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Friel subtly pushes her advice on Shione, who eagerly absorbs her words like a sponge.

After a bit of time, their story was finally winding down lightly.

Eep!

‘What’s with that elf all of a sudden…?’

Elisa straightens her back for a moment. Did she just squeeze her eyes shut in some sort of convulsion? She shakes her long pointed ears.

“Um-hum.”

Then she clears her throat, opening her heavy-lidded eyes.

Her brown hair sways gently as she stops twitching her ears and simply stares at me.

“It seems we’ve wrapped up the discussion on archery.”

She turns her head back towards Friel.

With slow, deliberate steps, she begins to close the distance between herself and her employer—her reliable pointy-eared assistant.

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

If someone’s going to talk, at least their body should face the right direction, right?

Especially with her profile subtly visible; the corners of her mouth were slightly crooked upward.

Just moments ago, she had been staring blankly at my aspirations, only nodding her head. There hadn’t been a single exchange afterward. I could interpret her wry smile as a small mockery of my vague hopes.

I quietly watched the back of Elisa’s head as she hurriedly left with her own comments, eventually shaking my head and letting out a slight sigh of disappointment.

‘That’s just her natural response.’

Elves are a race that begins to commune with spirits gradually from the point they start establishing their self-identity after taking their first steps.

After spending decades, hundreds of years in harmony with spirits, here stands a mere human who claims to show them some entertaining spirit magic…

In Friel’s words, an elf who has already surpassed the age of marriage in their own world. No, being older than Friel herself, my aspirations must have sounded quite absurd to Elisa.

‘Well… it’s not entirely incomprehensible.’

Elisa’s reaction was entirely within a range of conclusions and understanding I could surmise.

No matter how much I might be regarded as an authority on the behavioral psychology of elf-kind, I may not be entirely sure about their appropriate age of maturity…

But at the very least, I can be certain that she must be close to—or even surpassing—a three-digit age. That twisted smile of hers? I could easily overlook it out of respect for the elders.

“Princess Shione, how was it?”

Having crossed paths with Elisa, I was greeted by the approaching Shione with a firm step.

She nodded while removing the leather protectors for her index, middle, and ring fingers, which she primarily used for drawing the bowstring.

“…It was quite good. Simple, but I was able to reaffirm some things I had overlooked.”

Shione, who seemed pleased, momentarily squinted her eyes.

“But—”

Thud. Thud.

She started poking my arm with her finger.

“You always watched me when I said to check my form.”

“……?”

“It seems you could have told me this much earlier, Ray. Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Well…”

“Hm. Come on, Ray, be honest. You were just being lazy and gave a casual nod, weren’t you?”

“…….”

No, these days I’ve been clashing swords with Siabel.

After the exhausting training of clashing steel, coming to the shooting range? I’m just a person trying to take a little breather here.

If our sweet Shione were considerate, she would easily let this slide—

“…….”

“…….”

Shione, why are you crossing your arms like that?

Come on, relax. Let it go.

As Shione narrowed her gaze and quietly scrutinized me, luck seemed to strike as elves approached us.

“Your Highness, you seem to take advice remarkably quickly. Is it true you’ve only had a year of training?”

At Friel’s words, Shione, who had been about to pout, glanced at me before finally relaxing her expression.

“…You’re too kind.”

“Too kind, you say? I’ve heard rumors that you bravely navigated along the castle walls with a bow.”

Friel’s habitual slight lift of her chin follows as she speaks.

Height-wise, Friel was already taller than Shione. The situation felt like she was looking down on Shione even a little.

“Your Highness clearly possesses extraordinary talent in archery compared to other humans. To see you display such proficiency, I didn’t imagine it at all.”

Having said that, Friel smiled brightly and shifted her gaze from Shione back to me.

“Now that we seem finished discussing your archery, shall we move on to the topic of spirit magic?”

Finally, it was the time for me and Friel’s spirit magic to intersect.

*

After the series of events in the shooting range came to an end, we found ourselves in an open space a little away from the training area.

