Witch's Forest (2)
When it came to handling void magic, Lawrence always drew help from the surrounding environment.
The shadows gathered at his feet.
Shadows cast by trees.
When night fell, the darkness settling over the world lent him its strength.
“What does it mean when void magic has an advantage over every attribute?”
「It’s the nature of void itself. It accepts everything, and at the same time it has the power to devour everything. The only attribute it does not surpass is Radiance. On the other hand, Radiance only has the upper hand against void. It doesn’t hold a clear advantage over any other attribute.」
Magic was broadly divided into the four great elements.
Laurzara went on to explain the relationships between them.
Water overcame fire, and fire overcame wind.
Wind overcame earth, and earth overcame water.
There were other attributes as well, though they did not belong to the four great elements.
Still, they usually did not stray beyond those basic relationships.
In other words, the only exceptions were void and Radiance.
Void defeated every attribute except Radiance.
Radiance, in turn, only held sway over void.
So that was why Shadow Spear had failed to bring down the Key Guardians.
A sacred shield imbued with the Radiance attribute.
Thinking about the attribute hierarchy, perhaps attacking with Fire Tail would have been the right choice.
Of course, whether it would actually have shattered the shield was another matter.
Even if he had broken it, the reach of Fire Tail was short; the soldiers’ counterattack afterward would still have been a problem.
「There is no perfect magic. Every mystery has its strengths and its flaws, and how one uses them depends on the individual judgment of the caster. In other words, a mage’s true skill lies in making the right decision for the right situation.」
Laurzara reached toward the wreath.
Vines and branches twisted together.
This time, they did not bloom into flowers.
Instead, a rough, thick tree trunk, as broad as a man’s forearm, thrust upward. At its tip, a sprig of pure white mistletoe grew and then dropped onto the table.
「Theory is enough for now, don’t you think? All right, first let’s listen to the whispering of the forest. As you can see, Witchcraft in the forest begins with conversing with the plants.」
With a light wave of her hand, the table disappeared.
She set the pure white mistletoe on Lawrence’s head.
「Close your eyes and focus. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the forest’s whisper.」
Lawrence clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.
As darkness settled over his vision, a quiet stillness came over the room.
But closing his eyes did not mean he could focus at once.
However strong his concentration might be when it came to magic, this was his first time trying something in an unfamiliar place, and it would be strange if it went smoothly.
Countless stray thoughts surfaced and vanished like bubbles rising through sleep.
The first worry that flickered through his mind was, as always, magic itself.
Up to now, the boy had never studied and mastered magic steadily, one step at a time, like climbing stairs.
It had been a kind of imitation.
The moment he saw a mystery, he understood it.
A nonsensical stage in which the process was omitted and only the result was given.
Could he really learn magic like this?
What if he lacked the talent and never managed to properly master it?
That was a fear buried deep in his chest.
Being able to handle magic and having talent for magic were not the same thing.
The truth was, he might not be one of the chosen at all.
It was a reality he had been too afraid to face.
As the unease began to gnaw at his heart, something warm enveloped Lawrence.
「Don’t worry. For now, you don’t need anxiety or concern. The Mother of the Forest loves all life without limit and embraces it without end. That includes you, child of her affection. You’re no exception. Understand this: before nature, how small we truly are.」
A kindly breeze blew.
Carried by the wind, Lawrence became a bird.
Beyond the eyelids that should have shown him nothing, the world turned blue.
A blue sky stretched beyond the horizon.
A dense forest whispered with the breath of nature.
The bird slicing through the sky came to rest on a branch.
It preened its feathers while never loosening its guard.
Keeping watch for a predator was instinct.
The bird’s gaze swept over the forest, taking in one scene after another.
Newly sprouting buds.
Leaves swaying in the wind.
Flowers in full bloom and ripe fruit hanging heavy on the branches.
Butterflies and bees busied themselves among them, flitting from place to place.
A nameless bird approached the tree.
It fed its hungry chicks, who never stopped chirping.
Lower down, he could see larger mountain beasts.
A lion waiting for a flaw in its prey.
