章 8: What Is Magic?
The next three days that followed were a mixture of heaven and hell for Yachi.
Roan was a foreign magician, which meant that he had many stories for Yachi to listen to. As a country girl who had been stuck in Ebony Village all her life, Roan's stories made Yachi's spine tingle, and it always left her begging for more.
Not to mention the odd gadgets that he used that weren't found anywhere in the region. In Ebony Village, sleeping in hard beds while getting warmth from fireplaces was common. Roan, however, slept on soft beds which had a built-in heater.
The next thing that stunned Yachi were the small slime-humanoids that did everything around the house. Roan called them the Lulus, a race of familiars he'd created to handle his daily chores. Whether it was cleaning the house or cooking their meals, the Lulus did everything.
It took Yachi some time to get used to the Lulus running about the house, but eventually, she started to grow reliant on the adorable little critters. All of the delicious dishes that she had in the house were prepared by the Lulus, and they catered to her every whim like any servant would.
If Yachi wanted meat that day, the Lulus would whip out a five-course meal with an assortment of pork, chicken and even lamb. If Yachi wanted a fresh pair of clothes, the Lulus would freshly sew a dozen of them, just for her viewing pleasure. For the first time in her life, Yachi was treated like an absolute princess, and it was Heaven on Earth for her.
Unfortunately, not everything was roses and honey for the young teenager.
When Roan said that he was going to begin a boot camp for Yachi, the man wasn't joking. Yachi's schedule for the past three days had been nonstop training and readings. In the morning, Roan would give her theory lessons in magic. He would skip the redundant facts that other Magic Towers would teach and only focused on drilling the main points into Yachi's head.
Afternoons were reserved for practical sessions. Roan would help Yachi feel the flow of mana within her own body and trained her to conjure spells. To keep her body healthy, Roan would even prepare her physically through exercise and taught her the basics of Aura.
After dinner, when the sun went down, Roan would then switch to meditative and internal cultivation techniques.
For a magician to wholly comprehend their potential, they had to first cultivate a suitable Magic System. A magician with a flair for Fire-Elementals would learn a fire-based Magic System. A magician that was blessed by the Lightning-Elementals would learn a lightning-based Magic System. A magician that was a jack of all trades would attempt to master a more generic Magic System that allowed the cultivation of multiple elemental spells.
It was all relative and customisable according to the individual. And no one knew that better than Roan.
Before Roan became the Magic God, he had read almost every Magic System created in the Human Alliance. He had a copy of every single book, every grimoire, every scroll, stored in his own personal library. If there was anyone that could help Yachi figure out what the best Magic System was for her, it was Roan.
The evenings were long for Yachi, but at least she could look forward to sleeping on her bed… right? Wrong.
Roan had plans even before she went off to her happy place in the garden of dreams. An hour before she fell asleep, the Magic God would stay by her side and pump mana through into her Magic Source and into her veins. All while the poor girl sat in a lotus position to meditate.
To make a complete novice into a magician that could at least use one spell usually took months. Slower magicians might even take years to reach that point. But Roan was trying to speed run the entire process in just a few short days.
The task was impossible! If it were anyone else that is… But for the Magic God, the word 'Impossible' doesn't exist anywhere in his dictionary.
The hellish training didn't come without any benefits, though. Over the past three days, Yachi had enjoyed the best food she had ever tasted. She had Roan's personalised care, and her quality of living had skyrocketed.
Internally, Yachi's body was at a tier above the rest as well. She no longer went hungry and was always brimming with energy. Yachi couldn't feel it, but her Magic Source had evolved as well. The lightning energy that had been bottled up for all these years were finally being unleashed, and her Pinnacle Tempest Body was finally able to show its full potential.
On paper, everything was going great in Yachi's boot camp. Yet...
"S-Sir Magician… I still can't cast that s-spell..."
Yachi shivered timidly as she turned to Roan who was seated just a metre away on a massive boulder.
