Ordeal of the Worst Magician

Adopting to the New World

    At the dining table, I've been itching to tell my parents that I think I have a solution about the water problem. I feel anxious since I am just a kid. I kept thinking hard until I took a deep breath and let it out.

    "Father... Do we have a river near our village?"

    "It's quite far from here. Across the forest I mean. Why do you ask?"

    "I was thinking of getting water there instead of buying more marbles."

    Father chuckled at my words. It seems that he thinks I would do trips just to fetch water. I can't blame him for it though. Now It's my chance to tell him about science.

    "I was thinking we could make a water wheel and push water from the river."

    "Oh... You got my interest. Tell me about this water wheel later."

    It is time to show off my science knowledge. I rushed to my room as soon as we finished breakfast and started drawing blueprints. I did my best to make it look understandable. In the end, it looks pretty normal. This would do for the visual aspect of the water wheel.

    I went to father's library to show him my presentation. As I enter the room, father is looking at the window. I took a deep breath and called him out. I proceeded on laying the sketchy blueprint I made on his table like an engineer presenting his work to his client.

    "Father, may I present to you, the water wheel."

    Father's eyes widened with my work. 

    "So how will this push the water across the forest?"

    I can't hide my grin anymore. His curiosity is far too deep to be ignored. Science's charms are strong even in a world of magic.

    "This huge wheel will turn with the push of the stream. Then, this rod will push in and out this pipe and this will push the water to move along this long pipe to the village."

    "To make these we need a lot of resources and man power. Like I said, the river is at the other end of forest. And how will we manage all the water if the wheel keeps on spinning?"

    Father criticized my design. He has a good understanding about the matter that he can give actual reasoning with his choice of words. But I won't lose. Science has been proved to solve every problem it creates.

    "For now we don't need to build pipes all the way to the village. We can just place the end of the pipe on an elevated place and make a canal straight to the village. I know this one involves too much labor but we with the canal, we won't be needing water mana converters to water the plants. we will also have a steady stream of water. As for the excess, we can make a small wall that if it overflows, it will just dump it on the the forest. That way it will also attract wild animals for us to hunt on occasions."

    "oh... You must have thought this through."

    Cold sweat drips from my head. His tone doesn't show any signs of approval.

    "Very well... Join me for a walk."

    Father took my blueprints and we walked outside. Unlike Lucia, Father is like a common folk. Fewer people greets him and most are elder people. Something about father doesn't fit the bill.

    We passed the town and made our way to a house at the end of it. It looks sturdy and there's an open workshop. The one living here must be a skilled craftsman. Of course, I we want to make the water wheel into a reality, we need the expertise of one.   

    Father knocked on the door. An adolescent voice answered and opened the door. His face has dirt yet his hair looked like it just woke up.

    "Ah sir Nathos, What service do you require today. I'm sorry for my messy face. My water converter just worn out last night."

    "Ah! speaking of that matter. Clay, this is my son Laurence. And Laurence This is Clayman Kroft. We have something for you to work with. Laurence wait for me out here. We won't be taking long."

    Once again, I am left behind as they do adult talks. I'm starting to think that father uses charming magic to convince people to agree with him. They came out before I could finish my mental monologue. 

    "Sir Nathos we need a lot of resources for this! We also need capable men who are willing to travel through the forest back and forth."

    "Not to worry. I will arrange a meeting with the chief to gather willing and capable men for the construction. We just need some hand for the assembly of the wheel and arrangements of the pipes. As for the materials... have them delivered to your workshop by morning. As for the canal, I will handle that myself after aligning the pipes."

    "huh... Ye...Yes!"

    I didn't know father has connections. He is like a mafia leader. I wonder how will he manage to get the resources by morning. It gets more and more sinister as we progress through the project. Am I a son of a crime organization that hides themselves as nobles? 

    "Laurence. You can go and play now. I will handle the rest from here."

    That made it even more sinister! I don't know what will happen when even one person refuse to do his bidding. 

    With him in charge, I went home and planned more projects. Vehicles, machines, weapons, all theses ideas are crowding my mind and I kept myself to catch up to these wonderful technologies. I drew their blueprints with everything I could. Papers scattering on the floor. This went on until I fell asleep. 

    I woke up at dawn on my bed. The papers are tidied up on my desk. It feels like my mind shut itself down because of too much thinking. A child's brain can't handle the vast knowledge of science I suppose. As I stood up mother opened the door. She embraced me with tears on her eyes.

    "You're finally awake! You made me worried! I thought you're condition made you faint!"

