Ch.66. Training (2)

The Master raised his staff, saying he would demonstrate, and the moment he struck the tip on the ground, I could feel energy—presumably magical power—spreading outward from the staff.

“Did you feel it?”

“…Yes.”

The ground bulged as plant stems full of nature’s mysteries grew wildly from the cracks. The power contained in those stems was truly formidable, enough to easily crush and shatter me.

The countless mysterious stems that had sprouted from the ground gathered into a form reminiscent of a human.

To make a comparison, it was like a green G■oot. The plant-human, manifested in a form that seemed somehow familiar, completed its transformation as bark grew over its surface.

‘…A knockoff Gr■ot?’

What appeared before me was a giant tree-man with such an appearance that I couldn’t help but think that, standing three times taller than me.

Though its somewhat gaunt exterior didn’t look particularly strong… I could detect the powerful magical energy and mysterious resonance within it, making it impossible for me to treat this tree-man—this tree giant—carelessly.

Simply put, if that tree giant were to casually swing an arm at me, my body would be shattered to pieces. There existed an insurmountable gap between me and that tree giant that made resistance impossible.

“Are you surprised?”

“…Yes.”

“I’m sorry, I thought this was the best way to show you.”

Of course, the Master immediately dismissed the tree giant with a single gesture after speaking to me… but in many ways, the tree giant the Master had just summoned was enough to deliver a powerful shock to me.

Ah, that’s not to say the tree giant was merely an object of fear for me. Rather, it was quite shocking, I should say. It was such an overwhelming experience that the impact was deeply imprinted in my mind.

And as I looked at the tree giant, I carefully voiced the thought that had been in my mind for a while.

“Master, does drawing on the power of nature, its mysteries… mean it’s possible to utilize power beyond one’s own capacity?”

“Yes, that’s right. My specialty, nature magic, involves becoming one with the mysteries of nature through surrounding natural objects and drawing on that power. It’s a magic with clear strengths and weaknesses.”

“By strengths and weaknesses… do you mean whether there are natural objects to manipulate in the surroundings or not?”

When I carefully asked this conclusion I had drawn from the theoretical lessons so far and the words the Master had dropped between conversations, Master Dahlia looked at me proudly and said:

“That’s correct, Gregory. A druid’s nature magic is inevitably bound by the natural objects in the surroundings. Even the tree man I just created was actually made by casting magic on seeds in the ground.”

“Then… when you’ve been saying that druid magic has significant fluctuations, you meant that its power and range vary depending on the situation because it’s bound by surrounding natural objects?”

“Your words are correct, Gregory.”

Perhaps finding it fascinating how quickly I understood, the Master then proceeded to explain in more detail, comparing druids and conventional mages.

While elemental magic that mages typically handle works by creating elements from thin air through mysteries, druid nature magic has the restriction that it can only be used by utilizing surrounding natural objects, as mentioned earlier.

At first glance, druid magic seems disadvantageous… but in exchange, druid nature magic uses natural objects as catalysts, requiring less magical power and allowing for clear superiority in firepower and magical range.

In short, the Master explained that druid nature magic has definite advantages that match its disadvantages.

After the Master finished this explanation, she wanted to explain the last remaining druid magic.

“Gregory, you’ve seen magic that communicates with wild beasts before, haven’t you?”

“Yes. You’ve shown me a few times.”

From the ability to converse with animals, which could be considered the basics of druidry, to magic that calls upon the energy of the wild—magic that transforms into beasts or draws only their power into the body—these all seemed fascinating yet strangely familiar to me with my past life memories.

Since the Master had occasionally brought small animals like squirrels or rabbits to command them, wild magic is actually the druid magic I’m most familiar with in a sense.

“Animal transformation… is probably too difficult… then this would be better.”

After pondering to herself for a moment, Master Dahlia, who had been concentrating magical power through her staff just like before, lightly tapped the ground with her staff. Instantly, a silver figure appeared beside the Master.

