The Sleeping Devil

Vol. 3 - Chapter 18 - Magic Development

Uh-huh...

Feeling uncomfortable with the anxious atmosphere between the two, I continued deciphering the magic circle for the time being. However, Julius forcibly grabbed my chin, making our gazes meet.

"Sheriel, are you listening? Why did you translate the magic circle into words?"

"Well, wasn't it about language?"

"That's true, but..."

It seemed both Julius and Didier considered language as a metaphor, thinking of it only as geometric shapes. Indeed, the magic circle appeared to be like an intermediate language after compilation, not immediately recognizable as characters. I found it mysterious how I could read it, but explaining the process was difficult because it seemed to just convert in my mind somehow.

"Um, then... for basic magic, is the magic circle a spell or an incantation?"

"It seems to be neither. In modern language, it's something like 'Please, water deity, exchange my magic power here with the water over there.' ...But with this, a magic circle doesn't appear, right? Does it have to be in an ancient language?"

Thinking it might be because I hadn't infused it with magic, I tried again in modern language while infusing it with magic, but still, no magic circle appeared. Next, when I recited it like a ceremonial chant in an ancient language, the magic circle appeared before my eyes.

"I can't believe this..."

"Ah, could it be that by constructing a chant in an ancient language, a new magic can be created?"

"Are you planning to renounce being human?"

"I'd rather not be told that by my teacher. That's too dramatic."

Some magic that doesn't exist in this world... Oh, I wonder if there's gravitational magic? But I don't know how to describe gravity in their language. How should I explain it?

"Teacher, are there any magic spells that make objects float or levitate?"

"There's no such thing as levitation. You can lift with wind magic, but that's manipulation."

"I see, that might work. Um, what do you call the law where objects fall?"

Julius and Didier tilted their heads, but gravity itself should exist in this world. Other than the difference in magical abilities from my previous life, there are volcanoes here; there must be magnetic fields too. Things fall when you let go.

I tried explaining that there should be a force pulling things towards the ground, assuming it's a planet, but it didn't seem to quite get through to them.

"Hmm, explaining concepts is difficult, isn't it? Then... Is there magic to freeze water?"

"No, there isn't. Water is just water, right?"

I see. But if you stop the movement of molecules, it should be possible to turn it into ice, which falls into manipulation. I translated the magic circle for manipulating water into a chant and constructed the chant to modify the source.

"In front of the imperial gods seated in the heavens, I implore the water deity. Please demonstrate an unprecedented technique for me. Transform the flowing water into my source of magic, cease its flow, and solidify it to the utmost limit."

A never-before-seen magic circle appeared in front of my outstretched palm, and as I infused it with magic, ice cascaded down. Yes, it worked, a success!

"No way!! Sheriel, how?!"

"This is unbelievable!"

Their sudden outburst caused the carriage to rattle to a stop. Sergio peeked out the window, "It's nothing," he said, and the carriage resumed its journey.

"So, what happened? Why the commotion?"

"Sheriel just created... made a new magic spell!"

"Oh, that's amazing."

I wonder why Sergio hadn't asked about our previous conversation while being in this confined space.

Didier and Julius still seemed incredulous; they each picked up the ice I created to examine it.

"It seems we can modify it to some extent. However, there are still many unknown symbols in baptismal magic circles."

"Modifying? That's not the issue here! Creating new magic is impossible, it's unheard of..."

Ah, right. If we can translate the magic circle for Gift magic into chants, maybe we can use them ourselves?

I quickly searched my mental stock for a simple Gift magic circle to try out. There are few Gift circles, and many are specialized for specific uses as magical tools, so the available magic for testing here is limited. I began translating in my mind, thinking that using a communication device magic circle might be safe.

Once the translation was complete and I designated the coordinates, the magic circles were instantly formed in our inner dimension.

"(...Can you hear me? Right now, I'm speaking directly into your minds...)"

Hehe, I just wanted to try this out a bit.

"No way... Sheriel's voice is in my head right now?"

"Unbelievable. Is this the Gift of a magical communication tool?"

"Yes, since I've been handling teleportation coordinates, it went surprisingly smoothly."

Still feeling uneasy, the two of them, still holding their heads, stared at me. Uh, scary. I don't think I did something to make them so angry.

"Sheriel... will you teach me the chant later?"

"Yes, of course. It'd be very convenient if we could all use telepathy."

"That's not the issue... So, about the ice magic you performed earlier, it couldn't be reproduced with the chant you recited. Why?"

Despite saying all that, it seemed Julius had already tried it. Didier also has water affinity, so maybe he could do it. I conveyed the image to them.

"It seems imagining just the completed ice isn't enough. Try intending to stop the movement of water to its utmost limit, even the invisible tiny particles."

Didier also began concentrating, and the two of them, chanting the chant, started manipulating their magic. With a sudden jolt, Julius produced several ice fragments, followed by Didier successfully doing the same.

