I was visibly stunned by what the chief had just done.
He had said what I could only assume was an incantation, and soon after, a small cube of condensed dirt appeared from the ground.
Seeing my fascinated expression, the chief simply smiled.
"What you just saw was a display of beginner earth magic. That is the most I can do. You, however, young Draven, may have talent in this field. Would you like to learn?"
At his words, I turned toward my parents, excitement clearly showing in my now-sparkling eyes.
"Can I, Mother… Father…?"
I was fully prepared to beg them if they didn't agree.
They looked at each other, silently communicating before coming to a decision.
"Draven, you may study at the chief's house in the afternoon. However, you must be back before the sun sets. Do you understand?" My mother lectured.
"Yes, I understand, Mother," I replied.
Meanwhile, my father remained quiet, letting my mother make the decision. Honestly, I didn't think he cared much either way.
"Then it's settled." The chief slowly stood and walked toward the exit. "I expect to see you around soon, young Draven."
I nodded slowly as I watched him leave.
***
One Year Later…
Another year had passed, marking my third year in this world.
Since the day the chief—Rocks—told me about magic, I had spent nearly all my afternoons at his house. There, he tutored me in reading and writing while also teaching me the fundamentals of magic.
As it turned out, he was the only one in the village capable of using magic. Everyone else relied on swords and other close combat weapons. Aside from their innate telepathy, they had no magical abilities whatsoever.
Because of that, I came to a simple conclusion: magicians were not common in this world.
As my studies progressed, I learned that magicians were ranked as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Saint, King, and Emperor.
My teacher, Rocks, was a beginner in earth magic.
In addition, there were three main types of magic: Attack Magic, Healing Magic, and Summoning Magic.
However, from what I observed, attack magic wasn't limited to offense—it could also be used defensively. For example, one could conjure a wall of earth to block an arrow or even build barriers to keep pests away. The more I read, the more ideas flooded my mind.
Furthermore, the books available to us only covered beginner-level magic across four elements: fire, water, wind, and earth.
Unfortunately, there was nothing on healing or summoning magic, though I wasn't too disappointed.
With Rocks' guidance, I managed to learn beginner-ranked earth magic within my first six months.
You should have seen his face when I summoned a block of earth just like he did. He probably expected it to take much longer. How wrong he was.
After that, I spent the next six months improving my literacy while studying the three types of magic described in the books.
Eventually, I shifted my focus to water magic. Since water was scarce in our region—most of it coming from outside the village—I felt especially motivated to learn it.
As a result, it took me only two months to cast my first beginner-level Water Ball.
When I showed it to my teacher, he asked how much I could produce. I admitted I didn't know, so he took me to an abandoned well within the village.
Apparently, it had been dry for decades.
"Here we are," the chief said, pointing to the well a few feet away.
It looked just like the ones I used to see in medieval shows back on Earth.
Holding out my hand, I began the incantation. "Let the great protection of water be on the place thou seekest. I call a refreshing, burbling stream here and now. Water Ball."
I repeated the spell until I nearly passed out, managing to summon eighteen water balls before dizziness overtook me.
From then on, I followed the same routine. Interestingly, the more magic I used in one day, the more I could use the next.
This became clear when, the following day, I produced nearly double the amount—thirty-two water balls in total.
From this, I formed a conclusion: magic capacity could improve while one was still young.
However, according to the books, magic power was determined at birth and could not be changed.
They likely believed this because most magicians began training in their teens—not as young as I had.
But if the author was wrong about magic capacity, then that raised another question.
Were they also wrong about incantations?
Driven by that thought, I spent the next four months learning both beginner fire and wind magic.
By the end of it, I had become a beginner-ranked magician in all four elements.
***
One Year Later…
Another year passed, and I finally turned four.
By this point, I had begun exploring magic on my own, experimenting with its different applications.
After I mastered the four basic elements from the chief's book, Rocks admitted he had nothing left to teach me.
When my training under him ended, he told me I was free to do as I pleased. The only thing he asked was that I refill the village well whenever it ran low.
I agreed.
As a result, I began spending my afternoons in my own yard rather than in the chief's tent. My parents were shocked to learn that I had become a beginner-ranked magician in all four elements.
However, my father had a strange expression when he heard the news—something I couldn't quite decipher, as if he were conflicted about something.
Still, aside from that, everything progressed smoothly.
That is, until my magical abilities changed when I was three and a half years old.
For the first time, I was able to cast magic without using an incantation.
Thinking back to my previous life on Earth, I recalled how many anime emphasized the importance of visualization when using power.
So, I decided to try it.
Instead of chanting, I closed my eyes and imagined the result I wanted.
At first, the process was painfully slow. In fact, it felt more efficient to just use the full incantation.
Even so, I refused to give up.
Over the next six months, I experimented through trial and error—until, finally, I succeeded.
Through this process, I discovered that there were three core mechanisms involved in casting a spell:
Chant: Defines the spell's form.
Size Adjustment: Additional mana determines the spell's power or scale.
Speed/Velocity Adjustment: A second input controls how fast the spell is released.
These three components formed the foundation of all magic. The incantation itself merely acted as a guide, allowing the caster to shape mana without consciously controlling every detail.
Without the knowledge from my past life, there was no way I could have figured this out on my own.
At that thought, I couldn't help but chuckle.
[To be Continued…]