Magic Hand

"Small Fireball. This is the spell you've wanted most, Mr. Dean. One final confirmation: would you like to purchase this spellbook?" Mousse asked solemnly.

Dean had stared at the Small Fireball spellbook far more than once or twice, and had repeatedly declared that he would make it his the moment he saved up enough money.

Still, regulations required Mousse to formally confirm whether he wanted to make the purchase.

After all, this was a spellbook worth an entire gold coin.

"I'm cer—" The rest of "certain" was about to leave his lips when, at that very instant, a purplish-black spellbook happened to catch his eye.

Dean froze. Curiosity welled up from somewhere, leaving him desperately wanting to know what kind of spellbook it was.

"Wait, I remember... that purplish-black spellbook wasn't here before."

Mousse already had her hand on Small Fireball and was just about to pull it from the shelf, but that final word never came. That instant felt as long as an hour.

Fortunately, the rest of Dean's words indicated that he had not given up on buying a spellbook. He merely wanted to ask about another book's origins.

The payment was five Silver Coins. Mousse had nearly thought those five gleaming little things were about to slip through her fingers.

"Phew... you mean this spellbook? It's a new arrival that came to our library a few days ago. Apparently, it contains a semi-support spell," Mousse explained, though her hand never left Small Fireball.

Mousse figured that once Dean heard "semi-support spell," he would lose interest and choose Small Fireball without hesitation.

In fact, Dean's first spell had been a pure support spell: Basic Binding Magic.

It was the one and only respectable spell he had.

Of course, spells like Basic Illumination had even been classified as sub-tier magic, beneath basic magic. Even the light produced by some slightly stronger spells could rival Basic Illumination.

It was not that support magic was bad. Dean simply wanted an offensive spell too badly.

So, after Mousse's explanation, Dean lost interest as well.

"Never mind, then. Just give me Small Fireball. After all, I already have a support spell..." Dean said, looking at Mousse.

Perhaps it was all in his head, but Dean felt that the purplish-black spellbook stood out remarkably in the corner of his vision.

"Sorry, Mousse, but could I ask a little more about this... semi-support spell? What sort of magic is it?" Dean asked, a little embarrassed.

He had interrupted Mousse twice in a row. Of course he could not claim to feel no embarrassment at all, though the two had known each other for quite some time and were fairly familiar.

"No problem. Let me introduce it to you." Judging by Dean's expression, Mousse was now certain those five glittering silver things would find their way into her purse, so she relaxed.

Using magic exclusive to librarians, Mousse recited a brief incantation, and an explanation of the spellbook appeared before Dean.

Magic Hand was a dark-element spell that allowed the caster to conjure a pair of purplish-black magical hands in the air at will.

The true purpose of these Magic Hands was to replace the caster's own hands in dangerous experiments, though they could also be used in combat.

"They can also be used in combat..." It seemed those were the only words left in Dean's eyes.

"Miss Mousse, I'll take this Magic Hand!" At that moment, Dean's gaze was extraordinarily resolute.

"Huh? Oh... oh! Certainly, Mr. Dean. Please follow me, and I'll remove the spellbook's binding." Mousse froze briefly, then quickly recovered.

Every spellbook in the library was bound. Until the binding was removed, no one could read its contents or take it away.

Mousse did not ask why Dean had suddenly abandoned Small Fireball in favor of Magic Hand. It did not matter; her five Silver Coins were already secured.

"Transaction complete, Mr. Dean. This copy of Magic Hand is now yours." After saying that, Mousse winked at him. "Here's a little secret: this Magic Hand came from a certain important figure in the Magic Capital."

"The Magic Capital..." Those words had clearly piqued Dean's interest.

The Magic Capital was the heart of this magic kingdom. No one knew how many powerful spellbooks and practitioners of various professions it held.

Rumor had it, however, that more than one level-eight grand magister who had mastered forbidden spells lived there.

And this copy of Magic Hand might well have been created by a powerful level-four or even level-five mage.

What could he do? This impoverished Blue Town did not even have a single level-three spellbook!

Without a doubt, Magic Hand's quality had reached perfection.

"Will you be needing anything else, Mr. Dean?" Mousse was growing impatient, rubbing her hands together incessantly.

Her craving for those five Silver Coins seemed to have reached its limit.

Before long, Dean returned to his rented little room and opened Magic Hand again.

It was not that he wanted to learn the spell as quickly as possible. Rather, there were a few special points he needed to examine carefully.

First, this was a dark magic spellbook. That was one reason it sold for only a single gold coin despite having been written by a level-four or level-five great mage.

Dean possessed a dark affinity, however, and Basic Binding Magic had some connection to dark magic as well. That was why Magic Hand interested him.

In fact, very few people possessed a dark affinity. This, too, could be counted among Dean's misfortunes.

Magic Hand.

Spell level—unrestricted!

This was a highly debatable description. Unrestricted meant that the spell was not fixed at basic or advanced level; instead, its level depended on the user.

Of course, low-level magic was already the weakest tier. As for sub-tier magic... that was too unusual and barely counted as magic at all.

Thus, whether Magic Hand was limited to low-level magic did not matter to Dean. Either way, this spell was worth the money.

That point alone put Dean at ease. Judging by this, Magic Hand would be no worse than Small Fireball.

Dean did not immediately begin casting Magic Hand, because the spellbook's explanation did not end with those few details.

Only three hours later did Dean put the spellbook down. He had read it over and over, stopping only after mentally simulating every detail several times.

By then, Dean could safely be said to have no trouble casting the spell. Still, to be cautious, he headed to Bru Academy.

He had come to choose a class, one covering magic similar to Magic Hand.

Of course, Bru Magic Academy was only a small academy. The entire school offered no more than ten classes a day, so many apprentices had to wait a week or even a month for the magic class they wanted.

Dean was lucky, because today there just happened to be a class related to Magic Hand—Ice Shaping Magic.

(End of chapter)