Chapter 2: Magic

The Four Great Attributes of Magic.

Among those four, earth magic possessed characteristics that were slightly… different from the others.

“Fireball!”

As usual, I sat by the window in my room, resting comfortably in my chair while looking out at the garden below.

In the distance, I could see my sister Shia in the middle of her daily magic training.

The moment she shouted the spell, a blazing sphere of fire—large and heavy like a chunk of molten rock—burst from her outstretched palm. It tore through the air with a roaring hiss before slamming directly into the practice target in the yard.

The target exploded into charred splinters.

“Wow… that’s flashy.”

I rested my cheek against my hand and watched lazily.

That was what normal magic looked like in this world.

At its most basic level, magic was the act of bringing something from nothing.

Creating existence out of the void—that was the fundamental principle.

“…Maybe like this?”

But earth magic was different.

Instead of creating something from nothing…

It altered what already existed.

I held the small spoon in my hand and focused slightly. The metal bent and shifted as if it had suddenly softened like clay.

A moment later, the spoon reshaped itself into a fork.

“…Does this really count as ‘earth,’ though?”

Earth.

Just how far did that definition go?

In this world, the concept of “earth” in earth magic didn’t merely mean soil or dirt. It seemed to refer more broadly to the substances that made up the land itself.

Metals included.

As I stirred sugar into my tea with the newly formed fork, I thought about it.

Manipulating silver like this wasn’t exactly easy. It took a fair bit of concentration to convince my magic that silver counted as earth.

But apparently, my magic accepted it.

If I could reshape silver, then I could probably reshape iron too.

“If I could make gold out of nothing, that would be the perfect magic.”

If earth magic worked like the other attributes—creating things from nothing—then producing gold would have been the ultimate dream.

Unfortunately, earth magic couldn’t do that.

It could only transform existing matter.

You could describe it as the ability to process anything buried within the ground. When phrased that way, it sounded impressive—almost like a miraculous industrial tool.

But whether it was actually useful in battle…

That was questionable.

In fact, this world had already invented steam engines. The industrial revolution was steadily pushing technology forward.

In terms of industry, earth magic definitely had the potential to contribute.

However, there was one enormous problem.

“Hardly anyone even uses earth magic in the first place.”

Magic itself was already considered a highly advanced skill.

And talent played a huge role in determining who could use it effectively.

Since very few people were capable of mastering earth magic in the first place, the idea of incorporating earth mages into industry had never really taken off.

“Well… even if they did ask me to do precise industrial work, I’m not sure I’d manage it anyway.”

Right now, the best I could do was something like turning a spoon into a fork through rough manipulation.

If someone asked me to produce identical copies over and over again, I’d probably fail.

The adjustments were too delicate.

Every transformation ended up slightly different.

Of course, that was just my limitation. A truly extraordinary mage might be able to perform such tasks flawlessly.

But for now, the best practical application I could imagine was something like land leveling or construction work.

“…Not exactly the sort of job a noble is supposed to do.”

Construction work was undeniably important.

Society needed it.

But it wasn’t considered noble work.

Which meant that no matter how much time passed, someone like me—born with the earth attribute—would likely never escape the label of failure.

After all, everyone in this world was born with only one magical attribute.

From the moment I was born, my fate had basically been sealed.

A rather unfortunate child, really.

“Well then.”

Still, magic was magic.

As someone who had once been an ordinary Japanese guy, the mere fact that I could use magic was exciting.

“Though if I’m being honest… I wish it were something flashier.”

I opened the window.

Then, without hesitation, I threw myself out of it.

My body flipped twice in midair before I landed smoothly on the ground below.

“Yep. Body enhancement works perfectly now.”

It was a drop from the second floor.

Not quite high enough to kill someone—but certainly high enough that an ordinary person wouldn’t walk away unscathed.

Yet I felt perfectly fine.

That was thanks to body enhancement, a form of non-attribute magic.

“Hmm hmm hmm~”

Humming cheerfully to myself, I slipped quietly through the garden.

I made sure to keep out of sight as I ran past the neatly trimmed hedges and flower beds until I reached the backyard, a secluded corner of the estate where hardly anyone ever came.

“Alright… let’s do this.”

I raised one foot slightly.

Then stomped it down onto the ground.

The moment my foot struck the earth, magic activated.

A large hole instantly opened beneath my feet.

“Nice.”

Magic didn’t actually require chanting.

A small gesture was enough to trigger it.

Of course, saying the name of the spell out loud was considered good manners—it let others know what kind of magic you were using.

“Looking at it like this… it actually seems pretty strong.”

After creating the pit, I placed both hands on the ground.

The soil trembled and rose upward, forming a massive wall of earth.

“Perfect.”

The wall easily rose higher than my own height.

I nodded in satisfaction.

With something like this, blocking an opponent’s magic attack would probably be fairly easy.

But unfortunately…

The world had already developed defensive magic of the non-attribute type capable of nullifying magical attacks.

Apparently, those spells were already being used on battlefields.

Which meant that this kind of earth-wall technique might already be becoming obsolete.

“…Y-Young Master?”

Just as I was using my magic to sink the earth wall back into the ground…

A voice suddenly spoke from behind me.

“Uh-oh.”

I spun around in alarm.

Standing there was the elderly butler who served our household.

“W-What are you doing… exactly…?”

The old man stared at me with wide eyes, clearly stunned.

I immediately pressed my index finger to my lips.

“Shhh. Please… don’t say anything.”

“Ah—well—”

“If Father finds out I’m using magic, he’ll make a huge fuss.”

My father’s contempt for earth magic was intense—borderline obsessive.

If he ever saw me practicing it, he would almost certainly explode with rage.

That was why I always sneaked out here to the quiet backyard whenever I wanted to practice.

“…Yes, I understand that,” the old butler said slowly. “But… since when have you been able to use magic?”

“Hm? Not that long ago.”

I smiled casually.

“What do you think? I’m pretty good at it, right?”

“…P-Pretty good, you say…? No… wait… that’s not the point. Your magic… no, your mana capacity—”

“What are you muttering about?”

I tilted my head.

“Well, whatever. Grandpa Butler, please keep what you saw here a secret, okay? I’ll quietly disappear before this turns into trouble.”

The old man didn’t seem particularly eager to scold me.

So before things got complicated…

It was probably best if I made a quick retreat.