I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World

Along the road, Merleen asked me for information about magic. She asked me every spell that I knew and to transfer all my knowledge to her head. I told her I was not the best mentor that she needed to learn more about arcane. However, Merlene shrugged my rejection and kept pressing me for lessons.

I finally gave up and told her everything I understood in this world. Considering I was at the top of my league, I knew some of the information for almost every class. There was no assurance that I would select my fight, so I studied my enemies' weaknesses in my spare time.

"I doubt you could tell me anything, Arthur. All humans look stupid to me," Fenrir voiced, with her arms crossed together.

That wolf girl refused to look me in the eye, telling me I was nothing but a trash bin in the streets. Fenrir looked at me as if she would look at me like a rotten corpse meant to decay.

However, that was when she thought wrong. I was one of the best players in Magique. If there was one thing I knew, it was information about this world.

The world followed most of physics and Science back from Earth. Although the game developers added arcane as their money shot, this world remained the same. It was as if that the generation I knew came to life, with the presence of magical prowess in my vicinity.

"So, you can use the element 'light' as your weapon?" I asked.

Merleen gave me a nod.

"Light is the fastest thing in the universe. However, in terms of magical characteristics, light deals the weakest damage among all the elements I know. Light magic takes more arcane than regular elements. For example, when a player… someone uses fire magic, the amount of arcane they need to pour for the spell would be around… a quarter of a gallon. Now, comparing fire magic to the element of light, a mage would need around half of the contained arcane to conjure such spells."

After my lengthy explanation, Fenrir and Merleen stared at me while offering their ears. Judging by their looks, I could deduce that they wanted to learn more about magic in this world.

But if I had to be honest with these two, all this information came from the instructions of Magique… the game designers wrote those texts outside of the game's cover, telling everyone the instructions to play the game. Nobody dared to read those intricate texts but me.

Since I was a man out of time, I gave all the knowledge Fenrir and Match needed to learn during this brief trip. If the three of us would traverse the chilling demon kingdom, we had to prepare ourselves for our upcoming battle.

"Although mages could summon fire, understanding its concept would help you visualise the element. Do you know about temperatures?" I asked.

None of them answered. I scratched the back of my head and continued where I left from my sentence.

"Temperature is a way to measure the hotness or coldness of... something," I croaked. "If it's too hot, you could create heat that would lead to a fire. If it's too cold, you could create the element of ice."

I demonstrated the "fire" part to the two ladies. We briefly stopped at an open area while I asked for the two of them to give me some space.

I opened my palms and announced the spell through my mouth. Although the ability did not require chanting, I still needed to show the magic to Fenrir and Merleen.

"[Phoenix Sphere]!" I shouted. "The name I just shouted was the spell's name. You don't actually have to chant everything you project. Since some sorcerers could steal your spell, it's wiser to remain silent while attacking your enemies."

"Anyway, what I just summoned was a skill named [Phoenix Sphere]. This spell allows me to summon blazing balls from my palms. There are countless combinations you could unlock, but I would leave that part for next time. The skill works when you think about the temperature rising above 1,000 Celsius. Again, Celsius is just the measurement. You could look more into that from your systems. If you're done inputting the temperature inside your head, the magic would do its work for you. As long as you have a wild but logical imagination, you could conjure any spell that you like," I explained, while moving towards the two girls.

After tossing the [Phoenix Sphere] above my head, I continued my speech and added some lessons. "The only exception goes for classes. I am the living example of that phrase. Since I am a knight and not a mage, I can't use my spells willy-nilly. Casting these spells consecutively would exhaust my muscles, giving me a disadvantage during fights. I rather slash my enemies with a sword rather than draw magic circles," I said, but my teary eyes told them otherwise.

"Wow, Arthur! I've never known about this!... So, you're saying that any mage... anyone could conjure any spells as long as they know the fundamentals of those elements?"

"You're actually right, which makes you kinda scary… You pick up my lesson quickly, Merleen. I commend you for that. I wish I was a teacher, so I could have given you a star on your forehead," I teased, and caressed her head.

A warm feeling enveloped my hand as I touched Merleen's head just above her eyebrows. That girl wanted to avert her gaze from me, but she didn't. She remained staring into my eyes even after taking my hands off her hair.

"I-I knew that already! Don't make me a fool, human. Just because you know more doesn't mean you're superior to anyone else! You're still a human being! Always remember that!" Fenrir retorted, with her eyes wandering away from mine.

Although Fenrir kept stuttering while mocking me with her words, I believed in her words.

Humans were powerless beings against monsters twice their size. Afenos and I could not even take down an ogre. Even with the help of other people casting magic, we still lost that fight, and ultimately taking Aferous' life.

However, despite our differences, humans are still one of a kind. Even without my powers, I vow to protect anyone weaker than me. I learned my lesson the hard way, and I did not want to experience that again.

Merleen mumbled to herself while staring at the road. She extended her arms and squinted her eyes, conjuring another spell that I knew nothing about. Within a few seconds, the temperature dropped around zero. The falling leaves above fell on the ground and crashed into tiny azure pieces.

As I looked beside my feet, I concluded the leaves solidified themselves from the sudden decrease in our temperature. Fortunately for us, our skin did not cover itself with ice. It was as if someone controlled the weather and the temperature.

"Merleen...is this your doing?" I asked, with widened eyes.

"I-I might have screwed things up…. S-Sorry, Arthur! L-Let me just undo the spell!" Merleen shrieked, and cast another set of magic circles from her hands.

The new magic circle absorbed all the ice covering the place, increasing our temperature in our surroundings. It was as if the spell Merleen activated earlier was just a terrible dream.

"You got to be kidding me… Merleen, after listening to my explanation, you could control ice and fire already?" I shouted, while shuffling my hair using my hands. "Argh, genius people! Why can't I have your IQs!"

"E-E-E-Ehh? I-Is that a b-bad thing?! I-I'm sorry, Arthur! I will never do it again!" Merleen wailed.

"No, Merleen! You're a genius! A genius!!!! That's a good thing! It's a compliment!"

"It is?" she asked.

"It is! Definitely a compliment!" I answered.

"As much as I want to retort, your arcane is truly out of this world, Merleen. Out of all the mage I knew, you're the only one who has surpassed my standards... Well, there was one old man you should worry about. But I doubt you would face him this early in our journey," Fenrir commented, while shrugging her shoulders.

I paid no concern about Fenrir's remarks and continued celebrating Merleen's achievements. Casting that spell was no easy feat for a mage. However, Merleen proved the impossible and covered the place with an icy blanket!

Merleen's system also helped amplify her magic. She kept fiddling with her skill set, reading every ability she could learn within her imagination.

I also checked mine but swiped it afterwards since I felt someone watching my behind. As I turned around, Fenrir's scrutinizing eyes greeted mine. I jerked my body backwards and held my scream as soon as I met her face.

"What are you two looking at? I see nothing in front of you. And yet, you and Merleen are fiddling with something that I don't know!!! Are you keeping secrets from me? Because if you do, I will pulverize you into pieces!"

That sentence from Fenrir made me realise she had yet to have a system….