Nathan flipped the page, eager for an answer to the question lingering in his mind. He didn't have to search long. The heading at the top of the next page presented it clearly: The Process of Magic Awakening. Beneath it were neatly listed steps detailing exactly what actions were required to awaken as a Magician, including how one's Magic User type was verified.
He exhaled, long, loud, and deliberately dramatic.
"Says here I need the core of a Magic Beast," he muttered, scoffing at the absurdity of the requirement.
Being from Earth, Nathan had consumed enough fantasy novels and games to have an idea of what a Magic Beast might resemble. However, he refused to rely on his assumptions. This was a different world entirely, and anything he thought he knew from Earth could easily prove useless or dangerously inaccurate here.
Determined to confirm, he rose from his seat and returned to the bookshelf, searching for material specifically about Magic Beasts. It did not take long before he found a thick volume labeled clearly enough. He retrieved it, returned to his seat, and settled down.
He was beginning to grow fond of that chair, far more than he expected. Reading itself brought him comfort, a feeling carried over from Earth. Back then, during his long confinement in a hospital bed, books had been his escape. Pages had offered him brief moments of freedom during a time when his body refused to give him any. They were the small flickers of hope he clung to during the darkest parts of his life.
Now, he wasn't trapped anymore. Those days were behind him. Materama had saved him from that life. The thought alone renewed Nathan's determination to honor the Magician's wishes and follow the path laid out for him.
His mind shifted briefly. Speaking of Materama, Nathan wondered what category the great Magician belonged to. Considering the large portion of Materama's research centered around dimensional laws and spatial formulas, Nathan suspected he was a Mage, more specifically, a Spatial Mage. But there was more to him than that. Materama also excelled in rune construction and formula layering, much like the barrier rune he had used to cloak his mansion from sight. The building stood in the forest in plain view, yet remained unseen to anyone passing by. An impressive feat that Nathan couldn't help but admire.
"Or maybe not…" he mused, distracted from his current task as he considered alternative possibilities.
Curiosity tugged at him. He returned to the shelf, retrieved one of Materama's spatial research notes, and sat back down to read. The book was enormous, nearly one thousand pages, and Nathan spent half the day digesting its content. Despite its complexity, the reading expanded his understanding of spatial magic significantly.
He discovered a particular spatial spell centered around forming a pocket-like space capable of storing anything, anything except living beings. The concept fascinated him. That fascination soon evolved into a question: What were the chances that Materama used such spatial magic to store the mansion itself in a separate space, while altering portions of the spell so living organisms could reside inside?
To an untrained mind, those thoughts were probably nonsensical, overly complicated, and bordering on delusional. But Nathan's instincts weren't far off the mark. In fact, he was unknowingly wandering close to uncovering a high-level magic technique? Domain Formation. It was the same advanced technique Materama had used to separate the mansion from the forest while making it appear as if they were connected. In truth, the mansion existed in a different dimensional layer entirely. Through another sophisticated application of spatial magic, Materama had connected both spaces together. Those walking through the forest would never see the mansion, yet from within the mansion, one could clearly observe the outside world, just without the ability to interact with it directly.
"Magic is fun to learn," Nathan mused aloud, realizing he genuinely enjoyed the hours he had invested so far.
Even so, he forced himself back on track. He had been sidetracked long enough by his fascination with spatial magic, and while the detour was enjoyable, he needed to return to his primary objective.
He opened the book about Magic Beasts again.
As he read through the contents, he realized his initial deduction hadn't been wrong. Magic Beasts were exactly what he suspected—creatures influenced or mutated by magic. Essentially, animals on supernatural steroids.
The book described ranks used to classify Magic Beasts, mainly to distinguish the varying levels of threat they posed. It didn't take long for Nathan to realize that rank hardly mattered in his case. Even the lowest-ranked Magic Beast could defeat him with ease. The book made that point abundantly clear. To fight a Magic Beast, one needed to be a Magician. A normal human, what the book referred to as a Mundane, stood no chance.
A Mundane, no matter how determined, would be nothing more than a walking meal for a Magic Beast.
The text suggested that a highly trained Mundane with exceptional physique and combat experience might be able to contest with the weakest of Magic Beasts. But that level of physical conditioning was reserved for warriors who spent their entire lives training.
Nathan glanced down at himself, taking a long, honest look at the state of his own body. He didn't even need to comment. Seven years confined to a hospital bed had left him with no physical conditioning whatsoever. He was a teenager with the physique of someone who had barely lived outside a hospital room.
"So I'm guessing it's a no on fighting a Magic Beast then…" he murmured, deducing the painfully obvious.
That left him with a single possibility, one he desperately hoped for. If Materama happened to have the core of a Magic Beast somewhere in the mansion, that would solve everything. He wouldn't need to fight anything. No bloodshed, no risking his life against creatures capable of tearing him apart. Just pick up the core, follow the awakening ritual, and be done with it.
The book was clear: any Magic Beast core would work. Rank didn't matter. As long as it was from a Magic Beast, it could be used for the awakening process.
Nathan leaned back, exhaling again, mentally piecing the steps together. If Materama had prepared as thoroughly as he believed, then perhaps the old Magician had already anticipated Nathan's struggle and secured a core long before Nathan ever arrived.
That hope alone steadied his nerves.