In typical web novels, whether it was martial arts or magic, the setting often held that the sooner you started as a child, the better.
The justifications varied, but the general direction was similar.
Mana flowed easily, the meridians were clean, one adapted quickly to power, and so on.
The point was that the younger you were, the better your adaptability and absorption of supernatural abilities, and missing that window greatly restricted your growth.
In fact, even without resorting to fiction, reality was the same.
To become a top-tier performer or athlete, you had to start by elementary school at the latest, and the more a discipline demanded delicacy, the stronger that tendency.
It was because you needed to adapt to that environment from childhood and invest a young child's full potential into that field to stand at the very top.
As worldly affairs are the same everywhere, our world was similar, but there was something slightly different.
“Mana. And among that, you know that for systematic studies, it’s not good to rush the introduction.”
“Yeah, it’s common sense.”
“But that doesn’t mean it’s good to start late, either. Much less that doing nothing at all is any different.”
It was a neat summary, befitting my sister.
“Then what if I said I know the optimal growth period?”
“...I heard it’s not your future self? No, to begin with, that isn’t something even you yourself could know.”
It was a rare, flustered voice.
In truth, my sister was right.
Perhaps a vague growth period, but there was no way even a future version of himself would know the exact, pinpointed days of best growth.
But what I had invoked was no future self of mine.
It was something far more objective, like the perspective of a god.
“I still know.”
“...Amazing.”
That was pure admiration.
Because flowing from her younger brother was a greatness she could recognize, given that she possessed the same unique ability.
“You called a soul from a very distant place. Because to know information objectively, you have to look from afar.”
She hit the nail on the head immediately.
“...I think it’s more amazing that you caught on right away.”
“Well, I’ve lived six years longer than you.”
My sister smiled faintly again.
This time, it was a smile born of genuine happiness.
But that smile soon clouded over.
“Still, be careful. The information obtained doesn’t degrade, but that doesn’t guarantee the information’s reliability.”
“What do you mean?”
When I asked again because it was hard to understand, my sister closed her mouth for a moment.
“Like this.”
She said that much and closed her eyes.
I saw a faint presence approaching my sister.
Rustle.
It was neither a physical presence nor a magical one.
It was a spiritual sense that only people of our clan could understand.
My sister was performing Spirit Invocation now.
“This person believes the earth is flat, and believes that if you walk for about a hundred days, a cliff at the end of the earth will appear. Even though they have never once actually been to the end of the earth.”
“...So there’s no way to know if that person’s knowledge is truly an objective fact.”
“Yes, that’s right. Our Helio catches on quickly.”
With those words, the faintly flickering translucent light at the corners of my sister’s eyes receded.
That was the proper way to use Spirit Invocation.
You called what was needed at the moment, obtained information, replaced it, and sent it away.
Seeing as it had been treated in the game as a kind of additional gear that granted corrections to related skills and stats, it seemed they had viewed it similarly over there too.
“Don’t blindly believe too much in the power and knowledge obtained through Spirit Invocation like this. Knowledge gained through Spirit Invocation doesn’t degrade or distort, but judging whether that knowledge is correct is your role.”
“Is that a worry?”
“Yes, a worry. And a necessary guideline for one who uses Spirit Invocation.”
“Got it. I’ll be careful.”
Well, unlike fiction, not all information worked accurately and conveniently.
According to what Father had said about cases of Spirit Invocation in similar formats, there probably wasn’t anything truly strange.
Still, I couldn’t rule out getting properly tripped up at least once.
“So, did that distant soul tell you the date of when you should start?”
“Seven years later. Within about seven days of the Academy entrance ceremony.”
“...It really told you with tremendous precision.”
This was a setting revealed directly by the developer.
For Helio, that time had been the most optimal, and because he could immediately begin mana studies according to the Academy’s curriculum, explosive growth had been possible.
In the game, the mana introduction had been a class that doubled as a tutorial, and there had been no option to view it otherwise.
Since it had become reality, the tutorial’s forced nature had disappeared, so if I wanted, I could enjoy a self-imposed hard mode, but...
‘I’m not some veteran who repeats strange stunts complaining about a lack of content. There’s no need for unnecessary adventure.’
At the very least, I didn’t possess the recklessness to throw away my entire life for an unknown development.
“Do you know the clear theory behind the growth method?”
“Uh, yeah. I know it because it was a passing remark and didn’t degrade.”
After that, my sister asked this and that.
Why explosive growth was possible at that time.
Conversely, the reason growth slowed when you missed the timing.
Side effects of coming into contact with it too early, and so on.
“.........”
