Fruit of Wisdom (4)
“A disciple, you say. Hmm.”
With my arms crossed, I pondered my decision to take Noa as my disciple. Elera, seated in her rocking chair, spoke up.
“Why? Reluctant to teach magic to others?”
“That’s not it.”
In a way, I shared the same values as Adelian, Kelton’s master. Magic was meant to be spread so that everyone could use it.
“That’s quite a unique way of thinking. What’s your reason?”
“The more I spread it, the more magic I get to learn myself.”
“I knew it.”
Leaving a shaking head behind, I led Noa into Elera’s workshop.
“Lady Ruina is going to teach someone. Lord Leon, what do we do?”
“Let’s just watch for now.”
The others gathered around me as well, watching. Feeling rather like a circus clown, I began the lesson.
“From this moment on, we’ll see just how much Noa loves magic.”
“I’m getting nervous…”
“To do that, we first need to determine his elemental affinity. Please wait a moment.”
I handed Noa the disk—the elemental affinity tool Adelian had given Kelton, and which I had inherited from him.
“Just hold it still.”
“Like this?”
“Yes.”
Noa tilted the disk, rolling the marble around. Then it happened.
Clatter.
The marble rolled along the groove inside the disk and dropped into the basket below. I took the disk from him and checked the basket. A navy-blue marble sat inside.
This was…
“You’re born with the lightning element.”
“Is that good?”
“There’s no good or bad when it comes to elemental affinity. Though lightning is certainly rare.”
I stared blankly at Noa. Lightning affinity…
“Lady Ruina is drooling. This is bad. She’s going to steal all his magic.”
“We should intervene.”
“Please don’t turn her into a monster who gets blinded by magic and devours even her own disciple.”
Ahem. I cleared my throat and raised a finger. Whoosh. A flame bloomed inside the lantern floating beside me. Chris spoke up.
“You look like you’re about to light a flame on your finger, so why the lantern?”
“I’ve told you many times—there’s a restriction like that.”
“Then why raise your finger?”
“For the mood. Noa, how about it? Do you feel anything?”
“…No.”
“No talent, then. Welcome. I have none either.”
Now this was starting to feel like proper teaching. Lightning affinity, huh.
“This’ll be tricky.”
“Really? Why?”
When I muttered that, Chris chimed in. I kindly explained.
“Water, you just dunk them in a lake. Earth, bury them in the ground. Wind, strip them and shove them off a cliff. Fire, roast them over flames. But lightning’s hard to produce artificially, isn’t it?”
“Lord Leon, she really is dangerous. We have to intervene.”
“I’ll handle the tree giant. Lady Chris, please deal with the tree soldiers. Lord Jerry, I ask that you intercept any incoming flame-element attacks from range.”
“Understood.”
Things were getting out of hand. I moved my lips.
“It was a joke.”
“That’s the classic ‘things are going badly so I’ll pretend it was a joke’ escape tactic. Don’t let your guard down.”
“Understood.”
“Confirmed.”
“You all get along so well.”
If everyone’s relationships improved thanks to me, that was enough. I fell into thought. Noa’s talent was clearly not exceptional. If it had been, he would have manifested lightning the moment he witnessed magic, even if it wasn’t his innate element. When talent was lacking, the fastest method was to let them experience or observe their innate element. But how to experience lightning…
I looked up and saw snow falling outside the window. It was winter now. Hmm. A good idea came to mind. I rubbed a cloth vigorously and held it out to Noa. Curious, he reached for it, but I pulled it back and added,
“You can’t just touch it. Try to feel the element while you touch it.”
“Got it.”
Taking my advice to heart, Noa touched the cloth.
“Ow, that stings.”
“Do you feel anything?”
“Mmm.”
“Again.”
After repeating this several times, lightning finally burst from Noa’s hand.
“Whoa.”
Noa gazed in wonder at the radiant light. Anyone experiencing the mystery of magic for the first time wore that expression.
“Congratulations, Noa. With this, you’ve become a 0th-rank mage.”
“What do I do now?”
“You have to discover the characteristics of the element. In my case, I found ‘equality’ and ‘devouring’ in fire, and ‘change’ in water. Use that as reference.”
“…Characteristics.”
Noa sank into thought, lightning still crackling in his hand.
“It usually doesn’t happen in one go. It took me a month.”
“Okay.”
“Empty your mind and focus on your senses. You need to feel something purely from the lightning through your senses.”