"I-It worked... Sheriel might have a talent for magic."

"More importantly, is this considered water attribute magic?"

"Yes, it's a water attribute. Freezing moisture in objects or the moisture in the air makes it more suitable for combat than just water."

Julius seemed still concerned about the mechanics of magic, pondering with a troubled expression.

In contrast, Didier, who previously claimed to have little interest in magic, was now gazing at the ice in his palm, eyes sparkling. Could he have recently become more interested in magic?

"Sheriel, can you teach me the chant and how to use ice magic? You promised to listen to my request a long time ago, remember?"

Huh...!? Despite saying it myself, I don't want to teach Didier any dangerous magic. Besides that request, wasn't it about wanting to meet Dior two years ago?

There were two promises, and using it now after all this time. I had completely forgotten about it.

"Please don't misuse it, okay?"

"Of course not. Since you came, Sheriel, I haven't done anything bad, right?"

Now, how was it again...

With this and that, the three of us were creating several new magics, and the sun was beginning to set. We hadn't taken much of a break, so we seemed to have made significant progress.

It seemed we were already over halfway to our destination, so tonight we decided to travel a bit more and camp.

"Big brother, didn't you say we wouldn't camp on the first day?"

"That's probably because of Julius. He thinks it's easier to set up a barrier and camp. Staying at a noble's house is troublesome, I think, according to Father."

Ah, I see... The tent is nice, and as long as there are no bugs, camping or anything else is fine by me.

We stopped the carriage around a slightly later time than our usual dinner. If we hadn't made any detours, we would likely reach the northern part by tomorrow.

I invited Julius to join us for a meal and continued our discussion about magic in the tent.

"What does freezing objects involve?"

"For example, since humans are made up of around sixty to eighty percent water, if you can interfere with that water content, you can freeze it in the same manner."

"Haha... Using humans as an example, that's quite grim."

Oops, I slipped up...

Didier and Sergio's eyes were gleaming, but I wished they could forget that memory immediately. Julius prompted me to continue, so I averted my gaze from their expectant eyes and continued explaining.

"Uh, magic involves summoning and interference, right? So, it's an application of manipulating elements like wind or earth, but you designate a target and freeze the moisture. So, I think it's impossible with things that have less moisture, like stones."

For instance, if you specify a range that includes moisture in the air, you should be able to freeze it to some extent. However, trying to freeze a stone itself would likely have little to no effect.

It required an explanation starting from the point that there's moisture in the air, but by talking about water evaporation and humidity, they seemed to somewhat understand.

After dinner, we experimented a little with freezing objects, then went to bed early since we had an early start the next day.

The following day, we set off with the sunrise. For some reason, Julius decided to accompany us for the entire day, relentlessly deciphering magic circles. However, although we could decipher most of the six elemental magic circles, we could only understand about half of the baptismal and complex Gift magic circles.

It was said that unless we could decipher baptismal magic circles, it would be tough to modify the magic circles Julius wanted to change.

Whether these concepts don't exist in the human world or if it's just that I don't know the words...

Julius was also attempting to decipher them, but even if he remembered all the symbols' meanings, he couldn't translate them into coherent sentences. The process continued with Julius drawing the magic circles he knew, and I attempted to translate them.

Suddenly, I realized I couldn't clearly see the magic circle, and as I looked around, the inside of the carriage had darkened. Trees were thick outside the window, and although I could see the distant sunset, it was almost night time. Huh? Did I have breakfast this morning?

"We've already entered the northern forest."

"What, already! So we'll soon meet grandfather then."

Traveling with a large entourage of servants and a carriage, we arrived in about five days, thanks to favorable weather. As the forest grew dark, we rode for a while until passing through a gate crafted with iron. Emerging into an open area with a large spring, there stood a splendid mansion by the spring's edge.

"Wow, amazing! Feels like a vacation home."

"Yeah, this was originally a villa. Even when not in use, our branch family would reside here to manage it."

As they said that, I noticed here and there what seemed like watchtowers. Perhaps because the dense forest was unsuitable for battles, they might serve to swiftly detect invasions from other territories.

"In summer, you can swim in the spring. Animals come here for water too, so Sherry might like it."

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

Arriving at the front entrance of the mansion, as we got off the carriage, Hermes greeted us.

"Oh, Sherry, you're early. I thought it would take a little longer."

"Grandfather, you arrived safely too."

We were guided into the mansion's entrance.

Furniture and decorations unified in a brassy, subdued metal; the well-maintained classic interior was to my liking and very comforting.

Guest rooms were already arranged, and I was to change before dinner.

"I'll keep this as Sherry's room, so feel free to use it as you like. Come over anytime."

"Thank you! It's a lovely room."

If I set up the teleportation array here, I could truly come over anytime.

Once dinner was prepared, we enjoyed a leisurely meal while discussing our journey so far.