Shin Ian perceived the change the moment he awoke.
“…I’m not tired?”
As he was solely responsible for the convenience store’s dawn shift, his lifestyle was a complete inversion of most people’s.
He would sleep through the morning, rise at midday, pass a moderate amount of time, and then head off to his part-time work.
Consequently, weariness was a constant companion; his body always felt as heavy as lead, and prominent dark circles perpetually shadowed his eyes.
Today, however, was different.
It had been precisely one week since he began consuming soil.
The instant Shin Ian pushed himself up from the bed, he was struck by how unexpectedly light his body felt.
His mind, too, felt unusually clear, and his eyelids, which were typically heavy, now felt perfectly normal.
The reason was glaringly obvious.
‘So the wizard’s initiation process was truly legitimate.’
It appeared the methods detailed within the grimoire were, in fact, authentic.
Initially, he had been skeptical, yet he had persevered with stubborn determination; now, however, the narrative had completely shifted.
Having personally experienced the tangible results, he could no longer simply dismiss the grimoire’s contents as mere fabrications.
Shin Ian let out a laugh, then settled onto the living room floor and quickly drank a glass of water.
A moment later, he made a quick trip to the nearby convenience store to purchase a lunchbox.
After a week of subsisting solely on soil, he was ravenously hungry for proper food.
He microwaved the lunchbox, devoured its contents, meticulously cleaned up, and then collapsed into a chair.
“Summon.”
Shin Ian murmured, extending an empty hand into the air.
In that instant, a burst of pure white light erupted, and the grimoire materialized above his outstretched palm.
This was a function he had discovered quite by chance: a summoning ability usable by anyone who merely possessed the grimoire, regardless of whether they were a wizard.
It was a relief, as he no longer needed to fret about losing the book or it falling into the wrong hands.
That, at least, was a silver lining.
“…Hmm.”
He placed an unlit cigarette between his lips and slowly unfurled the grimoire.
The book opened smoothly, its pages turning on their own, guided by its owner’s will, until it landed on the desired page.
Page 785.
The section detailing the methods for initiating into magic.
Shin Ian had just completed the section pertaining to Earth, one of the four fundamental elements.
Next was Air, which meant it was time to begin the Wind section.
Fortunately, the Wind element proved far simpler than Earth.
It was a straightforward task: merely meditating morning and evening for a week in a location frequently swept by strong winds.
After a week of consuming nothing but dirt for every meal, the mere sight of the word ‘meditation’ brought a profound sense of relief.
“There’s no particular need to put it off, is there?”
Though the initial stage was complete, Shin Ian had no intention of procrastinating.
The sooner he became a wizard, the better.
Without bothering to take a break, he ascended to the rooftop of his villa as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, settling into a cross-legged meditative pose.
It happened to be winter, and while the wind was strong and biting, it wasn’t insurmountable with the aid of hot packs.
The true challenge, however, lay in meditation itself.
Throughout his entire life, Shin Ian’s closest experience to meditation had been zoning out in the shower.
To suddenly be told to meditate left him utterly clueless on how to even begin.
Nevertheless, he persevered.
Gritting his teeth, he relentlessly strove to empty his mind.
And so, time passed.
With each passing sunrise and moonrise, the duration for which he could sustain his meditation grew proportionally.
Finally, precisely one week later.
Shin Ian had attained a level of mental fortitude capable of sustaining meditation for an entire day and beyond.
Yet, that was not the end of his transformation.
‘Merlin’s Flesh.’
Or, as it was otherwise known, Aether.
Though once posited by ancient philosophers as one of the five constituent elements, the concept had since been reinterpreted.
Shin Ian, however, now understood that the element they had described was far from a falsehood.
‘The air is saturated with Aether.’
To draw a fantasy analogy, it was akin to the world being brimming with mana.
It was the most fundamental and primordial energy, forming the very bedrock of this world, and, above all, an essence both pristine and bordering on chaos.
According to the grimoire’s ancient texts, Aether was the very flesh scattered by Merlin, the primordial wizard and the greatest archmage this world had ever known, upon his demise.
In this context, ‘Merlin’ did not refer to the figure from Arthurian legends, but rather to an enigmatic entity that had existed since before recorded history.
Leaving behind neither records, grimoires, nor family, he had merely disseminated the substance known as Aether across the world before intensely oxidizing into nothingness.
