Strawhat's Wizard: Chapter 1 - The Man of Magic (Patreon)

After a lifetime searching for magic, an elderly scholar learns he is a reincarnation of Merlin and is given a second life in the world of One Piece. Reborn with Harry Potter–style magic without a wand or teacher, he must survive the wilds, invent his own magical tools, and uncover the laws of a power the world has never truly understood.

Then the Straw Hat Pirates arrive at his tower.

A wizard, a pirate crew, Poneglyph runes, enchanted ships, potion experiments, and one wildly unprepared world await.

(Word Count: 2,180)

The track of Martin Sylvester's life had been set in place since childhood. Not to any overly strict parents, but by a deep-seated longing in his very soul. The desire for magic.

Martin was only eight years old when it happened. He was in the living room reading the first book of Harry Potter with his mum. His mother was reading aloud to him, and even doing character voices, and when Hagrid came into the cabin and told Harry “You're a wizard, Harry,” it was as if something had snapped into place.

Chills ran down his spine and Martin knew that those words applied to him.

“Can I be a wizard too, Mum?” Young Martin had asked his mum.

She laughed, “Of course, you're my little wizard!”

As Martin grew, he eventually realized that she hadn't realized that he was asking a serious question, but at that moment it served as a confirmation to that strange feeling of “this is it.”

Since then, Martin’s life has been spent trying to find magic. Trying to cast spells like Harry Potter didn't work, so he moved on to trying to replicate the spells from other stories. When relying on fantasy stories to find magic wasn't working, Martin moved on to trying to find magic in real life. He dug into old historical practices and traditions, astrology, alchemy, summoning spirits, voodoo, shamanism, taoism, healing crystals, etc. When those proved to be fake, he even turned to animal blood sacrifices and other such rituals.

Through these studies, Martin eventually earned his doctorate degree in Anthropology, focusing on the sociocultural practices of Northern European pagan religion/magic, though he also dabbled in Slavic myth, and pretty much every other mythology there was.

Unfortunately, through the years Martin was forced to come to the conclusion that none of those were actually doing anything. 

There was no such thing as magic.

The thought destroyed him. Life without magic was worthless.

It took him some time to recover from that depression. It was his mother’s explanation of her own view on magic that cheered him up. “Magic can be found in the little moments throughout your life. Moments of joy, of contentment, of whimsy. When we used to read together, that was magic. When your eyes would sparkle in joy every time I bought you a new book to read, that was magic. When we were caught in a sudden downpour of rain as we were hiking, and we ran through the rain back to the car laughing, wasn't that magical? When you were born, and the nurse brought you to my arms, there was nothing more magical than that.”

So… Martin moved on, in his own way. He got a job as a professor of Anthropology at a university, and also worked as a consultant on various research projects. He also wrote several books on historical practices, one of which was a comprehensive guide containing everything on “real life magic”. Several were analyses of Nostradamus's written works on the topic, and other works.

He also consulted with several authors for major fandoms in fantasy, such as Elder Scrolls, Warhammer 40K, Assassin's Creed, Witcher, and more. 

He also tried his hand at writing his own fantasy stories, one of which used magic based on the real life practices, but most were stories meant to showcase new magic systems he had designed.

He may have moved on from trying to find real magic, but that didn't mean he would abandon everything. He still loved magic, and it was still his only escape from the malaise of real life. What could he say? It was fun.

He eventually married when he was 40, to another professor at the university though it didn't last very long. No kids came from the marriage, at least, so he didn't have to fight a custody battle. But at that point, he had given up on finding a partner.

By the time he was 50 years old, he was considered the foremost expert on all things “magical” because of his works.

When he was an older man, now 72 years old, he was coming home from his lecture, carrying a couple of new fantasy books that were a part of a series that were said to contain an amazing new magic system. He kicked the door closed behind him and froze. There, floating in mid-air in the middle of his living room, was a shimmering purple portal.

Martin couldn't help but get a wide grin, marveling at the real life magic in front of him.

Without any sense of self preservation, Martin dropped the books he was holding and jumped through. The magic called to him. This was his call to action, the invitation that kicked off the hero's journey.

He found himself in a grand chamber. It wasn’t a throne room, but what seemed to be a mixture of an observatory and a chemistry lab, with a library of bookshelves off on one side. In the center of the room was a large magic circle chalked out on the floor.

Martin immediately started trying to analyze it in his mind. None of the symbols looked familiar.

“Hahahaha! Oh sweet magic, you didn’t even hesitate at all, did you?” A man laughed.

Martin had to tear his eyes away from the magic circle on the ground to see who was talking. The man looked like a younger, healthier, stronger, more confident version of himself. He was a middle aged man, with a strong beard. He was dressed in a classy set of robes that was a cross between a priest's robes and the robes of a university dean. He had a large pointed hat.

This was definitely a wizard. And likely the man that made the portal.

“Sir, my name is Martin Sylvester! Please teach me magic!” Martin immediately bowed deeply and begged shamelessly.

“Ahahahaha! You really are me!” The man started full belly laughing. “I never disappoint!"

Wait, that sounded a bit off. “Sir?”

“Allow me to explain. I… am Merlin!” The man raised his arms dramatically and shot lightning out of his fingertips, with a smug gleam in his eyes. Martin was awed. Lightning! From his fingertips! Wait, did he say he was Merlin?

“Merlin! Wow!”

