Chapter 8: Chapter 7: Tutors and even more magic…

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 7: Tutors and even more magic...

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"Did you understand it?" Luna asked with a smile.

"Yeah! It is clear now, thank you!" I smiled back.

I was sitting at a desk with Luna sitting by my side. Liliana was lying on her bed while reading a book.

That means that I am currently in their room.

Their room is just what you would expect from girls their age. The room is filled with stuffed animals, toys, books, and a few tabletop games.

There's a ton of portraits with drawings made by the twins hanging on the walls of their room.

Each of them had a wooden chest right in front of their individual beds. I was told that that's the place where they store their clothes.

There are also two wooden desks in the room, one for each of the twins.

"Do you think you can tell me the hierarchy of nobility?" Luna showed me a very adorable smile.

"Let's see… From the lowest rank to the highest, I believe it is: Baron, Viscount, Count, Earl, Marquess, Duke, Prince, King and then Emperor…" I was trying to remember the contents of the lesson I had just received.

"That's correct! Good job!" Luna was trying to motivate me. "Let's go to the next part." She smiled before flipping the page of the enormous old book in front of us.

That was easy to remember since the hierarchy of aristocracy in this country seems to be similar to the British one. The only difference is that the title of Earl is a different title in its entirety, while on Earth it is just another way to refer to a Count.

Why am I studying the nobility? Well, I'm not studying only that...

Yesterday, during our feast, I asked Lilia… I mean... I asked Mom to teach me the things that are common knowledge in this world.

She agreed to teach me everything I wanted to know, but the twins suddenly intervened in our conversation. They insisted that they wanted to be the ones to teach me.

Lilia simply smiled and agreed to let them teach me. I also couldn't refuse them after seeing their excitement to become my tutors…

And that would bring us here. I’ve spent the last two hours receiving lessons from them.

"So the next lesson is about geography! I think we had a map somewhere… Just wait for a second, Julius." Luna got up from her seat and moved towards her bookshelf.

In the last two hours, I have discovered that Luna isn’t shy at all when she’s teaching or when she’s talking about a topic she’s passionate about. Compared to yesterday, she has really been less shy.

I guess the fact that she’s less shy has to do with what happened early in the morning when I found her and Liliana sleeping with Tiria and I in my room... 

Of course, she was really flustered when she woke up and we made eye contact. But I think she has already gotten over it.

I’m glad she’s opening herself to me. I’m hoping to get to know her and Liliana more. We’re siblings now after all. 

Ah… Liliana simply smiled the whole time while Luna was basically turning into a tomato because of how red her face got...

It was really adorable in my humble opinion.

Anyway, the bookshelf was filled to the brim with Luna's books. It seemed like if she took any of the books out, the rest would immediately fall…

“Geography is boring! Let’s study flora and fauna! I have the greatest book about that right here!” She stood up on top of the bed and started jumping with excitement. She was trying to show me the book while jumping…

Hmmm… Flora and fauna are two things I’m really interested in right now. I have two reasons. The first one has to do with Goblins… Well, it actually has to do with monsters in general. I want to learn as much as I can about monsters in order to be able to slay them when I’m strong enough to do so.

As for the second reason… I want to know if there’s coffee in this world! Coffee is, without a doubt, my favorite drink. When I was studying law before I died and came to this world, I spent many sleepless nights studying with a large mug of coffee in my hands.

I really hope there’s coffee in this world…

“Geography is important! He needs to learn where we are located in the world! What about if he wants to travel and gets lost?” Luna turned around and disagreed with Liliana. She had a very serious expression on her face.

She’s right about that because I plan to travel when the time comes in order to find Lia, The Goddess of Knowledge, and then release Melius. I also want to explore this world for a little. Who knows what kinds of wonderful things are out there.

“I don’t wanna hear that boring stuff right now!” Liliana pouted. “Biology is way more interesting to learn! You agree with me, right Julius?” Liliana suddenly brought me into their disagreement. She was looking at me very intently.

“Ehh?” I was taken off guard that she had suddenly said my name.

“You’re wrong, Liliana! As a person who is not from here, I’m sure he’s dying to know more about what our world looks like! Julius, am I wrong?” Luna retorted while frowning.

‘Dying to know’ huh… Yeah, that expression is a bit…

I really want to see what this world looks like though.

“...”

“...” 

