Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Kaian sat with his back against one of the maze walls he had created.

The wooden blocks making up the wall came in various colors.

Red and black were the most common.

Here and there, yellow, green, and white blocks were mixed among them.

Kaian quickly realized those colors matched the symbolic colors of the five manas.

He called to Finn, who was sitting on top of his head.

"Finn, I have a question."

"I understand why most of the wooden blocks I made are red."

Finn sounded suspicious.

"Hmm."

"Do you really understand?"

"You're underestimating me too much."

"Well, you were sitting there smiling like an idiot while reading a children's book."

"That was...!"

"I was lowering the enemy's guard."

Kaian answered shamelessly.

Finn giggled.

Kaian did not dislike Finn's constant grumbling and sharp comments.

Her lively voice felt like starlight poking through the darkness inside his heart.

With Finn around...

He felt like he would never need to shudder from silence again.

"Anyway."

"The red wooden blocks are the inferno from my Outer Region after Materialization."

"Right?"

"Correct."

Finn remembered the devastated landscape of Kaian's Outer Region.

The inferno had burned through enormous forests and plains without leaving even a single blade of grass.

That vicious power now sat quietly in the form of neat, square wooden blocks.

He Materialized that much at once...

Even thinking about it again...

His talent was absurd.

But Finn hid her amazement and answered even more irritably.

"The Materialization you just performed probably extinguished all the flames remaining outside."

Kaian visibly brightened.

He let out a relieved breath.

"That's good."

"I didn't want to see my homeland burning again."

"Don't misunderstand."

"It's not your real homeland."

"It's just your inner world."

"I'm starting to think you really are an idiot..."

"I said I'm not."

"Anyway!"

Kaian pointed toward the darker blocks.

"What I'm curious about are those black ones."

"There are almost as many as the red ones."

"Isn't black the symbolic color of water mana?"

"It is."

"Then why is there so much water mana?"

Asking Finn was only half the reason Kaian spoke aloud.

He was already thinking through the answer himself.

Finn was unlikely to give him a straightforward answer immediately.

And frankly...

Solving it himself was more fun.

If the color of the blocks matches the mana I Materialized, then having this much water mana is strange.

There had been water mana inside the Silver-White Vein.

But if these blocks had been made from the natural mana surrounding him at that moment...

Metal mana should have been overwhelmingly dominant.

Then there should be far more white blocks.

But instead...

Most of the blocks before him were black.

Eldarin moved me somewhere else.

Somewhere rich in water mana.

Water mana would help suppress fire too.

The place in Eldargrove where water mana gathered most heavily...

And the place Finn had supposedly been staying.

She said Finn refused to leave Twofold Lake until her hair grew back.

Kaian reached his conclusion.

"I'm at Twofold Lake right now, aren't I?"

"Idiot."

"You only realized that now?"

"You should've known the moment you saw me!"

Kaian effortlessly ignored Finn's scolding.

"But Finn..."

"I'm unconscious right now, right?"

"I don't have awareness of my body."

"Can Materialization still happen?"

Finn fell silent.

Still sitting cross-legged on the top of Kaian's head...

She screamed internally.

That's what I want to ask you, you bastard!

How are you doing this?!

Could Materialization happen without conscious awareness?

Yes.

Technically.

If you were an Ancient Race like Eldarin!

Or perhaps a centuries-old veteran mage.

Or someone filthy rich enough to own extremely expensive magic tools capable of producing a similar result.

But you're eight years old!

You reawakened today!

Finn had absolutely no idea how this was possible.

So she remained silent.

How am I supposed to answer something I don't know?!

Stop asking hard questions, you brat!

When Finn remained silent for too long, Kaian shook his head to hurry her.

"Well?"

"Is it possible?"

"Fiiiiinn."

Finn's pride would not allow her to say she did not know.

So she snapped back.

"It's not impossible."

"You can see that yourself, can't you?"

"Hmm."

"I see."

"Interesting."

"...?"

Finn became irritated by his casual reaction.

It was fortunate that he did not interrogate her further.

But the fact that he had no idea how extraordinary what he was doing actually was became frustrating.

If you're going to react like that, why did you even ask?!

Feeling spiteful, Finn mocked him.

"Aren't you being way too relaxed?"

"You said you had a good idea."

"Don't tell me your plan is to sit here forever."

"Oh."

"The plan is already underway."

"What?"

Finn lowered her face and stared directly into Kaian's eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"What are you doing?"

"Listen carefully."

"Don't you hear something?"

"A sound?"

Finn closed her eyes.

Then focused.

From far away...

She heard something heavy dragging across the floor.

