Durandal's edge slashed through another monster. The Needlewood fell onto the ground and disappeared in a puff of green smoke. Even tough I was still mentally handicapped due to my critical loss of MP, I was still able to swing my sword like normal to defeat monsters. Even in the state of severe depression, it doesn't look like my attack power was affected by it in any negative way.
「Fuaaaaaah…」
I dropped my shoulders and exhaled deeply. Recovering my MP this time way harder than it needed to be, but slowly but surely the depression and pessimism which were hanging over me like a dark cloud have finally started to fade away.
The continuous absorption of MP eliminated the feeling of pain and weariness that permeated my entire body, so right now I was feeling pretty okay. But man was that rough! I still have some amount of MP to recover, but other than that I got back to my optimal condition. I have to say though, that feeling of depression which grabbed me in its claws after I used Equivalent Exchange was beyond terrible. I had no idea that this was going to happen to you if you lose all of your MP. Also, I don't know if it is related to it in any way, but my memory of everything that happened after I used that spell is so foggy that I can barely even recall it, even if it happened literally an hour or so ago.
「Sorry about that embarrassing display, Roxanne. Anyway, let's go to the next group of monsters. I f you could please lead the way?」
It's okay, it's alright. Now that I have regained my MP I can think clearly again. I kept saying that to myself as we moved forward. Under Roxanne's keen guidance we hunted a few more monster, and like that, my MP has been fully restored. All the negative thoughts disappeared as if they were never there at all.
「How are you feeling now, master? Are you still sick? Maybe you shouldn't put yourself under so much physical stress just yet?」
「It's okay, Roxanne. Everything will be fine now.」
Now that I reassured Roxanne that everything was fine with me, I opened my Job Settings to check if the new Job Appeared there after I used the Bonus Spell. Glancing over the list, it was there, right at the very bottom: a brand-new shining Mage Job!
Mage Lv.1
Effects: INT Up (Small), MP Up (Small)
Skills: Beginner Fire Magic, Beginner Water Magic, Beginner Wind Magic, Beginner Earth Magic
I did it. I have finally done it! Getting it was more of a pain than usual, but I finally got my hands on the Mage Job! I have to say though, for all the trouble I have to go through in order to obtain it, starting with nothing more but the 「Beginner」 level of spells was somewhat disappointing. And how do I even use it anyway? Whatever I have to do to make them work, there can be no doubt that I can legitimately use them now. Also, isn't the requirement for obtaining the Mage Job kinda buggy? I mean, you have to use Attack Magic to be able to obtain the Mage Job, but in order to cast said Attack Magic you have to know magic in the first place. It's strangely unspecific, but now that I got it there's no need to dwell on the small details too much.
Fiddling with the Job Settings, I set Mage as my First Job.
「Are we going to go to the second floor now?」
「No, not yet. I have a number of things I want to try out, so for now we will be staying here.」
「Understood. This way then.」
As we were walking, I thought about testing the Beginner Fire Magic first. I tried saying the Skill's name in my mind and then to mutter it quietly, but nothing happened, even when taking the Chant Omission into account. Maybe the usable Skills themselves have different names, and 「Beginner Fire Magic」 was just a name for their general assessment? Maybe I'll try asking Roxanne to see if she knows anything at all about it.
「Roxanne, I know you said you don't know much about Mages and Wizards, but do you know anything about magic in general?」
「About magic? Like Skill Magic, for example?」
「More like the one used for the purpose of battle, actually.」
「I'm sorry, but since so few people can actually become mages, not much is known about them in general.」
「I see.」
You said you don't know much, so that means you have to know something, right? But if it's true that only the privileged groups, like the aristocracy and the filthy rich people can become mages, then it's a small wonder that the information about that Job was scarce.
「What I do heard from those who witnessed Mages in a battle is that the magic can generally be divided into three types: Multi0target spells, spells that create a wall in front of the user, and spells that can be shot from your hand in the form of an orb. Oh, and they are activated with some difficult Brahim Chants. What was it again…?」
「A difficult Brahim, huh?」
Well, since I can speak Brahim then I guess all I have to worry about is figuring the chants correctly.
Fire, Flame, Fire Storm, Fire Orb… yeah, let's try those ones out first. Orb, an orb. I will keep that in mind for the time being. Fire. Fire Orb… Fire Orb…. Ball… Fire… Fireball?
As I kept repeating all those names, when I said fireball, the area above the palm of my hand lit up, and a small ball of fire was floating in there.
Oh, this is it. Fireball was the right keyword here. When I pointed my hand forward, the Fireball also flew forward. A success! A goddamn success! Now I can properly use Attack Magic!
After the ball finally dissappeared I looked at my hand in amazement. Knowing that I can now use magic filled me with all sorts of extatic emotions. So magic does exist, and I am one of the lucky few who can wield it however they want! See, moment like that make me think that I have really been transported to a wonderful world. So now I can use Space Magic, Movement Magic, and now I can add Fire Magic to the mix as well. In that sense, I guess getting myself depressed as fuck was well worth it.
The fireball proceeded forward for a bit, illuminating the surroundings with a shade of red, until it eventually disappeared. I can now say it with pride: I have become a Mage before the legendary age of thirty!
「Eh? Ehhhh? Ehhhhhhhh? Was that magic just now?!」
Roxanne seemed a little confused when she saw my magic.
「It sure was magic.」
「But weren't you an explorer, master?I've never heard of an Explorer using this kind of magic!」
「Well, keep it a secret.」
「A-Another secret, huh?」
Yup, another secret of how much of a cheater I am. Even if I wanted to, there would be no easy way to explain it anyway.
「It's amazing that you can use magic,master! No, that is beyond amazing!」
「I can use it because you taught me. So this time it's thanks to you, Roxanne.」
「Uhm, so you weren't able to use magic before?」
「No, I was just… you know… keeping my hand close to my chest.」
If I could use it before, I would have done so a long time ago.
I tried throwing a fireball at the Needlewood that appeared. When I looked at the monster and thought of a fireball, a ball of fire was formed over my head and flied towards the Needlewood, setting it on fire almost instantenously. Oh yeah, something is telling me that I am going to have so much fun with this spell that it is going to be unreal.