Chapter 4: A Lesson in Magic

I spent the next few hours sitting with Kyuu, who, by the way, was

the world's chillest guide—or, I guess, not a guide, but she was stuck

with me now, so let's call her that for convenience. Anyway, she was

explaining magic like she was reading off a manual that nobody

bothered to write properly.

"So, how does magic work here?" I asked, rubbing my temples.

Everything felt like one long, insane fever dream. Was I dreaming?

Did I fall asleep while procrastinating? Maybe I was just really tired

and hallucinating.

Kyuu grinned like she was about to drop some life-changing wisdom

on me. "Well, first, you've got your stats. Strength, dexterity,

wisdom... you know, the usual RPG stuff. But the big one is mana.

It's the fuel for magic."

"Mana?" I repeated. "You're telling me I have mana?"

"Yep. And since you're here, you get to play the role of a wizard. Or

sorcerer, whatever you prefer. No biggie."

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted. "You just said I'm a wizard. A real

wizard?"

Kyuu nodded, her fluffy tail twitching in what seemed like a perpetual

state of excitement. "Yep. A wizard. You've got the cloak, right?

That's half the battle. The other half? Training."

"Training?" I said, looking down at the Cloak of 'Nah, I'm Good.'

"What am I supposed to do with this thing? Is this like some cheesy

magic item or something?"

Kyuu raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by my confusion. "It's not

just a piece of cloth, Zerin. Trust me, you'll need it. You might be a

beginner now, but once you figure out how to channel mana and cast

spells, you'll start getting stronger."

"So I just... figure it out?" I asked, still not convinced.

"Yep, that's how it goes here." Kyuu shrugged, like this was the most

normal thing in the world. "But it'll be fun. Trust me."

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or panic, but it definitely wasn't

reassuring to know that "figuring it out" was the main way people

survived here.