Persuasive contemplation, the developer’s interview, settings that had come out as if flowing naturally within the work.
Gathering all of that, I explained all the information I knew, and my sister fell silent once more.
“Excuse me, Sister.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Do you not like that I’m following this?”
I asked carefully at my sister’s words, persistent to the point of interrogation.
After all, I had no intention of abandoning my growth plan by listening to her now, but still, when the family member I trusted most kept showing a skeptical side, I couldn’t help but be concerned.
At my question, my sister slowly shook her head.
“Well... I couldn’t find any part in your explanation that contradicted what I know. Aside from it being something only possible for you, I certainly think the credibility is high.”
“Really?”
Because my sister didn’t change her expression or voice easily, she was often misunderstood in many ways.
Since I had practically been raised by her from birth, I had been confident there would be nothing I’d mistake about her, but...
‘Was it not reluctance, but just her being thorough?’
Unexpectedly, it seemed I still lacked the ability to read my sister’s face.
Just when my confidence in knowing my sister well was about to crumble, my sister opened her mouth again.
“But I’m too afraid to leave my little brother to invest his entire life in something that is merely highly plausible.”
Ah, so it had been reluctance after all.
Before my sister’s worry, I realized that my pride in not being wrong about her hadn’t crumbled.
Only after that did I realize that my sister had interrogated me so thoroughly because she was worried about me, and I also realized that I had a talent for being an unfilial son.
“Ah, yeah. Thanks for worrying.”
“...I’d rather you postponed your thanks. Because from now on, I’m going to say things you won’t wish for.”
“You will?”
“Yes, me.”
Having built up the tension like that, my sister put on a scary expression.
...Though it was Helenora’s irony that she still looked elegant despite that.
“Helio, I need to observe your mana a bit. Even if I can’t pinpoint it, I can check the approximate value.”
“...What do you need to observe it?”
“Naturally, I have to see you move it directly.”
Sure enough, it was unwelcome news.
Because to maximize the growth effect, I wasn’t supposed to come into contact with it until the formal induction.
“............”
But when I looked at my sister putting on her scariest face, I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
‘No, let’s be honest.’
It was my sister’s request, but I was already feeling interested myself.
If only I hadn’t fainted from Spirit Invocation, I would have started gradually coming into contact with mana the next day.
In other words, though I too was a person from a world where mana was commonplace, I had never actually handled or felt mana.
That childlike curiosity, combined with Ojio’s memories, led to excitement at the thought of experiencing fantasy.
‘Well, I’m also worried about whether the information is solid, and once or twice should be fine. Since my sister asked, it can’t be helped.’
In the first place, never coming into contact with mana even once was impossible for a member of a noble house.
Even without directly moving the mana in one’s body like this, magic products using magic stones were commonly in existence.
In other words, unless one had actually transferred over from another world, a body completely untouched by mana was something only theoretically possible.
So a little ulterior motive mixed in should be fine, right?
“If you say so, it can’t be helped.”
“...Yes, thank you for understanding, Helio.”
But I showed a gloomy expression, as if I were doing this helplessly because of my sister.
Because my sister always bought me expensive sweets whenever I was gloomy like this.
‘The ice sweets from Celin last time were delicious. I should play dumb and build up to it soon.’
Saliva pooled in my mouth with a double meaning, and I went to the training ground with my sister.
* * *
That it was not good to come into contact with mana training methods at too early an age was common sense among nobles.
But at the same time, it was human nature to want to get ahead even by a little, and one of the few methods was the wooden sword now in my hand.
“I’ll show you the demonstration first. Follow along exactly.”
My sister swung the sword.
‘Amazing.’
It wasn’t a particularly practical movement.
Nor was the movement fast or forceful.
Rather, a simple downward strike would have been more helpful for training.
It was graceful, but that was all.
But what my sister was showing now was our clan’s secret sword art.
It was called the Solar Praise.
Hum.
A sound like singing from the sword was heard.
This phenomenon, called the sword song, wasn’t anything special in principle.
It was a sound that occurred naturally as air was sucked into the trajectory of the moving sword.
However, what made that sound special was that it required muscular strength strong enough to gather such wind with the sword alone, an understanding of the sword, and mana control.
Whoosh.
But even that was merely an aftereffect.
Because the true meaning was being manifested from the sword she held now.
“Sword aura...”
A bluish light settled on the blade of the wooden sword.
It was the manifestation of the sword aura, the most famous and greatest hurdle among techniques using mana.
For a mere fourteen-year-old girl to have accomplished it was too incredible.
“Hoo... Did you see properly?”
