The days passed in the blink of an eye. Reya had shown her brother most of the fun things in the city.
Even now, it was nighttime because both siblings had been out and about in the city.
"You must be tired after us being out for so many hours," said Shinka as he sat on the edge of his futon.
"Ahh, not really. And I need to have energy. Grandma and I are going to buy ingredients for the farewell dinner," Reya said with a cheerful smile.
"I leave in two days. Why don't you and Grandma rest today and go tomorrow? It's quite late at night already. Could be dangerous," Shinka asked.
'It's strange that an old lady and a fifteen-year-old girl are walking around so late, just to buy ingredients.'
"Oh, Grandma likes to shop at night. And don't worry, Kuoh is pretty safe," Reya said while entering the closet.
'It's strange, but I better not get too involved... At least for today.'
Shinka felt the urge to laugh.
'With your strength, I think any place is safe!'
"Alright, if you say so. I'll wait for you to change outside." Shinka left the room and waited in silence.
A few minutes passed and his grandmother along with Reya said goodbye to Shinka, promising they'd be back in an hour at most.
They didn't invite him, assuming he would be tired after spending the whole day out seeing Kuoh's sights.
Of course, he didn't ask to go either; he now had something more important at hand.
Seeing that his grandmother and Reya were a bit far away, he went to the backyard of the house.
Next to it, there was a small hut that functioned as a shed.
Shinka had already been there a few days ago while helping his sister and grandmother tend the garden. That's where some of the tools they used to care for the plants were.
Shinka calmly opened the door.
Upon entering, the shed was intact. Nothing was out of place. Gardening tools, even a photo album with the various plants his grandmother had cared for over time.
"So, where was that?"
The wooden plank floor was impeccable, except for one specific plank, which was a bit hidden in one of the corners of the shed.
At first glance, the plank had nothing out of the ordinary, but Shinka noticed immediately that it was different when stepped on. Even the first time he went to the shed, he knew right away that plank was misplaced.
Misplaced on purpose, of course.
He approached it and moved it easily using some force. Underneath that plank, there seemed to be a ladder descending into a dark place.
'It's not something an ordinary person would notice. And in fact, I feel a slight urge to move away from this place...'
The size of the wooden planks in the shed was quite wide, so a normal person could easily go down by just removing that one plank.
Shinka got to work as he descended the stairs.
While descending, Shinka remembered first and foremost why he was doing all this.
In his childhood, he heard several times that his grandmother was a witch. Of course, those were conversations he shouldn't have heard, but fate did its thing.
In secret, he heard several stories narrated by his aunts and uncles, and even his mother, when she was still alive, about his grandmother.
He always interpreted the term "witch" as something bad. Like an insult. He had forgotten, but after arriving and seeing how strange everything was, he couldn't get it out of his head.
All those stories, and the secrets spoken within the family, ceased when Shinka and Reya's mother died.
Now Shinka had something certain.
Magic is real. He doesn't know if for the whole world or just for him, but the "MP" in the system didn't lie.
That was his mana amount.
Shinka's feet finally touched the ground, and instantly a faint light produced by a torch began to appear.
"A-Ah!"
'That torch just lit by itself...' Shinka was startled; he was prepared to face reality that very day, but it was hard to process.
If it turns out Grandma really possesses the ability to use magic, it means Grandma has a system, or that magic is accessible to most beings.
In both cases, Shinka hoped it was the first option, and that Grandma really had a system for years, since maybe that could explain why he and his sister have one.
If it's something hereditary, it will be easier to accept than a lottery, or something as egocentric as being "the chosen one."
If it's the second option, then Shinka is in a tight spot because magic must come from some source. Someone before his grandmother must have used it.
If that's the case, then ghosts should be able to exist, biblical feats like parting seas could have happened, and it would even open the door to the popularly known gods being highly powerful mages from the past, who were classified as gods by people who were incapable of using magic.
Shinka walked slowly toward a small desk that was in the middle of the room.
A pentagram was under his feet, made with what seemed to be chalk or something similar.
On the small desk, there was a thick book.
The book had a black cover and letters in Latin that seemed to be written in gold.
Next to that large book was a small Latin dictionary that didn't seem to have been bought too long ago.
Shinka took the large book and admired it for a few seconds.
"Grammaria" is what it said in Latin. It doesn't have a meaning related to magic at first glance, but it translates to French as "Grammaire" to finally become "Grimoire."
Shinka understood it instantly.
"S-Spellbook..." He swallowed, intrigued, and slowly opened the book.
It had a large number of mathematical formulas inscribed, but he knew it wasn't a math book. On the first page there was an index, and he went directly to the first thing it indicated.
Everything was in Latin, so Shinka understood it all instantly.
"Steps for channeling luminous energy." Said the title.
