There is a boy with short, messy auburn hair and dark brown eyes properly dressed up in the mirror. It’s his first time seeing an actual mirror. Finally, he gets a good look at himself. He looked like a know-it-all little brat, with an unbothered expressionless look on his still young face.

Kei has recovered after 3 days of rest. The experience can’t be said to be anything less than torture. "Well, better than dying, I guess." Asilver lining is always important. Today will be his first time taking lessons alongside Halinia. Kei steps outside his new room, and the first person he sees is a maid waiting as the sunlight passes through the window behind her.

“Good morning, sir Kei,” maid Gallia says as she bows. “It seems you were able to change on your own,” she says with a gentle smile. Though she says, she started walking around Kei to see if anything was untidy.

“I-I think I’m good,” Kei says anxiously.

“Yes, I think you are. I’ll lead you to the study room now.” Gallia says, and Kei nods in response.

Gallia leads him down the glossy, dark wooden hall. After passing 3 more rooms, Kei sees an out-of-place stone pillar protruding from the window side of the wall. On his right, there is a spiral staircase going up and farther down, and they head downward. Reaching the floor is a living space with a fireplace made of stone reaching the ceiling. On the opposite side of the fireplace is a single step going up leading to a doorway to the dining hall, and a few steps away to the right on the same wall is another doorway leading to the study hall.

“Halinia and the professor are already inside; please enter when you are ready. I’ll be seeing you again at lunch, but if you need anything, please say the word.” Gallia gently smiles as she says.

"Thank you very much." Maid Gallia bows and steps away. Kei takes a deep breath, feeling a little overwhelmed and nervous. Behind that door will be answers to many of his questions pertaining to magic. He opens the grand door.

Entering the study hall, the most prominent was the grand arched window at the end, large enough to touch the second floor. The room was as looks a little narrower than the dining hall, likely because the walls are covered with shelves full of books, though still spacious. At the end of the hall is a large window, almost floor-to-ceiling in length. Sunlight is lighting the walls and bouncing off the elongated table that’s situated at the center. Halinia is dressed relaxed and comfortably, sitting on his left side at the table close to the window, probably for better lighting. Malicra Feifer, the dark elf, stood across from her on the other side of the table. Now properly dressed, this time standing in front of a large standing blackboard.

“Kei! You’re finally here!” Halinia excitedly says. “Feeling better?” Kei nods in response, but something has caught his attention, and it’s been bothering him.

Malicra was staring at him with wide eyes, as if she had just seen a ghost. She has bright red-orange irises, reminiscent of fiery marigolds. He is finally able to see them clearly with proper lighting, but the way she is staring at him is rather unnerving.

“Come on, Kei. Sit next to me,” Halinia orders him excitedly.

He walks toward where she’s sitting. As he does, in the corner of his eyes, he can see that Malicra’s eye has yet to let go of him. He wants to stop and just sit near the doorway, on the dark side of the hall, but he sits next to Halinia. The dark elf is still staring at him. Kei starts feeling as if he is sinking into her eyes, into her pupil, into the darkness.

“Professor?” Halinia calls out, “Is something wrong?”

Malicra finally spoke in front of Kei for the first time today. “Who is this boy?”

“Huh?” Kei thinks dumbfounded.

“Huh?” Halinia seems to have read Kei’s mind. “Ah- this is Kei, the boy you took care of. Remember he had mana exertion? You even gave him a prescription for it.”

Those orange eyes finally blink. “I did?”

“Ah…?”

“Ah?” Again.

“I see… Yes, I did.” Malicra mutters, “Maybe I should go out more often.” She mutters to herself.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

------------------

The first lesson is on history. Kei was only half-listening because, thanks to the game, he knew most of the content.

Malicra is sitting with the chair tilting back with her legs up. She is reading the book laying open on her lap while holding it in place with one hand. On the other hand, a wand placed between her slender fingers levitates a piece of chalk, writing what she is reading out on the blackboard.

