Mushoku Tensei: The Fool Magician

Roy opened his status panel, and the translucent screen displayed:

[Roy Greyrat

[Age: 2

[Strength: G

[Agility: G

[Stamina: G

[Intelligence: D

[Talents: [Immaculate Soul (Phase One)], [The Fool (Phase One)], [Greed]

[Skills: [Intermediate Magical Knowledge], [Swordsmanship (Untrained)]

[Evaluation: You possess extraordinary growth potential, but for now, aside from magic, you are utterly useless.]

Roy sighed and navigated to the World Capture interface, where a single line of text appeared:

[Temporal Energy: 50/100 (World Capture Unavailable)]

The World Capture feature was the system's crown jewel. According to its description, it allowed the system to fragment a portion of his soul and send it to another world as a "stowaway." There, he would complete tasks or drastically alter the world's trajectory. Once done, the system would absorb the essence of that world and funnel its energy back to fuel future operations. A job well done would accelerate access to the next world.

In the system administrator hierarchy, system workers or agents like Roy would normally earn points and exchange permissions as their "salary." However, Roy's situation was different. He could recall his soul fragment and selectively retain a portion of the abilities gained in that world.

What this process looked like in practice, Roy didn't know. After all, he hadn't unlocked his first World Capture yet.

Temporal Energy, the fuel for this feature, replenished naturally over time but at an agonizingly slow pace. After two years, he'd barely amassed fifty units out of the required hundred.

In this world, magic followed a fascinating structure. It was categorized into healing magic, offensive magic, and summoning magic, and was divided into seven ranks: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Saint, King, Emperor, and God.

Casting methods fell into two types: incantation and magic circles. Reaching a certain level of proficiency would earn titles like Saint-Class Magician or Emperor-Class Magician.

Swordsmanship also adhered to a similar ranking system and was divided into three main schools: Sword God Style, Water God Style, and North God Style. Founders of these styles were honored with the title of "God" appended to their respective schools.

Despite Roy's prodigious talent for magic, he was limited by the resources at his disposal, with his knowledge capped at Intermediate-level magic for now.

Magic, after all, was an incredibly versatile art. It involved channeling internal mana, using incantations to transform it into various forces of nature or holy energy. It could manifest as wind, fire, water, or earth—or even the sacred power to heal. At its core, mana was the engine that powered all magic.

Roy's talent bordered on monstrous, an aptitude so absurd that even the word "genius" fell short.

At just two months old, he learned to walk. By four months, he was speaking in basic sentences. By six months, under Lilia's stunned gaze and the proud laughter of Paul and Zenith, he was independently reading magical tomes.

His learning speed was nothing short of terrifying.

Yet, despite his extraordinary abilities, Roy's doll-like face remained unnervingly stoic.

It wasn't that he lacked emotion—on the contrary, his inner world was rich and lively. For reasons beyond his comprehension, however, his face always wore a calm, detached expression.

Even as the world around him marveled at his brilliance, Roy's outward demeanor remained unshaken, his thoughts buried deep beneath his serene façade.

Roy's face often wore an expression of aloof indifference. Even when he felt genuinely happy, the corners of his lips would curve into what looked like a cold smirk. This peculiar smile frequently left Paul and Zenith wondering if they had unknowingly upset him.

It wasn't until much later, after spending more time with him, that they realized this was simply how Roy expressed joy—not a cold sneer, but his own unique way of smiling.

With his golden hair, golden eyes, and perpetually stoic expression, Roy's young, doll-like face possessed an almost disarming charm.

Although Roy never went out of his way to hide his precociousness, openly demonstrating his independence from an early age, Paul and Zenith were blissfully unaware of the full extent of his maturity. Instead, they took pride in his talents, often boasting about their gifted child without a hint of suspicion.

Roy, in turn, avoided giving them any reason to worry. His focus remained on refining his magical abilities, training diligently every day. The process was straightforward: cast spells, exhaust his mana, and thereby gradually increase his body's mana capacity.

Remarkably, Roy's body could hold an immense reservoir of mana. When he first began practicing magic, even as a beginner, he had to cast several intermediate-level spells before depleting his mana reserves. As his capacity grew over time, intermediate spells became insufficient to keep up with his mana consumption.

So, he began experimenting.

One of his creations was a technique he dubbed Magic Sword.

Each individual's mana had unique characteristics, influencing how it was converted into magic and the energy required for that transformation. This variation meant that not all mana was equal; there were qualitative differences.

Roy discovered that his mana was exceptionally pure—but also disturbingly peculiar. Unlike typical mana, which could only serve as fuel for magic, his could manifest directly in its raw form, radiating immense destructive power and incredible malleability.

However, using raw mana came at a steep cost. While its destructive capabilities were greatly amplified, the energy consumption was staggering.

The Magic Sword was a spell Roy developed to harness the unique properties of his mana.

With a flick of his wrist, a pitch-black dagger materialized in his pale, delicate hand. The weapon, entirely composed of Roy's dark mana, was laced with intricate black patterns across its surface, exuding an aura of lethal power.

According to this world's magical standards, a fully realized Magic Sword could rival the damage output of a King-level spell.

Higher-tier magic in this world typically required lengthy incantations and preparation, especially under suboptimal environmental conditions. While instantaneous casting, like that of Rudeus, was possible for lower-tier spells, high-level magic still demanded significant preparation time.

The Magic Sword, however, was an exception. It was instantaneous.

As long as Roy's mana reserves held up, the spell could theoretically obliterate an entire town in an instant, reducing everything to nothingness. Pure annihilation.

After toying with the Magic Sword for an hour, Roy finally exhausted his mana reserves. His formidable mental resilience kept him from passing out, though he yawned lazily, his body heavy with fatigue and his mind slightly dulled.

With a sigh, he set the weapon aside and walked toward the door.

In the living room, Lilia, the graceful and capable maid, was busy with housework. Paul had been spending all his time doting on Zenith lately, who hadn't been feeling well. It was clear she would soon give birth to another child.

The large household felt overwhelming for just Lilia to manage alone, making her workload even more burdensome. Roy observed her briefly before deciding to lend a hand, silently stepping forward to assist.