From the depths of the hazy, abyssal darkness emerged the most fearsome monster of all - the legendary Green-Eyes Plant Dragon.
This legendary dragon was a well-known powerful engine of destruction. Virtually invincible, so much so that very few had seen this awesome creature and lived to tell the tale.
After a relentless, gruelling war of attrition, where every step was bought with blood and great sacrifice, the battle reached its explosive climax!
Surrounded by the bodies of his fallen comrades, the Paladin Hero emerged, his spirit unyielding. With a single, unrelenting slash, he struck down the mighty Green-Eyes Plant Dragon, cutting through the darkness.
There, surrounded by the soft glow of the Evernight Flower and the blood-soaked mist of the battlefield, stood a man – the lone figure who had sheltered the storm.
He returned to the empire with a few of his brothers-in-arms, literally, and the Evernight Flower. Impressed by his valour and great chivalry, the king offered his daughter's hand in marriage to the knight captain and endowed him with the title of the Paladin Hero.
And they both lived happily ever after.
Well, that was a short summary of it. Trust me, if Glyffe was reading The Heroic Tales of The Paladin Hero out to you then you wouldn't hear the end until about a few chapters from now.
According to Glyffe this was a true story and there are exchanges held between scouts to this day to commemorate it. Sometimes, scouts even held joint race tournaments, as the story is supposed to represent how races can accomplish great things when they work together. Glyffe even mentioned the elves and dwarves had their own versions of this story where the Hero was instead a member of their race.
As much as I'd like to believe Glyffe, the descriptions had gotten so outlandish and fanciful that I could only think of it as just a fairy tale. I'll change my mind when I see a real Evernight Flower or real crystal caverns and abyssal forests.
While I wasn't sure about the authenticity of this story, the fact that each race had a different hero didn't exactly help its credibility. Glyffe however, fervently believed it was a true story. And of course, he believed the human hero was the truePaladin Hero.
The Paladin Hero was his childhood idol – similar to how kids idolise sports celebrities in my old world. That would also explain his obsession with training his swordsmanship.
These stories told me two crucial things - the first being that this had to be a fantasy world. There's no other way the Paladin Hero could've been a real-life person and met elves, dwarves and a plant dragon.
While I knew the story likely had some truth to it – the reason I still thought of it as a fairy tale was how exaggerated some parts were. I was almost positive they added certain feats like escaping volcanoes and braving waterfalls as an embellishment.
The second thing these stories told me was that this world had no 'monsters'. At least not in the conventional sense.
Real dragons, goblins, slimes, ogres - you wouldn't find any here. All the monsters in this world were flora - or plant - derivatives. There were slimes - green plant slimes. There were goblins - green plant goblins. Even dragons like you heard earlier - but plant dragons. Though dragons were elusive and probably extinct.
Plant monsters were the most dangerous creatures on the continent - specifically for adventurers or anyone who dared to venture into forbidden lands. Adventures made a living off finding rare plants, precious gems or obtaining plant cores.
I couldn't imagine it from all the typical fantasy novels I'd read about normal monsters, but I imagined seeing it in person would clear that up. Glyffe's descriptions of them were too detailed to be faked - I was convinced he had even seen a large portion of them himself.
Apart from the library, I'd also explored other areas of the house, namely: the kitchen, living room and the bathroom. Admittedly, there wasn't really anything notable about those. I did have to say it was nice that this world had working water supplies and pipe ways though.
I also realised the house had a basement hidden behind the stairs, but I didn't quite manage to explore that yet - not that I really wanted to very much. Continuing to learn to read was my focus for the foreseeable future.
.
.
.
After years of listening to the same bedtime stories and countless reading lessons from Silvia, I managed to learn to read at five years old. I know that might not seem very impressive compared to people who are transported to another world and instantly become Overlords, but it felt much more rewarding than any cheat ability.
My legs had gotten quite a bit stronger so I could jump now - albeit not very high. With the help of a few well-placed piles of clothes I could now turn door handles fairly reliably.
With my reading skills finally improved it was finally time to read the grimoire. In a strange twist of fate, the book actually was called A Beginner's Guide to Magic.
I guess the author - Asim Clevio - wasn't very creative with his titles. I did my usual routine and escaped into the book room, this time reaching for the grimoire. Opening it slowly, I glanced over the first few pages.
The book had no glossary or preface and dove straight into the content.