"Elves had great knowledge and power but were merciful and kind. With their benevolence, they have decided to share their abundant wealth…" Malicra pauses with sullen eyes. "This was a mistake," she mutters to herself. "The humans accepted the elves' gift. The gift was language, knowledge, and magic. Elves also offered the same to the beast tribes, but their leader and their people all declined. Consequently, this is the reason beastlings can’t use magic, even to this day. But the elves wholeheartedly respected them." Malicra closes the book and looks up at the ceiling. “Allow me to elaborate; the elves respect the beastlings. We admired their tenacity and their self-worth.”

Kei has a sullen look similar to Malicra, knowing something... Halinia has a questioning look, wondering why the elf is repeating herself, even on the blackboard.

------------------

After the first lesson, there is a language lesson. They go through the words the two students didn’t understand from the history lesson, then have them understand and memorize them, which is what Kei is doing now. If they hadn’t had any trouble with the previous lesson’s vocabulary, they would read a different book and write down any words they didn’t understand, which Halinia is doing. While Halinia is reading, she is slightly distracted.

Halinia keeps taking glances over at Kei from time to time. Kei takes notice and sees she’s giving off an aura. Kei didn’t realize it before because of the uncomfortable stare from Malicra, but he is sitting on top of a custom-made elevated chair extension, which is raising him up. He is at eye level with Halinia and can observe her properly now. The young girl is wearing a red dress tinted brown with a corset belt that has gold design trimming at the edges over top. She is sitting with her back straight and proper. If the sunlight was passing through the window on Halinia, her silhouette alone could be confused for an elegant, refined, and fully grown lady. Though the way her legs are hanging and her toes barely brushing the floor shattered that image.

------------------

The third lesson is art. The lesson is taken outside in the manor’s sizable backyard, right outside the study hall window. Due to the manor being uphill, the yard ground is not level. Inside the fences were gardens of vegetables, and away from the manor, many flowers were in bloom. There are 5 trees scattered around the yard, and one of them in the open field has a swing. Halinia and Kei are both holding a big wooden board with parchment on top and wrapped in charcoal in one hand for drawing. Kei felt somewhat disgraced. To him, it felt as if he was in kindergarten all over again, which he is, technically speaking.

“It’s for creativity,” Malicra explains.

“Creativity?” Kei questions.

"Yes, creativity. Flexibility of the mind; release of the soul by expressing oneself The only way you can express yourself. Traits that are important to using magic"

Kei rubs his chin, “Is it to… make an image…? in my head?”

"You mean imagination." She grabs Kei’s charcoal, spelling it out on the corner of his parchment, and pronounces the word slowly for him. "That is important, but important for having a flexible mind."

Malicra rummages through her small pouch that is tied around her waist and pulls out a clear glass vial with a dark red liquid inside. She unplugs the vial and drops a few drops of the liquid on the parchment. Getting close enough and with no wind, Kei can smell the substance. It had a metallic scent; it was blood. After the blood has marked the parchment, Malicra puts her hand on it, then the blood starts to glow, and then the whole parchment glows.After it fades, the parchment becomes blank, a brand new parchment. Even Kei’s childlike drawing is gone.

“Wh-What did you do?” Kei asks.

"Ah… That just now was alchemy." Malicra walks away but continues to speak. "In order to use alchemy, you need 4 things. Mana, your blood, and the materials."There was a stack of firewood near the dining hall’s entrance. She grabs one and comes back. "Last and most important of all is imagination." She puts the cut wood in front of Kei, then pulls out the vial again and allows a few drops of blood on it."The more unsteady your imagination…" She puts her finger on the wood, and the blood glows, then the whole kindle wood soon after. The wood slowly shrinks, and the glow fades away. The wood looks as if it was carved into it all over without any purpose of what it was supposed to be. "It’s more unlikely to get a proper object, but if you have a clear and solid image from your imagination…" She drops another droplet of blood on the mangled piece of wood, and the process is repeated, but this time it is clearly a sculpture. It was elegant, delicate, and beautiful...

“An angel?” It was a child angel. “Who is she?”

