As Ra had instructed,
I have been practicing magic diligently for the last couple of days.
Yet, I still haven't been able to perform it.
Ra doesn't let me practice magic near the house, so I have to go out into the snowy fields to practice.
I use some dry wood to practice magic on, but I still haven't been able to summon fire.
Ra gives vague theories on magic, but what can I expect from a farmer who uses magic to light fires and purify water?
He isn't a mage.
I don't even know if mages exist in this world.
Because a world with mages is supposed to have magic schools and mage towers—stuff like that.
But there isn't anything like that in this world.
Recently, there have been talks of a black shadow being sighted near the village.
Some say it's the shadow of an animal or even a human;
some say it's the shadow of a tree.
But everyone agrees on one thing: the shadow is utterly and eerily out of place.
It doesn't seem like that at first glance.
I don't know if it's a hoax or not,
but in a world where imagination becomes real, just thinking about the horrors of imagination sends a chill down my spine.
Days passed as I was beginning to lose hope in trying to use magic by just my own understanding, so I asked around the village.
Most of the villagers sounded like it was a natural thing that comes with time.
But one elder, whom most people call eccentric,
said something that stuck with me throughout my every practice.That day:
"Magic is all about putting your imagination over reality itself and bending it as you see fit.
And casting is just making an illusion come true by giving it a name,
therefore making it real,"
said the elder.
His explanation sounded so real that I
started to gain some comprehension.
But as I was gaining my comprehension,
he started laughing.
"Hahaha!"
laughed the elder."All of this is just mere talk, young child.
Magic is a manifestation of your imagination against reality;
that's what it is.
So, put your all into going against reality.
That's how you will achieve success,"
explained the elder."Magic is just going against reality,"
I mumbled to myself again and again,
as if to remind myself of a fact.
Then, the next day, as usual, I was practicing magic, but this time something was different.
I was different.
I took the saying of that elder to heart.
I began to imagine how wood burns.
I began to imagine the wood slowly getting hotter until it starts smoking.
After some moments, it catches fire.
I imagined everything to myself.
I began to imagine so hard that I started putting my imagination over reality; then, I spoke the chant:
"Kasthagni."
Suddenly, it seemed like reality itself was bending to my will.
First, there was a sudden rise in heat;
then, smoke began to appear on the wood.
After that, the smoke turned into fire.Success was finally in my reach.
I cried to myself as if embracing a new beginning.But out there in the distance,
something utterly eerie and out of place was watching me.As I turned around, I saw it:
a shadow that was out of its place—
the shadow of nothing.
"Life is but a fleeting dream
Success is within my reach
But the shadow of something watches me
Trying to get me into his dream"