For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Word magic.

There was a preconception that it was an incredible power, closer to a miracle than magic, where words would become reality, but…

In reality, it wasn’t that impressive.

It was certainly remarkable that it could cause desired phenomena without separate formulas or incantations, even if it wasn’t a standardized spell.

But nothing in the world came for free.

It might be easier to understand if you think of it as an extreme enhancement of imagination and mana, which were the basic elements of magic.

It was an extremely inefficient form of magic that required an obscene amount of mana, a clear image, and strong will. That was word magic.

Of course, there were advantages beyond that, which was why Iris was gaping in shock.

“W-word magic!”

“Yes, word magic.”

“Word magic, which even archmages find difficult to use unless they’ve gained a special enlightenment or specialized in it…!”

“Right. That word magic.”

“You realized this while getting an erection!”

“……”

Bonk!

“Master hit me again…!”

“Yep. It doesn’t work anymore~”

“Tsk.”

Ignoring Iris’s grumbling, I internally sorted out what I knew about word magic, now that I’d experienced it firsthand.

Word magic was definitely not omnipotent. But it did have clear advantages, as evident by Iris’s surprise.

Firstly, the obvious advantage was its fast activation speed. However, more importantly, it allowed you to directly induce the desired phenomenon.

You could force something that was difficult with conventional magic by bending the rules a little.

In other words, mastering word magic could allow you to surpass the limitations of other spells by integrating it with them.

The details need to be practiced, but that was how I understood it.

In H&A, you could master word magic by taking a special route.

While I was nodding to myself, Iona, who was equally astonished, suddenly remembered something and blinked her blood-red eyes.

“Hey, hey. Word magic was originally developed to mimic dragon language, right? Realizing word magic is a huge deal for humans, but… isn’t it a bit ambiguous for dragons?”

“If you put it that way, there’s nothing I can say.”

The limitation of word magic was that it required a tremendous amount of willpower and mana.

Therefore, there was a limit to the scale of magic that could be performed with word magic alone. That was why it was mixed with other magic.

But dragon language, or Draconic, was different.

It was the most perfect form of word magic, an ability equivalent to great magic, with the power to turn the impossible into possible, akin to a god’s miracle.

That was Draconic.

I knew nothing about the future, but at least for me now, it was an unreachable realm, even if I died and came back to life.

“Even if I were to use it in my dragon form, it would be the same, I think?”

“Based on what?”

“Just a hunch. It feels that way.”

“Well, well. Dragons can only use Draconic after reaching the realm of archmages, so it’s too early for Yandel.”

“…It feels like you think I’ll be able to use Draconic once enough time passes.”

“What, what? Wasn’t that the case? Yandel is like a dragon in human form, after all.”

“Hm. Let’s make this clear, I am human. I was created using dragon materials, but that’s all.”

These were distinctly different. If I were truly a dragon, I wouldn’t need to transform into one.

Though it was true that dragon genes were part of this body, so it wasn’t entirely impossible…

“It doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to happen.”

“Too bad, too bad. I thought I might be able to study Draconic.”

Iona openly showed her disappointment, smacking her lips. Meanwhile, Iris seemed to have thought of something and gasped.

“Heup! Master!”

“Huh? What’s up now?”

“Even if not as much as Draconic, can’t you transcend some aspects of conventional magic with just word magic?”

“If I really push it, sure.”

For example, even if I couldn’t cast 100 spells simultaneously, with word magic, I could copy one spell into 100 instances.

Of course, I’d have to deal with the corresponding mana consumption, so not all spells could be copied; perhaps only basic to lower-level spells.

…Incidentally, if it were Draconic, I could cast 100 different spells at once, with much less mana consumption.

However, for Iris, the fact that it was possible at all seemed to matter, as excitement began to show on her youthful face.

“Then, perhaps with word magic, could you combine different elements into one? Since you’ve learned elemental combination, it might be possible…”

“Well, honestly, I can’t even imagine what combining elements looks like, and I don’t understand it theoretically, so I’m not confident. Above all, I’m not yet used to word magic.”

“I see…”

“…I’ll give it a try, though.”

Seeing Iris looking so openly downcast, I added that and then extended the index fingers of both hands.

Whoosh.

Blop.

A small flame like a matchstick appeared in my left hand, and a water droplet the size of an eye in my right.

Although it was simultaneous casting, there was no need for incantations or trigger words for basic spells like Tinder and Water.

Thanks to becoming a higher mage, unrelated to word magic, casting spells had definitely become easier compared to before.

With a bit of pride, I stared at the two basic spells.

Fire and water. Now I had to combine these two. How?

Elemental combination could mimic something similar, but what Iris wanted wasn’t that kind of synthesis.

It wasn’t just about making fire and water not repel each other. Nor was it about creating a state where they were both fire and water mixed together.

What I aimed for was something before they were divided, a regression to something that could become either fire or water.

Of course, this was physically impossible. Fire, after all, was not even a substance but pure energy.

To revert to the time before fire and water split, one might need to wind back the clock to before the Big Bang.

However, when viewed from the perspective of magical theory, the story changed a bit.

In magic, elements were described as the fundamental components of the world. Thus, an element did not refer to a specific phenomenon or substance.

It was something more conceptual.

For example, fire. The element of fire didn’t just refer to the phenomenon of fire. It encompassed brightness and warmth, but also sometimes the fear of destruction.

It meant the collective thoughts people associate with fire.

Then, what about water?

The element of water was more static in imagery. Cold, quiet, the source of life, yet sometimes taking many lives away.

Though it seemed opposite to fire in many ways, they shared a commonality in some aspects.

So, what was there before fire and water were separated?

Something hot yet cold, dazzling yet quiet—something that brings destruction when aimed at humans.

I summoned my will towards this forced image.

The mana that naturally welled up tingled at the tip of my tongue. I put strength into the words that had risen to my throat.

“『Merge and return.』“

My fingers touched. The tiny flame and droplet of water resting at the tips could only embrace each other deeply.

Flash!

Fire and water, fiercely fluctuating yet accepting each other.

Could it have… worked?

With a pounding heart, I waited for them to become one completely.

However, what returned was only a tremendous explosion.

BOOM!

The reaction was so strong that it was hard to believe it was from just the tips of my fingers where basic spells had met.

Fortunately, Iris and Iona, who were closely observing, quickly cast shields, so there was no real problem.

Though it went out of control, since it was my magic, my fingers were fine.

The issue was Iris, who had been full of expectations. I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and turned away.

Maybe it exploded because I wasn’t adept at word magic, or because my understanding of elements was lacking, or because our paths were different.

I was about to reassure her that my failure didn’t mean it was impossible, but…

“Hm? Hmm…”

Somehow, Iris’s expression looked quite serious. Like someone who had glimpsed a faint but clear path.

Could she have figured something out from that explosion?

“Iris? Should I show you again?”

“Ah, no need. I saw what I needed to see. From here on, it’s my job, so don’t worry. And thank you, Master. I gained something thanks to you.”

“If that’s the case, I’m glad.”

I ruffled Iris’s hair in a comforting way and stood up to look around.

Everyone seemed to want to see more of the word magic, even if they didn’t say it like Iris did. Well, it couldn’t be helped.

With a grin, I nodded toward the door with my thumb and said,

“I’m going to practice this and that behind the dorm now; anyone wants to join?”

Not a single person shook their head.

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