Both twins were looking at me very intensely…

They want me to decide huh…

Now, what do I do…? I need a clever solution for this enormous problem that I, unfortunately, got myself dragged into…

…

…

Ah… I think I got it… I found a way to get myself out of this!

“Why don’t we study both at the same time?”  I said with confidence.

“Both?” Liliana and Luna spoke in unison. The two sounded confused by my answer.

“Yeah! We can study the map while also studying the flora and fauna.” I nodded to myself. “If your book has any information about the location of the specimens, you can point it in the map. Isn’t that a more interesting way to study both Geography and Biology?” I smiled at the two.

Liliana then smiled back at me. She grabbed her book and got off her bed. She started walking towards me with a grin on her face.

"That sounds great! Let's do it!" Liliana placed her hand on my shoulder and then started nodding vigorously.

"T-That's an amazing idea, J-Julius…" Luna stuttered a bit. She was smiling at me while blushing.

Yep, it is an interesting idea, even if I do say so myself. It got me out of a sticky situation. Hehehe!

"What are we waiting for!? Let's begin the lesson!" Liliana grabbed a chair and sat beside me.

Liliana basically slammed her book in the middle of the table. The title of the book is: "Plants and Animals of Hresviae and Where to Find Them."

(I guess I really had a good idea.) I thought to myself.

"Wait! I still need to find the map!" Luna suddenly panicked. She turned around and started looking for the map again.

In the blink of an eye, several books had been launched into the air while Luna was looking for the map.

"Jeez, Luna! We really need a new bookshelf! Things are way too packed in this one!" Liliana complained.

The rain of books suddenly stopped. Luna had turned a scroll in her hands. 

She then turned around to face us...

"Ah! I got it!" Luna said triumphantly.

Ignoring the dozens of books on the floor that she previously had launched into the air, Luna made her way towards us with a happy and excited expression…

She quickly sat beside me on her chair and placed the map on the table.

The map displayed the two continents and all of their countries.

"Julius, these are the two halves of the [Continent of Hresviae]! The one that was split in half by the Demon King Bass. We live in the eastern half which is called: [Hresviae Isheon]! The western half is called: [Hresviae Ecari]. Now, do you remember the name of our country?" Luna explained while smiling at me.

Oh! So the continent looks like it was actually split in half! This is proof that the battle against the Demon King Bass really happened!

Now, as for the name of the country…

"The name of this country is: 'The Marcelian Empire', right?" I replied while pointing at its location on the map.

"That's correct!" Both twins nodded in approval.

I'm glad that I remembered the name.

After answering Luna's question, I decided to examine the map carefully.

The map had more details about The Marcelian Empire than the other countries, but that's only natural.

The map has the name of every province of the Empire and their capitals, alongside their ruling noble families.

There was something that was making me really curious about the map…

"Luna, why are there four Duchies, so many Earldoms, and only one Marquisate?" I asked my older sister.

Luna's face immediately brightened as soon as I asked her that.

“That’s simple! It has to do with the multiple civil wars that our country went through!” Luna explained with excitement. “Do you remember when you read [The Legend of the Demon King Bass] yesterday?” Luna asked with the same excited expression.

“Yeah. The Marcelian Empire was created by Rokkshar, the man who defeated Bass. If I remember correctly, the book said that he united the two continents under the banner of The Marcelian Empire… Wait a minute…” I stopped speaking as soon as I realized something important.

In the story, it says that Rokkshar and his wife founded the city of Mutm and subsequently the Empire. Mutm is still the capital of the Empire according to the map.

But that’s not the important part…

“If I remember correctly the Empire used to encompass the two continents… So, the multiple civil wars were the reason why the Empire lost a lot of its territory?” I asked Luna.

That’s probably the most reasonable explanation for such a big country to lose that amount of territory. Despite that, The Marcelian Empire can still be considered enormous if you look at the map… It encompasses fifty percent or more of [Hresviae Isheon].

“Yeah! The Empire, in its 2000 years of history, has had at least more than 20 major civil wars and countless minor failed civil wars.” Luna explained before pointing at the map with her finger.

She pointed at the western half of Hresviae or [Hresviae Ecari].

“The first civil wars started in the other half of Hresviae. The multiple kingdoms that were under the Empire started an open rebellion for the sake of their independence. They believed that since Demons weren’t around anymore, there wasn’t any need to follow the orders of an Emperor who didn’t even live on their continent. Those wars were called [The Liberation Wars]!” Luna started speaking very enthusiastically about the history of the Empire. Her eyes were basically sparkling while her fingers were moving all across the map.

