[3] Meeting Magic (3)
A child frowned at Shirone's clothes.
"Headmaster, he's not a noble. I think he's a commoner."
"Commoners aren't supposed to come in here. Hey, you—get out!"
Alpheas scratched his brow in awkward surprise; he hadn't expected Shirone to be a commoner. But true to a mage who valued intellect, he waved them over without caring about birth.
"It's all right, come here. Now, what was it about this old man's words that caught your attention?"
Shirone hesitated. He wanted to go up to Alpheas, but the children's stares held him back.
It was as if they were saying, "You lowborn—don't trespass on our ground."
"Please show me magic."
"Heh heh, you've never seen magic before?"
"I read about it in books, but I've never seen it in person."
One kid pointed and shouted, "Liar! What commoner reads books?"
Alpheas stared at Shirone as if testing him. It didn't look like a lie. Still, kids that age could fool adults with an innocent face as easily as breathing.
"All right, what kind of magic would you like to see?"
"Anything. It doesn't matter—please show me. I'm begging you."
Realizing his position, Shirone bowed politely. Alpheas chuckled and waved his hand. A trick simple enough to entertain the children was nothing to him.
"The only pleasure this old man has is showing magic to our little darlings. Very well! This time I'll show you a spell that stirs the wind."
"Wow! Wind!"
While the children clapped, Shirone's chest tightened and he clenched his fists. He knew nothing about magic; his nerves were natural.
The moment Alpheas waved his hand, Shirone was seized by an unexpected floating sensation and his eyes widened. The world seemed to drop away and his view opened wide. The school's buildings came into view all at once.
"Aaaaaaa!"
Shirone screamed before he knew it. The children, however, thought Alpheas' magic was a laugh and were even doing somersaults in the air, enjoying themselves.
After a moment, Shirone plummeted at great speed. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled into himself as the ground rushed up.
But the anticipated impact never came. When he opened his eyes, he found himself gently hovering close to the ground.
The children pointed and laughed at Shirone. Alpheas watched with a broad grin.
"Well? How was it? This, my boy, is what magic is."
All Shirone could hear was his heart pounding. The magic he had experienced for the first time surpassed any vague boyhood fantasy.
"What exactly is magic?"
"Hmm, let's see. Magic is—"
As Alpheas toyed with his words, Shirone, anxious, hurriedly added, "You can say it even if I don't understand. Tell me what you think."
The children's faces hardened. Alpheas was a famous mage even throughout the kingdom. The noble kids behaved like lambs before him. Now Shirone had spoken impertinently, and they were stunned.
Alpheas found him bold but, seeing the desperation in the boy, wasn't displeased. His looks—not like a typical commoner—helped ease the awkwardness.
"Heh heh! No need to be so nervous. It's not some difficult topic. But if you like, I'll raise the difficulty a bit. Magic is an act of breaking common sense. In other words, it's a mental activity that probes the truth behind phenomena."
Shirone blinked and fell into deep thought.
"You can say you don't know."
"Something may run counter to common sense, but does that make it the truth?"
Alpheas pushed out his lower lip—a habit that only came out when he was truly surprised.
To sense the intent behind a few words is possible only when someone grasps something fully.
That, Alpheas had said, was insight.
"Where did you learn that?"
"Uh—books."
"Were there books that said that?"
"Not exactly. It came to me while I was reading. I thought common sense isn't always right. To reach the truth, you eventually have to fight common sense."
Alpheas nodded.
There was sense in that.
'No—it's not just sense. It's truth. Does he really mean what he says? Anyone can parrot something they've heard. But if he didn't…'
Twelve years old, maybe?
Once a thought becomes part of common sense, tearing it down is extremely hard. For someone this young to already grasp the primacy of essence—the first goal of magic—said a lot about his talent.
'Quite clever. No, insightful. Is he really a commoner? What a pity.'
Shirone sensed he couldn't stay long and asked a second question.
"How do you learn magic? Do you need some special power?"
"I don't know what you mean by special power, but it does require considerable mental strength."
It was a surprisingly plain answer. Shirone suspected Alpheas might be hiding something.
"Is that really all? If you can stir the wind, could you—like just now—fly if you think about it?"
"That's a difficult question. But to exaggerate: yes. Of course, thinking alone won't do it. A mage's mind must be perfectly harmonized with the world. Think of it as an extremely sensitive mental state."
The kids, seeing the headmaster speak seriously for the first time, didn't dare interrupt.
"How do you feel that extremely sensitive state?"
Alpheas caught Shirone's intent and smiled slightly. This wasn't mere curiosity. This child was probing. He really intended to learn magic here.
'Pity he's a commoner. He'll never have the chance to study magic properly. Better to give him a bit now than let him live a lifetime of frustration.'
