“Um… shall we begin?”
Linze announced it with a slight stutter, looking a little nervous. She came across as shy — too quiet, maybe. Should she take after her older sister…? Then again, also maybe not. We’d warmed up a lot since meeting, but there was still some reserve.
We’d skipped guild work today for the magic lesson. The back-yard of the inn — a beat-up table and chair that the kitchen had probably retired — with Linze and me across from each other.
Elze had said something about being bored and headed out to take a one-person gathering job.
“All right, Linze-sensei, please.”
“S-sensei — !? …!”
She went bright red and dropped her gaze. That was cute.
“So, where do we start?”
“Y-yes. Basics first. Magic has elements.”
“Elements?”
“Fire, water, that kind of thing. Seven elements in total — Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, Dark, and Null. We confirmed yesterday that you have at least the Water element.”
Right — the wet table.
“Yesterday’s water trial was conclusive, so we were fine — but if it hadn’t worked, we’d have tried the other elements’ stones too.”
“So even if someone can use magic, they have specific elements.”
“Yes. Personally, I can use Fire, Water, and Light. The other four I can’t even cast novice spells in. Of my three, Fire is strongest and Light is weakest.”
So innate, like aptitude. No choice in the matter. The gods decide. Must be a lot of work being a god.
“Fire and Water I roughly get, but — Light, Dark, Null?”
“Light is also called Sacred Magic — light-based magic. Healing magic falls under that. Dark is summoning — binding contracted monsters or spirits. And Null is the umbrella for everything that doesn’t fit the other six — typically very personal magic. Nee-chan’s body-strengthening is a Null skill.”
So Null is the catch-all useful weird stuff category.
“Outside of Null magic, an active spell needs three things — magical power, the element, and the incantation. Without knowing your elements we can’t progress, so let’s check yours first.”
She pulled seven magic stones from her pouch and lined them up on the table — red, blue, brown, green, yellow, purple, and clear.
“Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, Dark, Null, respectively. Let’s test each one.”
I picked up the red stone and focused, then said the incantation she taught me.
“Fire, come.”
The stone burst into vigorous flame. I yelped and let go and the flame vanished. Careful.
“It’s okay — the flame doesn’t burn the caster. Be careful if it spreads to clothes, though — that’ll burn.”
“Really?”
I held the stone again and tried once more. The flame returned and yes — not hot to me. But if the magical flame transferred to something flammable, even I’d get burned. Once it transfers, it’s no longer magic-fire, just fire. Maybe? Anyway, the flame’s too big.
“Your magic pool is too large… once you’re used to it you’ll control it more finely. For now, don’t focus too hard — try the opposite, almost distracted, and the output should drop.”
Counterintuitive, but okay. Try that next time. Blue was already confirmed; on to the brown one. I held it loosely without focus and let the words fall out.
“Earth, come.”
Fine sand poured out of the stone onto the table. Now there’s sand everywhere. Cleanup later.
Green next.
“Wind, come.”
A sudden gust blew across the table, scattering the sand. Saved me cleanup. The stone rolled away though. Come on.
“Light, come.”
Blinding. The stone fired a strobe-camera flash right at my eyes.
“Dark, come.”
Most unsettling. A black miasma started swirling around the stone. Creepy.
By the time we’d worked through six elements I realized Linze’s expression had shifted. She’d been cheerfully along for the ride, but the silences were getting longer and her face had gone serious.
”…What is it?”
“Ah, no, just — six elements is the first I’ve ever seen. Three elements is already considered a lot. And you have all six… incredible.”
Right. God-effect, probably. Feels like cheating, kind of. People who couldn’t use magic at all existed. Slightly bad about it.
Anyway — last stone, the clear one.
”…Hm? How do I activate this one?”
So far the incantations had been “X, come.” But “Null, come”? Sounds off.
“Null magic is special — there’s no set incantation. It activates with concentration plus the spell’s name.”
Oh. Convenient.
“For example, Nee-chan’s body-strengthening is Boost. Other Null spells include Power Rise for strength buffs, and rarely seen — Gate for long-distance teleport.”
So Null is the cool utility element.
”…But how do you know which Null spells you can use?”
“According to Nee-chan, the spell name just comes to you at some point. Null is also called personal magic — two people rarely share the same Null spell.”
Wait, really? Inconvenient. Null magic.
“So I can’t tell yet whether I have Null aptitude—”
“You can — hold a Null stone and try invoking any Null spell. Even if it doesn’t activate, the stone will glow slightly or vibrate slightly — something will happen.”
“And if nothing happens?”
”…Then no Null aptitude.”
Worth a shot.
Teleport would be handy. We wouldn’t have to walk two hours to the forest like yesterday.
I held the clear stone and said it.
“Gate.”
A burst of light from the stone, and a translucent panel of pale light appeared beside us. Door-sized. Looked like a wall, but no — only a centimeter thick. Closer to a board.
“Did it.”
”…You did.”
Linze, dazed, agreed.
I cautiously touched it. Where my finger touched, ripples spread outward. Like the surface of water. I pushed my arm through, withdrew it, confirmed no problem, and pushed my head through.
The next thing in view was a stretch of forest — and Elze, sitting on her butt staring at me with wide eyes.
”…What are you doing, Elze?”
“Wha — Touya?! What — what is this!?”
I pulled back, took Linze’s hand, and stepped through into the forest with her.