It actually made me smile seeing her talking so enthusiastically about something.

“When the Empire finally lost the entirety of the Western Continent 800 years ago, the Emperor at the time decided to lower the authority of the kings underneath him, and turn their territories into smaller and easier to handle territories. So, Kings became Dukes, Dukes became Marquesses, and so on. Something which caused another civil war, ironically...” Luna smiled bitterly.

“I see…” I nodded in understanding while looking at the map.

Just as my interest was about to peak, someone was about to reach their bottom's...

“I want to start my lesson! Don’t leave me out!” Liliana grabbed my hand and then started pouting.

“Just another minute! I haven’t finished answering Julius' question yet!” Luna suddenly panicked.

Liliana looked at Luna but she didn’t respond immediately… She started to cling to my arm while pouting...

“Fine…” After a minute or two, Liliana finally gave her blessing for the lesson to continue.

Phew… I thought for a second that they were about to start fighting… 

My sisters from Earth used to fight a lot. They really loved each other, but I have to admit that their fights were pretty scary most of the time...

“...” Luna looked a bit annoyed because of the interruption, but soon enough, her excited expression returned to her face. “Julius, I think you can already imagine the reason why there are so many Earldoms in the Empire.” Luna looked at me with a curious expression.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “It has to do with the Emperor lowering the authority of the kings and nobles in order to prevent rebellions.” I replied.

“Correct!” Luna was happy that I paid attention to her explanation. “Now, as for the reason there’s four Duchies and one Marquisate… Those territories belong to the most powerful and prominent families of the Empire. Mom once told me that the four Ducal households used to absorb the nobles underneath them and their holdings to make them part of their own territory and factions not so long ago. The only free Marquisate and the Earldoms were simply not assimilated into other territories because they had enough resources to prevent that from happening.” Luna finally answered my original question.

So basically, the Dukes and their households were looking to regain some of the power and influence they had when they were kings by any means necessary and they took any land they could for themselves.

Wouldn't that be problematic for the Emperor though? I mean, those nobles ended up getting more power despite what he tried to do to prevent that...

I then took another look at the map…

Laurent, Vauquelin, Caprasania and Caletro… Those are the names of the four Duchies…

The Laurents were former kings huh… Wait a minute… Doesn’t that mean that Fred and the Twins have royal blood? 

That’s a bit shocking… To think that my saviors would be descendants of genuine kings...

I kept examining the map carefully while I was thinking about the heritage of my Dad and sisters...

“What about these ones? The map doesn’t specify what kind of territory they are. Is there any interesting history behind them?” I pointed at three smaller territories on the map.

“Ah, you mean the Counties of Bavenholdia, Clirontia, and Nerua?” Luna nodded to herself.

I nodded vigorously.

“Well, that’s a bit of a long story...” Luna closed her eyes and crossed her arms while she was deep in thought. “ If I remember correctly, it all starts with…-” 

Luna was interrupted just as she started telling the story.

“Nope! I’m stopping this right now! That’s enough History for a week!” Liliana stood up and shook her head vigorously. “It is my turn now!” Liliana was still pouting…

“It was an interesting story though…” Luna said with annoyance.

“And a very long one as well! I have heard that story three times this week!” Liliana was really tired of waiting. 

Luna simply frowned while looking at the map. She was obviously disappointed.

“I’ll be looking forward to hearing the story next time.” I smiled at Luna.

I really learned a lot about the history of this world thanks to her. I’m really looking forward to our next history lesson.

“Ah…” Luna’s annoyed expression suddenly disappeared. Her face turned into a completely new shade of red thanks to how hard she blushed.

She looked incredibly adorable… Unfortunately for me, I couldn't admire her cuteness for long…

"Julius, let's begin! I have a lot that I want to teach you!" Liliana had placed her hands on my shoulders and started to shake me vigorously…

"You don't need to shake me like that!" I said to Liliana.

"I will stop shaking you when you smile at me the same way you did while looking at Luna!" Liliana started pouting once again.

Ah… So she's jealous…

That also reminds me a lot of my sisters from Earth… 

"Okay, okay! I'll do it! Stop shaking me!" I agreed to her terms…

As soon as she heard those words, she finally stopped shaking me...

"Good!" She showed me a gentle smile. "I'm waiting then." Liliana's face got closer to my own…

Well, it is not an outrageous request so…

I simply did what I had just promised and smiled at Liliana.

