Episode 259 The thing called mana (2)
She blushed and added shyly.
“Besides, you can’t live with me for a long time, right now, right?…”
They smile as they hold hands.
I screamed from the bottom of my heart at the cute and unscrupulous act.
‘Master, I can die now!’
He wrapped his arms around Aira while tightly holding on to his heart that was about to end his life on his own.
Then she also wraps her hand without resistance.
The two felt each other’s warmth for a while.
* * *
As soon as the next day came, the training for mana flow began.
A deep part of the elven village that I have never been to before.
At first glance, it looks similar to a lush ruin.
A refreshing wind blows from time to time and there are no people, so it is perfect for training.
Ira looked around and said.
“It is a place I have been using since before. Since it’s a sacred place, other elves are refraining from entering, so you don’t have to worry about someone coming.”
“It’s quite a large place.”
“They say it was a meeting place for great races to gather in ancient times.”
After listening to the words, I looked around closely and found that there were many unknown languages scattered all over the walls.
This is where the Guardians of the Balance gathered.
For some reason, I felt pious.
“From today you will be staying here. It will take quite a while, but it wouldn’t be bad to work hard together. It must be the couple’s first training together. Whoop whoop.”
Aira, grinning happily, started explaining as she walked from the outskirts of the ruins to the center.
“Magic refers to obtaining phenomena by moving mana. In other words, it is safe to say that the fact that you think, have a will, and perform the action itself is already a form of magic.”
“However, a small flow, such as moving the body, cannot achieve a large effect. The greater the flow of mana, the greater the power of the phenomenon.”
Looking at the withered vine, Aira moved her mouth slightly.
“Live.”
Then, with just one word, the dry roots instantly become moist and show a lively appearance.
Just that short sentence was swaying Vinkul’s life.
When Ray looks at him curiously, he laughs and continues his explanation.
“So what I came up with was to sharpen and polish my mind. By making the ‘mana road’ called ‘mind’ stronger, you will be able to draw a lot of mana just by thinking.”
“As I said before, mana is everything. This can be said to be all things and mana. Everything you think is made up of the flow of mana, so you should be careful not to have other thoughts in your training. So that you don’t inadvertently kill someone with a desire to kill.”
While I was nodding my head and making up my mind, Aira stopped walking.
“This is the center of the ruins. You’ll need to get used to it today, so warm up your body lightly and start the training from tomorrow.”
This is training.
Expectations arise in a corner of the heart.
After unpacking and changing into comfortable clothes, Aira was waiting for her.
In front of her, she is holding a familiar looking flower.
A flower that I have always seen while treating Aira after coming to the Elf Village for the first time.
Diher.
The flower, which has the flower language of ‘dedication and smile’, is carefully planted on the ground.
what’s this? Before I could ask, she spoke first.
“It’s a warm-up and the first training session, but grow this flower.”
“Eh?”
From the beginning, the difficulty level is brutal.
The flower in front of you is not just a flower, it is a flower that has grown until it is big.
No matter how much proper fertilizer and sufficient water, it is impossible to grow any further.
But Ira did not repeat her words.
“Although thin, thoughts are also mana. Thoughts, wills, and desires have a spirit of speech. Magic happens if you truly wish for it. Always give sincere words with one heart that you want to grow flowers. If you do that, the flowers will surely understand your heart.”
It is impossible to disagree with her sincere expression.
Ray, who was looking at the flower, nodded with difficulty.
“…I’ll try.”
* * *
“I want you to grow up.”
“….”
“It’s always pretty.”
“…”
“I love you.”
“Enough…”
While talking to the flower, Aira’s face turned red like a carrot.
At times, they told me to talk with a sincere heart, but now I have to stop.
If this continues, Aira will grow before flowers.
“It doesn’t show any signs of growing.”
“Hmmmm… Take your time. Since you are just starting training, your willpower is inevitably weak. Match the ‘desire’ to grow flowers with mana that feels extremely weak when you think of it. Then the flowers will grow on their own.”
Based on the advice, I came to my senses again.
The desire to grow flowers.
After meditating for a while and clearing his head, he opened his closed eyes.
If you think about it, this flower has many memories and commonalities.
Telling a story to Aira, who was lying still in bed.
A strong desire to heal her and make it happen in the end.
Recalling the events that happened in the elven village one by one, I feel affection again.
‘I guess I like it a lot.’
I feel a lot of love again.
By doing so, I was able to project Aira into ‘Diher’.
His awkward words softened noticeably.