Spirit magic. It’s the miracle of channeling the power of spirits into this world through mana. Sufficient space was needed for the smooth manifestation of such miraculous magic.

Although the training area is spacious, it feels a bit lacking…

In a place where everyone else is kicking up dust practicing their physical activities, having a couple of elves working on magic feels a bit out of place.

Magic tends to be quite intense and flashy. There’s a chance they might get distracted by what we’re doing.

“This spot seems just right.”

The one who first found a suitable place was Friel, who nodded in agreement.

Then, Friel and I stood facing each other in the center of the open area.

Behind me was Shione, and behind Friel stood her dependable assistant, Elisa. With that arrangement settled, our discussions progressed swiftly.

“Ray, you might need a moment to prepare.”

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

“In that case, I’ll get myself warmed up alongside Elisa for a bit. Just let me know when you finish. Got it?”

“I will do just that.”

Having wrapped up the brief conversation, Shione and I moved a little away from Friel and Elisa.

Shione looked at me with a naive glint in her eyes and tilted her head.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

I shook my head.

“It’s fine. I just need to awaken the mana, after all.”

To effectively manipulate magic, it’s better to circulate the mana through my body several times rather than immediately tapping into the mana that’s slumbering in my heart.

“Still… I wouldn’t neglect my duties if someone entrusted me with them. Are you really okay with not accepting any help?”

“……It really is fine.”

I ignored Shione’s additional remarks and once again declined her offer to assist.

It’s not like she’s going to use her tiny hands to help restart my heart’s pumping of mana, anyway.

I slowly began meditating.

‘Start slowly at first.’

Today, there wouldn’t be any sparring with Siabel, so the mana had never been properly utilized; it had pooled and stuck in my heart instead.

I began to lightly stimulate the mana in tune with the rhythmic sound of my heart echoing in the silence.

Haah—

Mana ripples began to emanate from my heart. Once they start spreading, waves begin to gather and coalesce into small currents, slowly beginning to sweep through my blood vessels.

That was just the beginning.

According to my will, the mana begins to pick up speed and race through my veins steadily and reliably.

Soon, the tension of my latent abilities blossoms forth.

My senses sharpen, and a vitality incomparable to before surges within me.

It was enough to say I had gained a modicum of omnipotence.

Having successfully awakened my spirit, I approached Friel again to speak.

“Thank you for waiting. I am ready to proceed.”

“Indeed…”

Friel, maintaining a composed expression, sniffles slightly.

“…The scent of spirits has become more potent.”

Then, her smile became as rich as the previous one I had seen within the royal castle.

“Alright then. Just as Elisa and I have also just finished our preparations. Let’s get started right away.”

“I will follow.”

“Ray, shall we start with the basics?”

Friel raised her right hand.

“Let’s start with wind. We’ll create a sphere of wind.”

Winds began gathering from all directions around her raised index finger.

Perhaps because she belonged to a family blessed by spirits, Friel seemed to be an elf capable of using at least dual attributes, just like I was.

She unfurled a thin veil of flame along the path of wind she created, making the flow of air visible.

The wind compressed into a globe-sized sphere, each stream of wind contained within the designated space, experiencing limited freedom without colliding with one another.

“This method is to check for any loss of spirit energy and verify that the winds are being controlled correctly. It’s more challenging than it seems, so you’ll need to put in quite a bit of effort.”

I couldn’t help but lift the corners of my mouth slightly at her words.

“Then I’ll begin.”

“Do your best.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

She talked about focusing on creating a ball of wind and needing to put in effort.

Friel certainly chose poorly for her task.

When I was isolated in a dungeon, unable to do anything, the means to alleviate my boredom had been precisely spirit magic, and I had done endless amounts of ball-making practice.

After sneaking a glance at Elisa behind Friel, I began to circulate my mana.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll show you something exciting worth looking forward to.’

Besides, the elves standing there wore expressions that suggested they knew everything—no, they looked arrogant to the point of it.

Seeing them bewildered when their expectations are completely shattered could definitely be one of my amusements.

Well, even if doing so might invite the insistent attention of that stubborn green-eyed elf, since Shione and I are the only ones who could be the saviors of the Great Forest.

