I woke up with grass in my face.
Again.
I opened one eye.
Morning sunlight slipped between the trees.
Birds were making noises I couldn't identify.
Something small crawled across my sleeve.
I stared at it.
It had six legs.
I stared harder.
It had a tiny pair of wings.
"...Good morning."
The creature stared back.
Then flew away.
I sat up.
"Right."
I rubbed my eyes.
"Another world."
For a few seconds, I forgot where I was.
Then everything came back.
The portal.
The fall.
The monsters.
Liora.
Magic.
I looked at my hand.
That tiny glow from last night had been real.
I wasn't dreaming.
I held my palm up toward the sunlight.
"Let's do it again."
Nothing happened.
I waited.
Still nothing.
"...Okay."
I took a breath.
"Magic."
Nothing.
"Come on."
Nothing.
I frowned at my hand.
"You worked yesterday."
[The Host appears to believe magic responds to verbal negotiation.]
"I was talking to myself."
[The System is capable of distinguishing between the Host and his own thoughts.]
"That's somehow worse."
I stood and brushed the dirt from my clothes.
The village wasn't far.
I could see the roofs between the trees.
I had slept outside because I didn't have any money, no identification, and absolutely no explanation for where I came from.
I probably should have been worried about that.
Instead, I was thinking about magic.
Again.
---
The village was already awake.
People were carrying baskets toward the market.
Someone was chopping wood.
A man was arguing with a chicken.
I wasn't sure what the chicken had done.
I walked toward the inn.
Liora was sitting outside with a cup of something steaming.
She looked up.
"You slept outside?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"I don't have money."
She stared at me.
"That didn't occur to you yesterday?"
"Yesterday I was busy discovering another world."
"Fair enough."
She took another sip.
I sat across from her.
"Can you teach me?"
She lowered the cup.
"Teach you what?"
"Magic."
She stared at me for a moment.
Then laughed.
"You're serious."
"Completely."
"You couldn't cast anything yesterday."
"I know."
"And you're still interested?"
"More than yesterday."
That seemed to surprise her.
She put the cup down.
"Why?"
I opened my mouth.
The answer came easily.
"Because it worked."
Her expression softened slightly.
"That little glow?"
"Yeah."
"It was barely magic."
"I don't care."
I looked at my palm again.
"It was enough."
Liora was quiet.
Then she sighed.
"Alright."
My head snapped toward her.
"Really?"
"Don't get excited."
"Too late."
"I'm going to teach you the basics. If you can't handle those, we're stopping."
"Deal."
She stood.
"First, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"Magic isn't something you yell at until it obeys."
I slowly lowered my fist.
"I wasn't going to yell."
"You were shouting at your hand this morning."
"...You saw that?"
"The entire village probably heard you."
I looked away.
"Right."
---
Liora took me to a clearing behind the village.
There was a flat stone in the middle of it.
She pointed at it.
"Sit."
I sat.
She sat across from me.
"Close your eyes."
I did.
"Now breathe normally."
I took a breath.
Then another.
"Don't force anything."
Another breath.
"Listen to your surroundings."
The wind moved through the leaves.
A bird called somewhere above us.
Someone was hammering metal back in the village.
I could hear my own breathing.
"Forget about casting a spell."
I frowned.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Nothing."
"...Nothing?"
"Exactly."
I opened one eye.
She was watching me.
"This is the part where you usually make it harder than it needs to be."
"I don't do that."
"You do."
"How do you know?"
"You've been trying to cast magic for less than a day and already look offended by the concept of patience."
I sighed.
Then closed my eyes again.
"Fine."
I waited.
Nothing.
A minute passed.
Then another.
My legs started hurting.
My back felt stiff.
My thoughts wandered.
What was Grandpa doing right now?
The thought stopped me.
Right.
Grandpa wasn't here.
I swallowed.
I opened my eyes.
Liora noticed.
"You alright?"
"Yeah."
She didn't ask again.
That helped.
I closed my eyes.
This time, I didn't try to push the thought away.
I remembered the river.
Grandpa sitting beside me.
His old jacket.
The way he'd lean back whenever his knees started hurting.
Mary throwing stones into the water and pretending she could skip them farther than me.
She usually could.
I smiled.
My chest felt warm.
There.
Something.
I focused on it.
The warmth grew slightly.
Then disappeared.
My eyes opened.
"I felt it."
Liora nodded.
"Good."
"That was mana?"
"Probably."
"Probably?"
"You haven't learned how to recognize it properly yet."
I looked at my hand.
"So I have mana."
"Everyone has mana."
My heart sank.
"Oh."
She laughed.
"Having mana doesn't mean you can use it well."
"That's reassuring."
"It shouldn't be."
"Right."
She stood.
"Again."
---
We spent the morning doing almost nothing.
At least, that's what it felt like.
Breathe.
Feel the mana.
Lose it.
Try again.
