Chapter 87
Magic in Edolas had developed along a fascinating path.
Because the Mages of this world couldn’t store magic power inside their bodies—and Ethernano itself was desperately scarce—Edolas treated magic as a limited energy source and had developed its own unique branch of magical technology.
Every Mage in this world was effectively a Holder-type Mage.
They cast spells by adjusting the magic circles built into their equipment, which meant nearly all of them possessed an excellent grasp of magical theory.
Pick almost any competent Mage from Edolas, and they could probably graduate from Earth Land’s Magic Council Academy with honors.
Unfortunately, because Edolas Mages had no internal reserves of magic power, their adaptability in battle was much worse.
To put it simply, they could only use whatever spells their equipment had been designed to cast.
If they carried five kinds of magical tools, they had access to five kinds of magic. Nothing more.
And if a Mage in this world wanted to become stronger, they first needed to become wealthy.
Improving one’s body required purchasing magical equipment that enhanced physical ability.
Increasing offensive power meant buying stronger magical weapons. Every movement in battle consumed the magic stored inside Lacrima.
Without money, a Mage could accomplish almost nothing.
In other words, the Mages of Edolas were highly trained, highly paid technical professionals.
The members of Fairy Tail—the strongest Mage guild in this world—might genuinely belong to the most intelligent group of people on the entire continent.
Once Marshall understood that, he could only protest the sheer injustice of it all.
A guild full of muscle-brained lunatics had somehow become an elite gathering of technical geniuses.
It was absurd!
Meanwhile, the person who should have been the smartest member of the guild had abandoned magical research to become the continent’s most famous rapper?
Marshall was shaking with righteous anger.
Was there no justice left in this world?
No law?
No common sense?
His counterpart possessed a mind capable of revolutionizing magical theory, yet he had apparently decided that the best use of his genius was insulting people at impossible speeds while making the audience cheer for him!
Marshall refused to acknowledge such a fraudulent reality!
Still unconvinced, he eventually listened to a few of his counterpart’s tracks.
The longer he listened, the stranger he felt.
The aggressive delivery, the complicated rhymes, even the backing melodies all sounded disturbingly familiar.
He could swear he had heard them somewhere before...
Wait.
Weren’t these songs from his previous life?!
Marshall immediately sat upright.
Could the other world’s Marshall also be a transmigrator?
Even he couldn’t remember those songs well enough to reproduce them properly, yet this fellow had somehow restored them almost perfectly—not only the music, but the rapid-fire verses, internal rhymes, and insults aimed at people Marshall had never even heard of in this world.
Somehow, the man had also found enough enemies to keep releasing diss tracks without ever running out of material!
Marshall became confused.
Then slightly alarmed.
Still, the Marshall of this world wasn’t actually him.
That lunatic could declare war on the entire music industry if he pleased.
Marshall only wanted to return to his faithful Earth Land before someone mistook him for the rapper and demanded that he improvise sixteen bars on the spot.
...
After spending a week in Edolas, Marshall had already found the beginnings of a route home.
Ultimately, he only needed to regain the ability to cast magic with his own body.
If he could access the power stored within him, then when the kingdom next activated the super-subspace spell known as Anima, Marshall could exploit the resulting spatial disturbance and teleport back to Earth Land.
The key question was how to make his body capable of releasing magic again.
There was definitely nothing wrong with his body.
The problem had to be this world.
It was Edolas’s fault that none of them could cast magic!
In theory, this world still contained magic power.
Humans might be unable to store it inside themselves, but surely some other living creatures could.
Marshall investigated the matter and discovered that there really was such a race.
The Exceeds.
Cats born with magic power inside their bodies, naturally capable of using Aera to grow wings and fly.
They supposedly possessed the authority to decide whether humans lived or died and were worshipped as divine beings known as "angels."
Good heavens!
Such an awe-inspiring existence was... Basically Ruby?!
Marshall nearly flipped the table.
He repeatedly checked the information, but the Exceeds of this world really were nearly identical to the cats back home.
Since when had his cat been so incredible?
Ruby could decide whether humans lived or died?
That lazy freeloader could barely decide whether she wanted fish or chicken for dinner without changing her mind three times!
Did the people of this world have something seriously wrong with them?
At least the discovery proved one important fact.
Edolas did allow races with internal magic power to cast spells.
