Without much choice, I gave in and consented to her declaration to tour the human country Skairolmr. Turning the carriage away from the direction to exit the country, I head towards what seems to be the most feasible option, Flurea, and began to ride us there. Meanwhile, I decided to continue to conversation with Princess Violet about magic in order to learn more.
I hate to admit it, but no matter how much I want to lead a peaceful life, the fact right now is that my life is far from peaceful. To realise my dream and enjoy it, I must first know how to keep myself alive. There isn't any point if I'm dead.
That's why I want to know more. Knowledge is power; if I am aware of what awaits me every time in regards to magic, it definitely allows me to form escape plans and countermeasures with more ease. And besides, I can't exactly abandon Princess Violet right now.
I would do it when I need to, but somehow it feels as though I don't want to.
Strange. If it was me back then, I would have done so without second thoughts.
Why?
[So if you're an amateur in magic, perhaps we should begin from the basics. Is that alright with you?] (Violet)
[Yes please, Princess Bereqor.] (Me)
An audible sigh could be heard from behind me as I pretend to concentrate driving the carriage. Please give up on your ridiculous name condition.
[…At the very least, please tell me how I should address you. I find calling my travelling companion 'you' all the time to be boorish and rude.] (Violet)
[That is fine, Princess Bereqor. I believe that someone such as myself would only dirty your grace from allowing you to know my name.] (Me)
[…If you're trying to cover and run away, I must say it's too late right now, Rey.] (Violet)
I turned my head to the back so fast, I thought I would die right there and then from breaking my neck. The shock of her trying to call my name was significant enough to distract me from driving the carriage, which caused the carriage in bouncing about while I wasn't looking in front. The princess doesn't seem bothered the slightest as she gazed at me in a carefree manner.
With deep, crimson eyes.
[Heh, your facial expression interests me. 'How does she know my name?', am I correct?] (Violet)
...I see.
[So you realised that I heard it from your conversations back at Terdia, am I right?] (Violet)
Oh?
[How do I know? I won't tell you that.] (Violet)
Princess Violet gave a smirk before turning away and pulling the curtains. As the curtains came to a close to her mind reading, I slowly returned my sight back forward and drove the carriage without letting my thoughts wonder.
…That was close. If I hadn't forcefully diverted my thoughts away from being aware of her skill, she'd have found out. Since I was already hooked onto the topic, she didn't need a question to direct my thoughts and use her skill. I was already thinking about it in the first place; there wasn't a need to.
As I thought, being with the princess is really troublesome. Though, displaying her secret skill like that carelessly would only spell disaster for her. Why is she using mind reading on something simple like that? If it wasn't me, what would others think and do about her were they to find out?
What exactly is this princess thinking?
By the way, your pronunciation of my nickname is off. It's Ray, not Rey.
The carriage continues its route in silence, until Princess Violet broke the silence.
[You should stop thinking about things you will never understand, it is a waste of time. As a human, time should be precious for you, is it not?] (Violet)
[It is as you say, Princess Bereqor. That is why I insist in gathering knowledge whenever possible. Knowledge is useful especially in times of crisis.] (Me)
[You really are direct at undesirable times. Not everyone likes such character.] (Violet)
Don't admonish me like you're my mother. Though, she might be way younger than…
Let's not think that way in case she reads my mind.
[So to begin, Magic is a tool to materialise a phenomenon to our world. So for instance, when you don't have fire under the chilly night sky, you can cast magic to materialise flames to warm yourself.] (Violet)
[But how does this process work? Of course, everything happens with a reason and process behind. It wouldn't be possible to just allow anything to occur without a process, and even gods are no exceptions.] (Violet)
[Even gods are no exceptions?] (Me)
[Yes, they aren't. Gods may be the representation and rule of an area or aspect, but there are still things that they are bound to, despite the common beliefs that they are omnipotent. Think about it, if it is so, there won't be a need for many gods in the first place. I have no ill intent in saying what I just said, but it is a truth that many should come to recognise.] (Violet)
Hmm, this is new. I should remember this.
[Anyway, back to the topic, magic work with a process and reason behind it. To cut it simply, there are two requirements necessary for magic to be cast. Firstly, in order to cast magic, there must be mana.] (Violet)
[To define, mana is a universal power that exists on a certain plane of existence. It is used to realise phenomenon that are brought about to our world though a catalyst, where the catalyst could be an item, magic tool or the caster themselves. Without it, the phenomenon is unable to realise itself in this world.] (Violet)
[For the casters, us, we contain something within ourselves known as mana circuits. You can simply imagine them as another body system within you, hidden and unseen but nevertheless present. They are the catalysts that I mentioned earlier.] (Violet)
If I have to imagine it by the way you say it, it feels as if they are an invisible second set of nerves or blood vessels spreading in someone's body.
[Casters are only casters because they have mana circuits, which allow them to draw and store mana from the certain plane of existence which mana originates from. As each person is different, even among same races, each person's mana circuit would differ as well: in terms of rate capacity, efficiency and effectiveness. As such, it wouldn't be impossible if a dwarf would somehow win in mana capacity over an elf.] (Violet)
This is surprising. As a human, I always thought that our species would remain at the bottom of the ladder lurking about. My thoughts are biased and unfair. If I hadn't asked for this lesson, one day my lack of knowledge might just kill me due to biased estimation.
