Chapter 1

"Good morning my little friends. I see you all have healthy faces today!"

The man's voice was a little loud and made Arakawa Kiyoshi wake up startled. Cages one above the other were filled with downcast people. Their hollow eyes stared dazed in any direction and without any sense of purpose.

"Kikiki, don't be like that!" The strident voice full of mockery resounded again.

Kiyoshi stared at him with confusion in his eyes. He couldn't remember this place, nor the man in black business attire wearing a fedora on his head. This man had a certain air about him, like a politician or some old-fashioned aristocrat. The type that would have must surely hold a ball party when his daughter turned 15.

"Life is so beautiful, the sun is warm and the world shines! Those saddened look on your faces really strikes my heart!" The man gesticulated exaggeratedly while holding his staff close to his body and lifting his feet upwards like a lady trying to kiss her beloved princess.

'Who is this psycho!?' He pondered the question with a silent gaze.

"Ohh! A new addition!" The man exclaimed and jumped high with joy. "I feel your questioning gaze, new friend. Worry not, for I am a gentleman! As per the rules of conduct for chivalrous individuals, may I present myself!" The man leaned forward exaggeratedly while taking out his fedora and lifting it high up in the air. "I am Alawyn Vanclaus, 10th generation head of the Noble Vanclaus family and Squad leader of Magic Research from the Institute of Magic of Tokyo!"

While hearing his words, the lines on Kiyoshi's face contorted more and more till his frowning face could only be said to be full of anger. 'Noble family, Magic Research... and Institute of Magic? What the fuck is this guy talking about?! Is he... a pervert?!'

The thoughts made him shiver as the possibility struck him as the most likely.

'No, wait, how did I end up here? I was sure I was sleeping at home... wait, I don't have a home, I was actually testing my time traveling machine and...' Holding his head in confusion, Kiyoshi didn't know how to react, his memories felt jumbled up and out of order. It was difficult to even tell when any memory began and ended.

Not noticing the struggling Kiyoshi, Alawyn continued with a smile on his face.

"Now, now, friend. Since our greetings have finally come to an end, it's time that I take you on your new magical journey! Let's see which test subject will better fit the criteria for today's learning experiment!"

The moment he said those words, the people on the caged shivered as cold sweat poured down their backs.

The man's gaze swept past a few of the cages and focused on the body of a trembling little girl. She had the beauty of a mixed Asian, making her slightly resemble both Koreans and Japanese. One look was all it took to tell that her parents were probably very beautiful, only these types of parents could give birth to such a cute little brat.

"Fufufu! Ah, Miss Seonu Yu. If I'm not mistaken, you have already failed twice, is it not?"

"NO!" Yu cried in panic and shook her head as she backed further inside her cage. "D-don't look at me! Mama, papa! Help me!"

The girl cried in panic as the man slowly started laughing till his initially low chuckle evolved into a hysterical laugh. Everyone shivered at the sight of his glinting and sadistic eyes. "Worry not, my belle, it won't be long before you depart to meet your parents in the spirit worlds... cough, that is, if your spirit isn't twisted to the point of being directly corrupted into a hollow, you might be able to find them there if they haven't become food yet! Kikiki!"

In one of the cages, an old woman gnashed her teeth and opened her mouth with a cry full of sorrow and pain. "You beast! Monster! How dare you do that with a child! She isn't even five yet! She hasn't experienced the joys of living! Free her!"

Hearing her words, the man's smile grew wilder following a chuckle. "Good heavens, how could I have forgotten this critical information!"

The man sighed dejectedly with a look full of pity. "She is right, I couldn't possibly end this child's life..."

Hearing his words, a look of hope appeared in the old woman's eyes. "Then you will..."

Before she could finish her words, the man laughed even harder as he opened his mouth and shouted. "... I couldn't possibly end this child's life without letting her experience the joys of carnal pleasure and the difficulties of giving birth!"

"WHAT?!"

