Voice Magic #2
Voice Magic #2
Saving Lili's life?
I realized immediately what the black-haired witch was talking about.
It happened right after Rebecca and I formed our fixed party.
During our very first quest together, I'd saved the client Lili's life. I annihilated the Giant Goblin threatening her with a Mana Sphere.
"Thank you, adventurer. It seems my niece was in your debt."
"Not at all. Protecting the client is only natural. But—are you the owner of this shop?"
Lili herself had told me the shopkeeper running the magic shop was her relative.
A relative of Lili's, born into a cadet branch of a mage family.
I was beginning to piece together the identity of the black-haired witch standing before me.
The black-haired witch nodded as if to confirm my thoughts.
"That's right. I'm the shopkeeper here. My name is Grace. And you're the adventurer Luke, correct?"
I answered the witch Grace's question with a simple yes. I knew it was rude, but I couldn't help staring at her with frank curiosity.
For two years, I'd passed by this shop like it was part of my daily commute, but I'd never once laid eyes on Grace. A witch with such a voluptuous appearance—she would've been impossible to forget.
"You rarely come into the shop yourself, I take it? I've never seen you, Grace, even though I pass by here often."
"I have a severe case of wanderlust. Whenever I get the chance, I'm always roaming outside the city. I can just leave all the work to Lili, you see."
Fucking jealous.
Traveling to your heart's content and returning to find the shop has been making money for you? Isn't that practically a cheat code? I wanted to become a building owner like this witch someday, too. A landlord who outranks even the gods. The rule that property owners live the high life was no different in this other world.
"Leave all the work to Lili? That's straight-up child exploitation."
"Shh! You really ought not dig too deeply into that. I'd rather not have to turn you into a frog, Luke. Let's hurry and finish your business here. Show me the item you came to sell."
At my jab, Grace replied with a deep smile and adroitly changed the subject.
So if I kept talking about Lili, I'd be turned into a frog?
Was the person standing in front of me a child-exploiting witch?
Breaking out in a cold sweat, I pulled out the orb. I vowed that the next time I met Lili, I would absolutely ask her about her situation.
"Here it is. An orb that was lodged in a pagan totem. I heard it amplifies magical effects?"
"Oh! A Black Jade Orb. With this level of depth to the color, I can value it at 30 Silver. There's some chipping here and there, but I'll overlook that. After all, you're the adventurer Luke, who saved my precious Lili."
Grace pulled a sack of silver coins from beneath the counter. When I counted the silver coins inside myself, it came out to exactly 30 Silver. A deeply suspicious witch was standing right in front of me, but in this moment, I was so happy I could lose my mind.
Getting 30 Silver in a lump sum! If I solved a few more quests, the money in my pocket might just exceed 1 Gold. I'd get to actually hold a glittering gold coin in my hand.
"Thank you, valued customer."
Grace bowed her head to me. But I didn't want to leave the magic shop just yet. Since I was already here, I wanted to buy a new magic book. I'd just come into some coin—investing in my specs wasn't a bad idea at all.
"I'm not leaving yet. Do you have any basic magic books you'd recommend? I'd like to buy one right here."
"A basic magic book? Ah, you're a wandering magician, right, Luke? When it comes to purchasing magic books, I think I can help you out."
She said she'd help, but for some reason, Grace made no move to get up from the counter. She just stared at me blankly.
"...You won't give me a magic book?"
"Before I select a magic book for you, I'd first like to measure your magical ability, Luke. That way, I can find you the most suitable one."
She'd measure my magical ability?
Was she some kind of scout wearing human skin? I was flustered for a moment, but Grace was a wandering magician with far more experience than me. Having her assess my abilities seemed like a reliable enough proposition.
"Do you normally measure every customer who's picking out a magic book? Lili never did that for me."
"Normally, I don't do this sort of thing. But since you saved Lili's life, Luke, I'm providing this as a special service."
A free service!
To think that saving Lili would be repaid in this way.
Before Grace could change her mind, I quickly began forming hand seals. Right there in front of her, I cast every magic spell I'd learned so far, one after another.
"Please take a close look."
Magic Missile, to summon a Mana Sphere.
Water, to produce a droplet.
Liquid, to manipulate the flow of water.
Boiling, to raise the temperature of water.
Fire, to ignite a small flame.
A total of five spells unfolded over my hands. Grace watched my magic demonstration with an unreadable, indifferent expression.
"What do you think?"
"The number of spells you've learned is small, but you use them proficiently. You've been learning magic for quite a long time, I see? From childhood."
"What?"
I'd been learning magic for a long time?
What was this witch even talking about? Was she a quack?
But Grace's expression was nonchalant, as if she were stating the obvious.
"Because a level of magical proficiency like yours requires at least three years of study. Only the Fire Magic appears to have been learned relatively recently."
"What are you basing that judgment on?"
"The hand seals you're forming, Luke. You're using perfected, fully optimized hand seals—judging from the fact that the 'original' form has almost completely vanished."
"There's a separate original form for hand seals?"
