Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 1

#001. Boy on a pile of scrap metal (1)

An evening with twilight falling.

Ray was sitting on a pile of scrap metal.

Old furniture. Broken electronics.

Useless junk. Rusty metal.

A small garden where all kinds of useless things hug each other.

Because it was quite high up, climbing up here allowed me to take in the surrounding scenery at a glance.

Piles of scrap metal towering everywhere.

The current location is a garbage dump on the outskirts of sector 50.

Ahead was a vast wasteland stretching out endlessly.

Behind him was a city full of old concrete buildings.

The place where Ray was born and raised his entire life.

Sector 50 was an entire area that had become a slum.

He lowered his head.

A group of shabby-looking boys were seen wandering among the piles of scrap metal, carrying tongs and bags.

Like Ray, they were orphans living on the streets who made a living by collecting scrap.

The difference was that, unlike Ray, the children traveled in pairs or threes.

Each person had a group they belonged to.

It’s almost certain that it will happen.

If you don’t take it, it will be taken away.

If you don’t kill, you die.

Strict law of the jungle.

The ecosystem of Sector 50 here was one that could not survive without sticking together.

Degururur──

One of the flashlights in the pile rolled down the slope.

Bam!

It rolled on the floor and stopped at the feet of some boys.

The boys looked up at Ray.

Our eyes met for a moment.

“… … .”

“… … .”

The boys who had been watching Ray’s expression grabbed their flashlights and started running somewhere.

Ray was just calm.

I was just thinking to myself.

Even if you pick it up, it won’t be of any use.

Ray’s eyes followed the boys’ movements.

An empty lot in the center of a garbage dump.

The boys who arrived there took a deep breath and handed the flashlight to one person.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a person.

Because the face and limbs were all made of rough stones.

Height: about 2 meters.

The stone was a silvery-gray color and at first glance looked like a lump of metal.

Kikkikkikkikk

The adults in Sector 50 called that living, moving thing a golem.

Who is the owner? Where did they come from?

What is the purpose?

No one knew exactly about the golem.

He just said that it has existed in sector 50 since ancient times.

One thing was certain.

The golem collected specific scraps from the garbage dump, and gave food in return for giving it certain items.

Canned food or biscuits.

And luxury foods like chocolate.

─Come on! Eat! Eat quickly!

Boys waving flashlights in front of the golem.

He was so excited that his voice could be heard all the way here.

─Wheein.

The golem emitted a red light from its two eye sockets.

He stared at the flashlight for a few seconds, then turned and stomped off to another place.

The boys chased after it and waved their flashlights, but the golem’s reaction did not change.

Afterwards, other groups brought in the scrap, but the result was always the same.

─Tch! Why on earth aren’t you accepting it!

─I think I’ll just destroy it!

─Hold on. I said that if you attack the golem, you will be retaliated against.

─That’s right. You said that there was a time when a golem came into the street and killed people.

The golem was capricious.

Sometimes I received the same thing, sometimes I didn’t, and vice versa.

Although the success rate of scavenging was extremely low, the children did not give up because of the sweet reward.

Ray, who was watching the scene, went down the pile of scrap metal.

Clank. Clank. Bang!

I didn’t slip or fall.

It was a very stable appearance, as if he was coming down a solid staircase.

I looked around and headed toward the empty lot.

I picked up some of the scrap I had seen before.

“ruler.”

Ray, who arrived at the vacant lot, handed the bag to the golem.

The golem’s red eyes touched the contents of the bag.

Kikkik─

The golem lifted the bag and poured the scraps into its mouth.

Boom! Boom!

The waste rolled into my body.

The golem, with its mouth tightly shut, shuddered once, then opened its mouth again and took out food from inside.

3 cans of canned food. 2 packs of biscuits.

1 bag of bread. 1 chocolate.

If you eat it sparingly by yourself, it would be enough to last you for about three days.

The eyes of the other boys watching the scene widened.

“Hey. Look at that.”

“How on earth do you do that every day…?”

