by Hiro Ainana
So far, they all seemed to be pretty frank, so if they wanted something from me, they would probably just ask without trying to bargain for it.
“Then I! Shall be! Your teacher!”
Aialize stood up and clenched her fists as she made this declaration. I wasn’t sure what she was going to teach me, though, so I waited patiently for her next statement.
My staring seemed to embarrass her, however, as she turned red and quickly sat back down.
Geez. What was she so worked up about, exactly?
“Ahem! That is to say, as thanks for bringing Mia back home, I shall teach you how to control your spirit light!”
“Really? I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that. Are you sure?”
“But of course!”
She ducked behind the short-statured Lua as she spoke.
It was like watching a timid teacher hiding behind a middle school student.
Thus, I became the pupil of the slightly less-than-dependable Professor Aialize.
With the help of a dryad’s teleportation, we traveled to a rocky area some twenty miles away from the World Tree.
Evidently, dryads could send you pretty much anywhere within the Bolenan Forest.
“This way, Mr. Satou.”
Lua the shrine maiden led the way along the rocks until we reached an area overlooking a waterfall.
There, we had an unencumbered view of the World Tree in all its glory.
“It certainly is large, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. The Mountain-Trees are quite large as well, but the World Tree is in a class all its own.”
Honestly, I was surprised it didn’t collapse in on itself due to its sheer weight.
In fact, I decided to ask about that.
“According to the elders, the World Tree itself maintains a Dimension Pile spell that supports its weight.”
That was the same spell that had been holding up the ship hulls I saw before.
Lua continued leading me forward as we chatted. Eventually, we reached a huge rock that was placed in front of the waterfall to form a stone stage. Miss Aialize, who’d gone on ahead, was there waiting for us.
That was all well and good.
But what was up with her outfit?
She had donned a white shirt, a tight skirt, and even glasses with triangular lenses. On top of that, her hair was tied up in a bun behind her head, with a few strands hanging loose on either side of her face. The short wand she was holding was probably being used in place of a pointing stick.
Basically, it was the most stereotypical “lady teacher” outfit I’d ever seen.
That hero Daisaku sure did a number on the elves’ culture, didn’t he?
But I didn’t mind the eye candy this time around, so I decided not to worry about it.
“You’re late, Satou.”
If you’re going to blush that much, why would you cosplay in the first place?
I was tempted to stare derisively, but I didn’t think we’d get anywhere that way, so I just put my “Poker Face” skill to work.
“My apologies.”
“Lady Aaze, can’t you stop playing around and put on a proper outfit?”
“But Daisaku said this outfit would give a plus-one effect to my ‘Education’ skill!”
“I think that was a joke.”
Aialize seemed less shocked by Lua’s anger than she was by the revelation that the “‘Education’ skill plus-one effect” was a lie.
…Why would you believe that anyway?
While I waited for Aialize to regain her composure, I looked down at the scenery of the waterfall from atop the stone stage.
It wasn’t quite as impressive as the famous Niagara Falls, but it was still magnificent to see several waterfalls flowing down a single edge.
There was water pouring off the rocks floating along the quay, too. Was it a similar contrivance to my Well Bag, perhaps? Regardless, it was a mystical sight.
Someone cleared her throat loudly behind me, so I turned around.
There was Miss Aialize, changed back into her shrine maiden clothes. It had taken everything in my power not to turn around when I heard them rustling as she changed.
“Now then, before the lesson begins, please take this.”
Lua, who was currently serving as Aialize’s assistant, handed me a packet of blue powder.
“What is it?”
It looked a bit like the sapphire powder I’d seen in a jewelry workshop in the old capital. Occasionally, it sparkled with light, so it must be some kind of magical drug.
The AR display said it was called Holytree Stone powder.
“It’s the powder of the Holytree Stone—known more popularly outside the forest as the Philosopher’s Stone, I believe.”
The Philosopher’s Stone?!
“It’s often given to pregnant women before they give birth, but its most common use is to augment the effect of magic,” Lua explained.
For some reason, this seemed to spark a strange competitiveness in Aialize, who gave some information of her own.
“The World Tree only produces one or two small stones a year, which means it’s very valuable, you know! So don’t spill it, all right?”
So it was harvested from the World Tree…?
Now it just sounded like it was the tree’s waste matter or something.
Out of curiosity, I searched my Storage, but sadly I didn’t find either Holytree Stones or Philosopher’s Stones among my spoils.
I sprinkled the blue powder into my mouth, then I swallowed it with the water Lua gave me.
It didn’t taste like anything. I concentrated, trying to feel the powder moving down my throat, and got the “Magic Perception” skill. The powder was producing magic power, if only a little.
“Now, first we should warm up. Watch and imitate my movements, all right?”
I kept an eye on Aialize’s moves and copied her. It was a pretty intense series of exercises.
This movement was intended to spread the powder through the body. I could feel it as the Holytree Stone particles dissolved in my stomach, entered my bloodstream, and spread throughout my body.
It sort of reminded me of taking barium for a stomach X-ray.
