Chapter 6 - Time To Grind

After six months, I've been able to decipher and use every type of the lowest tier magic. The basic wind spell 'Push', the fire spell 'Kindle', the water spell 'Water Ball', the earth spell 'Dirt Shot' and the most interesting, the spell known as 'Restore'.

Most of the lowest level spells are easy to grasp, it's just the four elements put into magic form. Water ball is a ball of water that fires from whatever orifice I cast it, the same concept with Dirt Shot and Kindle. The interesting and harder to grasp spell is known as 'Restore'.

Restore, as the name implies, is a healing spell. It's effects and uses I don't have a good basis on since I'm not willing to test it on myself, and casting it on someone else is not even near an option, but based on the description of it I can assume it can heal small cuts and wounds. It seems medical knowledge in this world is almost non-existent, to the point my high school education would be considered a top doctor.

However, in place of medicine or medical knowledge, there seems to be healing magic. I can perform the same trick with healing magic that I did with wind, having it course through my whole body, but it drains mana at nearly ten times the rate as any other magic type.

In order, the magic that consumes the most mana is healing, followed by water, followed by earth, followed by fire, and finally wind consuming the least amount of mana.

I don't know whether it's because of wind being the first magic I used or if a person has a natural inclination towards using a certain element, but either way it's nice to have a baseline.

Either way, practicing with all types of magic should keep me both busy and answer a lot of my questions. If I practice more with water or healing magic, will it begin to cost less? Like when you build up a muscle, you can do the same exercises easier?

Or is it the case that no matter what element or type of magic you use, the muscle that's being worked out is your mana system, and it becomes easier for all types of magic.

Maybe, there's no effect on it at all, and the only effect that training magic has in early life is the expanse of your mana pool.

It's certainly true that the more I practice magic, the larger and larger my mana pool grows, seeing as when I started I couldn't even let wind magic flow out of me for a minute, let alone hours on end of healing mana.

So, based on everything I know, it appears that the only effect of training magic is the increase in mana capacity, and that is probably only in early childhood. Like after you hit a certain age you stop growing taller, and it's harder to put on weight or learn new skills.

In that case, wouldn't it be better to train my magic and body as much as possible early on, so that way if it is true that training magic stops giving returns later in life, I'll have an advantage?

Considering those facts, and the mission I received from Ego in exchange for reincarnating after my death, there's only one thing to do. Grind!

Grinding is the fun of some games, and the bane of others, but in this case, grinding couldn't be easier or more fulfilling! All I have to do is constantly run healing mana throughout my entire mana network, and in a few short hours, I collapse from mana exhaustion. Rinse, repeat! If I do this for the next few months, increasing the amount that the mana flows as I gain more mana, it'll give me a huge head start on my ability to cast magic!

Sure, I can assume most people do this as soon as they discover magic and how to cast without speaking or invoking anything, but either way, this will definitely help me get stronger and keep up with more magically adept people.

Also, with the effort I've put in, I'm basically fluent in this world's language! I can feel myself being able to learn and adapt better in this body, it's probably because of my age, so let's abuse that as much as I can! If magical growth is like physical, then I have nothing but time to improve!

It may be true that having mana flow through my body at all times takes some focus and takes away from my normal life somewhat, but I'm two years old! I don't have a life yet! It's not like I have a life to live or anything, I'm just a kid.

I mean, on the outside at least.

Sitting down and lying back in my bed, I can't help but feel, empty.

In this world, I have a loving family. Siblings who seem to care about me, a mother who loves me, and a strong father who still seems to care about me after all this time.

So, why?

Why did I jump?

The effort I've put in for the past what, two years I could have put into my studies. It wasn't even that deep.

Who's making all that noise? It's like a mix between a cry and an air horn.

It's ridiculous and so loud. Sound magic? Does that exist?

Oh, hello Ms. Hot Maid. What do you need? Why the concerned look?

Why are you walking over to me? Is that a napkin?

Why are you wiping my face? Is there something on it?

Oh. My face is very hot, and, wet?

Oh, the yelling. It's me.

That's why it's so loud. That's why I'm so loud.

Why am I so loud?

God, I feel lightheaded.

'Thunk'

My body feels heavy, weighty, and strangely warm.

It's familiar, yet foreign.

Oh, opening my eyes, my familiar blurry vision is back. It seems my glasses didn't carry over.

I'm back in my old body, laying in a familiar mansion's living room.

Sitting up, the obsidian black figure is there, and looks to be eating a sandwich?

"Yo! It's been a while hasn't it." Ego says, his sandwich disappearing.

Oh, great. You're here. What do you want, can't you see I'm trying to follow your orders.

"No reason to get so mean," He says with a fake hurt motion, "I'm just here to give you some advice, not an order, just an idea."

This sounds like a loaded interaction, but hey why not.