I messed up. Big time.

 

Let's start from the beginning. I'm currently 7 years old, one month away from my eighth birthday, which also means that it's three weeks before my sister, Alice, turns four.

 

I, of course, would never stand aside and idly watch my cute little sister get brainwashed after the Soul Depth measurement test she'll take on her fourth birthday. Naturally, I intended to at the very least plant a seed of doubt that should grow into distrust for magic.

 

The hard part was sneaking into her room without being noticed. There are no windows to climb in while the door has a guard dog stationed near it at all times.

 

That dog is Alice's personal maid named Martha, a tall and intimidating young woman with black hair. Martha doesn't like me, plus her sharp eyes make me nervous.

 

Thinking that the maid can't possibly be standing there all the time, I hid behind a corner in the hallway waiting for her to leave.

 

A couple of hours later, my patience has paid off as Martha had to visit the bathroom. Seriously, I never saw that her do anything else during all these hours.

 

I took this valuable chance to enter Alice's room with a victorious smile. That was my plan anyway…

 

"Oh my, if it isn't young master Max. What do you think you are doing in front of my young lady's room?"

 

Martha tricked me. She pretended to go to the bathroom so that she could catch me red-handed, and I fell for it.

 

"It seems like you don't understand, crippled brat, so I'll make it clear for you. Stay away from Alice and don't you ever dream about interacting with her. Her Soul Depth measurement is three weeks from now, which absolutely can't go wrong. I won't take a chance letting a freak like you harm her soul with your manaphobia."

 

Martha proceeded to yank me away from the door without giving me a chance to respond. Alright, this is slightly problematic, but I can always try again later, I have plenty of time before Alice's test.

 

Unfortunately, Martha was smarter than I thought. While I was in my room brainstorming ways to circumvent the mad maid, a certain rumor was spread around the mansion.

 

When I tried to check if Martha still stood in her post, she wasn't alone. A whole line of servants blocked the hallway leading up to my little sister's room. The moment a maid or butler spotted me, they immediately shooed me away.

 

Apparently, the rumor a certain sly maid spread around is that I'm jealous and wanted to ruin Alice's test to make her incapable of using magic just like me.

 

That scheming fox! Although I did want to sabotage the test, that doesn't mean I knew how to do it. Now I have no way of reaching my sister, at least not until she gets tested three weeks from now.

 

***************************************************

 

"There are six different ranks that represent how powerful a mage is. Yellow, orange, red, green, blue, and purple, these are the colors given to mages arranged from weakest to strongest. The power of a mage is judged based on three main criteria; spell power, mana capacity, and shield absorbance."

 

This is so boring; Lily keeps giving me magic lessons no matter how many times I protest against it. Can she at least teach something else, like geography?

 

Learning about the two continents was much more fun compared to brain-dead magic.

 

The Western Continent, where I currently reside, is a massive rectangular land mass dominated by human countries. The Kingdom of Lanthanum is a major northern country ruled by king Lawrencium the Fifth. Two other major countries exist, the Light Monarchy and United Islands, which are situated in the middle and southern parts of the continent, respectively.

 

Ahh… this won't do, I want to do something other than the never ending cycle of studying. My research on magic reached a dead end, mostly because there's only so much I can learn from books without applying what was written.

 

Here is a summary on what I was able to gather from Magnus's study:

1- Mana is, supposedly, everywhere in very small quantities which can be absorbed and stored in souls over time. The origin of mana is highly debated, though. Some claim it's a gift from God while others believe it's as natural as air. (I think both groups are wrong, simply because they are mages)

2- Magical creatures roam areas containing relatively high concentrations of stable mana, which precipitates into crystal cores forming a physical form around it. These are monsters that must be eradicated as they are hostile and will attack on sight.

3- A very famous disease, called 'Soul Corruption', is quite common among magic users who've bit more than they could chew. The risk factors aren't clear, but most magic towers agree that learning too many different spells can trigger it. Symptoms include faster casting speed, extremely fast mana recovery, and going on a rampage. The disease is actually contagious between clowns, so either the army or a group of normal adventurers have to go and subdue the infected. Soul Corruption is treated by draining all mana from the soul to purify it.

