The Water Magician: Arc 1 Volume 1 E-Book

Tadashi Kubou

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: The Water Magician
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 493

Beschreibung

Ryo is delighted to be reincarnated into the fantastical world of Phi, where he thinks he’ll get to live a quiet life learning to use his newfound water magic. Going with the flow here, however, means something very different. Ryo is immediately pitted against the wild lands he winds up in and the slew of deadly monsters that call the remote subcontinent home.

You’d think he’d forget about taking it easy when he’s stuck fighting for his life, but lucky for Ryo, he’s naturally optimistic, clever, and blessed with the hidden “Eternal Youth” trait. Twenty years pass in the blink of an eye, and each encounter along the way pushes him one step closer to the pinnacle of human magic. Little does he realize that’s only the opening chapter of his tale. A fateful meeting soon thrusts Ryo to the forefront of history, forever changing the course of his life...

Thus begins the adventures of the strongest water magician the world has ever seen—who also likes to do things at his own pace!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue

Phi, the New World

Outside the Barrier

Off to the Sea

The Headless Knight

The Dragon King

Twenty Years Later and a Castaway

Ryo and Abel

Wall

A Great Monster Battle

Mountain Crossing

Return to Civilization

To the Dungeon

Leonore

Epilogue

Afterword

Color Illustrations

Character References

Map of Phi

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Color Images

Table of Contents

Prologue

“Ryo, I need you to stay calm and listen.”

The phone call was about his parents’ deaths.

He had only just started his second year in university, but Ryo withdrew from school and returned home to take over the family business. Since he didn’t know his left from right when it came to the business, Shige, who’d been director in the company, became president while Ryo became vice president. He knew all the employees too. They used to play with him when he was a child.

Despite his lofty title, his salary was the lowest—but he didn’t mind. He learned the work little by little without annoying those around him.

Eleven months passed and it was now March.

“Ryo, how about I help you with that?”

It was late, but Ryo was still working away at his computer. Shige offered his assistance, unable to just sit by and watch him.

“I’m fine. Thank you though. It’s for the youth division, so...”

The youth division of the chamber of commerce, consisting only of young business owners, presented a challenge for Ryo in many ways. The chamber of commerce itself was an entity that existed in some form or another across the country. Many small- and medium-sized businesses belonged to their local organization. Of course, membership wasn’t mandatory, and in the case of Ryo’s company, it wasn’t even necessary since there weren’t many advantages to membership to begin with.

But the previous head of the company, his father, belonged to their local chamber of commerce because he’d been asked to join so the business remained a member even under Shige’s leadership. It wasn’t the work within their company itself that Ryo struggled with but the time he spent on professional relationships outside of it.

“Shige, this work really makes me realize how much more efficient our company is.”

For the chamber’s youth division, Ryo had to create myriad documents, presentation materials, event flyers, and more. It made him appreciate the relative lack of paperwork in their company in comparison.

“All because of the previous president. He never liked wasting time on creating physical reports and such. To him, writing reports didn’t bring in revenue or increase sales. His belief was that the more time people spend drafting documents, the less productive they are. He didn’t think it was normal for a company’s employees to spend a majority of their eight-hour workday on just paperwork, so it was important for him to reclaim as much time as possible from the document drudgery and use it toward meaningful tasks. Like meeting clients or improving your own talents or designing new ideas and whatnot... That’s how he wanted people to use their time. Which is why we rely on actual conversations whenever we have reports to make or things to discuss. If a manager wants to know what’s happening in the field, then they should head there and ask the people in charge directly. This is our company’s fundamental model, you know.”

Naturally, a company culture like this wouldn’t work at a massive corporation or at a company designed around remote work, an environment that made it entirely possible for employees to never exchange a single word in conversation. Ryo’s company was in manufacturing, so telework wasn’t an option. Moreover, it only had ninety-seven employees, including management.

“Because the people on the ground know best what’s happening there, which is why they hold so much authority, right?”

“Yes, although it gets complicated if something happens, since their bosses share the responsibility too... Of course, that includes us on the management side.”

Shige chuckled ruefully before continuing.

“That’s why management needs to be ready for anything. We don’t have a separate HR department because management is in charge of personnel, so assigning jobs to others means taking responsibility along with them for their failures.”

He said that with a smile.

“Now, Ryo, it’s time for me to tell you the words of my predecessor, since you’re working so darn hard.”

“Don’t work so hard you tire yourself out,” they both said at the same time.

Then they grinned at each other.

The motto wasn’t designed to scare employees or encourage them to be lazy, nor was it to baby them. It was just the truth from a management perspective. Failures, mistakes, revisions...all of these things happened regardless of how carefully someone did their work, but many of them had two things in common: fatigue and urgency.

For example: revisions. Revisions meant a waste of the time, energy, and data someone spent on the work until now. Furthermore, reverting to the correct original state meant spending more time and energy on the task. So it helped a company tremendously by reducing waste in all those areas. Of course, it was all case by case, since it was important for employees to learn and grow from their mistakes.

As the company’s owner, Ryo’s father had always been vocal to his employees about not overworking themselves. Once Ryo started learning the ropes of the business himself, he understood how amazing his father had been as a leader. Now, he respected him even more after knowing how smoothly his father had kept the company going without tiring out the employees.

“Haaa...”

After he sighed, Ryo spoke to Shige.

“Thank you for the reminder. Dad would get mad at me for exhausting myself working.”

“Yes, he would, Ryo,” Shige said, beaming approvingly at him.

Working hard was important, but pushing yourself when you were tired wasn’t hard work.

“I’ll go home and sleep.”

With that, Ryo left for the night.

His exhaustion might have made him a bit wobbly on his feet. Even so, the light at the crosswalk was green. He had made sure to double-check before stepping on to the street. He knew he’d done everything right until then.

But...he wasn’t sure if he’d looked both ways first. Because if he had, then maybe he would have noticed the truck barreling toward him, its driver asleep at the wheel.

When it hit him, Ryo flew through the air and slammed down hard on the pavement. A flash of pain and then it was gone. His consciousness faded, bit by bit.

Well, this sucks...

