Chapter 26 The Messy Independent Training

After some sessions of magic training with Mom, I was given the thick book of basic magic. (Obviously, I requested for it! Mom was surprised, but she delightfully handed her book over to me. It’s a hand-me-down book from Mom!!)

In my free time, I read the book and noticed Mom’s handwriting. The writing wasn’t as neat as Mom’s current handwriting, so it must be from when she was a child, too.

Somehow, I feel as if my bond with Mom is strengthening, just by discovering things like this.

I feel so happy for getting her old book, compared to getting a new, unused version of the book.

It’s weird, but that’s what I feel.

The thick book is quite like the dictionary of basic magic, containing information on all types of magic inside, along with the basic chants.

“Lyra, don’t forget to read them carefully, especially the rules. For now, just strengthen the magic we’ve already practiced.”

“Rules... page... hmmm.”

1. Pray before you practice!

2. Read each section carefully and consult your tutor if there is something you don’t understand.

3. Injuring others in training is a no-no!

4. ...

I flipped the page after reading some points that are way too obvious. No wonder, this book is written so that children can easily understand them, but I’m mentally older, so stop telling me something very obvious!

“Geh, boring, it’s just some stuffs I already know, let’s just move on!”

I skimmed through the pages in the book.

Surprisingly, the book has a section for [Void]!

…Oops, the section for [Void] is only one page long.

Hmm, I wonder if Alt-nii trained using other more complicated book? Or a more ancient book? He wouldn’t be able to train using this book. No wonder Mom handed this book to me, not Alt-nii.

Ah, right!

Let me clarify this. I am not a diligent person. It’s just that I will pursue the thing that I’m interested in.

But I can force myself to learn something if it’s required. I’ve been thoroughly trained to do that~!

Eh? It’s kinda sad for me to announce it proudly?

Uhhh, but it’s something that not everyone can bear to do, after all.

So, obviously I’m proud that I’ve developed that skill~

During my break time—meaning: my time to leisurely relax at home, I decided I would try to do an independent magic study, in addition to the independent Hartmann secret arts training~!

It’s been almost half a year since I started training my magic.

Within these months, Mom said I have quite a good aptitude in learning magic. Is this the gift from God, or is this the influence of being born from two amazing magicians?

Regardless, looks like I will be able to skillfully use magic this time!

So far, I have learned the basic of magic and trained my [Ice] and [Life] magic with Mom.

I still have [Light] and [Water] affinity, as well.

Without a doubt, I will be able to easily invoke those types of magic. Furthermore, I have trained the two strongest affinities I have (forget about [Dark]!)—so it should enhance my magic power, regardless of my mana capacity that I have yet to know.

It’s being hypothesized that training your magic before you reach your full mana capacity at the age of 6 will strengthen your mana capacity. Obviously with the development of the training safety tool, more people are not afraid to train their children’s magic even before the age of 6.

Okay, uhm… [Light] and [Water], is it… I flipped the book towards the explanation of light magic.

Let me try with basic spells!

[Leoht] (Light)

And a small ball of glittering light appears on top of my palm.

“Whoa…”

As my concentration broke due to my amazement, the light got dimmer and finally vanished.

Ah, but that means I can use light magic just fine.

Now, let’s try water. It will be exciting to be able to do water show, like what Dad showed me from time to time.

[Holm trinda!] (Water ball)

This time, a ball of water is being formed on my palm.

…Can I drink it?

I stared at the ball of water while closely approaching it with my face.

I lightly touched the ball of water to my face.

“!!”

Aiyah, it’s cold!

--and then the ball of water dissolves.

I can still feel the freshness of the water.

Does that mean, I will be okay even if I got lost in a vast and dry desert? Yay~!

But, wait what, why would I end up getting lost in the middle of a desert, anyway?

That’s ridiculous!

Okay, anyway... it’s not that energy-consuming and I can produce them just fine. Which means, I really have great affinity to the two elements.

The tester is accurate, after all! It accurately measured my magic affinities!

Argh, stop reminding me about the [Dark] element, I am not interested to try it in the slightest bit.

The tester didn’t tell how strong was my affinity to the other magic elements, but I could try them out one by one, right?

It’s written in the page that explains affinities that…

“For magic with weak affinity, it may be possible to produce result with the chants, but it may be quite tiring and harder to do, so it’s advised to enhance your magic first. For medium affinity, it will be slightly harder than the strong affinity, but easier than producing weak affinity magic.”

