I Can Use It Without Thinking

About a week had passed since the whole mess.

The snow blanketing the mountain peak had nearly melted away, and Nya-nya — who'd been shivering so hard her teeth chattered — had mostly recovered after those seven days.

Her mana core had softened as well, which came as something of a surprise. It shouldn't have melted that much in a mere week.

Is the Goddess's power really that good?

Of course, it hadn't fully thawed. Using the ice staff again would still kill her for certain — but she could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠manage simple magic now.

"That's weird."

"It barely feels cold anymore. Like I've just eaten a couple of ice cubes?"

"Then we can pick the training back up."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Sit over there."

Nya-nya nodded and settled onto a small tree stump. Beside her sat Ka-zen and Haring — warriors who'd formed their stars within the past week and joined the proper training in earnest.

Looking at them like this, Yong-ba — the second one to arrive — is progressing pretty slowly.

"Last time, Nya-nya learned basic defensive and offensive magic, so now it's your turn to learn the same spells."

"I'm a swordsman, though?"

"Swordsmen should learn it too. And it's not like you're learning it just to use it."

At Haring's raised hand, Lea summoned a staff. A white-jade staff set with a round amethyst gem. The warriors' eyes lit up the moment they saw it.

"If you want to fight mages, you need to know what magic even is first. Otherwise you'll die real fast."

"Hmm…"

"And a lot of demonkin are mages."

Ordinary monsters were one thing, but among the demonkin — especially the Legion Commanders — those who primarily wielded magic were common. Against enemies like that, you at least needed to understand how magic was structured.

"Even the warriors who mainly used swords and weapons back then handled basic magic."

"Yeees…"

"Heh heh. I'm looking forward to this."

"Nya-nya, think of this as review. You can't use advanced magic in that condition anyway."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright. Magic splits into two big categories: defense and offense."

The staff hummed with light, and a crimson barrier bloomed to Lea's left. The circular shield pulsed with flame-laden mana, large enough to cover her upper body.

"Mages are strong, but the flesh that makes them up is fragile. That's why defensive magic is mandatory. Unless you want to die to a stray arrow."

"Ooh…"

"So that's why Nya-nya fought so defensively…"

"You don't need to go that far with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the defense."

Lea scattered the floating crimson barrier — Shield — with a shake of her head. Nya-nya had only stuck to defensive magic because she'd been scared. Properly, you mixed defense and offense in equal measure.

Nya-nya looked sheepish. Haring's eyes sparkled as she watched the residual mana dissolve into the air.

"So even a swordsman can use, like, super advanced magic?"

"Obviously. Once you've got a star in your heart, nothing's impossible."

"Ooooh…! Then — I saw this somewhere — is it maybe used like that?"

"?"

"As far as I know, if you understand mana and transfer it to a specific point, you can manifest magic by…"

"That's not it."

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Lea tapped the staff once, and weathered tomes dropped in front of each warrior. The books themselves were made of rather fine paper, but age had faded their color. On each cover was written: Basic Magic Manual, Volume 1.

"These books cover Shield magic. You've got half a day. Memorize all of it."

"…Huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said memorize it."

Magic was nothing more than drawing a magic formula and pouring mana into it. An almost absurdly simple expression of mana, when you thought about it. In past-life terms, magic was the output and mana was the electricity. The staff? A remote control that made the output easier.

As Haring and Ka-zen stared blankly at the tomes in shock, Nya-nya casually picked up her Basic Magic Manual like she'd done this before.

"Haring, Ka-zen. If you don't memorize it fast, a staff's gonna drop on your head. Just like when we cleaned the nest."

"Ah."

"…There's a lot in here."

The two warriors opened their books as well.

Flip. Flip.

"Hmm…"

Flip. Flip.

"Ohh…"

Flip. Flip.

"Aha…?"

"Stop just oohing and aahing."

"I-I am working on it."

Haring glanced at Lea pacing nearby and let out a long sigh. This was nothing like the magic of her imagination — or maybe this was the fundamental form of it. Simply draw a magic formula in the air, pour mana into it, and cast.

I thought it'd just pop out with a click…

It was a bit different from the magic in recent novels, comics, and anime, but if you asked whether she couldn't do it — well, that wasn't true either.