There was murmuring here and there.

“… How about doing it like this?”

“Don’t be crazy. It’s the Ghost Ray from 17th Street.”

Ray didn’t really care because it was a reaction he had always experienced.

I silently packed my food into my bag and headed toward the exit of the dump.

“… … .”

Before long, I could feel someone following me.

2 people behind the left dummy.

Two dummies on the right.

And three people follow behind, hiding behind them.

A total of 7 people.

It was by no means a small number.

The intention was obvious.

Ray glanced at the bag slung over one shoulder.

And then, at a place he thought was suitable for fighting, he stopped and turned around.

“Come out. How long are you going to follow me?”

There was no response.

It was only when I made a gesture to take out the bread and step on it with my foot that I felt movement.

“You have a really good feeling. You followed along because you were careful.”

As expected, there were 7 opponents.

He was holding a club and knuckles in his hands.

“Ron. I warned you last time. If you catch my eye one more time, I’ll make sure you’re never able to walk on your own two feet again.”

The largest boy in the group.

Orange-haired Ron flinched as his eyes met Ray’s.

But soon they remembered that they were vastly outnumbered and growled.

“When were you talking about? It was so long ago that I can’t even remember. Huh?”

I don’t have any front teeth, so my pronunciation is a little slurred.

He was beaten by Ray and his teeth were broken.

“It was exactly 23 days ago. If you’re asking about the time, it wasn’t that long ago.”

“That’s not what I’m saying now!”

Ron was seething.

That guy Laser never seemed to like me whenever I saw him.

A face that doesn’t move at all no matter what happens.

Emotionless eyes that seem to see right through people.

From the sound of your breath to the smallest movement.

Each and every one of them got on my nerves.

But it doesn’t matter.

Because soon you’ll be lying on the ground, crying and begging for your life.

‘There were three of us back then. But this time, including me, there are seven of us.’

I lost last time, but this time it’s different.

I brought six of the best fighters from the group.

ray.

The Ghost of 17th Street.

He was given that nickname because he moved around so quietly and had no expression on his face.

He was also famous for fighting well.

But even he would be helpless against seven people.

Moreover, the guy’s physique is at best average for his age.

On the other hand, all seven of them are physically large, comparable to adults.

‘I will definitely win.’

The corners of my mouth went up without me knowing it.

The idea was to avenge the last defeat and take control of 17th Street where the guy was.

Ron said in a confident voice.

“Don’t talk much. Put your bag down and go. Then I’ll let you go in good health.”

It was a lie.

I was planning to beat him up and make him a cripple, whether he gave me food or not.

“lie.”

Ron’s eyes flinched.

The reason street kids were afraid of Ray wasn’t just because of his fighting skills.

“That’s a lie.”

Ray didn’t listen to lies.

“Don’t make eye contact with ghosts. If you do, you’ll be caught lying.”

Ray could tell truth from lies just by looking at their eyes.

The kids were hesitant at first.

But several events have occurred that have made it more certain that it is now an established theory.

Lies don’t work on ghosts.

‘You cheeky little brat…!’

Ron gritted his teeth.

It’s obvious to anyone that he’s sending it off safely, but he must have figured it out using some kind of inexplicable talent.

“Kill him─! Kill him─!”

Ron screamed as if trying to shake off his fear.

The boys with him ran towards Ray.

Bam!

Ray dropped his bag on the floor and took a stance.

The figures of enemies approaching at any given moment were reflected in his pure white eyes.

Boooo …

Ray crouched deeply.

I felt the club barely brushing my back.

fault!

Kick the floor.

Lean your body forward and pull your elbows back.

and.

Phew!

“Ugh!”

He thrust his fist deep into the stomach.

As I pass the guy who is about to collapse, I see Knuckles coming at me honestly.

“asleep!”

Turn your body to the right using your left foot, which has suddenly stopped, as an axis.

Shhh!

A knuckle that passes right in front of your face.

Strike down with all your might at your opponent’s outstretched arm with your right elbow.

