Anime Fantasy: Mage's Path

-Kaching!

Jiggling the small pouch in his hands, Merlin felt its weight and smiled in satisfaction.

The pouch was filled with small copper coins given by the receptionist.

"Thanks, Amy."

The receptionist that he had caught dozing off earlier gave him a nod. She introduced herself as Amy Deckartz.

"No problem, Merlin. Just please don't mention what you saw to the head librarian."

"Yes, don't worry about it."

"If he learns I was caught sleeping by guests, he would scold me again." Amy's back slumped forward, her face giving a tired look.

'I'm pretty sure he already knows what you've been doing behind his back.'

She may have not noticed him when they first met but the head librarian was already staring at her from a distance at that time.

What happens next is not his problem though.

Whether she gets reprimanded or fired was not of his concern, as his self-interest was his top priority.

"Do you know a place where I could stay for the night?"

"Well, if you're looking for an inn, I know a place. Around the corner there is an inn nearby owned by a guy named Vander."

"I see, thank you."

"Stay safe!" Amy waves.

Exiting the library, Merlin's eyes gazed upon the quiet street ahead.

Nighttime had already fallen, it seems that he hasn't even noticed how much time has passed since he started.

Street lamps lit the dim cobblestone roads, providing visibility do the otherwise darkness filled city streets.

As Merlin walked along the silent streets, his heart couldn't help but beat faster.

The streets were bright, but the nearby alleyways he passes by were not. Sometimes when he stared at an alley, a few eyes stare back at him. So he just looked forward, looking nowhere but ahead.

On earth, when a problem that needed attention happened, the police was there in a relative speed.

What should he even expect in this world where gas-fueled vehicles didn't exist and communication using technology was non-existent?

Obviously they were going to respond even slower.

By the time they get to his location, he may be already dead in a puddle of blood.

Turning into a corner on the road, a bright building emerges from his sight.

The building was fairly larger than the one beside it—being three stories in height.

Like the Parada Library, there was also a bold text painted at the top.

The Last Drop

It must've been the place Amy was talking about.

As he advanced towards the inn, his attention was drawn into the distant sound emanating from inside. The clamor was unmistakable—laughter, shouting, and the occasional clink of mugs colliding.

Pushing open the inn's small double doors wide open, Merlin was immediately greeted by the warm, bustling atmosphere as he entered the establishment.

The inn was packed with people, every table occupied by patrons engaged in lively conversations. The air was thick with the scent of food and ale. A bard stood in one corner, strumming the lute in his hands and singing a tune, adding to the ambient noise.

Merlin's entrance went mostly unnoticed amidst the commotion. They were too busy with what they were doing to even notice him.

He didn't want the attention anyways, popularity always attracts the attention of the unwanted.

Weaving through the crowd towards the bar, his eyes gaze upon the people inside the pub.

Dwarves were chugging barrels of beer in one go, A group of elves silently talking with one another, and a beast-folk fighting a human.

Everything he was seeing was akin to the open world video games he had played a while back.

Sitting on the barstool, his ears perked upwards—hearing various discussions being spoken.

"...Apparently, another dungeon at the border of the demon continent appeared, named 'The Great Tomb of Nazarick'."

"...The Loki familia completed another A-rank quest."

"...The infamous Storm Dragon that destroyed the nearby Festiva Kingdom was apparently sealed."

Couple more discussions goes by his hearing, but he simply just dismisses them all.

Dungeons? Dragons that could wipe out cities with ease? What was next, gods capable of destroying reality with a fart?

He felt a headache rush to his temple as he thought deeper about the world he was in.

"What did I expect from a fantasy world..."

His body and mind was too tired for any of this, he didn't know why but his body was undoubtedly exhausted and a bit lethargic—making him slump down on the counter.

A man on the otherside of the bar walks up to him, accompanying his large physique was a deep gravelly voice.

"What can I do for you, Lad?" he said, his hands cleaning a used glass mug with a piece of towel.

"How much for a room for the night?"

"That'll be 30 copper coins for the night. You pay now, and breakfast's included."

Taking out the leather pouch from his robe's inner pocket, Merlin grabbed the 30 copper coins mentioned—leaving him with only 20 left inside.

Seeing that he had now spent more than half of his money just for a night's stay made him a bit disheartened.

With prices like these, would he have to spend months just to buy something nice for himself.

Merlin hesitantly places them at the top of the counter to which the man scooped up after a bit of counting and placed at a box nearby.

"Name's Vander." The burly man introduces himself.

He took out a key from his pocket and hands it over, "Here's your key. Your room's upstairs, third door on the left. If you need anything, just give a shout."

"Thank you." Merlin says, grabbing the key out of Vander's chunky hand.