Okay, time to find out my affinity to other magic!

The parameter is the difficulty in producing the magic, and the energy-consumption. I have gotten the hang of the strong affinity magic, so I should be able to judge the rest.

All that’s left is either weak and medium magic—or the element I can’t use at all.

Oh, and, there is no need to try Neutral magic at all. Normally, every magic user will be able to use it to a degree. So, in short, I will be able to use basic neutral magic without any hassle.

The easiest one is enhancement magic—to enhance a magical power or physical strength.

It’s like trying to use the most basic form of the most basic magic.

This time, I want to learn my affinities to other elements, not to train them, so yeah, there’s no need to try it! Now, moving on.

I think I should start with fire, then wind, earth, plant, thunder... and lastly, void.

Now that you think about it, the method of trying everything one by one is the fastest way to figure out what magic elements you can do, and what you can’t do!

I wonder why hasn’t anyone practiced this one-by-one trial?

Because it is quite an inaccurate method and one’s magical power hasn’t been fully developed yet? The mana capacity is still not yet final, so with weaker mana, we can’t do weak affinity elements at all?

Hmm, that might be why.

Anyway, let’s not think too much about why and... let’s try~!

[Sweoloð clîewen] –fire ball. It formed, although not forming a perfect ball and was quite dim. It doesn’t seem to be that difficult to form. I certainly feel more fatigue compared to when I practiced my known affinities.

I can use fire. But from the looks of it, it’s... normal, maybe?

[T¯æcing becierran] –summon wind. I can feel a slightly refreshing breeze on top of my palm. Again, it is not as easy as ice or light magic.

My affinity is normal to wind magic, I think.

...For earth, plant, thunder, I think it’s better for me to go outside, to the garden to practice them.

[Togînan sê befæstan]—crack the ground. A slight crack formed on the ground. No matter, I can close the crack with the sand afterwards.

Normal affinity to [Earth].

[Spîr hnipend]—leaf bending. One leaf is being bended slightly towards me. ...I didn’t kill the leaf just by bending it slightly, right?

Normal affinity to [Plant].

[Lîgetung wolcen]—lightning ball. A yellow electric ball is formed on top of my palm just fine---fine, huh?! Ouch, ouch, it stings me! I’m being electrified by my own magic!!

Luckily enough, the ball quickly disappears.

...normal affinity to [Thunder].

Uhm, wait what, so far, I have had majority of normal magic for the other affinities I’m not so strong with?

Isn’t the result... suspiciously good?

Just how much is my mana capacity, really?

I shuddered in a horror. Being gifted with great power means more responsibility.

...hopefully... I won’t be exposed to various dire situations in the future, with this.

Oh, right! I almost forgot [Void].

...if I also can use [Void], no matter how weak... I... would be categorized as a really gifted magician, huh? I don’t think there’s anyone who can do all magic elements besides [The Greatest Magician] so far...

***

I chose to drink some water to calm myself and to energize my body.

Afterwards, I went inside the second floor’s living room and sat down on the carpet, put down a glass of water, and proceeded to read the only page detailing void magic.

The only known spell in the book is [Hagorûn undôn]—a spell to cancel magic.

It can be used to return any magical power to void—to nothingness.

I bet Alt-nii has developed more spells and forms of magic—but the only [Void] magic publicly known is that spell.

Let’s try, then.

Oops, I got to cast any magic and interrupt myself—wait... that’s not how it works.

Oh, I know.

I will just form something with my ice magic and continue to supply it with magical power, while chanting the void spell.

Let’s try forming an ice book! Luckily, I can use the thick magic book I’m reading as a model.

[Hîwung w¯ælrâp!]

The ice imitation of the book is quickly formed in front of me. Let’s not call it off, let it stay there~ Yup, I can now retain the icy form I’ve created with an ease~ It might as well stay there until it melts by itself~! But then again, ice produced by magic will be harder to melt in the room temperature. It can still melt, but it will take a longer time.

Even when my concentration and energy isn’t being directed there, the icy form I created will stay! Mom praised me at that time, and tried thawing my ice. She said I should focus on creating an ice that’s harder to thaw in the future.

Next...

I inhaled. Let’s try this! Whatever happens, happens!

[Hagorûn undôn...]

...I opened my eyes, slowly. Is the icy book still intact, or some parts of it disappeared?

