The Weave

The worlds of the multiverse were places brimming with magic. Everything within them was infused with its power. Every stone, every stream, every living thing—even the air itself—contained untapped potential energy.

This primordial magic was the raw material of creation, and the still-silent consciousness of existence. It permeated every speck of matter and manifested throughout the multiverse in the form of various energies.

Mortals could not use this primordial magic directly, but they could draw upon a woven magical structure that served as a bridge between a spellcaster's consciousness and the raw material of primordial magic.

Spellcasters called it—the Weave!

The goddess who commanded the Weave at its source was Mystra, known as the Goddess of Magic.

Spellcasters had different names and understandings for this bridge, but whatever they called it, without the Weave, primordial magic was locked away and beyond their reach.

It was said that even the mightiest archmage couldn't use magic to light a candle in a place where the Weave had been cut off.

But where the Weave surrounded them, spellcasters could call down lightning to strike their enemies, teleport a thousand miles away in an instant, or even reverse death.

All magic was closely connected to the Weave, though different spells interacted with it in different ways.

The Elves called theirs Elf Magic, or Life Magic!

The Dwarves had runes!

The dragons had Draconic magic!

And magic cast by divine emissaries and Clerics through the power of their gods was called divine magic!

And so on!

Before him stretched a vast white world. The ground was covered in a dense grid, and the sky was an artificial blue.

After waking up, Borne stared blankly at this world with its bargain-bin special effects, at a loss for words.

But the world looked so obviously fake that Borne immediately remembered he'd been undergoing his magical Enlightenment.

This was probably a place like a dream, or maybe like the mental world of the tailed beasts in Naruto!

Borne realized that he'd actually forgotten about the real world and accepted this fake one instead. If it hadn't been so absurd—if it hadn't crossed some kind of line in his mind—he might not have noticed at all!

After walking around, he more or less understood what was going on.

At a thought, the surroundings began to change.

When he came to his senses, he was in a place like a flooded prison. A huge iron gate stood ahead, rising out of the water, with a big "Seal" character in its center. But there was no giant fox inside.

"Is it only physical matter?"

Borne rubbed his chin. With a thought, a glass of animated, ice-cold Sprite appeared out of nowhere, fizzing with bubbles.

This was incredible!

But why did it look so much like a drawing?

Gulp... gulp.

It tasted like Sprite, but somehow felt a little strange...

Then he conjured a hamburger. But it looked as though it had been pulled straight out of a picture book. Borne tried a few bites, but soon his face darkened.

It tasted right, but didn't fill him up. It was like eating air.

So it really was fake! It could even deceive his senses. This world was amazing!

It was a glutton's paradise. He could eat whatever he wanted without worrying about getting full.

He didn't dwell on it for long. An idea struck him, and a big tree appeared in front of him!

A swirling blue ball of energy appeared in his hand. He shouted, "Rasengan!" and pressed it against the tree.

Crack!

The tree toppled over and vanished.

"That works too..."

Borne's mouth twitched.

"Then let's try this."

"Come, sword..."

"Return of the Ten Thousand Swords!"

"No good. The more complicated it gets, the worse it looks..."

Borne imagined a Gundam next. The result looked bizarre, like something from a kindergarten robot coloring book.

Of course, if he ignored the appalling visuals, this place could fulfill anyone's every fantasy.

Borne waved his hand, and the surroundings cleared once again, returning to the original white grid world with its bargain-bin special effects.

He conjured up another bargain-bin-effects lounge chair and began rocking in it again.

"This is just like 'The Little Match Girl' in a fairy tale..."

"Wait..."

"Matches? Fuel?"

"Where am I... and how did I get here?"

"I'm... Borne Ioulaum, the earl, Grandfather?!"

"Right, the Enlightenment Ritual... I'm undergoing the Enlightenment Ritual!"

Borne remembered!

"Then these grids are... the Weave?"

In his memories, the Weave was merely a name, representing the primordial magic at its source.

"So this is a reflection of my subconscious? Then the deeper Weave must be..."

Borne widened his eyes and peered through the white surface.

Suddenly, everything around him changed. The white surroundings turned into a dazzling array of colors, and the sky became breathtakingly beautiful.

There were countless colors in the world, but human eyes couldn't distinguish them all. That was determined by the kinds of cone cells in their eyes.

Ordinary people had three types of cone cells, making them trichromats (red, green, and blue).

