Chapter 13: The Basics of Magic

"Ordinary everyday magic doesn’t really require complicated formulas," Viktor continued. "Or more accurately, the formulas are so simple that everyone can use them. In Nuoya’s case, however, he used one of those simple formulas to produce magic that was far beyond its normal scale."

Viktor looked at him seriously.

"That’s probably possible because Nuoya possesses an enormous amount of magical power. Still, if an ordinary person tried to cast magic with that much power without using a proper formula, they would normally collapse from mana exhaustion."

He stepped closer.

"How do you feel? Are you dizzy or nauseous?"

"Um... I think I’m perfectly fine."

Qiu Nuoya lightly patted his body and checked himself.

He did not feel nauseous.

His body did not feel heavy, either.

As far as he could tell, he felt completely normal.

Ever since gaining this new body, Qiu Nuoya had felt incredibly light.

Of course, part of that was because his current body was physically smaller and lighter since he had become a child.

However, more than that, the constant sluggishness and lingering fatigue he had carried in his previous life had completely disappeared.

Right now, he felt full of energy.

"But that just now wasn’t like the usual magic or magic arts we see, right? I don’t even know what attribute it was. What was that? Fire? Wind?"

"That’s exactly the part I don’t understand either," Viktor admitted. "What Nuoya released might not have been attribute magic at all. It may have been his own magical power itself."

"His magical power itself?"

"Yes. That is technically one way to use magic, but it is extremely limited. Using your own magical power directly is almost the same as using up your own life force. If an ordinary person used magic that way, they would collapse almost immediately."

Viktor continued explaining.

"Magic arts are methods for using that magical power efficiently by applying it through formulas. That is why you cannot use them without studying. However, once you learn the formulas, you can accomplish many different things."

"Of course, they can also be used for attacking, which is why there are many adventurers who are mages. However, magic arts are closer to an academic discipline than anything else."

"I see..."

So that was how magic worked.

Qiu Nuoya had only just told God that he was interested in magic, and now he had ended up in a situation like this.

But magic arts required studying.

Would he actually be able to learn them properly?

The idea of learning complicated formulas sounded extremely difficult.

"Magic arts are created from two things: your own magical power and the four elements that exist in nature."

"The four elements?"

"Yes. They are earth, water, wind, and fire. By combining those elements with your own magical power, you can create powerful magic arts. That is the basic foundation of magic arts."

"Wait, only four? Aren’t there other attribute magics too?"

"Yes. Holy magic, dark magic, and spatial magic are examples of those. However, they are excluded from the basic elements."

Viktor explained further.

"The reason is that those attribute magics can only be used by a limited number of people. They are rare attributes and are not considered part of ordinary magic."

So even though he had been told that he had a high aptitude for holy attribute magic, it was actually something uncommon?

"I was told that I have aptitude for all attributes, so I should be able to use any of the four basic elements."

Qiu Nuoya wondered if each one was earth magic, water magic, wind magic, and fire magic.

In a way, those were also classic fantasy game settings, so he could understand them.

But if that was the case, then the magical power itself without any elemental attribute should be considered non attribute magic, shouldn’t it?

A sudden question crossed his mind, so he asked Viktor about it.

However, Viktor simply replied, "Non attribute magic does not exist."

If anything, everyday magic might be considered something close to it.

But as Viktor had explained earlier, converting magical power itself directly into magic consumed a tremendous amount of mana, so nobody wanted to use it.

Furthermore, unlike elemental magic, it was impossible to use it for attacks.

"Hmm... that’s difficult."

"But the thing you released earlier cannot really be called any of the elemental magics. So, in that sense, it would be something like non attribute magic... No, wait, that is impossible!"

Viktor looked at Qiu Nuoya with a troubled expression.

Qiu Nuoya could only look back at him with the same confusion.

Even if Viktor stared at him like that, Qiu Nuoya had no answer to give.

Besides, even when Viktor looked troubled, his face was still unfairly handsome.

Being stared at so seriously was becoming difficult for Qiu Nuoya for an entirely different reason.

"Well, I don’t really understand magic," Igor said. "But at least I understand that Nuoya is amazing. The question is whether that power is actually useful. From what I saw earlier, Nuoya had his eyes closed when he fired it, and it didn’t look like he was aiming at all. Sure, it was an incredible attack, but can he actually use it in a real fight? If it just randomly explodes whenever it wants, that kind of power would be too dangerous to use."

Qiu Nuoya had to admit Igor had a point.

The truth was, he had not intended to attack anything earlier.

He had not even been trying to attack. Yet the magical power that came from him had destroyed the target placed in the training area.

A powerful force that he could not control was not useful.

It was simply dangerous.

"That is true," Viktor said. "Besides, if you only want to register as an adventurer, you do not need that much attack power. Being able to shoot a small fireball would already be enough. For today, let’s practice that first. Actually, are you really sure you have never used magic before?"

"I think... I haven’t."

Under Viktor’s doubtful gaze, Qiu Nuoya lowered his head.

After all, he truly had never been able to use magic before.

Even if they doubted him, there was nothing he could do about it.