As Archie arrived on the shore, his breathing was exaggerated, he stared at the book. It must
have been rather important, considering the entire small island melted by someone simply touching it.
Then Archie had a quick panic attack, he had put this important book! In the ocean! Opening it up, it seemed to be completely fine.
'Right, there's no way'
The book was obviously powerful, most likely containing some kind of magical spell or proprietary of pivotal importance. For something like that to be ruined by water. It seemed unlikely.
"Time for the grand reveal."
Archie said with excitement, opening halfway into the book.
His excitement was quickly replaced with a feeling of sorrow, almost all of the pages of the book were burned, turning the charred black scraps quickly, there seemed to be nothing.
"I did all of that? For nothing?"
Archie arrived at the first page, it seemed to be the only page not completely ruined, it had words. All in an unknown language.
But then, something strange happened. The words began to move on the scrap of paper, reshaping and forming coherent sentences, mixing and matching separate letters until it produced something that generally made sense, Archie's face grew with anticipation.
{Let's start with the basics, fire magic is rather simple. You simply picture a flame and use your mana as fuel. The output and efficiently varies from person to person, but..}
The text abruptly ended.
"So I picture a flame then use my mana as fuel? That's it?"
Archie's face slightly contorted. As he continued talking to no one.
"What if I don't have mana?"
Archie realised that maybe he did have such things, maybe not in his old world. But here in this one, it was possible that he gained somethings.
Recalling a past tv show, Archie began to meditate on the shore of the beach, trying to sense some kind of energy within himself.
"I don't sense anything."
Archie threw out his hand, intending to summon a fireball.
Archie sat by some sticks and imagined them catching fire.
Archie tried to jump while summoning fire underneath him.
None of these attempts were successful.
Archie sat against a large brown tree, hanging over the beach of the island.
"I'm hungry."
Maybe food was the key to magic. He hadn't eaten anything within the last couple of days. Considering that mana was probably some form of energy, maybe food could translate into it.
The island was big and mostly unexplored, all the parts that have been explored mostly contained plants, bushes, trees. A lot of inedible stuff.
There were probably some kind of demonic creatures living here, with massive fangs, and claws. Ready to consume any human who got too close.
But food was food, and hunger was hunger, so Archie slowly explored the island. Attempting to be as stealthy as possible. He came across a two meter tall boar, who luckily didn't notice him.
Eventually, Archie stumbled upon a bush. Containing lots of fruit that seemed closer related to bananas. With a grin, he quickly began collecting them, then the bush began to move. Standing up on two legs and chasing him across the woods.
After making a rather desperate escape, Archie ate a few of the bananas he scavenged and returned to the beach where he washed up.
Staring at the magical book, Archie wished he had a way to store it; it is troublesome to carry it around without a bag. Most of its pages were burned and useless. But it seemed like a shame to leave it behind.
The turning of tides, and the wonders of humanity. This book taught how to defy the very laws which govern reality.
Maybe there was some kind of magic in this new found world that could restore the blackened pages.
The fire that burned it also seemed strange, by all means the pages shouldn't have been anything but residue. Yes they were burned, but it was more like the ink was burned and the page itself remained intact.
'If only I could use magic.'
Archie closed his eyes and imagined a bright flame. Summoning it from his palm. He imagined the trees and grass that surrounded him, the sky full of endless branches that seemed like vines from afar. His own body right down to his clothing. Opening his eyes he was met with the same view. Only there was no flame.
'Just imagine it huh.'
His energy was spent, he had a few close calls with death, and yet he didn't really feel any sense of fear. Almost as if this world was an artificial one. One that he simply imagined or dreamt of.
None of it seemed real, aside from the touch of the grass, the smell of dirt, the taste of humid air, the sight, and the water that echoed along the shore.
Being able to rest for a minute, and take everything in. Archie began to worry that this wasn't truly real. Hearing about how people have had their lives flash before their eyes. Maybe this was the same, only he didn't value any memories in the real world. So his mind created an artificial fantasy one.
Similar to the games that he would always play. Thinking about it, it seemed rather likely. The world itself seemed broken and fractured. The sunrise disappearing shortly after and being replaced by vines, how he survived the fall, how he stumbled across an island with a book that could teach him magic. Only to find that the magic wasn't real.
Everything seemed off, and it was. But a part of him believed it was real. Not because of any evidence. But simply because it felt real.
"Still, I wish I could use magic."
A twig suddenly snapped behind him.
Turning around, Archie spotted someone, standing right behind him.