The first thing Ryo felt wasn’t fear of death or even relief—only regret...just a bit. He didn’t know why. And mingled with it was a sliver of grief, because tomorrow would have been his twentieth birthday.

◆

When Ryo opened his eyes, he found himself in a world of white.

“Is this the afterlife?”

“You are Dominus Ryo Mihara, yes?”

A man’s figure started coalescing out of the all-white world. Once he fully materialized, Ryo saw that he looked to be in his late twenties. Possessed of a calm air, he could be described as a handsome European with his long golden hair. He held a tablet-like item in his left hand.

“Yes, I am.”

The man smiled at Ryo’s response.

“Oh, thank goodness. You’re actually the first visitor I’ve had in quite a while.”

Then a measure of sadness clouded his expression before he continued.

“Dominus Ryo Mihara, you died in an accident.”

I figured... Memories started filtering into Ryo’s mind—memories of his death.

“Yes, I remember now,” he responded, nodding.

The man’s expression changed again, a slight smile on his lips now as he began speaking.

“This is one part of the system known as samsara in your world. Your particular Earth is located on World Line 7770777. In rare cases, individuals from your Earth are either reincarnated or transferred across world lines even after death. And you were chosen this time, Dominus Ryo Mihara.”

“I... What now?” Ryo asked, unable to make heads or tails of what he’d said.

“Your confusion is perfectly understandable. Let me put it simply. Would you be willing to reincarnate in a world different from Earth with all your memories of your former life? This is what’s being offered to you.”

The man’s hopeful smile seemed to ask if Ryo understood now.

“Oh, you’re talking about an isekai reincarnation... Like in novels...”

“Ah, yes. Yes, that’s correct. Seems it’s a popular theme recently on your Earth as well... This is a much easier way to explain the situation indeed.”

Ryo was grateful to receive another chance at life. Nevertheless, a question remained on his mind. What did this person (being?) actually want Ryo to do after he reincarnated?

“I have a few questions.”

“Of course. Ask away.”

The man continued smiling, waiting for Ryo to ask.

“Are you God?”

“No, I’m not. Based on your frame of reference, I would say I’m closer to what you call an angel.”

Oh, okay. An angel. An angel, huh... Like Michael, the archangel. Then I’ll just think of him as Fake Michael until I find out his real name. If he even has one.

While Ryo’s thoughts churned, he thought he saw one of Fake Michael’s eyebrows raise. He couldn’t be sure though, since the movement was so minuscule he could have imagined it...

Wait. Can he read my mind? I guess it doesn’t really matter.

Fake Michael’s cheerfully polite smile didn’t waver as he waited for Ryo’s next question.

“What’s the purpose of my reincarnation?”

“My apologies, but I can’t answer that.”

In an instant, his expression went from smiling to apologetic.

“We don’t determine who reincarnates. Ryo, do you know when you asked me if I was God? Well, the ones who that term applies to, at least from your perspective, are the ones who make such decisions. And they don’t inform us of the reasons why.”

“Then what exactly am I supposed to do in whichever world I’m reincarnated in?”

Fake Michael smiled again.

“Please live your new life as you see fit, as I haven’t received any special instructions to give you regarding specific tasks or otherwise.”

Live however you want. Ryo loved the sound of those words! Hm, in that case, a slow life would be nice.

“I understand. Then I accept the offer to reincarnate.”

Ryo’s reply made Fake Michael positively beam, like a flower blooming. His smile was so blindingly beautiful Ryo could easily imagine lots of women falling under his spell from it alone.

“Wonderful, I’m so glad to hear that. Then allow me to tell you about your new world.”

So saying, Fake Michael started explaining. According to him, Ryo’s new world was one of sword and magic. The likes of gunpowder and its kind weren’t yet common. The planet’s size and molecular composition were the same as Earth’s. Physical phenomena were also essentially the same.

“But magic exists in this world, right?” Ryo asked, wondering if its existence wouldn’t make physical phenomena wildly different from Earth’s.

“Yes, it does, and it used to exist on Earth as well. Although it’s no longer practiced at present due to various events and circumstances.”

The knowledge shocked Ryo.

Magic used to exist on Earth? No way. Maybe he’s talking about out-of-place artifacts or something? But I heard those have reasonable explanations and have nothing to do with aliens or ancients or whatever... Then again, there are legends and folktales all over Earth featuring magic and magicians...

“Oh, dear, I must apologize. It seems I’ve thrown your mind into chaos with this unexpected information. If I may say though, I’d like to remind you that your reincarnation has already been decided, so I think it best for your mental health that you don’t dwell on Earth’s past.”

“Ah, yes, right. You’re right.”

He needed to remember not to think about things he couldn’t do anything about. Compartmentalize. After all, compartmentalization was an effective method for people to achieve mental equilibrium.

“Excellent. Let me tell you more about your new world of magic, Ryo. For convenience’s sake, we call it ‘Phi.’ One in five people of Phi can use magic. And you have an aptitude for water magic.”

“Water...”

It was standard for characters to use magic in stories where they were reincarnated or teleported to another world.

But if we’re talking stereotypes then...something with a high attack power like fire magic would have been nice... Or easy-to-use earth magic... Yeah, earth magic sounds fun. Make a swamp and stop my enemies in their tracks or build a fort in an instant and turn the tide of battle. I want to try all that... Wait. Why stop there though? If I’m going to be reincarnated anyway, I should have an aptitude for all the elements! Well, it’d be nice anyway.

“Um, would it be possible to change it to fire or earth...?”

Once more for the umpteenth time, Fake Michael looked apologetic.

“I apologize, but I can’t make any changes. Ryo, your magical aptitude falls within the range of Creation, in short under those aforementioned gods’ territory. It’s out of the scope of our responsibilities. Moreover, in Phi, a person’s magical attribute is conferred at birth so therefore cannot be learned after the fact.”

“So basically I’m stuck with water magic for the rest of my life?”

Ryo looked so defeated, so hopeless that Fake Michael rushed to add on to his explanation.

“That is indeed the case, but please rest assured that possessing an aptitude for water is a very good thing for humans. For example, no matter where you live, you will need water. And you will never have to worry about procuring it. Not to mention eighty percent of Phi’s human population can’t even use magic. So you’re quite blessed in that sense too, Dominus Ryo Mihara.”