"Hello, future magician! This book was made for super beginners, like you, to understand the awesome and wonderfully important principles of magic!
In this world everyone has an initially fixed mana pool from which they can draw mana from to cast magic. Mana pools can only be enlarged by using rare magical treasures."
It was nice to know even in the worst case scenario I would still be able to improve my mana pool by using magical treasures.
"Everyone, without exception, can learn up to intermediate magic. Meaning that with the correct training and opportunities - anyone can become an intermediate magician.
I should probably explain the different classes of magic which can be cast. As a beginner the magic classes you should worry about are the beginner and intermediate class spells. Anything beyond intermediate magic would be impractical to learn about at this stage. But if you're really dying to know then...
Lucky for you, you can find out what's beyond intermediate magic in my follow up book An Intermediate Guide to Magic, so make sure to buy the next book in this series!"
So shameless plugs exist even in another world huh.
"I know, I know - you're getting impatient and just want to cast your first spell. I get it, I really do. I was a beginner once too. But listen up, dumb newbie. Learning spells takes a lot of practice, and you can't rush it."
Dumb?
"Magic requires a variety of concepts like visualisation, chanting, affinity, theory, practice and concentration just to name a few. You mustn't rush it!"
I'd waited five years to be able to use magic so I would be lying if I said I wasn't getting impatient.
"Magic is complex and there's so many factors to consider. So for now, we'll do the bare minimum. Just keep in mind, good visualisation, concentration and understanding the theory can improve a spell's output."
Could he get to the point already? I really hope this author isn't the type to add extra phrases just to fill a word count...
"Okay, okay. Now that I've skimmed over some of the basic principles of magic, I can teach you your first spell. It's called Fireball and it's a beginner tier three spell."
The classic fireball spell. Any long-time fantasy fan had heard of the iconic fireball spell before and I was no exception. I wasn't quite sure what he meant by tier three though.
"With about a week's worth of practice you should be able to cast an especially weak version of this spell. First, extend out your palm and shout 'Fireball'. That should do the trick. Even on your first try you should feel your hand heat up slightly and see a small wisp of fire. Go ahead - try it."
Hmmm. It sounded simple enough but that makes sense. It is beginner tier magic after all – and tier 3 to boot.
I extended my palm and, with a firm voice, recited the chant.
"Fireball!"
Nothing.
"Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!"
Nothing.
Well that was slightly disappointing.
Who am I kidding - very disappointing.
"Pffft! I'm sure you're thinking something like 'that was disappointing'. Hahaha, I don't blame you. Magic isn't that simple. A super idiot like you couldn't possibly cast it so easily."
This guy was beginning to get on my nerves – wouldn't it be more useful if he said why it didn't work?
"That was just to teach you a valuable lesson. If you're annoyed or disappointed - then good. When learning magic you will be annoyed. There will be spells you struggle to learn. You will be disappointed. There will be times you feel like giving up.
What's important is you keep going. That's the mindset of a magician – keep struggling forwards. Oh, and by the way, I didn't tell you the trick to actually casting magic, so of course you wouldn't get it right."
Ah so that's why. Low blow. As much as it left a bitter taste, I got the message. Magic is hard and there's no shortcut.
"The thing I'm about to tell you next is the key to using magic, so listen up newbie. Any time you use magic, you need to connect to your mana pool. Mana pools are generally located around your chest area. Once you feel it - and only then - you can cast your first spell."
My... mana pool?
Just then, I focused on my lower chest area opposite my heart and could feel a strange hole there. Within the hole was a flowy sensation like something was slowly travelling into it. A sensation I could only feel when I actively tried to look for it.
I guess that was my mana pool and the flowy feeling was from mana entering my mana pool. Now that I knew I had to focus on my mana pool when casting, I was ready to attempt the Fireball spell again. And this time for sure - I'd get it.
Focusing on my mana pool and the flow of mana within, I readied myself. Extending both my palms out this time, I channelled my mana. Slowly I could feel a weird energy flowing into my palms. This was it - I could feel it would work this time. I shouted the chant once more.
Fireball!
With my shout being so loud I could hear the sound of sudden footsteps but that didn't matter right now. A nice, warm sensation flooded my palms and a fluffy ember shot straight out of my palm. I watched as the little ember flew happily across the room.
Uh-oh. I forgot I was in a library.
Boom!