A deer that kept its nerves taut even while grazing.
Hyenas hoping for scraps left behind after the predator had fed.
At last, the lion that had been waiting for its chance sprang from the brush.
Rustle.
At the sudden commotion nearby, songbirds burst into the sky.
The life drained from the deer’s eyes as it became nothing more than a meal.
The world of the strong devouring the weak.
It was ruthless, but at the same time, it was also the path by which new life continued.
He knew that.
The life and death Veles had spoken of.
The great cycle he had seen on the road with the red lizard.
He could not forget it.
There was no need to resist the great flow.
The Mother of the Forest embraced all of it and carried it into the next generation.
The mystery that had once felt endlessly distant was now right beside him.
“……”
The forest scene scattered like an illusion.
In its place stood a tree overflowing with life.
The great tree Laurzara had called Yggdrasil.
It had grown so vast that even its blue light could barely be glimpsed, a tree that seemed more like the roof of the heavens.
The warmth of nature.
An embracing gentleness he had never felt before ran through his entire body.
Why had he failed to notice that it had always been this close?
Now he could hear it without even listening.
The gentle breath of nature softly enveloped the mana.
It felt like watching a surging current.
No matter how tightly he tried to hold it, the mana slipped through his fingers.
Twice as fast as before.
Twice as strong a flow as before.
And yet he was not afraid.
The passing wind.
The continuing mana.
He did not look away from the flow that had always stood by his side.
This was the forest’s whisper.
There was no need to clutch mana in both hands.
He only had to read the great current and point it in the right direction.
And then Lawrence opened his eyes.
「You heard the Mother’s voice, didn’t you?」
Laurzara’s voice came from beside his ear.
If it had been her who embraced him from behind, then countless vines were now coiled around his body, protecting him like a cage.
He did not feel uncomfortable.
Rather, he felt a soothing warmth, like being held in a cradle.
“Yes. I heard it.”
「Good. Then we’ll make some plants grow.」
The vines intertwined and pointed ahead.
It was a tiny clearing near the flowerbed Laurzara had made.
Seeing that, Lawrence shook his head.
「Too hard? That’s all right. Nature will answer your call.」
That wasn’t it.
She had misread him.
“It’s too small.”
As though she did not understand what he meant, she tilted her head.
“I’ll do it over there.”
Lawrence pointed beyond the flowerbed.
It was the place where the forest’s whisper could be heard.
More precisely, it was a clearing where one current overlapped with another.
「That’s the flow of the ley lines. It’s beyond what you can control right now.」
He had not been asking for permission.
It felt as though if he reached out, he could grab it right then and there.
What Lawrence was listening to now was a great current nothing like the one she knew.
He could not afford to miss this chance.
Before this sensation faded, he had to carve it into his body.
Lawrence reached out.
「This is…」
「Laurzara.」
In the clearing where one current overlapped another, a small cluster of light rose.
Gold, like the starlight he had once held in his hands.
The golden radiance flickering like heat haze rose from the ground into the air, and from the air into the blue sky.
There was no need to try to control everything.
It was true that controlling and mastering magic was important, but one must not handle it while ignoring its most essential nature.
That was right. No matter how hard one tried to seize a great current and twist it by force, the result would be little more than mediocre.
「Remember this well. Magic is borrowing the principles of the world. Do not try to become the world’s principles all by yourself. Even magic you believe you’ve accomplished alone cannot be used without the world’s help. Look around you. There will always be neighbors near at hand, lending you their hands.」
How foolish he had been.
He had understood none of Veles’s teachings until now.
How stubborn he had been.
He had received Acheron’s teachings only by twisting them into something else.
Lawrence had thought Primeval Magic was simply magic completed with the help of one’s neighbors.
But that was not it.
At last, he understood what it meant to borrow a hand.
The strange vital force born of nature.
The forest’s life, luminous with light.
The world was full of neighbors smaller than the beings of the Spirit World.
Before he knew it, a laugh slipped out of him.
Why hadn’t he understood?
That the world was living in harmony with so many neighbors all around him.
