MaGiC sYsTeM?
[Class 3-A, Kuoh Academy]
"Reo."
Is this for real?
"Reo!"
I tried rubbing my eyes, pressing my temples but I could still see it.
"REO!"
"Yes!"
My focus shifted instantly to the professor shouting my name, making everyone in the class laugh.
"You would do better by focusing in class rather than dozing off." He was fuming, eyebrows furrowed and fists clenched. "Your grades have been dropping rapidly, and I hope you can at least focus in class."
It was difficult to focus, at least in this situation.
"I am sorry, sir." But I didn't argue, the fault was mine to begin with.
"Sit down." He said, shaking his head and walking back towards the board. "And class, quiet down."
Of course the class was laughing. They only need an excuse to laugh and make fun.
Not that I was any different.
But forgetting the little snickers, I sat down.
And during this entire process, a certain thing was in front of my face.
A floating window —a screen, like the pop up ads you see while scrolling the web.
But this was different, this was holographic and from the people's reaction —I was the only one that could see it.
As for what it had on it?
A simple message.
{Would You like to avail your reward?}
Reward.
What did I even do to receive a reward? All I remember is coming to class, sitting for this daily lecture and having a screen pop up in front of my face.
An actual game interface, translucent but very familiar to the ones I see in games. And in that screen, besides that text was an option.
{Accept.}
There was no rejection option. Then why even bother asking if I wanted it?
Accept it.
Not like I could choose anything else.
{Congratulations! Reo has acquired a Reward!}
It speaks in third person, heh? Funny.
{For being average his whole life, Reo has been given a chance to live an extraordinary life!}
Oi!
It felt insulting and kind of annoyed me.
But… It wasn't wrong.
I have been average.
An average student, an average friend, an average person in general.
I wasn't the most good looking, considering everyone seemed to be a model in this school. I wasn't the smartest as there were students who got nothing less than a perfect score in any exam. I wasn't the most athletic as even the girls in this school seemed physically superior to many men —which challenges biology in general.
And of course, I am not the most popular either —just a guy that exists in this school with not many people to call friends.
So, I just couldn't take offense.
But screw it.
Let's focus on the reward, even if it sounds like a consolation prize given out of pity. But being optimistic, I at least received something.
{Reward Obtained: Basic Elemental Magic.}
Wait.
It isn't something like being rich, being lucky, becoming famous or something that can happen to a normal guy to stand out, to be famous in a normal or well, in a human-type manner?
But magic?
You mean to say the supernatural phenomenon that people talk of is not just a fantasy?
Magic is real?
Wait, no.
There is still no guarantee that it is real right? It might just be my mind playing tricks.
But what if, by the slightest of the probabilities, it is real?
{Reo can use the magic by forming and designing spells in his mind and naming them, and when needed, Reo can chant the spell out loud or in his mind to cast it.}
I did appreciate that the instructions were clear. But it still left me confused.
How was this possible?
"Reo?"
The professor called again, and this time I wasn't stupid enough to not answer.
"Yes, Mr. Nakamura."
"Good." He sighed, "At least you are here with us. Now focus on the text on the board."
I did that, but the curiosity of testing out the reward was eating me alive.
Anyhow, what even are the elements that I can use?
{The Basic Elemental Magic consists of Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Lightning.}
Interesting, so all the basic elements that we usually think of. But why is it basic? Is it because it does not contain complex elements or is it because these elements won't be very strong? Like I cannot just summon a hellfire to burn down the entire world?
{Both.}
Surprisingly I got an answer, and it helped satisfy my curiosity with just one word.
But I definitely wanted to use this magic that I received. And I wanted to test it out now.
There were so many people around, so I could not do anything flashy either. What can I do to test out this magic of mine and also not draw everyone's eyes on me?
I was finding it difficult to just sit straight and focus on the class when something so ridiculous, something so comical was going on with me.
How do I test this magic that I had gotten?
Surely making lighting fall on someone or burning the curtains would draw unnecessary attention.
So, what could I do?
I was confused, and that confusion led me to look outside through the opened window.
It was nice and cold outside, not the winter cold but soft breezes of cool air that calmed the mind. The wind blew the sweet smell of flowers from outside, making the curtains swing and the room to smell like the light fragrance of flowers.
Wait.
How did the smell of flowers come inside the room? What made the curtains flow in the air?
Wind!
I could use the wind!
Wind was not really visible and it didn't draw that much attention as the windows were open and it was already quite windy outside.
Now the only question left standing was—
Would the magic work if it does not come from my direction? Can the direction of the wind be from the window side or does it have to come through me?
This time however, I did not get any response from that floating window. It had long since vanished after giving me the reward and the previous information.
