‘Magic’

  It was something that always fascinated Kequak.

  He thought of other skills as nothing short of boring. Summoning spirits? Invisibility? Raising the dead? Precognition? All of those abilities were derived from rare skills. Said scattered skills would appear only to one in every ten thousand.

  Improving swordsmanship? Enhancing physical prowess? Gradual healing? Increasing damage dealt by slashing? All of those abilities were derived from mundane skills. Said concentrated skills commonly appeared once in every second.

  But, what did all of these skills have in common, regardless of whether they were rare or common? What was commonplace for every single skill? One that even integrated itself into the very system governing the world?

  Magic.

  They all exhibited something magical in nature.

  None of these abilities were intrinsic.

  If someone had [Swordsmanship], they would learn the art of the sword faster than someone who didn’t. Upon attaining the skill, they even knew basic self defence with a sword on instinct. An individual can only hold three skills at a time, excluding the occasional ‘extra skill’. What if that individual deleted their [Swordsmanship] skill for another skill they found superior? They would instantly lose the mastery of the sword. Apart from the footwork or bladework that they actually learned by themselves without the help of [Swordsmanship], everything else would be suddenly forgotten.

  That individual didn’t learn swordsmanship on their own, no. It was the skill that had taught them how to use the sword.

  Surely this occurrence was the cause of magic?

  Upon levelling up, an individual could allocate their Combat Points—Commonly known as CP—to certain attributes in order to improve their overall stats. And, magically, they would suddenly feel the gained power surge within them.

  What else would it be, if not for magic?

  There were many other examples Kequak could fall upon to further prove his point.

  Kequak thought that magic alone was the sole foundation of all other skills, and even the system.

  Ever since he was a small child, he was fascinated by the concept of magic. He never stopped learning, and had many spells under his belt. Kequak’s ingenuity had birthed many baseless spells. He was not just a master of [Wind Magic], but also [Water Magic], [Earth Magic], and [Fire Magic]. He had gotten [Fire Magic] as an extra skill after obtaining a rare title. After many years of training, he maxed out all of those skills, and reached their cap—level 10.

  It earned him a new skill, [Elemental Magic]. A superior skill that mothered all the elemental magics; [Lightning Magic] and [Ice Magic] included.

  Then, Kequak had two skill slots left. And he used that opportunity to further expand his horizons.

  He was the master of magic. Yet, he still had so much to learn, so much to discover.

  Even if everyone else—Elves included—believed he had already learned all magic had to offer. But Kequak knew he had only seen the tip of the iceberg; dug up the first bone in a skeleton.

  He still had much, much more to learn.

  And so, he studied the summoning spell. He broke it down to the fundamentals, which was a tedious task considering how deeply interwoven the spell was.

  But he had managed to do it.

  He had divided the unstructured, systemless spell into two main categories: a summoning magic, which existed within the system, and some other magic that bent the very fabric of space itself.

  While his fellow mages were content with just using the summoning spell, Kequak was not. He strove to reach the pinnacle of magic. He wanted not just to be able to use the summoning spell, but also to master it.

  And so, after months of diligent, assiduous training, Kequak had done the impossible. The Archmage had grasped the basics of dimensional magic. The forbidden magic that had caused the extinction of that elven village. He couldn’t master it, of course, but still managed to squeeze out one baseless spell. Teleportation.

  And while studying the spell, he had noticed something was wrong with it. Something very, very wrong. But it was too late, for his fellow Court Mages, save for Dane, had already summoned their [Heroes].

  So, Kequak kept them in the dark, unwilling to cause unrest amongst the Court Mages.

  The issue certainly wouldn’t bode well if revealed.

  Kequak, the strongest and by far most influential Court Mage had recently summoned the fourth [Hero] —Ray Tanaka—from the otherworld the reincarnations knew as ‘Earth’. Immediately after settling the young man in, he notified the council of his successful summoning, and after trivial paperwork, all five Court Mages were scheduled for a meeting in the kingdom of Gelis in three days' time.

  Geographically, Gelis was the kingdom closest to all others, save for Alaznia; the kingdom was located near the crisp borders separating demons and humans at front, and a sizable carpet of farmland from behind. It would take three weeks to reach Gelis if on horseback. And it would take one week on monsterback.

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  But to Kequak that was certainly no issue. Such an inconsequential problem certainly wouldn’t hold him back. Certainly not. Even though he couldn’t cover the distance in a single run, he could do continuous, back-to-back lesser teleports. Including occasional breaks to restore his mana, he could make the trip in a mere two hours.

  And three days had passed.

  Mokul, the Court Mage of Guntii.

  Quam, the Court Mage of Sonep.

  Dane, the Court Mage of Gelis.

  Zari, the Court Mage of Tasuta.

  And finally, Kequak, the Archmage of Alzania.

  These five humans, together, formed the unstoppable force said to rival the very [Demon Lords] that reigned over demon territory. Each one was the best of the best; diamonds in piles of gold.

  Each one, so powerful, that they reached Mithril.

  In a sense, they were far greater than even the [Heroes] themselves. [Heroes] had the potential to grow strong—Court Mages were so strong that ‘growing stronger’ would be meaningless.

  Mokul had summoned the first [Hero] —a mysterious woman named Melony who had vast mana reserves and an immense affinity for magic. Terrifyingly so, that she rivaled the newer Court Mages. She specialised in [Nature Magic], which was a rare variation of [Earth Magic] that also allowed for the control and creation of plants.

  Quam came next, summoning Raphael, or as the boy who was no older than fourteen had inclined, ‘Raph’. He centred around arrows, but was currently learning [Wind Magic], and had a hunter's instinct despite his aloof nature.

