Knights Who Hunt Monsters (2)
“Good. Then let us begin developing the game in earnest. Please feel free to offer your opinions.”
There had been a few complications along the way, but in the end, we were finally making the game.
I announced the official start of development to everyone.
“Lord Ian's draft is not bad, but… if we release the game exactly like this, there are a few things people may find strange.”
“Indeed. The monsters depicted here differ from those in reality, and the cultures and religions are somewhat different as well. Of course, since it is a fictional story, it does not need to be identical to reality, but I believe it would be better to adapt those aspects into something more familiar.”
The scholars and literary figures were well versed in cultural matters, so they pointed out quite a few issues in those areas.
Their suggestions were extremely helpful, since we could remove awkward elements without affecting the original story or gameplay.
The problem was the mages.
“Hrrrrm… This cannot possibly be called magic! Casting spells with nothing but hand gestures without even chanting? Heresy! Heresy!”
“Tsk, tsk. Chantless magic was developed ages ago, yet you are still living five hundred years in the past. No wonder the newer schools call you fossils.”
“What?! You dare insult the teachings of Great Sage Arkileus?! And you call yourself a mage?!”
“Even he would have something to say if he saw his successors five hundred years later still chanting spells. Why in the world should I recite every spell I intend to use right in front of the enemy?!”
First of all, these magical old fogeys were arguing endlessly over the magic depicted in the game.
Apparently, they bickered like this all the time at the Magic Tower too, but to be honest, these people weren't being particularly helpful.
Still, in a world where magic actually existed, I couldn't simply ignore magical authenticity, so I tried to incorporate their opinions where appropriate.
Meanwhile, the knights had a somewhat different atmosphere.
“The swordsmanship being flashy is fine, but is this not a little excessive?”
“There certainly are too many unnecessary flourishes. I believe we could make it more practical.”
“No. Think from the perspective of mutants like the protagonist. If we assume they possess bodies far superior to ordinary humans, would movements like these truly be nothing more than empty flourishes?”
“Ah, that is true. Perhaps they can use ‘Aura’ as well?”
“I do not know about that… but it would be better to judge them by the standards of skilled Aura users at the very least. Otherwise, how could they fight monsters on equal terms?”
The knights responsible for martial-arts authenticity were holding a surprisingly serious discussion.
They actually looked more intellectual than the mages.
A world where mages are more belligerent and knights are more cultured.
I'm genuinely worried about the Empire's future.
In any case, the people helping me the most right now were these knights.
Thanks to them, I was able to fill in many of the weaknesses in the game's action.
And I gave them a way to do their jobs even more effectively.
“So you're saying the protagonist in the game will move exactly as I do?”
“Yes. It's something called ‘motion capture.’ It'll be easier if I show you rather than explain.”
By recreating the concept of motion capture through illusion magic, I could apply the knights' movements directly to the protagonist inside the game.
“Fascinating… It truly copies my movements exactly.”
When the knight waved his hand, the character rendered like a 3D hologram moved along with him.
Using this, we could create motions to apply directly to the game.
We could even render monsters, allowing us to capture movements as though the knights were actually fighting them.
“Oh? Magic that reflects physical movement into an illusion in real time? Whatever else may be said, your illusion magic is quite advanced.”
At that moment, one of the elder mages approached and made a remark that I couldn't tell was praise or sarcasm.
He's getting in the way. Can't he just stay quiet?
“But do you not intend to incorporate the use of magic? In the footage you showed earlier, those ‘Witch Hunters’ clearly fought while using magic as well.”
“Ah, I'm planning to capture those motions separately later. The motions for casting magic aren't particularly difficult…….”
“Why bother? Would it not be enough if they could actually use those spells?”
If I could do that, I'd have done it already, old man.
Unfortunately, I only knew how to create illusions based on my memories.
Creating new magic was outside my field entirely.
“Then can you do it yourself?”
“Of course. Watch closely.”
With that, he approached one of the nearby knights.
Then he appeared to cast some kind of magic on him.
“What did you do, mage?”
“Now try using magic like the monster hunter in that footage.”
“Use magic? I do not know how to use magic.”
“Just imitate the hand gesture. Stop talking and do as I say.”
The knight looked somewhat displeased by the mage's arrogant attitude, but soon made the same hand gesture as though he were casting magic.
A symbol appeared over his hand.
Flames erupted.
WHOOSH!
“What…?!”
The knight stared in shock after unexpectedly using magic he had never even imagined himself capable of casting.
I was just as surprised.
It was ‘Igni,’ one of the spells used by the protagonist in the game.
Recreating the spell itself was impressive enough.
But just now, he'd made a knight who wasn't even a mage activate magic.
How the hell did he do that?
“Now, would this not produce a much better result?”
“It would, but how exactly did you do that just now?”
“The fact that you are asking me that is itself a contradiction.”
“…? A contradiction? Why?”
“Because until a moment ago, I could not do this either. It only became possible after I watched the footage you showed us.”
Ahem!
After clearing his throat once, he continued explaining with a slightly solemn expression.