Well, he’s not wrong. Humans need water and sodium to survive. In a world of sword and magic, I doubt even the cities will have proper water and sewer systems in place. Which means it might be a big deal if I don’t have to worry about water there.

Ryo Mihara was a fundamentally optimistic person.

“Is there any chance that water magic has any healing or restorative properties...?”

“In Phi, healing falls in light magic’s domain.”

“Oh, okay...”

Fake Michael’s explanation continued. Phi’s magic system consisted of six elemental attributes—fire, water, air, earth, light, and dark, though it also included magics that couldn’t be categorized as any of the six elements.

“It may be possible to learn new magic as long as it’s a non-elemental one. But...it’s just a possibility. I won’t say it’s zero, although it is exceedingly slim. Honestly, I wouldn’t hold any expectations on that front. Instead, I recommend you focus on developing your aptitude for water magic.”

Fake Michael gave Ryo more details while staring at the tablet in his hand.

“I see that most of your physical abilities are slightly above average. Since Phi isn’t structured around the so-called level or skill systems, steady effort will be your most important ally.”

I guess I’m not all that surprised to learn I’m still pretty much average. But if I’m only slightly above average like he said, then that means I’ll have to work my butt off just so I don’t die right away...

“How can I improve my magical and physical abilities?”

“Humans are humans wherever they are, whether on Phi or Earth. In short, the methods to better yourself remain the same. On Earth, the more a person uses their body, the more they train it, yes? For example, lifting weights adds muscle while running improves cardiovascular functions. Here’s another one—there’s a specific group of people in Africa on Earth whose vision is leagues better than 20/20 because they have looked at things and people from great distances since childhood. On the other hand, let’s consider those who become blind. Without sight, they have no choice but to rely on their hearing to gather information about the world around them, making their hearing quite acute. So it is on Phi. Dedicate yourself earnestly to improving and you will.”

After that, he explained a few more things before reaching the final stage of the process—asking Ryo what he wished for in this new world.

“A slow life! In a place where I can be left alone and not have to deal with people!”

Fake Michael nodded firmly and moved his fingers on the tablet’s display.

“Then let’s have you reincarnated in the Forest of Rondo. I’ll prepare a house and a two-month supply of food. In that time, please learn to use your water magic well enough to hunt. I’ve made it so that monsters won’t approach your house. You could call it a barrier. Based on Earth’s measurement system, I placed it within a hundred-meter radius. There’s also a sea located five hundred meters southwest of your house. Once you become adept at using water magic, you should be able to extract salt from the seawater. Do your best, Ryo.”

“I understand, thank you. Oh, one last thing. How exactly do I use magic?”

Ryo asked the most important question at the very end. Considering he would be reincarnated in a world of magic, he couldn’t not ask how to go about using his!

“The crux of magic relies on the user’s ability to produce an image in their mind. A clear image. After that, it’s just a matter of gaining experience. No matter what it is, one will never be good at it right away. But the harder one tries, the more they’ll improve. Magic is the same.”

“I’ll try my best. Thank you very much for all your help.”

And with those words, Ryo’s body was enveloped in light before it vanished. Then, only Fake Michael remained in that space.

“A slow life, hm... Sounds wonderful. Perhaps one day I too will gain a corporeal form and live a slow life in some world.”

He scanned over the data on the tablet one last time...and realized what he missed.

“Ack... I forgot to tell him how powerful his magic is, even for Phi. Well, I suppose he’ll figure it out along the way.”

Except there was something else too.

“A hidden trait? But why? I haven’t seen a hidden trait since her, the first one I met when I was assigned to reincarnation... That was ten thousand years ago, wasn’t it? I wonder what his special trait is.”

Hidden Trait: Eternal Youth.

Phi, the New World

“My first ceiling...”

Ryo’s first words were similar to what people usually said in this kind of isekai situation. Sort of. A luxurious canopied bed—not. He wouldn’t even have been able to see the ceiling with a canopy in the first place...

Compared to Japanese standards back in his old life, this bed was definitely on the shabby side. It was just fabric placed over straw strewn across a wooden floor. If he thought of it at the cultural level of pre-Renaissance Europe, however, then it would be considered high quality. At least for his house, which wasn’t an aristocrat’s mansion by any means.

He wore the same clothes he had on when he died on Earth. Shoes too. He wasn’t carrying anything.

Ryo rolled out of bed and the first thing he did was wander around inside the house. Bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

“A bathtub?!”

He’d never heard of pre-Renaissance Europeans having bathrooms in their homes.

“But ancient Romans had huge public bathhouses, so I guess it’s possible. I, for one, am grateful as a Japanese person... Ohhh, I wonder if Fake Michael made it specifically for me because I’m Japanese. Many thanks, Fake Michael! I bow to your talents!”

He still wasn’t sure if Fake Michael was a man or not.

However, Ryo’s knowledge was greatly lacking since public bathhouses did in fact exist in medieval Europe. Except people back then didn’t really understand the concept of hygiene, so ironically enough, those public bathhouses were breeding grounds for infectious diseases.

Satisfied by what he found in the bathroom, Ryo moved to the living room. Two books and a knife rested on top of the table. Next to them lay a single piece of paper.

Your food supply is in the silo outside. It also doubles as a freezer, so you can preserve food as well. - Fake Michael

“I knew he was reading my mind...”

He sure didn’t want to make an enemy of a talented man like Fake Michael.

Unlike the thick, heavy books stored in the rare books section of his university’s library, these books looked...pretty normal actually... Yup, just like books made after the development of the printing press.

“Whoa. Are these made of paper? Actual paper and not parchment? This world has paper?”

He silently read the title on each book’s cover. The Monster Compendium, Beginner Edition. The Flora Compendium, Beginner Edition.

“This means...”

He didn’t have something like an appraisal skill, which was a staple of reincarnation stories.

“I know he said this world wasn’t based on levels or skills, but come on...”

Both books contained plenty of easy-to-understand illustrations, which he was incredibly thankful for.

