My 15th birthday: the day of my Skill Bestowal ceremony. The last bastion of salvation for the magicless.
Needless to say, I got my hopes up a bit.
I may have been the only one in my class who couldn’t use magic, but God would grant me salvation. Or at least, he was supposed to.
The stained glass of the church in the neighboring town sure was pretty. The motifs, which were modeled on old legends, sparkled like the sun. I’m not a particularly spiritual person, but even I could appreciate how beautiful and sacred it was.
“Are you ready?”
A kind-looking priestess was looking right at me, smiling. I had been completely distracted by the stained glass.
“U-um, what exactly... should I be doing...?”
Ah, I’m probably coming off as suspicious, aren’t I...?
The priestess looked as if she was staring at some charming little animal. Is this how things go when hopeless kids like me show up?
“This way. Please kneel here.”
I did as I was told and entered what looked like a magic circle made of... stone, I guess? Here and there, the tops of the white rocks had been cut into, and magical stones were embedded into them.
Warm, noontime sunlight shone in through the stained glass I mentioned earlier.
“Please exhale slowly and concentrate on emptying your mind. Well, I suppose ‘concentrating’ and ‘emptying your mind’ don’t go together...”
What a charming priestess. Is this the sort of woman guys like?
Dressed all in white, with eye-catching chestnut-colored hair... Must be nice. My hair’s just a pale blonde. The color’s nothing special, and it’s thin and hard to wear up. There’s no curl to it, and it just hangs straight down to my hips.
As I knelt right now, though, it naturally flowed over my shoulders.
“Oh, my...”
“Huh?”
The priestess reacted strangely for a moment, but it was almost noon: time for my Skill Bestowal. That was when the sun’s power was at its strongest, and this wasn’t an opportunity I could let pass me by.
I ignored her reaction and simply brought my hands together in front of my chest in prayer.
“Well, then...”
The magic circle started to glow. It may have been midday, but it felt as if a dim darkness was spreading outwards.
The magic stones glowed faintly...
Ah, wait, I’m not supposed to open my eyes!
Concentrate, concentrate...
Ah, but after this, I’ll finally be able to use magic. What type will it be, I wonder? I’m really excited to see!
Fire would be awesome, since it’s strong.
Oh, but Dark magic is cool, too.
I’d be kinda disappointed with Earth magic.
And Water magic just seems like it’s only good for everyday stuff, y’know...
Honestly, I just hope I get something really flashy that’ll blow everyone’s faces off back in class! They all made fun of me way too much yesterday, after all.
“My magic will send you all to hell!!”
Ah, that’s going too far. Whoops.
And so, I make this request to God.
Please, please, give me some super amazing, ultra special magic that’ll make them sorry they ever mocked me!!!!!
As I was desperately offering up my prayers, I didn’t notice the priestess’s warm gaze on me, nor that she was breaking out in a cold sweat...
✦ ✦ ✦
S-she’s got a really desperate look on her face, doesn’t she...?!
This girl with the pretty blonde hair was the first to come for a Skill Bestowal in a while, and was praying like she was begging for rain to come end a drought...
Ahaha... While I watched the girl in front of me give off that desperate aura, a crackle came from the magic stones embedded in the floor. Suddenly, mana started to leak from the magic circle, and the light from outside winked out.
Normally these things ended much more calmly, but...
“I-is it over?” the girl asked, coming back to her senses and looking at me with her orange eyes.
“Y-yes, that... should be the case.”
“...! T-then, I f-finally...!”
“A-ahaha. Well then, allow me to check your status to determine which sort of magic you’ve been granted. It’s on the house this time since you’re in for your Skill Bestowal, but from now on you’ll need to pay a fee whenever you want an evaluation. Got it?”
Hmm... just what was that? Did everything go alright? In my three years as a priestess, this is the first time that I’ve had anything like that happen. But I’ve never heard of a Skill Bestowal failing...
Even those granted weak power can at least use Water magic in their everyday lives. At its worst it would be something like that, and she would still be able to make a living. Every journey needed a Water user, after all.
Now, then...
“Status!”
Anti Kythera
Human (♀) Age 15
Skill: Gearcraft Lv. 1
Gah, how do I explain this...?
“Um, Madame Priestess...?”
“...”