After a massive surge of mana was observed in Luke Forest, the mages postulated that it was an unknown natural phenomenon, presumably caused by an artificial mana generator, thus tentatively concluding it to be some sort of abnormal climate phenomenon.
“That’s quite a convenient explanation,” mumbled Sorbi languidly as she listened to Daphne’s account.
Thanks to this abnormal weather, which may or may not have been caused by that surge, it had become remarkably quiet in the area.
“Even the monsters have ceased their activities,” Daphne remarked.
“Well, with that level of mana reaction, it’s understandable they’d be frightened.”
Daphne took a sip from the tea brewed by Yerna using the leaves she had, while watching Luke and Kirke playing badminton over there.
“Thanks to this, we’ve had a ridiculous amount of free time these past few days.”
The entire forest was experiencing a overflow of magical energy.
No matter how much monsters were drawn to mana, they couldn’t help but be intimidated by such a surge.
The overpowering presence and fear of the unknown.
The monsters could only hope that the entity causing that mana surge was not angry at them, hiding and trembling in fear.
Because of this, even the Forest Keepers, whose primary job was to exterminate monsters that flooded into the city, showed up for work but had nothing to do.
In truth, although she voiced her dissatisfaction, Sorbi rather enjoyed the situation.
So much so that she wished every day could be like this.
“Sister, there’s no way such a mana surge could be generated artificially, right?”
Daphne, upon hearing Sorbi’s foolish question, softly closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Does that even make sense? Unless they intended to blow the forest to smithereens.”
With modern magical technology, there was no method to manipulate that level of mana.
To be precise, there was no way to do so ‘non-destructively.’
When considering the spells that could handle such a level of mana, the first one that came to mind was a 9th-class military bombardment spell, ‘Absolute Destruction Field.’
The spell, referred to as ‘ADF’ for short, had an effect that, as inferred from its destructive name, completely disassembled and obliterated a wide area of matter at a unit of mana, leaving no remnants of magical energy behind; it was the ultimate destruction spell.
However, the price of the ‘one-time’ cane created for such enormous spellcasting was a staggering 20 trillion.
It was far beyond what an individual could handle.
One wouldn’t be foolish enough to drop such a spell in a forest designated for the government’s artificial urban World Tree mana production, thus making it effectively impossible.
“Hmm,” made a sound of agreement Sorbi while straightening her posture.
“So, could it really be a natural phenomenon then?”
“There’s no choice but to consider it so… Well, as long as it’s not a monster, that’s alright.”
“That’s true. I don’t mind this situation.”
Sorbi mumbled as she observed a butterfly flitting about.
“Suddenly the weather has warmed up too.”
In just a few days, the forest had transitioned from winter to spring, and everyone found it challenging to adapt.
Expert opinions on the sudden seasonal change were as follows:
“The winter mana widespread in the forest has all flown away. It seems spring has arrived a bit earlier than usual.”
This too was attributed to the abnormal climate.
“Ugh, I don’t dislike the warmth, but…”
Sorbi stretched out and murmured.
Being sensitive to cold, she was welcoming the early arrival of spring.
Her only complaint was having to hurriedly pull out her spring clothes that had been shoved away in the closet.
While enjoying this leisure, Yerna appeared from inside the lodging, maybe having taken a nap, her hair slightly messy.
Seeing her, Daphne lightly greeted her.
“Are you just waking up now?”
“Yawn… I guess so. How’s Luke?”
“He’s playing well with Kirke.”
“Really?”
Yerna smiled contently as she looked at Luke.
Luke, sporting the ponytail Daphne had tied for him, was swinging his badminton racket.
The sound of ‘thwack, thwack, thwack’ continued.
With the skirt of his one-piece fluttering and hair swaying behind him, the sight of the child dashing agilely in the open area swinging his racket could make time fly by if one stared too long.
“Wow, he’s really good at badminton.”
While it was expected of Kirke, who had always been athletic, Luke’s skill was a surprise.
Was he moving much more nimble than Sorbi had anticipated?
“I thought he wouldn’t be able to do something like this, always being so engrossed in books.”
As Daphne pointed out, Luke’s moves were impressive.
“Sister, you should consider making him a sportsman in the future.”
Upon Sorbi’s suggestion, Yerna briefly imagined Luke participating in sports.
“Hmm, that could be quite cute.”
——–
“Ah, should we take a break for a moment?”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
Kirke suggested a break to Luke, who was gradually panting.
Luke responded to her suggestion by catching the shuttlecock mid-air and lifting his body.
Kirke, witnessing this, marveled.
“Wow, really impressive. Even at such a young age, you’re quite good.”
As Luke calmed his racing heart, which had been whirling tirelessly, Py immediately stirred up a breeze, ruffling Luke’s hair.
—Luke!…!
“Ah, thanks, Py.”
Feeling the pleasant breeze cool down his sweat, Luke spoke to Kirke.