And the answer is...

The whole icy book is fully intact. I don’t feel any surge of power coming out from my body. It’s a complete failure.

Ah, so I can’t use [Void] magic at all.

Even so, I have strong affinity to 5 magic elements (this time, I’m including [Dark]), normal affinity to 6 elements, weak affinity to 0 element, and zero affinity to 1 element.

...Isn’t this result way too amazing?!

Is my self-diagnosis wrong?

Is there anyone who can use almost all magic elements like me...?

Hmm, it’s no use to think about something I don’t know.

Now, I want to experiment further with my [Ice] magic. It’s fun to create things! Now, I think I should try to use other basic spell of Ice.

[Frêosan]—freeze. And thus, the water inside the glass was frozen.

Now, let’s try chantless magic and freeze the glass. It should be easy to project in my mind.

Soon, the glass is covered in ice.

This is great!

I want to freeze a larger object, but am I capable of doing it?

I stared at the table and just laughed it off.

“No way I can do that, right?”

...For practice, let’s try focusing on the table, and do a mock-freezing!

“Freeze.”

I didn’t use any Spraec chant because this is just a focus practice. For practice’s sake, I will just normally say the word in daily language. I still recall the image of [Ice] magic circle—as I feel like I might be able to produce stronger magic by always imagining the magic circle.

I focused my whole attention and energy to the table, pointing my index finger there and imaging it as slowly being enveloped by my ice—and... at the same time, the exact same thing literally happened to the table.

Soon, the table is completely covered in my ice.

...wait, what, what?!

“?!”

I didn’t even chant it in Spraec... How could it be...?

I feel slight fatigue is building up in my body. Wait, is it a voiceless incantation?

I shifted my focus to the sofa and this time, I tried to do the same thing with only the power of imaging and focus in my mind. The symbol of [Ice] magic circle is...

“...”

...Nothing happened.

“I want it to freeze for real this time, though!”

--and then, it is slowly freezing.

...let’s think about it. What did I mention before the phenomena happened? The same word that I mentioned... could it be that the trigger was [Freeze]?

“Gotta ask Mom about this... but before that, let’s try more examples to make sure my hypothesis is right!”

Practicing with sword is fun, but experimenting with magic is even more fun!

Next up is to create any form of ice I want to.

Let’s start with creating small ice balls.

I posed myself, kept my mind focused, and swung my index finger.

“Ice balls.“

Shortly after that, a few balls of ice are forming on the floor.

My hypothesis should be correct... but anyway, let’s try more!

***

--in the end, by the time I am satisfied enough with my training, various forms of ice sculptures are there in the second floor’s living room—alright, let’s make it shorter, the second living room, then.

Cat, apple, stick, sword, teddy bear, boxes, provice immitation, pen, feather, and even icy bone.

Before long, the temperature in this room also gets colder.

However, being the owner of the ice magic, I don’t really feel bothered at all with the cold. Yes, the cold never bothered me anyway!

I lightly swept my sweaty forehead with my hand—yes, I even dropped some sweat due to the fatigue that’s building up after doing all that practice, despite the room being so cold—and I put my hands on my waist, smiling proudly at my masterpieces.

Now, let’s thaw them all and tidy up the room~

I approached the various ice I created and started to thaw...

...

...

How do I thaw them, again?

How do I call of all my magical power to the ice, after I tried to retain their form and instructed them not to just disappear? I mean... I can’t feel any connection to the ice I created...

“Uh... uhm...”

Having only a normal affinity to [Fire] magic doesn’t help me at all!

My [Ice] is stronger than my [Fire]!

...

Well, we never know, so I might as well try!

But wait a minute...

Do I have to really start a fire here?

But it’s dangerous if I can’t control the fire!

My family will have no house to live in!!

“...Uhmmmm...”

I am standing in the middle of the icy mess I’ve created, dumbfounded.

Help, help me feel the magical power I used to create them, so I could call them off!!

I really forgot the fact that it was always Mom who thawed my ice for me!!

I also forgot to ask her to teach me that! I thought I could always feel the magical power in the ice sculptures and easily cancelled them—but hey, I forgot that I am not used to using magic yet!

Now, now, the room is cold, but I am starting to sweat even more.

What a mess I’ve created...?

Mom isn’t even home yet—what do I do?

...All I wanted to do was just to train independently, but now I’ve created a mess in my house...