Breathe.
Feel it.
Lose it.
Again.
By noon, I was exhausted.
I dropped onto the grass.
"This is harder than I thought."
Liora sat nearby.
"Good."
"Good?"
"If it were easy, you'd already be doing it."
I looked at her.
"You make everything sound simple."
"That's because you're making everything complicated."
I considered arguing.
Then decided she was probably right.
She tossed something toward me.
I caught it.
An apple.
I stared at it.
"Where did this come from?"
"My bag."
"You just had an apple?"
"I travel."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"It does."
I bit into it.
Sweet.
Juicy.
I hadn't realized how hungry I was.
Liora watched me eat.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"Sixteen?"
"Yeah."
She looked surprised.
"You act younger."
"That's rude."
"You act older sometimes, too."
"That's even ruder."
She laughed.
I smiled.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Then I asked:
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
I almost choked on the apple.
"Eighteen?"
"Yes."
"I thought you were older."
She stared at me.
I immediately realized my mistake.
"I mean—"
"Don't."
"Right."
She took a bite from her own apple.
"You're strange."
"I've heard that before."
"I believe it."
---
After lunch, we tried again.
This time, Liora gave me a small stone.
"Hold it."
I did.
"Imagine your mana flowing into it."
I closed my eyes.
I remembered the warmth.
I tried to guide it.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
I opened my eyes.
The stone hadn't changed.
"Maybe I'm doing it wrong."
"You are."
"Thanks."
"Try not to push."
"What does that mean?"
"Mana isn't water. You can't just shove it through something."
I looked at the stone.
"Then what do I do?"
"Let it move."
"How?"
"Feel where it wants to go."
I stared at her.
"That makes no sense."
"It will."
I sighed.
"Magic teachers really love vague instructions."
"You're the one who asked."
Fair.
I closed my eyes again.
The warmth returned.
Tiny.
Barely there.
I let myself notice it without trying to grab it.
It moved.
Not much.
But it moved.
From my chest.
Down my arm.
Into my hand.
My fingers tingled.
The stone grew warm.
My eyes snapped open.
A faint blue light appeared between my fingers.
I froze.
"Liora."
"I see it."
The light flickered.
I held my breath.
"Don't force it."
"I'm not."
The glow grew slightly brighter.
Then—
Pop.
The light vanished.
The stone fell from my hand.
I stared at it.
"...Did I do it?"
Liora picked up the stone.
She examined it.
Then handed it back.
"You did."
I couldn't stop smiling.
"Really?"
"Really."
I looked at my hand.
My fingers were trembling.
Not from fear.
I laughed.
"Again."
Liora shook her head.
"Tomorrow."
"What?"
"You're tired."
"I'm fine."
"You've been sitting here for hours."
"I can keep going."
"You'll accomplish more tomorrow."
I looked at her.
Then at the stone.
I didn't want to stop.
But my arm felt strangely heavy.
"Okay."
I stood.
"Tomorrow."
---
The next morning, Eulyseas was already back at it.
Yesterday had ended with his first successful attempt at manipulating mana. It had barely been a spell, just a faint blue glow that lasted a few seconds, but he had spent most of the night thinking about it.
He wanted to do it again.
And this time, he wanted it to last longer.
By the time the sun had climbed above the trees, Eulyseas had already failed at magic more times than he could count.
He sat cross-legged in the grass, staring at his hands.
"I did it yesterday, what is happening."
Nothing.
He flexed his fingers and tried again.
Still nothing.
Liora stood a few steps away, watching him with her arms folded.
"You're thinking too hard."
"I've been thinking about magic for most of my life."
"That's probably the problem."
Eulyseas looked up at her. "How can thinking about magic be the problem?"
"You're treating it like a puzzle."
"Isn't it?"
"No."
"Ehh..."
"Just do it like before."
Liora walked over and crouched in front of him. She picked up a small stone and placed it in his palm.
"Stop trying to make something happen. Feel the mana first."
Eulyseas looked down at the stone.
He closed his eyes.
For the next several minutes, there was only the sound of leaves moving overhead and distant birds calling from somewhere deeper in the forest.
He breathed slowly.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Nothing.
His shoulders gradually slumped.
"This suddenly gets hard."
Liora sighed.
"You're hopeless."
Eulyseas opened one eye.
"That sounds encouraging."
"It wasn't meant to be."
She sat down beside him, resting her hands behind her.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Eulyseas looked at her.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Why are you helping me?"
Liora glanced at him.
"Because you're hopeless."
He stared.
"That doesn't answer the question."
"It does."
"No, it really doesn't."
She shrugged. "You're clearly terrible at this, but you keep coming back and trying anyway. I've never seen someone struggle this much with something so simple."
"That still doesn't explain why you'd bother teaching me."
Liora was quiet for a moment.
Then she looked toward the village.
"I don't know."
Eulyseas waited.
She didn't continue.
