I Was a Crazy, Berserker-Type Dungeon Streamer, but When I Helped a Beautiful Dungeon Streamer and Treated Her Politely, It Was Revealed That I Was Actually a Normal Person - 33

Chapter 33: Aren’t You Just Sugarcoating the Truth? Life Is All About Competition, Right?

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“Hoo…”

Grandpa Pixie watched as the impact of my 〈Fireball〉 blasted the target apart with an expression of admiration. 

“Ho-How was that?!”

“Considering you didn’t even know what magic power was until recently, I’d give you 200 points out of 100. However…”

Before I could even sigh in relief, Grandpa Pixie continued on.

“The speed and power are still a bit lacking… You need to concentrate more magic power into your palm.”

“Ugh..”

I had already gathered as much magic power as I could without losing control of it. Any more than that then I would need to use both hands to conjure the spell. 

“Well, practice makes perfect for that part. But still, I must say… I expect nothing less from someone who made it all the way to the deep level.”

I mean, I only managed to end up in the deep level purely on accident though. Not that I didn’t want the praise. The praise didn’t feel bad at all.

“Looking at your progress so far, I guess there’s no need for you to practice the other elementary level magic. I suppose I can start explaining the intermediate level magic a bit earlier than planned.”

“Please do!”

I said enthusiastically. At the pace I was going on, I might be able to master intermediate level magic by the end of the day. Magic… It was a technique that required a lot of focus, but it might actually be more enjoyable than I originally thought.

“I mentioned earlier that there are 300 intermediate level spells. Do you know why that is?”

“Huh? Umm… Is it because they rely heavily on imagination or something?”

“Wrong. Actually, intermediate level magic relies less on imagination.”

Huh? Is that so?”

“The answer is because they use magic circles.”

Magic… Circles? But if I remember it correctly, that elf from earlier didn’t conjure any magic circles though?

“A magic circle is something that you draw in your mind. For beginner level magic, you can use vague imagery to define the shape of your spell, but with intermediate level magic, you need to express those images through a magic circle.”

“Huh…?”

What does that even mean?

“Let’s say you imagine a picture in your head. How would you tell someone what kind of picture you have in your head?”

“Well, I’d describe the features of the picture with words.”

As soon as I said it, I realized what he actually meant.

“Precisely. A magic circle is essentially a language to convey your thoughts. By using it, you can adjust all the details of the magic you want to conjure and you can form it much more precisely than you can with elementary level magic. That’s why there are so many types of spells for intermediate level magic.”

“I see…”

“For example, the simplest of intermediate level fire spell, 〈Fire Lance〉, is…”

The old man casually pulled a thick book out of thin air as he spoke.

Umm… Can you please not do something that amazing so nonchalantly like that?

“Here it is.”

There was a drawing of a red magic circle in the book. It was a mix of circles and triangles intertwined. 

So I have to memorize this? Magic might be more challenging than I expected….

However, I didn’t have any intention to back down now. I recalled the words the elf woman from earlier had said.

――”I was just about to kill this human! Why are you stopping me?!”

If her words held true, then I would’ve been dead if Grandpa Pixie hadn’t intervened. No, even if that woman was just bluffing, it would’ve been only a matter of time before I lost to someone since I only specialized in just one skill. In that case, I had to master at least advanced level magic before this training was over. I absolutely didn’t want to lose to that elf woman.

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“Haaah… I’m so tired…”

I collapsed to my knees on the training ground floor, like a puppet with its strings cut. In the end, I couldn’t master intermediate level magic before sunset. I was struggling with the magic circle for a whole day. 

“Just being able to draw a magic circle in your head in this short amount of time is already impressive. You’re quite talented, you know?”

“But it’s the step after that…”

Just like what the old man said, I had managed to visualize the magic circle in my mind. However, maintaining that visualization while channeling the magic power was incredibly difficult. It required a lot of mental capacity. By the time I was able to gather enough magic power, the magic circle I was visualizing had vanished in my mind. I had lost count of how many times it had happened today. 

“You’re pretty talented though, at least, compared to my initial expectation of you.”

“..By the way, how long did it take for Grandpa Pixie to learn intermediate level magic?”

“I guess around 30 minutes.”

Clearly, I had asked the wrong person.

Come to think of it… This old man is referred to as a Sage, right? Well, of course someone with that level of talent like him could master it that quickly.

I knew that, but still… It was hard not to feel a little down. Perhaps noticing my dejected state, the old man opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m saying this not only about magic, but to everything about life in general. It’s not good to compare yourself to others too much. People are all different. It’s only natural for someone to excel at something while others struggle at the other thing. Everyone is different. If you keep  comparing yourself to others, you’ll eventually forget what’s truly important.”

“But Grandpa Pixie, aren’t you just sugarcoating the truth? Life is all about competition, right?”

Without thinking twice, those words had slipped out of my mouth. But I didn’t say anything wrong though. Society forced you into competition, whether you liked it or not. You were ranked by scores in school and when you entered the workforce, everyone started comparing salaries. For adventurers, you were judged based on your rank. For livestreamers, you were judged by your subscriber counts and live viewers. Even if you didn’t compare yourself to others, people would compare you anyway. Maybe this kind of judgemental mindset didn’t exist in the pixie society?

“What did you just learn?”

“Huh?”

His unexpected question caught me off guard.

“Indeed, in this world, we are constantly being compared to someone. Even I was judged against other pixies. I just happened to be considered as someone exceptional by other pixies standards, which earned me the title of ‘Sage’…”

The old man cast his gaze downward as he continued on.

“But then, do you have to always compare yourself to others?”

“That’s…”

“It’s the same like how you believed you had to think about the logic and theory behind magic earlier. You’ve convinced yourself that you must always compare yourself to others and come out as superior.”

“…”

It was as if a blindfold had been taken from my eyes. Indeed. In this world, you’d get compared to one another constantly. But that didn’t mean I had to go with the flow. I didn’t have to compare myself to others all the time. I didn’t need to be better than everyone. I didn’t need to come out as superior. 

…This man… I’m going to start calling him ‘master’ in my heart. 

He probably wouldn’t like being called ‘master’ by me, so I had to use that title in my heart. 

“If you understand what I’m talking about, it’s time for you to learn magic at your own pace.”

“Understood, Master!”

…Ah, crap. I actually said it out loud.

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T/N: Grandpa Pixie so wise… As expected of a Sage! ദ്ദി ( ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ )