I Said Make My Abilities Average! Chapter 4—Make My Abilities Average
What was the cause of that absurd amount of water? Adele pondered while lying on the bed. Using both God’s explanation on magic and common knowledge of this world, what are possible predictions?
First: my own magical power. The strength and endurance of my brain waves… are strong. … but my power should be “average”.
Second: my imagination is abnormally strong, enabling me to efficiently manifest magic. … which is possible. Perhaps an effect of modern knowledge. But that power from just efficiency? It’s a little difficult to imagine.
Third, some other primary factor. Was there something different at that time? Other than the chant…
Ah. Help me out, Mr. Nanomachine! That’s right, I muttered that in my mind. It couldn’t be that the nanomachines responded to that? That’s ridiculous… no, but you can’t really compare the abilities of nanomachines created by a self-proclaimed God to the ones researched on Earth for medical-use. For example, it wouldn’t even be weird if each individual nanomachine had some sort of artificial intelligence. It wouldn’t be possible for single-function machines to interpret a person’s brain waves and then to materialize them. (Normally, when casting a spell, the brain waves don’t have a specific target that they are commanding, but instead, we nanomachines judge what the intentions are and then execute the orders. So, what if we are clearly requested by name?)
… which is possible. But there isn’t time to confirm it. This isn’t a good place for reckless, dangerous magic. And to use the training arena before actually enrolling in the school would be weird. Besides, it would attract attention.
“Ah, if only I could directly ask the nanomachines…”
‘Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have. We will answer them to the best of our abilities.’
“Gyaaah!”
Adele, surprised by the sudden whispering in her ear, sprung backwards and smacked her head hard against the wall. Gah!, went Adele as she crouched down, clutching her head.
‘Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have. We will answer them to the best of our abilities.’ The mysterious voice pursued Adele!
On this situation, no one else would respond but that. Adele noticed it and timidly called out,
“Mister… Nanomachine?” ‘Yes, that is what the creator had called us.’
On Earth, it took mere decades for computers the size of a building to turn into something that could fit in one hand. Then, the development of nanomachines had already begun. However, the performance of these nanomachines—made by beings who could proclaim themselves to be gods and existing long before humans did—would be unimaginable. Adele could at least understand how simple it is for the machines to be able reply to humans. However, Adele could not tell whether they’re able to reply because of their programming or whether it’s because of they had sentience.
Though while surprised, it was an ideal chance to learn more. So, Adele braced herself and asked.
“About my what happened last time, I want to know why my magic was so unbelievably powerful…” ‘Please wait.’
In just a few seconds, the nanomachines replied. ‘About your inquiry on your previous use of magic, the efficacy was higher than normal because we received your specific command.’
As expected, Adele thought, as she confirmed the cause while letting out a sigh of relief. “And because of that, about how much was it amplified by?” ‘Approximately 3.27 times.’ That amount of amplification was obviously way too little for what had happened.
“A-And what was the reason for it being abnormally powerful compared to a normal, average 10 year–old child?” ‘That is simply because your brain wave output is powerful and that your visualization is clear and concrete. In particular, your brain wave output is approximately half of elder dragons—this world’s strongest in output power.’ Huh?, thought Adele, as she questioned her hearing. “What, umm, did you—did you say it was half of?”
‘Your. Brain wave. Output. Is. About. Half of. Elder dragons.’ The nanomachines explicitly and purposefully paused between words.
“A-And compared with humans?” ‘Compared to all human beings with magical abilities, about 6,800 times stronger.’
Thud.
Adele fell prostrate on her bed.
After a little while, Adele finally came back to life and then asked the nanomachines many questions. Though she didn’t ask God about the fine details on magic, right now, it’s a different story. She has to seize the opportunity and ask questions.
‘… thus, what is referred to as a person’s magic strength—the power of brain waves that person is able to emit—is a combination of endurance and clarity. If you liken it to someone’s voice, it would be the loudness of their voice, the endurance until their voice becomes coarse, and the clarity of their voice. The sharpness of one’s visualizations is not the strength, but rather considered as a skill of using magic. It is not something one is born with, but rather a technique fostered by practice.’
“So it’s because that I’m outstanding in all of those categories… I understand that my mental images may be shaper due to my knowledge of the modern world, but besides from that… Ah!”
