Is the Second Magic Within Reach?

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There was a mining site located not too far from Istria that was frequented by both miners and travelers passing through on the road. Despite its primary function as a mine, the site also served as a throughway for those looking to reach another area. As a result, the site was often bustling with travelers and merchants.

The mining site was divided into two sections: one was a restricted area that only miners could enter, while the other was a mining area that regular people could enter with permission. For a small fee, anyone could enter and mine for minerals. Since it was open to the public, however, it typically only had cheap minerals and required a certain amount of equipment and effort to extract them, making it a loss-making operation.

Our mission was to obtain thunder ore, which was visible and not in the bedrock. Thunder ore was scattered all over the rocky area and discharged electricity, producing a blue current and emitting light. It’s a dangerous material that could not be touched or approached. The ore came in various sizes, and the strength of the electric current varied in proportion to its size.

A “Beware of Thunder Ore” warning sign near the road cautioned passersby.

“Be careful,” Glast cautioned, his tone serious. “Or you’ll get burned.”

Heeding his warning, I surveyed my surroundings. Thunder ore was so hazardous that even a small amount of contact could harm my body. I shuddered at the thought of being exposed to a large amount of electricity.

However, the thunder ore, about the size of my palm, didn’t appear too threatening. But still, it was generating an immense amount of electricity.

“So, what’s the plan? Should we use perak ore to touch it?” Glast inquired.

“Yes, even if we touch it with the ore in its current state, electricity won’t flow through it naturally,” I replied. “It’s thick enough that, even if it’s not an insulator, electricity shouldn’t flow through it. But here’s what we’ll do.”

I tried to peel off some perak ore, but it proved to be more difficult than I thought.

“Let me try,” Glast offered.

With ease, he peeled off several layers of it, which I then stacked together and covered my entire palm with. The multiple layers felt somewhat unreliable, but it was the best we could do.

Sitting in front of the thunder ore, I straight up touched it with my hands.

“T-Theon?!” My father cried out in panic, lifting me up and quickly pulling me away from the hazardous material.

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In the confusion, the thin perak layer slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground.

“What were you thinking? Are you hurt? Burnt?” my father asked, checking my hands repeatedly. Fortunately, I was unharmed.

Relieved, my father let go of me and breathed a sigh of relief. “You shouldn’t do dangerous things like that.”

“I’m sorry, Father… But look, I’m fine. It turns out that perak ore was mica. It’s an insulator.”

My father examined the perak layer that I picked up from the ground. “It’s not even burned. Insulators don’t conduct electricity, right?”

“That’s right. I’ve just confirmed that it’s a mica insulator. All we need to do now is buy larger pieces of perak ore and transport the thunder ore,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

It seemed like I was getting closer to achieving my goal. Although it took a lot of time and effort, it was worth it. Unlike Earth, where civilization and convenient tools are prevalent, it’s more challenging in this world. However, with the aid of magic, it’s still possible.

Glast seemed to be pondering something, but he didn’t vocalize his thoughts. Perhaps he believed that I acted recklessly.

My parents didn’t seem too concerned, but I can’t be sure about others. Even though Glast seemed like a good person, it didn’t imply that he would accept anything without question.

“Alright, let’s head back to town, buy some perak ore, and return here,” my father said, glancing at Glast and sighing.

Did my father share my thoughts? If he knew what I was planning, he probably would have stopped me. Maybe he didn’t delve too deeply into it, and neither did I.

In any case, it seemed like I was close to achieving my goal of discovering new materials for my research. From fire to lightning, I hoped to expand my repertoire of magic spells. With this in mind, I headed back to town.

●○●○

I carefully wrapped the thunder ore in a cloth, being careful not to disturb the encasing perak ore layers, before taking it home. It was a sizeable chunk, around 20 centimeters in diameter. It’s heavy and dangerous to handle any larger.

My father had cautioned me that this was the limit, but I was satisfied with the size; it was just right for me.

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We sold the leftover perak ore to Glast, who offered to pay half the price for it. He was a good guy and even joked that I was like a nephew to him, despite the expensive cost.

I was grateful for Glast and my father’s kindness and determined to work hard on my magic research to make the most of it.

Anyway, when we revealed the thunder ore to the receptionist, she looked very surprised, but my mother just smiled.

I stood in the courtyard of our home, watching as the thunder ore crackled and sparked with electricity. It’s too dangerous to keep in my room and could catch fire, so we decided to place it on the rocks at the edge of the courtyard.

The thunder ore was a fascinating mineral that intermittently generated an electric current. I had many questions about the source of its energy, but I’m not a scientist nor a mineralogist. If I could use magic, I didn’t care about the other things, and I would investigate them only if necessary.

My father and mother watched me from a distance, but Marie was nowhere to be found. My father’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he watched my movements, while my mother looked on with a smile.

