Ep.3 - Magic Training
Ep.3 - Magic Training
At dawn, when the moon and sun exchanged a farewell kiss,
four humans split into pairs with a small promise.
The knight and the thief heading to Raftel began their journey with each other's worn-out [trust] instead of handcuffs,
and the man from Raftel and the witch gathered their [strange feelings] together and began their journey.
From Delin's perspective, every word Chichi spoke was deeply suspicious,
but in reality, she dragged him around and began telling the other witches firmly,
"This child is no longer a teaching material but a student who will attend classes with you. He is my first disciple, so treat him well."
The other witches who witnessed this could not hide their shock.
The first thought that came to them was worry: had a large tumor grown in Chichi's head, preventing her from distinguishing right from wrong?
The next thought was suspicion that Chichi was trying to monopolize the man for herself,
and the final thought was a sense of betrayal at daring to take a mere man as a disciple.
Mockery and scorn stemming from that betrayal, with jealousy and anger mixed within.
The witches' faces flushed from all those emotions.
Glances laden with emotion...
"...If we keep going like this, I think next time it won't be rape but murder, you know?"
"It can't be helped. If you want to live more comfortably, we have to make it clear from now on."
Perched on Chichi's broom, Delin sighed heavily with a worried face.
Every witch they met reacted differently, but in the end, they all ended up glaring at him as if they wanted to kill him themselves.
"For the time being, don't wander around alone. Don't even leave the house."
"Yeah. I don't want to die either."
If he died now, he'd end up back near Neva's house again.
In that dark forest, not a single hopeful development would occur.
He absolutely could not die.
Being used and then dying like before was also out of the question.
"Especially tonight, stay quietly at home. I need to bring a boy to replace you. Otherwise, we don't know when the other girls might explode."
"What if they break down the door and come in like before?"
"I'll cast a spell so they can't break it before I leave, so you don't need to worry. Just trust your noona, okay?"
Well...
She says.
"I won't let you die. Talent like that isn't common."
"No, about that talent. Is it really real?"
Delin looked at Chichi with suspicion again.
If he had talent, shouldn't he have awakened or something and been using magic left and right by now?
"Of course. If you broke my magic, the talent is sufficient. Isn't it because you still don't know how to handle mana or use magic? I'll teach you everything, so don't worry. My disciple."
As if answering his suspicious gaze, Chichi looked at Delin with a gentle smile.
"...I'll trust you."
Let's trust her for now.
Because the only one he could trust right now was that noona, so...
"Good. I like that. When we get home, I'll teach you how to use mana first."
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A short while later,
Chichi's house.
"I told you that's not it! Focus more!"
"Imagine tracing every single blood vessel flowing through your body one by one!"
"Feel that energy!"
Chichi scolded Delin with a resolute attitude, all her previous kindness gone.
Their magic training was quite serious and strict.
But in Chichi's lesson, which he just couldn't grasp, Delin tilted his head endlessly, clumsily imitating her movements.
"Sseup! Again!"
"I-I'm doing it! I'm trying in my own way..."
"Talking back again!"
Chak-!
"Aiyat...!"
Only being hit mercilessly with some kind of rod, a 'cane of love' with no mercy!
"You're not grasping it at all. Start over from the beginning."
"Ahhoo... you hit too hard..."
Delin whimpered, clutching his sore calf. His calf, with a clear red line left on it...
"Hurry!"
But Chichi continued to hurry Delin without even giving him time to rub his calf.
He wondered how there could be such Spartan-style education.
Chak-!
"Aiyat! It hurts!"
"I said do it again!"
He wondered if this was the same person.
Since the training began, she had become an extremely strict teacher, relentlessly pushing forward without a moment's respite.
"If I do it, it'll work. If I do it...!"
Not wanting to be hit again with the rod, Delin hurriedly restarted his meditation.
But no matter how hard he tried, he could not produce a satisfactory result.
He was told to visualize the circulation of mana in his mind and awaken that power, but Delin, who had come from another world, had never handled mana in his life...!
How could he awaken it in a single morning!
"I'll make you keep going until you do it. Understand? From now on, I'll wield the rod every minute. Wake up quickly."
"W-wait! That's too much! I'm really trying my best...!"
"Talking back again!"
Chak-!
"Aheuk! Ah... I got it, so please stop hitting me!"
The harsh training continued for about 30 more minutes, but
in the end, Delin gained no enlightenment and merely endured 30 strikes of the rod.
