Winds of Change - 2
"Euugh!!"
Magic Arrow. The only offensive spell among the basics — and it flew straight for the face of the adventurer gripping Luceia.
He staggered backward as though he'd taken a fist to the jaw, and as he reeled away, his companions' faces twisted like vengeful spirits.
Lena deserved some credit for not screaming at the sight; trembling from head to toe, she still refused to stop glaring at them.
"You insolent bitch!"
"Using nothing but beginner-tier magic — and you dare lay hands on us?!"
'Wh-what do I say? Sh-should I tell them to stop causing trouble here? Or... or... or...'
Countless words whirled through her head and dissolved away. Not one of them made it out of her mouth. All she uttered was a single thing.
"Magic Arrow."
All she did was cast the spell again. The arrow of light took shape and shot toward the furious man's face.
But perhaps because he'd braced for it this time, his sword knocked the Magic Arrow casually aside.
She had heard it from Lee Hyun before — that magic was no cure-all, that once materialized mana reached out to interfere with reality, sheer physical force could turn it away, and that reasonably seasoned adventurers could manage at least that much without trouble. At the memory, terrified down to her bones, Lena opened her mouth once more.
"Magic Arrow."
The arrow of light she fired was knocked from his blade and vanished yet again.
What was she supposed to do? The adventurers were bearing down on her, teeth bared.
"Magic..."
One wouldn't be enough. Then what about many at once? She hadn't learned that from Lee Hyun yet — but couldn't she combine everything he'd taught her so far?
Lena rapidly drew in the mana of the natural world, blended it with her own, and recited the incantation inside her head.
In magic, an incantation was a form of self-suggestion for shaping a mold for one's mana. Which meant there was no real need to voice the trigger aloud. So she pared the incantation down to the bare minimum — down to something a single gesture could set off.
— Vmmm...!!
Two Magic Arrows formed in an instant, hanging in the empty air. The startled adventurers came sprinting straight at her.
"You damn bitch!!"
"Die... gahk!"
One of the arrows of light took him square in the face. Groaning in pain as they scrambled to ready themselves again, the men fell speechless at the scene unfolding before their eyes.
— Vwoooooooom!!
The air itself was trembling. An immense concentration of mana had begun to build. Just as the startled men tensed, weapons raised—
"Dear... God."
One became two, two became four, four became eight, and eight became sixteen. And still it didn't stop. The number of arrows of light taking shape in the air was multiplying by geometric degrees.
When the arrows of light — grown in a single breath beyond all counting — swung to train on them, the adventurers broke out in cold sweat.
"W-wait! C-can't we talk this out—"
'A-ah, uh. If we t-talk it out, I lose!'
Lena, who had dragged her mana up to its very limit and conjured a bristling mass of Magic Arrows, stretched her hand out toward the terrified adventurers.
"Magic... Arrow."
"What kind of Magic Arro—ghk! AAAAAAHHH!!"
Countless arrows of light streaked out. The two adventurers who had been about to charge were battered down and sent flying without even the chance to resist, and the man gripping Luceia panicked and stumbled backward.
"A-buh-buh... S-s-somebody save me!!"
In the end, terrified out of his wits, he broke and ran. But hundreds of Magic Arrows flew after him all the same, and the fleeing man dropped flat where he ran and fainted on the spot.
The market, so full of uproar only moments ago, went quiet. Lena slowly settled her mana back down — then panicked at the awkward air that followed.
'D-did I go overboard?!'
Everyone was staring at her. Just as Lena froze beneath all those gazes, utterly at a loss—
"Big Siiis!! So cooool!!"
Lorian's shout was only the beginning.
"Woow!! This is pretty amazing, huh?!"
"That's one incredible spell, Miss Lena!"
"So you really were learning properly, being Lee Hyun's disciple!"
"A hero! She's a hero!!"
Applause and praise came pouring down, along with cheers. Everyone in the market was clapping, singing her praises.
"Ah. Um. Uh. W-well. That. Uh-buh. Aauhm."
Met with that kind of warmth for the first time in her life, Lena floundered — and yet she couldn't fight down the thrill surging up her spine. The corners of her mouth went loose, her face melting like wax.
Without meaning to, she scratched the back of her head and began to grin sheepishly, and Lorian threw her arms around her and beamed a bright, sunny smile.
"Big Sis! That was so cool!!"
"E-ehehehehe! R-really? Eheheheh!"
Cheered on and praised by everyone, Lena made her way home. Lee Hyun, who came to greet her in the middle of cleaning, asked, puzzled by how thoroughly relaxed her expression was.
"Did something happen?"
"Ehehe. W-well, you see. Ehehehehe~!"
Grinning ear to ear, Lena told him what had happened in the village earlier. She had driven off the adventurers harassing Luceia and restored peace to the market — that was the short version, anyway, but having wildly embellished her own heroics in the telling, Lena sparkled with expectation of her teacher's praise.
"Good work."
"A-ahh. Right?! I p-properly put to use what you taught me, Master..."
"And here I didn't expect you to already manage silent casting and multi-casting."
"Ye-yes? Wh-what's that?"
