Boosted Restart – A new chance in a different world

Sophia had slept like a log through the night after she poured out her heart to Fen. Not to mention that the new situation, being transported to a different world, becoming friends with an oversized wolf, among many other things, had tired her out. She was so exhausted that the following day arrived without her even noticing. Yawning while still being half asleep, she lazily opened her eyes and looked around to try and identify her surroundings.

"Ah, so it wasn't a dream, huh…?" Noticing the otherworldly-looking environment, not to mention the over two-meter tall wolf the girl was resting against, she once more was confronted with her new life.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. You sure took your sweet time." Seeing that she had woken up, the wolf in question addressed her.

"Good morning… Fen…" Still sounding sleepy, she eventually returned his greeting. "You could've woken me up if you had to wait for me."

"It's fine. It seemed like you were in need of a long rest." After everything that happened to her the day before, he judged that letting her sleep in was the best option.

"Thanks… Haa~" Yawning again, Sophia stretched her upper body in every direction before finally getting up. "You sure are comfortable." Having slept against Fen's body with his soft fur, she looked well-rested.

"T-Thanks…" He had complicated feelings about this compliment. His pride didn't feel that great after hearing that.

"What are we going to do today?"

"What do you want to do?" Fen didn't have anything planned.

"I definitely want to learn some magic!" She looked very motivated.

"I see, that's fine by me."

"Yay!" Sophia, looking forward to learning more new things, had become excited.

"I'll show you the usage of the basic elements. No, categories are the better description. It would be best if you built upon that with your own ideas. After all, we use magic by imagining what we want, and nothing's more powerful than one's own imagination."

"Basic elements…? Categories? Ah, like the water magic you taught me yesterday, or the air- and fire-based ones you used."

"Exactly. To be precise, for a better understanding, it's roughly categorized in water, fire, air, earth, nature, light, and dark magic."

"Ohh~." Sophia was having fun already. "I get the first four, but nature… Hmm, does it have something to do with plants?"

"More or less. For example, controlling vines or roots to bind your enemy with them would fall in that area. Using pollen or spores to put someone out of commission is another example."

"Uwah… sounds nasty!"

"It sure is."

"What about light and dark? What's in that category? Probably more than just creating, well, light, right?" Sophia felt that this would be a little lackluster. "Ah, it's something like that, right? Light being positive, something like healing, while dark magic contains the exact opposite, like curses and other negative effects."

"Oh? I thought there was no magic in your old world, Sophia?" Fen was surprised that she seemed to be somewhat knowledgeable about it.

"There wasn't, but people fantasized about being able to use it, writing books, and the likes about it."

"Humans sure are weird, no matter the world… Yes, your explanation is mostly correct. The light and dark magic categorization are mostly about manipulating, uhh, light and darkness, but higher-class magics like healing or curses are also part of it." He added some more detail.

"Sounds cool."

"But the most interesting for us is the attribute-less magic, also called uncategorized, though."

"Meaning?" Sophia tilted her head.

"For example, my detection-magic."

"Ah, I see. You're right. That one doesn't fit in any of the categories you mentioned."

"So it is. This magic is called like that because you can literally do whatever you want as long as you have a good enough image of your idea inside your head. Ah, enough magic power for great magics is needed, too, of course. Well, that's a requirement for this original magic anyway."

"That sounds outrageous." Sophia did like the sound of it, though.

"Because it is."

"But why is having big magic powers a must for original magic?"

"As I said, this particular magic isn't categorized in elements, hence the name, and entirely relies on your imagination instead. That makes the use of chants or activation words for it rather hard. As most beings have to resort to these to make up for their inferior powers, only individuals with high magic powers can use it. This makes it a requirement for uncategorized magic."

"Right… You mentioned something along those lines yesterday. Without it, you're unable to manipulate magic directly. It makes sense you need it for magic created only in your mind."

"Yes. Lucky for us, it doesn't concern us in the slightest."

"Yay for being strong!" The wolf way of living was already affecting her view on things.

