Chapter 3: Magic is easy to use? (1/2)

Arima was walking through the forest, heading to the nearest city according to his transplanted knowledge. On his way, he analyzed the information he had about magic and tried various things. He also quickly got used to his body. After all, it was his own but younger. He also noticed that the clothes he was wearing were the ones he wore the most when he was still going on missions. Even some of his personal belongings had been brought over with it.

About magic, first, there were eight root elements: Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Spirit, Darkness, and Light.

And there were seven non-elemental magics: Mind, Space, Soul, Neutral, Life, Death, and Time.

The first eight elements were used by magicians according to their affinity while non-elemental magic basically required talent and work. For example, if a mage had good affinity with fire then he'd be able to learn fire magic easily and quickly.

If a mage was very intelligent or hard-working, he could develop non-elemental magic. However, even if he were a genius in that type of magic, if he didn't have any innate affinities, it'd be hard for him to use a basic elemental magic.

In short, elemental and non-elemental were like two realms that formed a balance in mage craft.

Arima followed the instructions in his head and performed an affinity test. It was quite simple, he just had to think of the eight elements in his head and then chant something. And so, eight spheres of different colors appeared above Arima's hand, forming a circle.

Seeing the results, Arima was a bit startled. He was taken aback because it showed that he had a great affinity with all elements except spirit magic. And what was even more shocking was his affinity for lightning and darkness. The level was monstrous, as if these elements were totally submitted to him.

All the spheres were normally neatly round, like marbles, but the spheres for darkness and lightning were like a chaotic gathering of energy. He could feel a strange connection between him and those spheres, but it wasn't uncomfortable. And as a close third, he had a great affinity with fire, even though it wasn't as much.

Arima smirked. ”The hell, if I didn't know better, I would say it's a cheat.” After that though, his expression darkened. ”But, this affinity with lightning… is that irony? A joke? Was I really killed by it, and now it's like my ultimate power or something?”

About an hour later, Arima was calmly walking through the forest, lost in his thoughts and testing his magic when he heard horses galloping and wheels ramming on the ground.

Just before that, Arima had noticed that his physical abilities were being enhanced a lot since his arrival. In his old world, he had already trained his body to the limit. But now, this limit was broken and he was truly pleased.

And it wasn't only his body, his senses were greatly boosted as well. He could hear a carriage several hundreds of meters away in the middle of a forest and even distinguish the horses' quickened breath within all the noise. He decided to go look at that cart and for that, he tried something.

”[Quantum Electromagneticis Constringitur] (Quantic Electromagnetic).”

”[Scintillam Feram] (Wild Spark).”

At Arima's feet, dark electricity emerged and started cloaking him. Arima kicked the ground and disappeared thunderously. He was merely sprinting but his silhouette couldn't be seen by the average eye anymore. You could only hear faint crackling noises as he stepped on leaves and branches very fast. After only ten seconds, Arima was already observing the cart moving on the path ahead.

What he had just used was one of the magics he thought of when he saw his affinity with lightning. It was technique that changed the composition of his body to make it become partially electricity. Thanks to that, he could partly ignore friction and air pressure and go extremely fast whilst propelling himself.

Also, the reason Arima chanted in Latin was that he noticed that the influence the incantation has on the mind of the caster was crucial. In fact, he tried with different languages to chant his magic and noticed that when he used Latin, the magic would be stronger. An ancient tongue could apparently influence his mind better, and the 'world of magic'.

Looking at the cart, Arima thought of something and chanted.

”[Bestia Peregrine Falcon] (Beast, Falcon).”

A ball of black electricity emerged from his body and took the shape of a falcon. It was then covered by a shadow and the electric falcon ultimately looked like a real one.

This magic was another one that Arima came up with. It combines lightning, soul, and dark magic. First, the body is molded with electricity and is then integrated with an artificial soul. The shadow covers the body to create the image of a real animal. And with the soul magic, the beast is gifted with basic intelligence.

”Well, they say the image of ourselves is projected by the soul and same with the shadow,” he muttered while looking at the bird. ”Go,” Arima prompted and the bird flew off toward the cart.

Arima was linked to his beast so he could see with its eyes. Hence, it allowed him to spy the cart from a safe distance. The falcon approached the carriage and inside were four men and four enchained children, from ten to fifteen years old, two boys and two girls.

Arima frowned. He scrutinized the four men. Three of them were wearing armors and swords and the fourth was wearing a red robe. ”A mage perhaps.”

Then he looked at the four kids. Arima had quickly became accustomed to mana; the omnipresent energy in this world. He could easily discern that these kids were elves because of the spirits around them. He also heard through the falcon's ears the humans' conversation for a moment and reached a conclusion.

”Must be the abducted kids she was talking about. Did that old man cast a blessing of divine cliché on me?” He said laughingly.

Arima wondered. ”Slavery, huh?” He despised that word. He was someone who loved freedom and couldn't tolerate anything that goes against that belief. In the past, he fought and killed many. He definitely wasn't a saint. But if he were to ignore those in need although he had power, what kind of monster would he be?

”[Fulgur Quatro Jaculum] (Lightning Arrow X4).”

Four black lightning arrows formed in mid-air and were shot toward the cart. The arrows went incredibly fast and all reached their target at the same time. The heads of the four men exploded and burned.

”I suppose they were too weak to avoid or sense it in time. In any case, I wonder why the magic I cast is black? Is it related to my affinity with darkness? And, is it me, or magic is really easy to use?” He blankly remarked.

Truthfully, if Azes was watching right now, he would have been utterly shocked. Arima had mastered magic in only an hour. He even used soul magic to create a pseudo-life as if it was no harder than actually chanting it.

Arima only thought that maybe it was because he had a good understanding of the soul thanks to Azes and that he apparently was gifted in magic. He had always been a great mind and he had enough life experience to shadow anyone.