“So… the Tendai’s magic is light-based, right?”
“It’s Miki. Yes, it’s light magic.”
“Oh, sorry about that. I’ve been having trouble remembering people’s names lately. Miki. Miki. Miki… Yeah.”
“Miki Miki is fine too, you know.”
“M-Miki Miki???”
“Hahaha.”
As Shigeto headed deeper into the wilderness with Regres to climb the Ladder, the remaining three began training under the guidance of Spellsess and Mainui.
Spellsess wanted to see how Sakuragi fought using her current repertoire of magic. Naturally, as the one in the teaching position, he began by assessing the students’ abilities.
Realizing that efficiency in climbing the Ladder would suffer with the three of them together, Mainui led Nishina away to a slightly secluded spot.
Sakuragi demonstrated her new technique, “Magnifying Glass”, as instructed by Spellsess. While magnifying glasses existed in this world, Spellsess, a sage, had never seen them used as part of light magic.
“Well…”
“How’s that? Hehehe.”
“Hmm… However, considering the emphasis on attack speed in light magic, creating a magnifying glass before attacking… Hmm.”
“Huh? Is it no good?”
“No, I think it’s fine in terms of attack power, but…”
Unlike Sakuragi, who was confident in her new attack, Spellsess pondered. It was understandable. In magical theory, relying too much on the fastest light magic accumulation was considered a bad move. However, it wasn’t necessarily futile to compensate for the weakness in power caused by specialization in speed.
So, they decided to try using that magic abundantly and increasing the deployment speed.
“Yuzuki, you specialize in plant magic, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you use it for attack?”
“Not particularly… I’ve been practicing controlling distant trees to see if it’s possible…”
“Is that because of Regres?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
He paused for a moment, then spoke.
“Remote control of plant magic isn’t theoretically impossible. But it might be a bit early for you.”
“Early?”
“Yes. You should get more accustomed to magic and grasp it deeply. Regres might be able to do such things intuitively, but it’s better to follow the steps.”
“I see…”
In fact, Kimishima had been practicing remote control of trees under Regres’s advice, but she still couldn’t grasp the sensation. Spellsess’s way, learned from basic magical education, was undoubtedly correct.
Spellsess selected some trees in the forest and instructed Sakuragi to deal with them if monsters appeared.
“As expected, ivy is the easiest to use.”
With that, he pulled off the ivy wrapped around a tree and tore off some of its tendrils. Gathering a few of them, he returned to Kimishima.
He skillfully braided the tendrils.
“Give me your arm.”
“Like this?”
As instructed, she extended her arm, and Spellsess tied the braided tendrils around it.
“It’s a wristband!”
Sakuragi, who had been watching with interest, exclaimed. Indeed, the braided tendrils resembled a wristband. “A wristband?” Spellsess asked, and Kimishima told him about similar accessories in Japan.
“I see. Well, in a sense, there are many things like that in this world.”
“Is that so? But won’t it wither if it’s a living thing?”
“If someone with an affinity for plant magic wears it, it will absorb the wearer’s arboreal magic and maintain its state without withering.”
“Oh, so can I do it too?”
“Huh? Does Miki have an affinity for plant magic?”
“Huh? Oh, maybe not…”
“Then it’s probably impossible.”
Kimishima looked at the ivy tied around her arm with curiosity. Indeed, as long as it was in contact with her, it seemed like it would maintain its lush state through the arboreal magic. However, she didn’t understand what that meant. Was it some kind of training?
“Don’t you understand?”
“Yes…”
“Living plants are there. If you let magic flow through them…”
“Ah!”
“You seem to understand. Yes, you can extend tendrils from there and achieve what you desire. By taking advantage of the characteristics of the plant, you can create various effects with these plant rings.”
“I see…”
As expected of someone who graduated at the top of the magic school. His expertise in magic other than his own attribute was deep. When Kimishima focused on the plant ring on her arm, she could indeed feel a connection. And when she poured magic into it, tendrils grew out.
“Wow~, Senpai, you’re so cool!”
Seeing this, Sakuragi also looked into it with interest.
Having understood the sensation, Kimishima reached out her arm and the tendrils extended to wrap around a nearby tree. After confirming the sensation for a while, she looked satisfied and smiled at Sakuragi.
“Hehehe, isn’t it cool?”
“It looks stylish!”
Usually, when manipulating magic for plant magic, tendrils would wither and fall apart soon after being extended. And the plant ring tied to her arm returned to its bracelet-like state. After confirming this, Kimishima turned back to Spellsess with a pleased expression.
“Thank you very much, this is very convenient!”
“Hmm, looks like it’s fine… There used to be a user of plant magic known as Poison.”
“Poison?”
“Yes, it was a sinister nickname, but they covered their body with plant rings of various poisonous plants and defeated many rankers with their poison. And the person themselves was eventually destroyed by the poison that had melded into their body after years of wearing poisonous plants.”
“That’s… terrible…”
“That’s why you should choose your plant rings wisely. And as you become more familiar with plant magic, perhaps remote control will become possible in due time.”
“Got it.”
