Chapter 14: Learning the Ancient Greek

Skill acquired: Mana Flow Control

Mana Flow Control [E]

Info: Acquired from having adept control over the mana.

Effect: Mana can be controlled at peak efficiency without any side effects.

Sorcery Element acquired: Fire

Sorcery Element: Fire [E]

Info: One of the five natural elements, gives easier access to Fire Magecraft spells.

Haruki found Medea’s wide-eyed expression priceless.

‘Where else do you see an ancient sorceress looking like she had seen a ghost?’

The orb of fire flickered above his fingers; it was neither hot nor did it burn him. Dragons had it easier when controlling the fire. Goddess Arch was right about using magecraft without any magic circuit whatsoever. The mana in his body danced to his whims.

“Master the fire element, and it’ll evolve into an authority,” Arch said.

Authority as in complete control. Authority over fire meant nobody could light a fire without his approval. That’s how authorities worked in fiction he had read so far.

“It’s true.”

His gamer soul loved the system boxes, but Arch’s sweet and soothing voice was a lot better.

“How did you—” Medea asked. “Did you learn it before?”

“Nope. Told you I’m a fast learner.”

Lying was bad, but he couldn’t afford to show his cheats without Medea trusting him from the bottom of her heart. She could be surprisingly devoted once she started liking someone, and she could be the cruelest woman to a stranger.

Medea reeled in her surprise and moved on with the lessons. Thaumaturgy foundation—they were the basis of magecraft in this world. A set of rules made to interfere with the world. In simpler terms, a thaumaturgy system was a group of programs. The magic circuits passed the command to execute these programs through the magic power of a magus.

Elemental affinity was straightforward; it helped in reducing the efforts required to manipulate the natural forces of the world.

Then, a Sorcery Trait added a twist to the simple elemental magecraft by making it more fun and effective. Rin’s Tohsaka’s Sorcery Trait was Conversion, which allowed her to store and draw out magic power from objects. Rin's Family found the most success with jewels. Shirou used ‘Reinforcement’ to reinforce objects after structural analysis. There were dozens more different traits, some unique to a magus family, some unique to a certain type of people.

Generally, a magus family usually focused on harnessing the utmost power of a certain Sorcery Trait. They passed down magic circuits with their accumulated knowledge, making each generation stronger than the last. It made the older magus families dangerous.

And that concluded the basics of magecraft for him.

“Um, which thaumaturgy system do you follow?” he asked.

“I don’t need one, Master. I’m from the era when people used Divine Words to bring forth miracles. Goddess Hecate taught me her language… I do not need incantation or magic circuits to use magecraft.”

Truly overpowered.

“Can you teach me?”

She shook her head. “It’s impossible. People of the modern era can no longer pronounce any language from the Age of Gods.”

He was about to retort, but the strange gleam in her eyes caught him off guard.

“You may be able to do it. Do you want to try?”

“Yes.”

How could he let go of an opportunity to learn her overpowered magecraft?

Medea slipped her hands into her robe and brought out a stack of parchments and a feather quill pen.

“Let’s get to it.”

It seems his plan to go to the dungeon won’t come to fruition tonight.

Thus, his first difficult lesson after reincarnation started.

***

Five hours later.

Haruki kept writing the Ancient Greek characters despite his droopy eyes threatening to close. Medea had to acknowledge his determination. Most Magus would pass out after summoning a Servant. Not only did he stay up for five hours, he also comprehended most of the basic characters.

Medea couldn’t test if Haruki could pronounce the words unless he perfectly grasped the Ancient Greek like a native speaker of her era.

“Master, it’s enough. You need to sleep.”

“Huh?” Haruki mumbled something and collapsed, falling right onto her lap. He crawled around as though finding the best place and snuggled his head against her belly. He closed his eyes after a few twists and turns.

Medea froze for a good moment. His spoiled behavior was out of her expectations. Recalling he had just lost his mother, Medea took a deep sigh and allowed this spoiled behavior for tonight. He already fell asleep, so she could do nothing about it.

