“O-oh? Professor Ludger? What on earth is thi…”
She had heard that those who did not have any property could not handle the element itself properly.
She had heard that people like her were so rare that no one taught them the method to use their ability.
So they had a book about non-property magic?
“Read it.”
“Yes, pardon?”
"If you read what's there, you'll at least see a path you haven't known so far."
Lynne still didn't understand how things were turning out.
Why did he bring her to the professor's office out of nowhere and give her a strange book?
“Is… is this for real?”
Lynne stared at the title, [Understanding Non-property Magic], with an incredulous look on her face.
As far as she knew, non-property magic was extremely rare and the method to use it had never been properly discovered.
When she looked closely at the cover, the book did not have any author's name, nor even a stamp of where it was published.
‘Isn’t this fake?’
It was natural to have such doubts.
“It’s natural for you to doubt it.”
“Hm? Ah! N-no! It’s not like that…!"
Had it been revealed in her expression? Lynne hurriedly adjusted her cheeks and controlled her expression.
Fortunately, Ludger didn't seem to have any intention of berating her.
“It's okay for you to judge it after reading it first. It will be more helpful than not knowing anything."
"There was no information related to non-property magic, even in the magic tower...”
"Did my source code spell exist in the magic tower?"
“…”
Lynne closed her lips to such an excellent retort.
‘So is this really real?’
“Wh-where did you get such a precious—”
"Fate brought that book into my hands."
‘Fate brought this book into his hands, he said?’
Lynne's head tilted slightly to the side at such a remark.
Was this something that could be ‘obtained by fate’?
Lynne was confused as she spoke to Ludger.
“…Uh, Does Professor Ludger know anything about non-property magic?"
Ludger, in Lynne’s observations, looked so natural in treating her that she had no choice but to think that he had actually encountered non-property magic by himself and gained some knowledge about it.
She had expected that if it was Ludger, who had created the source code spell, then he might know something that others didn't know.
“A little bit.”
“Really?!”
"I met a person with non-property magic once before."
“Oh my Gosh. I didn't know there was another possessor of non-property magic besides myself. So where is that person now?"
“Gone. That person is dead.”
“Ah…”
Ludger's voice seemed to be somewhat remorseful as he said so.
At least that was what Lynne felt. The usually cold and sharp Ludger somehow felt like wet cotton at that moment.
Lynne became cautious as if she had asked something unnecessarily bad.
“I’m sorry.”
“Never mind. It happened a long time ago anyway."
"Then… did that person leave this book before they died?"
“Yes. It is the result of their study of their own magic throughout their life. It doesn't even exist in the magic tower."
“Why did…?”
Why did he give it to her and not pass it to the magic tower?
Lynne couldn't manage to say the last words.
“Because she wanted it.”
‘Ah. So it’s a she.’
Rather than that, what did he mean by “she wanted it”?
Lynne suddenly wondered who the possessor of the other non-property magic was.
"But isn't it better to hand it over to the magic tower from most people's point of view?"
"Even if I hand it over to the magic tower, that place is full of greedy old people who will not acknowledge this book. No, some of them may acknowledge it, but they won't show it to anyone else and they'll just use it amongst themselves. It's much better to give it to someone who really needs it—that's why I've been keeping it."
— It was to hand it over to someone suitable for the book someday.
Lynne saw Ludger again as she heard that response.
“I see.”
"If you read the book and practice hard, you will definitely discover a new path there as well."
"Then… is there any way for me to learn the magic of the other properties?"
"As far as I know, no."
Ludger's answer made Lynne feel depressed for some reason.
Although she didn't reveal it on the outside, Lynne also had a desire to use elemental magic that was as marvelous and beautiful as the others.
"Are you disappointed?"
“To be honest, yes. I wanted to try to deal with just one element at least."
Others were able to deal with two, three, or more elements, and the talented people were able to deal with five or more than five elements.
Suddenly, Lynne remembered the appearance that Ludger had shown her in the class.
‘Come to think of it, how many elements is he able to handle?’
He had shown fire, water, earth, and wind, and had even used the ice element in the first session of the class.
‘Then… five elements?’
‘As expected of a Sören professor.’
“One element, huh.”
Ludger actually pondered what Lynne had said calmly, not knowing what was in her mind.
“Lynne. You said it because you didn't know anything, but only being able to use one element isn’t something to be taken for granted."
