How To Magic - Anthropologist In Another World

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

In her quest to prove that magic is real, 24 year old Alice deliberately got herself isekai’ed into a world full of magic. She gets to make friends with people who can heal with faith, break stone with their fists, and conjure fireballs from their hands. If you like a character-driven story with a lot of world-building and multiple complex magic systems, this story is for you. A new chapter of How To Magic every saturday and Tuesday at 3:10pm est, 19:10 gmt.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Eru Dit

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 361
Views: 58,220

Chapters(83 total)

What readers say about How To Magic - Anthropologist In Another World

“I like belief-based magic! Liked this start overall. The opening question is a solid hook, and I feel like the voice has that “I’m smart but also slightly unhinged” energy that fits the premise. It reads clean, and the pacing moves. Let me know if I interpr…”
D.P. GurbalovRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“Hidden gem of a story. The characters are all well developed and come alive in the story to the extent that the story could swap to have most of them be the main character easily. Love how the blend science and fantasy mix without ruining the immersion in t…”
FlubbykinRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(6)

D.P. GurbalovRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I like belief-based magic!
Liked this start overall. The opening question is a solid hook, and I feel like the voice has that “I’m smart but also slightly unhinged” energy that fits the premise. It reads clean, and the pacing moves.
Let me know if I interpreted the voice right?
I also like that the magic actually shows up in a concrete way instead of staying theoretical.
A minor note: I noticed there’s still a lot of explanation compared to action. Some of the internal monologue feels like genre commentary or world glossary, and it slows the momentum right when curiosity is highest. I’d rather learn the rules through pressure and consequences than through Alice thinking them through in neat bullet points.
Of course, this approach is also viable but needs to be trimmed down a tiny bit, so it becomes unnoticeable for the readcer.
FlubbykinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Hidden gem of a story. The characters are all well developed and come alive in the story to the extent that the story could swap to have most of them be the main character easily. Love how the blend science and fantasy mix without ruining the immersion in the new world. Well written and thought out story. Progression is intelligent and earned, great humor and all around great read. Hard to say more without spoilers, so give it a read.
demonbugRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
i honestly can’t explain how fast i got hooked on this story.
characters- absolutely great. they each genuinely have a life and presence to them which make them real in a way a lot of stories can lack. then also having their own things they’re doing outside of the main character and her next actions provides the world with more life itself which is a great way to lend both even more depth
story- i’d say in a lot of ways this is the perfect sort of slice of life that i have wanted? there is action and progress and growth, but it’s not all violence and suspense and tense interactions. it’s also the main character growing and asking questions just to learn just to then have even more questions. there’s absolutely an arc or something similar that would call for a hero and would be the focus of a lot of stories. the way the main character doesn’t immediately just fall into that is really nice. she helps and progresses that plot line but it’s still apart of her specific journey? really well done.
grammar and style- i’m not the best to comment on this i don’t think? i really am more here for the life of the story. which means when i read the book and it flows well and there’s no awkward phrasing and everything i really don’t tend to look much further into things. so while it’s not my area, from what i’ve read i haven’t noticed a single problem and the story reads really nicely.
dumniezoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is great. Pacing is good, the discovery of new powers or ways to use them is good. There is little fighting, but I only noticed after I finished everything and thought back on it.
The main character isn't dumb and does actually make solid decisions which is a BIG PLUS from me.
This is worth reading and at least up to chapter 50 a 10/10.
A_MorningstarRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The premise does a lot of work: a researcher who studies belief-based magic deliberately gets herself isekai'd to test her theories. It's a clever frame that justifies both Alice's genre awareness and her analytical approach to the world. The question I kept returning to is how actively that premise is being used.
When Alice's researcher mind engages directly, the story is at its best. The worldbuilding pays off through action rather than explanation, and the magic systems feel like systems with exploitable rules rather than arbitrary power. These moments show the premise delivering on its promise.
Where I found myself at more of a distance was when Alice defaults to genre-savvy procedure rather than curiosity. The arrival moves quickly through wonder into checklist mode, and I wanted more of the researcher encountering a world that confirms her theories. There are moments where characters from this world offer perspectives that suggest different axioms, different ways of thinking that developed where magic is real, and Alice sometimes moves past them rather than recognising them as data points. The collision between epistemologies is there in places, but I found myself wanting the researcher to notice it more often.
Alice's voice is consistent and engaging. One thing I noticed: she often tells us she's bad at social situations, but what we're shown is someone who navigates unfamiliar terrain through lateral thinking and selective truth. That's a more interesting characterisation than simple social ineptitude, but the text doesn't quite signal it. I found myself doing the work to reconcile what Alice says about herself with what we see her accomplish, and I'd love a beat that confirms that reading.
The pacing is brisk, the exposition is dense, and three chapters cover a lot of ground. It works, but there are moments where the efficiency skips past texture the premise could be sitting in. The story promises intellectual engagement with how belief shapes reality. When
Non Sequitur the EquitaurRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Looks like a good start for an Isekai. The portal appears at the end of the prologue, and the main character immediately starts asking the right question as she visits a new world. Then the world starts getting established. I like the writing, and the structure spares the reader some of the explanations that get overdone in other stories. By the middle of Chapter 1, Alice is talking to otherworldly beings. I like how she's well-versed in "What to do in an Isekai."