Are you familiar with The Magic Book Starting from Zero, the previous work in The Dawn of Wizards? It was published by Dengeki Bunko from 2014 to 2017, and was also adapted into an anime in 2017. The sequel, The Dawn of Wizards, also features settings and characters that are carried over, so knowing about it will help you enjoy the world of The Dawn of Wizards even more. In this article, we will provide a rough explanation of The Magic Book Starting from Zero's story and explain the characters that appear in The Dawn of Wizards.
The Book of Zero
Worldview
The story begins in the year 526 of the Church Calendar. Witches existed in the world, and there was a science called sorcery. However, the world was still ignorant of the technology known as magic. This is where the story begins. Sorcery is the study of summoning demons using magic circles, spells, and sacrifices, and exercising their powers through contracts. However, it is not very versatile and not easy to use. Meanwhile, the protagonist, Zero, devises a way to use sorcery without summoning demons. Zero wrote the Book of Zero, a book of magic, but it was stolen by someone, and magical technology spread throughout the world.
The Beginning of the Story
The story begins with the meeting of two characters. A mercenary, a beast-fallen creature hated by the people, is fleeing through the forest as a witch tries to assassinate him. Just as he finds himself in a desperate situation, a witch calling herself Zero saves his life. Zero is searching for the Book of Zero, which has the potential to destroy the world, and offers to hire the mercenary to protect him. However, the mercenary, who hates witches, rejects the offer. However, he ends up being hired on the condition that Zero transforms him back into a human.
Zero (Book of Zero)
She is one of the main characters of this work. She is a beautiful woman, as acknowledged by both herself and others, but perhaps because she spends most of her time studying magic, she is ignorant of common sense, and will change clothes without regard for others' attention, to the point that she is unaware of the act of kissing. However, her magical talent surpasses that of other witches, and she is able to devise spells that can replace magic and possesses high magical powers. While traveling in search of the Book of Zero, she rescues a mercenary whose life is under threat and sets off on a journey to find the Book of Zero with him. During their journey, she begins to develop feelings for the beast mercenary.
Zero (The Dawn of Magic)
At the request of Albus, the headmaster of the magic school, she is helping build a village in the southern region, where antipathy toward witches remains strong. After their journey, she bonds with the beast mercenary and lives with him and his companions in the village. While his magical talent and high abilities remain unchanged, Zero's magical power has decreased significantly since a certain incident, leaving him with only average magical power. As a result, he ages at the same rate as other people, growing taller and physically larger than in the previous work. It was also Zero who reached out to Sevil, the protagonist of the early wizarding era, when he was homeless. He shows hostility toward Sevil and his friends when they come for special training.
Beast Mercenary (Book of Zero)
One of the main characters of this work. He is a member of a race known as the Beastfallen, a race despised by society, and resembles a muscular, bipedal tiger. Because the heads of beastfallen are used as materials in magic, witches have been trying to kill him himself. As a result, he has developed a deep hatred for witches. He is quite skilled as a mercenary, and his striking appearance and reckless fighting style have earned him the fear of being known as the Black Beast of Death. When he first met Zero, he didn't get too involved so as not to become more than just a client, but his feelings gradually begin to change as he travels with her.
Beast Mercenary (The Dawn of Wizarding)
Through his journey with Zero and the others, he has begun to change his outlook and softened his attitude toward witches. He is bonded to Zero and lives with him in the village. Incidentally, the village he lives in was originally the mercenary's hometown, which had since been abandoned. After his journey ended, he visited his hometown and helped rebuild it. He showed hostility toward Sevil and his friends, who visited him for a special training session, and stood in their way.
Albus (Book of Zero)
Earlier in the story, Albus was a young witch who was after the head of a beast mercenary. She is a member of the Zero Magicians' Corps, an organization dedicated to ending the persecution of witches. She is also the granddaughter of Sorena, a representative witch of the Eigetsu clan, and behaves like a young boy to protect herself. Still young, she is prone to emotional outbursts, which can lead to trouble.
Albus (The Dawn of Wizarding)
After many twists and turns, Albus has matured both physically and mentally, and is now Headmaster of the Royal Magic Academy. Though she dresses as a man, she gives off the impression of a beautiful, long-haired woman, and has become increasingly intelligent. When Sevil, the school's first student to experience poor grades and is on the verge of expulsion, is offered a special training course. The special training involves an assignment to a village in the south, where anti-witch sentiment remains strong, where she must demonstrate her wizarding skills. If her achievements are recognized, she will be able to graduate. However, there are also secret activities brewing behind the scenes.
