Chapter 3

Before long, Brishisan returned to Li Mo's bedside, holding a glass bottle filled with liquid.

"First, we'll take a drop of blood. We'll have the results shortly."

A drop of bright red blood from the syringe fell into the liquid, and Brishisan began gently shaking the glass bottle in his hand.

"Whatever color the liquid turns represents your attribute, while the intensity of the color represents your aptitude for magecraft." Brishisan looked at Li Mo with smiling eyes as he softly explained.

"If you truly have no talent in this area, and I can't find out where you came from afterward, then I can only send you to the Department of Politics and Law."

"How are attributes classified?" Li Mo asked curiously.

Although he had indeed seen most of Mushroom's Type-Moon works, how many people actually paid attention to all that setting material?

Weren't they all there for the ahoge?

Besides, it wasn't as if Mushroom had only retconned his settings once or twice...

"Attributes are generally divided into five types: earth, wind, water, fire, and ether. They determine the elements you manipulate when casting magecraft. But that does not mean you will only be able to use magecraft related to your attribute's element in the future. For Magi, manipulating elements is merely the most basic thing. What truly guides a Magus's future development is their Mage Characteristic."

"Mage Characteristic?"

"Mm." Brishisan glanced sideways at the glass bottle in his hand. Seeing that it had yet to react, he continued, "Like the saying goes, 'There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes.' Everyone's Mage Characteristic is different. Unlike inherited Magic Crests and Magic Circuits, it is more like a habit unique to each Magus."

Li Mo suddenly recalled Shirou from the works he had read before and asked hesitantly, "Then, Brishisan, are there attributes besides the five major ones? For example... swords?"

Brishisan's expression changed. His eyes locked tightly onto Li Mo. "Why do you ask? Do you know someone with this kind of condition?"

"Uh..." Li Mo was a little frightened. He had to admit that the Clock Tower's Twelve Lords had earned their reputations. The shift in Brishisan's aura after the man's normally gentle expression changed left Li Mo's entire body weak.

"No. How could an ordinary person like me have seen one? I was just curious after hearing you explain it..."

He really was curious. He had never carefully studied all those Type-Moon settings, and this was only 1987. Who knew whether Shirou had even been born yet?

Hmph. Now that I, Li Mo, have transmigrated here, you think you, mere Shirou, can still summon the ahoge?

Just asking out of curiosity? Brishisan's stern expression gradually eased. On second thought, the boy before him was only seventeen or eighteen. That sort of curiosity was perfectly normal.

As for some other old monster in disguise?

Heh. Other than a few old monsters among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, who else could evade his Lord-class detection magecraft?

Just because he looked like a young man did not mean he was one. A Magus's age never showed in his appearance.

"The attribute of 'sword' does exist, but even if you truly possess the talent for magecraft and enter the Clock Tower, you likely will not come into contact with it for decades." Brishisan glanced at the glass bottle again as he explained to Li Mo.

"Besides the five major attributes, there are also many imaginary attributes, such as 'void' and 'nothingness.' But the 'sword' you mentioned, strictly speaking, belongs neither to normal attributes nor imaginary attributes, because it is connected to Origin."

"Origin?" Li Mo was completely bewildered.

He hated it. Back then, he really should have taken the time to properly learn all aspects of the Type-Moon setting!

But who could have imagined he would run into something like transmigration?

These days, some people transmigrated after getting hit by a truck, some transmigrated after being hunted down and jumping off a cliff, and some transmigrated after accidentally touching something during an electrical malfunction. Yet he had somehow transmigrated simply by falling asleep in front of his computer and waking up here. It had caught him completely off guard...

"Yes, Origin." Brishisan paused, giving Li Mo time to digest it before continuing. "Since you are from that ancient Eastern country, you should have heard of reincarnation, correct?"

"I have." Li Mo nodded. He had not merely heard of it—when his chuunibyou phase had flared up before, he had even looked up related material.

"Then it is easier to explain. Since reincarnation exists, what were you in your previous life? What about the life before that? What we call Origin is the starting point of all your reincarnations—the very first life, where you originally began."

"So everyone has their own Origin?"

"Correct," Brishisan affirmed. "But not everyone can trace their Origin."

"Those who comprehend their own Origin are certainly Magi, but Magi are not necessarily people who have comprehended their own Origins."

"The 'sword' attribute you mentioned likely belongs to a Magus whose Origin is 'sword.' Once someone comprehends their Origin, their original attribute gradually transforms into an attribute independent of anything we know—an Origin Attribute."

So Shirou had been a sword in his previous life—or maybe even the life before that?

Hehe. No wonder whenever Shirou used his ultimate move, his chant always said he was a sword.

Li Mo was still secretly laughing when Brishisan's voice abruptly stopped. He stared silently at the glass bottle in his hand.

The liquid in the glass bottle had turned a pure black. Something seemed to be churning in its upper layer, sending ripples across the surface without pause.

"What's wrong?" Li Mo suddenly grew nervous. This concerned whether he qualified to study magecraft at the Clock Tower.

He did not care about any ahoge king or magical girl lolis. He only wanted to go home!

"Nothing." Brishisan let out a soft sigh. Though he was also puzzled, he did not reveal it directly.

If Li Mo had no aptitude, the solution would not change color at all. But so much time had passed, and it had remained black without any further reaction. What did that mean?

He had never heard of black representing any attribute!

Just as Brishisan was about to speak, he saw Li Mo staring intently at the glass bottle in his hand, surprise flashing in his eyes.

Brishisan lowered his head to look at the bottle. His entire body jolted, and he nearly dropped it to the floor.

Inside the glass bottle in his hand, the black solution had silently changed at some point. Specks of multicolored light continually rose and sank within it.

"Average One!"

Brishisan cried out. The expression on his face shifted repeatedly before finally turning to delight, and he fixed Li Mo with a burning gaze.

Luckily, this kid had insisted on sticking to him, or he really would have missed out on a genius!

"Average One? What does that mean? Is it some kind of void attribute?"

Li Mo was a little bewildered. He tried to scratch his head, only to realize his whole body was still wrapped in plaster. But judging from Brishisan's surprise, he felt the test result wasn't bad.

"Not a void attribute," Brishisan denied.

"Average One refers to someone who possesses all five basic attributes at once: earth, wind, water, fire, and void."