CH 53

53  Magic is Lite Version of Cheat

When we returned from the Magic Unsealing Ceremony, we found Wendy and Chester already waiting for our arrival at the door.

“Congratulations for being able to use magic, dear brother. Please allow us to see your spell.”

“Cong, rachulacion, ig broche~r. Pwease show us.”

Hearing my two younger siblings’ pleas to me and seeing their gleaming eyes, Father stopped walking and smiled kindly at them.

“Children, your big brother is still exhausted from his ceremony. That’s why let him rest for now.”

“Then, will he show us his magic tomorrow?”

I actually wanted to fulfill their request and let them see it, especially Wendy since she seemed to want to see my magic at all cost. However, my father looked at me and signaled that I should let him handle this situation, so I kept my mouth shut.

“That will depend on Theodore’s physical condition. However, Wendy and Chester may not be able to use magic if you see Theodore’s magic.”

“Eeh, is that true, Father?”

“Well, there’s a saying that you may not be able to use magic if you see it before you go through your own Magic Unsealing Ceremony. I feel bad for causing the two of you to be unable to use magic in the future, but since you really want to see it now, I guess it can’t be helped…”

“Is Father really speaking the truth, Mother?”

Mother nodded her head gently, affirming Father’s words, when Wendy turned to look at her with a troubled expression on her face.

“Yes, it is true. Mother will be really sad if Wendy can’t use magic, that’s why Mother wants you to stop, but if you insist…”

“I-I don’t want to see magic anymore! My apologies for asking such an unreasonable request to you, Big Brother. C’mon Chester, you apologize too. You don’t want to be unable to use magic in the future, right?!”

Wendy persuaded Chester, who had yet to understand the situation. The little guy looked a little reluctant at first since he was really eager to see magic with his eyes, but he finally agreed after knowing that he might just be unable to use it if he continued insisting.

“Pwease let me, to see it, once I’m growing up, big bwother.”

“Yeah, I’ll show you as much magic as you want once you have completed your Magic Unsealing Ceremony. It’s a promise.”

“Ai, it’s a pwomise.”

“S-So sly. Me too, please show me your magic after I go through the Magic Unsealing Ceremony, Dear Brother.”

“Yeah, I’ll show you when the time comes.”

Thus, Wendy and Chester were finally convinced before they were guided back to their own room by their wet nurses.

…

……

………

“But… this is the first time I heard about that story, about someone being unable to use magic if they see it before the Magic Unsealing Ceremony.” I tried asking Father, having never heard of this matter before.

“Well, it’s a lie after all.” My father said, readily admitting his lies. I looked at him, confused when he continued explaining, “I’ve never told you this since you’re such a good child. However, this method is actually used in every household, including the commoner ones. Moreover… it’s not completely a lie either.”

He then told me that there was a case in which children who saw magic before the Magic Unsealing Ceremony couldn’t be appraised, nor could they release their magical power during the ceremony.

He also told me that it was an ancient folk tale, so the credibility was low. Still, it didn’t mean we could ignore it either.

“As for why the magical power can’t be appraised… Well, it might simply be because the person in the story doesn’t have that much magical power―― But, it also said that they can at least use the magic tools for daily life. And I have no idea where the story comes from, but there’s indeed cases where someone is unable to manifest their magical power. In normal situations, people with that kind of condition might be regarded by others as those who saw magic before the Magic Unsealing Ceremony, but that’s only one of the possibilities.”

My father looked at me with a troubled look on his face and said, “Nevertheless, I still feel guilty for telling such lies to Wendy and Chester. Still… I have to bear with it for their own sake.”

In short, it’s something akin to superstition. Oh, well, since that’s the case… I guess I have no choice but to follow it since it may not be a superstition at all. Still…

“I wanted to show them my magic, though.”

“Sorry about that, but I’ve no choice since you’ll easily give in to your little sister and brother. Anyway, please keep this secret until their time comes.”

“Is that… apologies?”

I looked at my mother, who was laughing after apologizing, with a strange expression. It was bizarre.

“Well then, Theodore… I know that you’re exhausted, but can you accompany me for a while?” Father said as he took me along.

The place we went to was the training ground. By the way, this place – whose size was around the gymnasium’s size – was the place where Kevin and his subordinates did their daily training. However, currently, there was no one using this place.