'He could crush an apple with those...'

When he was done cleaning the glass mug, he places it at the counter and grabs another one to clean. "What's your name? Haven't seen you around these parts."

"Merlin, pleasure to meet you. A friend of mine recommended this place."

"Must've been a friend with good taste, I suppose." Vander chuckles.

Going up the inn's stairs at the side, Merlin arrives in front of a wooden door and places the key inside the keyhole.

-Click

With a slight turn of his wrist, the door's lock opens—revealing the inside of the room he was going to be resting at.

Inside was decently big enough for him, but there were no lights as expected.

Only the moonlight that entered through the window pane gave some semblance of light.

The room had a bunch of essential furniture such as a closet, dresser, and a bed. They were all made of wood but they still had an artistic design.

There were a few swatches of blue and pink paint on the walls giving the room a bit of uniqueness to it.

There must have been a painter that occupied the room before him.

But he didn't want to think about such things anymore.

Today has left him too exhausted to think properly.

His body unconsciously fell down on the bed's cusion. Its matress, although not soft—was enough to give him the comfort he needed.

As he laid down on the bed, his thoughts slowly drifted to sleep as his eyes grow heavier by the second.

It seems that his body, which was still not acclimated to the use of mana, was overwhelmed by its entrance—exerting its energy completely.

Why was he sent here? Who sent him here? How about his family, were they okay?

This kinds of thoughts plagued his mind.

At the start, Merlin didn't really believe that all he was seeing was really true. But, everything that happened says otherwise—it all felt too real.

And he might not have been the only one that was affected and perhaps his family aswell was dragged into this.

If they were and something bad were to happen to them, he swore to find the ones who caused their transmigration and show them his wrath.

...

A few days pass by with Merlin repeating everything he had done at alike the first day.

Everytime, he would finish work early just to find a secluded place at the library and train his magic.

He was going to take it slow however.

After seeing the effects of magic was to his body that is not used to it, he just plans to practice the first two phases first.

There was actually two more stages right after absorption and circulation. It was calculation where the process of converting the mana into spells take place, then execution where the spells are finally put to use.

Due to him rushing the last two steps on his first day, his brain wasn't able to handle the mana inside his body properly, which caused both his body and mind to tire.

Interestingly enough, whenever he absorbed mana, the small ball of mana in his bowel that filled up—he dubbed as his "mana core".

The first three days of practicing absorption wasn't easy, it took him a bit over 10 minutes before being able to actually fill up the mana core.

After which, he would circulate the mana outwards and into various parts of his body. Everytime he did so or expelled the mana out of his body, he felt the mana core within him grow a tiny bit stronger.

Not a lot but it was a start.

On the fifth day, he was able to increase his efficiency in absorption by one minute. Unfortunately, he still wasn't able to do the first phase when moving—only succeeding when he stood still.

It was mainly due to how he has to visualize the mana he takes in.

When he is standing still and unmoving, all he has to think about is the mana that surrounds him to entering his body and the mana that leaves.

But when he moves, in order to absorb the mana, he also had to think about the mana that was passing by, moving, and leaving his body.

Merlin felt it was similar to a person manually blinking, breathing, and even beating his own heart at the same time.

Just imagine how hard that is to do while actually moving.

Which is why theoretically, even though moving while casting magic was possible, most mages don't attempt it due to how complex one has to think.

Nonetheless, he needed to do a bunch of visualizations before being able to absorb the mana in the air into his body even while standing still.

Today was his sixth day of practicing, he included the last stages in his practice, always using the spell [Create Wind].

Different from his first attempt, once Merlin got the hang of using the spell. Though still weak, he was able to move the book a few feet away from him rather than just flipping a few pages.

Of course, he didn't slack off on building connections with those he had met.

Although he wasn't able to meet Kazuma coincidentally in the kingdom since it was too big just to try and find him, he was going to meet him tomorrow either way so it was not a big deal.

He had gotten closer to the head librarian and Amy after a few days. They assumed that Merlin was an aspiring mage who wanted to attend the nearby Parada Academy.

Vander on the other hand was a pleasant person to talk to everytime he rented a room. He even made it so that whenever Merlin rented a room, he would get the same one each time.

Merlin also learned he was an uncle, for two children. He had met them briefly once when they visited Vander during the weekends.

The two of them were near his age and they were students in the Parada Academy.

One had light blue hair and was named Powder while the older sister had bright pink hair and her name was violet.

It seems that the grand Academy was so prestigous that it is one of the main points of interest in the kingdom, perhaps he needs to check it out someday too.

There might even be a clue to his situation.

He had not given up hope in going back home however.

Inside this world full of strange beings and phenomena, there had to be a magic somewhere that will help him get out of here.