It Seems That the Demon King Is Among the Members of the Hero’s Party

65. Incantation

Wait, is my ‘Meteor’ really that weak? The power of Sasha’s ‘Meteor’ I saw earlier was not like that at all. It was a violent power that could take down around 1000 goblins.

Is it because the person using it changes that it differs so much? This is the wall of talent…

“Kail, your incantation is wrong,” Sasha pointed out. I got the incantation wrong? Honestly, I don’t know where I went wrong, but is it really possible for the power to differ so much just because of a mistake in the incantation?

“Is it just because I got the incantation wrong? Or is it because I lack magic power?”

“The magic power required when using magic is fixed. Using more magic power doesn’t increase the power.”

“Where did I go wrong with the incantation?”

“You said ‘fire’ instead of ‘flame’ in the incantation ‘灼熱の炎を纏いし災いよ’.”

I feel embarrassed when my mistake is pointed out. Did I make a mistake because I was too conscious of the flow of fire attribute magic power? The mistake was just one character. It seems that’s all it takes, according to Sasha’s words.

“Is it really just because of a one-character mistake?”

“The meaning of the words in an incantation is huge. This time, you got the core of the magic wrong, which had a big impact.”

“I thought I understood incantations, but…”

“Magic is deeper than you think, Kail. Even a small mistake in the incantation can change the power and performance of the magic.”

“That’s why magicians spend decades or even centuries researching to find the right incantation for their magic.”

As I mentioned earlier, magic can be activated without an incantation. As long as the foundation is there, the important thing is the flow of magic power and the name of the magic.

If you understand the flow of magic power well, you can use any magic as long as you know its name.

The purpose of an incantation is to increase the power and performance of the magic. All modern magic has incantations. This is because magicians who received magic from God have been researching incantations since ancient times.

“You can learn all the magic you can use at the church, but they won’t teach you the incantations, right?”

“That’s right. You can only learn the attributes and magic you can use. You have to find the incantations yourself.”

“The books Kail uses are all completed by magicians who repeated trials and errors. Each magic has its own incantation, and all of them have different correct words.”

“Is that so?”

“Magicians do diligent work, repeating trials and errors to find the correct words for each magic. They take notes on the changes in power and performance when using magic and repeat it many times to find the optimal incantation.”

The conversation that followed was very long. The incantations of modern magic are the crystallization of the blood, sweat, and tears of magicians who have been researching magic since ancient times. (Maybe not the tears and sweat part, though.)

Honestly, I was naive until I heard the story. I realized that my recognition was wrong.

The incantation for Meteor that Sasha taught me was something she found herself. It seems she repeated using magic thousands of times to find this incantation.

Of course, the correct words differ for each attribute, and the length of the incantation also varies depending on the magic. It seems that if the incantation is too long, it can actually decrease the power.

Each magic has its own correct incantation, and you have to find it through trial and error. You have to open a dictionary of words and repeat it as long as your magic power lasts. Even small changes in power and performance are noted.

───Let’s take the ‘Fireball’ magic, which is a ‘fire’ attribute magic, as an example.

The incantation for ‘Fireball’ is “Burning flames, follow my will and burn my enemies to ashes.”

If you change the ‘flame’ part of this incantation to ‘fire’, the size of the fireball changes from basketball-sized to golf ball-sized. It’s clearly weakened.

The word ‘flame’ is the core of the incantation for ‘fire’ attribute magic, and changing it greatly decreases the power.

In some cases, not using an incantation at all might result in higher power. It seems you have to repeat using magic thousands or tens of thousands of times to find the right phrase, like ”Burning flames”.

Adding or removing the particle ‘よ’ also subtly changes the power. The meaning of a single character is extremely heavy.

If you don’t use an incantation, the size of the fireball is palm-sized. This seems to be the default power.

“One question, though. Why does the power of magic increase when you use an incantation?”

“I’m still researching that. The answer hasn’t come out yet, but it’s said that words have magical power.”

“Magical power in words?”

“It’s a hypothesis set by a magician from hundreds of years ago. Words have the power to reside in magic. They called it ‘ Kotodama.’ The idea is that Kotodama interferes with the mana in the air to increase the power of magic.”

“Sorry, I have more questions. What is mana?”

“It’s the source of magic created by the World Tree. Magic can only be activated with the help of this mana. It’s said to be floating in the air like oxygen, invisible to the eye.”

“I see.”

“The magician’s theory is that Kotodama gathers mana from the air to increase the power of magic. It’s like adding the user’s magical power to the mana in the air, which boosts the magic’s effect. If the incantation doesn’t match, the Kotodama might even scatter the magic power.”

“I think that theory makes sense, but what do you think?”

