Chapter 6: Chapter 6
"Ta-da!"
Eredith safely landed Ian.
She had summoned a giant wind to cushion his fall.
Seeing her disciple's expression, she smiled slightly.
Confused yet deeply contemplative – not the face one would make after merely an exhilarating experience.
"Did you realize something?"
Ian nodded blankly.
"The wind... it spoke in the Maronius language."
Eredith laughed pleasantly.
Maronius language, a great magical language devised by an archwizard, was indeed a wonder to witness in its true form.
"That's the first step of magic."
"The first step?"
"A wizard communicates with the mysteries of nature and borrows their power. Language is the bridge between humans and nature."
This was why Ian had spent six years rigorously studying Maronius language.
Magic is communication.
Communicating with nature and borrowing its power is the essence of magic.
But what if Ian made a mistake and asked for something absurd?
Or angered them?
Disaster would ensue.
That's why he was forbidden from communicating with nature until he could perfectly handle Maronius language.
"How was the voice of the wind?"
Ian recalled the recent memory.
The high sky and thousands of freely swirling strands of wind.
"It felt free."
Eredith nodded.
Wind is a free element.
"We call the process of hearing that mysterious voice 'initiation.'"
Eredith gently stroked her disciple's head.
He was nearly an adult, but in her eyes, he still seemed young.
"Congratulations on your initiation into Air magic."
A wizard can communicate with all things.
Thanks to the mysterious magical language, Maronius language.
For wizards, the moment they hear the mysterious voice marks their 'initiation.'
Novice wizards must focus on traveling the world and listening to the voices of various mysteries.
This is because it helps them discover which magic suits them best.
Each person resonates with different mysteries.
Some are attuned to Air magic, others to Earth magic.
Ice magic, Water magic, Fire magic, and even Summoning, Transmutation, Transformation, Creation, Necromancy, Space-time magic, and so on.
Since each person's aptitude varies for each magical school, one must try and experience them firsthand.
"Next is Earth magic."
Eredith led Ian into a deep cave.
To hear the voice of the earth, being buried deep in the ground is ideal.
But since burying Ian alive would be deadly, a cave was the next best option.
"Initiation into Earth magic is a bit more challenging."
Eredith explained.
"Try to listen to the voice of the earth."
"Yes, Master."
"But don't push yourself too hard. You've already initiated into Air magic, so becoming an Air wizard is enough."
Though she said this out of concern for her disciple, learning a variety of magic is always beneficial.
Between a wizard who handles one kind of magic and one who handles ten, it's obvious who receives more respect.
Ian, aware of this fact, entered the deep cave willingly.
'It's scary.'
Just like when he learned Air magic.
A wizard essentially needed to be fearless.
Would Ian have been able to learn Air magic if he had acrophobia?
Similarly, if he couldn't endure the gloominess and claustrophobia of the cave, he couldn't become an Earth wizard.
Ian focused on listening to the voice of the earth, even extinguishing his torch to aid his concentration.
[...And thus flows]
[What does not move cannot be seen flowing]
[It is no different from something solidly set]
'What is it talking about?'
The earth rambled on nonsensically.
Its voice was much harder to understand than the air's.
It meant Ian's aptitude for Earth magic was lacking.
Normally, to improve Earth magic skills, one had to study the specialized language of the earth to enhance communication accuracy.
[New Skill Acquired!]
[Skill: Earth magic]
[The ability to utilize earth magic]
Oh.'
The skill window appeared as soon as he heard the voice of the earth.
[Bonus Skill Points!]
[Invest skill points to increase the progress of magic]
[Unused Points: 100]
[*Skill points can be acquired by collecting mysteries]
But Ian had the status window.
A system where investing skill points increases proficiency in magic.
'Who am I? A cheat player.'
Ian invested a few points into Earth magic.
The change was immediate.
[Little human]
[Below here flows lava]
[Be careful, for it will erupt in case of an earthquake]
The voice was much clearer and more precise.
Ian realized.
Ah, this is magic.
The process of talking with mysteries.
That is magic.
Having learned Earth magic, Ian packed his things and prepared to leave the cave.
'Wait a minute.'
But since he had learned magic, why not use it to leave?
The cave was deep and dark.
Impossible to exit without a torch.
But what if he used Earth magic to ask the earth to guide his way?
'Let's try.'
Initiation may be guided by Eredith, but the achievement of magic must be done by oneself.
Now a wizard himself, Ian had to increase his magical achievements by communicating with all things.
"[O Earth]."
Ian chanted in the magical language.
His six years of honed Maronius language skills shone brightly.
[What is it, little human?]
'It works!'
The earth responded to Ian's call.
