Chapter 142

Cassis walked through the door, saying to the maid as he walked past, "I need my room cleaned."

He then sat to the left of his father as maids walked into the room, serving breakfast was severed. The three of them sat silently, with Cassis using his fork to play with his food. His father noticed this and asked,

"Aren't you going to eat?" He asked, pointing his fork at the food in front of Cassis.

Cassis looked up from his food, saying, "I am not hun--" But he was cut off by his stomach growling. With no change in his expression, he finished, "Hungry."

His father stared at him before going back to eating. "Suit yourself."

The table went silent again, with Cassis still playing with his food while inspecting the two people in front of him. 'Ok, this is bad. If I had the memories of the former owner, it would be easier for me to act along. This is going to be a pain--'

"Why don't we stop dragging this on, Esteban, and get down to business." His mother finally spoke, dropping her fork beside her plate and cleaning her lips.

"Wait, Citlalmina. There is no need to bring that up--"

His Mother, named Citlalmina, cut off Esteban and continued speaking. "Cassis, you are going to learn Magecraft. I don't care what your response will be--"

"Ok." Cassis shortly responded, still playing with his food. Looking at both their surprised and confused expression, he concluded that his response was not the one they thought they were going to hear. His brain quickly went on overdrive as he continued, "You both won't give up begging me to start learning Magecraft, so if I learn it, I can get you both off my back and continue doing what I like." Dropping his fork on the food, he leaned back, folding his arm. "So I agree to learn Magecraft."

Citlalmina looked over to his father as they both smiled. "You made the right choice, Son." His father said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, yeah." He said, "When will I start? I wish to end this as quickly as possible."

"You will start today." Citlalmina said, standing up from her seat. "But first, you need to open your magic Circuit. Now, follow me."

Citlalmina walked away from the table with Cassis following her. The guards opened the door for them as they walked through, the door closing behind them.

"Tell me what you know about Magic Circuits." Citlalmina said as they walked through the hall.

"I don't know. A pathway for mana?" Cassis responded, saying as little as possible. After all, this body hated magic, so he shouldn't know much.

"You didn't listen during my lessons." Citlalmina said, looking back at Cassis, who shrugged. She turned back and continued walking, saying, "I'll have you know, there's no room for the weak-willed in this course."

"I don't think I am weak-willed. I will remind you, it took both of you a long time to get me into magic." Cassis pointed out, putting his arm behind his head.

"Much like our own nervous system, a Mage's magic circuits spread throughout them and serve to convert their life force into mana. With a keen knowledge of this, mages have been able to control their circuits to manipulate the world, performing mysteries or mage craft." Citlalmina explained, ignoring Cassis's comment. "Simply put, anyone without proficient magic circuits cannot practice thaumaturgy. Under normal circumstances, a human could not command the laws of nature, instead, being but a victim to those laws. Therefore magic circuits defy physics, being attached to a person without belonging to the material world rather than the part of us where said circuits reside in the soul. Mage Zouken Matou can extend his lifespans by transplanting their souls from one body to another."

Hearing this, Cassis's eyes widen as he walked to Citlalmina's way. "I would like to learn that. Teach me how to transfer my soul to a different body."

"I am grateful you find interest in something relating to magic, but it is simply impossible." Citlalmina said, walking past him. "Such ability is only available for those in the Matou Family. Now, don't interrupt me when I am speaking."

'That soul transfer spell. I want it.' Cassis thought, determined to get it. With that, he should be able to return to his god-like body without the help of Solomon. His ability would boost exponentially with soul magic on his side.

"The quality and number of magic circuits Mages possess are determined at birth, much like our own genetics. One does not simply grow more, though they certainly can be irreparably damaged as such mages of ancient heritage often have superior circuits while more ordinary bloodlines risk their circuits weakening with each generation. Just like breeding, the quality and number of magic circuits a mage is born with comes down to pedigree and that said mages can excel with either quality or quantity." She looked over to Cassis without turning her head. "You are the product of two families coming together, your father's family, the Zelretch family, and my family, the Barthomeloi Family. That is why you are named Cassis Barthomeloi Zelretch. I hope you won't disappoint me."

"What if it turned out I had no magic circuits?" Cassis asked out of curiosity. There is a chance Solomon merged him with someone with no magic circuits, so knowing the result of not having one would allow him to plan.

Nora stared at Cassis before turning around to continue walking. "That won't be happening." Nora said, avoiding his question.

'It seems like I will be bad if I don't awaken one.' Impulse thought, clenching his fist. He connected tried to feel his magic but found nothing. 'This is bad, truly bad.' He sneakily looked at his mother, 'With my skill, I should be able to kill her. This body doesn't have any muscles memories, but with a spear, I can recreate all the skills I copied Achilles. Even with my weak body, with those skills, I would be able to rival the likes of Batman.' He turned his eyes away, 'If I can't defeat her or find no spear, lying to her that I can lead her to gain new true magic should be enough. She won't know if I am lying, so that should keep me alive long enough to learn more and form a real plane.'

They silently walked through multiple maze-like dark corridors, reaching an old, rusty door. Citlalmina brought out a pair of red gloves then putting them on. She then pushed open the door, a wave of musty air whooshing past them.

"Disgusting." Citlalmina muttered, walking down the corridor with Cassis following closely behind her.

They walked for some minutes before reaching another door, opening it, and reviling a small room with a table in the middle. Books and papers littered the ground, with multiple jewelry and other items scattered around the table. Nao walked into the room, waving her gloved hand, she said,

"Find somewhere to sit and let us begin."

Cassis looked around the room, looking for an advantageous spot to sit in case something goes wrong. He decided to sit next to an iron pole where one hangs their coat. He can use that as a spear if push comes to shove. Punching the books and papers out the way, he sat crossed-legged, looking over to Citlalmina for command.

"Now, I would unlock your magic circuits for you, but I would like to see you do it yourself. It would certainly be better that way." Citlalmina said, folding her arm and looking at the sitting Cassis. "Now, I want you to close your eyes and feel the magical energy within you."

Cassis closed his eyes and tried to feel something, and just like before, he felt nothing. 'This is bad.' He thought, getting ready to grab the spear, 'Really bad.'

"I see that isn't working. Who would have thought my son isn't a prodigy at this." Citlalmina said, tapping her arm with her in anticipation. "Let's try a different route. I want you to think of something. Something that changed your life. It might be the death of your pet tiger, or perhaps the death of your sister. Anything would do."

'Something that changed my life...' Cassis thought, his mind going way back. Further to when he was once human.

He looked up to see a bolt of purple lightning coming down at him at full force, the air around heating up as multiple strings of lightning flashed around. It came down faster than the speed of light, but in his eyes, it was as slow as a snail. This was the thing. The lightning that changed his life forever.

With that, the lightning struck him.