Ch.147147. Know Your Place (7)

Friel subtly offers advice to Sione while pushing her logical arguments, and Sione absorbs her words like a sponge.

After some time passes, their private conversation finally seems to be wrapping up.

Alert!

‘What’s with that elf suddenly perking up…?’

Elisa straightens her posture momentarily.

She squeezes her eyes shut as if experiencing a spasm, twitching her long pointed ears.

“Ahem.”

She clears her throat and opens her eyes halfway.

As her brown hair sways gently, she stops twitching her ears and stares at me quietly.

“It seems the archery discussion is over.”

She turns her head toward Friel again.

Her slow, deliberate footsteps begin to close the distance between herself and her employer, the pointy-eared one.

“Spirit magic. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

If someone’s going to speak, shouldn’t they at least face the person they’re addressing?

Moreover, I could see from her profile that the corner of her mouth was slightly twisted upward.

She had just stared blankly at me after hearing my ambitions, merely nodding her head. There had been no conversation between us since then. That twisted smile of hers could probably be interpreted as a small mockery of a human who had expressed unreasonable hopes.

I stared quietly at the back of Elisa’s head as she walked away after dropping her brief comment, then gently shook my head and let my slightly soured mood dissipate.

‘It’s an understandable reaction.’

Elves are a race that begins communing with spirits gradually from the time they start walking and developing self-awareness.

After that, they spend decades or centuries with spirits. For a human who appears to have lived less than 30 years to openly tell them to expect interesting spirit magic…

Even if she seems more reserved and composed than Friel and somewhat reasonable to talk to, I shouldn’t forget that she is, after all, an elf.

Elves with their chosen people mentality.

And according to Friel, she’s an unmarried elf who has already passed the marriageable age in their world. No, she’s even older than Friel, an old monster, so my ambitions must have sounded quite presumptuous to Elisa.

‘Well… it’s not incomprehensible.’

Elisa’s reaction was within a range that could be easily predicted, understood, and reasoned.

Even though I’m an authority on the behavioral psychology of these damned pointy-ears, I don’t know much about their appropriate marriageable age…

But I can certainly be confident that she’s either approaching three digits in age or already older than that. So that twisted smile I saw from her—I could overlook it as consideration for an elder—

“Lady Sione, how was it?”

I greeted Sione, who had somehow crossed paths with Elisa and was now approaching me.

She nodded while removing the leather guards for her index, middle, and ring fingers that mainly touch the bowstring.

“…It was quite good. Simple, but I was able to reconfirm things I had been missing.”

Sione, who seemed satisfied, suddenly narrowed her eyes.

“But—”

Poke. Poke.

She began poking my forearm with her index finger.

“Whenever I asked you to watch my form and help me, you were always watching from the side.”

“…?”

“If you knew this much, you could have taught me all along. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“That’s—”

“Hmm. Ray, be honest. You were just watching half-heartedly and giving casual compliments, weren’t you?”

“…”

No, lately I’ve been crossing swords with Siabel too.

After getting tired from sparring with clashing steel and flying sparks, I come to the shooting range.

Can’t a person take it easy with work sometimes?

Our kind Sione would surely be generous enough to let this slide—

“…”

“…”

Sione, why are you folding your arms so uncharacteristically?

Tsk, unfold them. I said unfold them.

As Sione continued to narrow her eyes and quietly stare at me, fortunately, the elves approached with perfect timing.

“My lady, you absorb advice remarkably quickly. Are you sure you’ve only been learning for a year?”

At Friel’s words, Sione, who had been about to puff her cheeks, glanced at me briefly before finally relaxing her expression.

“…You flatter me.”

“Not at all. From what I’ve heard… you bravely patrolled the castle walls with just a bow.”

Friel’s chin lifted slightly in a small, habitual gesture.

Friel, who was already taller than Sione, created a situation where she seemed to be looking down at Sione slightly.

“You certainly seem to have more talent for archery than other humans. I never imagined you would show such proficiency.”

After saying this, Friel smiled brightly and shifted her gaze from Sione to me.

“Well, we’ve finished everything regarding the lady’s archery. Shall we move on to discussing spirit magic now?”

