Magic Lesson

"If you say anything rude to my tutor, I'm going to make you pay!"

"I will not. Don't worry, milady."

It was now early November, and Allen was currently with Cecil in the second-floor reception room, waiting for the magic tutor's arrival.

Allen was present for once—as opposed to having this time to himself elsewhere like he usually did during Cecil's lessons—because of something that had occurred at the end of October.

That day, Cecil had called him to her room. He thought he would be sent on an errand again, but instead she had said, "Allen, you've done a good job being my personal manservant for a year. Tell me if there's anything you want."

She had probably wanted to feel good about giving something to someone and therefore used the pretext of it being a present to Allen for his one year of service.

Despite not quite understanding the noteworthiness of "first anniversary as a manservant," Allen still thought seriously about what to ask for.

Just as he was about to ask for some of the snacks that she usually ate, an idea popped into his head: he wanted a lesson with her magic tutor. Not just staying in the room and sitting in on one of Cecil's lessons, but a one-on-one with the tutor himself.

Multiple tutors came to the Granvelle mansion each week, each teaching Cecil a different subject. This included history, mathematics, language, and of course, magic. The reason for the magic lessons was likely due to Cecil being a Wizardess.

Allen had half expected his request to be turned down, but Cecil simply went, "What? That's all you want?" and readily agreed. Then a few weeks passed, and today was the day Allen was supposed to get his magic lesson.

After lunchtime, an elderly man wearing a robe and carrying a staff arrived at the mansion. Allen had met him multiple times before. This was Cecil's magic tutor.

"So, you are my student for today?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you very much for your time."

During her last lesson, Cecil had told the tutor, "Please teach Allen next time." He had accepted and promised to prepare for it. The bag he carried in the hand not holding his staff was much bulkier than usual, indicating that he had indeed spent both time and effort for Allen's sake.

The tutor took the seat across from Allen's and Cecil's in the middle of the reception room.

"Your name is Allen, yes?" the old man asked while pulling his hood back. He had a white mustache and beard and plenty of wrinkles to show for his nearly seventy years of age. "I heard this is a one-off lesson, so I've prepared some things ahead of time. But before we start, is there anything you want to ask?"

While waiting for Allen's reply, the tutor took out several thick books and a crystal ball from his bag, lining them up on the table.

Everything together should have been quite heavy, indicating that despite his age, the old man was actually quite strong.

'Oh? I can ask anything I want? Then let's start with the thing I wanted to ask most.'

Allen decided to take advantage of this opportunity to ask the question that he had originally intended on posing at the end of the lesson.

"Professor, what are the conditions for using magic?"

The man stroked his beard. "There is but one condition: Talent."

"Such as Mage and Wizard?"

"That is so. There are others, such as Archwizard, Sage, and Great Sage. It does not matter which one specifically, but one must have a Talent related to magic to use magic."

"Don't those with Talents like Cleric and Saintess also use magic?"

"Hm, I see you are rather knowledgeable. Cleric and Saintess use Healing Magic, whereas the Mage and Wizard you previously mentioned use Attack Magic."

"Is there no Support Magic?"

"Oh? You really are knowledgeable. However, Support Magic is limited to only Sage and Great Sage. Well, there are various other Talents that can use other kinds of magic, but the bottom line is, the condition is still Talent."

The tutor looked at Allen curiously because of how specific and well-informed his questions had been. Cecil also watched him in astonishment from her seat next to his.

'Ah, I've dug too deep. It'd seem unnatural if I let slip how much I already know.'

While taking notes in his grimoire, Allen said, "I see. Thank you for answering my questions. May I ask another one?"

"Of course."

"What is the process for using magic?"

The tutor picked up one of the thick books on the table. "You need to memorize the contents of books like this one. This specific one is for beginners and is the one that Lady Cecil is currently learning from."

Allen accepted the well-worn tome and casually flipped through the pages. "I...have no idea what is written here." Every page was packed chock-full of symbols that presumably held meaning. 'It's not in Japanese, neither its English. I don't recognize this system of writing.'

It bore no resemblance to Japanese, English or any other language that Allen remembered from Earth. The complicated geometric patterns did not seem to share any commonality even among each other.

"Well, to use magic, one would have to memorize these symbols. Each one corresponds to a different spell."

'All of this?! Wow, I kinda feel bad for Cecil now.'

"Is there anything else other than remembering all these?"

"Simply remembering is not enough; you need to truly memorize every detail of these symbols so well that you can draw them inside your head. Activating a spell requires recalling its symbol and expending MP."

"Conversely, does this mean you can use whatever spell you want as long as you memorize its symbol?"

"Unfortunately, it is not so easy."

