NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 6 - First time magic 1
Radi extended his hands, and Nunzia placed her hands on top of his palms.
Nunzia seemed a bit nervous.
To ease her tension, Radi consciously put on a smile.
“Take a slow, deep breath. Exhale. There’s nothing painful or scary. Calm down your feelings.”
Following his instructions, Nunzia took slow, deep breaths and exhaled. Radi confirmed Nunzia had calmed down and focused his own concentration.
This ritual of “Secret Perception” is one of the “Sanctifications. devised by the church to address the most crucial aspect of handling the divine miracle of magical power. The church had found a way to bypass the restrictions imposed by the country. Among the selected children, some showed remarkable growth in their magical power, and Radi was one such child.
Radi felt magical power gathering in his hands. He collected a significant amount of magical power, yet it remained within him. He sent only a tiny fraction of this gathered magical power into Nunzia.
Normally, when performing a “God’s Miracle,” they wouldn’t manipulate magical power like this. After gathering magical power, they would offer it directly to the gods. Thus, this ritual was only permitted for experienced and trained users of the “God’s Miracle” who had undergone special training in magical power manipulation. However, basic magical power manipulation was taught at the academy. Still, they wouldn’t handle magical power so delicately and precisely, even in their curriculum.
Radi, having never attended the academy but joined the monastery during his childhood, learned such techniques from elderly monks.
He extended the magical power like a thin thread from his palm, touching Nunzia’s palm. However, there was no response from Nunzia. In reality, even if he tried to enter, his magical power would be immediately dispersed by Nunzia’s magical power.
While extending the thread, he gradually increased its thickness, increasing the interference between their magical powers. The purpose was to raise the interference level. The sensitivity to magical power was tested based on when Nunzia noticed this interference. Of course, some children wouldn’t notice at all. In such cases, they would stop the interference at a certain point.
After continuing the interference for a while, when he was considering ending it, Nunzia’s hand twitched slightly.
“Ah…”
A faint murmur escaped her lips.
“What happened?”
Nunzia didn’t answer, wearing a confused expression. She probably didn’t quite understand the faint “something” she had sensed. It could be magical power, or it could just be her imagination.
Nunzia still had her hands overlaid, so Radi smiled and waited for her response.
“It felt a bit ticklish on my hands… like a breeze, maybe?”
“I see. Understood.”
Radi said and took out a small bottle containing candies from his pocket.
“Thank you for today. You can go home now.”
Saying so, he placed a candy in Nunzia’s mouth. She seemed pleasantly surprised, her reward unexpected. With a trial done, Radi didn’t convey pass or fail on the spot. If the person was curious, he might inform them later, but he wouldn’t reveal the result immediately. Until the age of nine, whether one had talent or not, everyone was treated the same way. Only if they failed the measurement were they given “choices.”
However, talent wasn’t a requirement to join the church. Anyone could join, and upon joining, everyone received basic life assurance. But it was true that if one could use the “God’s Miracle,” they received some privileges. Of course, they were expected to serve in proportion to those privileges.
After bidding farewell to Nunzia, Radi approached Mika.
Mika clearly looked nervous.
“Well then, Mika, shall we give it a try?”
Radi extended his hands in the same manner as before.
Mika took a deep breath on his own before placing his hands on Radi’s palms.
“No need to be so nervous. It’s okay. Calm down your feelings. Let me know if you feel something.”
Saying that, Radi began to concentrate. He gathered magical power in his hands and pushed it out in the form of threads, just like before.
The moment the thread touched Mika’s palm, Mika swiftly withdrew his hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“…I heard something… and felt ripples…?”
Mika stared at his own hands as if searching for some change in his body.
Radi hesitated, unsure of how to interpret Mika’s response; it was too quick.
Radi waited for Mika to calm down and decided to try again.
“Shall we try again? Let me know if you feel something this time.”
Saying so, Radi extended his hands.
Mika, with a cautious expression, overlaid his hands on Radi’s again.
His hands seemed to tremble slightly.
Mika closed his eyes, concentrating intently.
Radi, too, focused once more, gathering magical power in his hands. However, this time, he decided to test only with one hand.
(Starting with the right hand.)