It was thanks to his sacrifice that other mages, apart from himself, could come into being.
‘In the past, I would have dismissed this as a fascinating fictional premise, but now, I can no longer do so.’
Shin Ian offered a wry smile, his gaze fixed on the Aether that permeated the world around him.
He still couldn’t directly manipulate it.
Containing it within his body, or wielding magic by channeling Aether, remained beyond his capabilities.
He could, however, perceive it with his eyes and feel its presence upon his skin.
For the time being, that was enough.
Shin Ian let out a soft chuckle, gazing at the beautiful radiance that adorned the sky.
****
While he had successfully sensed the Aether, he was not yet a full-fledged wizard.
Two elements still remained to be mastered.
There was no time to lose.
Thus, as soon as he completed the Air portion of the four elements, Shin Ian immediately plunged into the next phase.
This time, the regimen demanded he consume nothing but water for all three meals.
Fortunately, this proved far more tolerable than eating dirt.
While hunger gnawed at him, his body, having already undergone some transformation, found the challenge manageable rather than unbearable.
Another week passed in this manner.
The moment Shin Ian’s eyes fluttered open in bed, he frowned, observing the foul excretions that stained his bedsheets.
‘These must be the waste products that had accumulated within my body.’
Having anticipated this, he felt no panic.
The stench, however, was far more horrific than he had imagined, prompting him to employ every conceivable method to clean it.
Yet, the odor stubbornly lingered.
Ultimately, he bagged the soiled sheets and blanket and promptly discarded them.
While the cost was regrettable, he had no desire to sleep amidst foul-smelling bedding.
Perhaps due to the expulsion of waste products, his body felt considerably healthier.
Moreover, just as the grimoire had foretold, he could now directly manipulate Aether.
Containing it within his body, however, remained impossible; that particular feat was reserved for the final stage.
“Hoo…”
Three weeks had now elapsed since he embarked on the arduous path to becoming a wizard.
Only the final stage remained.
Concluding this would be tantamount to transforming his physical body into one fit for a mage.
Should he truly become a wizard, he likely wouldn’t be able to continue his mundane existence, merely commuting between his studio apartment and the convenience store.
Inevitably, he would be embroiled in some incident or a terrible affair.
Having lived an ordinary life only to suddenly become a wizard, it was impossible for him to be entirely devoid of fear.
To be frank, a part of him was genuinely frightened.
Yet, overriding that fear was an overwhelming surge of anticipation and curiosity.
He yearned to discover the nature of wizard society, and to unveil the mysteries and wonders that permeated the world.
Had he remained ignorant, he might have lived out his days oblivious, but the moment he dipped his toe into this new reality, there was no turning back to a state of unknowing.
More knowledge.
A burgeoning desire to unearth more of the world’s secrets and to comprehend the very pinnacle of magic began to stir within him.
‘Was I always this kind of person?’
While he had always possessed a tenacious drive to delve into anything that captured his interest, this particular obsession felt somewhat excessive.
Yet, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
Up until now, his passions had been limited to games, musical instruments, and novels.
None of these were particularly mysterious pursuits.
Magic, however, was shrouded in an unparalleled mystery, and this world was, to an even greater extent, saturated with the unknown.
It was, therefore, inevitable that the depth of his immersion would differ.
Pondering this, Shin Ian lit a candle on the living room floor and settled beside it.
His contemplations had been lengthy.
Now was the time to ascend steadily, starting from the very lowest rung.
Mastering all four elements was the immediate priority before progressing to the subsequent stages.
“Hoo…”
With a deep exhale, he purged every stray thought from his mind.
Remaining seated, he folded his legs into a lotus position, cleared his mind, and commenced his meditation.
Thus, Shin Ian began his meditation precisely at noon each day, continuing by the candle’s flame until the very moment he had to leave for his part-time job.
After another week had passed.
“It’s finished.”
He had, at last, successfully navigated all stages of the four elements.
His physical body had been utterly transformed into that of a wizard.
While the change wasn’t as immediately palpable as in previous stages, he unequivocally recognized that something fundamental had shifted.
Now, he no longer had to fear his body exploding or collapsing under the strain should he attempt to wield magic.
A faint smile gracing his lips, Shin Ian opened the grimoire to examine the next stage beyond the four elements.
[Having comprehended the four elements and awakened to the very existence of Aether, one is, in essence, already a wizard.]