As for the knife on the table, its blade was roughly twenty centimeters long and, overall, looked quite well-made. If you were stranded on a desert island, what’s the one thing you would take with you? The go-to answer for that question was a knife. So Ryo picked it up and put it in his waistband for the time being.

He surveyed the area around the table as well as the rest of the room but found nothing else. Then he finally opened the door leading outside, only to be blinded by the sun’s brilliant rays. When he adapted to the light, he saw a carpet of grass stretching around the house. Beyond that, a dense forest obstructed his view.

Woods surrounded the house on the other side too. Except beyond it...he could see mountains so tall they pierced the sky. He realized they must be pretty far away from here. He’d initially thought the climate in this world was mild, but changed his mind when he saw the snow covering the mountain peaks.

“I bet dragons and whatnot live there. Which means...I better not get anywhere close.”

Ryo said the words out loud on purpose, swearing an oath to himself.

He wasn’t hungry yet, which meant there was time to do it. He absolutely had to know that he was in this world of sword and magic. Yes, it was time to actually use his magic.

“I can’t use anything except water magic. And the image is the most important thing with magic.”

He thrust his right hand out and raised it, which felt like the right move for some reason. While he imagined water spouting from his palm, Ryo chanted.

“Water, spill forth!”

Splash. A trickle of water enough to fill a cup flowed out of his hand and landed on the ground. His first magical experience! Objectively speaking, it had been an extremely lackluster display, but it was still something. Ryo couldn’t stop shaking from the elation of succeeding at his very first magical attempt.

“Magic really does exist in this world...”

He was so happy, he tried several more times after that...

“Water, spill forth!”

“Water, spill forth!”

“Water, spill forth!”

A beat of silence and then he muttered out loud.

“Fake Michael said the image was important. What if I try this instead...”

In his mind, he visualized the same image of water rushing out of his right palm.

“Water.”

Just like all his previous attempts, a ball of water only enough to fill a cup spilled out and hit the ground.

“Wo-tah.”

This time he tried saying it with an accent, but the result was the same—a cup’s worth that plopped to the ground. On his next attempt, Ryo decided to say it in his mind instead of out loud.

Water.

No change. Still only enough to fill a cup plunging straightaway to the ground.

“Huh. Guess I don’t have to actually say it out loud. Shoot, I’ve always wanted to use a cool-sounding spell though...”

No matter how old they got, men never outgrew Main Character Syndrome.

“Ahhh, I should have done this in the bathtub... What a waste of water...”

He rushed to the bathroom and continued his water magic practice over the tub.

“I still haven’t been able to produce anything more than a cupful each time. I’d love to get a stronger, continuous flow going, enough to fill up the tub.”

The bathtub was an impressive affair made out of stone. It would fit perfectly in a high-class hot spring inn with private open-air baths in each suite. He knew filling it up with the cupfuls of water he’d been producing posed a real challenge.

“A strong, continuous flow of water, huh? Like water flowing out of a tap. No, wait, wait, wait. This is a tub. So I don’t just need regular water but hot water. All right, let’s try producing hot water.”

Ryo imagined hot water. In order to solidify his vision, he chanted the words out loud.

“Hot water.”

When he did, another cupful of water dropped into the tub. Yes, water and not hot water.

“What the heck? Maybe I need to make the image clearer?”

This time, he imagined the entire tub filled with hot water while chanting.

“Hot water.”

The result was the same—another cupful of lukewarm water splashed into the tub.

“Hmmm...I think I’ll give up on hot water for today. This Forest of Rondo is pretty hot, so bathing in regular water sounds nice too.”

Ryo didn’t mind hard work, but he also knew when to give up. It was only natural, since he couldn’t expect to be good at it right off the bat. Decision made, he pulled himself together.

“Faucet.”

Water flowed out steadily from his right hand as if it were a faucet.

“Yes, yes, very good. That’s the way.”

He was mature enough to admit his failure with producing hot water. When considering how much regular water he created on his first day, he had to count this as some sort of success. At the very least, he could now make enough water for drinking and bathing.

Of the problems people faced every day in their lives, a big one remained for him...

“I need fire, don’t I...”

For cooking, for staying warm, and for the day he eventually leveled up from lukewarm baths to hot baths. One way or another, he needed to get his hands on fire.

This problem wouldn’t exist if he could use fire magic but...that was pretty much asking for the moon in this world. After all, Ryo could only use water for the rest of his life.

“The question is, how do I go about getting fire...”

Didn’t humanity first “discover” fire when lightning struck a tree and set it ablaze? He wasn’t sure if that was actually true though... Or maybe it was Prometheus who gave fire to mankind...? Except he didn’t like either of those options right now.

“A piece of flint would be easiest.”

He did another cursory inspection of the house and found no flint. Striking his knife’s steel against a fly should create sparks. Ryo was sure he would eventually find what he wanted if he searched the nearby cliffs or riverbanks but that was for after he adapted more to his life here.

Fake Michael had told him monsters wouldn’t come within a hundred-meter radius of his house, which meant there were probably monsters outside that range. He would step outside the barrier once he made the necessary preparations. “Barrier” was what he decided to call it until he knew the real term. He couldn’t cross it anyway until his water magic was strong enough to fight with. Otherwise, he didn’t stand a chance.

At any rate, Ryo needed to find another way to obtain fire. Without flint, the only other way he could create fire was by rubbing a hard stick against a soft stick to use the friction to make heat.

“I really can’t picture myself succeeding...”

When the bathtub was full, Ryo headed outside the house for a brief period. He gathered kindling and firewood while keeping a wary eye on the area outside the barrier. He also picked up anything else that would make the tinder he’d need to get the fire started. Dried grass would work as long as he crushed it up some... Probably, anyway.

Just then, he was lucky enough to come across a tree that wasn’t quite a hemp palm tree, but it at least fell in the palm tree category. Its black bark would come in handy.

“Yup, I think I remember seeing this in a video.”

That was what Ryo’s survival knowledge amounted to.

Fake Michael included a traditional wood-burning stove in the house. Even taking into account all the firewood it required, he would still have plenty left over to use. For the sticks he’d need to create friction, a branch from a pine tree and a branch from an evergreen oak would be best.