Those three colors combined to make seven. Like a rainbow viewed through a crystal, humans saw seven colors in visible light.

At most, they could distinguish different shades.

But now, Borne seemed to see more than ten colors!

Most of them were gray and hazy.

Inert elements!

Borne understood this instinctively. He tried to sense them, but the gray was nothingness. As expected, he couldn't sense it. He could sense the colored ones.

"Emotions?"

Even though he could see more than ten colors, most of them still didn't "give a damn" about him.

Borne noticed that the color leaning toward "flame" seemed a little more friendly. This must be Fire Elemental energy. He could feel the warmth of fire.

The second kind was an element that looked a lot like the color "blue." It made his senses tingle a little. Was this...

Electricity?

He couldn't touch it with his hands, but when he tried sensing it with his mind, he found that he could still communicate with it.

That was right—communicate!

The elements actually had consciousness!

It was faint, but even elements of the same kind varied. Some were lively, some were clearly "smarter," and some were stiff as wooden dolls.

Borne tried gathering them inside his body. Even though this spirit-body was fake, he could still feel the elements moving through it.

It gave Borne the impression of being a kindergarten teacher!

He was coaxing a group of children dressed in different-colored clothes. Some listened and stayed; some came in and immediately left; others ignored him and ran around!

The "children" who stayed were slowly infected by Borne's "emotions," changing into the same "color" as him.

Magic!

He understood at once. This was the right way to get started!

Now that he understood what to do, Borne kept communicating with the elements, coaxing them inside and converting them into magic.

Before long, Borne noticed something was wrong.

He wasn't just sensing them less and less—he also seemed to be getting "tired."

Only then did Borne realize his body had become somewhat transparent.

"Is this a drain on my mental strength? That can't be right. Shouldn't meditation restore magic and mental strength? Why would it drain them?"

Could it be that he was consuming another kind of mysterious energy? Borne recalled the materials his grandfather had placed on the ritual magic circle.

Borne thought his "spirit" was probably in its current state because of those materials.

He'd better hurry and convert more magic. The elements that were obviously "smarter" were higher quality, but they took more mental strength to "coax." Borne didn't have much energy to spare right now, so he could only use the less "intelligent" elements to boost the quantity first!

By the time his last bit of energy was used up, magic filled only half his body.

In an instant, Borne felt as though he were riding a roller coaster, then being flung off it.

Thud!

Borne landed face-first on the ground, seized by a violent dizziness. It felt as if he'd spun around a hundred times in midair.

Urgh... urgh...

Borne began retching, but thankfully, there was nothing left in his stomach.

The earl helped him up and gently brushed a hand over the top of Borne's head.

The dizziness and throbbing in his head eased considerably.

He steadied himself.

"Thank you, Grandfather."

Borne was sincerely grateful to the old man. He could already feel the different power within his body, and that power was called...

Magic!

After gaining magic, he felt as if his soul had been cleansed. The veil covering it seemed to have disappeared, and the world looked so beautiful to him!

He understood!

He had truly become part of this world. It no longer rejected him, and his soul had finally become one with his body.

Even a true master of souls wouldn't be able to detect anything unusual about his soul.

The grandfather's eyes shimmered with the radiance of magic, as though he meant to see right through Borne. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Good! Good! Not bad—you've already reached the level of an intermediate magic apprentice!"

No matter how ignorant he was, Borne understood that this Enlightenment Ritual was far too incredible!

Completing it had given him the magic of an intermediate magic apprentice, allowing him to skip the initial accumulation of magic entirely. Once he learned the incantations, he could cast spells right away!

Reality wasn't like a game, where every character was a classed adventurer who could cast spells as soon as their attributes were high enough.

If ordinary people worked hard enough, they might have a chance of becoming a warrior or a guard. Not everyone could become a classed adventurer. Only a few could break through their limits and become one.

Those with a talent for spellcasting were rarer still. Even among the Elves, high-ranking spellcasters made up only a small portion of the population.

The key was getting started. That was the most important part. If you couldn't get started, you wouldn't even know where to begin.

For some reason, Borne's head felt heavy. His body swayed uncontrollably twice. His vision went black, and he fainted. The earl seemed to have expected it and immediately scooped him up.

When Viscount Gordon saw the earl carrying Borne out, he hurried over.

The earl was as aloof as ever, but the slight curl at the corner of his mouth immediately told Viscount Gordon that it had worked. He broke into a wide grin!

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