"Your guardianangel," Malicra murmurs softly. Kei realizes Malicra is not looking directly at him; her gaze is slightly behind his shoulder, but there is nothing there. He takes a guess that she is looking off into the distance beyond the stone fence, but he was utterly wrong. Malicra was looking at the unnamed spirit.

The young angel-like spirit is looking at her wooden reflection with Kei. They both look with great intrigue as she dances, floating around the wooden statue, while Kei is in complete ignorance of her presence. Then she takes notice of Malicra looking at her and dances around her as well. Malicra stands still, only following the spirit with her eyes. The winged spirit sees Kei picking up the statue and looking at its details. She giggles and then floats behind Kei and rests her hands on his shoulder as she looks at the statue again with him. She looks at Malicra again with a big, innocent smile. Then she puts an index finger on her lips.

“Not yet,” the spirit whispers, only for Malicra’s ears to hear. Her eyes grow wide in surprise.

“Hey! No fair! I want to see what you’re making!” It was Halinia coming over. She joins Kei to inspect the wooden statue.

The angel giggles at Halinia’s antics and gives her a pat on the head, but she goes unnoticed. She was flattered? But suddenly, the small orbs of light that surround her gather around Halinia, going unseen by the two children.

------------------

The fourth lesson is for Halinia alone. Kei was told to continue to draw.

“See you in a bit, Kei,” Halinia says as she walks toward the grand window, carrying the big board’s strap over her shoulder.

Malicra stops to relieve Kei’s doubt. “As I have shown you, with a solid imagination and understanding of the substances, you can change their form, combine them, and separate them in the first attempt. However, even the master alchemists have a hard time doing this. They will end up using up all the blood in their body if they want to get what they want on their first try, from the ground up. This is why they make blueprints beforehand to help them solidify the image.”

Kei is listening intently and then rubs his chin deep in thought. He only understood about half of what she said… “What’s a blu-prin-t?”

Malicra forgot she was talking to a 4-year-old kid. She repeats herself in a more elementary manner and Kei finally understands.

“I see… that makes sense. But then…” Kei looks up towards Malicra, then his eyes are drawn back toward the statue. “She said ‘even master alchemists need blueprints.’ Even though it took her 2 tries she still made this flawless-looking statue.”

The angel widens her eyes, claps her hands together, and covers her mouth with her joined hands fretfully. Malicra notices the surprised angel, but she can’t hear Kei’s thoughts. She looks at Kei and sees him looking at the wooden statue of the angel, and she realizes her own contradiction. She coughs, clearing her throat to grab Kei’s attention.

“It’s rare, but there are master alchemists out there, like elves, that can form things in a single try,” Malicra says while trying to avoid direct eye contact with Kei. “We live long lives, after all.” She takes a little glance at him.

“Hm… that makes sense,” Kei said to himself, covering his mouth, still half in his thoughts.

“Anyway, you might not grow up to be a master alchemist, but it’s a non-elemental attribute of magic. Anyone can use it. It will be useful in some cases, and as I mentioned, it is for a flexible mind. Creativity is the foundation of that. With a flexible mind, you can think of flexible solutions. This is beneficial when it comes to magic...”

Kei has a big question mark on his face. Malicra tells Kei to write down what he doesn’t understand.

------------------

Finally, at lunch, Kei joins the Kolodor family to eat together. Their main course was steamed Giant Ants… it wasn’t bad… Cracking the outer shell left behind the meat within. The texture of the meat was similar to crab marrow but with a sweet and sour scent and taste. Yeah, it wasn’t bad.

------------------

After lunch, an afternoon break, Kei is out in the backyard again. It’s in the middle of the summer season now, with the sun high in the sky. Kei considers empathetically that he’s glad he no longer needs to go back and forth from his home to Kolodor's manor anymore. It was not uncommon for him to become extremely dehydrated until he received water. He hasn’t died of heatstroke or dehydration yet, which is a miracle.

All the noble family members are outside as well, along with Kei. Salishia is sitting on the grassy floor under the shade of another tree, watching over her children, and Halinia is pushing Kaber on the swing. Halakar was standing by the manor, reading the many sheets of parchment in his hands. Then a handful of their servants appeared, one by one.

