I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage

There was once a man who dedicated himself to mastering the sword. On the verge of death after vanquishing a legendary dragon, he had no regrets about how he’d spent his life... except a lingering wish to be able to use magic. So, as a reward for his victory, he is reincarnated as young Soma Neumond in a world of spellcraft and sorcery―only to be informed that he has no talent for sorcery and never will! He never gave up on his dream in his past life, however, and he isn’t about to this time either. Whatever it takes, he’s determined to find a way to become a mage!

Soma, Aina, and Lina have begun their journey in search of a way to use magic. With no leads and no other means of making money, the three decide to register as adventurers at a guild. There they meet the mysterious Sierra, who tells them of ancient ruins where a mystical power lies dormant. Soma can’t pass up the chance that whatever it is might grant him the ability to use magic, but traversing the ruins will pit them against forces they don’t understand.

Soma is now old enough to enroll in the prestigious Royal Academy, and he’s eager to take that opportunity—but not for the classes. His main objective is to access the academy’s vast library of books on magic. There, Soma is joined by his travel companions, reunites with his old tutor Camilla, and quickly catches the eye of Princess Sylvia. But as soon as Soma encounters the revered headmaster, Hildegard, he senses that she has a connection to his past life—and her power to see the true extent of anyone’s abilities may shed some light on the root cause of his inability to use magic.

After Sylvia’s brush with death serves as a wake-up call, Soma’s party members come back to school with a renewed determination to improve themselves and avoid repeating their careless mistake. But why was there a trap where there shouldn’t have been in the first place? As Soma investigates, he learns of the dark force secretly lurking within the dungeon—and that the academy officials don’t have it nearly as under control as they thought they did.

When Soma destroys a fragment of the Archdevil’s power, he disappears in the blast. He comes to in the Witch’s Woods, a dreaded place that is impossible to enter or leave. His life and chances of escaping rest in the hands of the witch who lives there—Felicia. She says she might know a way to get him out of the woods...but her witchcraft makes her an enemy of all the world, and the two will have to contend with those who would have her killed for the greater good.

Soma has left the forest with Felicia and Sierra to begin the long journey back to the academy. However, that journey will take them through the land of the devils: Dement. There, anarchy reigns and every dispute is settled by sheer power. Soma encounters a girl there who introduces herself as Stina, daughter of the Dark Lord. Although Soma wants to give her the benefit of the doubt and invites her to join his group, it’s clear that she’s keeping a dark secret from him—one connected to all the threats he and his friends have faced so far.

When Soma and his companions cross paths with Aina on her way to visit her father—the Dark Lord—they decide to accompany her to the castle that lies deep in the forbidding mountains of the land of the devils. There, Soma discovers that the mystery-shrouded Dark Lord and the renowned hero Sir Iori are the same person: Iori Kanzaki, Soma’s old friend from a past life. The reincarnated friends begin to put the pieces together: how the devils came to be, what happened between their nations, and why the two have been brought together once more. But as they do, a plot is brewing among the former Dark Lord’s faction, soon to reach a boiling point.