A big circle, a hexagon representing defense inside it, a few characters nested within that…

Haring used her mana like a pen, sketching in the empty air. Ordinarily the construct would have been infinitely unstable, scattering the moment it formed — but she was a star-bearer, an owner of a mana core.

A soft rush of power. The star that condensed her mana assisted the casting.

After about a minute of drawing—

A deep hum.

"Oh."

A blue circle bloomed before Haring's eyes.

Shield.

The most basic defensive spell — one a mage needed to know more intimately than breathing. Haring poked the floating shield with a look of pure fascination. She had no idea how sturdy it actually was, but judging by Nya-nya's earlier fights, it ought to be fairly useful.

But I'm supposed to use this in combat?

How were you supposed to cast magic on a battlefield where every second counted? And how had rankers like Nya-nya and Heurisk spammed spells like this while fighting?

Was it a skill? But Nya-nya said she used the magic she'd learned.

Haring dispersed the shield into mana and walked over to Nya-nya. A month or two ago they'd been complete strangers, but now they were fairly close. Being two of the few female users in the nest, getting friendly had been only natural.

And we're around the same age, too.

"Nya-nya."

"…Using five at once is still a bit much. Huh? What's up, Haring?"

"How do you just spam these? No matter how fast I go, a minute's my limit."

"A staff speeds up the cast time. And I've gotten used to it from using it a bunch."

"Aha?"

Item carry, then.

Haring nodded, satisfied with her own conclusion. Then again, she was a sword-wielding warrior — if she started casting as freely as the mage Nya-nya, that would be its own kind of problem. The whole point of this training ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't to make magic their main weapon anyway; it was to understand the structure. Nya-nya and the still-classless Ka-zen were one thing, but Haring didn't need to try outpacing anyone in magic too.

Still, it'd be nice to have a staff…

This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kind of training wasn't a one-time thing, and practicing without a staff forever would be inefficient. Haring shot her hand up again.

"Lea!"

"Hm?"

"I don't have a staff so I'm slow — can I borrow one?"

"You can cast without one."

"Come on. There's still a difference in casting speed. Please?"

"Mmm…"

"I'm a total idiot at this stuff, okay? Just lend me a staff once…"

"You're stupid?"

"…Yes!"

"Alright. Dummy."

Lea shuffled over and handed Haring the staff she'd been holding. Haring felt vaguely like she was getting the short end of something, but she took the staff anyway.

This one looks pretty good, though…

"Shiel—"

A hum.

"?"

The spell cast.

"Shie."

A hum.

It cast again. Shields materializing in the blink of an eye. Where before she'd painstakingly drawn every line for a full minute, now it felt like the spell auto-generated the moment she spoke.

The pure essence of the "click magic" Haring had imagined.

Flushed with exhilaration, she drew ten magic formulas this time.

A roaring thrum!!!

"Whoa."

Ten shields in just three seconds. And that was with Haring still fumbling from unfamiliarity. She glanced sideways to find Nya-nya staring at her in disbelief.

Haring's hands trembled as she checked the staff's specs.

"Huh?"

"Ah. I'll give you a different one. That one's not suited for training."

"…Uh. What is this? Why are there so many restrictions…"

"Former Magic Tower Master's staff. You can use it with just one star."

"One star???"

"The former Tower Master made it that way. The Mystic Eye's sealed shut anyway, so it's not that big a deal."

Lea lightly stepped over, took the Staff of the Pioneer from Haring's hands, and handed her a wooden staff instead. Holding something incomparably shabbier than what she'd just had, Haring cast Shield again — but the cast time only dropped from one minute to thirty seconds. The previous outrageous speed was gone for good.

Haring's face fell into pure gloom.

"My staff…"

"It's mine, though?"

"You said it was the Tower Master's…"

"It's mine now. And for the record, even if you earn a usage permit, I'm not giving this one out — so don't covet it."

"…Yes, ma'am."

Haring sank even deeper into depression.

"Is that something you really need, Lea?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Nya-nya asked, curious. Until now Lea had handed out treasures without a second thought — yet here she was, showing genuine possessiveness over a single item.

Lea nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Well, of course.

"Because I can use it without thinking."

How was she supposed to resist a magic remote six times faster than normal?