LEGEND

Chapter 2

There was a building deep inside a forest. Although huge trees towered around it, soft sunlight still poured onto the building. There were no signs of life in the building, not even a sign of any living creatures. However, strangely, there was no dust on the floors of the building, it was kept in a very clean state.

And it was in a room, in this building that Reiji……no, the person that was once called Saeki Reiji, woke up.

「……Where is this?」

He put his hand on his forehead and thought about it for a few seconds as he looked around. He then nodded as if understanding something.

「I see, I fused with that glowing orb……ah, I understand now. It certainly was a fusion. I have gained knowledge. And there’s no doubt this is still my consciousness」

When Reiji looked at the surroundings, he noticed that he was sleeping in a bed. A magic formation had been drawn on the floor, he guessed that the body had been in stasis until some kind of magic had been used a few minutes ago. He got up and wore the clothes that were beside the bed.

「I say, I wonder what this new body is like?」

According to the knowledge he gained, the glowing orb’s name seemed to have been Zepairu Zondo. Reiji found a tub of water and looked at the reflection to see the body Zepairu had prepared.

A boy’s face with bright red hair was reflected. It was well shaped and there were no problems with the features, if anything, it could be called beautiful. As for the eye colour, in contrast with the red hair, they were blue. His height was about 165cm, and judging by his face, he looked about 15. As Reiji was 17 in his world, he had grown younger by about 2 years.

「However, based from the knowledge I received from Zepairu, this is an outrageous body.」

According to the knowledge Reiji had recieved from Zepairu……this body was something that Zepairu and his organization had created with the best of their magic and techniques. Because the organization had disappeared due to the aging of its members, the body had been subjected to treatment that gave it have eternal youth. Of course, it required a certain level or higher of magic power was required to maintain it.

Though the body had eternal youth, it wasn’t immortal. Even with the world’s best magicians gathered, it seems that it wasn’t possible to reach humanity’s dream of true immortality. It was likely that this was their substitute. With the body’s marvelous recovery power, its physical strength seemed to be considerable high.

「Well, I’ll leave those things for the time being.」

The performance of his body was pulled out from his knowledge. After gaining an approximate understanding, he then poured water from a jug on a table into a wooden cup, and drank it in one gulp.

He suddenly noticed something while quenching his throat with the water.

「Come to think of it, this water is also several hundred years old.」

While saying so, he poured water from the jug into his empty cup again. If the words of Zepairu were correct, he had stayed inside the spiritual world at the intersection between worlds and became a glowing orb for several hundred years in order to find a successor to the Magic Beast Art. This body, the water, clothes and the bed must have been prepared by Zepairu before he became a glowing orb. If it was the organization that had gathered the best magicians, then it might be possible to keep everything in a fresh state, the thought came straight to Reiji.

The water was fresh enough that if it was said that it had been drawn from a mountain spring, it would have been believable. Although Reiji lived in the rural Tohoku area and was able to drink fresh water, he felt that there was a difference between heaven and earth when compared with this water. The remainder of the delicious water was finished after he drank a few more cups.

「For now, let’s take a look around this building.」

Though he roughly understood where everything was from Zepairu’s knowledge, in the end, it was only what Zepairu knew. He wanted to see with his own eyes to make sure.

In the bedroom where Reiji had been sleeping in, there was a bed, table, chairs, a jug and a cup.

「Hmm?　This……」

As he looked around the room, Reiji’s eyes caught a picture that had been hung on the wall of the bedroom. 12 people, young and old, were drawn in it.

Earth magic, water magic, wind magic, light magic, darkness magic, space-time magic, void magic, summoning magic, alchemy, numerology and ancient magic. There were 12 people led by Zepairu, who used fire magic. The organization which was said to be able to destroy a country in a few hours was, from the knowledge Zeipairu had given Reiji, made up of the magicians depicted in the painting.

However, Reiji wasn’t only fascinated by the painting. It was the clothes worn by the person in the painting who used numerology. It was a black school uniform that every junior and senior high school student in Japan wore, additionally, the person in question had black hair and the eyes and features of a Japanese.

「Takumu Suzuno. Numerology master, is it. No matter how I think about it, he’s a fellow countryman.」

From Zepairu’s knowledge, the person named Takumu Suzuno had the characteristic of eternal youth. Reiji’s improved body was created by incorporating the physical characteristics of Takumu Suzuno and the teaching knowledge of Zepairu.

「In that case, excluding Takumu Suzuno and I, are there any other Japanese who came to this world……I wonder?」

He thought about it for a few seconds but rejected the idea and shook his head immediately.

Even if other Japanese had come to this world to begin with, Aside from his consciousness, he himself wasn’t Japanese anymore. The most he could do would be to talk with that person and reminiscence.

「If he had eternal youth, then why did he die?」

That was worrisome, he pulled out more knowledge again.

According to his knowledge, it seems that he was poisoned after being caught in the power struggles of the major powers. Although he was able to escape to Zepairu afterwards, detoxification wasn’t able to be carried out in time……that was what had happened.

「Well, I guess it’s normal in the world of nobility. That can happen if you get caught in the power struggle.」

On a side note, the numerology that Takumu Suzuno used was an original magic he invented, nobody seemed to be able to use it aside from him. It’s ability was to express objects numerically, it wasn’t a magic suited for combat.

「I see. It’s similar to a game where relationships are appraised and analysed with magic.」

This seems to have been a completely unknown type of magic in this world, but to Reiji, who loved sub cultures, it was a somewhat understandable ability.

「Well then, for the time being, this room is fine. Next is the laboratory.」

With a pattering sound, he walked barefoot and opened the door of the bedroom. Perhaps the building itself was maintained by magic, not a single speck of dust could be found on the floor.

