Studying with the Elf Teacher
On Wood and Earth days, we do reading and language lessons by holding Karuta tournaments, and during magic training, we make the Karuta boards themselves.
The six-and-older group alternates between practicing attack and support spells one day and training mana control through board-making the next.
On Fire and Water days, we hold math lessons through card tournaments and do athletic training during martial arts class.
No one’s managed to clear the third curved wall yet, but by building up the earthen mounds used for the obstacle course each time, everyone’s Earth Magic keeps improving.
That’s right—Wind Magic has been improving through making the Karuta boards, and Earth Magic through martial arts training.
Ren and Hachi started out just playing around with Earth Magic, but now they can even adjust the height of the mounds!
And get this—Hachi’s spell is “Ready… pop!” or something like that. It’s like his own magic chant, and somehow, it works perfectly every time.
Tony, on the other hand, yells “Here goooes!” when making the first wall.
Do they realize they’re basically using chantless magic already? Probably not—since they still chant those cringy long spells when casting Fireball.
Sometimes the Guildmaster and others come by to observe martial arts training, and Professor Doua drops in on all sorts of classes.
At first, Ren and Hachi got excited whenever someone unfamiliar showed up, but now they’re totally used to it.
Actually, they’re so comfortable with him that they ask him to make the course harder—like adding a little pond in the middle of the obstacle course!
On Wood and Earth days, I go herb gathering in the afternoons and earn five points, then practice at the forest obstacle course afterward.
On Fire and Water days, I study materials and monsters found outside the village in the reference room.
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“Dad, around here it’s just Horn Rabbits and Wolves, right?”
"Well, them two kinds show up the most in the woods right outside the village. There’s so dang many of ‘em, they’re practically tumblin’ over each other!
But you head deeper in, and the real tough critters start showin’ up. Them weaker Horn Rabbits? They end up as supper for the stronger ones back in there."
Ah, so basically, a monster food chain—survival of the fittest.
“What about Slimes?”
Because seriously, what’s a fantasy world without slimes?
They’re legendary monsters—there are even stories about people reincarnating as slimes! Maybe they’re even more famous than dragons.
"Well, there ain’t too many Slimes ‘round these parts. The Lizmoni Kingdom’s got rivers aplenty, but Slimes like their water still as a millpond. You won’t spot ‘em in the sea, and they’re scarce in runnin’ rivers.
But head to a lake or pond, and you’ll see ‘em galore; and in dungeons, them Normal Slimes near always show up on the shallow floors. Course, nobody bothers huntin’ ‘em; they don’t drop magic stones nor nothin’ worth carryin’ out."
“‘Normal’ Slimes,” huh? So there are other kinds too?
I wonder if none of them drop anything. In light novels, Slimes range from friendly pets to cleaning helpers to absurdly tough boss monsters. They’re always round, squishy, and poyo-poyo bouncy, but they can be spheres, teardrops, blobs, or even have faces—or not!
I’d really like to see what they look like in this world. Though since we’ve got Cleanse, I probably don’t need one as a garbage disposal buddy.
So while copying notes from the materials, I’d ask Dad about whatever I didn’t understand. Sometimes Mimmy, Natch, Run, or Kathe would join in too, and we’d all study monsters and materials together.
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And then came Wind Day, the last of the four weekdays. I was at the guild from early morning.
“Well now. I’ve been watching you at the academy, and your mana control is truly impressive, Miss Vio.
The other students perform about average for their age with attack spells, but during board-making or martial arts training, your control stands out.
We may need to rethink how we teach children magic altogether.”
Yeah, honestly, teaching mana control first would be more efficient than saving it for last.
You can see results right away, and if they made little earth dolls or something, it’d be fun practice.
“That water-creation spell of yours is quite something. Our kingdom is fortunate to have abundant water, but the Republic has vast areas with none, and even the great Menexes Kingdom—though they’ve improved flood control—still suffers droughts when storms persist.
If your Water Generation spell spreads, it could save many towns.
Still, it’s true that not everyone can use it. Those like Aslan and me—skilled in mana control and magical theory—can, but most others cannot.”
Ah, he means the “instinct-type” casters? But even Dad got it after a few tries!
“Heh, Miss Vio, instinctive types like your father can manage it, actually. They can accept what they see without overthinking.
It’s the ones who rely solely on chants—those who can’t grasp the ‘why’ behind phenomena—that struggle.”
Oh right, like when they said adventurers who can’t shorten incantations usually give up.
“But everyone can use life magic, right? Those are just short trigger words! If they can use those, why can’t they handle normal magic?”
That’s something that’s always bugged me.
Everyone uses daily-use magic easily—with just a single word, like Fireball’s trigger—but when it comes to combat spells, they need to chant these long, clunky incantations.
“Hahaha! Exactly! People use it so naturally that they never stop to wonder why.
It’s said that life magic was invented about 150 years ago by a Hero.
The Cleanse spell creates a small water sphere to wash and erase dirt.
Light was for illumination indoors and in dungeons.
Burn was for lighting campfires and cooking while traveling.
Because each was introduced with a clear, concrete purpose, only that specific effect could be invoked. But the mana cost was low, and anyone could use them, so they spread rapidly.
Those three are now used everywhere—even by non-adventurers. But other daily-use spells remain mostly adventurer tools.”
Ah, like Rope, Lock/Unlock, and Silent. Dry would be super useful in daily life too, though not exactly essential.
“Even if people know imagination is key to magic, most still cling to chants. The words themselves are carefully chosen combinations—phrases that help them picture the effect clearly.
That’s how spell incantations were built in the first place.”
What do you think about this chapter?