“Let’s do this!”

Not even a puff of smoke. Ryo kept trying. One hour passed...then two...before he finally gave up.

“I guess I should check what kind of food I have.”

Sometimes, you just need to be practical and prioritize. He shouldn’t expect things to go well right off the bat.

Having thrown in the towel on lighting a fire, Ryo headed toward the silo outside the house. It looked like a normal hut. When he opened the door, he found it nice and cold inside.

“Is this water magic? Are the walls made of ice? Is this what they call an ice house?”

This must be Fake Michael’s handiwork too. In the future, Ryo could use this kind of magic too...maybe.

On his second day in Phi, Ryo woke up with the sunrise. He’d already thought of an idea on how to acquire fire, but in order to make it a reality he needed to better understand how to use his water magic.

Fake Michael had told him the laws of physics on Earth and Phi, as well as their molecular compositions, were almost identical. It was also true that while magic existed on Phi, it didn’t on Earth—although, apparently, Earth used to be a world of magic too.

On Earth, water’s molecular structure was H₂O. So, in all likelihood, it was the same on Phi.

Ryo brought the bucket from the bathroom.

“Faucet.”

He filled it up with about ten centimeters of water, which he planned to freeze. In his mind, he focused on creating a distinct image of ice.

“Freeze!”

But it didn’t go well.

“Hmmm, this is really hard. I have to keep going though because I need to be able to make ice... Pretty sure I can use it as a weapon. I’d love to use my magic to create an ice spear or something.”

Maybe it wasn’t enough to just condense the water. It might help if he visualized the heat leaving the liquid at the same time as it became a solid. So, he went through a trial-and-error process as he tested out various techniques.

After countless challenging attempts, a thin film of ice finally appeared on the water’s surface. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t freeze any further than that. Then, he decided to concentrate on the H₂O molecules themselves.

Two mechanics exist by which ice stores heat: the first involves particle vibrations while in the second, enthalpy, heat is stored by changing the strength of the bonds between water molecules.

The foundation of magic is imagination and a person’s imagination is limitless. One can imagine everything from the tiniest, microscopic grain in the known world to the vast, infinite reaches of space. Human imagination is all-powerful in the truest sense of the word.

People can’t see atoms and molecules with the naked eye, but...as long as they possess the necessary knowledge, they can imagine it!

All Ryo needed to do was bond H₂O molecules together. Take the O from this molecule and connect it to the H on its neighbor. He focused on visualizing the phenomenon known as hydrogen bonding.

Ice comes in many forms. Aside from the common hexagonal crystal structure, it also existed as a cubic crystal in the natural world. Moreover, fifteen other types of ice have been discovered in high-pressure environments—from beautiful lattices of hydrogen bonds filled with gaps to ice that appears crushed.

Many aspects of ice and water still remain a mystery to scientists on Earth. These substances are deeply intertwined in human life because mankind can’t live without them—yet even these ubiquitous phenomena are full of unsolved puzzles.

Ryo couldn’t help but think these thoughts now that he was a water magician. Even while he considered this, however, he needed to work on creating ice, so he focused on creating a neat lattice of water molecules joined together by hydrogen bonding. Simultaneously, he visualized stopping the molecular vibrations.

A substance’s temperature is proportional to the amplitude of the vibrations in its molecular structure. In other words, temperature is an index of the intensity of molecular vibration. The more intense the vibrations, the higher the temperature rises in the substance. Conversely, the less intense the vibrations, the more the temperature decreases. So when the atomic and molecular vibrations reach almost zero, the temperature reaches what is known as absolute zero at -273.15 degrees Celsius. That is why, in principle, there’s no such thing as a temperature lower than absolute zero.

In his mind, the vibrations of water molecules continued to lessen. The water in the bucket obeyed the image and...became wholly ice.

“All right, success! Success, yes, but...I can’t get it out of the bucket.”

Then he realized he needed to change the ice’s shape just a little bit. Holding both hands over the ice, he began shaving ice off the block’s perimeter a little at a time. When he flipped the bucket upside down, a block of ice 25 centimeters in diameter and 10 centimeters thick dropped out.

He picked it up and held it in both hands as he continued visualizing. He thickened the center and thinned the outside to form a convex lens. After thirty minutes, he finally achieved a shape that satisfied him.

“Heh heh heh. Victory is mine, and all thanks to the hydrogen bonding!”

No one knew exactly what Ryo had been victorious against.

While hydrogen bonding joins water molecules togethers, it’s also responsible for other links, such as DNA’s double helix. In science class, students learn that pairings between adenine and thymine, guanine and cytosine, are joined together by hydrogen bonds, resulting in the double helix structure. Isn’t hydrogen bonding amazing?!

Now he could use the ice lens he’d created to focus the sunlight to burn the black bark of the hemp palm. Making fire with ice felt deliciously wrong.

He’d worried that the ice might melt, but as long as he kept pouring his magic into the lens, the ice remained solid. That might be the difference between natural ice and ice created by magic.

The sun’s rays cascaded down brilliantly on the fairly large ice lens. Then, in less than two minutes, the hemp palm bark caught fire. At long last, Ryo had a way to make fire.

“I know this is stating the obvious, but magic really is amazingly handy.”

Of the three things necessary for survival—fire, water, food—he had acquired the first two through magic, even if he had to resort to relatively primitive techniques in conjunction with his magic to make a fire...

“I wonder where the water comes from. It must be from the molecules in the air...I think.”

It was so hot in the Forest of Rondo that it would be more apt to call its climate subtropical rather than temperate. Humidity was high too, which could be attributed to the moisture level in the air. Ryo thought these factors might explain why he’d been able to produce water so quickly despite being a beginner at water magic.

On Earth, humidity existed in some small percentages in desert environments as well, meaning the presence of moisture even in the dry air there. If magic could be drawn out of the water in such locales, then it truly was a remarkably convenient tool.

But...what if that wasn’t all magic was capable of? Could it create something from nothing? He knew something couldn’t be born from nothing. Precisely speaking, although he called it “nothing,” he actually meant a state with an absence of matter but presence of energy.