She looked at me very very intently for a second and then smiled warmly at me.

I won't lie about this, but her smile is very charming and makes me feel extremely excited for some reason...

"That's perfect!" Liliana nodded to herself before looking at her book… 

She suddenly closed the book and then stood up from her chair.

"Okay! I'm ready to start! Our first lesson will be outside!" Liliana then grabbed my hand and started dragging me outside...

She was way stronger than I had imagined… She was dragging me with ease.

"What about the book?" I asked her with a bit of confusion.

"A practical lesson is better for these kinds of things!" Liliana looked at me for a second and smiled again.

Since we are going to study plants and animals, It makes a lot of sense to simply go outside to directly examine the fauna and flora that is closer to us.

"Okay, that's a good idea! Let's go outside!" I agreed to her plan and started walking on my own. 

"That's the spirit!" Liliana was understandably very excited. "What are we waiting for?" Liliana ran outside with a very excited expression.

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I simply followed after her while smiling bitterly.

Sheesh… She really has a lot of energy.

But just as we were going down the stairs…

"Ah… Wait! Don't leave me behind!" Luna started shouting as she realized we had almost left her behind.

Luna ran as fast as she could to catch up to us.

In the end, we had a lot of fun studying plants around our home.

Though, it made me a bit sad that we didn’t try my idea of studying the two topics at the same time...

---

After playing around with the twins for a while, our Mom had taken the three of us to the field near the house in order to have me practice how to use magic.

"Now, take a deep breath and concentrate. Concentration is the key to success during this step." My Mom spoke in a calm and serious manner.

"..." I remained silent while I was focusing on what my new adoptive mother had just taught me.

"Move the Mana from your heart and stomach and spread it out to the rest of your body. Then try to gather it in a single place... Your eyes." My Mom patted my shoulder.

Sweat was streaming down my forehead while I was trying to follow Mom's instructions.

First, the stomach… Gathering mana from the stomach is way easier to do than gathering it from the heart.

Inhale… Exhale… 

Feel the invisible energy coursing through your body… Imagine it like a flowing river coursing through your veins...

Inhale… Exhale… 

Embrace the tingling feeling on your torso...

"It seems like you're making some progress. Keep it up!" My Mom was cheering on me.

Like a river… Mana is like a river… I just need to let it flow all across my body…

The tingling feeling soon started to quickly spread throughout my body… It only started to slow down around the areas near my heart.

"You almost got it, Julius!" Liliana shouted some encouraging words.

"Y-Y-You can do it!" Luna shouted with embarrassment.

I took a deep breath after hearing those words.

I started to hear my own heartbeat clearly… With every beat, I felt how my heart was now sending small amounts of mana towards the rest of my body.

Inhale… Exhale…

I kept my focus on my heartbeat… I ignored everything around me except for the sound of my own heartbeat.

Soon enough, even greater amounts of mana started pouring out from my heart…

In mere moments, I experienced a strange sensation of fullness… I was feeling incredibly hot and my body seemed like it was about to explode.

"Very good, Julius. Now, this is the last step… Like I said before; try to gather all of that mana in your eyes." Mom explained the last step to me again.

Alright… It is just gathering all the Mana in my eyes… It'll be a piece of cake!

I kept my focus on both my breathing and my heartbeat. I didn't allow any other thoughts to mess up my concentration…

The Mana in my body started feeling like it was a river… No… It felt more like the circuit of a computer, with energy going through thousands upon thousands of small pathways to reach their destination.

As soon as that mental image appeared in my mind, the process actually started getting easier.

A similar sense of familiarity took over me… It was the same sense of familiarity I felt during my training with Fred... 

"Ah… You got the hang of it way quicker than I had expected... But don't let that go up to your head. This might be simple, but failure can still happen." Mom sounded a little dumbfounded at first, but she quickly returned to her teacher mode again.

My mother's words quickly took me back to what I was doing… I had almost let my concentration slip because of the sense of familiarity I felt…

Just a bit more…

Inhale… Exhale…

As mana started to gather on my head, more specifically, my eyes, I started feeling a bit lightheaded…

But that lightheadedness didn't last for long…

"Julius, open your eyes please~." My Mom sounded really happy all of a sudden.

I simply did what I was told… But when I did, I…-

"Wow… That's… Is this what you see all the time…?" I asked my mother and my older sisters while looking very intently at them.