But I didn't lose hope thinking that it was only my mind playing tricks this time around. I genuinely wanted to believe that what I had heard and seen was real.
That it was truly magic, that it was possible to be a little more than average.
Let's do this!
Wind.
Imagine it in the mind as the system instructed.
Form a spell, a phenomenon using the element.
A breeze, a strong breeze capable of toppling the professor's water bottle from the table.
A gust of wind.
I imagined it, I thought of a gust from the side that would form when I chanted for it.
And so the only thing left was forming a chant.
I certainly didn't want a long name for the slightest chance that it worked and I would need to form more spells with the other elements. In that case, I needed the chant to be short and memorable.
Gust.
Yeah, gust.
That's what I named it. And after a long time, the system finally made its presence known, assuring me that I wasn't just crazy.
{
Perfect!
And so, gulping thickly, a little nervous and extremely hopeful —I chanted the chant without making a sound or making any awkward movement.
I stood still, as if focusing on the board.
But in truth, I imagined the gust blowing from the left window just against the professor's table.
And to my absolute surprise, barely able to prevent my lips from curling up, I saw a strong gust of wind coming from the window and hitting the professor and the table directly.
I imagined the wind to be strong, but not enough to harm anyone. So, thankfully the professor only stepped back a little, feeling the wind hit him.
"Ah, great!"
But his bottle had fallen down, spilling water on the floor.
"I thought I tightened the cap, but I guess not!"
He seemed angry at the mess under the table, and quite a few students sitting on the first benches rushed to help him clean the mess.
"Ah, thank you." He expressed his gratitude, but I was still curious.
It wasn't just a fluke right?
I had to make sure, and so what did I do?
Yep, I casted another gust.
"Eek!"
And this time, I blew off a bug from outside and directly onto one of the girls helping the professor. This made the class burst out in laughter, while the girl quickly tried to get the bug out of her hair.
"Quiet!" The professor yelled, "Don't laugh!"
I had confirmed that this magic, this reward that I had received was real —So, very real.
But while I sat quietly, hiding my smirk and my excitement, someone else wasn't able to hide their voice.
"W-What?"
This, of course, immediately drew the professor's attention and made him frown.
"Is there something wrong with what I said, Miss Gremory?"
"N-No professor." The redhead fumbled, something that I rarely saw her doing. "I just wasn't feeling too well."
"Oh, then you should go to the nurse's office." The professor's voice instantly changed to that of concern.
"I-It's alright, Mr. Nakamura. I will just rest a little."
"If you say so…"
What's her deal?
I mean it didn't concern me but it still drew my attention.
And it drew everyone's attention, after all, it was Rias Gremory.
The princess of Kuoh Academy, she was the rich girl whose family was behind every facility in the school. Her family ran a massive conglomerate, making her the linchpin of the academy's fame and resources.
It is her family and another because of whom we have so many facilities, expensive and high quality things that most schools don't. I dare say that Kuoh is the only academy with these many facilities.
And she did claim to be a foreigner whose Japanese is just too good, but her features are still a bit weird to me.
Don't get me wrong, she is stunningly beautiful, like a bit too beautiful. I have not seen many women, even if older than her, being able to match her beauty.
And her hair, it was crimson red. She claimed they were real and not dyed, a trait of her being a foreigner.
Everyone accepted that as well.
But it still amuses me to this day that they did. Why? Because it does not matter if you are a foreigner or not, you may have orangish hair, auburn red hair, but that shade of red? Like shiny crimson red?
It just didn't seem possible to me that humans could naturally have such hair.
Something was off.
Either she lied about it being natural, or it is some rare genetic condition that I know nothing about.
"Are you alright, Rias?"
"Yeah, Akeno."
Behind her sat her closest friend, Akeno Himejima, another stunningly beautiful girl that everyone, including the girls crushed after.
Together they were the 'Two Princesses of Kuoh' or the 'Two Great Ladies.'
The latter is even more obnoxious than the former so I never called them that, not like I called them princesses either —but well, a lot of people did.
But it didn't matter, I was just the average guy that was never going to interact with the two most popular girls in the school.
Even with the magic that I have gotten and was more than itching to try at a greater scale, I just didn't see a reason to interact with them.
And so what did I do?
I left the class.
The class was over five minutes ago anyway.
…
…
[Evening — Behind the Old Kuoh Park]
This park had been abandoned even before I was born, replaced with the other park just a few hundred meters away. But this place was still not removed and stayed as the unpopular and abandoned park, most even feared coming here thinking that it was haunted or something.
And that gave me the perfect opportunity to try my magic here.
