As Ra had instructed,
I have been practicing magic diligently for the last couple of days.
But, I still haven't been able to perform it.
Ra doesn't let me practice magic near the house, so I have to go out into the snowy fields to practice.
Ra gives vague theories on magic, but what can I expect from someone who uses magic for simple household tasks
He isn't a mage.
I don't even know if mages exist in this world.
Because a world with magic there are supposed to be magic schools and mage towers—things like that.
But there isn't anything like that in this world,
Perhaps it's because I live in a small village.
Recently, there have been talks of a black shadow being sighted near the village.
Some say it's the shadow of an animal or a human or even an tree,
But everyone agrees on one thing: the shadow is utterly and eerily out of place.
I don't know if it's a hoax or not,
but in a world where imagination becomes real, just thinking about the horrors of imagination sends a chill down my spine.
Days passed as I was beginning to lose hope in trying to use magic through my own understanding , so I asked around the village.
Most of the villagers spoke as if it were a natural thing that comes with time.
But one beggar, who was called as eccentric,
said something that stuck with me throughout every practice session.
That day:
"Magic is all about putting your imagination over reality itself and bending it as you see fit.
And casting is just making an illusion come true by giving it a name,
therefore making it real,"
said the beggar.
His explanation sounded just like everyone and then just as I was moving on,
he started laughing.
"Hahaha!"
laughed the beggar.
"All of this is just mere talk, young child.
Magic is a manifestation of your will against reality;
that's what it is,"
explained the elder.
"Magic is just going against reality,"
I mumbled to myself again and again, trying to gain some realization
Then, the next day, as usual, I was practicing magic, but this time something was different.
I was different.
I took the words of that elder to heart.
I began to imagine how wood burns.
I began to imagine the wood slowly getting hotter until it started smoking.
After some moments, it caught fire.
I imagined everything strongly in my mind.
I imagined so intensely that it felt as though I was placing my imagination over reality itself.
Then, I spoke the chant:
"Kasthagni."
Suddenly, it seemed as though reality itself was bending to my will.
First, there was a sudden rise in heat;
then, smoke began to appear on the wood.
After that, the smoke turned into fire.
Then I felt reality resisting my will trying to put out the fire.
That's when I truly felt I was using magic.
But out there in the distance,
something utterly eerie and out of place was watching me.
As I turned around, I saw it:
a shadow that was out of place—
the shadow of nothing.
{Life is but a fleeting dream
Success is within my reach
But the shadow of something watches me
Trying to pull me into its dream}
As I saw that shadow, I was overcome with fear.
It was just a lump of ominous shadow.
But it was existing entirely on it's own ,
Going completely against the laws that govern reality.
There was nothing to cast it, yet it was casting itself.
As I stood there in a daze of fear, staring at the shadow,
it suddenly moved toward me.
I was so frightened that I pulled out a burning wooden stick by instinct
and threw it at the shadow.
The Shadow mostly dissipated by the light of the fire,
But there still remained the shadow of a man.
The shadow had a loving and caring presence, like that of a father.
I don't know why I felt such emotions while looking at the shadow,
but after its original form was revealed,
the shadow ran away in panic.
A shiver ran down my spine when I thought about how the feeling of the shadow had suddenly changed.
Before, there had been an ominous and mysterious feeling to it, like that of a monster.
But after its true form was revealed,
it carried a gentle and caring feeling, like that of a father.
After that encounter with the shadow,
years flew by, Satya was about to turn 15.
But he never saw any signs of that shadow after that day again,
[I have started to understand magic and learned how to better resist reality by my will while using it,
but I still don't know many spells,
because the spells of this town are limited to natural things like fire and water.
I can create fire
and summon water.]
The fire spell is easier to use because it functions on a smaller scale,
while the water spell is difficult to use, and only a select few can perform it.
[after years of practice, I have finally gotten the hang of water magic.
To use water magic, you have to imagine a flowing current of water.
And a flowing current of water requires a narrow pathway to flow through,
with the pathway sloping from high ground to low ground.
Now, you have to place your will against reality itself to make your imagination of flowing water become real.
[I have been able to earn an income by watering farmland.
I am no longer dependent on my family to earn a living.
And I can see the look in my father's eyes—
it is a look of happiness.
He won't directly say that he is proud of me,
but his eyes have already said enough.]
[My mother is the complete opposite of him.
She praises me endlessly and boasts to our neighbors about how talented I am at magic.
Now that I think about it,
this isn't such a bad life after all.
I could simply live out my days peacefully like this,]
thought Satya.
Some days passed peacefully in this manner.
After some months, all the water magic users were called to help a nearby village survive a sudden drought.
So Satya, along with the other water magic users, went there.
{A peaceful life is but a prelude
To the harsh realities yet to come.
Only by living each day as you desire
Can you truly be alive.
It was always thus, and always thus it shall remain.}