"What you just did. Completing the incantation in your head without ever letting it pass your lips — and then firing off several spells at once. That's no easy thing. Go on, try it again."
"Ye-yes!!"
Lena hurriedly tried to work the spell as she had before.
"Uhhh... huh?"
It wouldn't come. She tried laying the incantation out in her mind and whittling it down piece by piece, but it was harder than she'd expected. How had she done it back there? She was certain this was exactly how she'd done it—
"...B-but it definitely worked a second ago...?"
"Looks like, in that moment of crisis, you drew on a power even you didn't know you had. Well. It's fine. If you've managed it once, you can manage it again."
"Ah. Is... is that how it works?"
"It is. But what deserves praise more than anything else is..."
Lee Hyun lifted his hand and patted Lena on the head. Under that gentle touch, Lena blinked up at him.
"That you used your power for someone else. They say power comes with a responsibility to match, but in practice, it doesn't. You could say those who hold power have every right to wield it however they please."
"Hee, heeh..."
"To spend that power on others is to choose to walk the path of good. From your teacher's standpoint, it's a happy thing."
"E-ehehehehe..."
"I'm proud of you. Do exactly this from now on, you hear?"
"Ye-ye-ye-yes!!"
"Now! With that settled and done..."
Lee Hyun held out his hand. Lena stared blankly at it for a moment, then gently placed her own on top.
And to her, grinning away like a puppy, Lee Hyun smiled warmly and said:
"Did you buy the vegetables?"
"Ah."
"....."
"I-I'll be right back!!"
The next day.
Making her way to the clearing behind the cabin for lessons as always, Lena approached Lee Hyun where he sat cross-legged. At the sound of her light footsteps he opened his eyes, and seeing Lena settle obediently into her spot, he rose.
"Normally we'd move straight into magic lessons, but after yesterday, there could well be another fight. So that you can handle one lightly, I'm going to give you a gift."
"A g-gift?! Hehe. Th-thank you! A, an overwhelming thank you!"
'What is it? What could it be? Cake? Cookies? Or pretty earrings? Or maybe...'
"There. Here it is."
What Lee Hyun produced was a small ring. At its plain, unadorned band, bare of any special ornament, Lena cocked her head.
"Wh-what is it?"
"It's called a Spirit Ring. Wear it, and you can summon a spirit."
"A spirit...? What's that?"
"You could call it an existence in which nature's power takes on a will and manifests. Dig any deeper and it only gets more complicated, so just remember it as that. It's not the part that matters."
"Yeees..."
"Now. Put it on, and try sending your mana into it."
"Ye-yes!!"
Lena, moving to slip the ring on as instructed, hesitated for a moment. At the sight of her dithering, Lee Hyun sighed, took the ring back, and slid it onto her right index finger himself.
"There. All set?"
"Ye-yes! I-I'll send my mana through right now!"
She hurriedly fed mana into the ring. But nothing happened. Unlike the bewildered Lena, Lee Hyun looked as though he'd expected exactly this; he drew something from his coat and pressed it into her hand.
"Keep feeding it mana, and a spirit will be drawn to you. Your job is to become friends with that spirit."
"Yeeees?!"
Become friends — with a stranger, no, with a spirit? What kind of heartless demand was this?
"I-I-I-I-im, impossible!!"
"I believe you'll manage. If it's truly too much for you, then give it this."
"Wh-what... what's this?"
"Candy."
"......"
Just as he'd said, what lay wrapped in the paper bag were two pieces of candy. Lena stared down at them blankly, then looked up at Lee Hyun with eyes as soaked and mournful as an abandoned puppy's — but he simply walked away.
"W-where are you going!"
"Laundry."
Unable to bring herself to grab hold of Lee Hyun as he went, Lena looked down at the ring. What now? What now? Should she stop feeding it mana and just pick this up again when Lee Hyun came back later? She was agonizing over it in all seriousness when—
— ............
Where nothing had stood only moments before, a beautiful green girl appeared, giving off the presence of a breath of wind. When the girl turned her gaze blankly upon her, Lena nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Eep... eeeek..."
'Aauh... th-that's... a s-spirit...? Um. I-I really wish she'd say something...'
But the spirit said nothing. She simply stood there, stiff and awkward.
As they held each other in silence, Lena squeezed the candy bag tight in her hand and opened her mouth.
"U-um."
"— U-um."
"......."
"—......"
The awkwardness piled higher and higher. At the silence stretching on yet again, Lena had no idea what to do.
'Aaaah... what do I do?'
"— F-first. Um. S-say something."
The green girl — the spirit — cautiously opened her mouth. An opening had appeared. Which meant it was time to call on her teacher's help.
"W-would. W-would you l-like a c-candy...?"
"— Oh. U-um, yes. Th-thank you..."
Rustling a candy out of the bag and holding it forth, she found the spirit accepting it with delicate care. And then, after slipping it into her mouth — silence, once more.
'Waaah!! M-Master! Do something, pleeease!'
She had no idea what to do about this awkward air. Keeping an awkwardly measured distance, sitting there awkwardly, Lena screamed inside as the girl stole awkward little glances at her.