Focus my consciousness.
Recognize the magic power filling my body.
Once I can do that, I acquire the Skill "Magic Power Perception."
From there, I take it a step further and circulate the magic power throughout my body.
Magic power racing through me like blood.
I also borrow the power of the Skill "Magic Power Operation" to increase the speed of the circulating magic.
The magic power keeps accelerating.
I concentrate a portion of it into my hand.
Inside my palm, the magic continues to accelerate, transforming into a high-density, high-energy mass.
All that's left is to give this magic power the form of "magic," and it'll be complete.
However, I don't go that far.
Or rather, I can't.
I gradually return the magic concentrated in my hand back into my body, and slow down the speed of the magic circulating within me.
Once the magic inside me has settled, I open the eyes I'd been keeping shut for focus.
Sitting in front of me was Ana, cold sweat visible on her face.
Clevea stood beside her, but unlike Ana, she didn't seem to have noticed anything unusual about me.
"That's terrifying."
"Is it really that impressive?"
"Impressive doesn't even begin to cover it. Just looking at their operational ability alone, Her Highness is already at the level of an elementary mage, and His Lordship has already reached the intermediate stage. As for magic capacity, both of them have surpassed me at their age."
Their whispered conversation was picked up crystal clear by my "Hearing Enhancement" Skill — a perk of constantly listening in while trying to learn the language of this world.
"You mean geniuses?"
At Clevea's words, Ana nodded gravely.
Geniuses, huh.
I'm no genius.
It's true that, maybe because of my birth, I have more magic power than average.
But everything else — that's only possible because I was born with memories of my past life.
Even though I'm still young in body, my mental age is that of a high schooler.
Honestly, life as a baby is boring for someone with a high schooler's mind.
What I started doing to fill that boredom was training to use magic.
Having an exceptional teacher like Ana helped, but for someone with a high schooler's mind inside, even the most complex explanations that children couldn't understand were no trouble.
Thanks to that, I mastered both the Skills "Magic Power Perception" and "Magic Power Operation" early on.
Now both have reached Level 5.
The result of practicing nonstop during all that free time.
Apparently, normally it takes an extraordinarily long period of training to reach this point.
But for a baby like me, time was more than abundant, and I had a fascination with magic, so I practiced whenever I had a spare moment.
As a result, I ended up displaying a talent for magic far beyond what my age would suggest.
But if you ask me, the real genius is my little sister,
I glance over at Sue sitting beside me.
Sue is mimicking me, performing the same magic power manipulation I am.
Compared to me, her technique is still rough and the circulation speed is slower.
Even so, she's controlling and manipulating her magic power with a steady hand.
Manipulating magic power is no simple matter.
I struggled with it myself until I got the Skills.
Coming from a world without magic in the first place, just understanding what magic power even was took enormous effort.
Normally, people can't start manipulating magic power until around the age of five.
By the way, one year in this world is 411 days.
There's nobody like me or Sue who can manipulate magic power as a baby.
For me it's fine — I'm a reincarnator, so mentally I'm an adult.
But Sue is different.
Sue is just copying me.
That's all — just watching and imitating, yet she's somehow mastered magic manipulation that would normally be impossible.
If that's not a genius, I don't know what is.
Honestly, if she's been like this since she was a baby, I can't help but worry about the future.
With this much talent, Sue is sure to become something extraordinary someday.
Meanwhile, I was an ordinary high schooler in my past life.
I don't think I have any talent.
Right now I still have the advantage of being a reincarnator, but once she catches up to the head start I got, I'll just get left behind.
And when that happens, my dignity as the older brother...
No, it's not a done deal yet, and even if it were, there should still be plenty of time.
Which is exactly why I need to push even further ahead now and widen the gap as much as I can while I still can...
"Hey, why can't I use magic?"
I've been forbidden from using magic by Ana.
All I'm allowed to do is magic power manipulation.
Only after acquiring magic skills for each individual element can I actually cast spells.
I know that, but I don't have any magic Skills.
And I don't know how to acquire them either.
"Your Lordship, there are several reasons for that, but the most important one is danger. Magic is a powerful force. The greater the power, the greater the danger, which is why it's forbidden to acquire magic before reaching an appropriate age."
I understood Ana's explanation, but I wasn't convinced.
Even though I look like this, mentally I should already be past that "appropriate age."
That said, I'm the only one who knows that.
It's frustrating, even if there's nothing I can do about it.
"Also, we must use an Appraisal Stone to properly determine your affinity element. If you acquire magic of an element that doesn't suit you, you'll have a very difficult time later."
An Appraisal Stone, it turns out, is a magical tool that lets you view your Status in detail.
Simple ones are sold at a reasonable price, but the kind that can show information like your affinity element is something only a select few powerful individuals possess.
The royal family naturally has access to that class of Appraisal Stone, but I've never once had myself appraised.
"With your Lordship's ability, you'll become one of the world's greatest mages without any need to rush. That said, don't let it go to your head, all right?"
"Yeees."
As if I could let anything go to my head.
I'm over here panicking about my little sister catching up to me.
Whatever happens, I can't afford to rush.
The fundamentals are the ultimate technique.
I'll pour myself into refining my magic power manipulation even further.
I threw myself back into practicing Magic Power Operation once more.