Isaac, Isabella, and Kanade made it back to the bakery safely, albeit with much fan service catered towards Kanade who had slain the Lycan for the village. While they were walking back to the bakery, Isaac had heard quite a few stories about Kanade as Isabella and she was catching up about what has happened to them since the time they haven't seen each other. Isabella obviously spoke about having a baby 3 months ago and a few small things about the bakery and things she saw happening in the village. Kanade on the other hand spoke about her travels outside the village.
As Isaac recounted the stories he heard, he was vastly shocked over the shocking things he had learned from Kanade's travels. Firstly, this world had bandits that would not only commit robbery and murder, there was also trafficking in this world same as Isaac's previous world, but on a more grand scale. Bandits would not only traffick illegal goods and people, but they also would extort and torture people if they get in their way. Kanade spoke about how she took down an entire small bandit camp that had been previously extorting money from families of the female mages sent after them.
If not for Kanade obliterating that small bandit camp and saving the female mages who were still alive, the number of female mages that were kidnapped would have risen even more. There was also a story about how Kanade taught magical theory at a magical academy for a short amount of time due to being asked by the academy's mages. Kanade talked mostly about how annoying the students were, in comparison to magical theory to Isabella, but this insight Isaac learned very much excited him.
"The prospects of attending a magical school must be great, but how much would be the costs? Is there a requirement other than having money"? Isaac thought and pondered hard about these questions. He hadn't been outside for too long, but he never got the impression that most of the people in town could use magic. Only Sister Cateline who had used some type of healing magic on him, and Kanade who had used ice magic to save both Isabella and him from the Lycan, were the only magic users Isaac had seen so far.
As Isaac was still pondering the question from within his crib, he heard Isabella and Kanade wishing themselves goodbye, as Kanade left the bakery shortly after saying goodbye. Isabella turning around with a heartfelt smile on her face picks Isaac up.
"Next time we are in danger, I will protect you even if I have to lay down my life". Isabella said hugging Isaac tighter as she let those words pour out of her heart. Isaac wanted to cry when remembering just how Isabella couldn't even move in the face of danger. How could someone who couldn't even move, protect themselves, let alone another person.
"No, next time there is any danger, I will be the one to face the danger alone. I will protect the both of us, no matter what". Isaac refuted Isabella in his head. Isaac was determined to be the decider of not only his own fate but the fate of those who were close to him. Isaac knew he wouldn't be able to achieve this goal without first learning more about this world, and how to use magic, and he was presented with the chance of a lifetime presented in the form of Kanade.
If Isaac could convince Kanade to teach him about magic, he could possibly become a mage himself. Isaac was not the brightest kid, but he was very devoted to his work and studies. He believed that if he worked hard enough, he should be able to become a mage.
"I have to gain more knowledge". Isaac determined. He knew that he couldn't get to the library anytime soon, but, Isaac had mapped out a pattern as to when Isabella ever came to check on him. Isaac could walk now, and he had the capability to grab things now, he needed to sneak into Isabella's room and grab a book from her bookshelf, that was the only way to gain knowledge with his limited surroundings.
Isaac plotted as he began to fall asleep, of exactly how he would sneak into Isabella's room when she was working in the bakery.
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Morning
"There is no better time than now". Isaac thinks as his small head peeks out the door entrance to his room, staring at another door, which was presumably Isabella's room. Isaac can hear the sound of the crackling flame, as he inched closer towards the room.
"Good, she is still prepping the heat to the furnace, she won't be coming anytime soon". Isaac slowly moves inch by inch closer to Isabella's room like an agent out of a spy movie, not wanting to be caught by the cameras. For whatever reason, Isaac's baby body was jumping around like he was dodging lasers as he got closer and closer to the room. In one final jump, he rolls across the floor and lands upright in a crouching ninja pose.
"Nailed it"! Isaac thought as he now opened up the door to Isabella's room slowly and quietly, and then inched himself into the room. Sometimes when Isabella would carry Isaac, she would make a quick stop at her room, in there is where Isaac saw books on a bookshelf near the corner of her room. Isaac's hope now was that they weren't just books of fiction and could actually provide him with information about the world.
Isaac walked into the room and immediately went to the bookshelf looking at the title of books to see if he could find something noteworthy to read.