Wah-dah!

“Ahhhh!”

Kick a staggering opponent with your foot.

You get tangled up with the enemies behind you and fall to the ground.

The fight was one-sided.

The sound of leather slapping and bones breaking echoed through the garbage dump.

Exactly 5 minutes later.

All the boys except Ron were rolling around on the floor, groaning.

“… … !”

“It doesn’t change just because the numbers increase.”

Ron couldn’t believe what was happening.

Are you saying that the skills I usually showed weren’t everything?

“Oh, don’t come! I told you not to come!”

“I warned you. If you show up one more time, I’ll make sure you can’t use your legs.”

Ray closed the distance one step at a time.

Ron took a step back, his lips trembling.

Bam!

Something hit my back.

When I looked back, it was a pile of scrap metal.

Ron pulled out a folding knife and unfolded it.

“Hey, shit! Stay away from me! You monster!”

Ray stopped.

I stared blankly at the knife.

“You’re a monster.”

Maybe that wasn’t entirely wrong.

He thought that as he looked at his own face, distorted and gray by the knife’s reflection.

Maybe he himself is not much different from a golem, a block of stone.

*

It was when Ray was 10 years old that he realized he was different from other people.

“Why aren’t you crying?”

“You fell and got a big cut, but it doesn’t hurt at all?”

I know it hurts.

And the blood is flowing out.

But what does crying have to do with that?

“Kale came back after being hit. To the kids on 7th Street.”

“… Aren’t you even angry?”

Why should I be angry?

No, before that, what does ‘hwa’ mean?

“Sniff. Bello is dead… What do we do now?”

“You don’t shed a single tear.”

Ray then realized.

He himself did not feel a single thing that others would call emotion.

“You’re a little weird. It’s scary.”

As those around me left, I naturally became alone.

I thought blankly.

Am I wrong?

I wanted to be like everyone else.

I tried to feel emotions.

I could feel something faintly stirring deep in my chest.

「… … .」

But I couldn’t even tell if that was really an emotion.

I had never felt it before in my life, so I had nothing to compare it to.

A year has passed.

Two years have passed.

Three years have passed.

… Six years passed like that.

Constant efforts to feel emotions were useless.

Maybe this is better.

I had that thought too.

In the slums, not feeling emotions was often an advantage.

For example, not feeling fear when fighting was a huge advantage.

The parts that required reading other people’s feelings and being mindful of their reactions were not a big problem.

Because Ray had his own way of reading other people’s emotions.

*

“Don’t come, you monster!”

Now Ray was concentrating his attention on his pupils.

Because of that, I was seeing the world differently from others.

Red as red as blood.

Blue as blue as the deep sea.

A bright yellow like forsythia.

And countless other colors.

The world was filled with colorful lights.

A landscape like an oil painting with various colored paints all mixed together.

Mana was known as the material of magic and the foundation of the world.

Of course, Ray didn’t know the details.

I was just using it as a supplementary tool to identify other people’s emotions.

Ray looked at Ron’s chest.

Dark brown mana was rippling nearby.

Everyone had a small bowl in their heart.

Every time I felt a certain emotion, a certain colored mana would seep into the bowl and stay there.

Anger, hatred, love, etc. are red colored mana.

Laughter and indifference are the blue-colored mana.

Joy and excitement are the yellow-colored mana.

There were not many exceptions.

“It’s a knife. It’s an unspoken rule not to use a blade. Did you plan on bringing it with you from the beginning? To stab me?”

“Ah, I picked it up a while ago! I picked it up among the junk!”

lie.

You can tell by looking at the color of the mana contained in the bowl.

widely.

“Oh, don’t come! Don’t come! If you don’t want to die!”

Ray approached Ron, oblivious to the knife pointed at him.

Her gaze was always directed to Ron’s chest.

A dark black mana that is fluctuating.

Yeah, so that was an extreme fear.

Ray opened his mouth.

“Liars deserve to be punished.”