Spring break was about to end, and the sun in the city of Takido made its presence felt, causing the temperature to rise.
Shinka was exercising in his room, but something was bothering him.
[Status.]
[Name: Shinka Kusaka.]
[Race: Human.]
[Titles: None.]
[Health: 50/50]
[Mana: 23/178]
[Magical Power: Low. (Supernatural)]
[Attack: High. (Human)] > [Low. (Supernatural)]
[Defense: Medium. (Human)] > [High. (Human)]
[Speed: High. (Human)] > [Low. (Supernatural)]
[Mental Skills: Mathematics Lv.29, Rationality Lv.39, Speed Reading Lv.29, Accelerated Thinking Lv.15, Polyglot Lv.10, Divided Thought Lv.5, Hyper Concentration Lv.5, Hypermnesia Lv.10]
[Physical Skills: 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]
[Magical Skills: Mana Meditation Lv.5, Focus Magic Lv.8, Mana Concealment Magic Lv.MAX, Invisibility Magic Lv.MAX, Magical Reinforcement Lv.8, Inspection Magic Lv.10, Sensory Enhancement Magic Lv.15, Magic Sphere Lv.13]
'My skill levels have gone up, but my strength has stopped increasing quickly. I've noticed a slight improvement in strength, but it's almost imperceptible. I'm improving slower than before, at least physically... I hate it.'
Shinka closed his eyes while meditating.
'My mana core has expanded quite a bit, I currently have more mana than Grandma.' The boy reflected.
He remembered how his grandmother's last words before he left Kuoh were: "You forgot to clean the room completely. Study and practice a lot so it doesn't happen again."
He smiled discreetly.
Although it had been an accident, Masako had the subtlety to help him. Besides implying she wouldn't tell anyone. Including his sister.
He felt bad for having misjudged his dear grandmother.
But putting that aside, he felt pride in himself.
Upon arriving at his home in Takido, he had tried several things. First, using multiple magics simultaneously was really complicated.
It required a lot of concentration for each magical circle. It certainly wasn't hard for him to do two, but more than that started to become a difficult task.
As a result, his Divided Thought skill leveled up quickly. It went from level 1 to level 5 in a short time.
After a brief moment of thinking, Shinka got up from the floor.
'Thinking about how to get past this plateau right now might be useless; I must improve in areas where I know I'll get results.'
Shinka extended his hands.
Two magical circles extended a few centimeters.
'The magic in this world is just mathematics, chemistry, and biology. In other words, it's mere science. And as far as my knowledge goes...'
"—I'm probably the human with the most knowledge in these areas in Takido." He whispered, hoping this time his confidence wouldn't be shattered minutes after gaining it, like in Kuoh.
The circles began to spin rapidly. To someone else's eyes, the magic circle would be completely rewritten in a matter of seconds.
What could initially be classified as a simple magic circle, in seconds became a highly complex one.
[Skill: "Magic Creation" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
Shinka allowed a slight smile upon seeing his skill.
[Skill: "Mana Field" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
In an instant, both magical circles deformed into a perfect sphere. It was a sphere covering Shinka's entire body, and it was a translucent blue color.
The boy inside the sphere smiled confidently while placing his hand outside the sphere, but leaving his body inside.
An energy sphere appeared in his hand and immediately shot towards a wall.
Suddenly, a magical circle appeared in Shinka's left hand.
Another small magical energy field formed where the sphere was about to impact, but upon touching the energy field, the sphere bounced and flew back towards Shinka.
The boy put his hand back into the energy field, and when the energy sphere touched the field, it exploded but caused no damage inside the field. Even outside, everything remained intact due to the little power he had used in that magical sphere.
Still, it was enough to test his new magic.
Basically, he could create mana fields anywhere in his surroundings, which had many different uses beyond protection.
After that spectacle, the mana field protecting Shinka shattered like broken glass.
[Mana Field Lv.2]
He whistled as if he had seen a beautiful woman walk by.
He trembled slightly.
A genuine smile of happiness formed on his lips as he made sounds of excitement.
'It won't be long before I can make a Raikiri or the Rasengan... Maybe even the Kamehameha!'
'But I must focus on the nearer future!'
Looking to another part of the room, more specifically, Shinka looked at a glass on his desk.
The boy extended his hand, and a mana circle appeared.
After a few moments, the circle vanished in an instant, and Shinka's hand was enveloped in a strange, glowing blue aura.
Quickly, a thick beam of blue light extended from his hand to the glass on the table, and the beam of light reduced its distance, instantly bringing the glass to Shinka's hand.
[Skill: "Grasping Magic" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
And after a few hours of practice with his two new skills, both had reached level 10.
For each level Mana Field increased, it became denser, or it became easier to modify its physical properties.
And for Grasping Magic, the force it exerted and the amount of weight it could carry became greater.
At level 10, Shinka could probably lift a car. With great difficulty, but at least he could do it.
"Time to try something more interesting," Shinka mentioned quietly, while sitting on the floor with his legs crossed.
'My sister's friends are capable of using magic, and even my grandmother, which means magic is accessible to a good number of entities in the world.'
'If there are other magical beings in Takido, then I must know.' Shinka closed his eyes.
All he desired was the well-being of his family.
If in Takido, his city, there were beings like the one his sister faced in Kuoh City, then he really should start hunting them before something bad happened.
On the other hand, if until now there was no news of a grotesque being walking the streets of Takido, then Shinka assumed someone was taking care of it, to not involve normal people.
Or maybe only Kuoh was the nest of supernatural things.
Shinka didn't know, and that was another reason to practice his new skill.
Beneath Shinka's feet, a series of magical circles began to appear in all directions.
After a few seconds, his entire room was flooded with blue light emitted by these magical circles.
[Sensory Enhancement Magic Lv.16]
—...
[Sensory Enhancement Magic Lv.17]
Shinka's supernatural senses began to sharpen.
It was as if the mana inside his body was probing the entire place.
WHOOSH!
An invisible pulse of energy emanated in all directions from his body.
It didn't hurt, but it took a while to cover the area of his house.
[Skill: "Magical Sense" has been added to your skill repertoire.]
WHOOSH!
Another energy pulse shot out from his body. This time, the energy traveled faster.
[Sensory Enhancement Magic Lv.18]
[Magical Sense Lv.2]
'My Magical Sense skill right now is very dangerous for me.' Shinka reflected, continuing to practice.
[Magical Sense Lv.3]
'If I make my skill cover even more ground beyond my house, someone with good magical senses could easily find me.'
'Every signal has a transmitter, and since the wave expands in a spherical shape, it won't be hard to find me if someone is clever enough.'
'It seems my Magical Concealment skill cannot extend its domain to the Magical Sense skill.'
'Or perhaps extend it so widely and quickly that no one realizes they are inside it.'
With that in mind, Shinka got to work.