Without hesitation, Gabriel slid the interface over to the Ability Status section, wanting to read the full explanation of the Dark Matter Magic he had just acquired.
Ding!
_______________
Special Ability:
> All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods (Kamigami no Gigan)
Passive Abilities:
> Puppeteer (Lv. 1)
> Slayer (Lv. 1)
Active Ability:
> Dark Matter Magic (Lv. 1)
Description:
A unique form of magic that allows the user to create a substance known as "Dark Matter"—an artificial material that does not follow the standard laws of the world.
Dark Matter can be shaped into various forms of matter or energy, limited only by the user's understanding, imagination, and computational complexity.
This magical energy has no elemental attribute, cannot be analyzed by conventional magic, and does not submit to the laws of the world, except for the rules explicitly defined by the user.
Mana is required as fuel to generate Dark Matter, but once formed, Dark Matter does not require mana to maintain its existence.
Control: 25%
Efficiency: 25%
Change Limits: 5,000
(Note: This Skill can level up)
_______________
Gabriel read the description slowly. As his eyes traced each line, part of the Persona Ash he usually wore seemed to slip away, revealing a faint trace of genuine surprise.
The further he read, the higher one eyebrow rose.
"…Dark Matter Magic?" he murmured softly. "Is this really… Dark Matter…?"
Silence followed.
Then, bit by bit, the Persona Ash settled back into place—perfect and intact. His lips curved upward, and he dipped his head slightly before breaking into laughter.
"Kuhaha… hahaha…"
There was a reason for it. The description was far too similar to something he already knew—an ability belonging to a certain individual from the Toaru Kagaku series.
The laughter subsided. Behind his bangs, Gigan rotated slowly, as if recalibrating itself to the unfamiliar yet strangely compatible energy now flowing through his body.
"As it should be," Gabriel declared with absolute conviction. "Dark Matter returns to Ash."
The smile on his face widened. With a small gesture, he dismissed the ability status window and raised his right hand into the air.
He focused his consciousness.
The flow of mana within his body became clear—subtle, cold, yet undeniably real. For a moment, Gabriel simply let the energy circulate, familiarizing himself with its rhythm, before slowly guiding it toward his palm.
A pale white light appeared.
Mana took the form of a thin mist, swirling gently, then began to weave itself together—assembling an extremely simple magical construct.
Simple… yet nearly impossible, because this was the very first time Gabriel had ever used magic. And more than that—he was doing it without a Grimoire.
However, thanks to the Puppeteer skill, which enhanced micro-level control, and his Agility of 24, which strengthened motor coordination and reflexes, Gabriel was able to shape the structure with precision far beyond that of an ordinary human.
At the same time, he imagined the nature of mist—formless, easily stretched, and obedient to will.
Like painting on a canvas with an invisible brush, Gabriel guided the mana through imagination and delicate control.
The pale white mist slowly merged.
Its structure thickened.
Its silhouette grew more defined.
Until finally, a single white feather was perfectly formed, floating calmly above his palm.
Gabriel stared at the pale feather in silence. Part of his consciousness split off, tracing the remnants of the mana flow he had just expended.
"…Consumes fifteen percent of my mana?" he murmured softly. "So it's fairly inefficient…"
He took a small breath, his shoulders lifting slightly.
"No matter what…" he whispered, "…I still don't have a Grimoire. My mana reserves aren't stable yet… and I can't create or use more complex spells."
Then Gabriel rose from his cross-legged position on the grass. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Alright," he said. "Ash's primary objective for now is to obtain a Grimoire as soon as possible."
With a mental command, Gabriel caused the white feather hovering above his palm to spin. It was nothing more than idle curiosity—he simply wanted to see its potential.
At first, it rotated slowly.
Then faster.
And faster still.
The feather spun wildly, no longer resembling a feather at all, but a pulsing line of white light that dragged the surrounding air along with it. The wind was pulled inward, the grass around Gabriel's feet trembling violently.
The rotation turned into a small vortex.
Gabriel's gaze changed instantly.
Behind the bangs that hid his eyes, Gigan glimmered faintly.
In a single flash of analysis, his consciousness received an instant evaluation: the rotational speed was approaching Mach 1.
"…Huh?"
His smile froze. His eyes widened behind his hair.
"Mach… one…?"
The whisper was barely audible.
At the same moment, Gabriel realized something terrifying—
He had absolutely no idea how to stop the rotation.
"W–wait, wait, wait!?"
Panicking, he released his control and reflexively ordered the feather away.
The white feather shot forward.
BOOOOM—!!!
A thunderous roar, as if the sky itself had been torn apart, shook the air. A shockwave swept across the area, blasting grass, soil, and rocks away—
Including Gabriel.
His body was flung backward.