Drawing from the memories of what Kelton had taught me, I planted a lightning rod in Noa’s mind. The words themselves wouldn’t help immediately. If someone gained enlightenment right after hearing an explanation, it meant one of two things: they had already been on the verge of it, or they were mistaken. The latter was far more common. So all I was doing was installing a guiding mechanism. One day, he would suddenly realize, “Ah! That’s what you meant back then!” If someone asked whether that wasn’t just him realizing it himself, the answer was yes—it was. The lightning rod I planted only ensured the lightning struck exactly where it should; the lightning itself still had to be generated by him. That was simply how magic worked. A master’s limit was helping those who were meant to succeed do so faster. Making the incapable capable was impossible.
“Lady Ruina is actually teaching properly… Lord Leon, my stomach feels weird…”
“Something must be wrong. This might be illusion magic.”
“Shall we try dispelling it?”
“Everyone, I’ve been feeling this for a while now, but you all coordinate remarkably well.”
I put a pipe in my mouth. Jerry scurried over and lit it. Hoo. Exhaling a long stream of smoke, I looked at Noa. He was generating lightning on his palm, eyes calm, as if something had clicked. Or maybe not. Either way, it was good to see his training progressing smoothly. Still… I clicked my tongue. He wasn’t eating it. What a shame.
“Lord Leon. Lady Ruina just went ‘nom nom.’”
“That was the signal that she wants to eat magic.”
“It was something even weirder. What do we do? Are we going to get eaten too?”
“Enough. Make dinner. I’m getting hungry.”
“Got it.”
*
Noa was a diligent disciple. He came looking for me the moment he woke and spent the entire day learning magic by my side. I sighed as I ate the soup Chris had made.
“Haa. Back then, I cooked for my master myself, but disciples these days don’t do that.”
“Lady Ruina was the one who nagged me before Noa could even pick up a knife, saying she wanted something tasty.”
“But it was delicious, wasn’t it?”
Chris, now openly carrying her cooking pouch, had steadily improved her skills. Had she stopped cross-dressing? When had she started showing herself so naturally?
“I didn’t stop, but there’s no need to do it here, is there? It’s not like I have goods to sell.”
“A wise choice.”
“The pressure bandages make my chest feel stuffy anyway. It’s more comfortable not to.”
Chris answered while swinging her feet back and forth. She did look more at ease this way. Even if she was a succubus.
“Lady Ruina, you just had a weird thought, didn’t you?”
“No?”
“Weird…”
Chris’s senses were growing sharper by the day. At this rate, she might awaken mind-reading.
“Master.”
Noa approached. His expression was calm, yet there was an impatience beneath it that didn’t match his face. He seemed bothered that he was still at 0th rank. It had only been a few days since he first learned magic, so it was natural, but telling him that wouldn’t help. People’s hearts didn’t work that way. How troublesome humans were. Magic really was the best.
I calmly guided him.
“What matters is sensation. Grasp what you feel intuitively, then thread that image into the world’s spine.”
“Sensation, intuition, spine, image.”
“Honestly, I just made that up on the spot. Focus only on intuition.”
“Lady Ruina really does teach however she wants, huh?”
However she wants, my foot. I was only trying to lighten the mood because he was overthinking. Noa observed the lightning again and again. I leaned in and whispered softly into his ear.
“Rage, destruction, revelation, exorcism, annihilation, judgment, awakening, terminus, purification, ordeal, crushing, punishment, fissure, distortion, swiftness…”
Then it happened. Crackle. The lightning resting on Noa’s hand grew faint. Huh… This meant it worked, right? Just as I narrowed my eyes at the strange situation, the faded lightning suddenly returned to full strength and pierced the air.
“Oh.”
This was an interesting characteristic. I asked Noa,
“Is it the characteristic of ‘ordeal’?”
“…The lightning keeps pressing against me with a tingling sensation, like a god’s trial.”
Everything was fine except for the fact that he was looking at me while saying that. It almost sounded like I was the one applying the pressure. The ability of lightning with the “ordeal” characteristic was simple. Just as it imposed a trial upon the lightning itself, it forcibly weakened it, creating a kind of stealth state.
“A fine characteristic. Polish it well.”
“Okay.”
“Now then, Lady Elera! Noa is a proper mage now! As promised, please tell us the Holy Grail’s location.”
“User of the Celestial Scales. Does your conscience not prick you even as you say that?”
“Still not working, I see.”
What a shame. Left with no choice, I resumed teaching Noa—then, noticing something, I turned my gaze to the flickering flame inside the lantern. The characteristics of elements…