“Pardon? Isn't it a good thing to handle at least one element?"
"Everyone, to be precise, wizards, is born with being able to handle at least two elements, so if they're only able to handle just one element, what do you think they are?"
“Oh, hmm. Are they talentless people?”
“No.”
Ludger shook his head.
"Those who can only handle a single element are those who have limitless talents that are unrivaled in that element."
Lynne opened her mouth in disbelief as she listened to Ludger's words.
But Ludger's words were not a lie.
Although it was only a very small minority of the wizards, there were those who could handle only one elemental property.
But just because they couldn't handle other elements, it didn't mean that they were weak.
On the contrary, they were beyond it.
“Lynne. Do you think the elemental magic that a wizard uses can affect the magic of the same property? For example, could a wizard who deals with the fire element property subdue the flames of a hot fire?"
"Oh, that's not possible, is it?”
Lynne had at least that much common knowledge.
Being able to use the flame element didn't mean you could handle real fire.
It was also a factor that people misunderstood a lot.
—That if one was a fire wizard, it meant they could handle fire, so they wouldn't be affected by hot fire.
—If one was a wizard who's able to deal with metal, they'd be able to handle all kinds of metal, so they'd display great power in the war.
That was a false saying.
The 'casting' of an element and the 'handling' of the element were completely different concepts.
“Yes. Usually, that’s the case, but there are wizards who were born with only one element; the magic they use is completely different from the properties of ordinary wizards."
When the others could use at least two elements…
Single property wizards could only handle one element.
Instead of being unable to deal with other elemental attributes, they could 'rule over' the elements they dealt with.
"For the single attribute wizards who were well-known to the world, the magic tower gave them titles as 'colors' of the related element. It means that they were are all the ones who had reached the peak of their own elements."
"So that's what it's like to deal with a single element…”
Lynne fully realized that her knowledge was shallow and her face became red.
* * *
* * *
She would have looked ridiculous from Ludger's point of view when she said ‘just one element at least’ without knowing anything.
Even the single element that she looked down on was such a great wall to her.
So did she really have to live like that for the rest of her life without being able to deal with any elements?
Lynne was frightened.
“Lynne. What on earth do you think about non-property magic?"
“Oh….Doesn't it literally mean that they don't use any property?"
Lynne pondered and answered according to what came to her mind.
"If you asked that question to a little kid passing by, you'd hear the same answer."
“…I’m sorry.”
"People say that it's non-property, but in reality, it's not clear whether there really is no element in non-property magic."
“Pardon? Are you for real?”
"A typical example would be sound magic."
Lynne opened her eyes wide and tilted her head slightly when she heard the words ‘sound magic’.
"Does sound magic exist separately?"
“Yes.”
"But sound, to be exact, is a kind of wave that's transmitted through a medium called atmosphere…”
"So do you think that it's like the wind element?"
"That's what I thought."
“No. You’re wrong. Wind property and sound property are completely different. Although it's derived from the wind element, the sound property is more of a vibration-induced wave, to be exact."
“Oh, so they’re different?”
“Even if it is not through the air, sound waves still spread through the water. Does that mean the sound property can be called a part of the water property?”
“It’s… not like that.”
Ludger suddenly asked one more question since he was a little interested in explaining it.
"Then what is poison?"
“Poison… you said?”
"It's a little more common than non-property magic, but wizards who handle poison are also rare. Can the poison they deal with be called an element of nature?"
“Oh, hmm….. isn’t it… plant element?”
"Then what about an animal’s venom?"
“Th-there’s also that.”
Lynne explained poison according to her knowledge.
“Hmm. Poison or venom itself is a kind of self-defense tool created by plants and small animals to survive in the ecosystem in the first place, right? Wouldn't it be a little vague to call it an element of nature?"
“Yes. With the development of science and chemical knowledge, it is unreasonable to see poison as a property of nature. But poison exists as a property. What is it if the mana itself decomposes something and melts it if it's not poison? If it's not a poison, then the decomposition property may have to exist separately."
“That’s… true.”
“However, in the top 10 elements, except for the non-property, poison cannot even be included as one of the elements. The same goes for sound. So why on earth is that?"
"Oh, is it because the number of people who are using it is really small?"
“If that's the case, then those who possess the magic of light and darkness are also included in the minority—they're rare cases, as well.”
"But light and darkness exist in nature."
