Midsummer sunlight beat down with a vengeance, pouring its blistering intensity over the landscape as Reiji Saiki waited at a red light on his bicycle, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"It’s not just hot, it’s scorching."
With the cicadas’ rhythmic buzzing ringing in his ears, he glared resentfully up at the sun.
Though it was barely past 10:00 AM, the temperature had already climbed over 30°C. On the news, it was no longer rare to hear of some regions hitting 40°C, but for Reiji, living in a rural Tohoku town, 30°C was more than enough to be miserable.
"With this heat, I’d have been better off swimming in the river."
That thought alone was a testament to just how rural his home was. After all, he lived in a place where cell service was spotty at best. Even getting to this town had required a ride of over an hour by bicycle.
Normally, the summer vacation of a high school sophomore would be consumed by entrance exam prep, but Reiji didn't care about any of that. Very few students from his high school went on to higher education anyway; most simply found jobs in the area.
Thanks to that easygoing atmosphere, Reiji was enjoying his second-year summer vacation as a true long-term holiday. He had been assigned homework, of course, but he had spent the first few days of the break burning through it all so he could focus on the rest of his summer.
The only reason he had ventured into the city in this heat was because a bookstore had contacted him to say that a new volume of a novel he enjoyed had finally arrived.
"Still, I should’ve waited until it cooled down... or asked my mom or dad to give me a lift in the car."
He grumbled to himself, tugging at his T-shirt to vent the heat trapped inside.
Even so, in this temperature, it was truly a drop in the bucket.
As he waited for the light to change, he wiped away the sweat that had already beaded on his skin again and glanced around the area.
The town might have been bustling decades ago, but now over sixty percent of the shops had their shutters permanently closed. Even if many graduates stayed for local jobs, the shrinking population of children meant the town was destined to wither away.
In fact, he could see a house being demolished just a short distance away.
"I guess the place is just gonna keep drying up."
He muttered the words, but he didn't have a solution. It wasn't his problem to solve.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a voice rang out. "Watch out! Get back!"
Almost reflexively, he turned toward the shout. A steel beam, roughly five meters long, loomed in his vision—and that was the final sight Reiji Saiki would ever see in this world.
"Oh... finally..."
At the sound of the voice, Reiji suddenly blinked awake. He found himself in a void—a white space that seemed to stretch on forever in every direction.
"...Where the hell am I?"
He remembered being crushed by a steel beam. Normally, this was the part where he should have been screaming in the face of death, yet he found himself remarkably calm.
"Thou art awake at last, my candidate for successor."
Following the voice, his consciousness shifted toward the speaker, and the entity’s presence entered his vision automatically.
"A light sphere?"
Indeed, it was a glowing sphere of light, roughly thirty centimeters in diameter. It pulsed with a steady rhythm as it spoke.
"If I am a light sphere, then thou art a light sphere as well. Dost thou understand thy current state?"
Prompted by the sphere's words, Reiji realized for the first time that his own body was also a sphere of light. He had no hands or feet, and naturally, he lacked eyes or ears. Yet, for some reason, he could see and hear perfectly fine.
"What's happening?"
"Calm thyself, candidate for successor. ...Nay, I see thou art not distraught. Thou truly art worthy of being my candidate."
"Successor... candidate?"
"Indeed. I summoned thy soul to my presence a mere instant before it vanished from thy world."
Reiji recalled the image of the steel beam falling toward him. There was no way he could have survived that.
"Right. I definitely died. So, is this the afterlife?"
"Nay. This is a Mental World situated in the gap between worlds. I cast a spell to search for a successor, and thy soul was caught in its net."
The light sphere spoke with very little inflection, but Reiji's mental image of himself twitched.
"Is this one of those things? Like, did you mess with causality or something to kill me?"
It was a familiar trope to someone like Reiji, who consumed novels, manga, movies, and games. Though, he wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of it happening to him.
However, the light sphere pulsed again as it answered.
"Nay. The art I employed is one that invites the soul of a qualified successor to this Mental World for a brief window—after they have encountered death, but before they depart for the afterlife."
Reiji felt a slight sense of relief. If the sphere was telling the truth, his death hadn't been its fault. ...Assuming it was telling the truth, of course.
He wasn't about to fully trust a total stranger—especially one that was a glowing ball—just because it said so.
Nevertheless, he couldn't just sit here forever, so he prompted the entity to continue.
"Go on."
"As I said, I cast a spell to call forth one who might serve as my successor. Thou art the one who appeared. Thus, a candidate."
"I've been wondering, but what am I supposed to be inheriting?"
"The art of Beast Magic—a magic already on the verge of vanishing from existence."
The light sphere muttered the words with a hint of sorrow, its glow dimming slightly.