A butler is carrying a small table and places it down a few steps away from the building. The next butler brings two chairs over, and he sets them down by the table facing the open yard. The last butler brings a large parasol made out of parchment and sets it up behind the table, bringing shade to both chairs. Once everything is set up, a maid holding a tea set comes by with a younger maid next to her, who’s carrying a wooden basket. The younger maid sets the basket on the table. The older maid places the tea set down and pours the tea into the two cups. When done, the maids line up next to the three butlers.

Stolen novel; please report.

Halakar says, "Thanks; you can go ahead and eat." The servants bow and head towards the dining hall. Halakar takes a seat, still immersed in the parchment in his hand. He searches for his cup of tea with his senses alone and finds it with ease. He takes the cup and takes a sip. "HOT!" not really loudly, but enough for the servants to hear as they walk away. They chuckle to themselves.

“Every time…” one of the butlers whispers.

Halakar didn’t seem to hear what the butler said, but he could hear them holding back their laughter. He tries to feign being nonchalant. Kei can see everyone is happy and carefree here, except for one person, the young maid.

The young maid was looking at Kei with a frown on her face. She took care of Kei a few times when he was still bedridden. At the time, moving around and being touched were not particularly pleasant. She wasn’t very good at taking care of him. Her services weren’t horribly bad but she would touch him for no reason. She would be rough when she had to clean him. She didn’t do anything to leave any permanent damage, but she certainly tormented him on purpose; he was certain of it. She is Kei’s nemesis, is what he thought.

She quickly turns away with a huff. Kei could only let out a sigh of indignation. He has forgotten he is or was an adult. Kei rethinks from a more mature perspective. “She must be upset that some nobody gets to be called a family member of the nobility. Even though she was born in this manor, she ends up being a servant herself just because she was born under a servant. Yeah… that must be it…” he guesses.

“Anaya!” Halinia calls out as she waves her hand at the servants. “Come play with us after you’re done eating, ok!?” She was talking to the young maid.

Anaya looks around herself, flustered. She then focuses on Salishia, who notices the expression on the young maid’s face; a gentle giggle escapes her lips.

“Why are you flustered? You are always welcome,” Salishia says.

Anaya looks at the older maid next to her, looking for approval. The older maid nods to her, giving her consent. Anaya is buzzing with excitement. She looked like she would jump for joy, but she held herself back. Then suddenly, Kaber, hops off the swing and runs toward Anaya. He gives her a jumping hug around her waist.

“You’re not going to play with us?” There is no better way to describe his expression other than ‘puppy dog eyes’. Even more difficult to resist with his heterochromia on full display. Kei had never seen Kaber act like that before, making his brow raise in surprise.

Anaya bursts with emotions. She picks him up and gives him a twirl then gives him a big hug while rubbing his cheek with her own. “I will! I’ll be right back, ok?” Anaya reassures Kaber. Her eyes fall on Kei, and she smirks as if to say, ‘Are you jealous?’ Making Kei frown disapprovingly.

“I’m not jealous! You brat!” Kei thought to himself. Anaya raises her nose high to the sky, as if victorious. She is… Kei’s nemesis…

------------------

After the hour break is math. Halinia’s mature demeanor she had this morning seems to have vanished. She is laying her head on the table with a pouty, sulking look on her face. She is working on percentages and decimals at the moment. Kei is sitting next to her, working on addition and subtraction. He is bored… But he has a dilemma. Does he breeze through it or stumble?

If he breezes through, they will assign him more difficult questions, and he could solve them all easily too. He will be called a genius and be admired by Halinia and her family. They will most likely let the king know that they’ve found a prodigy. Kei will be sent off to the kingdom with petals flying in the air. He will become the king’s aid, be admired by the whole kingdom, and then overthrow the land with his brilliance. He will sit on the throne with a stoic expression and say, "easy life."