I couldn't take my eyes off them… The strange phenomenon happening in front of me was very difficult to process…

Mom, Liliana, and Luna were surrounded by a strange aura. Each of their auras was painted in a pale purple with some sparks of other colors appearing every now and then.

The sparks appearing in Luna's aura were yellow-colored and the ones in Mom's and Liliana's were green-colored.

But that wasn't all…

Everything around us seemed to be covered by a blue-colored mist. The mist was barely visible… It was like seeing the world through the filter of a camera.

For some reason, I have the feeling that's what Mana actually looks like…

I could only stare at the mist, my sisters, and my mother while gasping…

<System announcement: The User has regained the ability to perceive and manipulate Mana. The Skills: [Mana Perception] and [Mana Manipulation] are about to be returned to the Status of the User…> An artificial voice resounded in my mind.

Though, this wasn't the first time I heard this voice…

I heard it for the first time while I was sparring with Fred…

The mysterious announcer said that my [Swordsmanship] skill had been returned to my Status...

Of course, since I was in the middle of the training match with Fred, I didn't really have the time to ask him any questions about it… Thus, I ended up forgetting about it after being sent flying by one of his counterattacks.

"So, how does it feel? It should have been more intense than when I confirmed if you could become a magician." My adoptive mother asked with a smile filled to the brim with excitement.

I was feeling better than ever. Mana was now traveling all across my body without me doing anything...

"It's strange… I think I can get used to it." I nodded while focusing on the now visible Mana surrounding my Mom and teacher.

"Last time, I injected some of my mana into your body in order to know whether or not your body could withstand large amounts of Mana. Now, since you used your own mana and moved it all across your body, you should have gotten the skill: [Mana Manipulation]. And because you gathered all that Mana in your eyes, you also gained [Mana Perception], right?" My mother explained what she did to me last time.

"Yeah. I just got both of those skills." I nodded. 

"That's good then! You have passed your first test as my student! Hehehe!" My mom giggled. Her aura flickered a bit when she did that.

I wonder… Will I have to see the auras of people forever? Is there a way to turn off the [Mana Perception] skill?

"Mom, is there a way to stop seeing the auras and mana around the three of you?" I asked my Mom to see if it was possible to turn off the skill.

But for some reason, my adoptive Mother and teacher looked a bit surprised.

"Wait… You can see our aura as well?" She asked while looking a bit incredulous.

Oh… It seems like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to do.

"Is it something I shouldn't be able to do?" I asked my mother.

My Mom quickly shook her head.

"You shouldn't be able to do that until further down the line… The fact that you can do that after learning how to perceive mana is simply astonishing..." My Mom closed her eyes and started rubbing her chin. She was trying to think of an explanation for what I had just done.

Maybe it has to do with the former owner of this body? Maybe he studied and reached a high level of proficiency with Magic and that's why my body can see Auras now.

Hmm… Another question without an answer… That's a bit frustrating…

My train of thought was suddenly interrupted when a pair of arms were wrapped about my neck… I was being hugged from behind.

"So Julius is a genius like us! That's great!" Liliana spoke with glee while hugging me. "The two of us also managed to do it in one try!" Liliana started to hug me very tightly.

“Ummm… You can stop seeing mana if you stop gathering your own mana in your eyes… That’s how it works for me.” Luna said shyly. She was touching my shoulder while averting her gaze.

Oh… So it was just that simple… I thought I would have to shout something like: “Turn OFF the skill!” or something along those lines.

“But seeing mana all the time is not that bad once you get used to it.” Liliana whispered in my ear with a very enthusiastic tone.

Hmmm… Well, the auras around them are really interesting and beautiful to look at… 

“Well, I guess I can stop using [Mana Perception] once my eyes get tired.” I smiled bitterly.

“Ahem!” Lilia cleared her throat to get our attention. “With both [Mana Perception] and [Mana Manipulation] out of the way, I think we can go onto the next stage.” Lilia walked towards us and started patting my head.

The next stage… I’m getting excited! Hahaha! Soon enough, I will be shooting spells like a real mage!

“Julius, would you like to create a [Fireball] using your own mana?” My mom asked with a smile.

I nodded vigorously, of course.

“As I have explained to you before Julius, a few things are required to use magic. Imagination, knowledge, how much mana you have and experience, of course.” My mother stopped patting my head. “I’ll give you a demonstration.” My mom took a step back and smiled.

“Oho! Mom is going to use magic!” Liliana spoke with a lot of excitement.

“…” Luna was looking at our mother with interest. Her eyes were sparkling.

