The moment I stepped through the doors, I was greeted by bookshelves towering five meters high, packed with an immense number of books. Wait... can I really use the word "immense"? What exactly is the quantitative definition of "immense"? How many volumes—Stop! Shut up, brain. What am I even thinking about?
I was baffled by how Long was actually reading these things. They weren't in English, Chinese, or any language I'd ever seen. This was clearly a completely new script. I immediately turned to him.
"Long... how on earth are you reading those?"
Long paused and gave me a dismissive look. "It's Chinese. Why wouldn't I be able to read it?"
I stood there, stunned. It wasn't Chinese. No matter how you looked at it, it definitely wasn't Chinese! How was this possible? Did he have a special ability? No, if the human brain hasn't received certain data, it can't just invent it. But then again, if things here already defy the laws of physics, then maybe... No! It still doesn't make sense!
"It's not English either..." I muttered.
Long stopped walking again and slowly turned to face me. "What are you talking about? It's clearly Chinese. I didn't know you knew how to tell jokes."
Frustrated, I grabbed a random book from a shelf and showed it to everyone. Everyone—except Long—shouted in unison: "What language is this?!"
Long stood there looking dazed. "Uh... it's not Chinese? Then why did you pick up a Health and Physical Education textbook?"
I choked, quickly shoved the book back onto the shelf, and barked at him, "Why are you even asking? You already know this isn't a language from Earth! How was I supposed to know it was a Health textbook?"
Long stood still for a moment before fetching another book for me. I looked at the pages, and it said... well, I had no idea because I couldn't read it. "Since you were curious about magic, I brought you a book on it," Long said.
I took the book from his hand, thinking to myself: He knows I can't read this, yet he gives it to me anyway? Regardless, I flipped it open. It was full of strange characters. Wait... hold on. It is English, but it's composed entirely of dots and dashes. It was incredibly difficult to parse, but I forced myself to read through it.
This is completely illogical!
But I had to accept it; given the circumstances, it was likely the truth. So, magic is divided into three categories: Elemental, Unique, and Contract. Wait, does my body even have Mana? Whatever. I'm guessing Long can read this as easily as Chinese because of his "Unique Magic"—the guy always got perfect scores in every language subject, after all.
"That's everything I need to survive on my own—the ability to read, a way to make money, and just enough basic knowledge. In a situation like this, staying in a group only slows things down; having to wait for collective decisions is a hindrance. It's better to be alone."
With that thought, I put the magic book back on its shelf and grabbed a map of the city. I scanned it for exactly one minute. I had memorized the entire layout, though I couldn't remember a single name of the locations. No matter—knowing where things are is enough.
I replaced the map and slipped out of the library without anyone noticing. It was late at night; the market was bustling with people, but the outskirts of the city were as silent as a dead forest. No, even a dead forest has the rustling of leaves—this place had nothing. I spent the night wandering around, picking up coins from the ground until dawn.
"Whoa... that's quite a haul."
Totaling it up, I had 1 Ignis coin, 47 Aqua coins, and 93 Ventus coins. (100 Ventus = 1 Aqua, 100 Aqua = 1 Ignis).
It was more than enough to apply for the school... uh, what was the name of that school again? Whatever, I'll find out when I get there. Come to think of it, I heard this world is divided into six major factions. Eventually, I'll have to choose one. The one that caught my interest is the group that values honor and personal freedom—not too excessive, and somewhat reclusive. But that's a long way off.
I walked over to a calendar. Ignis Era 1276, Ignis Mensis 61.
"What kind of dating system is this?" I racked my brain until it clicked. One year has four months: Ignis, Aqua, Ventus, and Terra. Each month consists of 89 days. It's going to take a long time to get used to this. So, today is the application day for the school of... yeah, still can't remember the name.
After that, I just sat there in a daze for a while, wondering how the hell I'm supposed to actually use an element.
I thought about it over and over until it hit me—the body functions by sending electrical impulses to the muscles. If I just sit here overthinking, how am I ever going to activate anything? I decided to try treating the outside air as an extension of my own body, projecting my "sensation" into it, even if it wasn't physically connected.
Suddenly, I flinched. Ice had manifested in my hand. It was "extremely low in heat"—from my perspective, anyway. Scientifically speaking, cold doesn't exist; there is only a high degree of heat, a low degree of heat, or a total absence of heat. The lack of thermal energy was so intense it made me jump.
Wait, Ice? That's a Second-Tier element of the Aqua family. This is perfect; it's highly versatile. I tried to summon ice directly out of thin air, despite knowing it shouldn't be possible.
I created a piece of ice in my hand and fired it off. As it turned out, my control was terrible; the projectile was sluggish. I didn't have time for a long training session. What should I do? Ah, I'll just throw it. If the exam requires using magic, I'll just manifest an ice spear and hurl it manually. They said "use magic," they didn't say I couldn't use my arm to throw it. But still, I should practice a bit.
I created an ice needle and shot it out. It shattered upon impact, but strangely, I felt a lingering connection to the broken shards. I tried to manifest more ice from those shards. It worked, though only slightly. When I tried with a larger block of ice, the connection snapped. I see... so there's a limit to how far the connection can stretch.
Wait... I feel like I forgot something. Right, the Magic Circle! That's why the output was so weak. I tried forming a magic circle exactly like the one in the book. The result was a massive increase in velocity. Wait, how massive exactly? Stop! There I go again, drifting off into the weeds.
I slowly made my way toward the school. I still couldn't remember its name, but I walked right in to apply...
[System Lore]
Magic Tiers:
Magic elements are divided into three tiers (from 1 to 3, where 1 is the most specialized):
Tier 3 (Basic Elements): Earth, Water, Wind, Fire.
Tier 2 (Advanced Elements): Ice, Lightning, etc. (Most people are born with this).
Tier 1 (Specialized Elements): Lava, Metallic Ores, etc. (Extremely rare).