6 – Episode 6
# 6
“Zap!”
Eredis helped Ian land, using a massive gust of wind as a cushion.
Upon seeing her pupil’s face, she couldn’t help but let a small smile escape.
His face was filled with confusion and deep thought.
It wasn’t the typical expression of someone who had just had an exhilarating experience.
“You’ve realized something, haven’t you?”
Ian nodded his head blankly.
“The wind… It spoke in Maronius language.”
Eredis let out a pleased laugh. The Maronius language was a powerful magical language devised by the great wizard. It was understandable that he would be shocked after witnessing its manifest reality.
“That’s the first step of magic.”
“The first step?”
“A wizard communicates with the mysteries of the natural world and borrows their power. Language is the stepping stone that connects humans and nature.”
This was precisely why Ian had been studying the Maronius language rigorously for six years.
Magic is communication.
It is the act of communicating with nature and borrowing their power.
But what if Ian misspoke and made an improper request? Or worse, angered them?
A horrible event would occur.
That’s why they prevented him from communicating with nature until he could perfectly master the Maronius language.
“How did the voice of the wind sound?”
Ian recalled his recent memory.
The high sky and the tens of thousands of winds scattering freely.
“It was free.”
Eredis nodded.
The wind is a free element.
“Listening to the voice of the mystery is called ‘initiation’,” said Eledis, stroking the head of her disciple. The disciple, almost an adult now, still looked young in her eyes. “Congratulations on your initiation into the Art of Atmosphere.”
#
A magician can communicate with everything. Thanks to the mysterious magic language, Maronius. The moment a magician hears the voice of mystery is called ‘initiation’, and novice magicians must focus on traveling the world and listening to the voices of all kinds of mysteries. Only then they can know what magic suits them. The mystery familiar to each person is different. Some are familiar with the Art of Atmosphere, some with the Art of Earth.
Arts of Chill, Water, Flame, Summoning, Transformation, Morphing, Creation, Necromancy, Spatiotemporal, etc; everybody has different talent for each school of magic. So, the only way is to directly experience it through initiation.
“Next is the Art of Earth”, Eledis led Ian to a deep cave. The best way to hear the voice of the earth is to be buried deep in the ground. But burying Ian alive would mean live burial, so she chose the cave as an alternative.
“The initiation into the Art of Earth is slightly difficult,” Eledis explained.
“Try to listen to the voice of the earth.”
“Yes, master.”
“But there’s no need to push yourself. Since you’ve already initiated into the Art of Atmosphere, it’s enough if you become an atmospheric magician.”
These were words spoken out of her regard for her disciple, but it’s better to learn a variety of magic.
Isn’t it obvious who gets more respect between a magician who masters one magic and a magician who masters ten magics?
Knowing this, Ian stepped into the deep cave of his own accord.
“It’s damn scary.”
Even when learning aerial magic.
A sorcerer must essentially be fearless. Could Ian really have learned aerial magic if he had acrophobia?
Similarly, if he couldn’t withstand the gloom and stuffiness of a cave, he couldn’t have become an Earth Mage.
For the sake of concentration, Ian even extinguished the torch and focused on the voice of the earth.
[… and so it flows]
[Though it does not move, one cannot consider it flowing]
[It was said to be no different from something solid]
“What are you trying to say?”
The earth was spouting nonsensical gibberish. It was much harder to understand than the voice of the air.
It suggested Ian lacked an aptitude for Earth Magic.
At that moment, to improve his Earth magic skills, he had no choice but to study the specific language of the Earth to increase the accuracy of communication.
Generally speaking, that is.
[New Skill Acquired!]
[Skill: Earth Magic]
[It is the ability to utilize earth magic]
“Wow.”
A skill window appeared as soon as Ian heard the voice of the earth.
[Bonus Skill Points!]
[You can invest skill points to increase the progress of magic]
[Unused points: 100]
[* Skill points can be acquired by collecting secrets]
But Ian has a status window.
If a skill point is invested, it’s a system where the proficiency of magic increases.
“Who am I? A cheater player.”
Ian had invested some points in geomancy. The change was immediate.
[Little human]
[Lava flows beneath]
[Beware that it may erupt in an earthquake]
A voice that sounded much clearer and more distinct.
Ian realized.
Ah, this is magic.
The process of mystery and conversation. That’s what magic is.
Having mastered geomancy, Ian was about to go out with his luggage.
‘Wait a minute.’
But since he had already mastered magic, how about trying to leave using magic?
This was a deep and dark cave. It was impossible to leave without a torch.
But what if he used geomancy to ask the earth for direction?
‘Let’s do it.’
Eredis may guide the beginner, but the fulfillment of magic must be done by oneself.
Ian, now a magician, must increase his magical achievements by communicating with everything.
“[Earth].”
Ian chanted in the language of magic.
His mastery of the Maronius language, polished over six years, shone.
[What is it, little human?]
‘It works!’
The earth answered Ian’s call.
