Lich reborn as a magic school student - 12: Dinner with Kaede

Kaede opens the door to her apartment and I head inside, placing the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. I cast [Telekinesis] and all the goods from the bag fly to where they belong. Kaede looks astonished and asks, “You can do that?” “It is simple magic. I can teach it.” I respond. “But I thought that once you learn a tradition, you can’t learn others?” She asks. “That is wrong. It is just harder as you have to let go of the ideas from your original tradition to learn the new one.” I respond.

“But how did you know where each one should go?” She asks. “I let your subconscious control the spell, using myself as a medium for the casting. This is only possible when there is a massive difference in the skill and strength of mages.” I respond. “I can’t tell whether you’re insulting me or boasting.” She says with a pout. “Hahaha, I meant neither. You are a good mage for your age. I wanted to only explain that this method would not usually work.” I say with a slight chuckle.

“Right, I’ll start making dinner. You should go watch some tv.” She says. Heeding her words, I sit on the couch and look at the tv. Instead of searching for the remote, I use magic to turn the tv on. It’s a news channel, “The civil war in Eresh continues with predicted ten thousand casualties in the last week. Mages from both continents are joining the magocracy in Eresh, and the local government is asking other governments to stop mages from joining the magocracy.”

Eresh I believe that was a minor country in the north of the Ferjok mountains. With it being one of the deepest nations in the Ferjok mountains which are known for their high mana concentration, it has a high mage population. In the library books I read, it said that it’s always had trouble with the influence of the mages. While the novice mages might think that mages forming into their own government would be a good idea so they can monopolize research materials, in fact, it is not so good, as the effort to govern a nation will overturn the benefits of additional support.

But another question comes to my mind now, the Berescola mountains had the ancient magic civilization as its reason for high magic concentration, but what is the reason for the Ferjok mountains. Should I go see? No, it would be rude to disappear so suddenly. I should note that though, I can go on the weekend. Deciding that watching the tv further won’t bring me any benefit, I turn it off with a thought. I open my palm and stare at my fingers. Tiny flickers appear from the tips of my fingers, and I try to sense any magical movement, but none appears. No elements or spirits are at play either.

What could be the principles behind my innate magic? It doesn’t seem like a mana-based tradition, nor one involving the elements or laws of nature, and I can’t feel any spiritual energy from it either. That would put it as either divine or primordial. I let the divine energy from my second heart flow towards the flame and while there is a disturbance; I don’t believe they are of the same type. Then is it primordial? Scarcity means there is a lack of research. So there isn’t much I can rely on regarding primordial magic.

Then I will have to study it myself. I continue to let the tiny flames come out of my fingers while trying to study the casting time, feeling, and drain that I feel from it. I enter a sort of trance state as I continue my research, staring at my palm filled with tiny flames. With a touch on my shoulder, I exit out of my trance and look up to see Kaede worried. “What’s wrong?” I ask. “You weren’t responding. Dinner is ready.” She says.

I get up and head to the dining table where the cutlery is already setup. Placed on the table is a substantial serving of grilled chicken, glazed with a marinade of honey and herbs, and served with a medley of roasted vegetables. The vegetables that are part of it are carrots, broccoli, and bell peppers. To complete the ensemble, there is a mound of fluffy rice, steaming and fragrant. Sitting at the table, I say, “Thank you for the food.”

Then, with [Telekinesis], I let the food float from the various dishes to my plate. “You can use it for such a thing as well?” She asks. “Would you like to try?” I ask. “I’d like to, yes.” She responds, and with that I cast a second [Telekinesis] with her as the controller. While not as fast or precise, the food floats to her plate. “That is hard to control.” She says.

“Magic takes a lot of practice. For some spells, it takes centuries to become proficient at handling them in real-life situations.”

“Centuries? Can humans even live that long?”

“Mages are not fully human. We transcend the limitations of flesh. For a mage, there are many ways to achieve longevity or immortality. Vampirism, lichdom, and cloning spells are good examples.”

“Vampires I’ve heard of, but liches and cloning spells, are such things real?”

“I was a lich.”

“Was?”

“Yes, I was killed and reborn through ancient reincarnation magic.”

“Why are you revealing this to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Shouldn’t you like hide this?”

“Why would I?”

“Why would you not?”

“I have no reason to hide it. The world does not have the power to harm me.”

“Then how did you die?”

“I got stabbed.”

“Didn’t you say that nothing in the world could harm you?”

“Yes, nothing in this world could harm me.”

“Does that mean you’re from a different world?”

“Yes.”

“Still, aren’t liches supposed to be immortal?”

“A lich’s immortality does not prevent death caused by holy relics.”

“Holy relics? What were you stabbed with?”

“A holy sword given to the hero by the gods.”

“Are you alright in the head?”

“No.”

After that, the dinner continues in silence.

The awkward silence persists after dinner and so I head home. Arriving at my apartment, I prepare the materials for the next school day, and then cast my daily defense spells. After finishing the preparations for a safe night, I lie down on the bed. With sleep magic, I quickly head off into the land of dreams.