There was a certain progression to using magic. For beginner spells, it was true that one simply had to memorize the relevant symbol to use the spell. However, there were far more spells that could not be cast until after casting other spells many times over and overcoming multiple Trials of the Gods.

'Ah, in other words, use earlier spells a bunch of times to level the skill up, and the thing with overcoming Trials of the Gods probably refers to raising max MP.'

"By the way, do you have any way to confirm whether I can use magic or not?"

"Huh?! But you're Talentless, Allen! Weren't you listening? You can't use magic if you don't have the Talent for it!"

Cecil sounded indignant at Allen for asking something with such an obvious answer. Everyone's general understanding was that Allen did not have a Talent.

"It's fine, Lady Cecil. I did bring a crystal ball just in case. Allen, this crystal ball is able to determine whether someone can use magic or not."

As it turned out, "Can I use magic?" was a very common question from those who demonstrated an interest in the subject.

The tutor explained that the crystal ball he had brought along performed a function akin to a simplified form of Appraisal. It was specialized for sensing whether someone had a Talent related to magic or not.

"Thank you, sir!"

'Whoa, just the description of the item alone is getting me hyped up! Now I can know once and for all whether the Summoner class can use magic or not!'

The crystal ball, which measured around ten centimeters in diameter, looked like a smaller version of the one Allen had seen during his Appraisal Ceremony. The tutor placed it in front of Allen and said, "Put your hands on top."

"Yes, sir!" Allen replied eagerly, promptly doing as he was told.

However, nothing happened. Allen kept his hands on the crystal ball for a while longer, but the transparent sphere showed no reaction whatsoever.

"Mm, as you can see, Allen, you are not able to use magic."

"Seriously..?" The nightmarish possibility that Allen had been doing his best to ignore so far now took on a tinge of reality. 'But that means...'

He looked so shocked that Cecil said gently, as if speaking to a younger sibling, "Allen, give it up. You don't have the Talent for it, so you can't use magic."

Allen started. "By the way, what happens if you put your hands on this crystal, milady?"

"What?! How dare you question the professor!" Cecil roared, strangling Allen by the collar for asking a question that blatantly cast doubt on his explanation of the crystal ball. The two raised such a commotion that the tutor had to intervene.

"Now, now, Lady Cecil. It is fine. And since we are at it, would you like to give it a try? I'm sure it would satisfy Allen's curiosity as well."

'Yes, please show me! I promise to accept the results for what they are..! Ugh, I feel sick.' Despite being strangled and shaken, Allen used his eyes to beg Cecil to touch the crystal ball.

Upon being placated by the tutor, she sighed, let Allen go, and turned to place her hands on the sphere on the table. When she did so, it shone with a bright yellow light that was warm like sunlight.

The tutor nodded with satisfaction. "Yellow is the color for Wizard and Wizardess."

'It actually lit up...' Allen stared at the light in a stunned daze.

Ever since he had been told he would get his time with the magic tutor, he had spent hours and hours thinking of questions to ask, but all of those questions had now vacated his head. He had previously hoped to see a display of magic as well, but now he had much bigger worries.

'I'm screwed. This confirms that Summoner is just a joke class.'

Currently, Allen's stats as a Summoner were:

___

HP: (Rank A)

MP: (Rank S)

Attack: (Rank C)

Endurance: (Rank C)

Agility: (Rank A)

Intelligence: (Rank S)

Luck: (Rank A)

___

How much a stat would grow from each level-up varied according to ranking, with "S" being the most and "E" the least.

Allen's Intelligence was "S."

'Why is my Intelligence at Rank S even though I can't use magic?! And because of that, my Attack and Endurance have been brought down to Rank C!'

Allen's assumption was that his other stats had been made low to balance out his high Intelligence. However, he could not use magic and his Summons did not benefit in any particular way from him having high Intelligence.

As it stood, the only benefit was being better at remembering things. This stat was useless to him, especially when it came at the expense of the others. Him having to fight with a sword with this Status was as inefficient and preposterous as a mage character dual-wielding swords.

'In other words, my class is a joke. Are my stats intentionally nerfed to balance out the buffs I get from my Summons? Why was my class built this way?!'

Several possible reasons for the crystal ball not lighting up came to mind.

___

- The endless complaints that he'd sent to the gods during the six months after his Appraisal Ceremony had angered them, causing them to change Summoner to a joke class.

- The crystal ball was faulty.

- Whether someone could use magic or not was actually based on their level or skill level.

- There was an incredible secret behind why his Intelligence was Rank S.

___

'W-Was it really because I complained too much? Oh Lord Elmea, how could you?!' Allen was left staring off into the distance in a daze.

The lesson with the magic tutor that he had received as a reward for his first anniversary as a manservant thus ended quietly and without any hubbub.