If Marshall couldn’t do the same, then he simply hadn’t found the correct method yet.
After another period of intense research, he arrived at a conclusion that nearly broke his composure.
The reason he couldn’t release his magic...
Was because he had too much of it.
The concentration of Ethernano in Edolas’s atmosphere was extremely low, creating a unique phenomenon that Marshall called the magic-pressure effect.
Ordinary air flowed from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.
Magic power behaved differently.
It possessed an unusual tendency to gather.
Ambient magic naturally flowed from places with lower magical concentration toward places where it was denser.
That was why powerful Mages appeared to have a magical aura surrounding them.
The sensation wasn’t produced solely by magic leaking from their bodies. Ambient Ethernano was also naturally drawn toward them.
This might even explain why Edolas’s magic power continued dwindling.
Perhaps the magic of this world was being drawn somewhere else.
Because the atmosphere contained almost no Ethernano, the enormous difference in "magic pressure" crushed Marshall’s power firmly inside his body and prevented him from releasing it.
The Exceeds were probably unaffected because the amount of magic they possessed was so small.
After identifying the cause, Marshall considered two possible solutions.
The first was to revive his long-neglected knowledge of potion-making and create a medicine capable of balancing the magical pressure.
It would probably allow him to use magic freely for a limited period.
The second option was slightly more direct.
He could upgrade Magic Control LV3 to Level Four.
Greater control over his own power should allow him to overcome the pressure suppressing it.
Since Marshall had raised Spatial Magic to Level Four naturally instead of spending Inspiration, he still possessed a considerable reserve.
His current total was over four hundred thousand.
As for the relevant skills...
[Light Magic LV3: 42.1%]
[Enchantment Magic LV3: 14.9%]
[Magic Control LV3: 53.7%]
Marshall had originally planned to upgrade Light Magic next, followed by Enchantment Magic.
He hadn’t intended to spend Inspiration on Magic Control at all. He had expected to raise it gradually through practice.
But plans rarely survived contact with reality.
It didn’t matter.
There were still plenty of people waiting for him in Earth Land.
Remaining in Edolas would even halt the growth of his magic power and constitution.
This was hardly the time to be stingy with Inspiration!
’System, dump in the points!’
’Ngh... HNNNGH!’
His precious Inspiration transformed into warm streams of experience, and Magic Control successfully broke through to Level Four.
To Marshall’s surprise, forcibly upgrading it caused no unusual sensation at all.
There were no side effects.
More importantly...
The magic power inside him could finally move!
Marshall now controlled his power as naturally as his own limbs, and the precision with which he could manipulate it had risen to an almost terrifying level.
He could even distinguish between individual threads of magic power.
Music had something known as absolute pitch.
Marshall felt as though he had just developed absolute magical perception.
For one horrifying moment, he wondered whether his Edolas counterpart would somehow turn that into another album.
He quickly forced the thought out of his mind.
He no longer even needed the System panel to calculate exactly how much power remained inside him.
[Magic Power: 16,762/30,977]
Damn it!
He had sent half his magic power into the Thought Projection two weeks ago, and this was all he had recovered since then.
Edolas really was starved for magic.
Not that it mattered anymore.
This world could do whatever it wanted.
Marshall was done playing along!
He excitedly went to find Lisanna.
"Lisanna! Come on! We’re going home!"
"Marshall, y-you found a way back?"
"Of course!"
Marshall proudly raised his chin.
"Have you forgotten who I am?"
"Let’s head to the royal capital, wait for them to activate Anima, then use it to return home together!"
Lisanna’s expression, however, became strangely complicated.
She opened her mouth several times but couldn’t bring herself to speak. After struggling for a long while, she finally lowered her head.
"Marshall... Will you be able to return to this world again someday?"
"Why are you asking that?"
Marshall gestured proudly at himself.
"Have you forgotten who you’re dealing with? I’m the great genius Marshall!"
"I’ve already marked this world’s coordinates. Once I fully understand Anima’s subspace principles, coming back shouldn’t be especially difficult."
"What’s wrong?"
"Really?!"
Lisanna’s face brightened, but only for a moment.
She hesitated again before finally gritting her teeth.
"Then... I want to remain here a little longer."
"Marshall, I can’t just abandon this world’s Mira-nee and Elfman."
"They... They won’t be able to bear losing me again..."
"What did you just say?!"