Chapter 8

But Inha looked at me for a moment with a strange feeling, then turned his head away.

"…No, no."

I tilted my head. It seemed like he wanted to say something… But I was more grateful that he didn’t ask about my magic skills. I sat quietly and watched as Mom and Inha practiced magic. Inha was quite serious, with no change in his expression, as he practiced.

Suddenly, a desire to practice magic welled up from deep within me, but I suppressed the impulse.

'No, it's fine to take a few days off. Inha doesn't come over every day.'

…Though he does come over often. The thought made my head ache a little.

However, seeing Inha and Mom practicing magic like that made me feel a bit melancholic. Reflecting now, maybe Inha and Aunt Suna and Uncle Jeongmin didn't mind if I was a bit quiet and knew about it.

I slightly bowed my head. But still… such thoughts made me feel a bit down from time to time.

Those thoughts only surfaced briefly due to my selfishness.

Inha eventually succeeded in the Light Magic after a few hours.

After that, Inha learned several more theories of light magic. He succeeded in two of them, both of which were basic magic spells I could use.

Time passed quickly as I watched and read books in the corner. By evening, Dad had returned from work. Dinner was also a pleasant affair.

"Should we go to bed now?"

I nodded at that. I was about to head straight to the bathroom but paused.

"Um… Inha, do you want to take a shower first?"

At that, Inha turned from the TV and looked at me, then nodded. Inha went to the bathroom first. After I finished my shower, I greeted Mom and Dad.

"Good night."

"Sure, both Eunha and Inha, sleep well."

"…Good night."

Honestly, I wasn't very sleepy yet. It was just 9:30 PM, a bit early for me to go to bed.

I headed to my room. I felt like I should think more about magic since I had some time. I was about to walk up the stairs happily when Inha suddenly grabbed my hand from behind. I was startled.

"…Where are you going?"

"Eh, uh? To my room… I've had a room for a while now."

"…."

Inha let go of my hand and quickly turned to enter the master bedroom. The door closed with a sound. I stared at it blankly for a moment, then decided to head to my room. But the door clicked open again, and Inha came out of the living room, holding a pillow.

"Oh, Inha? Where are you going?"

"…I'll sleep with Eunha."

"Really? I'll move the blanket then."

"Thank you."

Huh?

I looked at Inha in surprise. He was looking at me silently.

'What?'

I felt a bit flustered as I moved toward my room. Inha followed me hesitantly and placed his pillow next to mine on the bed. Seeing this, I really felt flustered.

It's not that I disliked sleeping with Inha. I definitely prefer sleeping alone, but I don't dislike Inha, and we always shared a blanket when he stayed over.

But it was unexpected. This situation was really unexpected.

A little while later, Mom brought Inha's blanket. Inha and I lay down side by side under the blanket.

"Then, both of you sleep well."

"Okay."

"…."

Mom left and closed the door. Silence filled the room.

"…Good night."

Sorry, I can't sleep.

But since Inha had greeted me, I replied with a smile in my voice. Sure, Inha too.

…But honestly, I couldn't sleep. A few minutes later, when Inha's breathing became steady, I slowly got up. I had a good idea about illusion magic just now, which made it even harder to sleep. I decided to write it down. I carefully got out of bed and walked to my desk.

I gently took out a notebook from the bookshelf and opened it. A few pages in, the large title "Illusion Magic" appeared. I traced the words about illusion magic that followed, all of which I had thought of over time.

I took out a light orb from the drawer and infused it with magic. A soft light turned on.

I sat down at the desk and checked Inha for a moment. Is Inha really asleep? It would be great if I could tell by the flow of magic. I started writing in the notebook carefully.

Ha… If Inha woke up now, he would find out that I can actually move magic. But I couldn't stop my hand. Once I start writing, I have to finish.

Eventually, I fell asleep after 11 PM.

☆

It's raining today too. I lay sprawled on my desk, fiddling with my pen. Well, I haven't even written a tenth of what I wanted, so it's not like I'll have more to write. Inha is practicing magic with Mom now. Maybe I should practice magic secretly too. Hmm… but today, I also want to read a book. I jumped from my chair to my bed and buried my face in the soft mattress.