Finally, it’s time for my spirit magic to clash with the pointy-ears.

* * *

After the series of events at the shooting range, we had moved to an open space a little distance from the training grounds.

Spirit magic. The miracle of manifesting spirits’ power in the world using mana as a medium. We needed to secure sufficient space for the smooth manifestation of this miraculous magic.

The training grounds were spacious and nice, but…

It would be quite awkward if only the elf and I were practicing magic while others were training with cold weapons, raising dust, or building their physical strength.

Since magic can be quite rough and flashy, they might get distracted by us.

“This place should be good.”

Friel, who had gone ahead to find a suitable location, nodded.

Afterward, Friel and I stood facing each other in the center of the open space.

Sione stood behind me, and Elisa, Friel’s reliable pointy-eared companion, stood behind her. With this arrangement, the conversation proceeded quickly.

“Ray, you’ll need some time to prepare, I assume.”

“Yes, since I haven’t handled mana today, I’ll need a moment to awaken it.”

“Then Elisa and I will also warm up a bit. Let me know when you’re ready, alright?”

“I will do so.”

After briefly concluding our conversation, Sione and I moved a little distance away from Friel and Elisa.

Sione looked at me with innocent eyes and tilted her head.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

I shook my head.

“It’s fine. I’m just awakening my mana anyway.”

To handle magic more effectively, rather than casting spells directly with mana dormant in the heart, it’s better to circulate mana through the body a few times before casting.

“Still… unlike someone in front of me who neglects their duties, I don’t shirk responsibilities when entrusted with them. Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“…I’m sure.”

I ignored Sione’s pointed remark and declined her offer to guard me again.

After all, this is about drawing mana from the heart throughout the body to develop a sense and knack for handling mana.

It’s not like Sione could directly take over pumping my heart with those small hands of hers.

I slowly entered meditation.

‘First, let’s start slowly.’

Since I hadn’t had a duel with Siabel today, I hadn’t properly utilized the mana pooled and concentrated in my heart.

I began to gently stimulate the mana in rhythm with my heartbeat, which echoed alone in the silence.

Whoosh—

Ripples of mana begin to rise from my heart. Once the waves start spreading.

Wave after wave converges and builds, forming small blue waves that slowly begin to sweep through my blood vessels.

That was the beginning.

According to my will, the mana begins to race through my blood vessels, slowly but surely increasing in speed.

Then naturally, my dormant abilities begin to bloom fully.

Senses honed more sharply and vitality incomparable to before.

This could be described as receiving a sense of omnipotence that cannot be hidden.

Having smoothly awakened my mind, I approached Friel and spoke to her again.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve completed my preparations.”

“Indeed…”

Friel, with a deadpan expression, sniffs the air.

“…The scent of spirits has grown stronger.”

Then her smile deepens, like the one I had seen in the royal palace.

“Good. Elisa and I have just finished our preparations too. Let’s begin right away.”

“As you wish.”

“Well then, Ray, shall we start with the basics?”

Friel raised her right hand.

“First, wind. Let’s create a sphere of wind like this.”

Wind gathers from all directions above her raised index finger.

Being from a family blessed by spirits, Friel seemed to be an elf capable of using at least dual attributes like me.

She spread a weak flame curtain over her wind path to visualize the flow of wind.

The wind converged into a globe-sized sphere where it was compressed. Within those specifications, the wind paths were all contained without colliding with each other, enjoying limited freedom without being able to escape.

“This is a method to check whether there’s any loss of spirit energy and whether the wind control is being properly maintained. It’s harder than it looks, so you’ll need to put in quite a bit of effort.”

I gently raised the corners of my mouth at her words.

“Then I’ll begin.”

“I wish you the best of luck.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

To think I’d need to put in effort for something as simple as making a ball of wind.

Friel had chosen the wrong category by far.

When I was trapped in a dungeon and couldn’t do anything in a desperate situation, my toy to alleviate boredom was none other than spirit magic. I’ve practiced making these balls until I was sick of it.

I glanced at Elisa standing behind Friel and began circulating my mana.

‘I said I’d show something interesting that you could look forward to.’