“The sun feels good today. I don’t know if it’s because of my mood, but you look better than before.”
Speak slowly and comfortably as if you are talking to a living creature.
Aira, who was watching him from behind, put on a happy expression.
‘It’s as if he did it to me.’
The trivial magic of that time that melted my cold, frozen heart.
It was just a few words, but it changed her whole life.
Although the subject had turned into a flower, it was the moment when the amazing magic was being performed again.
* * *
Every time I felt the love for flowers and the desire to grow them, I worked hard to feel mana.
one to no avail
Although he knew the aura of mana, feeling the mana in his heart was another thing.
The mana floating in the air is large, but the feeble mana created in the mind is almost non-existent.
As a result, it reached the point where it was difficult to feel the energy and impossible to attack.
After waiting for several days, Aira nodded and stepped out.
“I can’t help it. I didn’t want to use it on you, but I have no choice but to use countermeasures.”
“A countermeasure?”
“It will be easier to feel mana than now.”
At her words, the cold-hearted Ray readily accepted.
“I will! Teach me!”
Aira’s expression as she looked at him changed to pity.
Arriving at the valley where the magnificent waterfall shows off its presence, Ray pointed at his ankle with a puzzled expression.
“Ira, what is this?”
There was a huge boulder tied to her with specially designed vines.
Even walking seems difficult.
Aira sighed when asked why he had put this heinous thing on her leg.
“Haa… I will throw you into this valley from now on.”
He pleaded with full of resentment to the woman who told her that she would kill herself.
“why!”
“All living beings have a strong desire to survive. That’s why the thought of living right before death is bound to be intense. The stronger the thought, the stronger the mana. Such is the case of humans demonstrating power beyond their limits in the face of the threat of death. It’s some kind of magic.”
“…”
“If the desire of ‘survival’ fills your heart, it will be easier to feel mana than before. I also learned this from my teacher.”
I really wanted to see the face of what kind of crazy teacher he was, throwing his student into the valley.
“Ira…”
I called out anxiously, but she turned her head with difficulty, closing her eyes tightly.
“Didn’t I tell you! I didn’t want to use it on you!”
“…”
“It’s already in front of my eyes! sorry!”
She pushed herself into the valley without turning her head.
Ray’s body was immersed in the valley water as the enormous force that he couldn’t even resist made him lose his center of gravity.
“Aaaagh!”
The hanging rock began to sink rapidly, and the water was completely submerged in water that seemed to go over 8M.
There have been no problems with breathing or water pressure yet, as his physical ability surpassed that of the culprit, but he is worried about the future.
Now that he can’t use mana, the limit he can endure at this depth is five minutes at most.
That’s why the urgent mind went ahead.
‘The rock is heavy, but not to the extent that I can’t lift it.’
In water, things become relatively light in weight.
Ray, who had gained hope and looked around, despaired again.
I slowly looked at my son-in-law and saw that this place in the depths of the water was an almost sheer cliff.
At the thought of carrying a rock on my body and climbing a cliff, my survival instinct already seems to reject life and say goodbye to death and friends.
He carefully put his hand on the wall and pulled himself up.
I used all the muscles that were idle in one corner and tried to use the dragon, but little by little, I was able to get closer to the surface.
At best, it only went up 70cm.
To make things worse, my heart beat faster as I used my strength.
I’m still short of breath, but with proper exercise, my breath is getting more and more choked and my eyes are starting to blur.
‘I really want to die.’
The pain and the will to live at the same time welled up.
I barely put my little finger on the wall and step out.
The moment I was about to climb 1M.
The cliff face, which could not withstand the load, crumbled.
‘Aaagh!’
It went up hard!
As a resident of the bottom of the valley again, his consciousness faded little by little.
My heart is pounding and my lungs beg for oxygen.
When my mind turned white, I could no longer think of anything.
His body collapsed in the water.
* * *
As I lifted my eyelids that didn’t open easily, Aira, who had been looking for fruit, was looking at me worriedly.
“You woke up.”
“…”
“Did you feel the mana?”
“…”
That’s right.
I didn’t go to overcome the ordeal of death, but I was thrown into the valley to feel the mana.
In the water, there was only one thought to get out of the water, so I didn’t even think of mana.
When he finally remembered his duty, Ray’s complexion turned white.
“I didn’t feel it…”
After answering with difficulty, Aira silently nodded.
“… It’s late today, so I’ll have to start over tomorrow.”
It was the beginning of suffering.