"…Teleportation is still too difficult."

Even the simplest teleportation requires a lot of magic power. Mom had sternly said it was out of the question with my current magic power. I made a small barrier with one finger. Though small, it worked well; just thinking "burn" made a small flame ignite inside the barrier. I made another small barrier with my other hand. When I focused, the flame in my right hand moved to the barrier in my left hand.

"…If I could just make this a bit bigger."

But it's still far beyond my current magic power. Barrier magic is the slowest and most difficult to progress in. Creating barriers with symbols is much faster. So, I've practiced using symbols and barriers together. But even with both, using movement magic is still a huge risk. Well, I'm growing steadily, so I'll be able to use it soon.

Compared to the slow progress in barrier magic, the things I can do with symbol magic have increased significantly. For example, writing "gravity" makes floating seeds fall immediately, and writing "water rises" makes part of the lake water rise.

Anyway, I can feel myself growing a little, so that's good. I'll definitely be able to use teleportation magic skillfully when I'm older.

But I'm bored now. Hmm, should I secretly take the bus to the city…? I only think about it, though. I'm aware that it would be dangerous for a child like me to do that. Besides, I don't have any money. That's the biggest problem. Maybe I should ask for some pocket money? Our family is actually quite well-off, and I'm the only child. But… I sighed deeply.

'I'll borrow some books from the library.'

I opened the door and walked out. To use the library's delivery system, I needed a computer and a delivery device. There were two computers in the master bedroom, and the delivery device was right next to them. I pressed the round button on the computer.

A translucent window appeared, and the computer turned on. I looked at it a bit discontentedly. Actually, I prefer physical objects to the sci-fi-like 3D displays. They feel more real.

"…It's not a good day today."

I sighed while searching for books in the library on the internet. Hmm, there are many interesting books, but none of the ones I usually want to read. I sighed again and turned off the computer.

There's really nothing to do. I should practice magic secretly. As I thought this and opened the door, I was startled to see Inha's face right there. I was startled, and from behind Inha, I heard Mom's voice from the living room.

"Eunha, are you out? Come here for a moment!"

I turned my head blankly in that direction, and Inha, who had been standing silently at the door, turned toward Mom. I then realized why he was standing at the door.

'Ah, Mom called me.'

That seemed to be the case. Inha glanced at me and walked ahead, as if telling me to follow. I walked to Mom with Inha.

"We're going to meditate now. Eunha, you'll join too."

"…Okay."

I nodded and sat opposite Mom, next to Inha.

I sat comfortably, made a circle with my hands in front of my chest, and breathed. The quality of the floating magic power around me changed instantly.

I opened my eyes slightly and looked to the side, feeling the magic power next to me. The moment I opened my eyes, I was captivated by the vivid magic power in front of me.

'Wow…'

In front of me, a red magic power like a flame and a very beautiful, lemon-like golden magic power danced and fluttered. They circled around the body, coloring the surroundings with their hues, and eventually seeped into the body with each breath.

It was truly beautiful. I always thought magic was beautiful, but the pure and refined magic power flowing through my body during meditation was even more beautiful.

Especially Inha's magic power was breathtaking. It was clear that Mom, a C-rank magician, had much more powerful and higher-quality magic power. But what captivated my heart was Inha's magic power. It was as if he had sprinkled my favorite stars around his body.

'He's beautiful, and his magic power is… really unfair…'

I had rarely seen such beautiful magic power with my own eyes. Of course, I've met very few magicians…

Maybe it's because he hasn't had magic power for long and it's still pure? I'm not sure. There are no other kids my age who have accumulated magic power except for Inha.

'But really, it's beautiful.'

Looking at that dazzling, swirling magic power, I thought. Being able to see the color of magic power is a huge advantage.

After a while, I quietly closed my eyes. Even with my eyes closed, the color of the magic power seemed to penetrate my eyelids, emitting a vivid light.

I slowly breathed in the magic power. The magic power that had been dormant deep inside me began to pulse. I calmed it down and opened my eyes again.

