Math Is Magic

{ 8 MONTHS AND 25 DAYS LATER… }

In all these months, Mirac had accumulated a multitude of new knowledge!

He hadn't limited himself to formal lessons but had taken advantage of every opportunity to delve into the history and geography of the Seven Kingdoms, spending—whenever he felt he could—long hours among the shelves of the royal library.

However, despite his efforts, he had still not discovered anything concrete about the Chaotics or the supposed magical tool to identify them. At most, he had stumbled upon vague myths or ancient legends told in some dusty book.

But once again, the real changes had come with Math!

Over these months, the progress he made in this field had been extraordinary: by also studying from the book of his presumed father, Mirac had learned to perform addition and subtraction with ease, and after memorizing the multiplication tables, he even began to tackle multiplication and division. 

While with the first two operations he was now able to handle calculations with multi-digit numbers, the latter still required a bit more practice.

Yet, despite his well-known deep disdain for Math, he had experienced a variety of emotions, completely unexpected: a mix of satisfaction, personal pride, and something akin to... joy?!

Him, feeling... such an emotion... for Math?!

IMPOSSIBLE!

Precisely because it seemed inconceivable to him, Mirac had started to suspect that Math was a subtle manipulator, capable of somehow infiltrating his mind and manipulating his emotions.

This thought had only increased, exponentially, his desire to somehow rid himself of that annoying Sintony with Math!

And one day, while rummaging through the various books in the royal library, he discovered that such a thing was truly possible and achievable!

Although the argument was long and tedious, full of pompous and unnecessary terms, the basic concept was clear: if a person hates or strongly rejects the element with which they are in Sintony, such aversion can break the metaphysical bond connecting subject and object, freeing them from that unwanted connection.

This law had been described for the Elemental Sintonies, but Mirac couldn't help but hope that it was the same for the Anomalous ones!

So, perhaps by persevering in his resentment and fueling his hatred, one day he would succeed in breaking free from that bond with Math forever!

After all, he longed with all his being to live a free and carefree life again, without the constant fear of being discovered and executed because of his Chaotic nature.

But unfortunately, despite harboring a perpetual hatred for his Sintony, Math still seemed completely indifferent to his resentment.

In fact, throughout the year, instead of fading away as he had hoped, Math appeared to focus solely on his learning progress.

The nights following the days when he had learned new mathematical concepts, in fact, had always been marked by the usual dreams in which the starry sky recorded his progress.

In the dreamlike silence, the usual floating messages would appear, formed by the familiar white mist that suddenly appeared before him, condensing to form glowing words:

[ You have learned how to perform: Addition ]

[ You have learned how to perform: Subtraction ]

[ You have learned how to perform: Multiplication ]

[ You have learned how to perform: Division ]

And each operation was precisely defined, like a lesson carved into the sky:

[ Addition: A basic arithmetic operation that involves combining two or more numbers, called addends, to obtain another number, called the sum. Therefore, if 𝑎 and 𝑏 are two numbers, addition is represented as 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝑐, where 𝑐 is the result of the sum of 𝑎 and 𝑏 ]

[ Subtraction: An arithmetic operation that involves calculating the difference between two numbers. Given a number, called the minuend, and another number, called the subtrahend, the result is called the difference. Therefore, if 𝑎 and 𝑏 are two numbers, subtraction is represented as 𝑎 − 𝑏 = 𝑐, where 𝑐 is the result of the difference between 𝑎 and 𝑏 ]

[ Multiplication: An arithmetic operation that involves repeatedly adding a number, called the multiplicand, for a number of times equal to the value of another number, called the multiplier. The numbers to be multiplied are called factors, and the result is called the product. Therefore, if 𝑎 and 𝑏 are two numbers, multiplication is represented as 𝑎 ⋅ 𝑏 = 𝑐, where 𝑐 is the product of 𝑎 and 𝑏 ]

[ Division: An arithmetic operation that involves determining how many times one number, called the divisor, is contained in another number, called the dividend. The result of this operation is called the quotient. Therefore, if 𝑎 and 𝑏 are two numbers, with 𝑏 ≠ 0, division is represented as 𝑎 ÷ 𝑏 = 𝑐, where 𝑐 is the quotient of 𝑎 and 𝑏 ]

[ Congratulations! ]

[ You have learned to perform all Four Fundamental Operations! ]

Even today, on February 28th, Mirac expected to receive similar messages.