I raised my hand in front of the thunder ore, ready to begin my experiment. Gathering magic power in my right hand, I shifted from a state of gathering to releasing it from my body. A sphere of magic, about the size of my palm, was released and aimed towards the thunder ore.

As soon as I touched it, the color of the blue-white electric current momentarily changed to red and white, shimmering ever so slightly.

“Wow!” My father exclaimed excitedly with clenched fists. However, his excitement was short-lived. The thunder ore continued to discharge normally with its blue-white electric current, returning to its usual phenomenon almost instantly.

The only thing that had changed was the color and amount of light, due to the magic power I had given it. The increase in light was only slight, which wasn’t really significant.

When I infused magic power to fire, the released magic power moved away and disappeared, but the magic power aimed at the thunder ore disappeared in an instant.

“I wonder if it failed?” My mother asked.

“Yeah, it seems so,” My father replied.

Their disappointed expressions matched my own bewilderment at what had just happened as they walked towards me.

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“Well, failure is natural. You’ve failed so many times before finally being able to use fire magic. Don’t worry about it, Theon,” my father comforted me, patting my shoulder.

Next to him, my mother tilted her head and asked, “Oh? Theon, could it be…”

I chuckled, shaking my shoulders with laughter.

“Hehe, hehehe!”

“What’s wrong?! Theon, you’re making that face even though you didn’t succeed… Wait, don’t tell me the electricity has affected your mind?!”

“Oh my, Theon, you seem so happy. Even I’m getting excited,” my mother chimed in.

My father playfully shook my body and said, “Don’t die, Theon! Your wounds are shallow!”

I wasn’t worried about my wounds. Even if there was some damage to my brain. But it didn’t matter to me.

“Hehehe, I did it! I succeeded!”

“What do you mean? It clearly looked like a failure. No, perhaps it’s a success because the color changed and there was light? But compared to the fire magic, it seems like it only changed color,” my father questioned.

I held back my smile and began to explain.

“Hehe, you know what’s interesting, Father? The sparks that come out of a flint are technically discharges, which is the same phenomenon as this electric current. And if you let magic touch it, a blue flame is created – as you’re aware. At that point, I had two hypotheses in mind. Firstly, that magic is solely a flammable substance, without any other properties. Secondly, that magic can be a flammable substance, but it possesses other properties as well. The flammable substance part could be temporary, and it might just be one of its properties.

“Regardless, if the only property of magic is that it’s flammable, then infusing it with a thunder ore should cause combustion. However, that didn’t happen. Instead, the color of the electricity changed, and the amount of light increased. In other words, magic has properties beyond just being a flammable substance! This implies that my ability to use various types of magic that I imagine has now become more feasible!”

The term “fire” in this case denotes sparks, which, upon contact with magic power, would cause it to be engulfed in flames. Conversely, if the same power were to come into contact with an electrical current, it would change in color and emit light, constituting a wholly different phenomenon.

This occurrence proves difficult to dissect from a scientific standpoint. I’m neither a science aficionado nor particularly knowledgeable in that area. Thus, my approach involved applying magic power under various conditions, and forming theories based on the results obtained.

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Through this experiment, I attained a partial comprehension of the essence of magic power, which proved to be a significant breakthrough. This discovery suggested that the potential applications of magic power could extend beyond fire magic. However, despite this newfound knowledge, I remained unsure of how to manipulate it into lightning magic.

I saw a glimmer of hope. That’s why I laughed. I wasn’t seeking a dramatic outcome. I simply released magic power to an electric current while wishing it wouldn’t ignite. And it came true. I was ecstatic.

“Well, I’m not entirely understand, but it seems like there’s a high possibility of being able to use lightning magic,” my father said.

“Yeah, but for now, it’s not possible. Even when I infused it with magic power, it just changed the nature of the electric current.”

“What results would be considered a success?” My father asked.

In response, I imagined an ideal scene.

“Well, if it feels like you’re shooting lightning bolts from your palms towards your target, that would be it.”

“Like lightning shooting straight out of your hands?”

“Yes, that’s what I think.”

“But the user would probably suffer harm.”

“If you release magic power directly from your palms and then shoot lightning, then yes, that would be the case. It’s the same with fire magic, so we have to think about not getting hurt first. But before that, I have to try a few things…”

“I see. But, let’s call it a day today. You started experimenting as soon as you came back.”

My father was right. We couldn’t spend all day delving into magic. Despite my desire to experiment with various things, I had already been demanding and caused trouble for him. In fact, he had even gone so far as to purchase the perak ore and pay for the mining fees, which was probably quite expensive. It’s one of the many advantages of being born into a noble family.

As I looked around, the surroundings were beginning to turn red, with the thunder ore intermittently discharging. I realized that it would certainly be eye-catching at night, and we needed to put up a fence or some kind of barrier as soon as possible.

Taking my father’s advice, I headed back inside our home.

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