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Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei (Light Novel) - Volume 12, Introduction
Volume 12, Introduction
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It had been 97 years since the day that the supernatural power that heralded the arrival of what is now known as modern magic was observed by the USA at the time. It had been approximately 80 years since the development of magical techniques turned to the development and human modification of Magicians.
During this brief period of time, no, actually an even shorter time, since it only took 50 years or so to create a stable production of powerful Magicians – the “bloodlines” that belonged to “famous lineages of Magicians”. Upon further consideration, this was a rather astounding fact - In a mere half century, they had successfully developed the “race” known as Magicians.
Of course, there were a host of reasons lurking in the background. In order to bring about this possibility, more developed countries invested massive scientific and economic resources and began a furious competition. Since the start of the latter half of the previous century, energy depletion had turned into a dreaded future that hung like a dark shadow in the hearts of the people (in more-developed countries). Furthermore, after 2030 AD, the Earth had noticeably cooled, which was then accompanied by the ensuing food shortage. Caused by the infighting for food and resources, the Third World War became a powerful impetus for the development of Magicians
–to the point that basic human rights, a core pillar of society, were abandoned.
Even before the 20 chaotic years of war, the entire globe had already somewhat publicly conducted “human modification” and “human breeding projects”, all in the name of developing a race called Magicians. The fact that magic could be inherited had already been acknowledged in the age where magic was held to be a superpower, which only served to legitimize the progress of magical development towards the creation of “superior bloodlines”.
From the perspective of modifying the human species, developed countries used science to trample human dignity.
The creation of artificial wombs first began in the more developed countries.
Among the less developed countries, individuals with the potential were forced to mate – practically to the extent where nationally sanctioned rape was allowed to occur. However, among the more developed countries, cloning pre-fertilized zygotes and non-surgical methods to gather sperm – “gene selection” – were used to obtain large amounts of reproductive material to fertilize artificial wombs, hereby creating a more efficient approach to the development of Magicians. Genetic modification actually turned out to be the minority. Massive production of “test tube babies” without genetic modification was the true face of the development of Magicians in more developed countries.
Fortunately – that was one way of putting it, given the dissonance between the advances in science and human nature – children born from cloned embryos all died young for some unknown reason. The manner of their birth negatively affected them all. Based on metrics gathered by more developed countries, their average life expectancy was approximately 7 years. Infant mortality lowering the life expectancy was actually not the primary reason. Their lives were really that short, given that the oldest among them died at the age of 17. In addition, their deaths were not caused by rapid aging, but a natural death at a young age. Lives born from natural births failed to display this shortcoming, leading to suspicion that the problem may lie in cellular mitosis.
Still, latent magical talent could be measured at the age of 3. Thanks to their sacrifice, the correct method of matching embryos and zygotes was discovered. This had a profound impact on the second and third generations, to the point that genetic simulations could be used for analysis. Thenceforth, a country only needed to use arranged interviews as an excuse to pair marriage partners, intentionally prompting the families to independently marry on their own.
Thus was born the families renowned in modern magic. In Japan, they were represented by the Ten Master Clans.
The reason why Japan’s “famous lineages of Magicians” became the most refined application in the world was because amongst the various cultural backgrounds for the most developed countries, Japan had the easiest time accepting this sort of marriage relationship.
Isn’t it ironic that scientific advancements that were utterly inhumane were ultimately at the mercy of cultural motivations? Or, should this be the ultimate manifestation of the resilience of “humanity”? That detail will likely be decided by history.