Alpheas relaxed his expression to lighten the mood.
"When a mage concentrates, his mind becomes sensitive enough to sense everything around him. Mages call that entering the Spirit Zone. I'll demonstrate—watch what this child does. Shuamin, will you enter the Spirit Zone?"
"Yes, Headmaster."
The girl Shuamin answered confidently. Before entering the school, these children had all been called prodigies, so of course she wanted to show off.
Shuamin closed her eyes and concentrated. The other kids fell silent on their own, as if such a gesture only heightened their sense of superiority.
"I'm in the Spirit Zone."
"Then let's begin."
Alpheas took out a coin and shook it. He snatched it and held out his closed fist.
"All right, how many coins are in my hand?"
"Six."
He opened his palm to reveal six silver coins. Ignoring Shirone's surprised look, Alpheas repeated the action.
"Try again."
"Three."
She was right again.
They tried several more times with the same result. Alpheas, satisfied, picked up the coins and said, "That's enough, Shuamin. Very well done."
Shuamin let out a long breath. Though she'd only perceived the numbers, a cold sweat dotted her brow.
"This is what I mean by an extremely sensitive mental state. The moment a mage enters the Spirit Zone, he can perceive the external world super-sensorily. Great mages can even count the leaves on a distant tree. Shuamin's skill is impressive, of course."
Somehow Shirone felt he understood. He had once pierced the limits of human sensing and struck a tree's weak point to execute Thunder Strike.
He supposed Shuamin hadn't counted the coins in the ordinary way. She had focused all her senses and felt the whole situation inside Alpheas' hand.
"Extremely sensitive mental state. Spirit Zone."
Shirone repeated Alpheas' words, and a natural question followed: could he do it? Maybe he could.
"Anyone can do it."
Alpheas, seeing into Shirone's thoughts, said it plainly.
Anyone can enter the Spirit Zone. But not everyone can do it properly.
Innate talent.
Magic was a world like that.
"Practice in a quiet place. First, feel yourself. Then erase yourself. If you can do that, a world unlike this one will open up. Do you understand?"
"I do."
Shirone understood.
"If you can't feel yourself, you won't be able to erase yourself either."
Alpheas was impressed again. That was not the insight of an ordinary twelve-year-old.
So two possibilities remained: he truly had talent, or some prankster had sent a sharp child here as a joke.
"Would you like to try? Right here."
Shirone had no reason to refuse and closed his eyes. He thought he could use his Thunder Strike experience to make it work. But when he tried to concentrate, it wasn't like finding a tree's weak point.
He couldn't conjure anything. Visualizing his form only produced images built from sight. The shock was realizing how little he truly knew himself.
'What even am I?'
He dug deeper into thought until he reached the thought of himself thinking.
'The brain. Humans are a brain.'
No matter what he tried to imagine, he couldn't define himself clearly. If humans were only the brain's activity, then when thought stopped, he would disappear.
Shirone began to fade out the workings of his brain. It was something anyone could try but not everyone could accomplish.
It felt as if his mind were being sucked into an abyss. For the first time he sensed the shape of concentration. The neural connections tied to his five senses seemed to melt away; he could no longer tell what was smell or touch.
And finally, Shirone slipped free of his own mind.
His eyes snapped open.
The scene before him was peaceful. The children yawned, the girls plucked strands of hair and joked. Shirone didn't realize ten minutes had passed.
"Well? Did you hear anything?"
Alpheas hadn't expected much. Ten minutes of focus was commendable, but entering the Spirit Zone wasn't something you could force by effort alone. If standing there with closed eyes were enough, anyone could call themselves a mage.
"Yes. I heard things."
Alpheas raised an eyebrow at the unexpected answer.
"Oh? What did you hear?"
"Sound. I heard all the sounds."
"Heh heh, I see."
Alpheas nodded. Shirone probably hadn't entered the true Spirit Zone. Even ordinary people who concentrate for ten minutes can hear a variety of sounds. But what happens in the Spirit Zone is another level entirely.
First, you experience synesthesia. Sounds give off scents, lights have tastes, images transmit to the skin.
'Still too soon to go all the way? What a shame. He really is talented.'
If he were noble, if he'd trained from childhood, he might already have reached the level of the other children here.
But that alone couldn't sway Alpheas. The world was full of prodigies like stars. Even among these children, none were guaranteed to become a mage.
"Well done. If you practice diligently from now on, you'll be able to hear many more things."
Alpheas patted Shirone and led the children away. Shirone read the disappointment in the man's eyes. Still, the fact Alpheas hadn't chased him off the grounds felt like a mercy.
Shirone climbed over the wall. He ran like mad. Only when he stopped and collapsed did he notice his heart pounding against his ribs.
"It really worked."