Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 3: Young Life

"Animeee... Maaaaangaaa..." Koko whined to herself while laying inside of her crib, thinking that she could actually die from the absolute boredom of having to grow up from an infant. However, the things that she was addicted to before were no longer available, and the only thing that Koko could do now to pass the time was to sleep while waiting for her body to grow. Which seemed to be doing an incredible amount of damage to her sanity.

"And how are you doing this morning, Lady Koko?" Jasmine, or Jazzy as Koko called her, asked as she leaned over the side of the crib to check on the still growing one-year-old. The woman was supposedly Koko's personal maid, so this occurrence happened quite often.

"Bored." Koko managed to mouth, thankfully finally being able to say small words after many months of torturous gurgling noises and other involuntary sounds.

"Well then, why don't we go to the library?" Jazzy asked, and Koko was more than willing to go as she lifted her arms above her head so that the maid could lift her out of the crib. And before long, she was being carried out of the small wooden room and eventually out of the 'mansion' before they headed to the town's local library. However, calling it a mansion may have been an overstatement as even if it was large enough to hold both the noble family and a staff of servants, the single-story structure was built more like a dojo than anything else.

While the Cryner's may have been a noble family, they were of lesser nobility and only managed over the small fishing town of Wence, which had a population of no more than two-thousand people. However, even if it was small, the town was still busy as Jazzy had to navigate her way through the crowds of people travelling down the streets. The population was small, but it was still a fishing town, and merchants from far and wide came here to buy fished and ship them off to other parts of the kingdom, making the main street a lively place that was crowded by both horses and wagons along with all of the people. And even though Jazzy seemed to have no difficulty in navigating through the mess, the poor guards that had chosen to follow them weren't having as much luck as the two men in chain-mail armor had to stop again and again for playing children and wagons turning into the alleys between buildings.

Eventually, they all made it to a large wooden building covered in white paint and windows made of stained glass. Seeing as this world was still in it's medieval time period, books were expensive, and the building that housed them had to be of exceptional quality compared to the other simple buildings of the town. And thankfully, as Lord Benson's third child, Koko was able to enter the building and read the books for free rather than having to pay the outlandish costs of the entry fee.

"Ah, if it isn't Lady Koko." An elderly woman managing the front desk greeted them when Jazzy first stepped through the door. "Good morning."

"Goo' Morning!" Koko enthusiastically greeted her in return, though she'd accidentally fumbled with her speech in the process. Even if the language that they used was the same, the mouth that Koko had to work with was still an infant's.

"As cheerful as always I see." The old woman blushed slightly as Jazzy continued to walk into the building until the reached the section especially made for children. However, while Jazzy normally sat down and began to read the other children's books out loud for her while making sure to show the illustrations, Koko wasn't interested in that kind of thing today. Rather, she was finally beginning to get used to walking on her own, which ment that it was time to begin training. After all, having used the power that the goddess had offered her on something as worthless like that excuse for an alternate ending to Ninja Clash 7, Koko knew that she needed to start training as early as possible so that she would be able to become something in this world.

"So, what book shall we read today?" Jazzy asked as they finally reached the section.

"Magic!" Koko explained enthusiastically, somewhat surprising Jazzy as they'd been reading nothing but adventure stories before.

"Magic? I- I think you might be a little young for-"

"Pwease?" Koko activated her 'adorable mode' and aimed it directly at the maid, causing Jazzy falter and look as if she'd been struck by lightning. And not surprisingly, the woman was soon searching for beginning books that instructed magic while Koko smiled inwardly, thinking that there wasn't a force on either planet that could handle the cuteness of a toddler that knew how to play her cards.

"Alright, here we go." Jazzy finally selected a book that instructed magic before walking back to the area where the once were and sitting down in a chair there with Koko in her lap. The guards were also there now, having gotten closer to the two now that the library was beginning to fill with the more wealthy of Wence's citizens.

"Alright... now that first thing we need to know is..." Jazzy opened the book and looked at the first few pages inquisitively, though it wasn't surprising that she was having difficulty with it seeing as the pages were mostly filled with nothing but calculations and magic circle formulas. They weren't the things that a simple maid would normally ever read, even though most of the population already knew how to use magic to some degree at least.

"It appears that all of the books that we have here are to instruct potential wizards and sorceresses." Jazzy said in a somewhat troubled tone. "Is that what you were hoping for, M' Lady?"

"N-no..." Koko replied, knowing that she would never be able to use magic if what she'd seen on the first few pages of the book was the 'easy stuff'. Not to mention that she would most likely have abysmal magical ability thanks to being the second daughter of a lesser noble family, and the goddess had even told her of such.

"Then how about I just teach you the basics instead?" Jazzy offered, and Koko immediately casted her a wide grin.

"Please!" Koko responded.

"Then let's begin." Jazzy stated before putting the book aside and setting Koko on the floor. "The first thing that we need to do is feel the energy inside of us. Feel that energy, and then focus it on our hands."

"Our hands?" Koko asked while looking at her slightly chubby hands as she lifted them up for inspection.

"That's right." Jazzy confirmed before holding up her own hands, and surprisingly to Koko, the woman's hands soon started to glow with a reddish color.

"When you get it right, the result should be something like this." Jazzy explained, and Koko now closed her eyes as she attempted to follow through with the woman's instructions. Though, feeling 'energy' within yourself was fairly easy to someone that hadn't had any magic at all in their previous life. Ever since she had been born, she's always felt that this body was different from her old one, or more ways than just the age difference. It almost felt like... there was a fire running through her veins, which wasn't hot enough to actually burn her but only needed a small breeze before it would burst out and become a raging bonfire.

"Oh, there's very good, M' Lady!" Jazzy clapped her hands, and Koko opened her eyes to see that her hand's were glowing with what looked like a small layer of light-blue fire. "If you were able to get it so quickly after just being told, then you may have talent at this!"

"N-no..." Koko replied, feeling suddenly exhausted as the flew flames when out and she wobbled slightly where she was sitting.

"Lady Koko, are you alright?!" Jazzy asked in a panic, and Koko fought to stay conscious so that the maid wouldn't have to worry. After all, if she passed out now after just a little practice, her parents would probably never let her practice with magic again.

"I'm fine." Koko stated after finally managing to fight off the wave of exhaustion. However, even though Jazzy seemed to be relieved, Koko sighed inwardly. If using magic was really this hard for her, then becoming a mage or something similar would be absolutely impossible. Heck, even becoming a warrior or the like would be difficult seeing as they used magic as well, not to mention the fact that becoming either of those things would be too expensive as her noble family didn't have much money at all.

"Lady Koko... are you sure that you're alright?" Jazzy asked, and Koko casted another smile towards her to reassure the woman, thinking that she must have looked gloomy as her future professions were limited.

"I'm okay." Koko responded, though in her mind, she was toiling over just what her future had in store for her.