“Just this once,” she repeated, internally struggling to brush Haruki’s hair. This was the most intimate she had been with a man ever since Jason kicked her out. And this man trusted her enough to tell her about his dream with the goddess and the future.

After years of betrayal, she had forgotten how it felt to be trusted. The warm feeling in her chest made her lightheaded.

“Enjoying life as a normal girl,” she muttered the words spoken by Haruki. She had been repulsed by the thought back then. Now it seemed… a bit plausible.

Just as Medea gently touched her Master’s face, a chill dawned on the room. Medea flinched and slowly looked up. An ethereal figure of a woman stood before her. Unlike the last time, she could see the Spirit’s features and the dark ring around her neck. As someone hailing from the Age of Gods, she knew what it meant. Haruki’s mother possessed a strong soul before her death.

“Master’s mother, why are you hiding from him?”

The woman wrapped a hand around her and held her chin, giving a smile full of mischief. “Do you hate me for it?”

“I have no right to hate you.”

The woman tried to touch Haruki but her hand passed through his head. “I don’t want him to see me in this pathetic state. A mother must always look her best before her son.”

‘These mother and son are cut out of the same cloth. Extreme affection for each other.’

“I’m Kaede Hiyashi. The mother of your master. Don’t tell him about this meeting, okay?”

Despite Kaede flashing a friendly smile, Medea felt her battle instincts screaming at her. This woman could crush her. Medea never thought a dead spirit could be this threatening. Kaede was in another realm compared to anyone Medea ever met.

‘Divine Spirit?’

Medea shook her head. It was nigh impossible for a Divine Spirit—the highest-ranked Nature Spirits—to exist in this era, where every law of heaven lost its mystery.

“Do we have a deal?”

The sorceress from the Age of Gods meekly bobbed her head like a frightened kitten.

“That’s my girl. Take care of my Haru until he brings me back.”

“Do you believe in our victory?”

Kaede smiled as she looked at Haruki. “Not yours, but his. Haru isn’t the one to call quits once he decides on something. Take it from someone who ‘observed’ this child since the moment he was born.”

Kaede ended the reminiscence of her past and looked at Medea with… envious eyes. Medea would’ve given up her position to Kaede if the latter had a physical body. Sadly, Kaede lacked a physical body to give him a lap pillow.

“You can sleep. I’ll watch over Haru. A weirdo is lurking around,” Kaede said, glancing toward the stairs outside the door.

‘Assassin?’

Medea nodded again and leaned back on the couch. Throughout her journey, she slept in caves, forests, even inside a river. Sleeping like this was no problem for her. Though Haruki’s faint breath tickled her sometimes in a weird way.

***

(Semiramis)

Semiramis’s heart sped up, almost bursting from her chest. The Spirit hadn’t lifted a finger, yet she felt a cold wind caressing her throat. She was in the Spirit’s domain. She didn’t belittle the house before Haruki; she wanted to escape this place as soon as possible.

She snuck back to Haruki’s room and shut the door. She opened the window and breathed a sigh. A couple of white doves landed on her shoulders and rubbed their soft feathers against her. She traced her fingers on the warm wings, recalling the time her hateful mother left her on a shore. The doves nurtured her until a shepherd from the village adopted her. There would be no Queen of Assyria without these cute feathered birds.

“I know my master’s wish now,” she muttered and summoned another flock of doves. “Observe the surroundings.”

The birds flew towards the sky tinged with orange hues; the same way she will win the war and rise to the peak of this era. Anybody standing between her and the throne will be engulfed in her poison.

“I have to construct my fortress…”

Traveling a country or two was a child’s play for a servant. But doing it undetected from the world will consume some extra time. The collection of her materials and three days of chanting might be too dangerous.

‘I’ll adapt to the information’

“I shall see if my master is worth a coin.”

She closed the window and slipped inside the blanket. She erased Haruki’s scent before closing her eyes. Servants didn’t need sleep, but it helped them in conserving mana. She needed a lot of mana for manifesting her Noble Phantasm, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.