He extended the magical power from his right hand, touching Mika’s hand.
This time, Mika responded immediately.
“…I feel it in my left hand. It’s spreading from there throughout my body.”
Radi was astonished,
（What’s the result, though?）
Radi didn’t say anything, and Nunzia didn’t ask. While it seemed odd not to share the results after conducting the test, Radi might have been considerate not to announce them openly in front of others.
Mika’s heart kept pounding like a bell, and he felt a knot in his stomach.
(I get nervous over something like this… I’m quite weak-minded, aren’t I?)
He was aware of his own nervousness. However, he could consciously overcome it, so it wasn’t too much of a problem.
“Well then, Mika, shall we give it a try?”
Radi extended his hands with a smile.
Seeing his hands, Mika reluctantly resigned himself to it.
Taking a deep breath a couple of times, he placed his hands on top of Radi’s.
Radi’s hands were chillingly cold.
(Is he sensitive to the cold?)
Mika wondered if this too counted as something he felt. Just as he was thinking about it, Radi spoke.
“No need to be so nervous. It’s okay. Calm down your feelings. Let me know if you feel something.”
“Okay,” Mika replied in his mind, nodding silently.
Immediately, a clear sound like “keeeen” resonated faintly. It was similar to the sound produced when tapping a glass with water inside, creating a musical note. Mika felt that kind of clear sound. Then, he felt something lightly touch the center of his palm, and from there, something spread out.
It spread like ripples on a quiet water surface, originating from where a single drop of water fell. It resonated throughout Mika’s body, creating echoes as if ripples were interacting and reverberating.
Concentrating, Mika followed the fading ripples, trying to keep track of them.
“What’s wrong?” Radi asked.
Mika couldn’t find the right words to express this newfound experience.
“…I heard something… and ripples…?” he replied hesitantly.
It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. One could even say it was enjoyable, pleasant even. But the sound had already disappeared, and he could no longer sense the ripples. Mika realized an unusual sense of excitement building up inside him—a sensation he had never felt before.
He was trembling with anticipation.
“Shall we try again? Let me know if you feel something this time.”
Radi seemed a bit bewildered but extended his hands to Mika once more.
While calming his heightened emotions, Mika carefully overlaid his hands on Radi’s, suppressing the trembling in his hands. Closing his eyes, he focused all his consciousness on his ears and hands.
He heard the clear sound “keeeen” again almost immediately. However, unlike last time, he only felt ripples originating from his left hand. They spread from his left arm to his left shoulder, then throughout his body.
Perhaps due to the involvement of only his left hand, the ripples were weaker in both their expansion and reverberation, and he didn’t sense much of an echo.
Feeling a bit disappointed, Mika conveyed this to Radi.
“…I feel it in my left hand. It’s spreading from there throughout my body.”
The ripples from his left hand ceased, and he began to sense ripples originating from his right hand. Similar to the sensations from his left hand, there was no resonating echo this time.
“I feel it in my right hand.”
Mika conveyed this, but Radi didn’t respond. The ripples from his right hand also stopped, and they remained like that for a while. When Mika slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Radi, he found Radi frozen with a surprised expression.
(Huh? Did something go wrong? Or did I do something bad? This is the first time I’ve seen him look so absent-minded. He usually seems so composed.)
Withdrawing his hands, Mika called out, “Sister Radi?”
Radi seemed to snap out of it.
“…Ah, um, I’m sorry. Thank you, Mika. You can go home now.”
“What about the results?”
Mika asked while Radi hurriedly tried to take out candies from the small bottle.
(He shouldn’t leave me behind like this without telling me the results. Really, Radi?)
Faced with Mika’s question, Radi wore a troubled expression. He seemed to be struggling to find the right words.
“Mika, this was just a test—”
“Yes, but if there are no criteria or standards, you wouldn’t test, right?”
“…Well, yes, that’s true.”
“I understand that the confirmation will be after the measurement at the age of nine. I know that. Still, I want to hear Sister Radi’s opinion.”
Mika continued, and Radi swallowed hard before exhaling deeply.
“In my opinion, I felt a great potential.”
“Potential…?”