    She sobered up her tears and collected her composure.

    "Wash your hands and go down stairs, dinner is ready."

    I followed my mother's orders and went to the dinner table. Everyone seems to have something to say. That of course includes myself.

    "Agatha... I will leave later tonight to get materials for this water wheel Laurence mentioned."

    Father told Mother while maintaining composure.

    "Dear... Make sure to be up to send Lucia off. You didn't forget that tomorrow is the day she leaves for the kingdom academy right?"

    Father let out a cold sweat. He totally forgot. It seems he got too occupied with the project that he forgot. Now that I think about it, they never told me about the matter. I must react to this.

    "Wait! Sister is leaving?! Nobody told me about this!"

    I must say that reaction could get a nomination for a best actor award.

    "Dear..."

    Mother then glared at father. It seems that father was the one who's going to tell me about it. Father became stiff with all the pressure from mother's glares.

    "I'm sorry Laurence. I have to leave tomorrow... Don't worry we will see each other in two years."

    Lucia is trying to comfort me as if I am deeply affected by her leaving. I didn't know my acting is that good.

    "two years.... How old am I anyways?"

    "Don't tell me you forgot? You just turned fourteen a month ago."

    Ah... my judgement got worse due to my isolation. So I am basically a teenager. I am eleven years younger than my former self. 

    "I can't wait to be able to cast spells!"

    "By the way Lucia, you are joining the tower of Marbas right? Most of the clerics and alchemists join that tower."

    Father asked Lucia. This is the first I head of the towers.

    "If you're unsure you can always join the 73th tower. Your father gained quite the reputation because of that tower."

    "Hey now Dear. Have you told her how you made Marbas fall to his knees. You know Lucia, your mother got her title Great healer Devout because of that tower."

    Mother and Father continue praising each other. It seems that they are celebrities because they joined those towers. I want to ask more about them but its hard to cut their onslaught of compliments. This went on until we finished dinner. Father then stood up and excused himself.

    "I will take my leave now. I don't want to miss Lucia's departure."

    "Take care Dear. Lucia, Laurence you two wash your faces and go to bed."

    After leaving the dining table and washing my face, I followed Lucia.

    "Sister, what are the towers?"

    Lucia's eyes sparkled and dragged me to her room. She then grabbed a book. 

    "Laurence. This book is the academy's student handbook. Let me tell you about the towers. But tell me what are those drawings in your room are."

    So she was the one who tidied my blueprints and she is curious about them. It seems she has potential. Curiosity is the birth of knowledge after all. And so, I told her about them and explained their purpose.

    "Oh! That is awesome! You are very smart. Hey, once you made those g*n things, can I have one too?"

    "First, Tell me about the towers."

    "Deal!"

    Lucia went ahead and read the handbook but she fell asleep halfway through. Once again I moved her to her bed and placed a blanket on her. After that, I grabbed the handbook and read the rest myself.

    The every kingdom academy has seventy three towers. These towers are like clubs where students join to enhance their specific fields. They are also assisting to fend against the seventy two calamities. Each towers are specialized according to what abilities and magic the corresponding demon has. the seventy third tower on the other hand, are support units that assist in preparations and miscellaneous work during the calamity. As for the seventy two calamities, they are demons with different magic and abilities. Not much information are given in the guide book. 

   I got two years to think about which tower I should join. I need to improve my magic to impress them and secure my acceptance. After reading the handbook, I returned to my room and slept.

    I was woken up by a carriage and horse stomps. I rushed outside and found my family parting with Lucia.

    "Take care Lucia. Make sure to write us whenever you can."

    Mom hugged her as tears flow from her eyes. Father on the other hand, is patting her back.

    "Make sure you stay safe out there."

    Lucia saw me and came closer. 

    "Sorry I didn't woke you up."

    At this moment I feel frustrated. I want to give her something but it was too late. I clenched my fist and felt I was holding something hard. I stretched my hand out towards her and opened my hand. It was Hercules Beetle. I don't know how but this beetle just saved me from an awkward situation.

    "Here take him! He will protect you!"

    She grabbed the beetle out of my hand and placed it on her brooch.

    "Thank you!"

    "Lady Lucia, it's time to leave."

    She was assisted by a butler and we waved her goodbye as her carriage goes farther. We were silent even while eating breakfast. That lasted until father went straight to the point.

    "I already delivered the materials to Clayman's workshop. He said it will take 3 days to finish the wheel and pipes, and another 3 days to finish the assembly at the river."

    "Ah! Thank you for telling me father."

