The Sleeping Devil

With a sense of unease lingering from Sergio's unsettling words, I waited for Noah.

It was the first magic class, and the teacher was a cat, or rather a cat spirit. I was excited. If it weren't for Sergio's words and talk about remaining time, I would probably be humming to myself.

For a moment, I felt a shift in the air and turned my gaze towards the door, where a soft knocking sound followed. Beyond the door that Mary had opened stood Noah in his human form.

"Ahhhh..!"

Startled by Mary's high-pitched scream, it seemed like I was the only one taken aback. Noah raised an eyebrow slightly and murmured, "Oh?" He then walked into the room without further ado.

"Mary, what's wrong? Were you surprised because he's someone you don't know? This is Noah, who will be teaching me magic from now on."

"Ahem... I-I apologize. I... um, truly apologize. It's just that... I'm really sorry."

For some reason, Mary trembled slightly and held onto her apron tightly while bowing her head.

"It's because of the hair color. Normally, people react like this."

Noah didn't seem to pay it much mind, his attention directed at his soft, jet-black hair that fell over his shoulders. Mary didn't react this way when she first saw my white hair; maybe it's because I was still quite young back then.

"Mary, my white hair is also something that's said not to exist, right? Noah isn't scary, so don't worry."

"Um, I'm truly sorry."

Mary repeatedly offered her apologies, then went on to prepare tea before retreating to a corner of the room. Noah seemed to know this would happen, or maybe he had secretly been visiting Mary before. I felt somewhat guilty for causing this situation. I planned to talk to Mary about it later.

"I'm sorry, Professor Noah. I'm looking forward to today's lesson."

"Ah, well, it's not exactly a lesson. I'm just going to pass on what I know."

"How did you learn magic, Professor Noah?"

"I taught myself. Reading books, theorizing, experimenting, then theorizing again. It's a cycle."

Noah truly was an extraordinary cat. I thought there might be some kind of oral tradition in the world of magical beasts, but it turns out he learned everything by himself. There are many things I want to ask, but first, I want to know about my remaining time.

Whether knowingly or unknowingly sensing my impatience, Noah began to explain the concept of magic in a calm and unhurried manner.

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"Magic is about converting your own magical power into phenomena using chants and magic circles. The collective term for these spells is 'magic.' You activate magic, conjuring fire or water out of nothing, manipulating the air around you. The scale of the fire or water you create, or the wind you manipulate, is directly proportional to the amount of magical power you have. High-level magic also requires a large amount of magical power. The magical power originates from within yourself, and the attributed magic that isn't yours is supplemented from the spirit world or gods. Is this making sense so far?"

His explanation was concise, but his calm voice allowed me to easily take in the information. My dreams might also be helping me to understand it a bit better.

In short, the more magical power you have, the more water or fire you can create, or you can only manipulate a gentle breeze if you have less magical power. I suppose it means something like that.

"So, for all the attributes, magical power is supplemented for all spells?"

"Probably, I think so. Since I'm the only one who can verify it, I'm not entirely sure whether it's due to the amount of magical power or divine blessings. I don't have any magic-inclined acquaintances either. That's why I want to observe your growth while I experiment."

I see, maybe when Noah said I was suitable, it was because he still had things he wanted to confirm.

Noah didn't show any signs of annoyance and continued answering my questions.

"Attributed magic, depending on the amount of magical power you have, allows you to perform significant magic, while even without an attribute, you can manage something like everyday magic. Chants, spells, and magic circles are like keys given by the gods; the type and scale of the key change with different spells."

"So, if I memorize all the chants and spells, does that mean the class is over?"

"No, it requires significant training to manipulate them. Adjusting the amount of magical power you use, controlling what you've created -- these things you have to do by yourself."

It's not that you can do everything with just one spell, right? Noah created a spherical water mass in his palms as if playing around. Then, he wrapped it around his own hands and gazed at the gently moving water.

"Like this, you create water, wrap it around your body, and then make it disappear."

In that instant, the water vanished from Noah's hands. It didn't evaporate or disperse like mist; it simply seemed to vanish from the spot.

"This sequence of actions constitutes a purification spell. If you can specify where and how much water precisely, you can complete the spell by chanting it. But with practice, you can slowly reproduce each step like this."

It was quite an intriguing scene. The baptism ritual clearly felt like magic, but the water, which I was familiar with from my past life, was something impossible in that life. How fascinating it was. My heart was racing with excitement for this new skill called magic.

"So, Professor Noah can use magic even without spells. Everyone seems to be chanting something, though."

"I think you'll be able to do it once you get used to it. When you use magic, you'll start to feel your magical power welling up, and you'll sense the door opening. It's like making an extra door within yourself, maybe? By doing that, you can control magic with just your thoughts."

The door... come to think of it, Noah mentioned it during the baptism ritual. I didn't understand it at all back then, but was Noah referring to a door that was opening?

"The sensation of magical power welling up is something you should observe within yourself while trying out magic. Shall we step outside for a bit?"

Noah grabbed me as I attempted to leave the room and once again performed a translocation to the outside. It's true that you need to walk a bit to get outside from here, but I'd prefer if he didn't suddenly teleport. At least a warning... ah, I wonder if using a window or teleportation is the usual way to leave for Noah.

"Since you can already manipulate magical power, gather the magical power within your body into your hand and chant 'Draw.' At that moment, try to locate the source of the moving magical power. Where does it originate from, and where is it headed? Concentrate on gathering it while being aware of it."

