Chapter 23: Janus (2)

The sun was well on its way towards the western horizon, and darkness settled much more quickly in the mountains. This was especially true in the case of the Great Mountains. Moreover, the two companions had delayed their descent in favor of teaching and learning, but that couldn’t have been helped. The boy’s eyes had lit up every time Pincheno explained a new concept, which prompted the old man to explain more and more. At this rate, by the time they reached the forest again, they would have to venture inside in the dark. Truthfully speaking, darkness was the least of Pincheno’s concerns, but he hesitated to share his worries with the boy. At last, he decided to tell him before entering the forest.

Pincheno took cautious step after cautious step, keeping his balance with his cane, and repeatedly glanced back at Lucid in fear that he would trip. However, regardless of his age, Lucid was already well accustomed to such mountain trails. Even if there was no clear path, he knew just exactly where and how to step on to move safely. It was almost instinctual. Such skill allowed his mind to wander off during their descent.

‘There is no limit as to what can be materialized with magic, but materialization itself is impossible without anagnorish. What’s there around me that I could possibly anagnorish at my level?’

No matter the issue, it was human nature to wish to try out newly learned concepts, and this was especially true for Lucid, who had been known even in the other world for his cleverness. It would extremely difficult for him to suppress his curiosity and desire for learning. Pincheno had noticed this, and he had told Lucid in passing that materializing objects was a rather difficult skill, suggesting instead that he focus on reenactment magic instead. The boy had taken this suggest quite seriously, and he had been thinking about it ever since.

That is why he failed to notice a pile of leaves over a sunken part of the ground. It was only a small mistake, but it was enough to create a rather alarming situation. Lucid’s foot slipped, causing him to lose all sense of balance.

Thud!

In the blink of an eye, he found himself on the ground. Luckily, he had transferred all his body weight into his other foot, and it had supported him enough to prevent further accidents.

“Are you alright?” Asked Pincheno as he rushed to the boy’s side.

Lucid merely looked up at him, a blank stare on his face. Worried that the shock had numbed the boy’s head, Pincheno set his cane down and began to look over Lucid’s body, checking for injuries. Thankfully, there was no sign of anything too troublesome.

“Lucid,” he called as he looked at the boy once more, “are you alright?”

“This… This is it.”

“Huh?”

Slowly but surely, the boy’s face regained its usual brightness. He smiled widely, as if unaware of the fall he had taken, and grabbed both of Pincheno’s arms.

“Falling! Slipping! This can also be magic, right?”

Only then did Pincheno realize that the boy had been pondering over anagnorish, and he smiled back. How much more could this boy surprise him? He had only known Lucid for a few hours, but it had been enough to make him wonder whether this boy was destined to become a sorcerer.

“That’s a good start. The magic we pursue has no names or incantations like the ones you’ve mentioned, with the exception of a few types of magic. They receive special names, such as “Praete.” That’s the name given to the magic of slipping, because it makes for a rather good practicing magic for beginning sorcerers. You could call it an introductory magic.”

“Praete is quite easy.” Pincheno explained as he patted off the dirt stuck to Lucid’s back. “Slipping. With the understanding and feeling you just anagnorished, you should be more than able to consumme.”

Lucid picked up Pincheno’s cane and handed it back to him as he asked: “But how do you make a figura in reenactment magic?”

“It depends on the magic, but in the case of Praete, you must replicate its feeling in your mental space. It’s easier said than done. Generally speaking, in reenactment magic, anagnorish is quite easy, but figura is the difficult part. Inversely, anagnorish is difficult in materialization magic, while figura is relatively easy. That’s why some sorcerers specialize in one type over the other.”

As he explained, Pincheno began to lead the way once again, digging his cane into the ground with each step. Lucid followed him closely, listening attentively to every word.

“For Praete, replicating the feeling is difficult, but chaptering is also quite the challenge. For example, the location you want to apply the property of slipping as well as the distance you wish to cover are all determined through chapter.”

Pincheno lifted his hand to point at two trees next to them.