    "While waiting for the result, I shall start your training."

    Finally some training. I will finally learn how to use magic in this world. I will practice magic hard enough to become a great mage. 

    I walked into father's library with glee. As I enter, Father has three books on the table and of course, I already read them.

    "Ah... Father... I already read them."

    "Oh? Then you know how to control your mana conversion already? Last time I checked, you got exhausted after a few corpse."

    He bragged with a provoking tone.

    "I wasn't prepared from that time! I will show you!"

    "We will see about your claims. Show me you learned anything. Follow me."

    I followed father to the back of the house. There stands a log stuck on the ground. It seems father was already prepared to this extent to train me but he wasn't expecting me being ahead of his lessons.

    "Now then take this wind elemental converter. and cut that log without reaching exhaustion."

    "Ye...  Yes!"

    I received the marble and stretched my arms out as if I am begging for some change. Father is observing me. This definitely gives a lot of pressure on my end. I cleared my head and focused on the orb. I need to know how this works so I must observe its behavior when I transmit my magic into it. This sensation is like the sensation I felt when I was making theories about how stuff in the sci-fi stories work. I felt quite relaxed focused. 

    I felt my magic successfully transmitted to the marble and the wind spread on the angle of my palm. I see. The direction of the wind is based on the position of my hand. The ritual ball on the other hand, only has one side where the magic is released. Now I know the concept of how these marbles work. Once I know how to make them, I can use them to my advantage. Learning from trivial stuff is my specialty as a science enthusiast after all.

    Now that I know how this marble works, I can now cast it normally. I held my the marble as if I am holding a hand g*n and aimed it towards the log. I did the exact same thing when I was practicing and transmitted my magic into the marble. The wind I fired became condensed enough to chip a piece out of the log. On my second attempt I made the gap between my fingers narrower to make the wind even more condensed. Once again, I transmitted my magic to the marble without increasing the magic I put into it. This time, It took quite a chunk out of the log. I repeated it several times until I successfully cut the log down.

    "How's that for starters?"

    I turned the table around and gave Father a smug look.

    "That's it for today. Take your rest."

    Huh? Was that all? aren't there more concepts that I must learn? Somehow it feels like he didn't prepare his lessons further than this. Am I that gifted to magic?

    Since I got nothing to do, I visited my mother at the clinic she's been working. I found her making some medicine. She seems quite exhausted so I came to her and asked if she needs a hand.

    ''Hello mother. What are you doing?"

    "Oh! Laurence. I'm preparing potions to sell to the merchants. Do you want to help out?"

    "Yes!"

    "Well then, grab those herbs and pluck the leaves. after that, wash them."

    "Yes mother."

    I did what mother told me. Learning how to make potions are essential to live in this world. It won't hurt my pride to learn how to survive. After washing the leaves, I returned to mother.

    "Well done. Now do you want to watch me make potions?"

    "Yes!"

    I watched mother make potions. It was no different from watching a chemist concocting chemicals. There are slight difference since potions require powdered mana. That powder was from an orb similar to father's ritual ball. It converts Mother's magic into powder. I assume that you need to have healing magic to use that orb and get the powder that makes potions. I wonder if there is crystal that can convert my magic into a healing magic so I can help Mother as well.

    Time passes by and we made forty vials of healing potions. Mother took looked really exhausted so I escorted her home.

    A week passed by with me being trained by my father and helping my mother. My father's training involves adding more logs for me to chop off. I am starting to understand that father is training me to increase my magic proficiency so I can cast my magic without worrying getting mana poisoning.

    The next day instead of training father brought me through the forest. The distance from the town to the river was quite far yet the canal was dug and patted down. Our walk continued for a couple of hours until we see the pipe along with three men resting on a rock. It's amazing that the canal was in perfect slope with just three people working on it. Clayman noticed and greeted us.

    "Sir Nathos! We just finished installing the pipes!"

    "Thank you for your hard work. Just wait here."

    "Yes sir!"

    We then proceeded in following the pipe to the river down the cliff. I see they are certainly made with precision and they look sturdy. We reached the river and saw a hut with the wheel attached. I entered the hut to inspect the pump. I am amazed that they understood the blueprint well to the detail. The pump looks expertly made as well. Father pointed at the lever that lowers the wheel.

    "Will you do the honors?"

    Will excitement all over my face, I pulled the river. The wheel touched the stream and started spinning. The gears and pump started moving as well. We then climbed back up the cliff. As we climb up however, we can hear Clayman and his men celebrating. And we can hear the water flowing from the top.