“Next, send magic power coursing through your body.”
Obediently, I sent a stream of magic throughout my body. It felt a bit like using “Self-Healing.” As it traveled, I felt it being absorbed by the particles in my bloodstream.
If I wasn’t careful, the magic would flow into the Yuriha fibers of my training clothes, so I had to make sure I didn’t use too much.
“You’re quite good at this.”
“Indeed. Most struggle with either circulating the magic properly or letting it seep into the magic clothing, but you seem to be a natural.”
Thanks for the praise and all, but how long am I supposed to keep this up?
Regulating this was actually fairly difficult, so I couldn’t talk at the same time.
Once the particles in my bloodstream had absorbed a certain amount of magic, they began to release it instead. This felt a bit like the holy light that Holy Swords emitted.
“Okay, now catch the magic as it tries to leave your body and sort of pin it down. Then just wrap it around you like you’re making a thin film over the surface of your body.”
As was often the case with such prodigies, Aialize had a hard time explaining things clearly. Still, I more or less understood.
First, I used the same method with which I’d grabbed the Undead King Zen’s shadow whips to hold the magic in place. Then, I spread that magic thinly around myself. Since Hayato the Hero had taught me how to use “Magic Power Armor” before, this was relatively easy.
> Skill Acquired: “Spirit Light Control”
> Skill Acquired: “Magic Control”
“All right, it worked.”
“What?! Wow, it really did. I can’t see your spirit light at all now.”
Lua closed her eyes, then opened them again with “Spiri
t Vision” activated so that they turned silver, allowing her to confirm my statement. Unfortunately, I still wasn’t able to see spirit light myself, so I would just have to take her word for it.
As a bonus, though, I could see that my magic power was no longer leaking out of me at all like it used to do.
I was able to do that with “Invisibility,” too, though, so the “Magic Control” skill might not be necessary. Next time I had a chance to try it out, I’d have to compare it with “Magic Manipulation.”
“Very impressive. That usually takes at least a few years.”
“Why, it took me over a hundred… I guess ordinary standards really don’t apply to heroes,” Lua muttered, looking dissatisfied. It didn’t seem like my place to comfort her, so I pretended I hadn’t heard anything.
I turned to face them so I could thank them for their help, but it seemed that was premature.
“Next, let’s begin the second round of training.”
“Good idea. Since we’ve already used valuable Holytree Stone powder, we might as well move on to the next course while it’s still in effect.”
“Right. This time, with the magic still forming a membrane around you, try to focus on the section just before your eyes, and then you should be able to look through it.”
Manipulating only a part of it? That sounded pretty difficult.
I managed to do it by imagining the magic like contact lenses.
“Now, look at the ends of my fingertips… Water Spirit Summoning Sui Seirei Shoukan!”
Aialize held up her hands, and water began to flow from them. Before long, the water formed into spheres and floated above her palms.
The breeze carried a few particles of the water on the air like mist, forming a small rainbow above Miss Aialize.
She looked like a fairy or a goddess.
“Watch carefully, Satou.”
“R-right.”
I was so busy admiring her that I got distracted.
Aialize wore a serious, dignified expression that made her look like a different person entirely.
I cleared my throat to cover up my distraction, then looked closer at the orbs of water.
Closer.
And even closer.
It still just looked like water to me— No, wait, I could see a little bit of shifting blue light within it. It didn’t work when I focused too hard, but when I looked away, I could see it out of the corner of my eye.
> Skill Acquired: “Spirit Vision”
That was surprisingly easy to acquire. Maybe I had the Philosopher’s Stone to thank for that.
“I see it.”
““What?!”” both elves exclaimed.
Is it really that surprising?
“Really?”
“I believe so. It’s a kind of amorphous light-blue glow, correct?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Incredible. Why, only one elf in a hundred can acquire that if not born with it.”
One in a hundred didn’t sound that rare.
“All right, round three, then! Let’s try Spirit Magic next!”
Getting a little excited now, Miss Aialize pumped her fists in the air.
A true gentleman would probably offer to dry her clothes with the Everyday Magic spell Dry, but I wanted to enjoy this sight for just a little bit longer.
Shrine maiden clothing looked pretty nice when it was wet.
“Here I go! … Wind Kaze!”
First, Miss Aialize demonstrated for me.
With my newly acquired and activated “Spirit Vision” skill, I was able to see exactly what she was doing.
With only a one-word invocation, the colorless spirits around her gathered, turned into green wind spirits, and created the phenomenon of “wind.” In other words, they made magic.
It was about as powerful as the Wind Magic spell Air Hammer but with an incredibly short casting time.
“See?” Aialize said. “The magic it creates is no different from ordinary Wind Magic, but it has the advantages of short casting time and minimal required magic power.”
“Though you must be careful, as it will not be effective in an area without spirits,” Lua added, since Aialize seemed to have forgotten this important warning.
They explained that there weren’t many spirits in man-made buildings, monster dwellings, and so on.
