“Hey, I heard that!”
Whoops.
‘My bad, but even then. Even if I was this Great Sunfish King you’ve been talking about. I couldn’t possibly beat that guy with my current body, the way it is now.’
I was still a baby sunfish.
Barely one centimeter in size.
Asking such a measly creature to fight evil incarnate is unreasonable, no matter how you put it.
“Hmmmm… Well that is true. You couldn’t possibly fight him currently.”
She looked perplexed for a bit and continued to be deep in thought.
“Alright, I got it!”
She suddenly shouted out. It seemed that she reached some sort of epiphany.
“You’ll just have to train until you’ll be strong enough to beat him then.”
That certainly was one solution to this problem. Although there’s a ton of things that I’m still confused about, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go. I don’t have much to lose anyways.
‘How would I train? Is there someone that’s strong enough to teach me here?’
She grinned and puffed her chest a bit, while proudly proclaiming, “Well you’re looking at one.”
‘Are you serious?’
I wasn’t trying to underestimate anyone here. It’s just that… She didn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed. Even then, she could very well be someone strong.
“Hey! Don’t underestimate me Sir Sunfish! I’ll let you know that I’m one of the top mages in the nation.”
‘Oh really? How come you live in this run-down shack then? You would think that someone of such caliber would live in a better house than this one.’
Okay, that came out way too mean than what I intended. My lack of socialization skills came back to bite me in the ass once more. I can only hope she doesn’t hate me for that.
“That was kind of rude. But hey, you’re not wrong for coming to that conclusion. Truthfully, I was one of the top mages. Big emphasis on the past tense. 999 years ago to be exact. It’s not that I’m not strong, It’s just that I’m not bothered enough to get my qualifications again after 500 years gone by.”
Oh wow, again, I realized that I really was reincarnated into a fantasy world. Such a cliché actually showed up here, a young-looking elf turning out to be hundreds or even thousands of years old.
‘How old are you then?’
“I prefer not to tell.” She said while showing a terrifyingly calm smile. I thought that if I pushed this question further, something bad would happen. So I didn’t.
‘Okay I get that you’re one of the top mages (one of the goats, as one would say in my previous world), so how are you going to train me?’
“Good question Sir Sunfish, first and foremost we need to figure out what branch of magic you’re most proficient at.”
“There are mainly three branches of magic in this world. Mental Magic (that’s what I’ve been doing all this time), Enchantment Magic, and Creation Magic.”
‘Ooh that sounds sick.’
“Well honestly, there is one more branch of magic called Forbidden Magic. Although I’m sure you’d know more about this than I would Sir Sunfish.”
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‘Why do you say that?’
“In simple terms, Forbidden Magic is any type of magic that doesn’t fall under the previous three branches. The Magic Association prohibits this type of magic because it’s dangerous, unsafe, or even simply because they don’t know what the scope of it is.”
“Therefore, don’t you think your regression falls under this umbrella?”
When I think about it a bit, it does make sense.
“Sure you can regress, but that won’t really help with fighting Abaddon.”
‘Okay then, teach me some magic so I can beat that guy.’
“I like the enthusiasm! Well first off, the three main branches of magic are all quite difficult, but I’ve heard that Abaddon mainly uses Enchantment Magic.”
‘That doesn’t sound that strong, teach me some Creation Magic instead! It sounds the coolest out of the three.’
“To be fair they are all strong. But, if you want to learn Creation Magic first then I don’t mind.”
“Creation Magic is a branch of magic that uses Mana… Oh wait. I should’ve explained about this first huh, got too ahead of myself. Do forgive me Sir Sunfish” She said while bringing both her hands together and showed an apologetic gesture.
“So every type of magic (even Forbidden Magic) can take place because there is Mana. Mana is in every living creature and it even surrounds us in this world. There are two types of Mana Users, One who uses their own Mana inside their body, the other one uses the Mana of their surroundings.”
“Both are good in their own areas but we’ll be focusing on the former for now. When using Creation Magic, one needs to imagine the construct they want to make, down to its smallest particles. That’s why most Creation Mages only use this magic to construct simple elements. There is one limitation to Creation Magic though. Contrary to how the name might imply, you cannot create ‘life’. That is already beyond the boundary of what Creation Magic encapsulates. Such magic would fall under Forbidden Magic.”
‘Okay, alright, I think I get the gist of it. Show me how to do it then.’
Lilia took one staff from the corner of the room and held it with both her hands in front of her. She closed her eyes looking extremely focused. I guess she could make this kind of serious expression. She seemed to mutter something under her breath and a surge of energy was collecting near the tip of her magic staff. Some brown small orbs suddenly formed where the surge of energy once was.
The small orbs dropped into the fish tank I was in.
“Eat up Sir Sunfish.” She said while beaming a smile this way.
It was fish food.
Now that I think about it, I was getting kind of hungry. All this exposition talk really increased my appetite. I gobbled up the fish food without much thought. To my surprise, it was quite good. I didn't know if it was because my taste in food has changed or if it’s just that good. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it regardless.
‘This is quite good.’
“Thanks.”
‘So you can use Creation Magic for this type of stuff as well huh? It seems quite convenient. I wonder what kind of stuff I could make…’
“Well fish food isn’t that hard to imagine, someone’s proficiency in Creation Magic is inherently tied with their level of imagination. If you want to make more complex stuff you would need to have creativity. Or at the very least, you would need a deep understanding of the object you want to create.”
‘Oh I see. Do I need a staff like you to use magic?’
“No you don’t. Having a staff is simply just to ease the process of collecting the Mana in your body to gather in a single point. It’s not necessary, but it sure does make it easier.”
‘Well, that’s good. I can’t really hold a staff, can I?’
She seemed to think for a moment. After that brief period in thought she let out a tiny giggle. She might’ve been imagining how a sunfish would hold a staff in the first place.
“That’s certainly true, don’t you worry though Sir Sunfish. There are some strong mages out there without magical staff or other items. If you have the ability and talent I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
Oh… Talent huh.
Whether it is a fantasy world or my previous world, I guess that sort of thing still applies.
I didn’t know about my current body, but in my previous life, by no means could you call me talented.
I didn’t do that well in school and my grades were average at best. I wasn’t that great at sports either. The only thing I was somewhat good at was the video games I’ve played and even then I sucked at them for most of the time I spent playing them. I was ordinarily ordinary, my previous self was such a person.
So someone like me being put in this situation… It’s a bit tough to say the least.
‘But… What if… I’m not talented? What if I’m not competent enough to defeat Abaddon?’
…And would you come to hate me if that’s true?
She went silent. I guess she sensed my worried tone of voice and thought for a bit on what to say. She opened her eyes and gazed directly at me.
“Isn’t that why I’m here?”
Her gaze showed a determined look, and her eyes were looking straight at me. It was as if she didn’t have the slightest worry that I would fail her. No, it was more accurate to say that she looked at me with such gentle, and caring eyes that I couldn’t possibly fail her.
At that moment, I knew what my purpose of being here was. I didn’t know whether it’d be a worthwhile purpose or not, but nevertheless it was still a purpose.
I decided to definitely protect this girl with all my life.