Fake Michael had told him physical phenomena were practically the same between Earth and Phi. Ryo pondered if formulas that worked on Earth would also work here on Phi. For example, Einstein’s most famous theorem: E=mc², where E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light.

“Multiply mass by the square of the speed of light and you get energy.”

In simpler terms, it means that energy can be generated from matter. Prime examples included nuclear power and atomic bombs. The thing to note here though is the equal sign. As one learns in middle school, if bound by an equal sign, the left and right sides of an equation are identical. This is called equivalence.

In short, if energy can be derived from matter, then the reverse must also be true: matter can be derived from energy. Of course, even on 21st-century Earth, the technology still hasn’t been created to accomplish matter derivation from energy. At best, scientists can generate electrons through pair production.

To begin with, even a single gram of matter generates enormous amounts of energy. This means that even if one can control enormous amounts of energy, ultimately, the final product is just one gram of matter. You might wonder how enormous. Well, consider the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Evidently, only 0.7 grams of mass were converted into energy. So if all that energy was converted back into matter, the result would be...only 0.7 grams of mass.

Be that as it may, the convenience of magic exists on Phi, which suggests the possibility of techniques to generate matter from energy in the abyss known as magic. Needless to say, this suggests a connection to the same mysterious phenomena that created the universe, where “something came from nothing” and matter was generated from energy.

One’s dreams could really be limitless in this world then!

Having secured another “victory” via hydrogen bonding, Ryo set his sights on greater heights—hot water. Given what he knew now, he was confident this would be an easy battle. If he’d made ice by stopping the vibrations of the water molecules, all he had to do to heat the water up was reverse the process. In short, increase the oscillations.

During his school years, he had conducted this exact experiment for his summer research project. Of course, he hadn’t used magic back then... In any case, he had poured water into a thermos, closed the lid, then shook it vigorously! After around two thousand shakes, the temperature of the water had increased by almost one degree.

Since he knew water temperature could increase by forcibly increasing molecular vibration, success was basically guaranteed at this point. He would attempt it now using the same bucket.

Faucet. He said the spell in his mind this time—he’d need practice both chanting the spells out loud or using them silently!

Just like when he’d made ice, Ryo filled up the bucket with ten centimeters of water. Then he held both hands over it and visualized the H₂O molecules. Except this time, he made them vibrate!

...

“Huh?”

There was no real change in the water. No steam rose to indicate its temperature had risen. He cupped some into his palm and noted that it was still lukewarm.

“Why didn’t it work?”

Was his mental image of the water molecules not strong enough? He made his visualization more distinct and...vibrate! As for the results...

“Still not hot, huh?”

The process should be exactly the opposite of turning water into ice.

“What else did I do when I made the ice...”

Ryo thought back to the steps he’d taken.

“Ohhh... I bonded the molecules together before stopping the vibrations. I guess I have to reverse that part too?”

Once more, he raised his hands over the water in the bucket and created a mental picture. This time, he first imagined undoing the hydrogen bond between molecules, allowing them to move freely. Then, he made sure to force each molecule to vibrate.

Pshhht. A geyser of hot water suddenly erupted from the bucket.

“Ah! Hot, hot, too hot!”

He somehow managed to dodge the gushing geyser. He knew he’d be in trouble if he sustained any burns since water magic didn’t have any healing properties...

Nevertheless, he succeeded in making hot water. However, a real, practical problem remained in that Ryo was afraid to jump right in to testing out his unstable Water Heating Technique (as defined by Ryo) in the bathtub. It would be a disaster if he destroyed the stone tub in the process.

So, what was someone supposed to do in a situation like this? There was only one answer.

“Practice, practice, practice!”

He needed to become much more proficient with this skill. He’d have to experience success and failure in equal measure first, then gradually increase the number of his successes. The only way he’d become confident was by being successful again and again.

Lunch was the same as dinner last night: dried meat from the silo... For some strange reason, it was the only nonfrozen food there... While he munched on a piece, Ryo dedicated himself to producing water and repeating his heating technique.

Approximately three Earth hours later, with the sun sinking down to the horizon, he suddenly felt dizzy and struggled to remain standing.

“I think I’m going to pass out...”

It was the first time his store of magical energy ran out. He drank some of the water he had just poured into the bucket before stumbling into his bedroom, where he collapsed unconscious on his bed.

“To make up for yesterday, I’ll use up all my magic after my bath,” Ryo said to himself on his third day in Phi. He spoke the words out loud to really drive the promise he was making to himself. As expected of a former Japanese person, he felt dirty and disgusting after having fallen asleep without bathing the night before.

Then he realized something.

“I only have the clothes I’m wearing right now...”

Fake Michael hadn’t included any extra attire for him in this house. Perhaps Fake Michael was the sort of person (being?) who wasn’t all that concerned with clothing.

“That reminds me...what was he wearing?”

Had it been something like a toga wealthy people in ancient Rome wore...? If that were the case, Ryo would only need a very large, long piece of fabric to wrap around himself. But...there was nothing of the sort in the house. Well, actually, that wasn’t entirely true. An appropriate piece of fabric did exist—except Ryo was using it as a sheet. He definitely couldn’t use that because he needed it for sleep!

“It’s not like anyone’s around to look at me, so the worst-case scenario is I go naked.”

Never mind that even Adam and Eve had their private areas covered by leaves in the paintings depicting them...

“Maybe I can hunt an animal and use its pelt as a loincloth or something?”

Ryo had always been the sort of guy who never cared about what he wore, so he wasn’t all that bothered by his prospects (or lack thereof) of finding a second set of clothes. He had fire, water, and food too, which meant it was finally time to...devise a means of attack using water magic!

He had two months of food in the silo, giving him some time to become strong enough to step outside the barrier and find a permanent source of food. The only weapon he possessed was the knife Fake Michael had left for him.

On Earth, Ryo had been renowned for his knife skills—not. He had absolutely no confidence in his ability to hunt animals or defend himself from monsters with only a knife. Heck, even on Earth, it would probably be impossible to take down a normal wild boar with just a single knife... It was sheer insanity to think he could wander through this forest on Phi armed with his knife. Water magic was his sole viable alternative.