Ian smiled involuntarily, thrilled by his achievement.
"[I, outside, go]"
[Outside? What is outside?]
"[Outside, cave]"
[The cave is this place? But outside, what does that mean? Difficult to understand.]
"[Leave]"
[Do you mean to walk?]
'...Damn.'
A communication failure.
Ian instantly realized the problem.
The earth had no concept of inside and outside.
Inside and outside are human constructs, too complex for the earth to understand.
Moreover, Ian realized a significant issue with using the Maronius language in practice.
There were no particles in the Maronius language.
The role of particles was replaced by the will of the wizard.
The more skilled the wizard, the clearer they could convey their will.
But Ian, a novice among novices, found it challenging to even choose the right words.
'This is hard.'
He had a realization.
He shouldn't ask the earth to guide him.
To it, the entire world was the same as its body, so asking for directions was pointless.
'Should I ask the wind?'
Ian pondered what request to make to the wind.
Should he ask to move from a narrow place to a broader space?
This seemed reasonable.
However, Ian quickly thought of the risk of being led into a deep underground chamber.
'This is tricky.'
He was beginning to grasp what magic was.
Communication required a linguistic sense, while the content of commands needed a coding-like approach.
'Issuing precise commands to eliminate variables and achieve the desired result...'
Wow!
It's just like coding!
But without knowing any commands, it was useless.
'Let's just leave.'
Right, forget magic.
Hey, Mr. Lee!
Stop the nonsense and light a fire~
Ian gave up on magic and lit a torch.
That's when it happened.
[No!!!]
[It hurts!!!]
'Sh*t!'
A sudden, frail scream echoed.
Ian, startled, extinguished the fire.
'What was that?'
The voice was no longer audible.
Ian listened attentively to the voices of all things, but only the heavy voice of the earth was heard.
The strange voice he had just heard was gone.
'A hallucination?'
Ian shook his head.
What kind of hallucination would produce such a chilling voice?
No choice.
Ian settled down cross-legged.
He concentrated fully, listening to the voices of all things.
After some time passed.
A new voice began to reach Ian's ears
[... It's quiet here, I like it.]
[I don't like noise.]
[I don't like pain either.]
A very, very small voice.
He wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't extinguished the fire.
Not knowing what it was, Ian decided to initiate a conversation.
"[Hello]?"
The response came immediately.
[What? What!]
[A human! It's a human!]
[He said hello! So cute!]
"[Who are you]?"
The voice then whispered.
[Darkness!]
Ah.
Darkness.
Why didn't he think of something so obvious?
In a pitch-dark cave, what else could there be besides the earth but darkness?
[New Skill Acquired!]
[Skill: Dark magic]
[The ability to utilize the magic of darkness and shadows]
Dark magic.
A school not mentioned by his teacher.
'Lucky me.'
A school he stumbled upon purely by chance.
Not bad at all.
Better than nothing, he thought.
'...If it's darkness?'
Ian's interest in magic was rekindled.
While he might not know much about earth and wind, he had a clear idea of what to ask of darkness.
"[Light! Where?]"
Simply asking where the light is would do.
[Eek! The light is over there!]
[I don't like the light!]
Like a quest marker, a twinkling light appeared before Ian's eyes.
It meant there was light at the end.
'Does this really work?'
Ian, for the first time, successfully utilized a mystery through Maronius language.
Riding on this momentum, Ian decided to test another spell.
"[Earth, where?]"
[Earth is everywhere!]
"[I step, I walk]"
[Ah! Humans walk!]
[If it's walking earth, it's right here!]
The darkness specifically marked a path where Ian could walk.
'Wow...'
In the pitch-black darkness, an unnaturally prominent path appeared.
[New Skill Acquired!]
[Dark Magic – Dark Vision]
[Allows you to see in the dark as if it were daylight.]
A new magic was added to the skill window.
It was a spell Ian discovered and used himself.
"[Thank you!]"
Ian expressed his gratitude to the darkness and walked steadily through it.
After a while, an exit appeared.
'Light...'
Bright light welcomed Ian, but he didn't feel happy about it.
Somehow, he felt more comfortable in the darkness...
"Ian!"
Eredith, upon spotting Ian, ran towards him, then tilted her head in confusion.
"Where's your torch?"
"I didn't use it."
"What? Then... did you use magic to get out?"
Eredith quickly realized that Ian had used magic.
She was amazed.
It would have been difficult to escape the cave with just Earth magic and Air magic.
For someone who had just initiated, his ability to utilize magic was extraordinary...
"I learned Dark magic from the darkness."
"What?!"
This time, she was astonished.
Darkness?
The shy and timid voice of darkness?
How?
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