent mages would be much lower. They created methods of training like this to help the young mages. Those methods are really effective, but each person is different, if you just follow blindly the path of someone else, you will never become a powerful mage.”

In a few sentences, she shattered everything I believed about magic.

After thinking about it, I realized she was right once again.

“So what should I do?”

“First, you shouldn’t use three elements at the same time. You should concentrate on one element before starting to train with another. This is the greatest challenge for mages who are able to use three or four elements. You can use more elements than common people, but each element is different, you mustn't forget that. Second, you can continue to shoot your magic like that. It’s a good way to improve the speed of your magic. However, you don’t have to shoot so many times even if you can. You must concentrate and analyze what happened the previous shot to improve.”

I nodded after each of her sentences. I believed Amanda was a good teacher, but the Queen was in another league. As a Master mage, it wasn’t surprising she understood more about magic than Amanda.

She continued to give me bits of advice.

I was eager to learn more from her. Learning from a Master mage was a rare chance I couldn’t waste. It was a shame I couldn’t stay here to train with her.

“So what element do you wish to train first?”

I thought about it.

I was already a Scholar water mage, so I thought it might be more difficult to train an opposite element directly.

Therefore, I ruled out the fire element for now.

My choices left were earth or wind.

Wind magic was useful to change direction and move faster. It was clearly a good choice. I was ready to choose wind when I remembered my fight with Amanda. There was a clear difference in experience, but there was something else. My earth magic was too weak. I wasn’t able to stop her movements when I trapped her legs or when I tried to knock her out with my earth spear. If I choose to train my wind magic, then my earth magic would stay a useless element longer.

“I will train my earth magic.”

Hirillë already warned me that the things she wanted to give me were ready, but that I shouldn't leave so late. It would take several hours to leave the forest and, by that time, the sun would almost be completely set.

I agreed with her.

As surprising as it sounded, there wasn't any threatening animal in this forest, but the wilderness was different. It wasn't possible to just walk in the dark, so waiting until tomorrow morning to leave was the safest decision.

I trained while following her advice for the rest of the day.

Of course, I wasn’t able to become a Scholar earth mage yet, but I felt that this method of training made more sense.

The sun began to set. It was time to go back to her house.

However, Hirillë just stood up before closing her eyes while raising her head toward the sky. The rays of light coming from the setting sun swallowed her as her hair was moving rhythmically with the wind. It was a breathtaking view as if a goddess stood before me.

“Can you feel it, Sillath?”

I didn’t understand what she was saying. She was truly a mysterious person. I remembered she also closed her eyes like this in front of the ‘Millennium Ancestor’.

I finally answered hesitantly.

“The wind?”

“Not the wind, I mean what is beyond the wind. Close your eyes and try to feel it.”

I closed my eyes but couldn’t feel anything.

The only thing I felt was the cold wind on my skin and some mana around us.

I spent a long time with my eyes closed until I finally understood.

I opened my eyes suddenly.

“The mana.”

She smiled but shook her head.

“Yes, but not just that.”

She made a pause, then closed her beautiful eyes one more time before extending her arms as if to embrace the air itself.

“When my eyes are open, I feel the earth under my feet, the wind on my face and the warm caress of the sun on my skin. When I close them, I feel the mana under my feet, the mana on my face and the mana on my skin. Do you understand what I mean by that Sillath?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You told me you felt the wind and the mana around you, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“This is a mistake because the wind and the mana are the same things.”

I gasped at what she told me.

“The same thing, what do you mean?”

“Mana is the life itself. The rays of the sun are nothing more than one shape the mana around us takes. This is the same thing for the wind, the earth and everything around us.”

Mana is life…

To me, mana was just a way to use magic. Something that the people of this world have been blessed with. I never really thought about the mana even if the secrets behind magic were always inside my head.

“Do you remember what I asked you in front of our ancestor?”

“I do. You asked me how forests are born.”

“Do you have an answer?”

I smiled a little. The answer was obvious because she already told me.

“Because of the mana.”

“Correct. Mana is everywhere, not just inside of us. In most cases, using magic is just about using your own mana to interact with the mana around you. When a lot of mana gathers in the same place, life around change.”

“You’re talking about the deviants, aren’t you.”

“Not just them. Deviants are animals evolving and unable to restrain their violence and instincts for some time. Those animals slowly change physically after being in contact with a lot of mana. Few of them are able to overcome this frenzied period to become an intelligent magic beast. Those mindless and bloodthirsty beasts only answering their primitive instincts aren’t the product of the mana, but the result of weak hearts. When mana influences a strong heart, incredible things can happen. It’s what gave birth to the six mythical beasts and our ‘Millennium Ancestor’.

Except for the Nenshik and the Kollath, I didn’t know any other mystical beast, but I understood what she wanted to tell me.

Mana isn’t good or bad.

Only the people are.

“The ‘Millennium Ancestor’ changed because of the strong mana around. He became the protector of nature and the animals. After several hundred years, the Great Forest of the West was born. Do you understand Sillath? This forest was born from the desire to protect. That’s why I stay here, it’s my turn to protect it now.”

Her melodious voice echoed in my ears and heart.

When I looked at her, my heart was warm and filled with admiration. She was a powerful mage, but chose to live her life in this forest in a small house made from wood. She chose her path and found happiness along the way.

I was sure of it.

Humans were fools with their greed for power and control. Many of them missed the most important.

We were just a part of this world.

We didn’t own it.

I closed my eyes with the Queen to feel the mana around me along with her.

As the sky darkened by the minute, I never felt my mind clearer and my heart calmer.

It was as if we were alone in the forest, together in this world of magic.