"First Seed...nope. A kiss, sweet mother...nuh-uh. Beginner's Guide to Baking...not useful". Isaac kept mumbling the names of the titles of books he saw until he got to one particular cobalt blue book that was a bit worse for wear. Its pages seemed torn and old, but the title of the book is what made Isaac consider grabbing it out of all the books he currently saw.
"History of the Arcana Force". Isaac read aloud while staring at the book in his small and adorable hands. Isaac almost flipped a page but felt like he heard a noise, so he immediately took the book and made a dash for his room. Just as he expected he heard the sound of footsteps making their way down the hall to where his room was.
"Isabella is coming"! Isaac shrieks in a hushed tone while using all of his strength, causing veins to appear on his arms to drag the book into his room. Seeing that he had no time to properly hide the book, Isaac hefted the book around in circles before tossing it a short distance into a corner of the room, hoping that Isabella wouldn't be so observant as to see the book in the corner of the room. As if on cue, Isabella walks in the room and sees Isaac on the floor, raising his arms and grasping at air with an adorable expression, signaling that he wanted to be picked up.
After being picked up and played with for a while, Isabella soon placed Isaac on the floor and went back into the bakery for the preparation of more customers coming into the bakery.
"Isabella is very nice for checking up on me, but I wish she would just stay there, it's not like I'm a child". Isaac says to himself, while slowly turning to a mirror that was placed in the room. Seeing his 3-month-old baby body, in a long pine green shirt and brown pants, that Isabella had helped him fit into this morning, he only shakes his head.
"I used to look decently before I died, and now...I look like I could be planted into the ground". Isaac felt pain from looking at the clothes he was wearing as a baby as if he had just gotten to the end of a movie drama and his favorite character had died.
"That's no longer important". Isaac thought as he made his way, albeit slowly over to where he had tossed the book. Grabbing the book and taking a closer look now, he could see who the author was: Vrixon Ubras. Feeling the old and delicate material of the book, Isaac flipped it open and began reading chapter one.
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Chapter 1 - How it came to be
I, Vrixon Ubras, have searched the world to compile information on the history of the Arcana Force. I sought to answer the truth of how the Arcana came to be. I scavenged temples, talked to many users of the Arcana Force, even to the eldest Arcana users in this world. I spoke with the tribes of elves, one of the old and most known species of Arcana users on the world of Nomios. After analyzing the information of so many historical accounts on the history of the Arcana, I was finally able to find an answer.
As we all know, those who are able to use the Arcana Force are called mages. Arcana Force is learned by first having the talent to gather it, and then practicing how to properly wield and manipulate it to your advantage. Those with the talent for the Arcana, are able to use spells. Arcana comes in many different forms, mages obtain different types of Arcana and this differentiates them from each other. Some mages are able to wield the power of flames and burn those who stand before them. Other mages might be able to wield the power of the wind, to speed up their own bodies to incredible speeds that no normal humans could reach. But where does this energy come from?
According to the most ancient records of our ancient human civilizations, the arcana force came about when experimentation of eternal youth went wrong, infecting the air of the planet, and causing the air to mix with an unknown source of energy, that was being used to try to expand the youth of humans, allowing them to live more years than they could live on average. When the air permeated into different environments, creatures began to evolve to become more destructive and powerful. Humans were almost pushed towards the brink of extinction until a great researcher was able to learn to utilize the arcana force to fight against the beasts, effectively saving humankind from extinction, but not ridding them of the dangers of the creatures.
The human who had learned how to use magic was never named, or more believable was that his name was lost in history, so we don't know too much about how he achieved it, or about the person themselves, but in regards to celebrations for such an individual, there are statues built in the cities of those with magic academies, or high commercial value, that depict a person genderless, in a robe, to celebrate the accomplishments of that person.
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After reading chapter one, Isaac felt more enlightened about this world's history.
"So the creatures like the Lycan I saw, are only one of many beasts that have gone through evolution due to the Arcana Force. Meaning that more creatures of varying strengths could come into the village and kill more and more people". Isaac thought back to the fear of everyone present when the Lycan tore the man's stomach open, the fear was like a mist in the air, making everyone breathe it in and become infected with the fear.
Realizing just how strong the Lycan was, Isaac was even more amazed at Kanade's magical prowess, Kanade had used magic to kill the Lycan in one shot. Looking at the creature, it looked like even the guns of Isaac's old world wouldn't even necessarily be able to kill the Lycan. Isaac continued to read the book and hid it whenever he heard the sound of footsteps approach his room, allowing him to casually experience the history of this world through Vrixon Ubras' words.