"That's odd… 'Shock' is an Elementary-Class spell that doesn't require any complicated magic calculations. Even a farmer should be able to use it if they trained hard enough. As someone with the Pinnacle Tempest Body, using it should be as easy as breathing."
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm not blaming you, I'm just perplexed." Roan furrowed his brows and rubbed the bottom of his chin.
Yachi's training over the past three days had gone astonishingly well. So much so that it shocked Roan, the Magic God himself. When it came to absorbing information, Yachi was like a sponge. Never satisfied with just knowing, Yachi wanted to thoroughly comprehend the concepts that Roan taught her.
Physically speaking, the white-haired teenager was even better. Yachi was brought back to life using Serenity's Essence, a holy elixir that even Kings and Queens coveted. She was able to run a full kilometre without breaking a sweat, and her physical peak already surpassed the average human.
Even Yachi's Magic Source had improved by leaps and bounds. With Roan's influence, her Magic Source had been growing steadily, and it was already equivalent to that of an average magician.
Everything was perfect, other than the fact that Yachi couldn't cast a single spell.
"Can you feel the mana coursing through your veins? The mana from your magic source?"
"N-No… I can feel that… It's just..."
"Just what?"
"W-Whenever I try to use that spell… the mana doesn't come out from my b-body. A-As if it was afraid of leaving my body and hurting the world."
"..."
Yachi's words made Roan fall silent. He had been training the girl perfectly, and her progress had been staggering as well. So, why was Yachi failing to cast 'Shock,' the simplest spell for any Pinnacle Tempest Body to use? Roan didn't know at first, but the teenager's words made it simple for him.
"I-I'm sorry! I'll do b-better! L-Let me try again!"
"No," the Magic God placed his hand on Yachi's arm and stopped her. "In your current state, you won't be able to cast any spells no matter how hard you tried."
"W-What?"
"It's my mistake. I should have been more patient and observant." Roan said self-deprecatingly.
"W-What do you mean? Sir M-Magician?"
"..." The Magic God silently watched the frantic young girl. Every movement that she made, every sound that came out from her mouth… even the undulations that her Magic Source made. Roan observed it all.
"Yachi, you really are the perfect disciple. You're smart, hardworking and your talent is second to none. But you lack one crucial thing. Something essential for all magicians to have."
"..."
Yachi didn't say anything and simply stared the Magic God in the eye. She had a faint idea of what Roan was referring to, but the young teenager wasn't able to mouth it out.
"Yachi, you… Don't have a goal."
"T-That..."
"Hah, it was my fault. I forced you to become my disciple without knowing who you really were. What are your aspirations? What do you want to become? What do you like? I don't know any of that. Tsk, being a master sure is tough. I wonder why none of those assholes didn't tell me this before."
Roan thought back to the many old sages who had fought alongside him during the Great Magic War. Every single one of them boasted about their disciples. How prodigious they were and how they would serve them faithfully. Yet, none of them had told Roan about their difficulties when raising said disciples.
"Let's start over, shall we?" Roan held the young teenager by the hand and brought her down to the earthen ground.
Warm sun rays beamed down from the heavens and the sweet scent of wheat permeated into Yachi's sensory organs. Occasionally, the sweet sounds of birds brought life into the remote fields. Gentle breezes whiffed across the duo's faces, making the perfect atmosphere for the pair to just sit back and rest.
"Now, Yachi… Tell me your story."
❖❖❖
Yachi hesitated for a moment. She didn't know if it was suitable to spill everything that she'd been carrying for the past three years to a stranger that she'd just met. But in the end… Perhaps it was because Roan saved her life. Maybe it was because she was looking for someone to comfort her. Or perhaps it was a mixture of both.
In the end, the poor girl broke down and confessed everything to the Magic God.
Yachi told him about her happy childhood. The love that her parents had showered her. The adoration from the villagers. Everything.
