novelraw Chapter 169 : Chapter 169
Chapter 169 : Chapter 169
Chapter 169 - How to Walk Side by Side (3)
I currently had two collaborators. One of them was the previously mentioned Regina Eliade Abellon.
Then the question that inevitably remained was, ‘who is the other one?’
And the answer was right in front of my eyes now.
In front of my eyes, as I was momentarily lost in thought, staring blankly at the sky.
“Rain, what are you thinking about so hard?”
A doll-like girl, characterized by her hair and eyes that shone in a color resembling the clear sky, asked me so.
As if reflecting the distance that had grown particularly close after the first semester, she pushed her face towards mine.
It was because I had been momentarily lost in thought during our ongoing study session, even though it was vacation.
The gap between her posture, with her body's balance pushed forward, and her usual expressionless face was considerable.
“Well, it’s nothing.”
“I see.”
When I vaguely brushed it off, Arien only showed such a bland reaction.
Considering she had asked in a curious tone earlier, should I say it was very Arien-like?
“So Rain. What is the ‘favor’ you mentioned earlier?”
Next, Arien changed the subject. As the doll-like girl said, I certainly had something to ask of her.
That's why I had only briefly mentioned it before the study session began.
I was just about to bring up the main topic, but…
“Please tell me quickly. Dugeun dugeun.”
“……Dugeun dugeun?”
As she continued her story, she attached an unknown suffix I had never heard before.
‘What book has she been influenced by this time.’
It was obvious without even looking. Whenever Arien used an expression I had never heard before, the cause was always a book she had read.
How should I describe the destructive power of ‘dugeun dugeun’ uttered with a face that didn't look excited at all?
“Yes. It is dugeun dugeun. Fundamentally, a healthy human relationship is premised on reciprocity where favors are exchanged, which means that as much as I have listened to your requests, I have earned the right to make a request of my own.”
“I… see.”
Leaving aside the gap between the fresh expression ‘dugeun dugeun’ and the stiff content it was used with, what on earth was she planning to ask for?
Actually, come to think of it, whenever I asked her for something, I always provided something in return, so it wasn't anything special.
“Hmm. What should I demand from Rain this time….”
Seeing Arien seriously contemplating made me somewhat nervous, and it was no wonder.
“Ahem, anyway, what I want to ask is-”
Anyway, I turned the topic back again and spoke about that ‘favor.’
“It is to let me watch you use Origin Magic.”
“You want to watch?”
“Yes.”
At my request, Arien tilted her head as if in doubt.
“It is not a particularly difficult request…”
The tail end of Arien’s sentence practically included the question, ‘Why?’
In a normal case, I would explain my intention here, and that would be the normal process of communication.
However, Arien, who had been lost in thought for a few seconds with her finger on her chin, opened her mouth again instead of hearing it directly from me.
“I see. Rain wants to test whether you can learn Origin Magic just by ‘watching’.”
And she perfectly and accurately guessed my intention.
“……Correct. You are truly amazing.”
Honestly, I knew it would turn out this way to some extent. After all, this kind of thing had happened often over the past year.
Nevertheless, her ability to accurately guess my intentions like a ghost was something to be admired every time I saw it.
“Not at all. It was a simple deduction.”
Arien raised her index finger at my compliment and continued her story. Her lips were curved up slightly more than usual.
“In a normal case, observing Origin Magic could be presumed to be out of simple curiosity, but that does not apply to Rain, who is also a user of Origin Magic.”
And that story was an explanation of the process of her deduction.
“Therefore, I could only presume that there was another intention behind observing Origin Magic, and considering Rain's practical and application-oriented nature, I inferred that this conclusion was the most rational.”
“Oh….”
Clap, clap. I clapped my hands lightly twice as if to acknowledge her answer.
‘It always ends up like this.’
It wasn't just once or twice, but it was also true that it was fascinating every time I saw it.
It felt like watching an answer key explanation in an online lecture back when I was a student in my original world.
Thinking of it that way, it might have been a daily routine that evoked a certain nostalgia.
“That is a very good response, Rain.”
Seeing the triumphant Arien also had its own charm.
Well, my intention was exactly as Arien had said.
Not receiving a detailed lecture on the mechanism and implementing it, but practicing to see through the composition principle of Origin Magic just by watching it with my own eyes.
That was the ‘cooperation’ I would receive from Arien.
Compared to Regina, who was directly assisting with the plan, it was undeniably a rather indirect matter, but nevertheless, this task was as deeply related to the success or failure of this operation as Regina's assistance.