She understood completely. The words that the nanomachines had said. ‘Your brain wave output is approximately half of elder dragons—this world’s strongest in output power.’ … in other words, with regards to this world, exactly halfway between beings with zero magical abilities and the strongest beings. Exactly half—the average the minimum value and the maximum value.
Bam, bam, bam! She repeatedly slammed her head against the wall. “That’s not right! That’s completely wrong! That totally isn’t the definition of average!! I—I wanted to live my life as a normal girl…!!” Once again, it wasn’t the median value.
Whether it was because it was a pain to look up the values of all living things, or perhaps to the gods dealing with numbers unimaginably large for humans that this was “average”. Or even maybe that the gods worried about Misato’s safety, doing her a favor on purpose…
After a while, Adele calmed down and continued gathering information. “Before now, has anyone ever asked you questions?” ‘Firstly, there is nearly no one who knows of our existence and speaks to us. Furthermore, even if we are spoken to, we are not permitted to reply to those under a security clearance level of three.’ “Security clearance?” ‘The authority to use us. Normal living creatures, including humans, have a default clearance level of one, elder dragons at two, and occasionally some creatures are at level three. In the past, there was a human who reached level three, but they were extremely rare cases. Just before that human being died of old age, he reached level three. He had believed that we were spirits that controlled magic. However, it seemed as though no one paid attention to what he had to say. Because we were ordered to show our form to the man, we directly stimulated his retina and connected directly to his mind; same for our voices—directly vibrating his eardrums, thus…’
“Oh, that means…” ‘Yes, to the others, it seemed like they were nothing but illusions and hallucinations. Even right now, you are talking to yourself. You probably seem like an odd person.’ “Eek!”
‘Do not worry; the adjacent rooms are unoccupied.’ The nanomachines told the flustered Adele frantically looking at the walls to her left and right. ‘If you wish, it is possible for us to vibrate the air so that others can hear us and to refract the light to temporarily show our physical form…’ “No, uhh, not right now…”
As she was a normal girl, she did not need the spirits. She decided that asking all these questions would be a one-time thing. Save for extreme circumstances, she planned on not summoning them again. So Adele had thought.
“Oh, come to think of it, since you answered all of my questions, does that mean I’m at level three?” ‘The creators have maximum security clearance of level ten; you are at level five.’ Yeah, yeah. Right in the middle of zero and ten. The average, eh? Not like I expected anything else.
“And what am I forbidden from accessing?” ‘Uncontrolled propagation of bacterium; nuclear fission and fusion; radiation; and as well matters regarding our existence and limits on spellcasting.’ “Ah, stuff like that, huh? Well, that’s to be expected.”
After a while, Adele continued asking questions. But after that was the motherlode. Item box. When she asked about alternate dimension storage where neither time passes nor conditions deteriorate, she learned that there are numerous dimensions that crushes the space-time continuum. In essence, places where the concept of time does not exist. If a hole that is connected to that dimension were to be opened and then objects placed inside there, it would function as a sort of makeshift item box. As that alternate dimension already exists, energy wouldn’t even be needed to maintain it. The nanomachines will handle deposit and withdrawal for her. Because only a certain number of mages can use “storage” magic, and as it is limited by internal space and volume, it is quite the valuable skill. It would be much appreciated if that could be feigned and to be used it in public. Of course, not only would this be a pseudo-item box, it could also be used as a storage system.
After learning the basics, including a few tricks on how to produce magic at an ordinary person’s level, Adele thanked the nanomachines.
“Thanks for everything. With this, I feel like I can kinda act like a normal girl now.” ‘A… normal girl?’ Adele pouted at the words that the nanomachines seemingly wanted to say. “I’m going to be a normal girl, live a normal life, and to find my own normal happiness!” ‘… we will pray for your hard effort.’
Having taken a short breather after finishing her conversation with the nanomachines, Adele suddenly noticed she was bothered by something. Up until now, she had not felt anything particularly out of the ordinary. But for some reason, she abruptly experienced an swell of anxiety. It would be nice to have a coin or something, but unfortunately, Adele is penniless. Looking for a hard object, the metallic handle of the closet caught her eye. With no other choice, she firmly pinched it with her fingers…
Ooh, soft and flexible.
Mmm, perhaps her strength, too, is half of an elder dragon?
Fuck off!
Previously: /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /next/ (full list of translated chapters)