“You’re quite amazing yourself.”
‘As expected, the simultaneous casting of the 2nd Circle’s ‘Enhance Body’ and ‘Wind’ poses no problem at all.’
In truth, Luke was enhancing his physical abilities with magic while slightly adjusting the trajectory of the shuttlecock with wind in his match against Kirke.
For Luke, using magic was as natural as breathing.
In the past, even simple magic could be transformed into an overwhelming force through simultaneous castings that no one could replicate. Now, he was excited to test out the fully stabilized 2nd Circle in response to Kirke’s badminton challenge.
The 2nd Circle was working perfectly.
‘My body is significantly lighter, and the efficiency of the enhancement magic is outstanding. Moreover, there’s no more annoying joint pain, so I can exercise comfortably.’
If the 1st Circle represented ‘basic control of mana’, the 2nd Circle progressed further to ‘control over non-material attributes.’
It allowed for the manipulation of mana in forms similar to gases, including fire and wind.
That was the meaning of the 2nd Circle.
With the satisfaction of finally regaining that control, Luke found himself smiling involuntarily.
As he did, Kirke also smiled back, feeling the lovely breeze blowing from somewhere.
Suddenly, Kirke spoke up.
“Oh, it’s already this time.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“Lunch break!”
“Oh, really?”
Had they been playing badminton until lunch break?
It seemed that the pleasant sensations from hitting the shuttlecock with the racket had made him lose track of time.
As Luke turned, his gaze met Yerna’s, who was watching him with a smile from a distance.
Feeling a bit awkward from their eye contact, Luke scratched the back of his neck and shifted his gaze.
‘That gaze, as if viewing a child… How embarrassing.’
It felt somewhat troublesome that whatever Luke did was perceived through that lens.
Well, technically he was indeed a child now, but he couldn’t easily become accustomed to the feeling of awkwardness brought about by such stares.
After all, no one had ever looked at him like that before, especially during the times when he was merely an elderly wizard.
Since he had become a grand wizard at a relatively young age, he hadn’t seen that kind of blissful smile directed at him since his twenties, making it even more difficult to adapt.
‘How very embarrassing.’
But perhaps the troubling aspect was that the shy demeanor was perceived by everyone, including Yerna, as merely childish.
While Luke could deduce this fact, he was left with only the response of feeling embarrassed.
“You’ve woken up now, Yerna.”
As Luke approached, Yerna handed him a bottle of cool water, asking.
“Did you enjoy badminton, Lu?”
“Hmm… Yes, it was more fun than I expected.”
Kirke, smiling slightly, chimed in to Luke.
“Isn’t it? However, Sorbi, that lazy one will never exercise willingly.”
“What? Lazy? Did you just say that?”
“Isn’t it the truth?”
As Kirke shrugged her shoulders, Sorbi protested.
“It’s not laziness! It’s that exercising makes me sweat! I don’t like that!”
“Uh-huh, I see. What a great excuse.”
“Ugh! Just wait and see, you!”
With her mouth covered, Kirke laughed as though mocking, while Sorbi, unable to hold it any longer, stood up and approached Luke, starting to whine.
“Huuh~, Luke, Kirke is picking on me!”
“Ah. Don’t come near me.”
“Eek.”
At Luke’s firm rejection, Sorbi froze as though struck.
Luke explained himself.
“… Didn’t you just say you hate sweat? I’m all sweaty right now; it must be unpleasant for you.”
Upon hearing those words, Sorbi seemed overwhelmingly touched, letting out sounds akin to a boiling kettle as she approached him.
“Luke’s sweat is the exception!”
“Ah.”
Luke regretted saying that.
Honestly, it was uncomfortable for him too to be hugged while sweaty.
But now that she had already embraced him, what could he do? Sighing, Luke spoke to Sorbi.
“Well… just be careful not to poke your horns into me.”
“Are you worried about me, big brother?”
“….”
Luke observed the spirit circling around them, whining like a little puppy, seemingly pleased with the attention.
‘Is it really possible to hug a formless spirit?’
Attempting to grasp the spirit’s ethereal form would inevitably result in passing through it, leading Luke to believe that it didn’t possess a degree of physical interference within the world.
The significance of a hug, after all, lies in sharing body warmth, doesn’t it?
But spirits neither have warmth nor a physical form.
If it were possible to touch a spirit, it wouldn’t be the spirit being touched.
One might argue that it was akin to feeling the surface of a mana barrier or mana shield created by a spirit.
As Luke pondered these things, Yerna, noticing his expression, pressed him.
“Sorbi, it seems like Luke dislikes it, so let go.”
“Eh, that’s too much! Luke, is it because you dislike me?”
With a pitiful look, Sorbi gazed at Luke, who quickly replied.
“Since it’s warm, it would frankly be better if you distanced yourself a bit.”
“That’s too harsh!”
Kirke shook her head, muttering.
“Is there anything too harsh about it?”