“Yes. Even if you don’t meet the country’s standards, I believe there’s a possibility that you can use the ‘God’s Miracle’ if you join the church, Mika.”
“God’s Miracle…?”
Mika murmured unconsciously. The thought of being able to use that mysterious power filled him with excitement.
(Can I really use it? Me… that thing?)
The mysterious power that could heal wounds instantaneously. If he could use something like that, his dreams would expand infinitely, wouldn’t they? Could he become what he’d call a “priest” or a “holy knight” in games? He didn’t particularly have a preference for religious figures, but the prospect of using magic and adventuring in a fantasy world made his heart flutter.
“Is there a possibility I can use it!? Can I use the ‘God’s Miracle’ too?!”
“Y-yes. If you practice diligently and keep praying to the gods, your prayers will reach them. When that happens, I’m sure you’ll be able to use the ‘God’s Miracle,’ Mika.”
“…Prayers?”
Suddenly, Mika felt as if he had been doused with cold water. His excitement cooled down rapidly.
(…Prayers? To gods? Praying… and then what? What will happen?)
(Seems like the chanting itself doesn’t have much significance. It appears that chanting is there to make it easier to imagine the content of the prayer.)
“…Can I learn chanting as well?”
“Teaching chanting indiscriminately is strictly prohibited. This rule applies not only in the church but also in the academy.”
Radi squatted down, met Mika’s eyes apologetically, and gently conveyed this as a kind admonition.
Apart from ‘healing,’ Mika didn’t know about other ‘God’s Miracles,’ but it seemed they couldn’t be taught to just anyone. If villains found out about highly destructive magic, the consequences would be severe. It was a natural precautionary measure.
However, if that was the case, it seemed like Mika would have to wait a considerable amount of time before he could learn magic. Moreover, even if he didn’t have the ‘aptitude,’ it might not happen at all.
According to Radi’s judgment, there was potential for now, but…
(…Imagination is crucial, and chanting is for that purpose. In that case, if I have a strong imagination, chanting might not be necessary…)
The crucial thing seemed to be prayers reaching the gods.
(Believe, believe. Well, I believe. So, gods, please grant me magic…!)
Rather than adapting flexibly, Mika’s transformation was so rapid that it could be described as insulting his faith.
Of course, with such behavior, he couldn’t possibly gain the ability to use ‘God’s Miracles.’ That day ended with him being sent back home without any progress.
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Back home, Mika pondered what Radi had told him.
Radi had mentioned the importance of feeling the magical power within oneself, but were the ripples he felt at that time or the clear sound magical power? He had experienced an exhilarating sensation, but that feeling was already gone. He tried concentrating again to experience the same sensation, but there was nothing he could perceive.
(In a way, it means Radi forcibly interfered with my magical power, right? I didn’t do anything on my own.)
Because he was interfered with, he was able to perceive something. In a stable state, it was only natural not to feel magical power, no matter how much he concentrated. If he could perceive such sensations only in a state of interference, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had noticed it on his own before Radi tested him.
He tried imitating meditation and even imitated a certain manga character, clapping his hands together, but he couldn’t achieve anything through those methods. Eventually, he ended up making a noise like “mmhmm,” worrying Amalia and Loretta.
He told them about what had happened in the morning, and they understood, saying, “Ah, that. Radi tried it with us too.”
When Loretta was seven years old, a priest was dispatched from Cottenettese to the village for her test, back when Radi was still training at the monastery.
Thinking about that, Mika watched Amalia and Loretta bustling around the house.
Both of them seemed to have a day off in the sunlight and were doing household chores that they couldn’t usually do.
Personally, Mika disliked household chores like cleaning and laundry to an extent that was an understatement. He never thought he would willingly do such tasks himself, but the two of them seemed to be enjoying it.
(I’ve been living alone for decades. It’s hard to believe for someone like me, who found even automatic washing machines troublesome, but some people really do enjoy household chores…)
Recalling his previous life, he remembered that even with convenient machines like washing machines and vacuum cleaners, household chores had been a hassle. However, there were people who enjoyed them.
One of those people was his former boss, the bald section chief, who had said that cooking was his hobby, although it was surprising to hear.
He would spend his holidays cooking dishes that required a lot of effort and time, and he found his purpose in life while drinking alcohol and eating those dishes.