"You don't know?"
"I said I don't know."
He accepted that surprisingly easily.
"Well, I don't mind."
Liora turned toward him.
"What?"
"I'm getting to stay here for free, and I'm learning magic. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me."
The smack landed on the side of his head before he could finish smiling.
"Ow!"
Liora pulled her hand back.
"Don't get comfortable."
Eulyseas rubbed his head. "What was that for?"
"If you think I'm going to keep wasting my time on you just because you're enjoying free lessons, you're mistaken."
"I never said—"
"If you can't learn anything," she continued, "I'll leave you behind."
Eulyseas stopped rubbing his head.
"You'd actually leave?"
"Yes."
There was no joking in her voice this time.
He looked down at the stone in his hand.
"How long do I have?"
"Until I get tired of waiting."
"That isn't a very specific deadline."
"Then don't worry about the deadline."
Liora stood.
"Just learn."
Eulyseas stared at the stone for another moment before closing his fingers around it.
"Fine."
He stood as well.
"I'll learn."
Liora raised an eyebrow.
"You said that pretty confidently for someone who hasn't managed anything yet."
"I'll figure it out."
"That's better."
She stepped back and motioned for him to sit again.
Eulyseas took a breath and returned to the grass.
This time, he didn't try to force anything.
He simply closed his eyes and listened.
The forest remained quiet around him.
At first, he felt nothing.
Then, somewhere beneath the silence, there was a faint warmth in his chest.
There it is again.
He almost ignored it.
It was so small that he wasn't sure it was real.
He focused on it.
The warmth moved slowly, like water finding its way through a narrow crack.
His fingers tingled.
"Liora."
"Don't open your eyes."
"I think—"
"Don't talk."
He swallowed and concentrated.
The warmth reached his hand.
Something faintly blue flickered between his fingers.
Liora went still.
Eulyseas could feel it now.
It wasn't much.
It wasn't even stable.
But it was there.
The light trembled around his fingertips before disappearing.
Eulyseas opened his eyes.
For a second, he simply stared at his hand.
Then he looked at Liora.
"Did you see that?"
"I did."
"I actually did it again."
"Barely."
"But I did it."
Liora looked at the spot where the light had vanished.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"Yeah."
Eulyseas grinned.
"Soon this will be THE MAGIC."
"You learned how to make your mana flicker, ."
"consistenly."
"thats even below that basics."
"That counts."
"It really doesn't."
"It absolutely counts."
Liora shook her head.
"well, lets continue tomorrow."
Eulyseas looked at her.
"You're still going to teach me?"
"I said we'll continue tomorrow, didn't I?"
He smiled again.
"Right."
As they walked back toward the village, Eulyseas kept looking at his hand.
The glow had lasted less than a second.
For him, that was enough.
For the first time, magic didn't feel like something he had spent his whole life chasing.
It felt like something he could finally reach.
---
That evening, I sat outside the inn.
The village had grown quiet.
Someone was playing a stringed instrument inside one of the houses.
The melody wasn't familiar.
But I liked it.
I looked at the sky.
There were more stars here than I had ever seen back home.
Maybe the air was cleaner.
Maybe there were fewer lights.
Or maybe this world simply had a different sky.
I wondered what Grandpa would've said.
He would've probably told me not to stare at the stars too long.
Then he'd sit beside me and stare at them anyway.
I smiled.
"Grandpa..."
I looked at my hand.
A faint warmth remained inside my chest.
It wasn't much.
But it was mine.
I thought about what Liora had said.
Magic wasn't something I could force.
That sounded familiar.
I reached for my journal.
Then stopped.
I didn't have it.
It was still back home.
For some reason, that hurt more than I expected.
I looked toward the forest.
Back there was the path I'd taken this morning.
Beyond that was the place where I'd first opened my eyes in this world.
And somewhere beyond all of it...
There was another life waiting for me.
I didn't know if I could ever return home.
I didn't know if Mary would believe me.
I didn't know if Grandpa would have understood what happened.
But I knew one thing.
I'm finally able to cast a spell.
A tiny one.
Barely worth mentioning to anyone else.
To me?
It was everything.
I raised my hand.
"One spell."
I smiled.
"Not bad for the first two days."
[Correction.]
I looked at the System.
[The Host has been attempting magic for approximately 22.3 hours.]
"You're ruining the moment."
[Apologies.]
I laughed.
Then looked back at the stars.
Tomorrow, I'd learn another spell.
Then another.
Maybe one day I'd be strong enough to fight monsters without running away.
Maybe one day I'd understand my unknown affinity.
Maybe one day I'd face the Demon King.
But for now...
I was sixteen years old.
I was in another world.
And I had finally made magic move.
That was enough.
For tonight.
"How long do you plan to stay there?"
Seems like it's already late.
"I'm just stargazing."
"Star— what? Come on in, your food will be cold."
"Coming!"