November 1981.
It seems that today is a happy occasion. Because my mother, after reading the newspaper is happy enough to have tears in the corners of her eyes.
I go up to her to ask for the source of her excitement.
"Mom, what happened? Is there something good today?"
"Oh, Sol! Today is a really happy day."
"Why? What happened?"
"You-Know-Who has finally died! The war is finally over!"
No mother, I don't know who.
"Uhh, mom, who died exactly?"
"You-Know-Who!"
"..."
"What's his name? And why do you keep calling him that?", I ask again
"Oh, I suppose you wouldn't know who that is. And people don't say his name because his name is a curse. So that's why we call him You-Know-Who" explains my mother, "If you want to know he is called Voldemort, he was the one who started this war."
"Huh? How did he die?"
"He was killed by Harry Potter, the boy who lived."
Ahh, this 'Harry Potter' must be truly powerf-
Hmm~ there's something wrong here. The boy who lived?
"Mom?"
"Yes, honey?"
"How old is this Harry Potter?"
"I seem to recall that he was born in 1980, just a year younger than you."
"..."
Oi.
Oiiiiiii~
Excuse, Mr. Voldemort? Yeah, what the FUCK? You start the entire Wizarding War just to get your ass handed to you by a one-year-old child. No, not even a child. You got your ass handed to you by a fucking baby who still needs his diaper to be changed. Are you shitting me? Wait, was Voldemort the freckled-faced fuck?
"Mom? What did he look like?"
"I've heard that he had pale-bluish skin, a body without hair and no nostril. Oh and he always wore black robes."
"Is that so?"
So they're not the same guy.
My mother seeing that I had gone quiet, misunderstood and started to console me.
"Don't worry baby, he's dead. Everything's going to be alright."
"Yeah, mom. I'm glad."
Finally, the war's over. Now, I should just relax and increase my power. If you want something then you need to have strength. Both to live peacefully and to have revenge.
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June 1984.
In a house on Privet Drive, there was a 5-year-old child with short black hair, ocean-blue eyes with a cute face. It can be said that he would grow into a handsome youth. He was currently sitting cross-legged inside his darkened room with his eyes closed. He seemed to be in meditation. Since this is a world with magic, he must be trying to gather mana from the atmosphere. Suddenly he opens his eyes.
Fuck! Shit! Arghh! What the hell is this?!
This child was naturally Sol Balor. This was his first time trying to gather mana after he was born. He was aggrieved at the following facts.
Why is the concentration of mana in the atmosphere so low? My plan of awakening my father in 3 years' time just became double.
There are no mana veins? Why aren't there no mana veins?! What the fuck are these bodies of ours?!
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The mana cores inside our bodies can generate magic at a set rate, you can also gather mana from the atmosphere to increase the regeneration rate. Ok, fine. But the mana core doesn't double as a container? Our bodies are the containers?!
So, the only way to increase mana capacity is to train our bodies. I mean that's fine but fuck is the process gonna be tedious.
As he was grieving over the unnecessary hard work, he was going to have to do, he suddenly had a thought.
Maybe my mother has a better way to train my mana capacity. When one doesn't know, one should ask. Yes, off to my mother I go!
Soon he found his mother in the living room, sipping tea.
"Mom, how do you increase mana in the body?"
"Huh? What's mana?"
"..."
Sol's eyes widen as he looked at his mother with shock.
Nononononononono. You're fucking kidding me! You're shitting me? Come on, tell me that you're having a good ol' laug-
No, wait. Maybe they don't know the term 'mana'. Right, I should change the question.
"Uhh, I mean how do I increase magic power in my body?"
"Ahh, why do you want to know that?"
They call it magic power here. Phew.
Sol exhaled a sigh of relief as he gave his reason, " Ahh, I'm already doing magic training."
His mother's eyes go wide as she thinks, "Ahh, my adorable son is a genius."
"Well, there are four ways to increase magic power. Firstly, by constantly exhausting your body of magic. Secondly, through various potions. Thirdly, through using magic items. Lastly, through body modifications. But this way is forbidden."
"Huh, why is that?"
"That's because body modifications make you inhuman. Simply, you throw away your humanity once you modify your body. You-Know-Who also used body modification which truly made him into a monster, both in appearance and power."
"Huh, is that so?", said Sol indifferently.
Seeing her son's indifference, Selene grabbed him.
"Never try this. Never go down this road. Promise me, Sol."
Seeing his mother's serious expression, Sol agreed, " I promise, mom."
"That's my boy," said Selene kissing Sol's forehead, "Now go."
"Okay, thank you.", said Sol as he returned to his room.
I think body modification is essentially making a chimera. This way has more risks than returns. And the public looks at you like you're a monster. Well, this road is blocked.
Haaaaa.... let's get grinding.
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A Month Later.
I open the door to my house after I've finished my daily jog. In a month, I already have immediate proficiency in manipulating mana. I've also asked my mother to give me some books on magic and spells. So she brought me the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
When I asked my mother, what these extra books were for, her reply was amusing.
"These are the books required for your 1st year at Hogwarts. You should get an early start at the curriculum so you can further solidify your position as a genius."
Genius? Me?
Well, I don't know about that but this is fine as well. Oh, look! Books on potions and herbs. There must be alchemy here too. That'll be helpful.
"Thank you, mom."
"You're welcome, dear."
I have been studying these books for the previous month. Also, another oddity I've realized. Why did I already know the language of this country? When my mother started to teach me to read, I realized this. I know the language of the country but the symbols were different. Maybe, I've never noticed because I've been too distracted at all the events till now. But this did decrease one of my problems. So I only needed to learn how to read. And now the more I delve into the magic studies of this world, the more questions I have.
Wait, why is it this hard to cast magic by hand? Is this why everyone uses wands? No, that shouldn't be the case. I mean, sure, wands, staffs, and the sorts do provide a helping hand with casting spells. But that's only for those who have thin mana veins or have blockages in them. And mana veins don't even exist in this world! I know that you can cast magic with your hands, legs, hell some people could also cast spells from their mouth. What's with this world? Why do I feel so many restrictions?
As I learned about the different casting methods, more questions popped up.
Wandless Casting, Chantless Casting, and Chain Casting, huh? I mean that's fine but having practiced these I can say that these are HARD AS FUCK. Why? Why is the world pushing me, no rather, wizards and witches towards wand casting? These methods shouldn't be that hard even if there are no mana veins. It's like the world is putting some restriction on magic itself.
As my mom gave me more books that contained more spells that weren't in the curriculum, the questions kept coming...
Why are the spells hard as well? With the amount of mana right now, I should at least be able to cast spells like Confringo without a wand. So why is it that I can only cast Incendio, Aguamenti, Windgardium Leviosa, and the sorts? I can almost cast all the hexes, jinxes and charms learned by the 1st years at Hogwarts. Do I need more proficiency in wandless casting?
Although I was somewhat dissatisfied with how the magic of this world felt restrictive, my suspicion of a horrifying truth became a bit more apparent with the next revelation as I became more and more proficient in potion-brewing and herbology.
Wait? I can imbue the potions with spells. No, well at least it isn't wonky like the magic and whatnot. I can't just imbue any potion with any spell. Only potions made with ingredients that have certain compatibility works e.g. imbuing Incendio in a flammable spell which when thrown lights a target on fire. That's great. Now, I have a backup if my mana runs out. No, that's not the problem. You'd think with the restrictions and limitations on casting and spells that you wouldn't be able to do imbue potions with spells. What is this world? Why does the world have restrictions in such weird...places...?
No. Don't tell me. No!
Fuck! This is a Story World.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!