'It says luminous energy literally. I guess it refers to mana, but put another way...'
It seemed like a detailed tutorial written about channeling.
The first steps had to do with concentration, then finding the mana core embedded in the heart of all beings, and subsequently using it to create spells with a set of mathematical and chemical formulas according to the desired result.
It was quite complicated, and surely Shinka wouldn't have been able to deduce anything from this without his special skills, but he had the chance now.
Although he didn't have the necessary knowledge to understand everything, the essence could be learned through memorization.
Knowing he didn't have much time, Shinka closed his eyes and his meditation skill activated.
[Skill: "Hyper Concentration" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
[Due to your prior knowledge, the skill "Hyper Concentration" has risen to level 5.]
Shinka paid no attention at all and continued concentrating.
[Concentration lv.6]
[Meditation lv.10]
Suddenly, Shinka felt something flowing.
[Skill: "Mana Flow" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
[Meditation LV.10 Reached.]
[All requirements for skill combination have been met.]
[Meditation LV.10 combines with Mana Flow LV.1 and becomes Mana Meditation LV.1]
[The skill "Mana Meditation" allows you to recharge your magical energy and gradually expand it. The results are equivalent to the level.]
Shinka's brown eyes opened simultaneously, and not because of what the system said, but because in his hand there was a semi-translucent circle with Latin characters slowly rotating.
"Focus." Was what was read on the circle.
It was a basic magic, just for practice; it had no use beyond projecting itself if the spell was cast correctly.
[Skill: "Focus Magic" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
Shinka, still thoughtful, kept the circle rotating slowly in his hand for a while longer.
[Focus Magic LV.2]
Shinka stopped using magic and opened his status.
[Status.]
[Name: Shinka Kusaka.]
[Race: Human.]
[Titles: None.]
[Health: 50/50]
[Mana: 4/5]
[Magical Power: Low. (Supernatural)]
[Attack: High. (Human)]
[Defense: Medium. (Human)]
[Speed: High. (Human)]
[Skills: Mathematics Lv.27, Rationality Lv.37, Speed Reading Lv.24, Accelerated Thinking Lv.11, Polyglot Lv.5, Mana Meditation Lv.1, Divided Thought Lv.1, Strength Lv.30, Running Lv.18, Physical Training Lv.15, In-Boxing Lv.10, Out-Boxing Lv.10, Muay Thai Lv.10, Jiu-Jitsu Lv.10, Shokotan Karate Lv.10, Kyokushin Karate Lv.10, Hyper Concentration Lv.5, Focus Magic Lv.2]
A new feature had appeared in Shinka's status. He now had a magic section, which had a low but supernatural rank, meaning he had surpassed the human threshold.
Probably humans had a maximum of 1 magical energy in them, and since Shinka had 5, he was now classified as supernatural.
Recalling for a few moments how he felt before, and after casting the focus magic, Shinka got to work.
[Skill: "Memory" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
[Due to your prior knowledge, the skill "Memory" has risen to level 20.]
[Memory LV.20 Reached.]
[All requirements for skill evolution have been met.]
[Memory LV.20 becomes Hypermnesia LV.1]
Shinka extended his hand into the air and without concentrating, a blue circle appeared in his hand.
[Focus Magic LV.6]
His skill had jumped levels quickly.
Normally an ordinary person should cast the spell a few times to properly familiarize themselves with it, but given Shinka's newly acquired skill, he was now able to remember every sensation in detail about past events.
Understanding how the mana moved inside his body when using the spell for the first time, Shinka just copied the important part of the previous process.
That would make the repetition process for learning a spell be reduced exponentially.
Instead of practicing it 1000 times before having a decent result, he only needed to practice it maybe 10 times at most to get something more than decent.
Shinka opened the book again and quickly began skimming every corner of it to take advantage of his newly acquired skill.
If he can't forget anything, then he will observe, feel, and use everything in his power to acquire the knowledge as quickly as possible.
In his quick skim, he noticed that there were only about six intact pages in the entire grimoire.
The others were stained with ink, or were incomplete pages, or pages were directly missing. It was a thick book, but essentially useless due to its lack of content.
With nothing more interesting there, Shinka took one last look around the entire room and put everything back in place before leaving.
He now had the knowledge of new magics in his mind.
'Magic Concealment Spell, Invisibility Spell, Reinforcement Spell, Inspection Spell, Sensory Enhancement Spell, Magic Sphere Spell, and an incomplete Magic Lance Spell.'
The Magic Lance Spell was one that was incomplete, but had enough legible information for Shinka to interpret it to some extent.
Once home, Shinka practiced the easier magics a bit, before his sister and grandmother arrived.
He understood that he should practice hard when he returns to Takido, but for now he would take advantage.
He would be attentive to when his grandmother and sister were not at home to practice his skills a little.