With my “Spirit Vision” skill activated, Miss Aialize appeared to be projecting a beautiful spectrum of metallic colors, mostly gold.
Lua had a subtle flickering aura with lights that took on an array of cooler shades.
As far as I could tell from looking at the two of them, spirit lights tended to include a whole spectrum of hues within a certain range, not just a single color. I saw some birds flying overhead, too, but their lights were too weak to tell what they looked like.
The faint light from my body was pale white.
Curious, I released the spirit light I’d been suppressing, and an intense range of colors dyed my vision so brightly it was almost blinding. The spirits floating around the waterfall gathered around me at an alarming speed. It was hard to tell, since they were blocking my view now, but my spirit light seemed to run the full range of primary colors, all highly saturated.
Mia had said mine was “pretty,” but aesthetically speaking, I thought Miss Aialize’s light was far more elegant and beautiful.
Uh-oh, I can’t really see anything around me like this.
I hurriedly suppressed my spirit light again so that it wouldn’t show. Once their target was gone, the spirits scattered aimlessly. Most of them went back off into the environment, aside from those attracted by Lua’s and Aialize’s spirit lights. This all happened at a much more relaxed speed than their initial gathering.
“Goodness, such free rein you have already. He’s quite adaptable, isn’t he, Lady Aaze?”
“I-indeed,” Miss Aialize answered vaguely. She seemed dazed, still blinking the afterimage of my spirit light from her eyes.
“My apologies, Lady Aialize. I wanted to try something, so I loosened my control a tad too much.”
“I-it’s all right, since it’s your first time and all.”
Huh? Aialize was getting shy again. She’d been looking at me directly and talking just fine not too long ago, but now she was fidgeting and getting shifty again. Maybe my spirit light was too dazzling.
“A-at any rate, give it a try!”
“All right… Wind Kaze!”
Hmm? I messed up the chant, but it still produced a little breeze. Maybe the spirits were being nice to me?
“Oh? Are chants perhaps not your strong suit?”
“I’m afraid I can never seem to get them right.”
“And yet, the wind still appeared to blow just now, did it not?”
“Maybe the spirits were simply being generous,” I offered.
“Impossible.” Lua shook her head, dismissing my suggestion. “Aside from a few exceptions, like dryads, spirits do not have egos or intelligence. They are simply mechanisms that take mana from sources and relay it to creatures that need it.”
So spirits were just a kind of natural phenomenon, huh?
That was fine and all, but it was a shame that I wouldn’t get to meet any sexy undines or anything.
“You think so? Sometimes when a lot of them gather, they seem to be saying something.”
Ooh, a dissenting opinion from Miss Aialize.
“Lady Aaze, you are the only person who has ever made such a claim. The other high elves all refuse to back you up, don’t they?”
“Well, yeah…but still! It really does seem like they’re talking.”
Aialize puffed up her cheeks and turned away from Lua in a pout—a truly Mia-like reaction.
It was very possible that she was imagining it, of course, but you couldn’t just make assumptions like that. Generally, when someone reported a bug that got dismissed as “just their imagination,” it ended up getting found once the game was released to the public.
“Is it all right if I try it?”
“Oh, not you, too, Mr. Satou…”
“Please do! You’ll hear it for sure!”
With permission granted, I decided to give it a shot.
First, I reactivated my spirit light and waited for the dazzling effect to fade and the aggressive incoming tide of spirits to calm. Within about ten minutes, spirits surrounded me like a cocoon. Looking closely, I saw that they weren’t actually stopped in midair, just moving around slowly within a certain range.
Hmm. I don’t really hear anything.
Maybe Miss Aialize was mistaken after all?
But then I felt a tiny amount of mana flowing out of them.
Was this some kind of deliberate signal?
As soon as the realization occurred to me, I felt something click into place, and I began to hear a teeny, tiny murmuring.
They definitely seemed to be attempting to convey something, but unfortunately I had no idea what. It was like trying to pick out specific voices from a crowd three hundred feet away. I didn’t acquire any skills, either, so maybe there was some condition for being able to hear the spirits’ voices.
“They did seem to be saying something, but I couldn’t tell what.”
“Exactly! Oh, how I would love to speak with them, even just once.”
“You’re sure you’re not joking, Mr. Satou?”
Lua looked bewildered, but I assured her it was the truth.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tried, I just couldn’t make Spirit Magic work.
As I’d feared, the chants went just as poorly as they did when I tried to cast any other magic.
At one point, Aialize got carried away trying to demonstrate and ended up soaking both Lua and me with water, but I got the “Spirit Magic” skill in the process, so I couldn’t complain. Besides, Aialize’s pouting when Lua got mad at her was very cute.
“What a shame. If you could only chant properly, you could probably even summon and employ pseudo-spirits as well as using Spirit Magic.”
As an example, Lua summoned the pigeon-shaped pseudo-spirit she used to contact people from a distance.
It looked exactly like a real pigeon, except that it was covered in phosphorescent white light.
Though she called it “summoning,” it was really just using small spirits as material to create the creature.