It seemed that this place had been cleared out of people in advance. Furthermore, when we arrived, my father even ordered both Kevin and Richard to leave the two of us alone for a while.

Thus, in the end, there was only my father and I in this place.

“We’re about to start. Rest assured, it is just a little test to gauge your ability in using magic.”

After saying that, my father frew a circle with his feet.

“Well then, Theodore, you still remember the sensation of drawing your magical power out, right? Now, divide it by attribute and pour the earth attribute into this circle―― Like this.”

At this moment, I could see the flow of magical power coming from my father and was stunned.

Uwaa, so this is what someone else’s magical power looks like. The yellow colored aura that came out from my father’s finger was moving into the soil within the circle, manipulating it. And the most surprising fact of all, there was no aria or chanting, though everyone seemed to be able to do that too… Anyway, my father caused the soil to rise slowly, and formed the figure of a little snowman―― only this one was made of earth.

“Now, you try. The shape is up to you, but be mindful of your mana reserve and make sure to not overdo it to the point you use up all your mana.”

“Yes!”

I saluted, looking at the ground that had already returned to its normal state. I had been waiting for this for practically forever, still… What should I make now? Uhm, nothing came to mind… no inspiration bursting forth, oh, but speaking of earth.. It could only mean THAT, right?

Nice!

Gleefully, I clapped my hand and placed it on the ground around the circle. Feeling my magical power flow, I let it drifted out of my fingers, and created a wall.

It was one meter tall, seventeen centimeters wide, and around ten centimeters thick. Of course, I could make a bigger and thicker one, but I didn’t do so to save my mana.

“… So, what is this, Theodore?”

“Like how it looks, it’s a wall… right? It’s a bit larger than the one in my imagination though.”

“I see… Then, why did you clap your hands before you made this?”

“Is it a taboo?”

I couldn’t tell him that I was mimicking the movement of a certain alchemist, could I? Ergo, I could only ask him that way. Incidentally, when I was still a young child in my previous life, I discovered a manhole’s lid for the first time and used it to act like that certain alchemist.

But then, the uncle who was walking behind me stumbled and fell since I suddenly squatted in front of him, causing him to be apoplectic with rage. Even now, I still couldn’t forget his angry face back then, especially since I ended up angering my mother in that life too. As such, I realized that I shouldn’t do that again in the middle of the road. Anyway, that was neither here nor there.

“Okay, that’s enough. Can you do that once again?”

“I can, but why?”

“You do realize that you need to clap your hands, right? Listen here, Theodore. Under normal situations, there’s no need to do something that will allow someone else to realize that you’re going to use your magic, alright? There’s a reason why you’re taught to feel the flow of your magical power after all.”

By ‘normal situations’… is he referring to the case when I will have to fight against enemies? So that’s why aria and chant don’t exist as well, huh…

“Umm, can you use magic without having to chant aria too, Father?”

“Hahaha, things like arias or chants only exist in legends. I mean, look, you literally become a sitting duck by doing so. Besides, people who can use such a grandiose magic that need arias and chants aren’t that stupid either―― With some exception. Anyhow, let’s try again, and this time let your imagination do their job.”

“Yes!”

Uwaa, now that I know that magic doesn’t require me to do some specific action or chanting, I feel nervous instead.

Matching the timing with my magical power was a tough challenge. But then, I successfully conjured a wall.

“Hmm, could it be that the efficiency is much better when you clap your hands? Oh well, I guess you get the gist of it now. And it seems you also have a large amount of mana reserve too. Though you do have a bit of a problem with your manifestation method. Considering all these, I’ll try to find you a teacher based on that. Anyway, sorry for making you accompany me despite your fatigue, but we still need to continue for a while longer.”

Since I still had some mana, my father continued to test my fire, water, and wind attributes.

My fire attribute went out from the tip of my finger, then vanished ten seconds later. As for my water attribute, it was able to produce around two or three water droplets before nothing could come out. And my wind attribute was strong enough to move my hair. However, as expected, none of them was as strong as my earth attribute.

“Brilliant, to think that you can already do that much… Back when I was your age, all I could do was to create tiny pebbles…”

Eh… when you speak that way… my magic suddenly feels kinda like the lite version of a cheat.

“Can I do better with more training?”

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“Of course, you can.”

Hearing that, I smiled as brightly as the sun, feeling utter happiness upon receiving my father’s recognition.

Yosh, let’s do our best~.