Besides, these elves with expressions that seemed to suggest they knew everything—no, expressions bordering on arrogance.

Thinking that seeing their expectations shattered and their surprised faces could be entertaining, I acted boldly.

Well, even if this incident attracts more attention from that persistent green-eyed pointy-ear, since Sione and I are supposedly the only people who can become saviors of the great forest.

Someone with a head on their shoulders wouldn’t dare show their selfish desires or make themselves disliked by such important people.

‘I’ll start with interference.’

I began to interfere with the sphere of wind created by Friel Arielt.

All I needed was a single strand of wind floating at the outer shell of that sphere. That was enough.

Clear as still water. I calmed my mind as if drawing a bow.

In that moment when I interfered with Friel’s control and gained control over just one strand of wind, I wove a new wind path into that wind.

‘Make the path stronger, and the wind swifter.’

A new path is woven in an instant. Friel’s wind begins to seep in and flow along that path.

“…Huh?”

Friel let out a small voice as she watched her spirit magic.

Her teal pupils were flowing with her wind currents surrounded by the red curtain.

Like river water flowing into a newly created waterway, Friel’s wind that had been endlessly circulating inside her began to flow into the path I created.

I couldn’t just leave Friel’s wind alone like this.

I continued to shape and fill my own sphere.

‘This should be good enough.’

The wind, blooming like a rose, was compressed again and again, beginning to circulate in a new sphere.

At that moment.

‘Now that I’ve finished appropriately, I should wrap this up.’

I cut off and blocked the wind path that had been connected to Friel’s sphere.

The wind she had gathered and the flames she had created were now all under my control.

“How did you… do that? You shouldn’t have had any spirit magic teacher.”

Only Sione knows my true identity.

Finding a spirit mage outside the great forest is rare, and it would be virtually impossible for someone of my humble origins to have a precious teacher who could teach such applications.

In others’ eyes, I would have learned spirit magic through self-study. And the skill I just demonstrated seems too precise to have been learned alone without a teacher.

I gently addressed her, who was visibly surprised.

“Is this satisfactory?”

“I think… I need to give you extra points.”

“Then, if it’s not too presumptuous, I’d like to offer advice on what you missed in my interference just now… Would you like to try taking back the sphere, Friel?”

“Me, you mean?”

“Yes, you, Friel.”

I can see her pupils capturing only me, erasing all the background around her.

“Heh.”

First came a cold laugh.

“Heh heh.”

The next smile was amusement.

“Haha, this is fun. A human giving advice to an elf, really amusing…”

And then, with her head bowed deeply, she muttered something only she could understand. A mixture of emotions that hinted at her smile turning into loud laughter briefly surfaced before sinking deep again.

“I’ll try, Ray. I look forward to your advice?”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

I responded to her with a smile.

I felt her interference with my sphere.

“The wind path you’re trying to interfere with is too large. Like this…”

“Ah.”

“Before you can divert even one wind, I could cut off everything.”

Her wind path was severed.

The tiny amount of escaping wind and the flame it carried died weakly.

“You’ve made the wind path extremely narrow, and the speed of drawing the wind has become incredibly fast.”

With just one comment, as expected of an elf.

She begins to divert my wind very skillfully.

She’s probably getting the hang of it even faster now.

“However, Friel, you’ve only created a wind path to guide it, but the wind itself is still under my control.”

Bang!

The flame that had stretched along the wind path exploded slightly.

The wind path was disrupted by the explosion, and the magic she had carefully crafted disappeared nicely.

I showed her a light smile and said:

“Come, let’s try once more.”

Sixty years of age. It doesn’t matter how quickly an old monster gets the hang of ball play.

There’s more than one game to play. If defeat comes in this game, I can simply move on to another.

Friel quickly seizes my control and begins to dominate the wind.

I instead blew even more wind into her. At the moment when wind still under my control mixed into her sphere—

“Oh no…”

Without hesitation, I burst it at the sound of Friel’s voice.

Bang!

As the flames spread throughout her sphere exploded, her sphere shattered once again.

I smiled as I increased the volume of my reduced sphere.

“Would you like to try again?”