OR… Kei will be labeled as a weirdo. Halinia’s family, who graciously accepted Kei as their own, will kick him out. Then his whole family will be exiled from their own home and from the village itself. Having to live in even poorer conditions. Living in the forest where dangerous monsters live, parents will be stressed and take it out on Kei. Everyone will die miserably. Or worse… Join the bandits.

“Yeah… not happening…” Kei has concluded. He decides to take his time.

“Ah… Why do I have to learn these things~?” Halinia whines.

Malicra lets out a slightly frustrated sigh and takes a glance at Kei. "Since Kei is here, I’ll repeat myself. There are many reasons math is important, but for you, Halinia," Malicra holds up 3 of her fingers and speaks in an irritating tone. "There are three reasons why it’s important. To avoid being cheated on, theft, and finally, critical thinking." Malicra gets close to Halinia with an irritated look. Halinia seems to be intimidated now.

"I have mentioned this to you before… You know you are leaving in about a year and going to be living on your own in an unknown place… You will have to take care of yourself. You have to take care of your own money on your own... I’m trying to help you become self-sufficient. Malice shoves a book onto her head.

“Please, stop…” Halinia mutters dejectedly. Kei watches from the side, dumbfounded. This was the most pathetic Halinia and the most heated Malicra he had ever seen.

Malicra takes a breath to cool her head. "If you live on your own, you will meet many people. The good and the ‘bad’. You won’t know if the person is good or bad at first glance. For example…" She points her finger at Kei and says, "You won't meet kids like him all the time."

“Ah~ she did realize I was weir- different.”

“Some of the most simple but clever ways to trick people are through money. THAT. IS. IF. YOU. DON'T. KNOW. YOUR. MATH!” Malicra shoves her finger into Halinia’s cheeks with the rhythm of her speech.

"But I don’t need to worry about money…" Halinia mutters as she pouts. Malicra’s mouth is open and her lips are lop sided, and her eyes say there is no hope left in the world. Kei’s expression is a little more difficult to read, but his eyes alone say the same. "What?!"

Malicra sighs deeply. This is going to be a long session.

------------------

Finally, the lesson Kei has been waiting for: magic. The 2 students and the professor are outside in the yard again, but they are not alone. Salishia is sitting on the grassy ground, and Kaber is on her lap, watching.

Halinia has her wand in hand while dancing. As she prances around, a trail of floating water bubbles follows her wand tip. Once she is in the middle of the bubbles of water, she strikes a pose, pointing the wand to the sky. All the bubbles pop, spraying into the air and making a rainbow. Kaber and Salishia cheer. Kei claps as well, watching from a distance in the shade made by the tree alongside Malicra, but his eyes are full of jealousy.

“How do you use magic?” Kei asks Malicra looks at Kei with a scowl. Was she disappointed?

“You’ve never used magic?” Malicra asks.

“Huh?”

“Huh?” Malicra copies Kei.

“I… I haven't… Are kids my age able to use magic? Or am I just not able to?” Kei questions, somewhat disheartened, looking enviously at Halinia.

Malicra looks at Kei strangely. Then she looks slightly behind Kei. She rubs her chin contemplatively. “No, everyone can use magic.”

Kei's thoughts went back to the game. In the game, not everyone can use magic, not even the protagonist. Depending on the players' choices, the protagonist can end up with no magic attribute. That’s why, at the end of the first game, the protagonist can end up going to the military academy instead of the magic academy. "I thought there were people who couldn’t use magic."

“Ah- I should have been more clear. Everyone has some form of magic. But there are those who can’t use ‘Elemental’ magic.”

“Elemental magic?” Kei repeats.

"There are 2 types of magic, but I and some others believe there are 3. Elemental magic, inner magic, and universal magic—universal magic is a magic everyone can use, like alchemy."

“Can anyone use alchemy?”

“Everyone can. The problem lies in mana capacity and the thing I told you earlier.”

“Cap…pasiti….?”

Malicra coughs, “The amount of mana that you have.”

“Oh…I see,” Kei covers his mouth as he thinks, “Well, that makes sense.”