“Then I’ll ask you. Lynne. What do you think nature is?”
“Pardon? Well nature is…”
Lynne tried to say something before shutting her mouth.
What is nature?
And what are the properties and the elements implied in nature?
Nature? Isn’t that the world? But is calling nature as the world too inclusive? Then what's an element?
"Your face looks complicated."
“Oh, hmm, yes…. Now that I think about it, I don't think I can define it clearly."
“Of course not. Because human beings can't define the world recklessly in the first place."
“Pardon?”
As she was listening to the words that seemed unlikely to come out of the professor's mouth, Lynne looked dumbfounded for a moment.
Looking at her mouth widely opened mouth, Ludger spoke while maintaining his relaxed expression.
"Wizards judge themselves to be rational beings, and they try to put the world in such a frame to fit that rationality."
“Th-that’s obvious. In the first place, magic expresses the mystery of human rationality and volition—”
"That's what I call a stereotype mindset, Lynne. You should have a more liberating way of thinking. When do you think the metal element that currently exists in the top 10 properties appeared?"
Metal was not originally evaluated as a property element.
Metal was derived from the ground, after all. That was because it existed after being lumped together as soil and the earth property.
But as science progressed and all kinds of iron-made machines and tools became increasingly popular…
Metal was proudly included in the top 10 elements.
“That’s also the case for the ice element. Ice is just a change that happens when water eventually goes down to the freezing point. Then aren’t water and ice the same thing after all?"
However, in the end, the properties of water and ice were separated.
The same went for light and darkness.
“Lynne. You're thinking is that the magic in the current age is already perfect and can no longer be improved."
“Ah…”
Lynne felt like lightning struck the top of her head as she listened to Ludger's words.
Her shoulders trembled, and she stood stiffly.
Up until then, she had thought that magic itself was something that could no longer be changed, something that had reached a distant stage.
But was that really the case?
Couldn't magic change any further?
It wasn’t like that.
Ludger shook his head when he noticed that Lynne had finally realized something.
“You finally realized it. That’s the point: a wizard should rule magic, not be ruled by magic."
Ludger rose from his seat and walked toward the window.
Beyond the transparent window, he could see Sören Academy's landscape that would take charge of the future of the era.
It was definitely a great place.
But if someone asked him if it was a perfect place, the answer would be no.
“The world changes, and of course, we, as a part of the world, also change; the same goes for magic. The previous four elements have already developed into ten elements, but it doesn't mean that those ten elements constitute everything. There may be unknown properties that have not yet been revealed. It could develop into 20 elements or maybe more than 30 elements.”
And it was a heart-pounding situation for not knowing when it would stop developing.
“The same goes for your non-property magic. Now it's still a non-property, but later on, that may be named as a new property as well. If not now, then definitely at some point in the future."
Lynne had a vague vision of something as she listened to those words.
—Her successful appearance in the future where she had made great achievements in one field.
It was the image she had dreamed of, and it was so dazzling that her delicate hands unwittingly clenched into fists.
Ludger, who averted his eyes from the window, turned his body around.
Ah.
As she was dragged back to reality, Lynne unknowingly uttered an exclamation.
Ludger looked so different from the coercive look he usually showed as he was looking at her with his back against the light that was pouring down from the window.
The man who had seemed to be a pillar of steel was nowhere to be found.
Standing in that place was a magic explorer just like her.
"Don't be afraid of being different. Don't be afraid of the unknown. Believe that you can be a pioneer in history, and be different from anyone else."
Lynne parted her lips to say something, but nothing came out.
Just as something heavy and huge was weighing on her chest, even her thoughts were muddled and could not be shaped into words.
But she didn't feel stuffy or painful.
It was an extreme delight that she had never felt before.
Ludger’s remark tore apart the unsettling future she had been seeing so far.
There were no words coming out of her mouth.
But even so, she had to at least say ‘thank you’ to show him her gratitude…
"So do your best from now on. Make sure you read the book I gave you today. This is personal homework that I give to only you."
There was a slight wind after Ludger said so.
The wind gently swirled around Lynne's body, lifted her up from her seat, and guided her out of the professor's office.
“Oh, I….!”
When she crossed the doorsill of the professor's office, she could breathe easily again after the magic was lifted.
Lynne turned her body right back around and was about to say something to Ludger, but…
Click.
The door closed faster than her impending words of gratitude could emerge.
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