“Yes, yes. I'm amazing. But here's the real kicker: You are me. Another version of myself from another universe. Unfortunately, your universe doesn't have magic,” Merlin shook his head in pity. “You see, us Merlins from every universe crave for magic. It's in our nature to seek it out. Our existence is practically synonymous with magic. But not all of us Merlins are born in a universe that has magic. Those Merlins inevitably feel something missing from their lives. Just look at yourself. Even without real magic in your world, you've dedicated your entire life to searching it out, learning everything there is to know.”

“Wait, I'm Merlin?” Martin asked.

“Yup,” Merlin nodded.

“But wait just a moment, in my world,” Martin already accepted the fact that the multiverse was apparently real, “there was already the legend of Merlin and King Arthur. If those stories were based off of a real guy, that was more than a thousand years ago. I can't be a Merlin.”

“Reincarnation, bud. Those were legends about your first life. Greatly exaggerated, of course, seeing as your world didn't have magic. Though you did end up much as you are now, a master in pagan practices. Your first life was a hermetic man that served as something of a spiritual advisor and doctor to the old King Arthur. Though you ended up disappearing on one of your nature walks. You died by falling out of a tree and landing badly on a rock, and bled out alone in the forest. No one found your body. Eventually, you were reborn as Martin Sylvester. Even your name now, Martin Sylvester, is homage to your first life.”

Martin couldn't help but nod. Sylvester was a derivative of Sylvestrus, one of the names of Merlin. Merlin was often called the “wild man” or “man of the forest” which is what Sylvester meant. As for Martin, there wasn't much connection, other than that both Martin and Merlin started with an “M” and ended in “in”. 

Martin gulped, a seed of hope forming. Was this going in the direction he thought it was? Why else would a Magical version of himself come to pick him up via portal? 

“So I've made it a goal of mine, with the help of many other Merlins, to find these magicless Merlins and send them to universes that have magic, but no Merlins. Sounds like a perfect solution, no?” Merlin said, sounding proud of himself.

“YES! YES, PLEASE!” Martin cheered excitedly. “Thank you!”

“Not so fast. You've got your work cut out for you. You see, these universes don't really have a very developed magic system. Because Magic is relatively unknown, save to a few people, the way magic works in the world is malleable. I want you to choose a magic system you want to use, then I'll imbue you with that kind of magic. Then you do what all of us Merlin's do best: become the legendary father of magic.”

Martin was grinning ear to ear, holding back tears of joy. This was a dream come true.

“Do I get to know what kind of world I'll be going to?” Martin asked.

“I'll be sending you to the world of One Piece.

Martin was confused. “Don't they already have Devil Fruits?” He asked.

“Yes, but think about it, you also have characters like Basil Hawkins and Madam Shyarly that are fortune tellers, and you also have strange magic-like abilities like ninjutsu. Magic exists, but it hasn't been fully realized yet. It's barely tapped into. And no, Haki isn't magic. It's certainly magical, but it is its own power, which is the same source that Devil Fruits come from. Will and Dreams. It's certainly connected, and taps into some of the same principles as magic, but it is different.”

Martin nodded thoughtfully.

“Alright then… I'll choose the magic system from Harry Potter.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You could choose any magic system you know. You could even choose one of the magic systems you’ve created yourself.”

Martin nodded. “Harry Potter was the first book I read that had magic in it. It's what sparked my obsession with magic. I feel it's only right, now that I finally get magic, to honor that. Besides, it has everything: Spells, Runes, Potions, Rituals, shapeshifting, teleportation, even ways for immortality. What else do I need?”

Merlin nodded. “That does sound fair. Though just a piece of advice, you'll have to use things from the world to craft your wands, runes, and potions. Try to find old things. Magic gains potency with history. It draws power and gains value from the historical meanings of things.”

Martin took note of that in his mind, burning it into his memory. The first real piece of advice on magic!

“Okay!” Merlin clapped him on the shoulder. “Are you ready?” With a wave of his hand, a rainbow kaleidoscopic portal opened in front of them.

“Wait, I don't get a starting wand?” Martin asked. 

“You'll have to make one!” Merlin said cheerfully. “Anyway, you can’t be going to a new world representing all of us Merlins without the proper name! I hereby give you your new name! From now on, your name shall be Ambrosius Wyllt D Merlin!”

The name seemed to strike him in the soul, imprinting itself onto him, pushing out the old name. He was now Merlin. To his soul, it was an old, familiar name, taken up once again. The rest of the name was obviously taken from the various names of Merlin, though ordered in the style of Japan, as all names in One Piece are.

“D?”

“Of course! No Merlin going to a One Piece world is going to be anything less than a D! Goodbye!” with that, Ambrosius Wyllt D Merlin was shoved through the portal.

~~ OP:SW ~~

Back in his home world, when the old professor didn’t show up to his lecture the next day, several concerned colleagues tried to get a hold of him but couldn’t find him. News of the missing professor rocked the university and the police got involved. The police eventually went to his home and found it abandoned. They went through his home security footage, and what they saw shocked them. They watched as a glowing purple portal opened up in the living room just as the professor walked through the door. Martin jumped through the portal, and the portal closed.

“Did we really just see that happen?” one of the detectives asked.

“It's not doctored, is it?” the other asked.

“I don't know. Let's send it down to get it analyzed. It's gotta be fake, right?”

The footage got leaked somehow, and the world came to know of Martin Sylvester, his life story, and his strange, unexplainable disappearance. Martin Sylvester became known the world over as the Man of Magic.