"You said it, Sophia."

"Ah, but if that's how it is-" She thought of the requirements for a bit. "Wait, isn't this sort of magic extremely rare, then?"

"Rare doesn't do it justice. Optimistically guessing, out of all the individuals in this entire world, users of uncategorized magic are in the low double-digit area. Or on this continent at the very least."

"S-So few?! And I'm one of them, huh…?" It was a shock for her, hearing that she had become a member of such an exclusive group.

"Indeed. Not to mention, a very promising one, even." Fen remembered how she effortlessly had exceeded the range of his own original detection magic yesterday.

"Ehehe~." The girl knew that it was painful to admit for him, so she decided against a comment. "Wait, wouldn't it be bad if someone were to find out that I'm capable of something this ridiculous?!"

"Not really, no." He casually answered. "Some individuals, humans, that is, might get intimidated or scared. They might mobilize an army to slay you, but that's about it, I guess? That's all that happened to me, at least."

"…" It sounded plenty bad to Sophia. "I-I have to hide it then, don't I?"

"Why?"

"Why?! I don't want an army attacking me!"

"That doesn't need to concern you."

"It sounds quite concerning, though?!" She raised her voice.

"It's not like they could harm you."

"An army…?"

"Yes." Fen only nodded.

"Really…?"

"Girl, you need to understand just what kind of individual you have become in this world already. While you're still green behind your ears, once you have a proper grasp on magic and become able to make use of your dormant powers, you'll be able to level an entire country without so much as lifting a finger if you desire so."

"What am I? The next demon king, or what?!" Sophia just had to make this retort to Fen's explanation. "I don't want to become that!"

"Demons, huh? How nostalgic." The wolf reacted slightly differently from her imagination.

"Eh?! They exist?! Demons, that is."

"Not on this continent anymore, no. It's tough to get a hold of them nowadays."

"Anymore? Did they live around here in the past?"

"Yeah, but it was many centuries ago when they left this continent for another one. I kinda miss them. They were a fun bunch, always itching for a good fight and, compared to humans, were able to put up said fight as they're really powerful and know what they're doing."

"Is that so…?" Sophia hadn't much to add to these template demons, but something else piqued her interest. "Many… centuries… Wait, Fen?"

"Yes?"

"How old are you?"

"Old."

"I-I see…" Seemingly a touchy subject for the wolf, she stopped probing after seeing his expression.

"We've gotten rather off-topic, have we not?"

"Ah, right… I wanted to learn more magic!"

"Exactly. I advise mastering the water, fire, air, and earth categories first."

"Okay! Let's see… I already tried out water magic, so let's put that aside for the time being. I saw Fen using fire and air magic before- Yes, I want to start with the earth category!" Having used, or at least experienced, those types already, Sophia wanted to begin with the yet unknown.

"Earth? Coming right up!" While Fen said so, the ground in front of him began to shake and rise up. The dirt changed forms many times before forming into a perfectly square box about one meter tall. "The easiest way to use it... hmm, try to envision imaginary hands shaping the soil however you want it to be. For bigger constructions, that way of thinking is useless, though. You know, stuff like this." Fen caused their entire surroundings to rumble while having a smug look. Soon, an at least 50-meter-long and three-meter-high wall made of dirt rose from the ground.

"Nobody likes show-offs, Fen."

"W-Wha-?!" He had hoped for a more positive reaction and looked dejected.

"Anyway, thanks for the tip with the imaginary hands. It sounds like a good starting point."

Using his example as a steppingstone, Sophia practiced her earth magic. Getting it to work at all didn't take too long, but adding fine details or sharp corners was challenging for the girl. By the time Sophia managed to fully recreate Fen's perfectly shaped box, her stomach had finally noticed that they had skipped breakfast today, urging her to have lunch immediately.

Fortunately, Fen had anticipated that much already and went hunting while she was training. Unfortunately, today as well, it was another feast of nothing but grilled meat. Even though she again loudly complained about wanting to have some veggies, it was only met with a lack of understanding by the wolf.