Our mother simply looked at us while still smiling, nodded to herself, and then she extended her arms.

"Now, watch." Lilia spoke with excitement. 

Soon enough, a small fireball appeared. The small sphere of flames was hovering on top of her open hand.

"Julius, what do you think "Fire" is?" Lilia suddenly asked that question.

"Fire is… Wait…" Despite being a very simple question, I found myself at a sudden loss for words...

"In order to make something like this cute little [Fireball], you need to understand what fire is, what causes it to exist, how it looks, and what makes it cease to exist." Lilia quickly explained. "Look." My mother quickly made a second identical fireball on top of her other hand.

Oh! If that's the case, Fire can be created by friction, flammable materials like gases, and also things like dry vegetation.

Fire will stop existing if you use water to extinguish it, or if the fire is located in a closed space, the fire will stop as soon as it has run out of oxygen.

Also, fire has multiple other properties like having different colors, needing different extinguishers depending on what kind of fire was provoked.

Huh… I think this is possibly the third or fourth time I have thought deeply about fire… 

I'm pretty sure that I was high the two or three times I thought too deeply about it… Hahaha…

"So, have you reached an answer? Why don't you give it a try?" My mother smiled at me.

"Yeah." I nodded at her before looking at my older sisters. "Liliana, Luna, can you give me a bit of space please?"

"Ah! Sorry!" Luna suddenly panicked and quickly took a step back.

"Okay, but we have to play some more after this!" Liliana also took a step back.

"That's fine by me." I smiled at my two sisters before looking back at our mother.

"Now, I'll tell you what you need to do. Close your eyes and extend your arms like me." My mother started explaining the process.

I did what I was told. I closed my eyes and extended my arms while showing my palms to Lilia.

"Now, concentrate on gathering mana in your open palms. Then, when you feel ready, focus on the concept of 'Fire'." She made a lot of emphasis on the word: 'Fire'.

Just as my mana was rushing towards my palm, I could only hear the sound of my heartbeat.

Fire… 

Every time I thought of the concept of "Fire", I could only imagine things like fireplaces, campfires, and even the fireballs from my favorite RPG…

(C'mon! You can do it!) I thought to myself while trying to keep those images in my mind.

Huh… This warmth… I can feel it! Just a little bit more and I'm sure that I'll be able to do it!

Naturally, I became very excited. 

"Julius stop! That's enough! Don't make it that big!" I suddenly heard my Mom panicking.

(Huh? What does she mean by that?) I was really confused...

I opened my eyes only to be left even more dumbfounded…

I had no words to describe what I was feeling…

A fireball of the size of a basketball was hovering over my open hand.

My mom was looking at me with worry and concern…

But I could only stare at the orb of fire floating on top of my hand...

"Awesome…" I muttered.

"No way…" I heard Luna who sounded extremely perplexed.

"He succeeded on his first try… He actually did it… Luna and I had to spend three weeks reading everything we could about Fire and he did it in seconds…" Liliana sounded both flabbergasted and impressed at the same time.

I… I might have done something outrageous again…

<System Announcement: The user has regained the ability to use elemental magic and a resistance skill. The skills: [Magic: Fire Element] and [Elemental Resistance: Fire] will be returned to the Status of the User]>

Ah… There's the voice of the system again…

This is actually just making me even more convinced of something…

Me regaining skills that I've never acquired obviously has to do with the original owner of this body…

Just who was he anyway?

I looked again at the [Fireball] in front of me while thinking about the mystery of the original owner of my body…

"That's way too stable for the spell of a novice… Not to mention the size of that [Fireball]... That's really outrageous for a first-time caster…" I heard my Mom muttering very quickly…

I'm not gonna lie, using magic is way more amazing than what I had ever imagined.

Though… I wonder how I can make the [Fireball] disappear... Do I simply stop gathering mana in my hand? Do I try to absorb back the mana I used for the spell?

Let's try the former first…

Slowly but surely, my mana stopped being focused on my hand. All of the mana gathered in that part of my body immediately spread across the rest of my being.

The [Fireball] quickly lost its size and then, it simply ceased to exist. It just disappeared. It was like it had never been there in the first place.

"Well, that was easier than I thought." I spoke without thinking.

Well… My words made my Mom and older sisters look at me very intently with a difficult-to-read expression…

I think I should correct what I said earlier…

I might have done something really outrageous...

---

Chapter 7: Tutors and even more magic...

END

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