Does this mean that if someone doesn't have mana circuits, he or she cannot cast magic?
Maybe I don't have mana circuits then… What a pity, magic sounds fun and useful.
[However, under certain circumstances, it is possible to draw power from sources apart from mana. This includes everything, from living to non-living, without exceptions. Extreme surge of emotions, breakdown of mentality which releases the mental limit of an individual, the sacrifice of life forces, and so on are examples which you should look out for. It is as if they turn themselves into a catalyst via extreme will, drawing mana by force. Or maybe the energy source has nothing to do with mana; merely an unrelated source. Even if a person has no signs of being a caster, he or she can still achieve anything if desperate enough; one should always be careful.] (Violet)
Utterly ridiculous. But if this is true, I can probably understand how existences like wraiths work. Since they are dead, they are probably released from their mental capacity limit, which somehow gave them powers unknowingly. How horrendous.
…I did think that magic is fun and all, but I think going that far just to show off how I can cast magic is too much. I'm content with trying to fulfil my dream.
Yup.
[Secondly, a caster of magic must have visualisation. For non-living objects, they are likely able to manifest magic with inscriptions or carvings by their creators in order to work. But for us casters we utilise visualisation in order to cast magic. Without visualisation, there is no direction or motive for the magic. As a result, the phenomenon manifested would only explode from the lack of guidance.] (Violet)
How frightening. It's like Cheff playing with fire… wait.
[Of course, there would be various people, including those which are horrible at imagination and visualisation. That is why chants exist. By forming words which describe the phenomenon the caster desires to manifest, he or she can better focus on casting the magic. Of course, people more adept at imagination and visualisation would find skipping parts of the chant possible, and at extreme cases, some would not require words at all. This is what most would come to know as voiceless incantations.] (Violet)
I see.
[In case you were wondering, your superior back in Ocean Swarm isn't a user of voiceless incantations.] (Violet)
I temporarily lost my breath, thinking that she was reading my mind again, but looking back it's pretty obvious that Cheff is a likely image that comes to my mind when the topic of voiceless incantations is mentioned. There wasn't a need for mind reading anyway. After all, that was what I told Princess Violet before facing him off back at my cabin in the woods.
But if it isn't, how did Cheff do it?
[I'm not sure if you noticed, but I did see him wearing a ruby necklace when you entered close combat with him. It sort of dangled out of his shirt when he swung a punch at you.]
I see, a magic tool huh.
[I think that is pretty much the basics to magic overall. Did you learn what you want?] (Violet)
[Yes, thank you Princess Bereqor. It would be ill-mannered of me to ask anymore.] (Me)
[…Unfortunately for you, I have more for you.] (Violet)
If you think that I said that because I had enough of knowledge, you're wrong. I am well aware of how you want to annoy me by giving me more information because I appear to not want any more of it. The displeasure in your voice is giving it all away.
Do you really want me to call you by your name that much?
[For combat, one should always watch the target. One suggestion is the mouth, where chants come from. If words uttered from the target has a unique rhythm or tone to it, it is very likely that those words mean to form a chant, and magic is about to be casted. At higher levels, one can even try to identify the type of chant and counter it, but that isn't something everyong can do.] (Violet)
[Another thing is the surroundings. For mana-sensitive people, if they sense a disparity in their spatial surroundings, they should immediately be on alert because that is the sign of which mana is drawn from another plane of existence.] (Violet)
[Also, behavioural signs are also huge caution signals to the certain conditions I mentioned previously. If the target suddenly loses himself or herself, or become drained, it wouldn't be surprising that the next moment, a huge wave of energy would head straight for you.] (Violet)
[Other than that, try to notice accessories that the target wears, such as necklaces, bracelets, bangles, rings, earrings and the like. They might be magic tools that grant the target ability to cast magic.] (Violet)
…I'm starting to feel guilt enjoying the flood of information when they are originally meant for my discomfort.
[In terms of combat ability my opinion is that each and everyone have their own style. Other than your amount of blood loss I think that you're doing fine on your own, so I have nothing else for you.] (Violet)
That blood loss you said, you definitely just want to take a shot at me! Don't disguise that as useful advice when you're failing to hide that smug look on your face!
[Oh, I forgot to mention. For people who suddenly becomes deranged and utilise magic when they are incapable of doing so, be it from mana deficiency or the lack of mana circuits, if they pull of a stunt like that, their body naturally becomes extremely burdened. Forcing a path through things which are not meant to be definitely causes a backlash. You could say that it's something like how this world works. To balance out the events that occurs outside the rules, it can and will backlash… I said too much. You just need to know that the best time of counterattack is when the target stops going insane.] (Violet)
Although it feels like you're treating me like an idiot by not giving me a full explanation, thank you for summarising it in an easy way to remember.
[And lastly, always anticipate the unknown. This applies especially to you, who does not study or wield the tool called magic.] (Violet)
If you want to know, I'm already jabbed twice with your verbal abuses, so just take your victory and leave me alone already.
[…] (Violet)
I hear some panting of breath. Please don't rapidly fire out words like that if you can't do it.
[…Thank you, Princess Bereqor. There happens to be a canteen of water near the back of the carriage.] (Me)
[Tch.] (Violet)
After that, our ride towards Flurea throughout is only enveloped by silence between us and the whistling of the wind.