But the day Yachi's curse, no, her Pinnacle Tempest Body awakened… Everything changed for the poor teenager. She was tossed out to the outskirts of the village and was given the bare minimum needed to survive. Yachi's parents cut all ties with her, even going so far as to call her a demon spawn.
As the lightning bolts intensified, so did the villagers' hatred of her. They wanted to forcibly marry her off to somewhere far away, but no one wanted to take her. To the villagers, they were holding onto a curse that they couldn't expel.
In the end, instead of killing her outright. The villagers had decided to cut off her food supply and simply leave her to starve. At that moment, Yachi had lost everything. She didn't know why she was living or why she was even born in the first place. All that Yachi wanted… was for the nightmare to end.
"... a-and that's when I met you, S-Sir Magician."
Yachi peeked up from the side, afraid to meet Roan in the eyes. Now that she had told him everything, she was terrified… Yachi was terrified that Roan would leave her as well.
But to her utter surprise, the Magic God looked bored after Yachi's story.
"Yeah, I know all of that. Don't worry about the stupid villagers. After training with me for a year, you'll be able to flatten the whole village if you so choose."
"W-What? H-H-How did you..."
"How did I know your sob story? I have my ways. Also, it's a stereotypical troupe in a novel for the first disciple to be a pitiful girl or boy that has lost everything, so I kind of expected it."
Roan dug his ears and released a little bit of the pressure on his mind. After a few seconds of watching Yachi's opened mouth, the Magic God gently placed his finger on her chin and closed her mouth shut.
"I'm more interested in you. Not some sad backstory."
"I-Interested in me?"
"Yes, you." Roan reconfirmed. "What were your childhood dreams? What are your hobbies? You know things like that. If you are to become my disciple, shouldn't I at least know those things?"
"A-Ah..."
Roan's words struck Yachi like a bolt of lightning. It was a sensation that she'd never felt before. It was as if a thousand butterflies had found their way into her stomach and lifted all of the stress she had in her mind. Yachi wasn't a girl of many words, and she was unable to describe the visceral feeling that she had. But Yachi knew one thing…
It was an uplifting sensation.
"Yes… You should know that." Yachi replied, this time by flashing the brightest smile that Roan has seen from her.
"C-Childhood dream… I wanted to be a merchant, no I wanted to travel out of Ebony Village to experience the great big world. I wanted to read all the books in the world. I wanted to… adventure out and learn more about the world outside of my life."
"Oh! Sounds like being a magician would be perfect for you then!" Roan exclaimed. "There's nothing but adventure for magicians like us! Even if you hate it, trouble will come to you! That's the main protagonist's curse!"
Roan was so sold on trying to convert Yachi to the dark side that he didn't notice her shift in tone. The girl was no longer stuttering when she talked to him and was even blushing shyly in his direction.
"Sir Magician… I think I understand it now. In my current state, I think I can use that spell!"
"Oh, that's quick! Give it a shot!"
Yachi nodded blissfully. She pointed her index finger to the floor and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in the process. The reason why Yachi had failed in the beginning wasn't due to her lack of preparation. It wasn't due to her poor talent. It was because… Yachi didn't have a motive to use magic.
Ever since Roan arrived, Yachi had been going with the flow. She followed everything that Roan had taught her, not sparring a second to think about her own actions. Yachi was like a spring autumn leaf. A mindless object that went with whatever breeze came her way.
But now… it has all changed.
Yachi now had a new goal. A goal that would propel her forward, even until the end of times. And therefore...
'Magic Source… Mana… Cast… Easy.'
A small electrical current dripped down from Yachi's index finger, piercing the moist grass that laid beneath her. There was no damage done to the ground, and there wasn't anyone influenced by that small change in phenomena. But there was no question about it…
Yachi had just used magic.
"Hehe, I did it!"
クリエイターの想い 
Linodo
Linodo Last chapter for today. I'll most likely post one or two more chapters in the coming days, but this is the end of the mass release. Hoped you enjoyed the story thus far!
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