As a Second Reincarnation Bonus, I Kept Rerolling and Ended Up Reincarnating as the Character Who Should’ve Had the Easiest Life... or So I Thought - Episode 8: Jet-Black Magic Power

Episode 8: Jet-Black Magic Power

This world revolves around swords and magic. And for Atlas—who in a previous life was Japanese—it felt familiar.

However, he still couldn’t grasp how magic actually worked.

Inside the grimoire the shopkeeper opened, lines of text were written. And on the last page, a drawing of a magic circle was depicted.

There was an image representing fire at the center of the circle.

“This is the most well-known spellbook for Fireball. Basically, it just has the activation words for the spell. But the last page with the drawing is the important part.”

“Oh! That’s fire! It’s the fire mark!”

Iru’s eyes were wide with interest. They stared intently at the page of the grimoire. By the way, the shopkeeper and Iru were about the same size—both small.

“Activation words… what are those?”

To Atlas, it was an unfamiliar term.

“You imagine the words written here in your mind. And at that moment, you release magic power from your body—that’s how you cast the spell.”

“Wow! But you can’t use it without magic power, right? How do you get magic power?”

Iru wanted to use magic right away.

Unlike the younger brother overflowing with curiosity, the older brother showed little reaction.

The butler found it strange how these two could get along so well despite such different personalities.

At this age, kids that different would usually fight constantly. In truth, the two hadn’t fought even once in the past year.

Perhaps it was because the older brother was skilled at keeping the peace… thought Cézard. Then he noticed a turtle lumbering over toward Iru.

“Magic power, huh? That’s a matter of talent. Some people are born with it, and some will never have it no matter how long they wait. There are theories that you can increase your magic power by fighting stronger opponents or through special training. But there’s no solid proof. Modern magical science doesn’t have any definitive answers.”

Iru blinked at the turtle’s explanation. He probably didn’t understand much. Watching this from the side, Atlas gave a wry smile.

“By the way, we do have an orb here that can measure magic power. Want to try it?”

The shopkeeper said this. She then brought out a large crystal-like orb from the back and placed it on the table.

“Ohh. This is quite an antique. It must be valuable.”

“It’s been around for five hundred years.”

“F-Five hundred!?”

Iru cried out in surprise, and Bersherika beamed with pride.

“Heh! This store’s a treasure trove of rare stuff! Okay, you just hold your hand above it like this…”

As the shopkeeper explained and held her hand above the orb, about ten seconds passed.

From the center of the orb, orange light began to glow and slowly spread.

“Wow! Amazing, amazing!”

Iru shouted in awe. When the light subsided, glowing numbers appeared on the orb’s surface.

The number 15,000 stayed visible for a while. It then faded after about a minute.

“Hm. Might’ve been a bit off today.”

“Hey! Can I try next?”

“Go ahead,” 

The shopkeeper said with a smile. Iru excitedly reached for the orb.

(These things exist no matter what world you’re in…)

Atlas recalled doing the same thing in a past life. That memory hadn’t brought good results.

“Huh? Nothing’s happening.”

“Just wait a bit longer. See? There it is!”

“Ah!”

A faint blue light started to shine from deep within the orb. It grew larger just like it had for the shopkeeper, then vanished—leaving a number behind.

“F-Five hundred?”

Apparently, Iru had around 500 magic power. The butler looked at the orb in shock.

“Ohhh, how impressive. To have 500 at such a young age! Master Iru surely has a gift for becoming a mage.”

“Really? Yay!!”

“That’s amazing, Iru.”

Praising his innocent little brother who was overjoyed, Atlas thought:

(If this kid grows up well, maybe I really won’t have to do anything myself…)

The shopkeeper also looked pleased by the result.

“Yeah! I think he has pretty good talent. And since it was blue, he’s probably suited for water or ice magic.”

“So you can tell what kind of magic someone’s good at based on the color the orb glows?”

“Exactly! Now it’s Onii-chan’s turn.”

“Me, huh…”

If he refused now, his brother would definitely nag him relentlessly. With a sigh, Atlas reluctantly held out his hand toward the orb.

The butler and younger brother both had high hopes that the older brother would show considerable magical talent too.

Even if not, they expected to at least learn what kind of magic he was suited for.

The butler stayed calm, but Iru was completely glued to the orb. He was barely able to wait.

But after a few seconds… then a few dozen… even after two minutes, nothing happened.

“Looks like I don’t have any magic power.”

“You don’t have it, Onii-chan…”

Surprisingly, Iru seemed more disappointed than Atlas himself. The butler smiled awkwardly and tried to comfort them.

“Just because you don’t have magic power now doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Perhaps Master Atlas is the type whose talent awakens later in life. Please don’t be discouraged.”

“He’s right! I didn’t have any magic power at first either. But once I became an adult, I awakened.”

“Hm? You became an adult?”

“Hmph! You thought I was a kid, didn’t you? I’ll have you know I’m a proper lady!”

Between this shop and its staff, Atlas found everything baffling.

But more than that, he had realized something.

(It’s faint, but this is the same reaction as in my past life. Looks like… I really did inherit the abilities from back then. This could be a problem.)

“But something’s odd. This orb is detecting a strange, dark energy. I’ll take a closer look.”

“Nah, it’s probably nothing. Anyway, Iru, you seem to have some magic power. Want to buy something?”

“Really!? Yay!!”

The shopkeeper’s observation was just unnecessary trouble for Atlas.

“For Iru, I’d recommend Water Ball or Freeze. But if you want to start with the basics, Fireball’s a good choice.”

“Then… I want Fireball and the one called Freeze!”

The shelf had price tags—under Fireball and Freeze, it said *ten silver coins each*.

This world uses four types of currency: platinum, gold, silver, and copper.

One silver coin is about equivalent to 1,000 yen in Japanese currency.

“Alright, let’s buy them.”

Usually even beginner spells like Fireball cost around 100 silver coins. So this was extremely cheap.

For the first time in their lives, the brothers bought books that would let them use magic.

“Thanks for your purchase! Come again, okay?”

“If you could do something about that maze-like hallway. The way back’s a pain too.”

“No worries! I’ll see you off, and I’ll set up a shortcut just for you guys so you can come anytime.”

“Does that mean—”

Just as Iru was about to ask, the three of them suddenly felt their vision blur.

When the warped surroundings returned to normal, they found themselves standing in the main street of Glowarth for some reason.