Hordem (Book of Zero)
Hordem, a wolf-like beast, first encountered Zero and his friends at an inn in the Kingdom of Wenias. He incurred Zero's wrath by having three women attend him, which led to his complete shaving. Originally a normal human born into a noble family, he fled the scene after making a move on a married woman, resulting in a duel. He later met Sorena, a witch of the Elysian Moon, who helped him subdue her and turn him into a beast. After Sorena's death, he tracked down her granddaughter, Albus, and after reuniting with her, he became her guardian.
Hordem (The Dawn of Wizarding)
Hordem continues to protect Albus and assists her as Headmaster. He and Albus look after the students, but occasionally makes inappropriate remarks and behavior, drawing Albus's attention. He appears to be trying to make a deal regarding the former Arbiter's brutal attack on Sevil and his friends. It seems to be related to Sevil's birth.
The Blind Priest (Book of Zero)
A priest who attends the saint, Feria, in the holy city of Akdios in the Republic of Creion, and an adjudicator of the Goddess's Purifying Fire (Dear Ignis). He follows her for the Inquisition, but acts independently to avoid her execution. During a battle with mercenaries, he is attacked by Akdios, who is supposed to be his ally, and is fatally wounded. However, his life is saved by Zero and the mercenaries, and they cooperate to confront the conspiracy surrounding Akdios.
The Blind Priest (The Dawn of Wizarding)
After accompanying Zero and his friends on their journey, he helps rebuild the mercenary's hometown and lives in the church. At this point, the Goddess's Purifying Fire (Der Ignis) was disbanded, and he was no longer an arbitrator. However, his fair judgments were recognized and he was officially appointed as a priest. He lives in the church with the fallen rat, Lili. She is somewhat harsh towards Sevil and the others who came for a special training session, and when Holt arrives at the church alone, she reveals her true identity and holds a private conversation with him.
Liri (Book of Zero)
A young girl who has been transformed into a rat beast and possesses the special ability to spread disease. Though she can control her powers, she is still hated and abandoned by her parents and hometown. Fortunately, she was picked up by a kind person and has been able to build a bond with them that is almost like that of parent and child. However, she is troubled by the fact that her parents' work is not valued because of her presence. During this time, she meets Zero and his friends. At the same time, she also catches the eye of the Adjudicator of the Goddess' Purifying Fire (Dear Ignis), who is attacking villages under Zero's name and fabricating the crimes as the work of witches. These events combined to lead her to leave her parents and join Zero and his friends on their journey.
Liri (The Dawn of Magicians)
She gradually develops feelings for the blind priest who accompanies her on their journey. After the journey ends, she decides to live in the village like the others and lives in the same church as the priest. Since Sevil and the others arrived for their special training, he has been pulling his hood up low to avoid revealing his face. When Holt asks why, he replies that he doesn't want them to see it. When she asks him if he likes the priest, he becomes visibly flustered and quickly runs away.
The Thirteenth (The Book of Zero)
Zero's biological brother, he is the mastermind behind a series of incidents surrounding the Kingdom of Wenias. His appearance is completely different from Zero's, but that is because he traded his looks for the devil in a deal; originally, he was beautiful, just like Zero. He is skilled at stirring up suspicion without lying and manipulating others to suit his purposes, and his sister, Zero, describes him as a man who is good with the facts. However, his motivations are all related to Zero, and the mercenaries say he is overprotective and has a big-scale love for his family. In fact, many of the actions he has taken, even though they were for Zero's sake, have caused a lot of chaos and resulted in bloodshed, so this assessment is only natural.
Sorena (Book of Zero)
She is deceased in the main story. She lived with Albus and Holdem, and was a representative witch of the Eigetsu lineage, maintaining a relationship of coexistence and mutual prosperity with humans. She had a good relationship with the villagers, but one day, an epidemic broke out in the village. Sorena used her magic to end the epidemic, but the villagers accused her of starting the epidemic. What was originally just a baseless rumor spread as fact, and she was burned at the stake and killed. Her death triggered a deeper conflict between witches and humans.
Summary
What did you think of the story and character introductions for The Book of Zero, the predecessor to The Dawn of Wizards? Of course, these aren't the only characters that appear; there are many more fascinating characters to discover. The anime and comic book adaptations depict a conspiracy surrounding the Kingdom of Wenias. The light novel version consists of 11 volumes, but since it's complete, it's easy to collect. If you've read The Dawn of Wizards and are interested in The Book of Zero, I highly recommend giving it a read. You'll find yourself liking characters you already liked even more, and even characters you didn't particularly like. Thank you for reading this far!
