Focus. Reach out, and lift it. It's just a feather, Taka told himself as he concentrated all his energy on the fluff sitting inches in front of his face.

Candles lit the library as the night ticked on. Taka had been there for hours, trying to make progress in acquiring the psychic magic he sought, but to no avail thus far. Rhoz stood by the entryway to the library, standing watch. Taka had insisted that she go to bed and leave him be, but she refused. The Demon Lord had probably ordered her to guard Taka, and so it was no use. She was kind enough to bring him an apple to eat, a meal he hadn't realized he'd needed. He had not eaten at all since being reincarnated into his new body, and while it seemed like he didn't need to eat nearly as frequently as he did in his past life, he still needed sustenance.

Rhoz had already shown him all the pages of the grimoire that he needed. To Taka's disappointment, reading a grimoire did not instantly give one new magical powers, it was little more than a glorified textbook. He had Rhoz flip to the pages in the book that explained Telekinesis, and it was fairly similar to how he had made the tree move with earth magic to try and protect himself from Zirko. To use psychic magic to perform telekinesis, he needed to first focus a sufficient amount of mana, then direct that mana at an object to push, pull, lift, or lower it. It seemed simple enough, and after explaining it to Rhoz, she brought him a feather to practice with. Taka was able to gather more than enough mana that what he thought necessary, but when it came to converting that mana to psychic magic and using it like the book instructed, something didn't click. It felt like the the missing piece that'd let him use psychic magic was trapped behind a locked door in his mind, but he didn't have the key. There was no introductory section of the grimoire, only spells, so Taka was left to fumble around in the dark.

For hours, he had been able to successfully focus his mana, visual reaching out, but was unable to affect the feather at all. He focused on his active TELEPATHY skill connecting him and Rhoz, but then realized something interesting: Rhoz had made it sound like skills, or "Divine Arts" as she called it, were not linked to magic or mana at all. No, that wasn't it... Taka thought to himself. He definitely felt like he was using his mana when using his TELEPATHY skill, which was the same source of energy that fueled his earth magic. So, why was he having such a hard time casting any other psychic magic, if he already had a skill that was so impressive to other people? Was the rest of psychic magic completely unrelated to his TELEPATHY skill?

Pardon me, Rhoz, Taka sent to the lizard woman.

Yes? She responded, not bothering to speak aloud, or even turn his way.

You told me earlier that skills, Divine Arts, are not reliant on magic. But, like mine, they still can be. How is that so?

Rhoz perked up, the question seeming to genuinely pique her interest.

"Well, as I said before, it's like playing a card," she explained, reverting to the habit of saying the words aloud. "The Art itself can be magical and will thus use mana, such as your telepathy, yes?"

Yes, Taka confirmed, understanding the logic so far.

"To cast magic on its own unrelated to a Divine Art, you must possess an affinity for it, the type of magic you cast."

And how does one know what magic they might possess an affinity for?

Rhoz curled her lip, "I unfortunately do not know first-hand, as I don't possess any. I can only cast basic general Magia and use the Divine Arts I've been blessed with. But I've been told it comes in the form of a feeling, a pull towards something."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

This new information realize what Taka had been doing for the past few hours was entirely backwards; he had been trying to cast a specific psychic spell without first -- what was the word the system used... awakening, his psychic magic.

Thank you, Rhoz, Taka sent. That was helpful.

Rhoz gave him a courteous nod and returned her attention to the entryway. Taka wasn't sure if she was keeping him safe, or making sure he didn't leave... he pushed the thought away; it didn't matter. For now, at least, all that matter was he figured out how to awaken his psychic magic. He thought back to what the voice in his head told him to do while fighting Zirko: Feel the flow of energy. Follow the threads. Rather than just focusing raw mana this time, Taka sensed the energy flowing inside of him. In his blood, on his skin, all around him. He moved his focus to his head, concentrating on feeling the flow of energy as if he were observing it from the outside. Taka examined it closer. Then closer. And closer, until her couldn't get any closer: he was inside of his own head. Then he felt something moving around as he thought, more so sensed than felt, but mentally reached for it. It was mana like he manipulated before, but, not as pure. It felt like it had passed through something. He imagined a finger, swirling it around like a streamer, then wrapped it around his finger a few times. He pulled out the the imaginary finger from inside of his head, making an active effort to keep the mana wrapped around it.

Update: Magic: PSYCHIC has been awakened. Base PSYCHIC magic skills now available.

It worked! Taka had a hunch that if he followed the same steps he used to awaken earth magic, there was no reason why it wouldn't work, as long as the source was right. It only made sense that psychic magic originate from the mind, and thankfully his intuition was right. Focus, Taka. You're not done yet.

Taka imagined the psychic energy he had gathered melt together into a single mass, which seemed to work, and then visualized the feather being blown off the table away from him. As soon as he had a clear image, the feather flew through the air as is a gust of wind had blown right through the walls, falling gently to the floor.

Rhoz! Taka sent, buzzing with excitement.

The lizard woman looked over to Taka, then noticed the feather on the ground. She let out a gasp, then smirked as she walked over to him.

"Congratulations, Sir Filo," Rhoz said, "you moved a feather."

She let out a laugh at her own joke. Taka smiled.

I have one more favor to ask of you, he began...

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The first light of day shone through the window of the library, making Rhoz's scales gleam more brilliantly than the most beautiful emeralds as she slept, head down on the table. She looked like a creature out of a fairytale in that moment, as picturesque as a dazzling dragon. Taka took a deep breath in, one more time.

As soon as he moved the feather, Taka asked Rhoz to get him something. His next goal was to be able to get around on his own, and telekinesis would be how he achieved that. Rhoz returned to the library with what he had asked for: a small pot. For the rest of the night, Taka had been trying to gain enough control of his telekinesis that he'd be able to fly himself around in the pot. It felt ridiculous, but he needed a way to get around on his own, and for whatever reason, he felt comfortable in dirt.

Taka had managed to raise and lower the pot consistently, and slide it left and right, as well as forwards and backwards. But when it came to combining everything and using telekinesis on a 3-D plane... not so much. Keeping the pot level and steady was hard, and then flying it around on top of all of that? It'd take practice to be able to make sudden maneuvers without throwing himself off.

Rhoz grumbled, stretching as she woke up. She looked out toward the sun rising peering through the window, then to Taka. The lizard woman reached over the table and picked the High Worm up between her fingers, then plopped him down in the pot before resting her head back down without a word. There was enough soil packed into the bottom that he was able to see over the edge if he stretched, and Taka felt like he was piloting a hot air balloon, minus the balloon.

Moment of truth, Taka thought to himself as he gathered psychic energy. Feel the flow of energy. Follow the threads, Taka repeated as the pot began to rise into the air. Slowly but surely it ascended, stopping after it was about a foot off the surface, hovering with a slight wobble.