“For example, you would need to chapter whether to make the ground between those two trees slippery, or the ground between this tree and that tree. On top of that, you would also need to chapter whether you want it to be slightly slippery or make it so that you’d slide right down as soon as you touched the ground.”

Lucid repeated Pincheno’s words in his head to fully memorize them. As they spoke, they had already reached the edge of the forest, which had already turned rather dark.

“Lucid, there is something I must tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Remember when I told you that sorcerers must be strong-willed?”

“Yes.”

“To be honest, I’m a very weak-willed person.”

“What do you mean?”

“Soon, you will come face to face with a different side of me. No, it’s more accurate to say it’s a wholly different person altogether. And that person will likely not know who you are, but I’m sure that if it’s you, he will understand the situation and help you as I have. Please, don’t be too scared and just try to talk to him.”

The unexpected turn of the conversation startled Lucid, who stared at Pincheno in confusion, unable to say a word, but the old man’s eyes were fixed on the sky. Though Lucid waited for him to explain further, no words escaped Pincheno’s mouth. As the darkness settled and the silence prolonged, Lucid couldn’t help but speak up.

“Um, sir… I’m not sure I understand…”

Pincheno sighed heavily and looked down at Lucid. Underneath the heavily wrinkled eyelids, his eyes gleamed darkly.

“And who are you?”

“Pardon?”

“I said, who hell are you?”

Lucid couldn’t hide his surprise at the old man’s change in tone. He stared at Pincheno, fumbling for words, but the old man simply looked at the cane in his hand and sighed again.

“This stupid cane keeps coming back no matter how many times I throw it out. Pincheno, you crazy idiot.”

He then turned back to face Lucid and began to silently inspect him. In the darkness of the forest, wild beasts began to cry out. Pincheno glanced around and, without bothering to face the boy, asked where they were.

However, Lucid wasn’t quite sure what this place was called, and he was at a loss for words. On top of that, he didn’t understand the situation at all. As such, he opted to disregard the question entirely.

“Hmm. From the looks of it, we’re pretty close to the Great Mountains.”

He spoke matter-of-factly, as if he didn’t quite need confirmation of his assumptions and lowered his gaze to look at Lucid. His eyes were remarkably sharp.

“You weren’t here yesterday, but here you are now. That means we probably met in the afternoon. So, who are you?”

This time, his voice had an edge to it, and Lucid felt that he needed to answer.

“My name is Lucid.”

Pincheno twisted his body this way and that to stretch out his back and meticulously rubbed his shoulders and thighs. Under normal circumstances, Lucid would have also taken the time to massage his sore muscles and stretch them out, but he was much too nervous to move.

“Where do you live?”

“In the… Town… On the other side of the forest.”

Pincheno turned his head to look at where the boy was pointing, but the darkness prevented him from seeing anything at all, and he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“So there’s a town here?”

“Yes…”

For some reason, anger resonated in Pincheno’s voice, and Lucid’s shoulders slumped even more. He felt nervous under Pincheno’s gaze, so sharp and cold now, and he fidgeted with his fingers. All he could feel was his heart beating out of his chest.

“Then why are you here?”

Though he hesitated for a bit, Lucid finally explained everything that had happened, from the moment they had met to the descent down the mountain.

“Crazy old Pincheno. Sticking his nose everywhere.”

He kept referring to himself in the third person, which was very, very odd.

“Hey, kid. Run off home now. I have places to go.”

“Huh?”

Lucid hurriedly grabbed onto Pincheno before he could turn around and leave.

“What?”

“Um…”

Lucid didn’t quite know how to interpret this situation, but he was sure that Pincheno would leave him behind if he let him go. He was afraid of being left alone, but he was also worried about Pincheno, who appeared as though he wanted to go back into the mountain. The combination of these emotions had caused Lucid to grab Pincheno’s robe without a second thought. Now that he had stopped the old man, however, he had no idea what to say. That’s when he remembered. Pincheno had said that it would be a wholly different person. If that was the case, there was really only one question to ask.

“Who are you?”

The solutions to all problems begin with asking the right questions.

<Janus (2)> End