“I don’t know, it’s too specialized for me.”

Honestly, I don’t think I can keep up with the conversation about magic. Listening to it doesn’t make me want to research magic. It feels like they’re doing something incredibly difficult. They’re repeating magic spells hundreds, thousands of times, feeling their way through it. There are countless words, and the combinations are endless. Can they really find the correct answer? It seems impossible.

Even so, they repeat the trials until they get results. It’s a struggle. I wonder what drives them to do it. Most magicians do it for their own fame. If they discover an incantation, they’ll be praised just for that. The country that values magic research will even reward them.

If they discover an incantation that no one has found before, it’ll be a groundbreaking discovery that will be passed down through the ages. Is it a kind of desire for recognition? Or do they just see it as their job? As long as they produce results, they’ll get the corresponding reward.

One thing I can say is that I’m not suited to be a magician. I’d rather be active on the battlefield.

“Can I ask about the incantation method?”

“Go ahead, ask me anything. I’ll answer.”

She’s puffing out her chest, making a silly face. I accidentally looked at her chest, which is a sad fact about men. Is it the biggest in the party, excluding Tora’s?

No, I shouldn’t think about that now.

“Why do Noel and Sasha sometimes use magic after casting a spell?”

“That’s strengthened incantation. As the name suggests, it strengthens the magic after it’s been cast. It’s one of the techniques used when incantating.”

“I see.”

“You don’t understand, do you? Let me explain.

Strengthened incantation is used when there are many enemies around, or when you can’t secure enough time for incantation.”

“Hmm.”

“If you don’t incantate and just cast the magic, it’s quick and easy. But the effect is unreliable, so you strengthen it with an incantation later. The merit of strengthened incantation is that even if the incantation is disrupted, the magic has already been cast, so you can expect at least some effect.

The demerit is that you consume extra magic power while waiting in the pre-casting state during the incantation.”

“I see.”

“Do you really understand?

Well, it’s like an insurance policy for casting magic. When there are many enemies, you often can’t secure enough time for incantation.”

I glance at Sasha, who’s smiling meaningfully at me. I sense what she wants to say. I remember our conversation at the tavern a while ago.

“Sasha, I’ll protect you, so don’t worry.”

“Could you say something a bit more passionate?”

“I won’t say it anymore.”

“Don’t you think you’re in love with me? I think my heart is pounding too.”

“I’ll try using ‘Meteor’ after remembering what Sasha said.”

“Don’t ignore me!”

I tried to ignore Sasha, who was clinging to my waist, and used ‘Meteor’ by drawing magic power from Durandal.

The flow of magic power was different. Stay calm. I made sure not to mess up the incantation this time!

Make it happen this time!

“‘Meteor’!!”

The magic power that had accumulated in my right hand disappeared, and a massive red magic circle appeared in the sky. It felt a bit too big.

The red magic circle shone brightly, and a flaming meteorite emerged from it.

Its size was ridiculous compared to the previous one. It was about 100 meters long? Just huge. The area around us was getting darker due to the meteorite that appeared in the sky.

“Kyle! Coordinates! If we don’t do something, it’ll fall here!”

I snapped back to reality at Sasha’s panicked voice. I focused my magic power and specified the coordinates. When specifying the target of a magic spell, I just needed to focus my magic power and look at the target after casting the spell.

“Isn’t it too close?”

Sasha’s single phrase made me break out in a cold sweat. The ‘Meteor’ that had fallen from the sky was heading straight for the target I had specified. At that moment, a massive explosion sound and shockwave hit me, and I found myself floating in mid-air.

My whole body hurt. It seemed I had set the coordinates too close. My body had become a shield, and Sasha didn’t seem to have any major injuries. I prepared for the fall, embracing Sasha to protect her.

“‘Fly'”

Just before we hit the ground, the wind picked up, and we stopped in mid-air. It was Sasha’s magic. I had prepared for the fall, but it seemed unnecessary.

“By the way, how did you feel about using ‘Meteor’?”

“The best!”

My body hurt, but the sense of accomplishment and joy were even stronger. I was feeling the excitement of using the magic I had always dreamed of.

The joy was greater because I had given up. The first time, I messed up the incantation and almost broke. I thought I didn’t have any talent.

But this time, I did it. Was my ‘Meteor’ smaller than Sasha’s? Still, it had enough power to take down a large army.

I was feeling really great!

“And one more thing…”

“What is it?”

“What do you think about touching my breasts?”

Sasha’s words made my emotions from earlier suddenly cool down. I looked at where my hand was placed. My hand was on her chest, grasping it tightly. Hmm, my impression…

“It was soft.”

“Yeah, it was good. I’ll attack you when we land, so be prepared.”

───As promised, I was attacked.