“You are quite skilled, yet you seem surprisingly ignorant of the principles of magic. Then again, young people these days do not value the fundamentals. The fundamentals are important in everything.”
“…My apologies, sir. But could you teach me?”
“Well, thanks to you, my own magical knowledge has increased, so I shall make an exception and teach you. Though if you had applied yourself more diligently, you could have discovered this yourself…….”
It seemed I'd misjudged the mages of the Magic Tower.
I'd thought they were merely stuffy old mages obsessed with ancient methods.
Apparently, that wasn't entirely true.
“Magic, you see, is the study of possibility. It is the study of every possibility that can occur through the workings of magical power. All magic consists of observing those possibilities. Then what methods exist for observing possibility? Three. Interpretation, distortion, and creation.”
Only then did I remember the basic maxim of magic I'd learned when I'd first entered the Imperial Magic Academy.
Until now, I'd always assumed it was merely metaphorical.
“All observation of possibility consists of those three things. Interpreting possibility exactly as it is. Distorting possibility when observing it. And lastly, creating a new possibility. Every school of magic differs depending on which of those three it emphasizes and to what degree.”
He continued his explanation.
In short, mages of the classical schools emphasized interpreting possibility as it already existed, which was why they repeated the same spells and the same formulas.
Those who preferred distorting possibility tended to create illusions or alter bodies and phenomena.
Black mages usually relied heavily on distortion.
And finally, creation……
Creation meant exactly what the word implied.
Creating entirely new magic.
If interpretation was rolling a die exactly as it was, and distortion was changing the face of that die, then creation was making an entirely new die.
“Then what you did just now was ‘creation.’”
“No, no… I merely imitated it through ‘interpretation.’”
“Interpretation? But the magic you just used was something entirely new. You even made it possible for knights to use it…….”
“Ha ha. Do you truly not understand? I merely followed the ‘possibility’ you showed me.”
The elder mage spoke as though my ignorance genuinely saddened him.
“In the footage you showed us… I saw an unbelievable possibility. Mutant swordsmen fighting monsters. The swift and powerful chantless magic they used. Those were things that would ordinarily have been ‘unimaginable’ to us. If we could not even imagine them, then those possibilities did not exist for us.”
“…….”
“But in that footage, they were so intricate that they appeared as though they already existed. They possessed concepts and systems. They had order and narrative. Because of that, they ceased to be mere fantasies and acquired the possibility of existing in reality. So… I merely interpreted that possibility and reproduced it.”
As I listened to the elder mage's explanation, I felt a magical thrill unlike anything I'd experienced before.
In other words, according to him, the games I recreated contained magical possibilities that genuinely existed.
If something was presented with enough structure and conceptual detail to reveal a magical possibility, then it meant that thing could be realized through magic.
In other words, the magic that appeared in my games—or perhaps anything created through magic in them—could potentially be reproduced in reality.
Come to think of it, a well-made game might contain concepts sophisticated enough to present such possibilities.
‘Witch Hunter,’ with its detailed setting and worldbuilding, fit those conditions remarkably well.
“Do you understand now? You have practically created those spells already… You simply regarded them as imagination and failed to notice the possibilities they contained. That is why asking me how I made it possible is itself contradictory. To be frank, I looked down on you at first… but your talent is remarkable.”
“…I see. I never even considered something like that.”
“Hmph. That is because you are lazy. Had you entered the Magic Tower, I would have taken you as my disciple and corrected that attitude. Have you no interest even now?”
“No, thank you.”
He had the exact look of a professor hunting for a graduate student.
If I agreed here, he'd definitely abduct me and never let me escape.
It was nice to discover a magical truth I'd never known before, but all I wanted to do was make games.
“Tell me, mage. Then… are you saying we could actually become like those monster hunters?”
At that moment, the knights who had been silently listening approached the elder mage and asked.
The elder mage nodded.
“Now that the possibility has been observed, it is not impossible. However… you may have to undergo an extremely difficult process and pay a terrible price. You may even die.”
“We do not fear death. Not if we can find the path we must walk. Please help us. We still wish to serve the Empire.”
“Ha ha… Then I suppose there is no helping it. But in that case, we should strengthen the possibility further. That will reduce the chance of danger to you.”
“What must we do?”
“Simple. We have no choice but to imitate the observed possibility as closely as possible.”
In other words, they needed to behave just like the Witch Hunters in the game.
“Good. I had intended to do that anyway.”
“I, Gishu of Rivendale, swear that from this day forward, I shall slay monsters and protect the weak.”
“If this is the path we must walk, then I shall gladly accept it.”
And so, every traditionalist knight gathered there, without a single exception, chose to walk the path of the monster hunter.
I was worried that it might be too dangerous……
But it didn't seem like something I had any right to interfere with.
If this was their choice, then there was nothing I could do.
How a game was interpreted and accepted was ultimately up to each gamer.
And not long afterward, the game ‘Witch Hunter’ was released.
At the same time, the knights who hunted monsters were born.