"Huhuhu, you should thank this granny, little girl. Thanks to her, you'll be able to live a few more hours if you fail! All for the sake of experiencing all the happiness that women should experience! Sure, your baby will be the son of a Troll, but at least you'll have a baby!" The man laughed hard as he stepped out of the room with the desperate girl crying as her cage floated towards him.

'This... How vicious!' Kiyoshi clenched his hands as he looked at the man. How could such a horrible human exist?! He doesn't even spare children! 'Bastard! If I get out of this place, I'll make you regret ever coming to this world!'

While thinking of this, Kiyoshi couldn't help but get even angrier as he tried to understand what was happening. Punching the cage's door, he stared at the void helplessly. Just as he closed his eyes though, a voice reached his ears like the whispers of the wind.

"... Spells are a construct of the mind that takes shape with the use of energy..."

"What?" Lifting his head, Kiyoshi looked around him but no one was talking to him. "Am I hearing things?"

Before long, the words reached his ears once more, but they weren't low and like a whisper anymore, he could hear them clearly.

"Spells are derived from the Reality Code. When one has the gift to see the world through what it really is, he has the ability to modify the code of reality and create his own version of it, one that subverts the boundaries of the natural and steps into another realm, this is what we call a spell."

"Reality Code...?" As he listened to the words, his vision became blurry. Soon, he started seeing things that shouldn't exist. Rows of words floated inside ribbon-like objects that seemed to pass through the floor and walls. This intangible existence instantly drew his eyes as it slowly fluttered in the rooms void of wind.

It was a magical scene, one that subverted his knowledge of the world.

"The process of understanding the Reality Code requires abstraction. The world you know is merely a part of something greater and not all that there is. Focus on your surroundings, understand what you need and desire, and grasp the power that comes to you."

Lowering his head and murmuring the words that came to his mind, Kiyoshi thought about his situation and where he currently was. His desire was clearly to escape, but what is it that he needed? 'Think! The answer shouldn't be too difficult!'

Staring at the cages, the people inside them, and the unlocked door at the end of the room, his gaze wavered for a moment till he thought of something and his eye focused on the door. More specifically, he thought back to something that came to his mind. An unlocked door... a lock!

'That's it! This should be it!' Realizing his needs and desire, his eyes focused on the door's lock. He felt his eyes moistening and a tear fell down from his left eye as half an hour of staring went by. His determination was starting to shake, he couldn't grasp any power nor anything else.

'Why isn't it working? What am I doing wrong...' Not daring to close his eyes, he kept staring at the lock looking for an answer.

After hours like this, when his bloodshot eyes were about to give up, he saw a ribbon surge from nowhere. It circled around the lock and had words inside it. "What closes can open and what opens can close."

It was a simple phrase and a statement of purpose. He knew that if referred to the purpose and ability of the lock. Since its inception, it was meant to be something that could open and close. Closing his bloodshot and tired eyes, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. 'Did it work? Does that mean anything?'

No answers came for a moment, but soon the voice ringed in his ears again.

"A natural Reality Code usually refers to a state of being or a statement of action. Seasoned Seekers of Truth can even decode words like 'slash', and 'stab' from watching a duel of swords. It's an action that requires practice, willpower, and focus. Most wouldn't be able to do it due to how long it would take and how much spiritual energy would be wasted in the process. But in certain situations, like the life-threatening ones, almost every individual can stimulate their potential and accomplish something that should have been almost impossible.

"For Seekers that managed to grasp power from the Reality Code, their next step would be comprehension of magic. As stated earlier, spells are a construct of the mind, but spells aren't magic. With the knowledge that we have amassed over the years, we can say that the world is an amalgamation of three natures. The nature of the material known by those without magic as the Laws of Physics refers to the Reality Code, which is actually an extension of the Akashic Records, the true bearer of miracles, and also the third nature. It's only through it that real Magic can be performed. The second nature is known by many as the metaph..."

Hearing those words, Kiyoshi frowned and collapsed. He was too tired to make sense of the words and had no choice but to rest, as for whatever was said next, he could only hope that those words would come to him again in the future...