The sunset sky was dyed in a distinct pink hue.
I was walking through the Hydrangea Garden, lost in thought.
From what I observed, Vuel led a seemingly normal life. He greeted warmly and often engaged in light chatter. It was all superficial, though.
The quality of his lectures was excellent. On the surface, he seed like a perfect part-ti instructor.
It seed unlikely that anything would happen imdiately. Given his ultimate goal, doing anything suspicious here would be a bad move.
It looks like Professor Philip is fine too…
Using [Clairvoyance], I confird that Professor Philip ltron was safe. I had a rough idea of where the main NPCs lived in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, which helped.
Anyway, Märchen Academy had hastily brought in a part-ti instructor to fill in for Professor Philip. I needed to find out if this was all part of Vuel’s plan or if he just got lucky with the timing.
I must keep the Hegel Magic Tower incident a secret.
I had to thoroughly conceal any potential weaknesses.
The day I spoke with Vuel, I sent a letter to Aria Lilias, the Tower Master of Hegel, explaining my situation and that I wouldn’t be able to visit for a while. I added a note to burn the letter imdiately after reading it. Hilde confird the letter was delivered safely.
I couldn’t afford to let my guard down until Vuel was defeated.
“Senior Isaac, what brings you here?”
“…What happened to you?”
I arrived at a corner of the Hydrangea Garden.
White, in her uniform, greeted looking like a drenched rat. She smiled blankly, looking extrely proud.
“Welco, Sir Isaac. There was a little accident.”
rlin pulled out a blanket she had prepared and draped it over White’s shoulders.
“An accident?”
I used [Rock Generation] to quickly make a chair and sat down.
White responded confidently, “Listen! I successfully cast [Twin Gale Fang]…! Just a little bit, though!”
“It made a faint breeze, barely noticeable, and then she collapsed from the strain, falling into the lake.”
“Uhh…!”
White blushed and puffed her cheeks in annoyance at rlin, shaking her fists up and down furiously.
She wanted to protest but couldn’t bring herself to use harsh words.
rlin calmly responded, “Don’t you think it’s better to tell your ntor the objective truth?”
I, on the other hand, was a bit surprised.
“Already?”
“What?”
[Twin Gale Fang] was essentially a mid-tier 4-star wind spell, very close to the actual 5-star wind spell.
She could already produce a small breeze as faint as a fart.
She’s progressing faster than I thought.
It was good news.
“Can you try it again?”
White replied confidently, “Yes. It doesn’t consu much mana, so I think I can do it!”
If the spell didn’t fully manifest, it would have consud less mana, but there would have still been so unnecessary mana expenditure.
“Just a mont, rlin.”
White walked over to the lake, extended her right arm, and gathered her mana.
A magic circle ford in front of her hand.
The composition of the magic circle was decent. Although there were so rough spots, she definitely managed to calculate and deploy the magic circle for [Twin Gale Fang]. �
“Huph!”
White clenched her mouth shut and let out a determined shout.
Pooooong…!
Two streams of light green wind extended from White’s hand,
They attempted to shoot forward sharply like blades but soon lost montum. Eventually, the wind mana quickly dissipated.
It wasn’t yet at a practical level. However, the fact that she managed to cast [Twin Gale Fang] was clear.
“He
White smiled brightly at , but she seed to have strained herself ntally and was about to collapse.
Before rlin could step forward to support her, I got up from the stone chair and used shadow step.
Thud.
In an instant, I was in front of White, catching her in my arms in the middle of her collapse.
rlin looked surprised. It was a technique used by her father, so her reaction was understandable.
“Are you okay?”
“Senior Isaac, when did you…?”
White looked flustered. She seed to think I had been close by all along, even though she hadn’t sensed approaching.
“A-anyway, did you see that?”
“Yeah.”
I used [Rock Generation] to make a stone chair with a backrest and seated White on it.
White looked at with sparkling eyes, expecting a complint.
As I gazed into her beautiful blue eyes tinged with pink, I lifted my glasses and responded.
“You wasted a lot of mana. It shows that your mana mastery is still lacking and needs more training. Many people underestimate the importance of mana mastery, but if trained well, one can use their mana more efficiently, reducing unnecessary mana wastage. They’d be able to cast spells over a greater range and enhance their power. For soone like you, who has barely brought [Whirlwind] to a decent level, trying to rush and learn [Twin Gale Fang] without spending enough ti on mana mastery shows an eagerness to advance too quickly. If it were a purely academic subject, it might be better to progress quickly and review repeatedly, but this is different.”
“…”
As I quickly and accurately explained my thoughts, White’s eyes welled up with tears.
I was too engrossed. Without realizing it, I had given her a thorough lecture.
