The Wonders of Magic
On the way home, Dad asked me a few times if I was okay, but I made it back without any trouble.
"Maybe I pushed myself a little too hard yesterday since it was my first time. Today, I adjusted it a bit and only used a light touch—maybe that helped."
Say what you will, but I’m going to give myself credit here. Yesterday, it felt like my whole legs were boom, supercharged. It was like going into overdrive—kind of like that last-resort strength people use in emergencies. I think I went a little overboard. I also might’ve walked too fast. I probably just pushed myself too much overall.
Compared to that, today I focused on letting the mana seep into the muscle fibers, which made it easier to handle quick movements. I also let mana flow along my blood vessels so that the waste products that usually build up in the muscles would get flushed out quickly when my circulation increased… or so I think.
Maybe it’s also the healing magic I used earlier, but my legs definitely feel lighter than yesterday.
Dad seemed a bit curious, but he didn’t ask too many questions. We had lunch together, and I decided to take a short nap—just one hour. If I took a bath, I might sleep too long, so I just had him use Clean on me instead.
"Vio, the Vice-Guildmaster might stop by while we're goin' through them documents. You'd like to pick his brain about magic, wouldn't ya? I ain't got much to share beyond what I use myself. When I brought it up to him, he said he'd be happy to show you some of his magic."
"Really!? I can see magic? I want to see it!
Yay! I wonder what kind of magic he’ll show me. There are types where you don’t even need to say a spell, right? I’m so excited~"
When I woke up, Dad had some happy news for me! Apparently, the Vice-Guildmaster is going to show me some magic.
Mom didn’t really use flashy magic, but now that I think about it, the fact that life was so comfortable in that environment probably meant she was quietly using all kinds of spells. I didn’t really pay attention to how she used them, so I never learned the types or methods.
That’s why I’m really excited to see some real magic in action.
One thing I noticed after waking up was that my legs didn’t hurt anymore. This morning, I had such bad muscle pain I could barely get up, so I was nervous about taking a nap. But now I just feel a little tired—like the kind of fatigue you get from walking a lot. It's nowhere near as painful as this morning.
Maybe it was the strengthening magic, or maybe the hot refresh spell helped. Should I ask the Vice-Guildmaster about that too?
Dad carried me as we headed to the guild. On the way, I saw Lon and Len in their human forms, playing tag. I wonder how long Lon can keep that form?
When we got to the guild, we went straight to the second-floor archive room. For a second I thought, "Wait, is this okay?" But then I realized that unless we’re submitting something or taking on a quest, we don’t really need to go to the front desk.
“Oh my, Vio, hello! Mr. Alke, they have been waiting for quite a while~”
Mimi, who loves all things small and cute, always pats my head. While doing so, she told Dad that someone had been waiting. I guess it must be the Vice-Guildmaster? I wonder if he's okay leaving work like this.
When we entered the room, it wasn’t just the Vice-Guildmaster there—the Guildmaster was also present.
"Oh? Did I keep ya waitin' long? I'm pretty sure I gave ya an estimated time I'd be arrivin'."
“I heard. I came just in time for that, so I only just arrived myself.”
“Hehe, hello, Miss Vio. I heard you used some interesting magic at school today. May I see it later?”
While Dad and the Guildmaster exchanged greetings, the Vice-Guildmaster greeted me as well. I thanked him for showing me his magic.
“Oh no, not at all. I’d also like to see how you interpret my magic, so I definitely want you to see it.
Now then, this isn’t the best place for it—why don’t we head to the training area? I’ve reserved it for the afternoon, so we won’t be disturbed.”
Oh wow, that room! They said it's equipped with various safety measures, right? That means we can even see some really powerful magic! I’m so excited!
The Vice-Guildmaster looked thrilled, but Dad and the Guildmaster didn’t react much.
“Dad, Guildmaster—are you not that into magic? Should I go with the Vice-Guildmaster alone? You’ve got work, right, Guildmaster?”
"I wanna see your magic too, so I'm comin' along with ya. I must say, I'm a might surprised at how tickled pink the Vice-Guildmaster is 'bout all this."
“Yeah, and I plan to show her some elemental magic that this guy here can’t use. Don’t worry about my work.”
The Guildmaster gave my head a good ruffle. Oh right, I remember now—he said from the beginning that his elemental affinity is different. I’m really grateful.
And so, we arrived at the training ground. Yep, back again!
“Well then, shall I start by showing you my magic?”
"Hold on a sec—before that, I wanna show you Vio's magic. She went and developed her own strengthenin' spell. I'd like ya to take a gander at it.
And hey, Vio, didn't you use some peculiar magic durin' trainin' today? Could ya show us that too?"