This brilliantly silver-shining figure took the form of a large, beautiful stag.

The contours of its body, covered in softly glowing fur, revealed pulsating muscular power, and its eyes, glowing with a soft blue light, conveyed deep wisdom and dignity.

Additionally, the white antlers on either side of its ears looked like pure crystal, emitting a brilliant radiance. This light was clearly the result of magical phenomena, not any scientific chemical reaction.

And the mystery contained within this deer beast that the Master had summoned… was enough to make that tree giant from earlier seem insignificant.

“Master, who… is this?”

“This is my Animal Friend, Silver Deer Delfin. A companion and friend who has accompanied me for a very long time.”

The silver deer named Delfin was somehow looking at me with a slightly benevolent gaze. When I bowed my head slightly in greeting, he also responded with a greeting… before disappearing as if dispersing into mist.

And naturally, when I looked at the Master with bright, curious eyes, she seemed to notice my intention and continued the lesson without hesitation.

“Gregory, you seem to have many questions. Feel free to ask anything you’re curious about now.”

“Yes! Then… what is an Animal Friend?”

“An Animal Friend is a quasi-familiar contract that we druids can form with animals or magical beasts with whom we’ve built sufficient rapport. You know what a familiar contract is, right?”

“Yes. You said it’s a spell that binds animals or creatures of low intelligence to one’s soul to make them permanent summons.”

Summons, or more precisely, summoning magic, is a concept that encompasses both calling forth beings not of this world and creating specific beings through magic.

It consumes quite a lot of magical power, and since summons are basically subordinate to the summoner, they cannot maintain their form and disappear if their magical power is depleted or if the summoner dies.

A mage’s familiar, on the other hand, takes a being that wasn’t originally summoned and binds it to the soul as a summon, allowing it to be called forth again with additional magical power even if it’s destroyed.

Then what the Master referred to as a quasi-familiar contract… could it be that one can form contracts with powerful animals or magical beasts, like the Silver Deer she just summoned?

“That’s right. Animal Friends have clear disadvantages and advantages.”

When I carefully asked this question, the answer was clearly affirmative.

“While mages can increase the number of their familiars indefinitely if they have sufficient capacity, that’s not the case with druids’ Animal Friends.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The number of Animal Friends a druid can contract with varies according to each druid’s aptitude. Usually, like me, the limit is typically just one.”

“I see…”

“Yes. And Animal Friends are never master-servant contracts. They’re closer to contracts for mutual cooperation between druids and beasts. Therefore, you can’t give orders and must rely on the bond or friendship between both parties.”

“Is that both an advantage and disadvantage?”

“Yes. And there are other advantages too. Animal Friends who contract with druids can quickly transcend the limitations of their species by borrowing power from the druid. My Delfin is such a case.”

“So someone as strong as him, containing so much mystery, wasn’t originally that powerful? I’ve never heard that silver deer are strong…”

“That’s right. Usually, they’re just known for their swift legs and ability to handle some healing mysteries, not a particularly strong species. Delfin has become this powerful because he’s my Animal Friend.”

The Master smiled somewhat embarrassedly, then extended her hand to me with a gentle smile.

“Anyway, Gregory, these three druid magics each have different aptitudes. I have talent in nature magic, but someone else might have talent in wild or celestial magic. So to check your talent, this would be best. Come, extend your hand.”

“Yes, Master.”

Without hesitation, I extended my arm toward the hand the Master held out, and she grasped my hand…

“…Wild. Yes, it’s wild. Gregory, it seems your talent lies in wild magic.”

Could she read something I couldn’t? The Master, who had discovered this talent by flowing a little magical power after taking my hand, seemed a bit disappointed that my talent wasn’t in nature magic… but this didn’t last long.

“Gregory, let’s now directly experience the mysteries of great nature. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Master!”

In any case, since a druid must be proficient in all three types of magic, the impact of this talent wouldn’t be that significant right now, so mastering the basics needed to be prioritized first.