Rrrrrrrumble...

GRRRRRIND...

"Don't tell me!"

Finn planted her hands on Kaian's head, flipped backward, and flew in front of his face.

Flutter!

"You're moving the maze walls?!"

Kaian grinned broadly.

"Incantations communicate your will to the world, right?"

And this place was his inner world.

More specifically...

His Core Area.

"So I tried it without speaking."

"It moves just fine if I think about it."

"But I figured I'd need a constant supply of Mana Matter."

"So I wanted to check whether I could borrow mana from Twofold."

Finn's mouth fell open before she realized it.

Silent casting...?

Yes.

Of course it was possible.

After practicing a single spell to death until it became completely ingrained.

There was a reason newly awakened mages spent more than four years practicing only basic defensive magic.

Before they could help a guild, or even survive a battlefield...

They needed at least one defensive spell they could cast silently.

But I heard even four years of training often isn't enough.

Even shortening an incantation was already considered a strong sign of talent.

For true silent casting, don't they say you need to practice one spell for ten years?

But Finn continued overlooking one important thing.

Kaian's way of thinking.

Kaian had no wall in his mind saying:

That's normally difficult.

He had never been taught that silent casting was supposed to be hard.

And his teacher was an Elderkin, a supposedly extinct Ancient Race.

A mage whose ability surpassed even ordinary Highest-tier standards.

From that teacher...

Kaian had learned that an incantation was merely one way to convey a mage's will.

So Kaian asked himself a simple question.

Is spoken language really the only way a mage can convey their will to the world?

His answer was simple.

No.

When I took Flame Veil, I immediately knew the fire spirits were angry even though we couldn't speak.

It had been the same with Amber.

Amber had never spoken to him directly while they cooked together.

But Kaian had naturally understood that she worried about his journey.

Language is definitely convenient and effective.

But it isn't the only possible way to communicate.

Kaian was especially accustomed to communicating through looks compared to other children his age.

It came from being the youngest of three brothers.

Was Mother in a good mood?

Was his second brother about to smack the back of his head?

Was he going to let Kaian off this time?

Kaian had needed to read those things from a single glance.

If I can communicate nonverbally with people outside my body...

Why would communication inside my own mind be difficult?

Think simply.

When his head itched...

He did not consciously think:

I should raise my hand and scratch my head.

He simply scratched.

Kaian believed magic inside the Core Area should work the same way.

That he could cast with thoughts almost beneath conscious awareness.

And that belief became reality.

Understand.

Imagine.

Make it real.

I like how simple it is.

Kaian's eyes shone as he sensed the endless possibilities before him.

There is nothing impossible in magic.

Thinking simply.

That was ultimately the heart of magic.

GRRRRRRIND... THUD!

"Oh."

"There."

"That's about the limit."

"What?"

"What is it this time?"

Finn's eyes shone with curiosity.

"Wait."

"I'll make it so Finn can see too."

Kaian drew a square in the air with one finger.

A complex maze appeared inside the square.

Then several round red dots began gathering toward one location.

Finn's eyes widened.

"Don't tell me..."

"It's a map of the maze I created."

"Good heavens!"

Finn pressed her face close to it.

"When I first made the maze..."

"Mother..."

Kaian paused.

"The residual mana immediately divided its power."

"So I kept changing the maze routes until I could funnel most of the residual mana into one place."

"If the enemies are scattered everywhere, fighting takes longer and becomes more exhausting."

Finn stared at him.

"You..."

"You're smarter than I thought."

"Thanks for finally noticing."

Kaian pointed toward another part of the map.

"One residual mana cluster couldn't be connected to the same route no matter what I did."

"So I trapped it separately."

"I want to test how strong they are."

"Let's go there first."

Finn stared excitedly at the position Kaian indicated.

A single red dot sat far away from the others.

The thrilling adventure beyond Eldargrove she had always dreamed about seemed to be waiting right in front of her.

"Good!"

"Let's go!"

Finn immediately tried to fly away.

Kaian stopped her.

"Wait."

"One more thing first."

"We need to prepare for a fight."

"We don't even have weapons."

Weapons.

Battle preparations.

Finn felt unexpectedly moved seeing Kaian take the situation so seriously.

What is it this time?

What amazing thing is he going to show me...?

Thump thump.

Turquoise light instantly surrounded Kaian's body, hiding him from view.

Fwoooosh...

Then he floated into the air.

And began spinning.

Finn's anticipation grew higher and higher.

She almost imagined hearing someone shout:

Transformation!

And finally...

POP!

The shell of light around Kaian burst apart in a brilliant shower.