I wouldn’t show my selfish desires or become someone they despise when dealing with such an important person, if I could help it.

‘Let’s begin with interference.’

I started to interfere with the wind sphere that Friel had created.

All I needed was a single strand of wind flowing around the outer shell of that sphere. That alone would suffice.

With utter tranquility, I steadied my mind as if drawing a bowstring.

That precise moment I gained control over the single strand of wind within Friel’s domain, I began weaving a new wind path.

‘We’ll make this path all the stronger, and the wind all the swifter.’

In an instant, the new path forms, and Friel’s wind begins to flow along the path I created.

“…Huh?”

Friel let slip a small voice as she observed her own spirit magic.

Her turquoise pupils mirrored the twisted currents of her wind, wrapped in a crimson veil.

Just like how existing rivers would drain away, her endless wind that had been cycling within her was now drawn into my newly formed currents.

I couldn’t just let her wind lay idly there.

So I didn’t hesitate to mold my own sphere and fill it.

‘This should suffice for a passing grade.’

The wind, twirling like blooming roses, began to compress and circulate within the new sphere.

At that moment.

‘If we’ve done this adequately, then it’s time to wrap things up.’

I severed the connection with the wind path that was tied to Friel’s sphere, effectively cutting her control over her wind.

The wind she had gathered, the flames she had kindled—now all came under my influence.

“Just how… did you do that? You haven’t had a mentor in spirit magic, have you?”

The only one who knows my identity is Shione.

Finding spirit mages out there in the mundane world, particularly looking for a gifted mentor, is rare enough, let alone for someone of my humble origins.

Others would likely think I had independently learned spirit magic. Considering what I just revealed, it seems rather precise for someone who couldn’t have had a teacher.

I quietly addressed the flustered Friel.

“Is this enough to pass?”

“It seems… I owe you some bonus points as well.”

“Well, if I may be so bold as to point out the oversight from my interference just now, might I suggest that you attempt to seize back control over your sphere, Friel?”

“Me, you say?”

“Yes, Friel.”

I could see her pupils engulfing everything around her, focusing solely on me.

“Hmm.”

Her first expression bore a hint of scorn.

“Huhuhu.”

The following grin was one of amusement.

“Ah, this is interesting. A human advising an elf—truly amusing…”

Then, she began muttering something only she could understand while lowering her head, the mix of emotions hinted at her smile blossoming into a manic one before fading into the depths.

“I’ll give it a shot, Ray. I trust your advice?”

“Yes, I will do my utmost.”

I smiled back at her.

I felt her interference starting to blend into my sphere.

“The wind path you’re trying to manipulate is too large. With that, you’ll…”

“Ah.”

“You could wipe out everything in your attempt before sneaking away with a single breeze, couldn’t you?”

She severed her wind path.

The tiny amount of escaping wind that remained extinguished her flames effortlessly.

“By narrowing the wind path to the extreme, she also drastically increased the speed at which she controlled it.”

With just one remark made, once again she confirmed that elves are, indeed, elves.

Friel began adeptly siphoning my wind away.

Now she would likely grasp the concept even more quickly.

“However, while you only made a wind path to guide, the wind itself is still under my control, isn’t it?”

Boom!

The winds trailing along her path exploded.

Thanks to the explosion, her carefully crafted magic disappeared beautifully.

I offered her a light smile as I said, “So, shall we try again?”

Sixty years of life. No matter how quickly an elder could pick up on things like ball games, does that really matter?

Is this all that’s at stake? The moment I face defeat in this game, I can just switch to another.

As Friel dismisses my control instantaneously, rapidly taking charge of the winds, I aggressively injected even more of the wind into her sphere.

The moment the winds that still bore my influence mixed with hers in her sphere…

“Oh no…”

With Friel’s voice in mind, I didn’t hesitate to release it.

Boom!

The flames spread throughout numerous sections of her sphere erupted, striking the core of her magic, shattering it yet again, and I began to expand the volume of my own sphere while smiling.

“Shall we go for another round?”

 

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