"Elemental magic, or outer magic, is magic where a person manipulates—I mean, controls elements. Like she is doing," Malicra points her finger at Halinia. "Not everyone can do that because they lack mana… They don’t have enough mana." Malicra sighs softly. Kei feels a bit bad; she has to explain every other word to him. "Besides, you are still only 4 years old-" she keeps forgetting, though, "-you still have time. There are late bloomers… There are people who are able to use magic later in life but are most likely not able to after the age of 10."

“That’s why the approval ceremony,” Kei connects the dots.

“Yes,” Malicra clears her throat, “Anyway, let’s work on your mana capacity.”

“Oh~!” Kei’s expression lit up.

“So you don’t end up dying.”

“Ah…” Kei remembered something unpleasant. “What do I do?” Kei asks.

“One way is to use your mana to your limit, just like when exercising, but…” she glances behind Kei’s back. “You tried to use magic before, right?”

“Yes?”

“What magic were you trying to use?”

“Heal.”

"Heal?" Malicra shows a confused expression. "Healing magic shouldn’t have put you in the state you were, even if you were 4 years old; at best, it should have made your arm numb." She rubs her chin, pondering what may have gone wrong. "What were you thinking as you used it?"

“I was thinking that light magic is ‘time magic’,” Kei says without much thought.

Malicra’s eyes widened, flabbergasted. “What!? What is this boy saying? Time!? Like in the past and future?”

“Uh-oh… did I just destroy the magical ecosystem?” Kei thought.

Malicra glances at his back yet again. The spirit is there; she has always been there. She giggles and then sees Malicra looking at her. The spirit lifts her index finger to her lips once more, telling the dark elf to keep her secret. Malicra furrows her brows slightly and scowls deeply in thought.

“Then it’s simple, you can’t use heal,” Malicra concludes.

“Huh~! But that’s the one magic I want to use!” Kei panics.

"I mean, not yet. Why do you want to use healing so badly?" Malice asks. Kei has a somber look on his face, and he turns his head, looking far off into the distance.

“I want to… save someone,” Kei says.

"How old is this boy? And what’s with that serious look? Did he lose someone close to him?" Malicra snorts, trying to hold her laughter at seeing a 4-year-old with such a grave expression. It hurt Kei’s feelings. "Anyway, there is more than one way to save lives. I think you should start with the ‘mana barrier'."

“Mana… Barrier…?”

"Yes, it’s a shield made out of mana; it's a form of universal magic. Anyone can use it as long as they have the mana to pay for it." Malicra walks away to look around the flower garden. She finds something and pulls it out of the dirt. It was a gardening spade. She walks back and hands it to Kei.

"When I tell you ‘throw’, throw the spade at the tree." She then holds her arm up, her open palm pointed at the tree. "Barrier," she calmly says. With a single word, small orbs of light gather and form into a square in front of the tree. Kei steps closer and has a touch. It looked and felt like a sheet of glass; it was smooth and even, but slightly warm, as if it were put out in the sun for a little while. He touches the other side as well. Yup, it’s like thin glass. "Kei, can you throw?" Kei comes back to reality through Malicra’s voice.

Kei goes back to where he stood before and takes a stance. Kei holds the small gardening shovel as if he were holding a kunai. Holding the blade instead of the handle. Malicra wonders where he learned to throw like that.

Kei throws the spade at the tree, or more so, at the barrier that stands in between them. The spade reaches the barrier. The barrier breaks with little to no resistance, making a clashing sound. "Yup, it’s glass," Kei thought. The spade slightly loses momentum. It continues to fly and bounces off the trunk, landing off to the side of it.

"Go pick up the shovel and come back," Malicra orders. Kei does what she asks. "Barrier," she says calmly, again, no different from before. Same for the barrier; it is thin and smooth, but this time he knocks on it. It made a light ‘thunk’ sound, and what came to Kei’s mind was… metal. "Go ahead and throw it again, but be careful."