4- Mages are nerds.

 

These points are my main clues towards proving that magic is a scam and a conspiracy made by the High Mages to control society. I still need more research if I want concrete evidence, unfortunately.

 

Hmm? Oh, Lily just finished the brainwashing session. I can finally go back to my room and prepare for a very important trip.

 

That's right, after all these years stuck in this hellish mansion, I finally decided to go to the nearby forest and beat up some monsters. This is definitely not because I'm bored out of my mind or anything. Whacking goblins is absolutely essential for my research.

 

Getting out of this prison is actually pretty easy, way easier than I thought, at least. All I have to do is repeat the exact plan of going to Magnus's study, but instead of reading books, I'll jump out the window and climb over the fence before anyone notices.

 

Best part is no one will know. I've sneaked into the study countless times and nobody cares anymore. If Sisley finds out I'm not in my room, she'll just assume that I went to read books.

 

I sometimes scare myself by my own intelligence. Oh Max, you are so smart!

 

I decided to make my escape in the evening since going late at night would make it too dark to see. I wore a simple green shirt and a pair of grey shorts as to not restrict my movement. The moment Sisley left her post, I sprang into action.

 

First part of the plan was easy; walk straight through the hallway and enter the study. I then opened a window next to a bookshelf and used a chair to climb through it. After making sure no guards or gardeners were around, I climbed over the metal fence with ease. My small body might be weak, but it’s also very light making the task quite simple.

 

This is it; I made a victorious pose then took my first step on the lush green grass towards freedom.

 

Reaching the forest took no more than 20 minutes. It was pretty close, after all. I then began to look around, scanning my surroundings.

 

A bunch of flimsy twigs, some pebbles, and weird plants covered the ground. Ah there! A conveniently large branch is resting on a boulder, the perfect weapon.

 

Equipped with my mighty stick, I ventured deeper into the forest. The scenery is completely different from what I've seen on Earth.

 

Bird chirps sounded completely foreign to me, the cool air carried a mixed scent from all sorts of unfamiliar plants, a green ugly chimp is screeching at me, and the trees were so thick that barely any sunlight passed through.

 

I should probably deal with that goblin before appreciating nature any longer. I tightened my grip on my trusty weapon, then charged at the monster while raising it up over my head.

 

The unarmed goblin, seeing that I'm running straight at it, decided that the best option is to stand still and flail its clawed hands around randomly. A choice that the creature probably didn't even think before acting upon.

 

I simply stopped outside the range of the oily claws and proceeded to smash my stick on the goblin's head.

 

Although the branch broke on impact, the goblin also dropped on the ground and began fading away. A small white crystal was all that remained from the deceased green chimp.

 

My hands felt painful. Looking at them, I saw scratches caused by the reckless use of an inappropriate weapon. Oh well, I expected something like that to happen, so, even though I am a bit exhausted, there was no need to panic.

 

I picked up the little crystal and observed it closely. This is the core that all magical creatures drop when defeated.

 

I suddenly heard the rustling of leaves behind me and froze. The only monster that is smart enough in this forest to sneak up on its prey could only be a grey wolf.

 

I'm severely outmatched by that thing, so fighting it isn't an option. My body was shaking from fear, yet a smirk formed on my face despite the situation.

 

Time for the backup plan.

 

"Hunter! please deal with that wolf. I know you are there."

 

I shouted out these words with full confidence that the bodyguard will respond. I always felt that man's gaze wherever I went so there's no way he isn't keeping an eye on me right now.

 

I was so confident, yet all I heard was the hostile growl behind me.

 

"Hunter, if you don't come out right now, I'm going to tell father that you are a lazy slacker and get you fired!"

 

My voice started to sound desperate. I've never doubted that Hunter, the stalker who mysteriously appears whenever he wanted, wouldn't be there when I actually needed him.

