Chapter 3

When I woke up, I pondered the strange occurrence from earlier.

A fire had truly appeared right before my eyes. It didn’t seem like a natural phenomenon. In fact, I couldn’t think of any natural phenomenon that could explain it. If not, then someone must have caused it. Probably, that someone was me. Apart from me, the dog, and a few small insects, there was no other living thing nearby.

What had I done just before the fireball appeared? The only thing I could think of was that I had used my 'qi' and tried to fight with all my might. And when that didn’t work, I had cursed the dog in my mind.

Another experiment was needed.

I had to know for self-defense. Even though it was a small fireball, it had actually driven the dog away. I needed to be able to use this small weapon. I would inevitably encounter wild animals again.

I organized the events leading up to the incident.

The dog had attacked me, and my resistance with 'qi' was useless. The dog had tried to eat me. Unable to bear it, I had imagined the dog dying in my mind.

Just imagining it wouldn’t have produced a fireball. Something must have happened before that. What else could it be? There was only one possibility: 'qi'.

I confirmed the viscous substance surrounding my body. To see the dog, I had expanded my 'qi'. And this 'qi' could be moved as I wished. I had made apples fall and break, and caused small shocks.

Of course, I didn’t know what this substance was. It was something mysterious. But I had no choice but to rely on it, so I had been using it. It was a strange thing.

Perhaps this 'qi' had caused the fire earlier.

I imagined a fireball on the ground a little away from me. Nothing happened.

Then I expanded my 'qi' to cover the same spot and imagined it again. Still, nothing happened.

Was I wrong? No, this was the only thing I could think of. I decided to try a little more.

After several attempts, when I imagined a fireball in a spot where I had concentrated my 'qi', it happened.

Fire, just like before.

It burned for a moment and then disappeared without a trace. And the expanded 'qi' seemed to have been used as fuel, disappearing from that space in an instant.

My guess was correct. The fireball had been caused by me changing my 'qi'.

Once I got the hang of it, it was easy. After a few more tries, I was able to create fireballs at will.

...It was like magic. I sighed. It was like the magic used by sorcerers in old tales, who cast spells with their wands.

If that was the case, could I produce other things besides fire? I decided to try, being careful not to faint again.

Conclusion: I decided to call this substance not 'qi' but 'magic power'.

I could produce things other than fire. I could make drops of water and small stones. They would disappear quickly, as if they had evaporated. This was indeed magic. So, I decided that the source must be magic power.

One question was answered. And I confirmed something I had suspected since I started calling it 'qi'.

This was not Earth.

On Earth, no one could use such power. Perhaps there were, but since I couldn’t confirm it, I thought there probably weren’t. In this world, magic was possible. Therefore, this must be a world I didn’t know.

It wasn’t a big deal, but for some reason, I laughed. Seeing my small hands and feet at the edge of my vision, I smiled. I didn’t know why, but I was probably happy.

With a better mood, I returned to the current problem: what to do about clothes. I resumed the thoughts that had been interrupted by the dog’s attack.

A loincloth made of leaves was out of the question. So, I needed to get clothes. I couldn’t make them.

Then, I thought, why not bring them? After some deliberation, I came up with this idea.

If I couldn’t get clothes from my parents, I could take them from where they were available. In other words, I would steal them.

When the man who seemed to be my father abandoned me, it was like midnight. I woke up in the morning sunlight. I didn’t think it had been several hours. So, there must be a village nearby. There, I could find clothes and other necessities for survival.

I hesitated. Theft was a crime according to my previous life’s values. But it seemed necessary to survive. At least, I felt I deserved it, having been abandoned by my parents and left in a forest full of wild animals right after birth.

So, I decided to be a little selfish. I didn’t know about my past life, but to survive in this world, I would act for myself in this world.

After that, I spent an unknown number of weeks or months practicing magic.

My goal was to move without being seen and to be able to escape if I was found.

My movements had been slow. I used magic to move like a caterpillar, gathering nuts to live. This wouldn’t allow me to enter human settlements.

As a countermeasure, I first learned to fly. To be precise, I covered my body with magic and moved it. However, my speed increased. I could move at a speed similar to a child running for a short time, and I could move at a certain height or very close to the ground.

Then, I got better at producing things. I could create fire and move the fireballs somewhat freely. The same applied to water and wind. This made it easy to drive away stray dogs.

And there was one more thing, my most recent and greatest achievement.

I could become transparent.

I couldn’t be sure without a mirror, but my reflection in a puddle was indeed transparent.

Becoming invisible to move around human settlements was something I had thought of, but it was difficult to make practical.

Seeing something is only possible when light enters the eyes. To recognize the presence of an object, the light that reflects or refracts off the object must enter the eyes.

Initially, I tried to reproduce the light that hit my body on the opposite side. My body would act like a liquid crystal, projecting a detailed image.

However, this was difficult. To sustain the light, I had to use a lot of magic power. In fact, the first time I tried it, I fainted the moment I thought I had succeeded. I didn’t even know if it had worked.

The breakthrough came when I successfully created wind.

Wind is the movement of air. When I first created wind, I made a ball of air and moved it.

It did create wind, but something felt off. It seemed like I was doing something unnecessary.

One day, I thought, "Can't I just move the air that's already there to create wind?" and tried it. It worked as expected. Perhaps because I had started by creating and moving fireballs, the idea of moving something that already existed hadn’t occurred to me.

Thinking about it, I had been using magic as a form of telekinesis since I made apples fall. It required less magic power to move a block of air than to create one.

I thought the same could reduce the magic power needed for transparency. I bent the light that hit me, making it pass through to the other side without hitting my body. This eliminated the need to generate light, allowing me to sustain the effect.

The angle at which the light was bent caused the scenery to appear distorted from close range, but that wasn’t a problem as long as I wasn’t approached. Additionally, by sensing the information as the light interfered, I could use it as a substitute for vision. Without using my eyes, I could see the outside world clearly.

Thus, the transparency magic was a success.

Thinking about venturing into human settlements, I swallowed the mashed caterpillar.

I had the means to hide from and escape from people. I might be able to live in a human settlement.

Of course, I was worried. I, a child, could use magic. It was reasonable to assume that others could too. If I was caught and protected, that would be fine. But I didn’t know what might happen. After all, this was a society where children could be easily abandoned.

I didn’t even know why I had been abandoned. I might be judged as an enemy the moment I was seen.

However, considering the future, it was better to act sooner. I knew nothing about this world—its language, culture, or environment.

Without information, I couldn’t make any judgments.

So, I decided.

To get clothes. To search for my parents.