Tia's parents looked at Waver, then looked at Tia again.
"In that case, let's try it on me first," Tia's dad said.
"Huh?! N-no, that's not okay!" Waver immediately waved his hands. "I can't do something like this! Testing on a person is absolutely not allowed!"
"Haha, Mr. Velvet, you really don't act like a magus at all," Tia's dad laughed.
"Don't worry, Mr. Velvet. This is all for the sake of helping Tia get his circuits and crest back as soon as possible," Tia's mom said gently.
"Uh~~" Waver scratched his head awkwardly. "Alright, I'll give it a try."
Waver placed his hand on Tia's dad and took a deep breath. His mana flowed into Tia's dad's body, and soon he could feel that all the circuits were completely shut down—there wasn't a single one left working.
Waver instinctively frowned.
"Just as I thought. His body's no different from a normal person's now. I'd need a strong force to reopen these sealed circuits," Waver said. "Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of powerful mana. But…" He kept speaking, though his frown deepened. "If you're willing, maybe one of my theories could help."
"Whatever works. As long as there's a chance, I'll try. Go ahead and tell me," Tia's dad said, though his face looked a little strange.
"Um~~ but… my theory was torn apart by my professor… he said it was worthless…" Waver lowered his head.
"Tell me anyway," Tia's dad said.
"I come from a very humble background. I didn't inherit a great magic crest, and I don't have amazing circuits either. Even though I've learned a lot of magic, I can barely use it well. But… the Clock Tower is a place that cares way too much about bloodlines and heritage. I couldn't stand it! So I wrote a paper criticizing the whole bloodline system… and then… and then…" Waver said, his emotions bouncing between anger and frustration.
"Hahaha," Tia's dad laughed out loud. "Kid, you actually submitted something like that at the Clock Tower? I'm surprised you're still alive."
"Huh?" Waver froze when he heard that.
"Places like the Clock Tower… I couldn't stand staying there!" Tia's dad said with a look of disgust. "Alright, alright, let's stop talking about that place. You really think your theory can let a regular guy like me use magic?"
"Ahaha~~ I actually do think that!" Waver scratched his head.
Tia scratched his head too.
Since when did Waver have a theory like that? In the original Fourth War, he didn't seem to show any amazing magic skills at all.
Now Tia was hearing things that never existed before, and it gave him a bad feeling. His interference seemed to be pushing things into unknown territory. He knew this kind of change would come eventually, but this early? That was too fast. He never planned to mess too much with the Fourth War—at most, he just wanted to make sure to save Matou Sakura no matter what. But if Waver really showed off some kind of powerful magic theory, then who knows how this war might end?
Because… what if that incredible magic theory turns out to be the cheat skill made just for me?
Yep, Tia was thinking about all sorts of crazy things at this point, and he couldn't help but smile.
But as Waver kept going deeper into his theory, Tia's smile slowly froze.
Why… don't I understand a single word he's saying?
Tia's smile completely stiffened. He stared blankly at his dad, who was listening very seriously, like he actually understood everything.
Tia's dad kept nodding as he listened to Waver, and when Waver finished talking, he clapped and shouted, "Amazing!"
"That was incredible! Mr. Velvet, you're a real genius!" Tia's dad said.
"But… our family's magic crest…" Tia's mom said, clearly worried.
"No problem!" Tia's dad suddenly stood up. "Let's go to that place!"
"That place? But that's where Tia used to—" Tia's mom didn't finish her sentence.
"That was in the past, not now," Tia's dad added. "Let's go. The crest ritual we left there is still usable."
Tia still looked confused as he stared at his dad, not understanding what was going on or where they were heading.
But when everyone arrived, Tia finally realized—it was the very place where he first came into this world. Back then, his whole body had felt numb, and moving even a little was extremely hard. He thought it was a side effect of reincarnating, but now he understood—it was because his magic circuits had gone haywire and completely burned out. It had taken a long time for him to slowly recover and get used to his body again as he grew up.
"I never thought the crest ritual would ever be used again. But now things are different. With Mr. Velvet's magic theory, I can restart the magic crest I carved into the ground years ago. Back then, to safely transfer the circuits into Tia, I stripped our family's crest from my body and engraved it into the ground. Now that it's still here, I can use Mr. Velvet's theory to activate my own magic circuits again!"
"Huh? You carved the magic crest into the ground? A magic crest is like a person's internal organ—how could you treat it like a magic circle and just carve it into the floor?" Waver shouted in shock after hearing that.
"Huh? Of course I peeled it off my body and laid it flat on the ground… Look at that crest—what does it look like to you?" Tia's dad said like it was the most normal thing ever.
"Huh?" Waver froze, then looked closely at the area. His expression changed immediately, and he took several steps back in horror. "S-skin… That's human skin! You—you peeled your own skin off?!"
Waver stared at Tia's dad in disbelief.
Tia's dad nodded, then rolled up his sleeve, showing his whole arm. What his arm looked like… was hard to describe...
Tia saw Dad's arm for the first time, and it instantly made his scalp tingle…
So this is… a Magus?
(End of this chapter)