Grinning unknowingly due to the thrilling sense of accomplishment, Ian said, [“I, outside, go”]
[Outside? What is outside?]
[“Cave, outside”]
[Is the cave this place? But outside, it’s difficult to understand.]
[“Go out”]
[You mean, walking away?]
‘… Damn.’
Communication failure.
Ian realized the problem in an instant.
The earth had no concept of inside and outside. These were concepts created by humans and were too complex for the earth to understand.
Furthermore, the Maronius language he had tested in real situations had many problems.
The Maronius language did not have particles.
The role of particles was replaced by the will of the magician. The more skilled the magician, the more clearly they could deliver their own intentions.
But Ian, who was the most inexperienced, was overwhelmed with just choosing the right words.
‘It’s difficult.’
There was realization.
It was not right to ask the earth to guide. This thing sees the whole world as its body, so it was meaningless to ask for directions.
‘Should I ask the wind?’
Ian thought about what he could ask the wind.
Should he ask to go from a narrow place to a wide one?
That’s pretty good. However, Ian immediately thought about the risk of being led directly to a deep underground tunnel.
‘It’s difficult.’
He begins to vaguely understand what magic is.
Communication requires a linguistic sense, and the content of the command requires a coding sense.
‘Block variables with precise commands and get the desired output…’
“Wow! It’s coding, isn’t it!
But I don’t know a single command, I’m completely useless.
‘First off, let’s just go.’
Alright. What’s the point of magic.
Hey, you fool! Instead of spouting nonsense, light a fire~
Ian gave up on magic and held a torch instead.
That’s when it happened.
[I hate it!!!]
[It hurts!!!]
‘sh*t!’
Suddenly, a faint scream could be heard.
Panicked, Ian quickly extinguished the fire.
‘What was that?’
The previous voice couldn’t be heard anymore.
Ian strained his ears to listen to the voices of everything. But only the heavy voice of the earth could be heard. The strange voice he heard just before, couldn’t be heard anymore.
‘Was it a hallucination?’
Ian lowered his head. What kind of hallucination would make such a hair-raising voice.
No choice then.
Ian made up his mind and assumed a cross-legged position. Or rather, sat in a lotus position.
Concentrating all his senses, he listened to the voices of everything.
How much time had passed?
A new voice began to whisper into Ian’s ear.
[…I like it here because it’s quiet.]
[I hate noise.]
[I also hate pain.]
A very, very faint voice.
If he hadn’t lit the fire, he would’ve never noticed it.
Ian didn’t know what it was, but he decided to initiate a conversation.
“[Hello?]”
An immediate response came back.
[What? What is it!]
[A human! It’s a human!]
[Saying hello! So adorable!]
“[Who are you?]”
The voice then whispered,
[Darkness!]
Ah, darkness. Why hadn’t he thought of this obvious answer?
In the pitch-black cave, what else could it be other than darkness?
[New skill acquired!]
[Skill: Shadowmancy(暗影術)]
[The ability to utilize darkness and shadow magic.]
Shadowmancy. A school of magic his master never mentioned.
‘Am I lucky.’
A school he’d entered purely by chance. Not bad. Better to have it than not, he thought.
‘… With darkness?’
Ian felt a fresh wave of magical ambition.
While he didn’t know much about earth or air, when it came to darkness, he clearly knew what to ask for.
“[Light! Where?]”
“Just ask where the light is.
[Ack! The light is over there!]
[I hate the light!]
Like a quest marker, a twinkling light appears in front of Ian’s eyes.
It means there is light at the end.
‘Is this possible?’
Ian, who succeeded in using magic through the Maronius language for the first time.
From Noble mtl dot com
Driven by momentum, Ian tried another spell.
“[Earth, where?]”
[The earth is everywhere!]
“[Step, Walk]”
[Ah! Humans walk!]
[If it’s land for walking, it’s here!]
The darkness indicated a place where Ian could walk.
‘Wow…’
In the pitch-black darkness, an unusually prominent path appeared.
[Acquired a new skill!]
[Shadow Art – Dark Vision]
[You can see as if it’s broad daylight even in the darkness.]
The magic was added to the skill window.
It’s magic that Ian discovered and used himself.
“[Thank you!]”
Ian conveyed his thanks to the darkness and trudged through it.
After a while, the exit appears.
‘Light…’
He was greeted by a brilliant light, but it didn’t fill him with joy.
Rather, he felt more comfortable in the darkness…
“Ian!”
Upon finding Ian, Eledis started to run towards him, then cocked her head.
“The torch?”
“I didn’t use it.”
“What? So… did you use magic to get out?”
Eledis quickly figured out that Ian had used magic.
She marveled at the realization.
It must have been difficult to escape the cave with just geomancy and aeromancy. Despite being a novice, his ability to utilize magic was impressive…
“I learned shadow magic from the darkness.”
“What?!”
This time she was shocked.
Darkness? Had he heard the voice of the shy, blushing darkness?
How?