「This……the time of the building is stopped by space-time magic.」

He advanced through the corridors while checking Zepairu’s knowledge. To begin with, this building was used as a base to find a successor to the Magic Beast Art after Zepairu became the last member of the organization and was made quite packed. Because of this, it took him a few minutes to arrive at the laboratory from the bedroom.

On the door of the laboratory『Those who open this door without the qualifications of the Magic Beast Art will be hit by a spell』was written on the door plate.

「……At the very least, I can read this worlds characters thanks to the fusion.」

He muttered while looking at the characters on the plate.

According to Zepairu’s knowledge, it seems that those who did not have the magical power to become the successor of the Magic Beast Art would be thoroughly incinerated by fire if they tried to open the door.

「It’s a pretty extreme security.」

He murmured as he quietly laughed at the sign. Reiji gently reached out to the door knob. Even though he got the endorsement of Zepairu as the successor of the Magic Beast Art, it seemed best to be cautious.

However, his extended hand unceremoniously came in contact with the door knob, and the door opened so easily that he was amazed.

「……Phew.」

While exhaling in relief, he entered the laboratory.

Compared with the bedroom, the laboratory was much wider. In terms of Reiji’s senses the room was about 30 tatamis. In the back half of the room, a huge magic formation was drawn. In the half of the room near the entrance, a variety of equipment and books, assumed to be used for experiments and as references, was left untouched. However, a fine jewelry box was also placed on the table, it was the only one in the vicinity.

「Well, its a jewelry box. I wonder what I’ll find inside.」

He approached the jewelry box quietly while muttering and opened the lid.

「A bracelet, is it?」

He took it out from the jewelry box. It was a bracelet about 10cm in diameter. There was no doubt that the bracelet had a specific use.

He looked at the mysterious bracelet in his hands. Taking a look it, the bracelet was simple. The jewelry box was a fine piece of work and seems to have been specially crafted, it must be expensive.

A sense of discomfort crossed his head. Why would a simple looking bracelet be kept in such an expensive jewelry box. If you thought about it, it normally wouldn’t happen. In other words, there was something to this bracelet. To determine that, Reiji pulled out Zepairu’s knowledge to understand.

「Indeed, this thing is worth more than a billion jewels.」

According to Zepairu’s knowledge, this bracelet seems to be a kind of item storage. The best space magician and the best alchemist in Zepairu’s organization, Liza Flow and Esta Nord, with the cooperation of the numerologist Takumu, had crafted this with the best of their techniques. The magic tools and valuable materials that Zepairu had mentioned were all collected in it. Its name was Misty Ring. ……Called ring even though it was a bracelet?　He thought, but it was probably a hobby of the creator of the magic item or something like that.

A smile floated onto Reiji’s face, he place the Misty Ring back into the jewelry box and walked to the magic formation at the back of the room.

「This is the magic formation for the Magic Beast Art, is it.」

Magic Beast Art. Reiji already knew what kind of magic it was when he pulled it from Zepariu’s knowledge.

When an incantation was said in the center of the magic formation, it absorbed magic power from the caster. A Magic Beast is produced from the absorbed magic power. In addition, the result cannot be chosen because the caster’s magic power determines the mind, personality, tastes, psyche and other various things about the magic beast in a complex manner.

It could be said that the secret principles it operated by were only known by Zepairu’s organization. However, the magic beast produced always held a certain characteristic. Namely, there was a magic stone inside the magic beast. If a magic beast devoured another magic stone, it would become stronger, more powerful and evolve faster. Its evolution had an infinite variety depending on the type of magic stone that was devoured. It could possibly be said that there were infinite possibilities. At the end of its evolution, there wasn’t a end to it theoretically. But a person who had brought up a magic beast to that stage has not existed.

That is to say, in other words, the Magic Beast Art produces a magic beast that grows with you.

Still, because the magic power that the magic formation absorbs is so large, a normal magician would have his vitality and life absorbed.

Once again, drawing out the knowledge of the Magic Beast Art, he took a deep breath and stepped into the magic formation.

「There is the contract with Zepairu, and above all I’m interested in this Magic Beast Art. ……Thinking about it though, I thought I would be more careful……is it the influence of the fusion?」

This might be the changes Zepairu mentioned before the fusion. Reji thought in his head while concentrating on the incantation.

Because the incantation to activate the magic formation was present in Zepairu’s knowledge, there was no hesitation.

『We, those who create magic beasts with magic power. Living with the magic beast. I use my magic power, to manifest the magic beast that sleeps within me. It lives with me, it dies with me. Show me it’s appearance!』

Putting magical power to words, namely incantations. What an ascetic would have taken several years of practice to do, Reiji, who inherited Zepairu’s knowledge, pulled off without any deviation. The amount off magic power Zepairu, a magician at the peak, had put to these words surprised him.

Then, the magic formation that Reiji had stepped into, began to shine, gradually lighting up. The light absorbed the huge magic power that was emitted from Reiji and grew even brighter. However, naturally, even if Reiji was said to have a vast magical power, magic power isn’t infinite. The magic formation continued to shine for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes.

「Gueh!」

Eventually his limit approached, he dropped to one knee. The next moment, the part of the magic formation that had been shining gave of a sudden sharp brightness……then the luminescence of the formation abruptly disappeared.

「I-Is it……done?」

The magic power in the vicinity had been absorbed to its limits by the magic formation. Reiji looked around with his light-headed consciousnesses and caught sight of something with a black luster. It was like a cocoon and had a jet black colour. The cocoon started to crack……the moment broke, Reiji’s consciousness sunk into darkness. Just before Reiji fainted, he felt something warm and feathery.『Gururu~』a spoiled voice sounded. And with that sound, he fell to the floor.