It was a spell I had succeeded in once, so I should be fine. Following Noah's instructions, I focused on the faintly stirring magical power within my body. It wasn't like I was stirring it vigorously, but like blood being pumped from the heart, something was overflowing from around the base of my spine.

I focused my nerves to the tip of my fingers as if directing that flow toward my right hand. I felt something slightly trembling with a delay.

As I felt a vague pressure in my palm, I chanted the spell.

"Draw."

The space beyond my outstretched hand trembled slightly.

The magical power I gathered vanished smoothly, replaced by the sensation of something else arriving. Substitution, summoning -- such words floated into my mind. I still didn't understand the door concept, but I think I grasped the basics of how magic works.

My magical power transformed into water as the spell indicated, forming a sphere about the size of a baseball and hovering in the air. Wow, amazing! Just as I thought that, the water sphere splashed onto the ground and scattered.

"Yep, you have good control. Being able to create it is a great start."

"The image of Professor Noah earlier was too strong in my mind, I guess. I lost focus, and that's why it fell."

"Do you understand the sensation of magical power welling up?"

"Yes, somewhat. I felt something like a shiver around here."

I placed my hand on the area around the base of my spine and checked from the outside, but I didn't feel any heat or pressure. It was the same as always.

"Magical power is more like something generated and overflowing behind the scenes, rather than originating from an organ. The entrance to this source gradually widens as your magical power and body grow. But you widened that entrance too much during that ritual. So, your body can't handle the excess magical power, and eventually, the accumulated excess will petrify you. We talked about this a little yesterday, right?"

Petrification? Suddenly transitioning to the topic of my remaining lifespan, I was a bit surprised, but it seemed theoretically understandable. If an excess of magical power was gushing out like a tap left wide open, I could comprehend that it might not be good for the body.

"If you use magical power every day, can't you prevent petrification?"

"That's one approach. However, if you fail to use up the magical power while sleeping or on some other occasion, you could petrify rapidly."

While it seems like having a lot of magical power should be advantageous, it's surprisingly not very user-friendly.

"So, what should I do then..."

"I think you can prevent petrification by contracting with spirits. When you contract with a spirit, you share your magical power. Since magic books are full of lies, you won't know if it's true or not until you verify it, but looking at the records of those who have actually contracted, it seems theoretically convincing."

The notion that magic books are full of lies is likely a result of Noah's actual verifications. There's no room for thinking of Noah as just a cat obsessed with magic. The situation is getting dubious. The anchor I relied on, Noah, is rather skeptical.

"So, the spirits would hold onto my magical power?"

"From my research, I believe that's how a contract works. So, eventually, it might be good to find a spirit and try contracting."

Even if it's said in a nonchalant manner, it's like going into a forest to find wild birds... I wonder if spirits are that easily found.

Feeling a bit anxious, I remembered my promise with Didier and the recent encounter with Licht. Anyway, I have no choice but to try. If worse comes to worst, I'll just keep releasing a large amount of magical power every day.

Yes, that's right, I could even develop large magical tools and have them stationed in the territory as an energy source. Like Marcel, if I train my body to be strong, can't I overcome this somehow? If I train to move without using magical power, just relying on physical strength...

Wait? Didn't it feel like I've been using magical power all this time? Is that alright?

"Noah-sensei, it seems like I've been unconsciously using magical power to move my body. Is that alright?"

"There's no issue if you're using it for something. If you're using it to enhance your body, for instance, magical power is constantly circulating within your body even when you're stationary.

The problem is the unused magical power that should not remain inside your body. There aren't many records of petrification, but it seems that a person's body gradually stiffens, turning into a stone containing magical power. It's like a human-shaped magical stone."

I see. Just as water spoils when it's not moving, it seems you shouldn't hold onto a quantity of magical power that you can't move. I kind of understand the mechanism now, though it's not like it's resolved, but I'm starting to feel calmer.

Until I can contract with a spirit, I need to avoid increasing my magical power further and practice magical power control. I started with creating and dispelling the water sphere repeatedly, which turned out to be an absolutely forbidden action with the summoning of a large amount of water in the basic magic I tried yesterday. I was a bit exasperated.

"...But it's strange. In truth, considering your age and the amount of magical power you have, it wouldn't be odd if you were already showing petrification symptoms. Is there anything that concerns you? Numbness in your limbs or suddenly falling?"

"No, nothing like that. I'm quite healthy. If I had to say, I've always been a good sleeper. Even now, my sleep duration seems to be longer than average, and it's a bit worrying."

"I see. If that's the case, it's even more remarkable that petrification hasn't progressed further. It's intriguing, something to investigate."

Everyone seems to be treating people like rare animals for study. While I do have a feeling that Noah's research could extend my lifespan, it's not like I don't want him to thoroughly investigate.

As I created the water sphere repeatedly, the sizes, which were initially irregular, started to become consistent. I grasped the feeling, so now I tried to focus on the concept Noah referred to as the "door."

When the magical power vanished with a "shush" sound, that was probably when the door opened. But, I couldn't sense any feeling of something opening or closing.

"Sensei, I still don't understand the concept of the door... I do feel the sensation of magical power vanishing, though."

"Oh, you've followed it that far."

Noah slightly widened his almond-shaped eyes for a moment, then fell silent as if contemplating something. He placed his finger on his chin and seemed to be deep in thought, as if he were a real human lost in contemplation.

"Well, there was something I wanted to try out. Would you be my experimental subject?"