"When I summoned thee, I took the liberty of scanning thy memories. My world is unlike thine; in my world, magic exists. Within that world, I was a Mage of immense power, as were the members of my Clan. Together, our Clan devised the art known as Beast Magic."
"If your Clan made it and it’s already dying out, doesn't that mean it's pretty obscure?"
"I do not deny it. To begin with, the prerequisite for Beast Magic is the possession of vast magical power. That alone made it difficult for anyone outside our Clan to utilize."
"Vast magical power... You're saying I have that?"
Since that power was a prerequisite, it stood to reason that he must have it if he was being called a candidate. Reiji asked the question, but the sphere’s answer went beyond his expectations.
"Thou dost. In fact, in thy world, there likely exists no one with greater magical power than thee. Thou lodgest a staggering amount of it within thy soul. ...Why a mutation such as thee would be born in a world without magic is an intriguing mystery, but I no longer have the time to solve it. Therefore, I ask thee to listen well and make thy choice."
The light sphere explained the situation. In its world, magic was a reality. The sphere’s Clan had been a gathering of the world's most elite Mages, possessing magical power that placed them at the very top of the global hierarchy. Though they were only a small group, their collective might was said to be enough to topple a nation in hours. Beast Magic was the ultimate secret technique born from that concentration of genius. However, the sheer cost of magic required to use it meant no one else could master it. Unfortunately, perhaps because so many geniuses had gathered in a single era, no talented Mages were born to the generations that followed. Furthermore, due to magical constraints used to empower the art, it could only be performed once in a lifetime—another reason Beast Magic never spread.
Even Mages hailed as geniuses were not immortal. One by one, they passed away until their numbers dwindled to nothing.
The light sphere before him was the final survivor of that Clan, but it could not escape the end of its lifespan. It could not bear the thought of Beast Magic simply disappearing. Yet, there was no one in its world capable of inheriting it. Thus, the sphere wondered if a successor could be found in another world. Using the last of its life and magic, it cast one final spell. It created a Mental World in the gap between dimensions and spent centuries searching for a soul qualified to inherit the art as it departed its home world. That was how it had found Reiji.
"I see. I get the situation. ...By the way, what happens if I say no?"
"Nothing. Thou wilt simply continue thy journey to the afterlife and eventually gain a new life as a different being."
"And if I say I'll take it?"
"In that case, I shall serve as thy catalyst and grant thee a new body."
Reiji’s light sphere flickered at the suggestion.
"...Hold on, there’s a few things I can't just gloss over. First, what do you mean by becoming a 'catalyst'?"
"Exactly that. It is a necessary step to transfer my knowledge unto thee."
"Is it like... you and I are going to fuse together?"
"Nay. I am merely a catalyst. Once I have transferred the knowledge, I shall be absorbed by thee and fade away. However, it is true that we shall become one. Thou wilt remain the dominant consciousness, though I expect some slight changes may occur."
Relieved to hear his personality would remain intact, Reiji moved on to the next question.
"And what about this new body?"
"Thou hast lost thy physical form in thy own world."
The light sphere’s words brought back the memory of the falling steel beam. Reiji could easily imagine that his original body was beyond repair.
"Yeah, fair point."
"Therefore, I shall anchor thy soul to a new body—one created by my Clan using the pinnacle of our magic and technology."
"I see. So that’s the new body."
"Furthermore, once thou hast inherited the Beast Magic, I shall vanish. Thus, all the magic items, precious materials, and legacies left by my Clan shall become thine."
"The inheritance of the world's strongest Mages who lived for centuries, huh? That’s a hell of a setup. But if it’s a new body, what happens to the magic power you mentioned?"
"It is not an issue. Magical power resides within the soul, not the flesh."
"So the 'vast magic' I have stays with me. But if that's the case, why don't you just use that body to live again yourself?"
"Nay. There is an issue of compatibility between my soul and that vessel. Moreover, my soul is already old and worn thin. I no longer possess the curiosity, the drive for inquiry, or the thirst for the unknown required for the life of a Mage. I have told thee everything. Now, I ask: wilt thou inherit the techniques I and mine have left behind?"
"...Well, if I refuse, I just go to the afterlife anyway. Fine. I'll take the deal."
The light sphere pulsed several times in response to Reiji's answer.
"I thank thee. Let us begin the fusion."
"Yeah. What do I need to do?"
"It is simple. By being in this space, the preparations are already complete. Once we make contact, the fusion will proceed automatically, and thy form will be reconstructed. Thy soul shall be anchored to the new body, and thou shalt awaken."
"Got it. ...Go ahead."
"Indeed. Let the fusion begin."
With that declaration, the light sphere drifted toward Reiji and overlapped with him.
"Reiji Saiki, thou hast my gratitude. May thy new life be filled with fortune."
As the light sphere spoke those final words, Reiji's consciousness sank into the darkness.