The Vice-Guildmaster had been all eager to demonstrate his magic the moment we arrived at the training area, but Dad stopped him.
By the time I woke up from my nap, I could feel the strengthening magic had worn off. Is it okay to cast it twice in one day? I was planning to wait until I was more used to it…
"Oh my, is something on your mind?"
"Um, I was just wondering if it's okay to use body reinforcement magic multiple times in a day. I thought I should try it a few more times until I get used to it..."
"Ah, I see. Yes, it’s probably best to practice like that until you're used to it. But tell me—where on your body did you cast reinforcement magic today?
Your legs, was it? Then how about trying it on your arm this time? Unless you're concerned about your remaining mana, reinforcing a different part of the body shouldn’t cause any strain, I’d think."
The Vice-Guildmaster is so smart! Oh, right, that makes total sense.
So, with all three adults watching me closely, I tried casting reinforcement magic on my left arm. I formed a thin mana membrane around the muscles, wrapped the blood vessels... Oh! The mana flows even more smoothly than it did this morning. Guess magic really does get easier with practice.
"It's done!"
"Whoa, that was seriously a fully chantless cast."
"Hmm, the mana flow was so smooth I didn’t even notice it."
"Vio, can ya give it a try and grip this here with both hands, one at a time?"
Dad handed me something like a ball. About the size of a tennis ball, but I’m not sure what it's made of.
First, I was told to grip it with my right hand. I squeezed—my fingers didn’t sink in or bounce back. It felt like grabbing a tightly inflated plastic ball.
"Three."
"That’s pretty weak."
"Well, for a girl who hasn’t had her baptism yet, this is about average for the human race."
Dad read out the number. I guess the reading showed up somewhere?
Now it was time for the reinforced hand. I gripped it again. It felt the same in my hand, so I wasn’t expecting much...
"... Thirty."
"Whoa, that’s the average for an adult."
Whoa! Ten times more power in the left hand than the right. So that's the average grip strength for a regular adult woman. I guess that was a grip strength gauge? That means my strength’s on par with a grown-up now.
And if I keep building up my basic muscle strength, it’ll probably get even better.
"Yes, the reinforcement magic seems to be working quite well. Fascinating.
Miss Vio, that reinforcement spell you just cast was fully chantless. Could you explain how you're doing it?"
Even as Dad and the Guildmaster muttered to each other, the Vice-Guildmaster kept his cool and asked me. So I explained what I was doing.
"You wrapped the muscles and even the blood vessels? That kind of thinking probably came from your mother, who was skilled in healing magic, right? It’s different from traditional reinforcement spells, but I see—focusing it locally would certainly reduce mana consumption."
It wasn’t actually Mom who taught me anatomical diagrams or anything, but I’ll let him believe that—it makes things easier to explain.
"What in tarnation kind of reinforcement magic is that? It's gotta be somethin' else, I reckon."
"I never really thought about where reinforcement magic was affecting, to be honest."
Just chanting a spell and having it sort of work—isn’t that kind of magic amazing in its own right? But now I’m wondering—what element is reinforcement magic supposed to be?
"Vice-Guildmaster, what element does reinforcement magic fall under? What do people think about when they cast it?"
"... Huh!?"
The Guildmaster let out a shocked noise. Huh? What?
When I looked at Dad, he was scratching his head, and the Guildmaster’s eyes were darting all over the place. Don’t tell me… they haven’t thought about elements either? Not that I have, but I thought grown-ups would be using it with elemental awareness.
"That’s a good question. I was never good at reinforcement magic—maybe because I didn’t understand its elemental basis.
But Zacks and Alke were both front-line adventurers, right? You two were quite good at reinforcement, weren’t you? Why don’t you explain it to Miss Vio?"
"Uh, I mean, for me… it was just instinct. I chanted, and it worked. A lot of adventurers are like that, honestly."
"Same here. I just went with my gut. Still, I'd say that reinforcement magic don't fall under none of the basic elements."
So the Guildmaster is a man who lives by intuition. That does feel very adventurer-like. And Dad, though surprised, is calmly assessing the situation.
"So that means magic can exist outside of the basic elements, right?
You know, I’ve also been thinking—everyday magic is weird too, right? Like light spells—those aren’t one of the basic elements, are they? I thought maybe they were holy element, but if it’s just light to brighten a room, not blasting zombies or anything, holy doesn’t really fit, does it? And what about the magic that makes a room bigger? That’s not a basic element either, right?"
Since I was at it, I threw in a few more things I’d been curious about.
The Vice-Guildmaster looked thoughtful, but the other two put their heads in their hands.
… Did I ask something weird?
What do you think about this chapter?