“It would have been nice if I had technology of some kind to make my own bow and arrow, but I guess there’s no way now, huh?”

Yesterday, he had fantasized about creating an ice spear someday while making the ice lens. Currently, however, that was still impossible for him. After all, it took him several minutes just to freeze a bucketful of water. Creating a spear of ice in the moment, then actually hitting his target...didn’t seem realistic at all.

More importantly...would he even be able to use his magic to propel the spear? Every time he’d used his Water or Faucet spells, the liquid flowed out of his hands like it was free-falling... That made him wonder if he could learn to use something like a water ball first.

Recalling the magic he’d seen in anime and videos, Ryo stretched his right hand out and painted a mental picture of a ball of water the size of his head. He pictured it shooting out of his right hand.

“Water Ball.”

Whoosh. Just like he’d imagined, a water ball the size of his head shot out of his right hand. It moved as fast as a basketball would when being passed from one player to another. After flying forward ten meters, it plopped onto the ground.

“Whoooa!”

Ryo jumped for joy at his first successful use of...attack magic? He directed his next attack at a tree seven meters ahead! Whoosh...splash. The ball of water struck the tree and...got the trunk wet. The end.

“Hm, there’s not much force behind this attack...”

Ryo slumped to the ground on his hands and knees in despair.

“Wait! I have a trump card!”

He stood and made a ringing declaration:

“If Water Ball doesn’t work, then I should try Water Jet instead.”

People on Earth said there was nothing a waterjet tool couldn’t cut through. In theory, though, it didn’t cut as much as it did shave. Ryo had researched the waterjet in connection to his company’s operations, which was why he was convinced this new jet-based attack would work.

He thrust out his right hand and visualized a thin, high-speed jet of water rushing out of the tips of his fingers. He added pressure to it from its surroundings, making it as thin as possible.

“Water Jet.”

Water trickled from his fingers, its current only slightly more energetic than the one he’d produced using Faucet. Using this, he could cut...absolutely nothing.

He collapsed to his hands and knees again.

“I lost...” he said, defeated—though he was not sure by what.

“Okay, I need to calm down.”

Just like yesterday, he chewed on dried meat from the silo for his lunch.

I need to be patient. There’s no rush. It took me practicing for half a day to master the water heating technique. So despite this weak little stream now, it should become a powerful weapon in my arsenal the more I practice, right? Besides, I learned how to create ice too, which I should be able to use in combat against any monsters that show up in the future... Even though I’m not sure yet how to use it.

Determined, Ryo lifted his head and made a promise to himself:

“Right, the only thing I can do is practice. Hard work never betrays you!”

He devoted himself single-mindedly to Water Jet practice. Each day a little after two o’clock Earth time, he practiced, slowly making his jet more energetic than the one produced by Faucet—albeit only slightly. Even so, the current iteration was only about as strong as water gushing from a hose at a car wash. He still hadn’t figured out how to improve it beyond that.

It was only at this point that Ryo realized something.

“I definitely need to take a bath today.”

Heading into the bathroom, Ryo realized the moment had come to put yesterday’s training session to good use.

“Water, overflow.”

In about ten seconds, the bathtub brimmed with water. He had learned how to control the amount of water he produced—the fruits of the intense training that had depleted his magical energy to the point of collapse.

Next, he would heat the water up. Ryo didn’t worry because all his work yesterday had instilled confidence in him.

He let his right hand hover over the tub and visualized. Each individual molecule whizzed around freely, vibrating. He imagined this happening to about half the water in the tub since he didn’t want the water getting hot enough to burn. Ryo did this a few times, immersing his hand in the water after every attempt to fine-tune the temperature as it steadily rose. Ten adjustments later and...the hot water was perfect.

“Woo-hooooo!”

He cheered, exuberant. His practice had been rewarded.

“Exhaustion is the root of failure. Don’t work so hard you tire yourself out.”

His dad’s motto. It was absolutely true, but...so difficult to put into practice.

Ryo slowly lowered himself into the tub, then reflected on his current situation. He still couldn’t use Water Jet as an attack. It took him minutes to freeze water. He also needed to determine whether or not he could make ice using only the moisture in the air.

Like any man, Ryo couldn’t stop thinking about how cool an ice spear would be. I’d hurl it through the air while shouting something like “Icicle Lance!” I really want to try that. First, I need to learn more about ice made from water magic. Then, once I can create ice quickly, I might be able to use it in confrontations against monsters.

Once Ryo finished bathing, he immediately went outside to the yard to test his ideas.

“Ice formed directly from the air! Ice Lens!”

An ice lens gradually took shape between his hands, same as the one he’d constructed during his fire-building attempts. It took five minutes to finish forming.

“So, it is possible to make ice straight from air. But it takes a long time, huh?”

Unlike yesterday, he didn’t need the bucket to accomplish his goal. Although Ryo wasn’t aware, this alone was quite the feat.

The ice lens wouldn’t melt as long as the user ran magic through it. Once the current of magic stopped, it would start melting like normal ice.

“I wonder if I can make it fly,” he muttered while staring at it.

Then he threw it.

Fwish, thud.

He flung the lens using only his physical strength. It flew up into the air in a parabola, then fell to the ground.

“Okay, so it doesn’t fly. I mean, it’s an ice lens, so of course it won’t fly!”

He didn’t speak his disappointment out loud, opting to instead keep it hidden in his heart.

Right, then. Next up was the long-awaited...ice spear. Icicle Lance.

“The ultimate ice attack magic!”

As always, the mental image was the most important. First, he visualized an icicle thirty centimeters long.

“Icicle Lance!”

An icicle started manifesting in his hand, but it took much, much longer than his second ice lens. Ten minutes passed. Then, after fifteen, it finally took shape.

“Excellent, just like I imagined. Now, fly!”

Fwish, thud.

“Ugh!”

The ice spear, just like the lens, flew forward in a short parabola before crashing to the ground.

“I pictured it flying much faster than that, but maybe...the image wasn’t strong enough.”

The Water Ball that shot out of his hand flew ten meters before falling, so why wasn’t the Icicle Lance taking to the air?

