I’m in the guild early in the morning, just as Azabu said. And he’s not here.
He told me he’d teach me how to use that million yen book, but I question how he’s going to do that when it’s just a book with magic circles.
I tried some things yesterday, to no avail. I figured since he talked about how to use the book, that meant I had to infuse the magic circles written on it with magic energy to activate them, but nothing happened.
I didn’t infuse all the magic circles with magic energy, but none of the ones I picked at random reacted at all.
I order coffee in the food and drinks corner of the guild, and wait for him.
He gets here an hour after the appointed time.
A-za-bu!! Keeping someone waiting for an hour, uh!? You’re the one who told me to be here at this time!
Stop yelling because you’re hungover?
Are you mocking me!?
He looks pale and guides me with uneasy steps, but goes straight to the bathroom.
Where is this guy taking me?
I wait for him to get out, and he takes me to an empty conference room. He takes out a book, places it in front of me, and clumsily opens it.
I see a magic circle, and he suddenly puts his hand on it and infuses it with magic energy.
I did the same yesterday, and nothing happened.
I glare at him, and he points that hand at me.
…Ah?
There’s a magic circle made of magic energy hovering on his hand, the same as the book.
Wow!!
I’m super impressed by the magic in the air. It’s the same as what I saw the demon use the other day. That was powerful magic, and I’d be seriously wounded if I took that head on.
Does this book have that sort of powerful magic?
I look at Azabu, no, Master Azabu with expectant eyes, and ask him that.
“Nope. This is it.”
“Eh? So what’s this magic circle used for?”
“This.”
Eh?
“This is it.”
◇ ◇ ◇
There’s immense magic energy in my fist.
This guy sold me a party trick level thing for a million yen and then wasted a precious morning.
I won’t clear my heart until I sink my fist into his face.
He starts panicking, probably because of my intense bloodlust, and starts waving his hands while asserting it was a joke.
Idiot. Leave your parted hair and small mustache as your only jokes.
The bloodlust in my fist gets stronger. I could vaporize him if I hit him now.
Azaburo screams something.
Stop! One more chance! This is a waste! It’ll help you for sure!
Good grief, he doesn’t know when to quit because he doesn’t want to die.
I’d feel better if I hit him now, but I loosen my fist and let the magic energy disperse.
I’m mad, but let’s not waste it. If it can really help, I can listen.
I tell him I’m giving him a chance to explain.
Magic circles with magic energy have power. Even though it failed, the magic circles I sewed onto my tent had power too.
There are many kinds of magic circles, and seekers can activate quite a few by touching them. It’s essential for those with magic skills, but even others can carve them into equipment or magic items to be used in the dungeon.
And then he talks about magic circles employed by magic users. I just picture it and use magic, but if I add magic circles, I can boost their power even further, he says.
Yes, I knew that.
I put magic energy in my fist.
He panics again, and I tell him to skip the explanations and just tell me what I can do with this book.
“Ahem! With this book, you can use the spells the magic circles use.”
That’s shocking.
The abridged explanation leaves it vague how that works, but I guess the secret is in that magic circle that hovers on his hand.
Really master!? I’m a little more positive about him, and ask how to do that.
According to Master Azaburo’s explanation, magic circles appear by infusing the ones in the book with magic energy, and that makes a dramatic difference in the efficiency of acquiring magic circles, making it easier to use spells.
But that’s not all. He says I might be able to use spells not included in skills.
…What!?
I didn’t know about this. I thought for sure I would be able to master magic circles by training every day and increasing proficiency.
Is there such an easy way to use powerful spells?
That day when I fought the demon, I lacked power and couldn’t scratch it. That could’ve been solved with these magic circles? And that comes with new elements?
No, I can’t forget that’s just a possibility. But still…
He continues.
He puts another book on the table, and speaks full of confidence.
“This is the complete edition of the magic circle dictionary! Act now, and you can get it for two million yen!”
I’ll take it!
◇ ◇ ◇
The eleventh floor.
Master Azaburo’s course didn’t end there, he also told me about magic circles I could use with Sewing and special combinations. Actually, this part was even longer.
But that didn’t matter, so I just pretended to be interested and half listened. I just wanted it to be over quickly.
Once it was, I came here to try out the magic circles he taught me about right away.
I infuse and maintain magic energy in a magic circle, and it hovers on my hand.
This one has the power to light fire. It’s used in magic cooking stoves, and it’s written on mine too.
I activate the magic circle, picture fire being lit, and infuse magic energy.
And the magic circle evaporates.
…What’s the meaning of this? Was I tricked again?
No no, it’s too early to reach that conclusion. I have to try other magic circles first.
I’ll try the ones with the basic attribute label.
And none of them work.
Yes, there’s no reaction whatsoever. Even ones I have a skill to match, Earth Magic and Healing Magic.
That bastard!!
He tricked me. Again.
It really is nothing but party tricks.
…Wait. He said I need practice.
When I remember that, I put my hand on a magic circle and make magic energy flow. A magic circle appears over my hand again, and I focus on the magic energy glowing.
Magic energy flows in a fixed direction towards the magic circle, and the quantity slowly goes down. By supplying more I can increase the rotation, but increasing the quantity even more breaks it and it dissipates.
I keep repeating it, making magic circles appear.
Maybe this is pointless, but surely just making magic circles hover isn’t all there is to this phenomenon.
Azabu was so confident about it too. If this is a lie, I don’t think I can trust anyone anymore.
I make quick work of monsters that come to attack me, and keep focusing on magic circles.
I feel like I almost have something, but I’m starting to run low on magic energy.
I use the Magic Energy Circulation skill, and try to recover magic energy.
By sitting down like I’m meditating, I can dramatically increase the recovery rate of magic energy. It takes me less than an hour to recover it all.
It used to take me all night, but the skill shortened the time needed.
I can recover while moving by using Parallel Thinking, but that drops the recovery by a lot, so if possible, I should sit while recovering.
Once I’m done recovering, I put my hand on a magic circle, and cast Trace before infusing magic energy, just out of curiosity.
And I get something.
◇ ◇ ◇
Setting notes.
I’m sorry if this is difficult to understand.
Magic circles:
The types used in production and magic are different.
To use magic circles in magic, it’s necessary to understand their composition and the flow of magic energy. If one carves magic circles in equipment to use magic, the circles will burn and not activate, or the magic energy will go berserk and cause an explosion.
Magic energy consumption depends on the power and effect, but since they are seen as mages’ special moves, they use a tremendous amount of magic energy.
Magic circle dictionary:
A book with a feature to aid in learning magic circles.
With over two hundred types of magic circle, this is superior to ones normally available.
It takes a month for a mage to be able to use one magic circle, but with the dictionary, that time can be cut in half.
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