“Yeah, even sword aura came out.”
“That’s a shortcut, so don’t pay it too much mind.”
What my sister had shown just now was our clan’s secret sword art.
However, even if it was called a secret art, it was closer to forms, so it had no practicality whatsoever.
But this hadn’t been created with practicality in mind from the start.
‘Actions imbued with power... was that it?’
Though I didn’t know the principle, there were several movements that resonated with mana.
Just now, that Solar Praise was something made by gathering such movements into a single form.
The effect was to draw in external mana and wrap it around the body.
“If you do this, your mana circuits will be stimulated.”
“And you’re observing that?”
“That’s right.”
I looked down at the wooden sword in my hand.
Solar Praise was a dynamic training method that gathered mana through movement, unlike static methods like breathing or meditation.
Its role was to stimulate the mana in the body and make the body more mana-friendly.
It didn’t fully utilize mana like formal martial arts, but it served to awaken and circulate the mana in the body to some extent.
In other words, it was closer to the process of building the body before formally entering a sport.
“Will you try?”
“Yeah.”
In truth, I shouldn’t do this either if it was for the peak.
Leaving aside whether I handled it directly, the secret to growth was to avoid contact between mana and my body as much as possible.
Like osmotic pressure, it was a phenomenon triggered when a body too isolated from the outside greedily drew in mana.
Therefore, this would probably be the first and last time.
Swish.
“Yes, that’s good. Step with your left foot there.”
I swung the wooden sword following my sister’s guidance.
A downward cut, stepping forward with the left foot while slashing upward, then rotating once to cut horizontally.
With just these three movements, I felt a blue energy from within.
‘To think color can be felt in power, it’s really amazing...’
Cough.
“Helio?”
Thud.
Strength left my legs and I collapsed on the spot.
My vision slowly dyed black, and pain began to surge in.
Just like when I had fainted from the aftereffects of Spirit Descent.
“Helio!”
The last thing I saw was my sister rushing toward me before my sight went dark.
* * *
I opened my eyes.
“My goodness, are you all right, Helio?!”
“Does anything hurt? Do you feel strange anywhere?”
I quickly realized my parents weren’t simply making a fuss.
After all, it hadn’t even been that long since I had fainted from the Spirit Descent incident, and now I had collapsed again.
And this time, the process had been different from before.
“…I coughed up blood?”
I remembered spitting something out right before I collapsed, and apparently, that had been blood.
As for me, aside from feeling a little drained, nothing particularly hurt, but…
Still, separate from my physical condition, I felt something ominous.
It wasn’t about what Helio was like in the game or anything of the sort.
It was simply that my instincts as a person could tell, from the sight of the two people anxiously standing before me, that something bad was coming.
“Um, why did I collapse? I didn’t even do anything special.”
“…While you were unconscious, the examination was already completed. The doctor said the cause was that you used mana.”
“Uh… is that some side effect of Spirit Descent I don’t know about?”
If so, it could be resolved by removing Ojio’s soul.
Losing that knowledge would be a shame, but some of it still remained in my head, and the important parts could simply be written down again, couldn’t they?
“…No. He said the cause appears to be purely the fact that you used mana.”
“Even if you say that… I’ve never used mana directly. I just, just… moved a little, that’s all.”
“………”
“………”
“Th-then what’s the cause? If we know using mana is the problem, we need to know why using mana makes me end up like that. Right?”
At my question, Dad shook his head with a grave expression.
“The cause is unknown.”
“That’s…”
If I ended up like this from nothing more than my family’s swordsmanship, it was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to properly use full-fledged magic or martial arts.
“Ah……”
Only then did I understand where that ominous feeling had come from.
My parents.
Mom and Dad.
“……Sob.”
“…Do not cry. The one suffering most must be this child.”
Both of them looked as if they were about to cry.
As if they couldn’t bear how pitiful I was.
Helio couldn’t have known, but Ojio’s knowledge understood what those expressions meant.
‘When I was declared disabled.’
When one of his legs had been crushed in an accident.
When he had been told he would never walk again.
It was the same as what Ojio’s parents had shown then.
“Uh…”
Even to Helio, who was only eight years old, mana was familiar and close at hand.
Then what about the world as a whole?
Ojio’s knowledge gave me the answer.
‘Something everyone can use as a matter of course.’
Though there might be differences in degree, everyone from commoners to nobles could use mana.
…And I had become someone who could not do what everyone else could do as a matter of course.
“Uh…… Ah……”
Tears came.
Knowledge Helio alone would never have known—the perception of a social outcast—flowed in from Ojio’s memories.
I had become a useless person.