"Found it. Just as I thought!"
Inside the rundown little house, Ul flipped through the notes in his hands and thought to himself.
These were the notes Ul had found earlier. They mainly contained the previous owner's thoughts on magic, and the final page held something else: a few words of encouragement the previous owner had written to himself before attempting to become a "Mage."
It was these notes that led Ul to conclude that the previous owner had died after failing to become a Mage and suffering Magic Backlash.
"Tsk, this guy was practically asking to die! How could he possibly succeed at becoming a Mage in this condition?" Ul couldn't help exclaiming after reading the notes.
Thanks to them, Ul had finally learned what magic was all about in this world!
Everyone in this world had magic power within them, but that didn't mean everyone could become a Mage.
To become a Mage, one had to meet at least two requirements.
The first was the talent to become a Mage. According to the standards commonly used in this world, magical aptitude was divided into five ranks, from D to S. To become a Mage, one needed at least D-rank aptitude.
The second was a certain degree of spiritual talent. Magic was mainly cast by concentrating and drawing a Magic Circle, which guided and harnessed the magic power within the body. Without sufficient spiritual talent, successfully drawing a Magic Circle was simply impossible.
As for why this had never been mentioned in the original story, Ul guessed it was because there was no need.
After all, the story of Fairy Tail mainly revolved around a handful of people. Most others were only mentioned in passing, and every one of those few had at least S-Class magical aptitude—or even higher...
"Tsk, tsk... Reality really is a lot more messed up than anime!" After learning all this, Ul couldn't help cursing inwardly.
According to the notes, this body had only D-rank water magic aptitude and a tiny bit of spiritual talent. Both were just barely enough to meet the standard for becoming a Mage. If either had been even a little worse, he probably wouldn't have had the chance at all...
To be honest!
If he didn't have a cheat with him right now, Ul would have already given up!
After all, he wasn't like the chuunibyou types in this world. Having come from an age of information overload, Ul knew all too well that the higher your hopes, the greater your disappointment.
There were plenty of things in this world that you wouldn't realize were hopeless until you actually tried.
"But the previous owner really was unlucky. He'd already met the most important requirements for becoming a Mage, yet he fell at the one hurdle he shouldn't have. I guess your body really is the foundation of everything!" Ul couldn't help sighing again.
Under normal circumstances, attempting to become a Mage was hardly life-threatening. All you had to do was successfully form a Magic Circle and cast a basic spell to qualify as a Mage.
But the previous owner's physical condition had been far too poor!
Mages didn't need to focus too much on physical training, but they still needed to be stronger than ordinary people!
And yet, look at this guy... Four points of health.
Ul had no idea what the previous owner had done to drain his body to this extent!
But having learned from the previous owner's mistake, Ul gave up on trying to draw a Magic Circle for now!
He didn't want to cross over into another world only to go have tea with the Grim Reaper.
Besides all that, the notes also contained a few other things. For example, Ul had found a Basic Meditation Method that could improve Mental Power and magic power, three basic water spells, and a handful of mundane details about daily life.
Those mundane details only confirmed for Ul that the previous owner had been exceptionally withdrawn.
According to the notes, the previous owner didn't have a single friend.
That's right!
Not one.
Based on what had happened earlier, Ul had thought the previous owner and Natsu were on good terms. But in the notes, the previous owner had always regarded Natsu as "a very noisy idiot"!
Emmmm!
Though Ul had to admit, that description seemed pretty apt.
After going through the notes a few more times and making sure he hadn't missed anything, Ul began practicing the Basic Meditation Method described in them.
The Basic Meditation Method and the three basic spells were all very common.
Magic was quite accessible in this world. Aside from some exceptionally rare spells and the secret arts passed down by various guilds, most magic could be bought and sold like ordinary merchandise.
Though it was common, it was still more than enough for Ul at the moment!
With this Basic Meditation Method, the magic power that had vanished from this body after the earlier Magic Backlash would soon recover.
The method itself was very simple.
It instructed Mages to empty their bodies and minds as much as possible, allowing their bodies to instinctively absorb magic power and temper their Mental Power...
And for Ul... this turned out to be a lot easier than he'd expected!
Before he knew it, he'd been practicing for the entire afternoon.
In the end, Ul hadn't even chosen to leave his meditative state. Hunger in his stomach had forced him out of it...
Thanks to the Void Stomach passive of Void Stomach, Ul's body was recovering faster, but he was also digesting food much more quickly.
Looking at the sky outside!
Ul reluctantly came out of his training state and headed for the cafeteria...
For some reason, he'd found it much easier to practice than the previous owner's notes had described. He'd slipped into the meditation almost effortlessly.
"Could it be because there's a different soul in this body now?"
Ul thought it over briefly, and suddenly his stomach seemed even emptier.
He quickened his pace once more...
Soon!
Ul arrived at the cafeteria.
He asked a staff member for five servings of food and started eating ravenously...
After he finished!
Ul quickly returned to his little house and continued practicing the Basic Meditation Method!
Day after day...
Before you continue