Three weeks.
Three miserable, humiliating, pebble-moving, squirrel-scaring weeks.
"Levitate!" I shouted, sweat dripping down my face as I gripped my staff. The pebble in front of me twitched. Wobbled. And then plopped back onto the dirt like it was laughing at me.
Newton clapped once. "Congratulations, Shin. You've officially improved from 'pebble killer' to 'pebble tickler.'"
"Don't make me mana beam you," I muttered.
"You mean mana spark?"
"Shut up."
Newton smirked, jotting something in his notebook. He always took notes after my attempts—like he was a scientist and I was some rare lab rat. Honestly, that's what it felt like. A lab rat in a tuxedo.
It wasn't just levitation. Barrier spells fizzled out before they even formed. My once-a-day mana beam was so weak, last week a squirrel actually ran through it. Like, didn't even dodge. Just ran through. And lived.
The worst part? I could feel mana in me, buzzing like static electricity under my skin. But whenever I tried to channel it through the staff, it was like trying to pour water from a thimble into a firehose. The staff sucked me dry before I could finish the spell.
Every day was the same. Struggle. Fizzle. Fail. Repeat.
Until today.
Newton had gone back inside to fetch tea, leaving me glaring at my staff like it had personally insulted me.
"You," I growled. "You're the problem. Aren't you?"
The staff, being an inanimate stick, didn't respond.
I gripped it tighter. Tried to cast again. Mana surged, the staff drank deep, and the spell fizzled halfway through like always. My head spun from the drain.
That's when it hit me.
What if it wasn't me? What if it was this stupid stick?
I tossed the staff onto the grass. Flexed my fingers. Took a deep breath.
"Alright. One time. Bare-handed."
I extended my palm toward the pebble. Focused. Drew on the tiny flicker of mana I had.
The pebble rose smoothly into the air. Floated there. Steady. Controlled.
My jaw dropped. "...Holy crap."
I clenched my fist, and the pebble shot upward like it had been launched from a slingshot.
At that exact moment, Newton walked out holding two teacups. He froze, staring at the floating pebble.
"…Did you just—"
"YUP," I shouted, grinning like a maniac. "Turns out Mr. Fancy Stick was actually nerfing me! Staffs suck my mana dry before I finish the cast. But bare-handed—" I flicked my wrist. A proper, shimmering barrier shimmered into existence in front of me, glowing faintly blue. "Look at this!"
Newton's glasses nearly fell off his face. "No way."
"WAY!"
For the first time since I got here, my spells didn't look like dollar-store knockoffs. They looked… normal. Functional. Real.
But I wasn't done.
I looked at Newton, grinning like a madman. "One more test. Mana beam."
His eyes widened. "Wait, Shin, maybe start small—"
Too late. I raised both hands, palms out. Focused with everything I had. Mana surged, wild and raw, like lightning crawling under my skin. The glow at my fingertips blazed bright.
And then—
BOOOOM!
A blinding white beam tore through the clearing, slamming into a massive oak tree. The explosion echoed through the forest, birds scattering into the sky. When the light faded, half the tree was simply… gone. The trunk smoldered, blackened and cracked. Leaves drifted down like snow.
Silence.
My hands smoked faintly. My heart pounded.
Newton's jaw hung open. His tea was spilling onto the grass.
"…Okay," I panted, staring at the cratered tree. "That was not a broken lighter spark."
Newton finally found his voice. "…Shin. You… you just vaporized a thirty-year-old oak."
I turned to him, chest heaving, and grinned. "Looks like I've upgraded from pebble tickler to lumberjack."
Newton blinked. Then adjusted his glasses. "Or… potential war criminal."
"Eh. Tomato, tomahto."
Newton broke into a grin and adjusted his lenses. "I knew it! The staff amplifies mana before releasing it, but you—" he pointed dramatically "—don't have enough mana to survive that amplification. So it drains you dry before the spell is finished."
"In English, please."
Newton crouched by the stump, tracing the charred wood. "Bare-handed, you bypass the staff's boost. You release mana raw. And because your mana pool is tiny, cause and effect kicks in. That 0.5 Mana isn't a weakness—it's compressed power. Every drop hits like dynamite."
Shin's eyes widened. "So I'm… like a water gun that shoots bullets instead of streams?"
Newton chuckled. "Exactly. You're cursed to be terrifyingly efficient. A paradox in human form."
Shin grinned. "Heh. Guess I'm finally special. Take that, God."
Of course, Newton decided to test this immediately. "Alright, Shin. You versus me. No holding back."
Shin's eyes narrowed. "Wait. With your gun?"
"Of course with my gun." Newton smirked, twirling the janky steampunk revolver he'd built. It gleamed with gears and steam vents, utterly out of place in a fantasy forest. "Don't worry, the bullets are rubber."
"Rubber bullets still hurt!" Shin protested, but Newton was already aiming.
"Begin."
A shot cracked. Shin yelped and dove behind a tree."CHEATER!"
"Strategy," Newton replied smugly, firing again. Shin peeked out, whispering a levitation spell. Small rocks floated around him.
"Eat gravel!" He flung the rocks like a machine gun. Newton ducked, raising a quick barrier spell to block most of them. The pebbles pinged harmlessly against the shield, but one clipped his shoulder.
Newton grunted. "Not bad." He fired back, forcing Shin to throw up a shimmering barrier of his own. The rubber bullets slammed against it, each one wobbling the surface like ripples on water.
Shin panted. "Okay, okay. I got this. Just gotta survive long enough for my turn…"
He darted tree to tree, levitating rocks to keep Newton busy. Finally, Shin raised his hand, charging mana for his trump card."Mana Beam!"
…Nothing.A sad spark fizzled out.
Shin blinked. "Wait, what?"
Newton chuckled, lowering his gun. "You forgot already? Cause and effect. You can only use that once a day."
Shin's face fell. "…You've got to be kidding me."
Newton shrugged. "Congratulations, you lost."
Shin flopped onto the grass, groaning. "This world sucks."
Newton holstered his gun, still grinning. "Then get stronger. Magic alone won't carry you, Shin. If your mana pool is tiny, your body has to make up for it. Physical stats. Swordplay. Endurance. We've got six months."
Shin sat up, sighing. "…Fine. Guess it's time for push-ups and cardio."
Later that Evening
Back at Newton's house, Shin sprawled out on the floor while Newton tinkered with gears and cogs at his workbench.
Shin watched him work, eyes narrowing. "You know, Newton… if you reincarnated here, why do you have glasses that look like they're straight from an optician's shop back home?"
Newton didn't look up. "These?" He tapped the rims. "I made them. Took the base glasses from this world, re-forged the frame, added some lenses I smelted myself. Precision work. Machine Maker's not just for weapons, you know."
Shin whistled. "…So you can literally make steampunk eyewear in a medieval fantasy world?"
Newton finally glanced up, smirking. "Exactly. I'm building my own aesthetic."
Shin sat up, grinning. "Alright, Senku."
Newton chuckled. "Senku? Who's that?"
Shin replies, "Oh, right, you died 16 years ago."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Shin shrugs him off and goes to sleep