“Sniff…”
Far from the complint she expected, White seed quite upset by the scolding and sniffled.
“Well, it’s just a light piece of advice.”
“It didn’t sound light at all…”
I smiled broadly at the teary-eyed White.
I felt a sense of pride.
“You did great. You’ve worked hard.”
“But that’s different from what you just said…”
“I didn’t criticize [Twin Gale Fang] itself.”
“…Oh?”
White seed to understand my response but still looked a bit dazed by the sudden shift in mood.
“I have sothing to show you. It’s not wind magic, though.”
I walked to the front of the lake and extended my right arm. White and rlin watched intently.
The mont I first learned the 5-star ice spell [Frost Explosion] was unforgettable.
To use [Frost Explosion], I had to press all my fingers together and gather mana in between my hands. Without this, the flow of mana would beco unstable and dissipate.
Initially, it took several seconds, even at the fastest.
But not anymore.
Whiiiiiir.
Ice mana condensed in front of my outstretched hand. The mana ford a small, swirling orb of pale blue light.
The mana for [Frost Explosion] was compressed in one spot. Maneuvering mana like this had beco second nature.
An ice magic circle ford in front of it.
“From 5-star magic onward, the training intensity is incomparable, but the results are worth it.”
I released the ice mana.
Boooooom!
A deafening roar.
A fierce shockwave spread out, instantly freezing the lake, while a violent burst of ice erupted in mid-air.
I deliberately created a clean, fan-shaped explosion. The cold blast caused the water in the lake to shift sideways and freeze in mid-splash.
The lake transford into a piece of art.
“Wow…”
White gaped in awe.
“This is the 5-star spell, [Frost Explosion]. Wind magic can achieve similar power. The more you train your mana mastery, the faster your proficiency will increase.”
I lightly waved my fingers to dispel the ice while looking at White. The ice shattered with a crisp sound, turning into a pale blue powder that scattered quietly.
The water that had been frozen mid-splash descended, splashing around. The lake continued to ripple, leaving the remnants of [Frost Explosion].
“T-that kind of elental magic…”
“You can do it too. At your current pace, I think you’ll be able to achieve by the first sester of your second year.
“That’s amazing…!”
White seed excited, imagining herself using 5-star wind magic.
There was no better motivation than a beautiful demonstration.
“Oh, Senior Isaac, what was it like when you first learned 5-star ice magic? Tell what you liked about it.”
White seed to be asking this to better visualize herself using such magic.
What I liked, huh…
“…When I first learned it, I liked that it felt like a finishing move. The power difference compared to 4-star magic is significant.”
“Ohhhh! And now?”
“Now… it’s good for dealing solid hits when I’m fighting soone.”
“Oh… oh?”
White was impressed but then tilted her head in confusion.
***“Are you all dried off?”
“Yes!”
White used wind magic to dry her clothes. By now, the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon.
I approached White and extended my right hand.
“Ugh, I guess we have to do it, huh…?”
White was reluctant but knew it was a practical training thod, so she couldn’t refuse.
She wasn’t in a position to complain since it was sothing we agreed to in exchange for repaying the debt.
White placed her hand against mine.
“What are you doing?”
For so reason, White wasn’t channeling her mana and was just staring at .
The natural mana lingering over the lake cast a radiant light on White’s serene face.
White cautiously asked a question, “Senior Isaac, if we hadn’t t through ntoring… what would have happened to us? I’m curious what you think since you’re such an amazing person and all…”
It was sudden, but… everyone had such thoughts occasionally. It wasn’t strange.
I didn’t ask why she was asking.
“…If we hadn’t t through ntoring, I think we would have t in so other way.”
“So other way?”
Anyway, I would have gotten involved with White to clear the scenario.
Explaining that would be difficult, so I concocted a plausible lie.
“I believe that people who are ant to et will et sohow. I think we would have crossed paths regardless.”
“…”
“Why do you ask?”
“That’s surprising. I didn’t think you’re a fatalist.”
“I don’t know why that’s surprising… What about you? Are you a fatalist?”
Ah, right.
I regretted saying it. Fate might not be a word White liked.
Considering her past, where her biological mother tried to assassinate her as part of her fate, it would sound quite cruel.
“Well, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to…”
“I wasn’t, but now I’ve changed my mind.”
White began channeling mana into the hand she placed against mine.
I responded by channeling my own mana.
“Fatalism isn’t so bad.”
White smiled brightly.
“…Is that so?”
At that mont, I felt my mana circuits pulsate. It was a strange sensation.
Then, a system window appeared before my eyes.
[You have absorbed a significant amount of the Fairy Nix’s mana!]
[You have acquired the unique trait [Nightfalls’ Edge]!]
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