Hermit Wizard

Prologue (3)

[So, once the Channel is open on your body, we should avoid the Truth-Seeker’s eyes. As I have become your family anyway, my goal is to help you live for a long time.]

I nodded in horror.

[Hmm… Kid, now that you have started to understand my words a little, it seems like the time has come to talk about it…]

Parvache chose his words carefully as if he was about to start an important story.

[In the meantime, I have observed you, especially your potential as a wizard. And I have learned about this world as I have been analyzing the current situation…]

“Yeah.”

[It is an undeniable reality that a Truth-Seeker was interested in you. There couldn’t be a weird thing that happened, such as he just literally passed by and saw you, then sowed the Channel in your body just because you were there.]

“…”

[However, he might have been in a state where he can’t find you right now.]

“For example?”

[It is unlikely, but if we find any traces that he has died or…has acquired a divine nature, from that moment on, we no longer have to fear Truth-Seeker’s return.]

“Oh, it’s complicated…anyway, if I find evidence that the Truth-Seeker can’t do anything to me, I can live, right?”

[That’s right.]

“What if I can’t find it?”

[If you cannot know the whereabouts of the Truth-Seeker or, on the contrary, confirm that he is living well in this world, this is a very dangerous situation. Once this happens, your life is practically done for.]

“What?”

It was absurd and hard to believe, especially for a nine-year-old.

[We have to leave this place and hide where there are as many people as possible.]

“A place with a lot of people? Not a place without people?”

[To deceive the Truth-Seeker’s senses, it is easier to hide in a place where many similar humans have gathered. And it can’t be too close to the place where the Channel was opened. It’s dangerous.]

“Ah… then should I move to Seoul?”

The events that ensued from that moment onwards left me miserable for quite a long time.

[Anyway, after you have decided on your base, you have to practice the most powerful magic barrier that your potential allows and then live in a locked-in place.]

“Barrier… what?!”

[Considering your talent, you can make a barrier large enough to cover this house, but it will take you about 5 to 10 years to learn it. In fact, the magic barrier available to you is enough to avoid the Truth Seeker’s eyes, so if the Truth-Seeker decides to start looking for you with his power, the barrier can be broken. However, in such a young dimension, the Truth-Seekers also have limitations in their action, so using that effort will disadvantages. Instead, it would be more efficient to give up on you and create a new Channel.]

“No, wait a minute…”

When I didn’t understand, Parvache explained what a barrier was. In summary, it was like a wall that couldn’t be seen or touched, but if I went inside it, the Truth-Seeker wouldn’t be able to find me. It didn’t have a shape so that anyone could come in and out freely, but the Truth-Seeker wouldn’t be able to recognize me in it.

[The Truth-Seeker who can’t find you in the barrier would think you were dead. With your death, he will assume the Channel is already closed and give up on his search.]

Somehow a gloom had already come over me, and I spoke with a grimace on my face.

“Okay, I get it…”

[Oh, but that’s not the end.]

Parvache stopped talking for a moment; it seemed he was organizing his thoughts.

[As I said before, the moment you completed the barrier magic, you should be 90%… no, in a way, at least 99% safe. But…]

It was an expressionless robotic face, but I felt like Parvache was taking a breath with a dulled expression, almost sorrowful.

[99% is only 99%. We need to be prepared for any contingency. It’s unlikely, but if the Truth-Seeker does all his best to find you, we need a countermeasure in case the barrier is broken.]

“Yeah.”

I chimed in with his enthusiasm, although it was hard to be optimistic with this news.

[It is unlikely, but I think it is more dangerous not to prepare at all. You can’t gamble with your life.]

“Then what do we do?”

[In case the Truth-Seeker breaks your barrier magic, as soon as you complete the barrier, you’re going to learn Leap magic. It will teleport you to another dimension. But be wary as it will leave you terribly disoriented – as if you’re mad, dying, vomiting blood, or shitting.]

He paused for a moment so that I could merge my thoughts.

[It’s high-ranking magic that Truth-Seeker’s cannot trace. It will allow you to wrap between dimensions. As soon as you realize that the barrier magic has been discovered, you can escape to another dimension. It’s a double safety device. Even with your talent, it’s unclear whether you can achieve this level before the Channel evolves into adulthood… and the Truth-Seeker comes to you… It won’t be easy. But it’s better than not even trying at all.]

“…”

I lost my words for a moment, then wrapped my head, feeling that somehow the items on my plate were getting bigger and too difficult for me to handle.

“No, but… how do I find the traces of the Truth-Seeker… and how to use the strange… barrier magic that you mentioned before…?”

[Don’t worry about that.]

Parvache’s voice echoing in my head made it feel as if those words had been etched in stone for me.

[There is tracking magic that follows the traces of the Truth-Seeker, barrier magic that will create a nest where you will be hidden, dimensional leap magic that will let you bounce to another dimension. There are ways to learn everything.]

“How?”

I asked him curiously with a blank expression on my face. What did I really know, after all? Parvache’s response was determined.

[Because I will teach you magic!]

“What?”

[It’s like a blessing, you get to learn from me who…]

After that, there were some profound words and expressions that sounded like explanations of how brilliant and excellent Parvache was. He began to talk about how great a blessing it would be to learn magic from him. Again, words such as ‘group consciousness, ‘spirit,’ ‘Akashic Record’ and ‘purbagios,’ which I could not understand at that time, continued to be a vital part of his diction.

[I can’t use magic in this state because my body is a totem without an ounce of magic power, but I can teach it.]

“No, but you said I summoned you using magic that I didn’t learn. But isn’t it a little weird learning magic from you?”

[That day, I thought that you summoned me, to subordinate me… but it was just a gathering of pure, intense wish and tenacious will that unfolded into a primitive level of magic.]

I frowned cluelessly.

“What?”

[What I am trying to teach you is a way to use magic. Similar to the day when you summoned me with your original will… and perhaps with the feeling of ‘ownership,’ without having to have a strong will or extreme emotions, but at any moment you want, like a true master.]

“Because it happened by chance that I summoned you, you mean that I have to learn from you how to use magic properly?”

[Yeah, now you understand? In summary, from now on, you must learn the tracking magic to find the trace of the Truth-Seeker and learn the barrier magic to avoid his eyes. You will then learn the dimensional leap magic in preparation for the situation where the Truth-Seeker may break the barrier you completed.]

When I heard the story, it didn’t feel real at all. A terrifying being might be aiming at me in this world. In preparation for that event, I had to learn not one but three strange magics from an unknown soul nested in my toy robot. But, as I learned later, it was a pure thought that I only needed to learn three spells. The magical world that Parvache was talking about wasn’t a simple object that I could learn by selecting only the magic I wanted to learn, as I expected. It was a long journey of memorizing countless spells and formulas to reach a certain level, step by step.

[Don’t worry, I’ll do my best, too. Now you understand I’m in trouble if you die, right?]

Actually, I didn’t understand it all that well. I had heard a lot of stories that if I died, Parvache would die too. But his death was a bit different from my death.

“I still don’t know what that means, Parvache.”

I shook my head. Parvache stopped speaking as if he had given up.

[Okay, let’s see if we can have a conversation about the meaning of this “death”… well, measuring the pace of your intelligence development and knowledge accumulation… we’ll talk about it again in the next four years. Then, in the meantime, let’s study hard.]

And, Parvache had said the words that I would hear thousands of times over the next few years as if it were a broken radio.

[Relax, I’m an excellent teacher. Magic – is actually very easy to learn.]

Now that I think about it, he was only half-right. That’s how my Spartan classes with Parvache began.