Kei throws the spade as hard as he can, even though Malicra warned him. The spade bounced off the barrier with ease and flew above Kei’s head, landing behind him in the sunlight. But still, it surprises Kei to see how such a thin barrier can be so sturdy.

“The first barrier, I offered about… my fingertip amount of mana. This one I offered about… the size of my hand,” Malicra says as she shows her open palm. Kei is immersed in deep thought before speaking again.

“I thought barrier magic was light magic, an el-le-men-tal magic,” Kei wonders aloud.

"Hm, yes, that is not wrong. After all, it is outer magic. But light magic is universal magic, and the same goes for dark magic." As Malicra finishes her explanation, she is surprised by Kei’s emotion exuding from his expression. He is amazed by this new information from Malicra.

“Light and dark magic is un-ver-sal magic!?” Kei asks loudly, startling Malicra. She clears her throat.

"We’re losing daylight; let’s get back to the subject. Try using ‘barrier’," Malicra instructs. She walks over to pick up the spade that Kei had been throwing before.

“I guess I should think of a barrier like hers… But is my assumption correct? Is light magic time magic? But why would it break like glass? If time was frozen in mid-air like that, would it break like glass?” Kei’s thought process was going a thousand miles per hour… not really.

“Kei, I said we’re losing daylight.”

"Ah- whatever! Let’s just give it a try." Kei raises his arm and points his palm at the tree. "Barrier," Kei says strongly in his premature voice. A second pass… Then 2… then… "Nothing happened…" Kei says to Malicra, almost in tears.

“Huh?” Malicra auto-responds with a crease on her forehead.

“Huh?” he says while still trying to cast the barrier.

Malicra sighs slightly, then throws the spade in the air, catches it on its blade side, and immediately throws it at the tree professionally. And what happened next even surprises Malicra. The gardening spade is in the air. Better said, it was stuck in the air. No, it was moving ever so slightly. Then suddenly, something very frightening happened. The tip of the blade, a bit of it, chips off and falls to the floor. Then the handle side falls, leaving a thin metal piece of the blade just there, in the air. Not floating, just frozen in midair.

Both Malicra and Kei's faces go pale, thinking of the same thing. "What would have happened if a person touched—whatever that is/that magic?"

“CANCEL THAT MAGIC, NOW!”

"YES!" He quickly puts his arm down. The metal piece that was still in the air fell.

Malicra grabs Kei by the shoulders. “WHAT WAS THAT?!”

"I-was-thinking-light-magic-as-time-magic-so-I-was-thinking-of-making-a-wall-of-frozen-time-in-midair!" Kei rushed to explain. Not only was he scared, he had never seen Malicra this angry before.

“Time again?! Wait, it might be possible, but why did the shovel still pass through?” Malicra came to a realization. “Were you thinking of not using all your mana?”

“Ah- yeah… I didn’t want to faint and not… be able to… move again…”

They both come to a realization, “So, that’s it… It wasn’t enough mana.”

They both sigh. "I can't believe offering less mana would be more deadly…" They both thought.

“Don’t use that magic around other people…” Malicra reassesses her thoughts. “Only use it when you are in danger.”

"Yes…" Kei agrees. They both sigh in relief, and in the corner of their eyes, they notice Halinia and the others looking at them with worried expressions.

"Is… everything okay?" Halinia asks a little hesitantly. Kei and Malicra make eye contact with each other, and their minds seem to connect.

"Everything’s okay," they chorused with big grins each. It concerns them more than relieving them of worry. Neither Kei nor Malicra are the smiley type.

------------------

After dinner, the day has come to an end. Kei is holding a lit candle as he makes his way to his room. Tonight, there was no moonlight illuminating the dark halls through the windows. Halinia and Gallia, also carrying a lit candle, followed him. They arrive at his door, and Kei turns to face them.

"Well, good night, madam Halinia and Miss Gallia," Kei bows. Halinia pouts but then smiles. Halinia gently lifts Kei’s face with her fingers by his chin and leans down slightly. She gives him a gentle kiss on the forehead. They both blush, but he knows; she’s trying to act like a mother with him. Halinia slightly giggles in embarrassment.