Right after class, and after calling my mom that I would be late as I was running an errand for my professor —which she bought without me giving a long explanation, mostly because I rarely lied to her— I was able to come here in peace.
Well there was this issue with helping catch the pervert trio who were peeking into the girls locker room, but that is not a tale for now.
For now, the priority was learning more about this magic.
What were the elements in my Basic Elemental Magic, system?
{Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Lightning.}
I didn't give the system any fancy name, and decided to stick with calling it system. I mean it was a system and if it had any issue regarding the name, it would always complain.
But it didn't, so I went back to focusing on the main issue.
And that was magic.
The elemental magic I received was nothing that could make me rich or famous without me showing it off to people. And that I didn't want to do, if I did that, I would either be labeled a spawn of the devil, would be taken in by creepy people who would form a cult under my name or worse of all, the government will take me as some test subject.
So, using this power in public was a big no-no.
Of course, the system said it was to help me to be more than just average. And I was now more than average, but I just couldn't show that to people.
Neither could I earn much money from it, at least not without doing something very stupid.
So, for now… I was planning on keeping my mind off of those things and focusing on just forming some cool spells.
And the first element I chose to experiment with was none other than fire.
Fire and Lightning were definitely the flashiest elements that I had, and now that I was alone… I could use them.
And so, I decided to start with fire.
And what better spell to start with than fireball.
Create a flame, swirl it and compress it.
That's what a fireball usually is.
System, register it as fireball.
{
Once again, making sure that no one was there, I decided to throw it straight at the old and rusted swing.
And with a single chant, a ball of fire formed in front of me, swirled in front of my eyes and launched itself towards the swing.
Sheesh.
Instantly it covered the entire swing in fire, melting the metal quite a bit before the fire died off. Now, if it was a person, he would have been dead by now.
It made me gulp thinking of how dangerous it could have been. But that didn't mean I stopped, instead I kept going.
Instead of fire, this time it was water, and while I could think of a lot of spells, nothing was that flashy.
Water, if moved at a fast rate, can be sharper than a razor. But I didn't go for the sharp angle, instead I went with something else.
Form a few liters of water, spin it a little and form a ball with it. And since it was magic, I could maintain the shape for a long time too instead of just letting it fall down and splatter on the ground.
System, register it as… Water Prison.
{
The spell didn't need any explanation. Simply put, it was a massive orb of water that could trap anyone and suffocate them or simply make them choke on the water, making them pass out.
Some might die too, so it was definitely dangerous.
Air, Fire and Water was done, so I went with the fourth element.
Earth.
Earth was tricky.
Of course, it was dangerous and strong and definitely flashy. But it could be bad for me if the spell went wrong and I got crushed inside the earth.
So, I decided to go with something simple.
Raising the ground a little and making stairs out of it. Ones that would rise and fall according to my steps.
If I stepped on it, it would rise and if I stepped off, it would descend.
Register it as elevation, system.
{
And so, unlike Water Prison that I didn't cast, I casted this one.
And to my amusement, the earth raised itself —creating elevated surfaces, stairs to accommodate my movement.
Amazing!
Finally… Let's try the last element.
Lightning.
In my opinion, the most destructive element of them all.
The others could be dangerous too, but this one screamed of sheer power.
And so I decided to go with a simple but powerful lightning spell.
Lightning sparking and being shot from any direction that I think of. Left, right, up, down, awkward angles —anywhere.
Register this as Lightning Strike.
{
And with a massive grin on my face, and an extended arm like some superhero —I chanted the final spell for the night aloud.
And right that instant, straight from the sky fell a massive bolt of lightning, electrocuting the broken slide on the spot.
I could barely hide my grin.
It was unbelievable, it was so powerful.
I was using magic.
It wasn't a dream, it was true life and I was the one responsible for the magic.
"This is… amazing!"
But unknown to me, and to my absolute horror. I didn't notice the presence of the other individual behind me.
"It certainly is."
Or well, individuals.
"I believe we have something to talk about, Reo Takeda."
Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima, the princesses of Kuoh Academy stood below me, below the elevated earth —staring directly at me.
Rias smiled, but the only think it did for me was… creeping the fuck out of me.
"We have so much to talk about."
This can't be good, now can it?
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P.S. Hope you like this DxD fic. Not a villain or necessarily grey MC, it's good—neutral inclined, depending on the scenario.
Basic MC details:
Name: Reo Takeda
Age: 18
Class: 3-A
School: Kuoh Academy
Parents: Aya Takeda (Mother)
Ryutaro Takeda (Father (Deceased))
Hair: Black
Eyes: Dark Brown
Height: 5'8"
]]