What Is a Magical Girl, Really? (7)
— Unnie. Can you come to the sparring hall for a second?
It was right after Shin Seyeol had written down her renewed resolve. A notification popped up on her phone with a single message from Yun Yuri. The moment Seyeol read it, she immediately changed into her gym clothes.
By the time she arrived at the sparring hall, umbrella flipped open against the rain, Yuri was already sitting there quietly, waiting for her.
“You’re here, unnie?”
“What’s with calling me out in the middle of the night? Roll call’s in a bit.”
“I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. Sorry. Were you busy with something?”
“Not really, but…”
Seyeol glanced at Yuri’s fingers, which refused to stay still. The restless fidgeting was clearly an attempt to suppress emotions she couldn’t control.
“Haa… We need to finish before nine at the latest, okay?”
“Of course. I’m not exactly eager to rack up more demerits either.”
She had often ended up nearly late for dorm roll call after staying out late to spar with Yuri, so worry came naturally. With her demerits already piled up to a dangerous level, Seyeol hoped today would be different as she lightly loosened up her body.
“Ready?”
“Yeah. We can start.”
“Okay. Starlight is also fully prepared.”
“Transform!”
The two shouted the command at the same time. A surge of power filled them as their outfits and appearances began to change. In the blink of an eye, the sparring hall no longer held ordinary students, but magical girls radiating intense auras.
Yun Yuri—Starlight—looked at Seyeol, who stood in an imposing stance while holding a lance as tall as she was. Seyeol, in turn, carefully observed Starlight, who gripped a star-shaped staff tightly, her colorful dress fluttering.
The two stood in silence for a long moment before moving at the exact same instant.
Clang—!
Seyeol accelerated with magic and closed the distance in an instant, thrusting her lance forward with force. Starlight deflected the attack using her staff while casting the defensive spell Shield. The moment she landed, a completed magic circle behind Seyeol glowed brightly.
It was three shots of the basic projectile spell Magic Missile.
This was nothing like her clumsy early days. The trajectories alternated between straight lines and curves, making them nearly impossible to predict. Starlight already knew that Seyeol’s skill with Magic Missile rivaled that of a graduate.
She avoided direct confrontation as much as possible, mixing up her footwork to focus on evasion and defense. She barely dodged one shot, but the other two were too fast to track with her eyes. In the end, she had to block them with her shield.
Starlight wasn’t just going to take the hits. She immediately prepared five Fireballs, but Seyeol’s movements were far quicker. The lance already flying toward her was a serious threat.
When facing a unique weapon, you had to respond with your own. She left the flickering fireballs floating in the air, gripped her staff with both hands, and angled it at the spot where she predicted the lance would arrive.
Unlike the erratic Magic Missiles, the javelin’s path was simple. But its speed and weight demanded total concentration, sweat beading on her forehead. Just before the lance’s tip could touch her body, she struck its side hard, nullifying the attack. Then she immediately launched the three pre-prepared fireballs at Seyeol’s position.
Maybe it was because they were slower than Magic Missile, the fastest projectile spell. Or perhaps because the attack was too straightforward. Either way, Seyeol managed to slip into Starlight’s range and dodge them completely.
“Since when did you learn hand-to-hand combat?”
“Did you forget who our homeroom teacher is?”
An arm strengthened by mana came swinging toward Starlight. She swung her staff hard to knock the hand away, but Seyeol’s movements were lighter than anything she had seen before. It was as if she had broken free of shackles.
There was a stronger light in Seyeol’s eyes than ever before.
Don’t tell me… Has Seyeol unnie reached her Root?
By letting go of her obsession with the lance as her main weapon and deciding to break free from the expectations others placed on her, Seyeol’s mana had become crystal clear.
Fist techniques. Strong Fist. According to Cha Seoyeon, it was nothing more than wrapping mana around your fist and striking with full power. Yet despite its simplicity, the effect was incredible. If Cha Seoyeon had been here, she would have gasped in admiration and praised her.
Starlight barely managed to defend with her shield, but she couldn’t avoid tumbling across the sparring hall floor. The shield had already consumed a significant amount of her mana. Still, she refused to break here.
What did it matter if her mana was low? What did it matter if she was being overpowered?
Even while rolling, Starlight gripped the staff she had never let go of.
I don’t know if this will work, but I called Seyeol unnie here because I wanted to try it in the first place!