[Nevertheless, to truly become a distinguished mage and wield authentic magic, it is imperative to infuse Aether into your physical body at least once.]
[This process expands and sustains one’s very being, transforming not only the physical body but also the soul into a form befitting a true wizard.]
[While not an exceedingly difficult process, it demands utmost caution, for a failure in concentration could lead to the shattering of one’s soul, resulting in death.]
[The soul is a delicate essence; it is not counted among the three fundamental components of magic without reason.
Thus, whether handling one’s own or another’s, meticulous control is absolutely essential.]
“…”
At the stark warning, ‘you could die,’ Shin Ian swallowed hard.
Yet, his moment of hesitation was brief, swiftly followed by decisive action.
He immediately settled onto the living room floor, closed his eyes, and slowly began to draw the surrounding Aether into his body.
During this process, he encountered no discernible resistance or rejection.
It seemed the assertion that it wasn’t a difficult procedure was indeed true; as long as his concentration remained unbroken, there appeared to be little cause for concern.
“Hoo…”
He exhaled, drawing the swirling Aether into his body.
The Aether, having coursed through his respiratory system and taken root in his veins, now flowed with his bloodstream, converging upon his heart.
It condensed.
It expanded.
It fragmented.
As if subjected to a process of weathering, the Aether shattered in rhythm with his beating heart, dispersing and dissolving into every recess of the organ.
The moment all the Aether finally dissolved and was absorbed, Shin Ian felt as though his very soul had grown remarkably more resilient.
This was likely no mere delusion.
As outlined in the grimoire, his soul, just like his physical body, had undoubtedly been transmuted into that of a mage.
There was no discernible change in his cognitive abilities.
He didn’t suddenly perceive other humans as insignificant, nor did he feel an overwhelming sense of his own greatness or a deficiency in his humanity.
Shin Ian’s state remained utterly ordinary and profoundly serene.
‘Is this truly the end?’
Just to be sure, Shin Ian scoured the grimoire further, but found no additional content pertaining to the initiation into magic.
It was, indeed, truly finished.
A rather understated conclusion, utterly devoid of the mana storms or flashy special effects that typically accompanied a class change to a wizard in video games.
It seemed he wasn’t destined to manifest magic circles or mana circuits within his body like a stereotypical fantasy wizard.
While a touch disappointing, he wasn’t overly disheartened.
After all, the ability to wield magic was, in itself, far more significant.
Shin Ian rose from his spot, drank a glass of water, and then slowly began to examine the various spells detailed within the grimoire.
The array of recorded spells proved remarkably diverse.
They ranged from simple spells for cleaning a room or transmuting water into wine, to those capable of replicating the form of clothing.
Beyond these practical applications, a substantial number of rather grotesque and aggressive spells were also cataloged, including magic to compress corpses, extract eyeballs without physical contact, and even utilize another’s body as a sacrificial offering for a ritual.
The majority of these spells necessitated specific offerings or preparatory rituals for their activation.
Intricate incantations or magic circles, it seemed, were reserved only for magic of significant scale.
‘Alchemy… it appears to be even more extensive than magic.’
The ‘Touch of Re-Creation’ appeared to place a far greater emphasis on alchemy than on magic, suggesting it was primarily focused on the former.
Shin Ian let out a thoughtful hum and slowly perused the alchemy section.
The range of objects creatable through alchemy was astonishingly vast.
From the potions typically associated with the craft, to ores imbued with bizarre powers, and even swords or castings possessing unique effects—a collection of mystical and grotesque items captivated Shin Ian’s gaze.
Most of these items, however, demanded incredibly complex ingredients.
While he could readily identify minerals such as gold, silver, and lead, he had no idea how one would acquire ingredients like ‘hair of a grotesque monster,’ ‘scales of the sea,’ or ‘teeth of a cursed executioner.’
Indeed, he wasn’t even sure if they were obtainable at all.
‘It seems I should begin with something simpler.’
Shin Ian bypassed the ‘medicine that implants parasites in the heart to kill,’ which had morbidly caught his attention, and instead sought out alchemical items with simpler ingredient lists.
Amidst his search, a particular dagger caught his eye.
[Blade of Primordial Demise]
The required ingredients were a single blade, salt, silver, primate fur, Aether, and the corpse of an insect.
All of these were relatively easy to procure.
Shin Ian resolved to attempt crafting this item first.