  Zari of Tasutsa, the youngest Court Mage within the current board, had managed to summon Matt, a hulk of a man who specialised in close combat. Such a shame he didn’t pick up a magic skill, thought Kequak.

  And, of course, there was Kequak, who managed to summon a ‘true hero’ after altering the summoning spell to rid the issue. Ray had not picked up any skills nor a class yet, but Kequak hoped for him to study magic. Ray’s weapon was a sword, but like Raph, magic could be integrated into his fighting style.

  There was also Dane—the Court Mage of Gelis; the kingdom that had been agreed unto as a rendezvous point. Unfortunately, Dane had failed to summon any [Hero], having claimed that when he tried to initiate the spell, the mana circles shattered instantaneously.

  Melony Sermon, the [Hero] of Guntii.

  Raph Grady, the [Hero] of Sonep.

  Matt Dearing, the [Hero] of Tasuta.

  And finally, Ray Tanaka, the [Hero] of Alzania.

  These four humans, together, formed a potent force with the power to defeat [Demons Lords] if trained correctly. Each [Hero] had been taken under the wing of their corresponding Court Mage to be taught.

  Kequak took a gracious step into the conference room. He looked around, and saw four sets of eyes look back at him. Most with admiration, but one with disgruntled scorn.

  “Ho-ho-ho! It seems I am the last one to arrive. Perhaps I am late?”

  “No, no, there’s no need to be humble, Kequak” grunted Dane. Stop trying to make yourself look even better. “There’s no problem at all; we’re all just early.”

  Kequak’s eyes scanned the room. All the Court Mages seemed somewhat stiff. Likely, the demons didn’t respond well to the public declaration of war by king Braiher. However, something was off. For the demons hadn’t attacked yet, even though they already had enough manpower to march at a moment's notice.

  Not long ago, entire demon armies were seen mobilising. Though the spell had not been used in centuries, the five kings all came hurriedly to a unanimous agreement to summon a new generation of [Heroes]. The demons could attack anytime.

  But then something strange happened not too long ago.

  A mysterious woman—someone who Kequak assumed to be a vigilante—started attacking the army camps, killing people and stealing supplies before dartingly leaving the scene. The [Demon Lords] tried to keep the information from leaking, but as the incident occurred near the demon-human borders, rumours began to spread.

  Something about a brown haired woman wearing a black cloak with golden etchings and red strokes coated in a paint of crimson blood.

  Kequak sighed. If the demons were doing to delay their attack, then he might as well take things slowly. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither would Ray’s training be done in a day. Kequak planned to teach him to the best of his abilities.

  “Well, now that we’ve all summoned a [Hero]” said Kequak, briefly glancing towards Dane, “what do you think we should do next? Young Ray has requested a meeting with his fellow [Heroes]. He is but a newborn babe, and still has much to learn about our world. Would a meeting between the [Heroes] in a week suffice? ” Although he spoke with a casual, relaxed voice, his words still sounded into every corner of the room. [Wind Magic] could do a lot—even carry sound waves without disturbing the frequency if perfected.

  Zari; the youngest Court Mage spoke up, nodding. Although her voice did not carry as much authority as Kequaks, everyone still listened in.“Mhmm, yes, I would advocate for such a development.”

  “Besides, they'll be closer to the demon borders, no? Considering a possible war outbreaking, this would also be a good way to transport them to the front lines.” adds Mokul.

  Everyone nods along, agreeing with the proposal.

  “Then,” continues Keqak, “I suppose you will all make appropriate arrangements?”

  “““Absolutely”””

  Having reached a unanimous decision, Kequak decided to move on and pulled out a stash of paper. “These are all the documents we have on the demon army. And information regarding the vigilante as well. Eyewitnesses reported that she used daggers, could seamlessly teleport, and used some sort of dark arts.”

  Everyone, Dane included, suddenly furrowed their brows, especially at the last strand of information. Especially Dane.

  “B-by ‘dark arts’, do you mean [Dark Magic]?”

  “Precisely so, Zari.”

  Although not common knowledge, [Light Magic] was only accessible to those with the [Hero] title, and [Dark Magic] was only accessible to those with the [Demon Lord] title. Many people just assumed that [Light Magic] and [Dark Magic] were rare skills—it was one of the few things both humans and demons had agreed upon—to indoctrinate the common folk into believing so. Meaning the ‘vigilante’ was a [Demon Lord].

  “An internal conflict then?” questioned Quam with his lead slightly tilted.

  “Possibly so. The [Demon Lords] or Greed, Lust and Gluttony have gone awfully quiet recently. It might be possible that this [Demon Lord] has broken off with the other [Demon Lords] and is acting out of her own accord. ”

  “Could it be that… s-she surviv—” muttered Dane awfully quietly, breaking out into a cold sweat .

  Usually, nobody would have heard the mutter, but Kequak had circulated the entire room with [Wind Magic] in order to bring all sounds to him. He had simply disguised the spell as one to spread his voice out, so none of the Court Mages would call him out—pulling and pushing the air waves and reversing the flow conspicuously was something Kequak had learned for spywork during the trials for Court Mage in Alzania. It was amazing how much could be pre-planned with even a hint of information.

  The rest of the meeting was mundane, but Kequak had gotten what he wanted.

  The flaw was in the spell itself; Dane had likely done nothing wrong when summoning. But, it was unstructured magic, and the Court Mages were a prideful bunch.

  Kequak could understand why Dane had tried to hide his mistake under the rug. The Archmage wouldn’t call Dane out—the other Court Mages had no idea the spell was flawed, and throwing baseless accusations without proof was not a wise idea.

  “So it seems that Dane was unfortunate enough to summon the wrong type.”