"It hurts... Ueuk... I haven't been hit with a rod since elementary school..."
Clutching his calf crisscrossed with bright red lines, Delin sobbed.
When his mother hit him with a rod in his original world, it hurt too, but being hit by a woman of this world had a different quality of pain.
One might feel sympathy for Delin sobbing on the floor, but his strict teacher Chichi merely muttered repeatedly with a worried expression!
"Why can't he understand...? Handling mana is the basics of basics..."
From her perspective, she could not understand at all.
No, her perfect magic!
He shattered her magic, which boasted a perfection close to God, with [Mana Resonance], and yet he can't even properly grasp the flow of mana?
"This won't do. I need to be stricter. It seems I've been teaching you too gently. Right?"
Chichi immediately changed her teaching method and applied the [Special Discipline] widely known in witch society.
"From now on, every time you can't do it, five spanks on your bottom."
Delin, sprawled on the floor, couldn't help but startle at the very unfamiliar yet familiar expression.
"W-wait...! What do you mean spanked!? I'm not a child!"
"You talked back. Didn't you?"
Pang-!
"Aak! I-it hurts!"
Pang-!
"Ueheuk!"
Pang-!
"Apaat! I said it really hurts!"
"If you scream or cry, it's five more."
Pang-!
"Heueup, heuueup... keuheup..."
Pang-!
"Keuheueup...!"
Since a non-violent disciplinary attitude is not the mainstream in this other world,
punishment by spanking the bottom is also naturally allowed, it seems.
Of course, the act of pulling down one's pants and underwear and getting spanked is far too cruel and humiliating for a grown adult man, but...
"Noona is also heartbroken. Come here."
With Chichi's [Carrot and Stick] of ruthlessly spanking and then warmly hugging, wouldn't it be bearable?
"No! What am I, a kid!? If you're going to do it like this, I'd rather...!"
..It seems Delin doesn't think so.
But it's okay.
"Did you resist?"
Her gentle yet cold palm slowly rose up,
and struck his bottom again, making it tingle and turning him into a good boy!
Training with Delin, now docile again!
This time it continued for nearly an hour.
"My butt hurts... it feels like it's burst..."
Of course, when the training ended, Delin clutched his bright red bottom and cried bitterly, but that's not important.
What's important to Chichi is that Delin truly sincerely does not understand mana.
"This can't be... this can't be..."
An utterly incomprehensible result continued.
Could she have misjudged Delin's talent...?
"..."
Chichi drew a magic circle and aimed it at Delin.
Soon a blue energy leaked from the magic circle and slipped into Delin's gaping mouth,
"Ehekk!?"
Delin seemed startled but soon fell into a strange state of trembling dal-dal-dal,
"...!"
Truly amazingly, despite being afflicted by the high-level status ailment magic [Mental Paralysis], Delin quickly regained his senses and glared at Chichi!
"What are you doing...! All of a sudden!! Cough, cough..."
Chichi pondered these results with a very serious expression, lost in thought.
What on earth is this?
"...I'm sorry, but would it be okay if I try just one more time?"
It was clearly a question asking for his consent, but
a blue magic circle was already glowing in Chichi's hand.
"No! Absolutely not!"
The next magic was [Mental Shredding], even harder to use and consuming a great deal of mana.
"Egegegegek---"
A magic indeed well used. Flawless, a superb magic one could even boast was perfect.
"Aheuk... I told you not to...! I! Told you not to!! I told you!!!"
He broke free again this time.
After that, countless magics were used on Delin.
Starting with [Mana Constriction] and [Mana Explosion], just in case only mental-type magics were deflected...
Even [Body Strengthening] and [Weakening] were all deflected,
The [Piercing Mana Spear] that pierced Philmark's side also vanished upon touching his body,
Fire magic, water magic, wind magic, earth magic...
Holy magic, dark magic too!
All of them failed to exert their proper power and vanished.
"What on earth..."
His talent is definitely real.
What on earth is this!
Chichi's hands trembled. She simply could not understand.
"Stop, stop! I said stop!-"
Because of that, the last magic Chichi used could not be drawn with a proper magic circle and was slightly distorted,
and as it happened, that last magic was a type of curse magic restricting the opponent's body, [Silence],
"Eup! Eueup! Eup...?"
Delin could no longer open that noisy mouth.
"Ah...?"
Chichi felt perplexed at the strange situation.
5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute...
The continuously lasting Silence magic only added to Chichi's confusion.
"What on earth... is this...?"