"There is a way. The test determines soul strength, affinities and mana pool capacity. I'll do the test now. Just be patient, relax and let me do the work." Glyffe approached me and placed his arm on my right shoulder.
I couldn't help but wonder what my affinities were. Perhaps I'd have a quadra element affinity or even a legendary quintuple element affinity and become an Isekai cheat magician!
There's even a chance I could have an affinity for a totally unique element - granting me powers never seen or used by anyone in the past! It could be that I unlock a forbidden dark element and must hide my eminent powers in the shadows!
Maybe I have a special talent for summoning magic - and I'd summon an army of the undead to arise and fight for me! I could even have a talent for healing magic and end up finding the wrong way to use healing magic!
I could feel an intrusive feeling around my chest area but only briefly before I saw Glyffe's expression change. He'd started shaking slightly like he saw something he shouldn't.
"How is this possible?" Glyffe's face was the epitome of shock.
Yep, I knew it. It was finally time for my cheat ability. Well, I did expect this much.
"He's a genius right, Glyffe!" Silvia was on the same wavelength as me clearly as her eyes sparkled with pure amazement.
"Weak small faint grey soul. No strong affinities to any magic. Inferior mana pool. Talentless."
huh?
Huhh?
HUUHHH?
Weak soul. No affinities. Inferior mana pool. Talentless.
The excitement I felt earlier instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving me feeling slightly hollow inside. Like a broken record, those cruel words repeated over and over in my mind. They echoed a little too clearly in fact. That last word - talentless - was especially crisp.
"I-Is there some kind of... mistake?" I asked, my voice breaking slightly.
Glyffe sighed. "There's no mistake."
Glyffe had dropped down to my eye level and soon enough his broad chest enveloped me. His arms wrapped around me and squeezed ever so gently. It was a well timed hug. Thanks Glyffe, I needed that.
"Oh Reno..." Silvia's voice hid a slight undertone of disappointment but the overwhelming concern in her voice drowned it out almost instantly. Almost. Her face was full of concern and I found myself wrapped in her embrace shortly after. Another well timed hug. Thanks guys, I really needed that.
"Are you okay Reno?" Silvia asked softly, her voice laced with concern.
Was my disappointment really that obvious?
"I'm okay. In fact, I'm totally fine mam just quite... shocked." I unintentionally stammered slightly at the end, struggling to find the right words to describe my current mental state.
"You don't seem totally fine. Your face has gone pale and your blank stare says you might as well have seen a ghost or two," Glyffe corrected me.
Oh, so that's what I look like when I'm disappointed.
"Look, it's okay if you're not conventionally talented - it's my fault I put such heavy expectations on you." Silvia reasoned sympathetically. Perhaps she had made me think I was going to be some sort of genius.
Who was I kidding, it wasn't her fault at all. It was mine.
As soon as I arrived here, I thought I was going to have everything easy. Some cheat skill. Some overpowered ability. Some power. Some heaven-sent talent.
It wasn't going to be that easy. Just because I was reincarnated, it didn't mean I deserved to be gifted everything. It didn't mean I got to skip all the hardships everyone else in this world faced. That wasn't right. That wasn't how I wanted to live.
Life was never that easy. And I shouldn't want it to be. The challenge. The hard work. The setbacks. The struggles. Beating the odds. Everything I overcame in my past life to achieve my goals is what made it worth living.
If I wanted to live this life to the fullest I couldn't keep hoping to get lucky. I'd have to seize every opportunity anyway I knew how. It's a good thing I was used to doing that.
"There's still other aspects to using magic like theory and creativity, which I know you're amazing at. You managed to use a fireball spell with little to no affinity and from a shabby textbook no less - in fact that alone makes you a genius!" Silvia added reasonably. Glyffe nodded along clearly agreeing with her reasoning.
"And even if you aren't a genius, even if you're average. Even below average. If you're the greatest genius or if you're the worst at magic in history. It doesn't matter to us. We both still love you regardless." Silvia comforted reassuringly. "We always will, Reno." Silvia added, her resolve and determination crystal clear.
They... love me?
For a split second, the world grew hazy. Drops of blurriness fell towards the ground as I continued staring downwards in shock.
All my self constructed barriers broke down. Time came to a standstill as I lay in the embrace of both my parents. I could feel my heart start to beat faster as a strange feeling spread around my body. A warm but uncomfortable feeling.
