Hermit Wizard

Prologue (2)

It was another day. I had turned nine then, and Parvache was speaking to me. We were talking about “that day,” a conversation we often had.

[So, you used the Channel to summon me, and then you made me possess this smelly totem. But opening the Channel is an entirely different matter. There is a Truth-Seeker that opens the Channel.]

“What is a totem?”

[This cheap compound that trapped my spirit!]

Parvache was a bit rough-spoken; he told me the same story repeatedly so that I could understand. It seemed that there must have been a more complicated process involved before my toy – Parvache – started speaking to me. The night I had a strange dream last year, a Channel was opened in my sleeping body. At my call, something similar to Parvache’s soul (Parvache used the term “spirit”) came out through the Channel into this world.

From my half-conscious development, using how Parvache expressed it, with “a ridiculously ignorant and primitive but powerful magic,” Parvache was caught and trapped in the toy I was sleeping with. For days after possessing the robotic toy, Parvache spoke to me many times. I hardly understood what he was saying. Then one day, I again used the magical circuit in my head with that “ridiculously ignorant and primitive but powerful” magic so that I was able to understand the words Parvache conveyed into my head.

Parvache told me repeatedly for a long time that I had a tremendous (using Parvache’s expression “fucking”) talent as a wizard. Of course, it didn’t feel real when he said that out of nowhere. Parvache grumbled for such a long time and then asked me again.

[Think carefully, kid. Really? Is it true that you never had contact with a Truth-Seeker in your life? Search in your memories. It’s a high-ranked being who folds space and burns a light.]

“There’s no way I know anyone like that.”

[This isn’t just a Truth-Seeker. It’s a veteran Truth-Seeker with a long career so that a sleeping kid could sleep without knowing that his body cracked open. Why does such a monster stick an “A-Verdag” to be in charge of a young dimension? And to a kid like you…]

It was my question, too.

“…Why did he open it? My chest? The crack…”

[It may be because he was interested in you, but I can’t even guess what the reason is. Maybe you have some talent in you…]

“Hmm.”

[And when I talk with you, it feels like there is no knowledge about Channels in this civilization. But the real question is – are you the first Seed in this civilization, or are there other people like you?]

Around this time, my conversation with Parvache was almost like a self-revelatory prophecy waiting to be unveiled. Parvache was also desperate to figure out his current situation and expanded his thought scope by asking questions. To me. A child who knew nothing.

“…But the Truth-Seeker just opened the Channel that day and disappeared. We’ll meet him again, right?”

[There is a probability of that occurring.]

Listening to his explanation, it seemed inevitable that the Truth-Seeker would come back to me. The Truth-Seekers that Parvache described were almost god-like. There were countless dimensions in this universe. The Truth-Seeker was responsible for creating and managing Channels that traveled from one dimension to another if deemed necessary. It was said that no one knew except the Truth-Seekers by what standards they made the Channels.

[If a Channel is created, it will take about twenty years for each to become an adult. There are many restrictions on using the Channel before adulthood, commonly referred to as ‘Seed’]

“Hmm.”

[You need to have a magic circuit within you to detect it and Mana to use it. Moreover, growth isn’t fixed. The entrance is fixed to the dimension where the Channel was born, but the exit dimension is random. There is only one door to enter, but you don’t know where the exit door will lead.]

He explained to me like an expert on the matter.

[The world connected by the Seed Channel may be an extreme environment in which people cannot live, or it may lead to a battlefield full of mythical beings. For this reason, few people enter the Seed Channel unless they are very strong]

The conclusion seemed to be that it was a door that was within you, but you didn’t know where it would lead.

[So, in general, there is no particular value of the Seed itself other than growing and evolving it into an adult.]

Parvache paused for a moment and added an explanation in a tone that seemed unpleasant.

[Nevertheless, some people are interested in Seeds, but…it’s scary to enter the Seed Channel, so after opening the Channel, they’re trying to ‘call up’ what’s on the other side. It is a dangerous thing to summon magic using Seeds. This is insane because in an unstable situation where you don’t know which dimension it will lead, you don’t know what will pop out, and you’re just throwing things blindly.]

“Ah…”

The explanation made some sense.

[The survival rate is slightly higher to call out the beings, rather than throwing your own body into an unknown dimension. Why? It’s like a gamble to see if something good will come out. If something dangerous that you can’t handle pops up, you could try to avoid death as much as possible!]

“Why would someone do such a crazy thing?”

[But that’s what you did?]

What? I was taken aback by what he just told me.

“???”

I was dumbfounded for a moment and asked.

“I don’t know what you mean, Parvache.”

[That’s what you did. You didn’t intend to, but you summoned me on your own – using the Seed Channel piercing your body. There was no spell, but magic is magic. With such primitive magic, my spirit…whatever the hell was in your unconscious, so as soon as the Channel opened, you sensed it and cast summoning magic?]

I stared blankly at Parvache.

“I-I couldn’t remember well…I just had a dream…”

[What have you always been thinking about subconsciously? You have done such a stupid thing, and I was caught and summoned among all the dimensions. You’re so lucky that nothing harmful came out of the Channel, and I’m so unlucky to get noticed.]

He continued to grumble.

[What would you have done if you called out dangerous things instead of me? If you saw anything like “inhabitants of the boiling sea” or “higher-ranked races” with your bare-eyes, your body would have evaporated instantly. And then you would’ve drowned all the f—]

“Oh, stop!”

The word Parvache couldn’t even spit out because I stopped it. This was also one of the new words I learned because of Parvache.

[You are lucky and talented, but the difference in power is massive. The truth-seeker is quite powerful. It’s like the difference between the large nebula and a fine dust particle on a random asteroid. The fact that a person with such great power recognizes your existence and has planted a Channel is a huge disaster… Looking at it, are you not just lucky? I wonder.]

Was he teasing me?

[Anyway, what’s in your body is a Seed Channel. Do you understand? And usually, it’s useless for anything.]

“…Uh, I think I understand.”

[But the adult Channels are different stories. Seeds sown by a Truth-Seeker become adult after at least twenty years. Channels that have become adults can evolve to a state of ‘completely open’ with the power of the Truth-Seeker.]

“What is completely open?”

[It is usually expressed as an opened door, but even primitive creatures without magic circuits can see or detect Channels, and the entrance and exit are always open. Anyone can make two-dimensional traffic.]

“Ah…”

Even when I heard the story, I couldn’t imagine it vividly.

[In short, the Truth-Seekers sow the Seeds and then neglect them, then come back when they are about to evolve into an adult Channel, and after confirming that they have become adults, they open them completely. Only then is one proper Channel is completed.]

Parvache seemed to pick a word for a moment, then continued.

[When this Channel is ready for adult evolution, The Truth-Seeker will probably come to you to determine if they can use your adult Channels. So if they judge that there is no merit, they will get rid of you and close the Channel.]

“Get rid of me?”

The expression seemed very strong and pervasive to me.

[And on the contrary, if they decide that you will be completely open, from then on, you will be living under the control of a Truth-Seeker…you won’t be alive even if you’re breathing. You don’t have to know the details of this part. Your function is only as a ‘door,’ and you can think it is the same as being dead anyway.]

My face turned pale hearing his explanations, but I could barely understand anything at this point.