ITK C415: Magic Revolution
Ever since the Professor officially took residence on our farm, he has been sighted everywhere.
They say cats can get anywhere as long as they can poke their heads through.
Although, he doesn’t go near the living room, bedrooms, bath, or wherever he can get wet.
When he meows while I’m cooking in the kitchen, it gets pretty noisy.
“Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meowwwww, mreowwww.”
“Ugh! Are you only going to act like a cat at times like these?!”
I know what he’s after, so I resignedly drop the leftover fishbones after filleting.
“Feel free to lick the bits of meat left on the bones.”
“What a cheapskate. Can’t you give me a piece with more meat in it, meow?”
Among all these places, he frequents the students’ class the most.
He would sit obediently and watch Sensei as he teaches.
“This is hard…!”
Sensei feels conscious about being watched by his senior.
Now that’s unusual.
Nevertheless, he finished the class just fine.
“Thank you as always for your lessons, Sensei!”
“All right, time to help in the fields.”
“I’m gonna do some training.”
“Bye-bye, kitty.”
“You’re so cute.”
The students had become so accustomed to his presence that they didn’t even cuddle him out of excitement but only gave him a rub on the back as they passed him.
After the students left the classroom…
“You have some strange tastes for wanting to teach students,” he chides. “I thought only the Sage would possess such capricious behavior. Are you imitating him, meow?”
“Please spare me the thought. Unlike him, I know what to teach and what not to.”
Sensei just said something ominous so casually.
“Half of what I teach is for my own good. If the knowledge I have acquired through my transcendence can be of use to the world through them, then it must’ve been worth it for me to be in an undying body, right?”
“That’s an interesting way of putting it. Most people who become Lifeless Kings aren’t looking for meaning in the pursuit of eternity itself, meow.”
“Eternity wherein nothing will change forever is just a false idea. Don’t you agree? True eternity is the life and death cycle and never-ending change.”
“I know, meow.”
“I, who have given up true eternity, can entrust them to spread what I’ve passed on to them. This is my greatest joy as an immortal king.”
Yyyep.
It turned into a complicated story.
I can’t even join their conversation because these people are on another level.
“Ah, come to think of it, meow.”
Looks like the Professor remembers something.
“I think I may be able to teach the students a thing or two. It just came to mind, meow.”
“What’s that?”
“Have you never thought about how thaumaturgy magic is so useless, meow?”
Thaumaturgy is one of the magic forms in this world.
Demons use alchemy.
Humans use thaumaturgy.
“I have been thinking about it for a long time. For being one of the two main types of magic, thaumaturgy is inconvenient, complex, and too expensive! Any spell harms the natural mana; it’s too inefficient, meow!”
“The fact that only Order priests could use it was also a problem. It only serves to strengthen the privileged few, indeed.”
So…?
“Alchemy—convenient, efficient, and can be used by anyone. Thaumaturgy— inconvenient, inefficient, and can be used by a select few. Don’t you think there’s an imbalance, meow?”
“That’s true…”
“That’s why I thought of fixing this! I want to recreate thaumaturgy magic that’s not monopolized by a corrupt organization like the Order, is user-friendly, nature-friendly, and versatile, meow!”
“Ohh!”
Sensei responds with enthusiasm.
“After the Human-Demon War ended, so did the era of mankind hurting each other. In that sense, there should be no problem in giving new power to the human race, huh?”
“The humans, unable to use magic, rely only on their knowledge and experience when conquering dungeons. As a former human myself, I want to help them, meow.”
Oh, so the Professor was once a human.
From human to immortal king, then from an immortal king to a cat.
What a life he has lived.
“I understand. In that case, I will help you.”
“We can make quick progress with your help. Oh! How about we invite the Sage as well, so all three of us are together, meow?”
“Let’s not. His magic is too… bizarre.”
Thus began Sensei and the Professor’s project.
It is an ambitious attempt to rebuild from the ground up a magic form so inefficient and useless—a fitting challenge for two Lifeless Kings.
“Thou hath called?”
The god Hermes was summoned.
He’s the only celestial god who can come down to the mortal world at will, perhaps because of his position as a celestial envoy.
This time, though, he was summoned by Sensei.
“The celestial gods created thaumaturgy, after all. We wanted to inform you out of courtesy, meow.”
“Thou still has’t the most peculiar tastes staying in that form, Professor. I doth not mind. Doth as thou wish.”
Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, Hermes was indifferent to the world’s alteration.
“Halt. But it does not mean I care not. Remember when Apollo created the Three Realm Pact?”
Oh, wasn’t that during the expo?
“Some gods were against it. I suspecte a war that divides the heavenly realm into two, one for and one against will break out.”
That does sound like a serious situation.
“Are things doing alright?”
“Yes. Me, Velasares, and Hercules art on Apollo’s side. I doth not think it will affect thee in any way. If things wend south, we can always turn to Uncle Hades and Poseidon.”
Huh.
Well, good luck with that.
“But just to confirm, thou art going to make magic for the good of the human race, correct? I doth not want thee to be the catalyst for their inscrutable evolution.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll handle it with moderation, meow.”
Even if the Professor reassures so, there’s still something vague and unsettling about it.
“Thaumaturgy’s biggest problem is that it utilizes an enormous amount of natural mana to work. This has led to a depletion of the earth’s mana, which negatively impacts the world,” says Sensei. We are aiming to transform it to a small-scale magic that can be invoked by humans using only their body’s mana.”
“Thine statements convince me amply, but if thee use the human body as a source for thaumaturgy that depletes natural mana…”
Wouldn’t the person who used it instantly dry up?
“That’s where our research comes in.”
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. It looks like the human race has the largest amount of mana in the body among the three major races, meow.”
Huh? Is that so?
“That’s what makes them unique as a race. That’s also how Princess Letasreit got her superhuman strength in the first place. Her body’s mana got activated and converted into physical strength from her life here.”
Their race has such a function?!
“The fact that all of the Three Wise kings, such as myself, Sensei, and the Sage, are from the human race has something to do with it. But most humans are not able to make the most of their innate abundant mana.”
As such, Sensei and the Professor will stand up to put an end to such an ill-fated era.
They worked hard, believing that their newly developed magic would open up a new future for the human race.
Why do they, who should’ve already transcended life as Lifeless Kings, still serve the human race trapped in life’s cycle?
Is it compassion as a transcendent? Or is it atonement for what one has given up to become a transcendent? Or perhaps both?
And the result…
“Yes! It’s done!”
“The reformed thaumaturgy is complete, meow!”
Sensei and the Professor shout joyfully.
I had never seen him so excited.
“Its power is still weak and shabby at the moment, but I am sure it will keep evolving!”
“It’s a small step but also a big one, meow!”
I watch them from a distance as they rejoice.
Then, Hermes arrived.
“Oh, hello. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Greetings. Remember what I hath said last time? I told Uncle Hades about the immortal kings’ effort to recreate thaumaturgy. He agreed and pitied the human race for not being able to use magic, hence…”
It seems he tweaked the world’s settings so that even the human race can use alchemy.
“Now both demons and humans can live in harmony!”
“WHAT?!”
The transcendent beings’ hard work all went down the drain.
…These gods tend to do fickle things sometimes.
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