My old parents on Earth died when I was extremely young. I don't think I can even remember them saying they love me. Or even their voices at all. That's probably why their words got through to me so intimately.
"I-I love you both too!" I finally managed to say after fighting through the sniffles for a few seconds. Even though I was the one speaking, I was unsure just who those words were targeted at. My old parents? My new parents? Or maybe, both?
.
.
.
After that little family moment had passed, it was time to close out the lesson.
"Reno, for safety I'll only teach you one new beginner spell today. The standard beginner water spell - Water Bomb." Glyffe said rationally.
"For safety?" I asked curiously.
"Well if you run out of mana and try use a spell you will pass out or injure yourself. Neither outcome is what we want." Glyffe said logically.
That made sense. This was just supposed to be a lesson.
Just then Glyffe raised his hand - with his palm facing outwards - and a ball of water began condensing in front of it. The perfect blue sphere swirled continuously before it finally flew off into the distance - bursting on top of some nearby sunflowers.
I raised my right arm and attempted to reconstruct what I just saw in my mind. Before I could even start visualising the spell, I heard a deep voice.
"Reno, even if you're practicing a spell for the first time, never aim it at a person. Remember this, magic is dangerous and should only be used when you can completely control it." Glyffe spoke seriously.
His sudden serious tone surprised me. He was speaking out of experience rather than theoretical caution.
"I understand dad," I opened my eyes and looked down at my palm and followed it's line of sight. Eventually, I saw a pretty young but mature lady opposite my palm. She was smiling at me as if to say 'it's fine'.
"Ah sorry Silvia," I quickly adjusted my hands such that my palm was facing the great grasslands in front and those fields only. Now I began visualising the water spell again - closing my eyes as usual.
Compared to fire, water is tame and tranquil. It sustains diverse ecosystems and supports the interactions between the organisms that live there - in stark contrast to the devastating effects of fire.
And yet, it's also versatile, gently flowing in rivers, loudly crashing over waterfalls, and eroding coastlines with relentless force.
Keeping those traits in mind, I thought of my spell's desired form next. A perfect sphere - ideally rotating just like Glyffe's for a stronger impact - that was the goal.
Then I considered how much mana I should use. Back in the book room, I had assumed that more was better, but now that I knew my mana pool was small, I had to get used to not using too much for single spells. Ideally, I'd become proficient enough to where I could use as little mana as possible while still getting optimal results.
With all those factors considered, it was time for the final step. I channelled my mana, visualizing everything. Suddenly, I could feel something condensing in front of my palm.
There it was.
An imperfect, quivering globe of water. It's outer layer wobbled unnaturally - uneven ripples gurgling across the surface.
Nearly there.
My shaky sphere earned a curious 'Oh?' from my old man and a 'Wow!' followed by an excited smile from Silvia.
Whoosh!
The ball jolted forwards and landed just a few yards shy of the distant sunflower patch - hitting some daffodils instead. "Not bad Reno," Glyffe smiled quite happily. I smiled back in response. I did it.
"Not bad? That was amazing!" Silvia excitedly added, evidently she didn't agree with Glyffe's assessment. I smiled in response.
I could tell my control over this spell was much greater than the fireball spell. But just why was that? Because I tried to limit my mana usage? Or maybe because I visualised this one more deeply? Perhaps because I've used a beginner spell before? Maybe some other factor?
I could also feel there was some things I could change to improve the final outcome. How would how I move my palm affect the output? What about how I move my entire body? Casting while moving? And what about visual or audio queues? What if I had my eyes open?
There was still so much to experiment with and analyse! I could feel the inner biologist in me—the one who'd spent countless hours researching, studying and publishing biology papers in my Earth days—awakening.
Remembering the scientific method, the process of testing one variable at a time while keeping everything else the same, I raised my hand again. This time, I kept my eyes open - trying my best to keep everything else the same as before.
All of a sudden, a massive, heavily distorted azure hemisphere condensed in front of me - it's exterior frothing chaotically. Ah I used too much mana.
Pop!
Bursting violently, the hemisphere unleashed a shockwave that sent me flying backwards. I hit the ground hard, landing right on my butt.
Fatigue crashed over me like a tidal wave. My vision blurred as I saw Glyffe and Silvia's hazy figures lunge toward me.
This is bad!
"Reno!"
"Re-"
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