Even if they weren’t hobbies, there were people who enjoyed cooking and cleaning, he vaguely remembered.
While the two of them were doing housework, Mika felt guilty just watching, so he tried to help, but they politely refused his offer. According to Mika’s memories of Mika Noishaim, he didn’t seem to help with housework. In this world, the notion that “housework is something women do” was prevalent, and Mika had tried to help before but ended up getting in the way and making things more troublesome. Even though he was a boy, he was treated as if he were a girl of about six years old, and he was taken care of to the point where he couldn’t move.
Even if he said, “I’ll do it myself!” he wasn’t believed at all. It seemed that Mika, the boy, had always tried to get away with it somehow.
“That’s how you always escape. I’ll catch him, so please wipe him, Mom.”
“Sure thing, Mika. It’ll be over soon. Loretta, please lift his arm a bit.”
“Stooop it…! Seriously, I can do it myself!”
“Okay, okay. Now, it’s this arm.”
Struggling, he was easily handled by Loretta. Even though there might be differences between boys and girls, there was an insurmountable six-year age gap at this age. If he didn’t gain their trust, Mika was in despair that he would forever be stuck in this female hell.
Thinking that, recently, he had been wiping himself before going to bed every day. Thanks to the warming weather, wiping his body with water wasn’t too cold anymore.
(If he regularly demonstrates his commitment to cleanliness by cleaning himself every day, when the three of them do it together, they might eventually let him do it on his own. Mika decided to appeal by consistently showing his efforts.)
After dinner, the time for the family to gather together arrived. Amalia was making a cloth, and Loretta was mending Mika’s clothes.
Mika was focusing his thoughts and trying to sense his magical power.
“You’ve been very quiet today.”
“You seem a bit less energetic recently. Is something wrong?”
Since Mika had switched places with Mika Noishaim, Loretta seemed less energetic than before.
“No, there’s nothing wrong.”
“Really?”
Loretta didn’t seem quite satisfied with his response, but she continued to concentrate on repairing the clothes.
Mika kept concentrating and trying to sense his magical power.
He persisted in his efforts for a while, but he still couldn’t get any results.
He had been concentrating all afternoon and had been thinking a lot, so he was tired.
He flopped down on the table and sighed. Amalia chuckled.
“Could you feel your magical power?”
“Nn… I couldn’t…”
Amalia responded with a weak voice.
“There are very few people who can use ‘God’s Miracles.’ Even among those who try, very few can sense their magical power.”
“I didn’t know either.”
Loretta seemed to have finished her mending and joined the conversation.
“Some people say it tickled a bit or felt a little warm.”
“That’s right. When Mom tried, no one felt anything, but Mika felt something, right?”
Mika nodded, and Amalia looked at him with a gentle smile.
(This is the same look parents give when they’re watching their child who says they want to become a professional baseball player. It must be that difficult.)
Despite the lack of progress, Mika let out a sigh.
“Don’t rush. Take your time. Now, let’s get ready for bed. We have work tomorrow. Loretta, too.”
“Alright,” Loretta replied, then went to the bedroom. She would probably be preparing the bed.
Mika watched her leave and felt even more depressed, on top of the exhaustion he was already feeling. He secretly let out a bigger sigh than before.
The Noishaim house had a bedroom, but there were only two beds. One was used by Amalia, and the other by Loretta. So, where did Mika sleep?
Of course, he slept in a bed. He visited Amalia and Loretta’s beds in turns every day.
Naturally, Mika resisted it. He resisted with all his might. He argued that he could sleep on the floor. But Amalia and Loretta, who doted on Mika, would never allow that. No matter how hard he resisted, they wouldn’t allow it. Besides, Mika, a seven-year-old child, stood no chance against them. And, it was not feasible for Mika to resist to the point of causing an injury. As a result, he was quickly dragged onto the bed, and the more he struggled, the tighter they embraced him. Ultimately, it was most peaceful to comply without resistance.
Today, he was sleeping in Amalia’s bed. After Amalia hugged Mika, she kissed his forehead.
“Goodnight, Mika.”
“Goodnight…”
And so Mika’s day came to an end.