After all, as the final milestone reached that morning, after weeks of exercises, Mirac had finally learned how to tell the time! A rather trivial skill, but one that had always been lacking in his previous life.

And so, as he slept, the dream world welcomed him again. Before him, the starry sky filled with new floating messages:

[ Today you have learned: to Tell the Time ]

[ You have learned the concept: of Time ]

[ Time: A fundamental physical quantity that represents the dimension in which events occur in chronological order, marking the passage from the past, through the present, to the future. Its basic and fundamental unit of measurement is the second ]

[ Second: Defined as the duration of 9 192 631 770 oscillations of the radiation emitted during the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom ]

[ You have learned many things! ]

[ Math is proud of you! ]

[ Math wants to reward you... ]

[ Congratulations! ]

[ You have obtained... ]

* * *

{ THE NEXT DAY... }

It was Saturday, March 1st, 1415.

The sky above the castle was clear and blue, while a fresh breeze rustled the leaves of distant trees.

As he made his way towards the training grounds, Mirac reflected absentmindedly on the new skills he had acquired over the past year. In addition to "Instant Counting," he now possessed other powers:

[ Practical Addition: In a finite set of objects, you can create additional identical ones, thus adding them to the base set ]

[ Practical Subtraction: In a finite set of objects, you can make some disappear, thus subtracting them from the base set ]

[ Multiplicative Touch: After touching an object, you can multiply it by the desired number, creating identical copies ]

[ Dividing Cut: After touching an object, you can divide it by the desired number, cutting it into identical sections ]

And what he had obtained the previous night were these other two abilities:

[ Immaterial Clock: You possess a mental clock that unconditionally marks time ]

[ Instant Knowledge of Age: You can instantly know the exact age of an object or individual with a single glance ]

"Hmmm..." Mirac reflected, descending the stairs with a distracted expression.

As incredible as they surely were, he had never tested these powers.

And, frankly, he had no intention of doing so!

On one hand, because he didn't feel the need for them.

On the other, to avoid the risk of his Anomalous Syntony being discovered.

But above all, due to his eternal grudge against Math: experimenting with those powers would have been like giving in to its charm, a step that would have meant, in a sense, forgiving it. 

And Mirac certainly did not want to give it that satisfaction!

"Tsz, stupid Math!"

Reaching the ground floor, Mirac headed towards the back door, crossing paths with several servants, butlers, and officials along the way, observing them distractedly. But it only took a glance for his mind to fill with numbers: no longer just the exact count of hairs on their heads, but also their respective ages!

'Forty-two... Fifty-eight... Sixty-three... Fifty-one... Thirty-seven...'

At one point, as he walked, he caught sight of Carmen in the distance, at the end of the hallway to his right, probably heading towards the kitchen.

'She's only thirty-two? Wow, she looks much younger!' he thought, surprised.

Just like with "Instant Counting", "Instant Knowledge of Age" seemed to work independently of Mirac's will. The information appeared in his mind on its own, without him having to do anything.

In contrast, the abilities related to arithmetic operations required an active intervention to be used. Probably, a voice command.

As for the "Immaterial Clock," to activate it, the previous night he had been required to manually set the time.

However, Mirac hadn't done so yet.

This was because he considered the "Immaterial Clock" just another ability that would clutter his mind every day. Every minute. Every second!

'Huh, the last thing I need is a clock ticking incessantly in my head! Damn, cursed Math!' he thought irritably.

However, this was not at all the right moment to be distracted by such thoughts, especially with such an important day ahead.

'Come on, let's go! Today will be different... I'm sure of it!'

Reaching the door, Mirac grasped the thick golden handles tightly. He took a deep breath, then pushed decisively, finally stepping outside. The cool air brushed his face as the familiar training field opened up before him.

As every afternoon, he had come there to practice with the sword, under the guidance of the Grand Knight Leonard.

And this was despite it being Saturday, a normally restful day alongside Sunday.

During the year, in fact, a new custom was introduced for the first day of each month, on which Mirac had to demonstrate his skills in front of another person who would observe the entire training session.

A special spectator, someone whose judgment weighed more than anyone else's...

The third strongest swordsman on the entire continent, and also his father: King Arthur!