The bomb dropped, but my unprepared mind couldn't grasp what the man had said.
"And what do you mean... incompetent...?!" I stammered, looking at the analyst in shock.
He's incapable of forming a mana core because he has no potential mana within him at all. Quite simply, he can never use magic.
What the hell was this idiot saying? Me? Fool? Impossible.
The concept of incompetent individuals wasn't common among the kingdom's people; even my parents had no ability to use magic. Yet, I was different.
Such a concept couldn't possibly apply to me... could it?
"I'm sorry, Louis. This is all our fault. We told you many times, but you wouldn't listen..." my mother said, trying to console me, while I struggled to understand the truth that was unfolding in my mind.
Most of the time, magical power is inherited. Yet, we both come from a lineage that didn't possess the powerMagic never. We belong to a line of fools... and you are our son, Louis." My father, in his own way, had tried to rub salt in my wounds.
"It was only natural... that you would have no magical power either..."
And so, with those words, all that I had dreamed of and hoped to achieve on earth was shattered.
Louis Griffith, the great wizard, died in that room. The only great thing in my life was the pathetic lineage from which I came, the cage of inescapable fate in which I was trapped.
I would never have been able to snap my fingers to produce a flame, generate a wind, or even a single drop of water.
I was incompetent.
My family and I returned to the village that very day. All the way there, I had dreaded returning to the town I had left so proudly. I would be returning to the very same people I had insulted and looked down upon.
"This must be my punishment, eh?" I chuckled sadly at myself.
My pathetic state would be a new subject
For mockery, and he'll only use my name as a tool for mockery.
But then, even I never expected what happened next.
Oh, this? Yes... we always knew.
What? They did? But how?!
Your parents are both incompetent, as are most of us here. So yes, that was a given.
They all knew that the probability of me not being able to become a wizard was guaranteed. So why did they encourage me so much? Why did they whitewash me?
"Did you want to see me prepared to this extent?!" I shouted at the villagers who looked at me innocently.
I knew I was being cruel, as usual, and my vain, arrogant nature hadn't left me yet.
"Well, it's a pity you didn't end up becoming the genius magic user you declared you would be... but, why are we mocking you because you didn't achieve something we also couldn't achieve?"
Those words pierced my core as the wall I had built for myself began to crumble
It would have been wonderful, you know? To see you become the great wizard you always wanted to be. That's what we all thought...
My heart fluttered and I felt a deep warmth seep into me. Just what was that feeling?
"Louis, at least you tried. That's not something any of us can blame you for. In fact, even if you end up being incompetent... you're still our pride and joy!"
Finally, the gates opened. The tears I'd tried so hard to hold back burst forth as I sobbed uncontrollably.
The primitive, decent boy who had refused to show any semblance of childhood finally broke down and gave in to his immature impulses.
I have no idea how much I cried... but when I was done, I opened my eyes and looked at the villagers around me.
Their reassuring smiles and hopeful eyes filled me with strange new feelings
"Louis Griffith, now that you can no longer be a 'great magician,' don't tell me this is the end," Mr. Librarian said to me with a broad smile
"Oh, ooey, don't tell me you're going to let all those magical spells I showed you go to waste," added Mr. Farm Re.
"No way, is there? Louis Griffith's name will be spread throughout the world. That hasn't changed, has it?"
After hearing all these words, I finally understood the warm feeling inside my heart.
With a smile, I regained my confident demeanor and smiled proudly at the villagers who had surrounded me.
"Of course not!"
My loud voice startled everyone. They were all staring at me expectantly, waiting for the next big dream I would utter.
"If I can't be a 'great wizard,' I'll simply be something else. I won't let all that I've learned go to waste!"
They all nodded as I said this.
I still love magic, and I will continue to dedicate myself to it. More and more knowledge about this art will be ingrained in me, and even if I can't practice it, I will make sure that nobody knows magic better than I do!"
And from that moment my dream changed.
Louis Griffith would be known throughout the country... as "The Great Sage."
And now, several decades after that declaration, I have accomplished everything I said I would do.
I have excelled in the academic field of magic, and have become a scholar of the art. In the end, no one in the kingdom could say they did not know my name.
I have developed countless magical theories and taught various courses, and have assumed my own school of thought.
Some of my works that I deemed suitable for publication have been made public, but I have not revealed all of my knowledge.
The world was not at all ready to receive some of the groundbreaking discoveries I have made, so I have hidden them away.
And in the possibility that someone worthy might find them, it would change everything they know about magic completely.
Although I have attained the highest levels of greatness, and thus surpassed the childhood dream I once had, I still feel regret
I have, yet I still feel regret.
If only... I could make a ball of flame appear on my fingertips, or cause a tiny drop of water to materialize—even a gentle breeze would do, or a light tremor on the ground. If I had been able to do any of these things, I would have enjoyed magic more.
And I lay on my deathbed, with my family, old friends, colleagues, kings and queens of various kingdoms, and even the great magicians I had looked up to all around me... everyone present in the room was of the highest order.
I had truly achieved greatness. Yet, I felt empty inside. An emptiness that had been forgotten for decades.
I had never truly cared about greatness or fame.
There was only one thing I had truly wanted and pursued all my life. Even now, with my existence nearly over, it was still the only thing I could think about.
Magic!