"Yes. I'm talking about the hand seals printed in magic books. The most common set of hand gestures. Mages continually train their magic and refine the hand seals into a form that suits them personally. Finding the hand seals optimized for oneself takes a very long time."
"Is... is that so."
I replied with a quizzical look. All I had ever done was exactly mimic the hand seals demonstrated by the practitioner in the book. The four spells besides Fire Magic—to think those were already the optimized forms for me. Did this mean my book was truly different from ordinary magic books?
"So, how would you rate my magical ability?"
"Above average among wandering magicians... According to the hierarchy classified by the Magic Tower, the second rank from the bottom. In other words, you're not on the same level as those run-of-the-mill drifters rolling around on the streets."
So there was a separate hierarchy for classifying mages?
But Grace didn't give me a detailed explanation of the hierarchy.
The moment I nodded my head—
Grace suddenly looked me over and made an unexpected proposal.
"Instead of buying a magic book, how about learning magic directly from me? I have a lesson right now that would be perfect for you, Luke."
I was stunned by Grace's words.
A magic mentor!
Grace was proposing to become my mentor. Honestly, the only mages I'd seen around me up until now had all been total frauds.
I'd had no clue where to even begin looking for a teacher. It goes without saying that meeting a good teacher is far better than self-studying from magic books.
"I never expected a master-disciple relationship might form in a place like this."
At that moment, I had no idea how I was supposed to treat Grace. Should I just break into an spirited round of nine-fold prostrations like in those martial arts novels? But as I made a fuss, Grace stared at me with a puzzled expression.
"A master-disciple relationship? We wandering magicians don't do that sort of thing."
"Excuse me?"
"It's a matter of buying and selling magic for money. The word 'sale' is more fitting than 'teaching,' wouldn't you say? Getting tied down by sentimental bonds is something only those stuck-up scholars at the Magic Tower do. We wanderers only teach as much as we're paid. So, I'm telling you it'd be awkward for me if you treated me like a real mentor."
Grace was drawing a clear line.
So this was the world of wandering magicians. It was a shittier world than I'd imagined. Thanks to that, I was able to calm down and properly request a lesson from Grace.
"First, let me know what kind of lesson it is. Then I can decide whether or not to buy it."
"I'll teach you the basics of Voice Magic. That lesson is what you need most right now, Luke. It's a method of using magic purely by reciting a spell."
"How is that different from forming hand seals?"
"You'll understand once you see it."
Grace took a breath from where she sat and briefly recited a spell.
"Water."
She simply uttered the incantation.
Yet, before I knew it, a large droplet of water had materialized above the counter. I recognized it instantly as the Water Magic spell. And I couldn't help but be astonished by the droplet. Summoning a droplet without even forming a hand seal? What kind of miracle had she just performed?
As I stood there bewildered, Grace spoke to me.
"Using hand seals as a medium for magic is the most basic method. If you rely solely on seal magic, you can't reach a high realm as a mage. Hand seals, after all, only describe the outward representation of magical principles. What I'm saying is that the important core is empty."
The representation of magical principles? The core is empty?
Difficult words were being thrown around, tangling up my head.
Was this because she was a witch who inherited the lineage of a mage family?
To be honest, I didn't really give a damn about whatever those magical principles were. But I really wanted to learn the method of casting magic just by sitting down and reciting a spell. Magic bursting out of thin air without me even wagging a finger.
Wasn't that just the ultimate free lunch?
"The lesson fee is 1 Silver."
Grace held out her palm toward me.
"What exactly will 1 Silver get me taught?"
"Until you can cast the Water Magic spell using only your voice. If there's a different spell you want, I can do that instead. Liquid? Boiling? Name whichever you like."
From the looks of it, 1 Silver covered upgrading one spell—changing the medium from hand seals to voice. To be honest, I wanted to upgrade all five spells I currently knew, but I still couldn't fully trust the witch before me. I figured it'd be best to take one lesson first, and if it worked, then I'd buy the others.
The question was which of the five spells to choose.
After some deliberation, I chose the Water Magic spell. It was the foundational axis of my career—I was practically working as a water mage. The other spells were all linked to creating water droplets. If I could conjure a water droplet using just my mouth, the process of forming a Water Whip would become insanely faster.
"I'll choose the Water Magic spell. Let's start with that one. Can you teach me right now?"
"Of course. There are no customers, and I'm free anyway. The basic theory lesson will likely be over within an hour. After that, it's just me assisting you with the practical application by your side."
"I'm in your care."
And so, I began learning Voice Magic from the witch Grace.
There were ten days left until the promotion match.
Learning something new within that time would be a huge help. A promotion match where who-knew-what kind of trolls might show up. I was determined to master this spell with every intention of grabbing them by the scruff of the neck and carrying the whole match.
They said a healer had been mixed into the promotion match, but you never knew what might happen, did you? That healer might unexpectedly turn out to be a troll. For starters, it was suspicious that a nun was still stuck at Bronze rank. Skilled nuns typically ranked up at super speed and advanced to Silver as a matter of course.
A Bronze nun.
That combination suddenly reminded me of someone.
'No way.'
It's probably not her.
I truly hoped I wouldn't run into her again in the promotion match.
Kate.