He fell from the edge of the nearby cliff.
In the distance, a pale white Grimoire bearing a five-leaf clover on its cover streaked across the sky.
But from the opposite direction—
BAM!
The pale white feather Gabriel had released slammed straight into the innocent Grimoire.
In an instant, the still-wildly rotating feather snagged against the side of the Grimoire, dragging it along as well, tearing through the blue sky in a completely uncontrolled trajectory.
The Grimoire didn't even get a chance to "protest."
The two shot off together—like a falling star gone horribly off course—splitting the midday sky as they vanished into the distance.
***
Two hours had passed since Gabriel fell from the cliff.
Fortunately, his body was now far sturdier than before, thanks to the passive effects of Slayer as well as the attribute bonuses granted by the Mage Job.
On top of that, Gabriel was still wearing vibranium armor and pants, each providing a 10% damage reduction effect.
As a result, he hadn't suffered any serious injuries at all.
Now, the chuunibyou teenager was casually walking along a narrow forest path, his shovel resting lazily on his shoulder.
Gabriel's destination was clear: the Grimoire Tower, the place where he would obtain his own Grimoire.
Coincidentally, the nearest tower from his current location was in Hage Village.
To reach it, he would need roughly five hours of travel on foot, with several breaks along the way.
As he walked, Gabriel dug through his memories regarding Grimoires.
In the reality of Black Clover, a Grimoire was not merely a book, but a medium that allowed a mage to use spells far beyond the limits of their natural magical ability.
For Magic Knights and ordinary mages alike, a Grimoire is one of the primary sources of their power.
Normally, Grimoires are kept within Grimoire Towers—specialized libraries scattered throughout the kingdom.
When a person reaches the age of fifteen, they may participate in the annual Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony, held every March, to receive a Grimoire of their own.
However, mages who miss the ceremony after their fifteenth birthday can still visit any Grimoire Tower and receive their Grimoire separately at any time.
Each kingdom has its own distinctive emblem on the cover of its Grimoires:
The Clover Kingdom, Diamond Kingdom, Heart Kingdom, and Spade Kingdom each use their own unique symbols.
The most famous—and often the center of conflict—is the Grimoire of the Clover Kingdom.
For Magic Knights and ordinary mages alike, a Grimoire is one of the primary sources of their power.
Normally, Grimoires are kept within Grimoire Towers—specialized libraries scattered throughout the kingdom.
When a person reaches the age of fifteen, they may participate in the annual Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony, held every March, to receive a Grimoire of their own.
However, mages who miss the ceremony after their fifteenth birthday can still visit any Grimoire Tower and receive their Grimoire separately at any time.
Each kingdom has its own distinctive emblem on the cover of its Grimoires:
The Clover Kingdom, Diamond Kingdom, Heart Kingdom, and Spade Kingdom each use their own unique symbols.
The most famous—and often the center of conflict—is the Grimoire of the Clover Kingdom.
Clover Kingdom Grimoires vary by the number of leaves on their clover emblem:
Three-Leaf Clover — Standard, symbolizing Faith, Hope, and Love.
Four-Leaf Clover — Rare, symbolizing Luck.
Five-Leaf Clover — Extremely rare, symbolizing the Devil, such as the one possessed by Asta (Liebe).
To mages, a Grimoire is not merely a medium. It is a vital apparatus that expands their magical potential—and an inseparable part of their identity and power.
Furthermore, a Grimoire is directly bound to the soul of its owner. No one can borrow another's destiny. When the owner dies, the book vanishes as well, as if it never existed.
Yet vanishing does not mean being lost.
A dissolved Grimoire returns to its original tower, carrying with it every spell, theory, and piece of magic its owner developed throughout their lifetime—as though the world itself preserves it as a record of the soul.
For Gabriel, whose very existence originates from beyond this reality, everything feels far more uncertain.
The Mage Job he possessed was, in truth, nothing more than a construct produced by the Infinity Room, granted solely because of compatibility.
Because of that, a question arose—one he could no longer ignore:
Was the soul of an outsider… even worthy of being chosen by this world?
Especially when the Magic attribute he carried was not conventional magic at all, but Dark Matter Magic—something that this reality itself might reject outright.
If Gabriel were to receive nothing more than a three-leaf Grimoire, that alone would already be a small miracle. The size of the book or the number of its pages would not matter.
If it were four leaves… then perhaps fate truly was smiling upon him.
And if it were… five leaves?
Gabriel let out a quiet chuckle.
That sounded far too impossible—even for the dream of a pale-mist observer.
For now… he wished for only one small thing.
"Let this world, at the very least… acknowledge me," he murmured, "with a single Grimoire."
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Author's Note:
Comment and give me some power stone. Don't forget that 😉