Anyway, after that, we headed to a private magic training room set up in the training grounds.
The reason was, of course, to observe her Origin Magic.
And the result was…
***
Paat-!
Inside the magic training hall, where the lazy afternoon sunlight was streaming in, Arien's form was enveloped in blue particles and then reappeared a few steps away.
It was a demonstration of 『Teleport』, a mid-tier magic of the space series among Origin Magic.
‘To me, I can't distinguish it from the Vision Magic 『Blink』.’
Both were magic that implemented teleportation.
As that question arose, though it was a bit off-topic, I slowly raised my hand and asked a question.
“Ask your question, Rain.”
Then, Arien looked at me as if she was used to it and said so.
If she was training, I would ask what I was curious about. It was a common pattern, so both she and I were used to it.
Anyway, Arien's answer to my question was as follows.
“The Vision Magic 『Blink』 is composed of a mechanism that momentarily converts the body into mana particles to erase its form, and then moves it.”
When talking about magic, Arien's sky-blue eyes were always twinkling.
She didn't seem to be aware of it herself, but was it really a look of enjoyment?
Perhaps it was because that enjoyable appearance was so noticeable that I ended up asking Arien more diverse questions.
“On the other hand, in the case of 『Teleport』, it implements teleportation by literally changing the coordinates of space, which is a constituent unit of the world.”
“Hmm, I see. In short, the result is the same, but the mechanism is different.”
“That's right. Due to this property, 『Blink』 cannot pass through substances that block the flow of mana, but 『Teleport』 can. It would be good to keep that in mind.”
I nodded and took out my notebook to write down the contents.
To be honest, this learning process was quite enjoyable. Was it because, in that moment, I could forget the headache-inducing reality?
Anyway, Arien spoke to me again.
“So Rain, how is it? Do you have a rough grasp of the principle of use?”
“Hmm… to be honest, it’s ambiguous.”
Fundamentally, the sensation of using magic, if explained from a modern person's perspective, was similar to the sensation of moving a new arm.
The sensation of it functioning somehow, even though I'm not exactly conscious of how I'm using it.
To overcome this ambiguity, the people of this world created incantations and magic circles, and by formalizing them, they passed down the learning.
The ambiguity of magic was overcome in that way.
On the other hand, in a situation where I had the aptitude but could only watch… what should I say.
I felt like I could vaguely understand it, but the feeling of being unable to specifically recall the method was strong.
Yeah. As you can tell from the expression, honestly, it was a bit frustrating.
I had received opportunities to observe Origin Magic from Arien several times now, yet I was fumbling like this.
This lack of talent was holding me back in any situation.
“……Hoo.”
As if to express that frustration, I let out a small sigh while taking notes, and in the meantime, Arien slowly sat down next to me.
“What part are you stuck on?”
And then, as always, she was preparing to give me advice.
I couldn't deny that I was indebted to her every day, but I wasn't in a position to have the luxury of refusing her kindness, so I confessed.
And Arien, as always, gave me the answer.
“Rain, when using Origin Magic, you must change your perspective of looking at the world.”
“Perspective, you say?”
“Yes.”
I tilted my head. I still couldn't get a proper grasp of it just by hearing those words.
“When Rain uses 『Space Perception』, you do not look at the world with your eyes. You perceive space as space itself.”
“That is true.”
“That perspective does not only apply when using 『Space Perception』. When using Origin Magic, you must look at the world as the unit itself.”
Look at it as the unit itself, huh.
It was as difficult a request as it sounded.
It was not a perspective that a human could have. As befitting the ability required for Origin Magic, which deals with the constituent units of the world, it might have been close to the perspective of a creator.
But.
“……I think I have a rough idea of what kind of sensation it is.”
Funnily enough, I was able to get a grasp of the ‘perspective’ Arien was talking about to some extent.
Based on this advice, when I recalled the magic Arien had shown me before, I even felt like I was getting a clue somewhere.
Thinking from that aspect, maybe I had strayed a little from the domain of what a person could be.
Such silly thoughts even came to mind.
“Thank you. Sincerely.”
I relaxed my expression and left such words of gratitude to Arien.
No matter how many times I expressed my gratitude to her, it wouldn't be enough, so I thought it was important to express it each time.
And at my words-
“Good.”
Arien smiled, her lips curling up a little more than usual.
“And I look forward to it. The day Rain looks at the world with the same perspective as me.”
Leaving behind such enigmatic words.