S4 Magic

S-series will be posted every five episodes.

Focus consciousness.

Recognize the magical energy filling the body.

Upon achieving this, the skill 'Magic Perception' is acquired.

From there, I further develop by circulating the magical energy within the body.

As if blood, the energy flows through the body.

Using the power of the skill 'Magic Manipulation,' increase the speed of the circulating energy.

The energy accelerates further.

Direct a portion of it to the hand.

Within the hand, the energy continues to accelerate, transforming into high density and high energy.

All that remains is to shape this energy into the form of a 'spell.'

However, I do not proceed to that stage.

Or rather, I cannot.

Gradually return the concentrated energy in the hand back into the body, and reduce the speed of the internal magical energy.

When the internal energy stabilizes, open the eyes, which had been closed for focus.

Before him, Ana stood, her face slick with cold sweat.

Beside her, Creba stood, seemingly unaware of his own anomaly—unlike Ana, who had noticed.

"Terrifying."

"Is it really that impressive?"

"More than impressive. The word 'impressive' feels stale. Just by capability alone, Your Highness has reached初级 level of magic, while Your Royal Highness has already attained intermediate status. Even in raw magical capacity, both of you surpass me at your age."

Their hushed conversation was perfectly audible—thanks to the acquired skill of 'Auditory Enhancement,' which had been unlocked through persistent effort to learn the language of this world.

"A prodigy, then."

Ana nodded solemnly in response to Creba's words.

A prodigy.

I'm not a prodigy.

It's true—perhaps due to my birth, I possess more magical energy than average.

But the rest—what I’ve accomplished—was only possible because I was born with memories from my previous life.

Though still young in body, my mental age is that of a high school student.

Honestly, the life of an infant is dull for me—my inner self is a high schooler.

I began training in magic during the idle time, bored by the routine of infancy.

I had Anah, an exceptional teacher, but even complex explanations that children couldn’t grasp were manageable for me—my mind was already that of a high schooler.

As a result, I acquired the skills ‘Mana Perception’ and ‘Mana Manipulation’ early on.

Both have now reached level five.

The outcome of constant practice during idle time.

Typically, reaching this level requires years of disciplined training.

But for me—a child in form—time was abundant. I had fascination with magic. Whenever idle, I practiced.

As a result, I displayed magical ability far beyond my years.

But from my perspective, the true prodigy is my younger sister, Sue.

I look at Sue sitting beside me.

She mimics my actions, manipulating mana in the same manner as I do.

Compared to me, her control is still uneven, her circulation speed slower.

Even so, she maintains firm control over her mana, directing it precisely.

Mana manipulation is not as simple as it appears.

I struggled significantly before acquiring my skill.

It was especially difficult for me—coming from a world without mana at all—to comprehend what mana even is.

Typically, the age at which one can begin manipulating mana is said to be around five.

Incidentally, a year in this world consists of four hundred eleven days.

There are no humans who can manipulate mana from infancy, as we do.

I am still a reincarnated soul—this is acceptable because I am mentally mature.

But Sū is different.

Sū is merely imitating me.

Yet, simply by observing and mimicking, he has achieved magical manipulation that should be impossible for an ordinary person.

What else could this be called but genius?

Honestly, if he has shown this ability since infancy, I am deeply unsettled about his future.

With such talent, Sū will undoubtedly become something extraordinary.

In contrast, I was an ordinary high school student in my previous life.

No talent is evident.

For now, the advantage of being a reincarnated soul allows me to keep pace—but if he overtakes me with this initial lead, I will be left behind.

Then, my authority as elder brother…

No, it is not yet certain that this will happen. Even if it does, there is still ample time.

Therefore, I must create as much distance as possible during the starting sprint…

"Hey, why can't I use magic?"

I was forbidden from using magic by Ana.

I was allowed to manipulate magical energy only.

Only after acquiring magic skills specific to each element could I actually cast spells.

I knew this, but I didn’t possess any magic skills.

I didn’t know how to obtain them.

"Your Highness, there are several reasons, but the primary one is danger. Magic is a powerful force. The greater the power, the greater the risk. Therefore, it is determined that magic may not be acquired before reaching the appropriate age."

I understood Ana’s explanation, but I did not accept it.

Though I appeared as I was, my inner self should have already reached that appropriate age.

Yet, only I knew this.

It was unavoidable, but frustrating all the same.

“Moreover, your aptitude attributes must be precisely determined using a鉴定 stone. Attempting to acquire magic incompatible with your attributes will cause complications later.”

The鉴定 stone was a magical artifact capable of displaying detailed status information.

Basic models were affordable, but鉴定 stones capable of revealing aptitude attributes were owned only by a select few influential individuals.

Naturally, the royal family possessed鉴定 stones of that caliber, but I had never undergone a鉴定 session.

“Your Highness could become one of the world’s foremost mages without haste. Still, arrogance is unacceptable.”

“Yes, sir.”

Arrogance was impossible.

I was too busy worrying about being caught by my younger sister, who was still chasing me.

Regardless, panic was not an option.

Fundamentals first.

Focus now on refining magical manipulation.

I resumed practice with magical manipulation.