I knew that while I could vividly distinguish the colors of the surrounding magic power, others couldn't. Even if I subtly moved magic power next to someone, most people wouldn't notice. But during meditation, it's different, so I deeply calmed my magic power, following the paths of the two people's magic power.

That's because meditation is an act of meticulously sensing and handling the surrounding magic power. During meditation, when the magic power flows, it feels like a path of wind.

So, I didn't move my magic power much and just pretended to meditate while enjoying the magic power of the two people.

After a while, the meditation of the two people ended. Mom opened her eyes first, and I pretended to open mine.

"How was it? Has your magic power recovered a bit?"

"Yes."

"Then, do you want to practice more?"

"Yes."

"How about you, Eunha? Do you want to watch?"

"Um, I… I'll go for a walk."

If I keep looking at that beautiful magic power, I'll definitely want to use magic. I pretended to think for a moment and said that.

Mom nodded at my words. Inha looked at me for a moment and then turned away without a word.

Fortunately, I managed to resist the temptation of magic until nightfall. After my walk, I did other games besides reading to distract myself. I noticed the blocks Dad had given me as a gift a few days ago and played with them.

It was the famous OX Blocks! I was amazed to find them in this world. I pressed the blocks to secure the joints. Well, I played like a child.

What's wrong with being childish? Playing like a child is fun in its own way. It brings back nostalgia, doesn't it? By the way, the blocks in this world can also change shape. I happily built a house model. After finishing the training, Inha, who initially seemed uninterested, started playing with the blocks I had scattered out of boredom.

Dad came home around that time. I turned to him with a wide smile when I heard the front door open and close.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back, Dad."

I greeted Dad with my head turned toward him while my hands were still on the blocks. Dad looked at me with a fond expression and smiled.

"Hey, Eunha. Did you have fun?"

"Uh-huh."

I nodded. Dad looked at the nearly completed two-story house I had built with blocks and praised me.

"Oh, you did a good job."

"Hehe."

Even with the extremely childish praise, I smiled happily. I didn't mind being treated like a child. After all, I had lost my parents in my previous life.

I thought the completion of this two-story house was quite high. I'm not particularly good at craftsmanship, but it was well-shaped. The only issue was that the walls were tightly sealed with blocks, making the inside completely dark, but that could be fixed with a light orb inside the blocks.

The house lit up with the words "Shine," and I felt truly happy. I was a bit embarrassed, but what can I do, I'm a child now.

Then, I remembered that I used to do this even as an adult, which made me even more embarrassed. But, to be honest, doesn't everyone do this? Feeling nostalgic while building blocks even after turning 20, and everyone has done it at least once, everyone. I justified it to myself.

"Did Inha play with you too?"

"Inha doesn't seem to like blocks that much."

"Is that so?"

Dad asked me, and Mom answered. Is that so? I tilted my head a bit. He seemed interested to me.

This time, I tried to build a tree next to the house. I started by placing small blocks in a line and soon had a premonition. Uh… this is going to fall. It seems building a tree with blocks was too ambitious, at least without magic.

Next, I need to learn a magic like magnetism that can attach things in the desired shape without collapsing. Ah, and while doing this, I thought I wanted to build a staircase with blocks that can't exist. The bottom would be empty, but the shape would be a staircase, and it would function as one.

'Oh, that's really good. Next time, I'll practice magic with blocks like that.'

"Our Eunha is quite mature, but she really looks like a child when she does things like this."

Eh…?

I turned to look at Mom with a puzzled expression while smiling and building blocks. But all I met was Inha's dark, emotionless gaze. I turned my head back and finished building the blocks.

I thought I saw Inha smile just now, but was it just my imagination? Of course, Inha is human and can smile, but I've never seen him smile even once while living with the family. So, it was probably just my imagination.

I eventually completed a huge mansion with blocks. But it was already past 9 PM, so I quickly disassembled the blocks and put them back in the box. Thankfully, Inha, who had already showered, helped me.

Inha is a bit gruff but does all the usual courtesies. He's cold but not completely indifferent. When I was putting the blocks back in the plastic box, Mom came over and said,

"E