 

I grit my teeth. If he really isn't around, then that means I'm currently a helpless child with no hope of survival. I've experienced death once already, and I refuse to die again. I'm not ready to face the pain once more.

 

I looked back and saw it. The beast was already out of the bush and is now ready to pounce at me. Even if I try to run now, it's already too late.

 

I gave myself up to fate as I close my eyes, hoping that this whole life was just a dream, how pathetic.

 

Yet death didn't come, instead, I heard something whizz by my head followed by a yelp.

 

Ha. Ha-ha. Hunter, you sick bastard, so you finally act after watching me almost die. I swear you'll get what's coming for you when I tell Magnus how incompetent you are.

 

"Huff...huff… Max, are you alright? Thank goodness, seems like I wasn't too late."

 

Huh? That voice doesn't sound like Hunter. I open my eyes and see the wolf slowly fading away with a large ice shard embedded in its corpse.

 

"I knew you had a screw loose in that head of yours, but to actually run straight into the forest, alone? Do you have a death wish!?"

 

Lily, gasping for air and disheveled, approached me while flinging harsh words that pierced my ears. However, I couldn't bring myself to talk back, the lump in my throat stopped me.

 

"Sorry."

 

An apology was the only thing I could bring myself to say as I was being crushed with shame.

 

"Save the apologies for later, we have to get back to the mansion before it gets dark. Besides, I'm not the person you should be apologizing to. Here, take my hand, let's go."

 

I kept quiet and followed her without a complaint. How Ironic, really, I've done so much trying to fight magic, only to be saved by it.

 

No, I never fought in the first place, I was just running away, wasn't I?

 

We reached the mansion. Sisley was standing in front of the main gate and, when she spotted us, immediately brought me back into my room. The maid then proceeded to give me a hug with tears running down her face.

 

"Young master, you idiot, why did you do something like this? I was worried sick when Lily said that you ran away. Just why? Wait, your hand is injured!?"

 

I didn't want to answer, so I kept quiet instead. Lily, who was standing next to the door, spoke.

 

"You can deal with Max. I will go report this incident to Magnus and Sarah."

 

"... No, Lady Sarah absolutely mustn't know about what happened. Just find and tell Master Magnus everything, he will deal with it from there."

 

Lily took a moment to think for a bit.

 

"Oh fine, I'm just this kid's tutor anyway. I'm not being paid enough for this sort of thing."

 

The blue-robed woman then left and, after treating my hands, Sisley told me to get some rest. She also said that Magnus would want to talk to me in the morning as she exited the room.

 

I'm now sprawled on my bed with my eyes closed, deep in thought. Now that I think about it, I've never really gotten over my death, shot two times in the chest by the police.

 

My head hurts so let’s not think about it anymore.

 

Instead, I decided to take a walk around the mansion, I couldn't sleep anyway. It was already dark so the hallways were empty.

 

After aimlessly making my way from one corner to the other, I stood in front of a window. The night sky was dotted with stars, and a small translucent white moon stood just above the horizon.

 

I still hate magic. I might've been saved by it, but magic's also the reason this whole mess happened in the first place.

 

What can I do now, though? Just knowing the weaknesses of spells doesn't matter as long as I have no way to exploit them.

 

Oh look, a shooting star.

 

Heh, only an idiot would make a wish upon seeing it. Wishing for something as a meteor falls is so stupid that even magic can't justify it.

 

"I wish for a way to defeat magic."

 

Despite that, words came out of my mouth before I even noticed. Ok, fine. I'm an idiot.

 

*SMASH*

 

The window suddenly shattered and a black, ominous-looking book hit the ground next to me. I stared at the book that came out of nowhere, then leaned down to pick it up.

 

I strained my eyes in an attempt to read the title of the mysterious book under the moonlight. It was difficult, but my eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and letters began to reveal.

 

'Guide to Anti-Magic'

 

… Things will be different from now on.