The star-shaped ornament at the end of the staff began to spin. One rotation. Two. It gradually picked up speed until afterimages started to appear.
Clink.
“What’s that sound?”
Clink.
A clear, refreshing sound like metal wind chimes colliding echoed through the sparring hall. Soon after, orange mana slowly rose behind Starlight. The light closely resembled the color the rising sun scatters across the sky beyond the horizon.
“Unnie, here I come?”
Because it was her first attempt, the mana felt slightly unstable. But it still followed her will. The magic she created was completely different from the existing magic system.
The moment Seyeol saw it, she immediately realized what this magic was.
Starlight’s Unique Magic. First stage.
“Sunrise.”
Sunrise
First Stage — The light of dawn that illuminates the horizon.
✮✮✮
Seyeol fixed her disheveled hair and asked Yuri,
“Was that your Unique Magic just now?”
“I think so?”
With an awkward expression, Yun Yuri checked Seyeol’s body. Fortunately, the output had been too weak to cause any serious injuries. Yuri helped Seyeol up and sat her down on a nearby chair.
“I was so surprised. The moment I saw a magic I’d never felt before, my mind went completely blank.”
“Really? Honestly, I’m still dazed too. I don’t fully understand it yet.”
“Even though it was unstable, you still used your Unique Magic. Yuri, does that mean you’ve discovered your Root?”
Yuri answered Seyeol’s question with a nod, without the slightest hesitation.
“…That’s seriously impressive. How long has it been since you started learning from Jihye? To already be able to use Unique Magic this quickly. Is it because of your honest personality?”
“Haha…”
She couldn’t bring herself to say that she had been talking with Salbyeol about the Root the entire time before Seyeol arrived. So she simply gave an embarrassed smile.
Yuri, wanting to lighten the mood, asked Seyeol something that had been on her mind.
“Oh! Now that I think about it, you don’t have a magical girl name, do you, unnie?”
“Nope.”
“Why not? Haven’t you ever wanted to come up with one?”
“Of course I thought about it a lot, but… it felt a bit off.”
“What do you mean? Is it because it feels too heavy? Just make one like I did. Whatever feels right. Keep it simple.”
At Yuri’s question, Seyeol found it hard to open her mouth right away.
Any girl who awakened as a magical girl would, at least once, agonize over her magical girl name. It was an inescapable fate and destiny for any girl going through puberty. It was practically a rule to scribble your ultimate move in the corner of a notebook, decide on your unique weapon, and even pick a magical girl name. Even if you eventually grew up, realized how the world worked, and stopped doing such things, the names you once came up with remained in your heart.
Seyeol must have been the same. There was surely a magical girl name she had thought up in her head.
Yuri waited for an answer with quiet anticipation. But Seyeol gently turned down her suggestion.
“I’m still a little scared. The moment I give myself a magical girl name, it feels like I’m deciding that I have to become this kind of magical girl… I don’t want to lock myself up anymore.”
Those words came from the thought that she didn’t necessarily need to settle on a magical girl name. And the moment she said it out loud, Seyeol realized that a magical girl name was a way to verbally express one’s Root.
The brilliant light of Starlight. The Red Star that illuminates the world. Blossom, which makes flowers bloom in full glory. All of their Unique Magics were deeply connected to their magical girl names. So perhaps naming yourself—capturing your Root in a name—was an incredibly difficult task.
Then what about Jihye… Just what is her Root that her magical girl name is Cosmo?
When her thoughts started drifting in another direction, Yuri spoke up again.
“But unnie, haven’t you realized your Root too?”
“…Me?”
The unexpected evaluation left Seyeol genuinely shocked. She had definitely felt the weight on her heart lighten, but she had judged herself as still far from fully understanding her Root.
Yuri couldn’t help but feel frustrated watching Seyeol underestimate herself. The aura Seyeol had shown during their sparring earlier had been completely different from before.
“Didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Didn’t your body feel lighter than usual today?”
“…Now that you mention it, I guess it did.”
“That’s probably a sign you’re about to reach your Root. You just need to take one more step. In that sense, how about trying to come up with a magical girl name, unnie?”
“You think that last missing step is because I haven’t decided on a magical girl name yet?”
“That’s what I believe, unnie.”
When her little sister put it like that, how could she refuse?
“…Alright. I’ll think about it.”
After that, the two briefly shared their thoughts on the spar before checking the time and hurriedly running back to the dormitory. Fortunately, they managed to avoid getting any demerits.