“Is it too heavy? No, that can’t be it given the Water Ball was as big as my head. I’d say they both weighed the same then. Ugh, I don’t get it. Maybe I will if I keep trying.”

After that, he repeated the spells more times than he could count.

“Water Ball.”

The time between chanting the spell and firing the magic also became much faster, probably thanks to repeated practice. It had taken about five seconds between spellcasting and activation the first time he tried, but he had gotten it down to one second over the dozens of attempts so far. His water balls went a lot farther now than the initial ten meters too.

As for its stopping power...it remained the same as the first one.

“Haaa. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, though I guess I wasn’t bad at Water Ball to start with. Now it’s time to try Icicle Lance to build on that progress. Just like I did with Water Ball, I’ll visualize the spear shooting out of my right hand.”

Ryo took a deep breath, let it out, then chanted.

“Icicle Lance.”

Fwish, thud. The moment it launched out of his hand, it dropped to the ground.

“Icicle Lance.”

Fwish, thud. He did it again and again with the same result.

“I shortened the amount of time it takes to generate the spear, so that’s progress... But why won’t it fly?”

He must have fired dozens out. Now, it only took him a minute between creation and launch.

And then it finally happened: his magical energy ran out, just like yesterday.

“Crud, I think I’m going to pass out.”

Ryo staggered to bed and once more succumbed to his exhaustion.

When Ryo woke up on his fourth day in Phi, he still couldn’t solve the mystery of the Icicle Lance. That morning, however, there was a more pressing problem: his empty stomach...

Thinking back on his time in his second life so far, he realized the only thing he’d eaten was dried meat. In fact, he was almost positive he’d only really eaten lunch these past few days. Though he wasn’t a glutton by any means, he was still a healthy nineteen-year-old, so it was only natural he felt hungry since he’d been eating less.

It would be ironic if he starved to death despite the two-month supply of food Fake Michael had arranged for him... He wondered how he’d face Fake Michael if he ended up reincarnated again.

First things first.

After opening the silo door, Ryo stepped inside to a space as cold as the interior of a freezer. It made sense since the walls were made of ice. He suspected water magic had been used, but...the ice Ryo had made started melting the moment he stopped pushing his magic through it. The ice walls of the silo, though, showed no signs of melting.

Did that mean Fake Michael’s magic worked all the way out here in this world? Or were these walls the embodiment of the unknown potential water magic had? Either way, he was fascinated. Eventually, he wanted to unravel the enigma of this structure as well. Be that as it may...he needed to satisfy his empty stomach first!

Dried meat was quick and easy to eat, but this was his fourth day here and he’d grown tired of it, so he had a hankering for something else. What about properly grilled meat?!

He scanned the contents of the silo and saw various frozen animal and monster meats neatly arranged. Whole carcasses of rabbit, wild boar, what seemed like poultry, and more... There was even butchered meat from each species.

“I bet Fake Michael set it up like this for me, both ways, so I know which parts of the whole carcasses are edible when I cut them up. He really is an amazing man.”

Deeply grateful for the extent of Fake Michael’s foresight, Ryo picked up two pieces of meat that looked like rabbit thighs.

“These are frozen rock hard. I hope I can thaw them. Let’s see what happens when I take them outside... Fingers crossed they start defrosting.”

He exited the silo holding meat in each hand, then he placed the pieces in the bucket—the all-purpose, super handy bucket! The sun, beginning its ascent into the sky, illuminated the meat, but the rabbit thighs remained frozen.

“Does this mean I have to thaw them myself since I’m a water magician...?”

He lifted his right hand over one of the pieces and crafted a mental image in which he removed the bonds between the water molecules in the ice covering the meat.

“Huh? It’s not working. I feel like I’m being repelled.”

The bonds between water molecules weren’t dissipating, and the fact that they weren’t created a feedback loop in Ryo’s mind.

“Maybe it’s because I wasn’t the one who created this ice? Is it rejecting me because Fake Michael made it?”

He couldn’t give up though. He needed to eat to survive.

Since Fake Michael was the one who’d prepared it for him, it was highly unlikely he meant for Ryo to eat it frozen. After all, Fake Michael was an extremely talented and capable man, which meant the meat could be melted! Ryo’s trust in Fake Michael was enormous.

“Let me try this calmly. No need to rush.”

Instead of defrosting the whole thigh, he decided to focus on a single section. He visualized directing his magic to that area and undoing the molecular bonds, then he dissolved the bonds in the neighboring section of meat. As he moved slowly from one section to another, removing the molecular bonds, the ice melted.

After fifteen long minutes, one whole rabbit thigh was fully thawed. The other one still showed no signs whatsoever of doing the same despite the time that had passed.

“Michael, your magic is incredible! I’ll leave the frozen thigh as is so I can experiment on it. I want to see what will happen if I grill it with Michael’s ice still covering it.”

Ryo prepared the firewood and black hemp palm bark in the yard, then he went to the kitchen for some seasoning. Incidentally, the only seasoning Fake Michael had arranged was a massive quantity of salt. Ryo went back outside and skewered the defrosted rabbit thigh on a branch and sprinkled salt on it.

He went to work on his usual ice lens. Countless practice attempts meant his skills had improved tremendously. While it had first taken him fifteen minutes or more just to freeze water, now he could make an ice lens right from the air in less than two minutes.

“I’m getting pretty good at this.”

It made him happy to see how much he had improved.

Using the ice lens, Ryo focused the sun’s rays on the black hemp palm bark, setting it on fire. He breathed on the ember to stoke it and transferred the flame to the firewood to get a proper blaze going. Once it was ready, he stabbed the skewer of rabbit thigh into the ground by the fire, then he picked up the frozen one and held it over the flames. There wasn’t a trace of melting ice on any part of the meat.

“This feels really surreal...”

Conclusion: the meat Fake Michael froze wouldn’t thaw even when exposed to fire.

While he conducted his experiment, the defrosted rabbit thigh cooked nicely.

“Time to dig in!”

His first real meal in four days tasted so delicious it almost brought tears to his eyes. Then, it did, and Ryo actually ate while crying for the first time in his life.