“Good night,” Halinia says, and she skips away. Kei hears a giggle. It was the maid, Gallia, who was still standing there.

She sees Kei looking at her. “Would you like one from me as well?” she teases with a gentle smile.

“Good night, Miss Gallia,” Kei repeats himself as he steps into his room and closes the door behind him.

Kei is lying on his bed now, with only the candle dimly lighting the room. He sighs softly. He’s honestly exhausted. Being bedridden for 3 days straight didn’t help, and the day’s lessons did not help either. Even so, it was a very fulfilling day—something he hadn’t felt in a long time. He learned a lot of things. Even things he didn’t learn from the game, then reality suddenly hits. This is the world of “True Fantasy” and he’s living it.

There were no happy endings in the game that did not include deaths or sacrifices. That is also true for the first game, where Kei is currently living. However, the issue is that it is significantly different than in the game—very different.

The protagonist is never taken in by the Kolodor family. The protagonist mainly interacts with the village farmers, the guards, and the mages. Meeting Halinia for the first time was like some sort of special event.

Kei is in a very advantageous position. He has learned more about the world from living in this manor than from all the games he has played combined. Knowledge of the world is definitely going to be useful but… Who is going to die?

Is it the villagers? Given that he is staying at the Lord's manor, he is not in a good position. Was it a member of Halinia's family? One of the maids? Gallia? He has grown rather fond of her. He takes a deep breath. Again, he’s going around in circles, all thoughts leading to nothing—a dead end.

He decides to push those thoughts aside for now to practice some magic. He wants to expand his mana capacity. Time magic is a bit too dangerous to use though. Then what about dark magic?

Kei tries to recall the youth of his past life, when he was still playing the game. He would never get the dark attribute; he didn’t see the benefit of it. Dark magic was mostly used to give enemies status ailments. Kei was the type of player who didn’t see the use of affecting status as useful for battle. But in this world, it’s an element anyone can use. It’s at least worth a try.

“In the game, it was common for enemies to use dark magic. They would apply slow, poison, sleep, or paralysis to enemies. But how does this work? How can one element cause so many different effects?” Kei asks himself. He thinks hard, immensely hard, but nothing.

"Ok, I got nothing. Let’s simplify things then… The opposite of dark is light, and I came to the conclusion that light magic is time magic. What is the opposite of time… space? But time isn’t the opposite of space, or vice versa… but… it can explain a lot, if it was… How can someone poison someone from a distance? Or paralyze, sleep, slow? If it’s not affecting them on the outside… then from within? By putting poison within by manipulating space?" Kei sighs in frustration. He sits up and mumbles to himself, "Well, let’s give it a shot."

He stands in the middle of the room. “If dark magic is space magic… should I try to teleport something…? No, I don’t want to be completely useless again… I’ll… think of something that costs less mana… Maybe the basics? But I don’t know what the basics of dark magic are…. I need a clear imagination to use magic, right? Space magic, space magic….” He closes his eyes. He raises his arm, palm facing the candle, and makes a strong effort to visualize a physical form of "space." There’s a sudden tingling sensation in his fingers, making him open his eyes. Something has happened.

There is small, but thick fog floating at the end of his still open palm. He lifts his hand up and looks at what’s floating at the palm of his hand. It looked as if a black galaxy was swirling above his palm. The galaxy collides into the center, forming a starry, black, viscous liquid. The unknown substance droops and splatters slightly onto the wooden floor. He stops focusing on using the magic, making the black galaxy dissipate. He looks carefully at the unknown black, viscous liquid left behind on the floor. It’s slowly shrinking and is evaporating? Kei’s eyes widen considerably. The liquid was melting the floor like acid, but it doesn’t seem to be acid. There are no fumes being released. It just melts whatever it comes into contact with. The liquid is finally gone, but there is a noticeable hole on the floor.

“Why is all the magic I use so dangerous…?” he says out loud to himself as he slouches. “How am I supposed to explain this…”

And little does he know… His guardian angel is making a new friend at this moment…