“Bind.”
The small roots surged into rapid growth.
Like a clock hand spinning out of control.
Leaving the other plants behind, only the roots grew wild and alone.
Crack.
Roots sank into the surrounding ground.
The stems that had begun as vines became tree trunks.
Before long, they had grown into something proper, like another member of the forest itself.
「…….」
Laurzara, as if spellbound, reached out to touch the tree that had sprung up. The branches swayed in the wind, and the leaves, green with life, proved that the tree was healthy.
It felt like dreaming.
A strange sensation, as if his body were his own and yet not his own.
If he moved his hands, mana moved too, and it felt as if he could bring other plants into bloom by following that great flow.
Before the great Mother of Nature.
Lawrence was nothing more than a tiny existence.
But that was not the end.
He accepted that he was a small being.
And as one part of the world, he borrowed the power of his neighbors.
That was the Primeval Magic Veles and Acheron had taught him.
「You know, Lawrence—」
Still half merged with the great flow, Lawrence did not even hear her properly.
「If you happen to die, would you consider leaving that body to me…」
「Laurzara.」
That was not the sort of thing that could just be ignored.
Arwen stopped her sister before she could say anything more outrageous.
* * *
Lawrence was looking up at Yggdrasil.
A great tree that even blocked out the sky.
Even if he raised his hand, only branches showed beyond his meager field of vision. Even when he closed his eyes and focused, the comforting warmth no longer reached him.
It was truly like a midsummer night’s dream.
If it had not been for the tree that had grown in the clearing, he might have dismissed all of it as an illusion.
Apparently, the witches had been protecting this Yggdrasil for an immeasurably long time.
「Big sister Auriela is the main support. Right now, Laurzara’s only backup.」
That was why she had not been able to come to Dragon Valley.
She said she didn’t mind much, but the look she gave Lawrence was so unusual that, somehow, it seemed she was regretting it a little now.
Lawrence was not so insensitive that he would ask what that regret was about.
Resting had been enough.
He could not forget the proper method.
Sitting down, Lawrence quietly closed his eyes.
It was silent around him.
Arwen and Laurzara had been called away by Auriela.
Night had fallen over the Witch’s Forest, and only the occasional song of insects drifted through the air like a chorus.
Just like a temple, it was an excellent place to focus on magic.
Lawrence’s fingertips moved toward an ordinary weed anyone might see.
He was not creating something from nothing.
It was more like giving a small push to something that had already been prepared.
Even that alone made magic far easier to handle.
“Bind.”
The weed, guided by Lawrence’s hand, grew together like vines.
When he poured in mana, the pressure grew stronger; when he drew it back, the pressure weakened. If he hurled mana into it recklessly, the sheer force of pressure alone could even crush wood.
However, the efficiency was poor.
Once the pressure exceeded a certain point, he had to keep feeding in mana until the object literally broke apart. And at that point, using Fire Tail or Shadow Spear was far more worthwhile than spending that much mana.
So Lawrence changed his training method.
That was why he was using Bind directly on his hands and arms for fine control.
There was no need to bring an enemy down with Bind itself.
This was a spell that could restrain an opponent’s movements.
Take the Key Guardians who had been protecting the Holy Sanctuary, for instance.
Once they were bound with Bind, he could fight them by striking and retreating with Fire Tail.
He did not know how much mana would be needed to restrain them.
Still, Lawrence was happy simply to have found a new method.
The application of magic depended entirely on the caster.
Depending on how it was used, Bind could become a priceless spell—or sink into the mud.
The tree he had made by reading the great flow would probably be too difficult.
No matter how clean the Holy Sanctuary might be, weeds growing in the gaps could never all be cleared away. But there would be no such thing as a tree’s trunk or base.
That meant he would have to make the whole thing with Bind, from first to last.
Lawrence shook his head.
That was impossible.
The tail was bigger than the body.
Binding with vines and then finishing with Fire Tail still looked better, no matter how he thought about it.
And for that moment, he could not afford to neglect his Bind practice now.
He did not know how much time he had left.
And so the night only grew deeper.