“First is point number one!”
By the forest lake, the voice of the Fairy Queen, Semilis, rang out.
“Understanding the dangers of this world!”
Thwack! Thwack!
Semilis had used magic to conjure a transparent, floating blackboard. Holding a pointer in her hand, she slammed it hard against the board.
“Hey! You over there, pay attention!”
“Eh? Yes!” Shulim sat up straight immediately, though she still wore a curious look on her face.
With a sudden whoosh, she had conjured a blackboard out of thin air. How on earth did she do that?
Yesterday, Semilis had decided to stay and instruct Shulim.
Of course, this instruction wasn't meant to interfere with Shulim's daily life. Shulim could go to school as usual every day and then head over to the lake after school was dismissed.
On weekends and holidays, the training sessions would last longer.
“Question time, little Shulim~ Do you know what kind of dangers actually exist in this world?”
“I do!” Shulim raised her tiny hand high.
“Monsters!”
“Very good, that's the first one.”
“Bad guys!”
“Excellent, that's the second. Keep going.”
“Keep going?” Shulim tilted her head.
“You only know those two, and such vague answers at that?!” Semilis facepalmed, but then she reasoned with herself. “...Well, that's normal. She's still a tiny baby!”
Hearing this, Shulim pouted immediately. “Shulim is not a tiny... Ah, no, I'm not a tiny baby.”
“Right, right, you're not,” Semilis brushed her off half-heartedly before falling into deep thought again.
This child is simply too young. If I just tell her, even if she memorizes it, she won't fully grasp the actual meaning...
“Mmh, as I thought... I have no choice but to do that!” Having decided on a concrete teaching strategy in her mind, a sinister, mischievous smile crept onto Semilis's face.
“?” A giant question mark popped up above Shulim's head, completely unaware of what she was about to face...
Semilis brought Shulim up a mountain.
“Amazing! I was just flying~!” Shulim's eyes sparkled, absolutely thrilled by her first flying experience. “By the way, Semilis, why did you bring me here?”
“Hmph~ Why, you ask, Shulim~?” Semilis said with a beaming smile, “Just now, I decided to change my teaching method.”
“Change?” Shulim asked, utterly confused, tilting her head as she looked at Semilis.
“That's right! When it comes to the fastest way to learn something in this world—nothing beats personal experience! Do you see that lake down the mountain? The one we were just at.”
Shulim stood on her tiptoes, peered down the mountain, and nodded her head. “Yes, I see it.”
“That is the finish line you must reach shortly.”
“Okay.” Shulim nodded again, and then—
“Eh?” She looked up at Semilis in confusion. “Finish line?”
Semilis responded with a smile. “Exactly~ Shulim, from now on, you will be hunted by a shadow beast. You must do everything you can to run away and reach that lake. Only when you arrive there will the shadow beast stop hunting you~”
Gurgle~ Gurgle~...
Just then, a patch of shadow spread on the ground behind Semilis, and a pitch-black, wolf-like entity with glowing red eyes emerged from the shadows.
“Roar—!” The shadow wolf let out a roar at Shulim.
“Eh?!!” Shulim's little face instantly turned pale with fright.
Scary! Scary! So scary...
However, Semilis completely ignored Shulim, who was shivering like a wet chick with teary eyes, and flew up into the sky, leaving her behind.
“Se-Semilis?!” Shulim looked up at Semilis in the sky with a face full of terror.
“Do your best~!” Semilis encouraged her with a smile. “This guy won't hold back, you know. If you get caught, you're a goner~!”
A... a goner? Is Shulim... going to be a goner?! Shulim's little face grew even paler.
“Don't worry, I'll rescue you immediately. Even if your neck gets snapped, I can still save you~! So there's absolutely nothing to worry about!”
Snapped...
“My neck?! It's going to get snapped?!” Shulim was even more terrified.
“Ah...” Semilis fell into contemplation, murmuring in a voice just loud enough for Shulim to hear, “Come to think of it, if you die on the spot, even I won't be able to bring you back...”
Eh... Eh—?!!! Shulim felt as if the world before her had turned pitch black, with all light rapidly fading away.
I'm going to die... Am I going to die?
“Well~! Anyway, do your best!” Semilis said lightheartedly. “Make sure you don't get lost, okay? Otherwise~ it will keep chasing you forever~!”
“...”
“And so, let the race begin—!” Having loudly declared the start, Semilis's figure flashed and vanished directly into thin air.
With this, Shulim was left completely with no one to rely on, her final sliver of hope utterly shattered.
Growl~! The shadow wolf let out a threatening growl as it slowly closed in on Shulim.
“D-Don't come any closer!”
“Awooo!”
“Wahhhh!!!” A young girl's scream echoed through the forest.
...
After some time.
By the forest lake.
“Wah! Wah! Wah...” The seven-year-old girl sat by the lakeside, crying her eyes out.
“There, there~ Stop crying. That scary thing is already gone~!”
Hearing Semilis's voice, Shulim threw herself into her arms, smearing tears and snot all over Semilis.
“Scary! It was so scary! Waahhh...”
“Good girl, good girl~ The scary monster is gone~!” Semilis stroked Shulim's tiny head, her hand continuously emitting a soft, green light.
As the light entered Shulim's body, her terrified heart gradually calmed and settled down...
A few minutes later, Shulim had completely calmed down.
“...As I thought, you really are a tiny baby~!” Seeing that Shulim had calmed down, Semilis suddenly teased.
Shulim's little face immediately flushed as red as a ripe apple. “I-I am not! Semilis is! Semilis is the tiny baby!”
After loudly protesting, Shulim huffed and turned her head away.
“Yes, yes, of course. Shulim is not a tiny baby~!” Semilis brushed it off, and then continued, “However... this won't do.”
Shulim stole a glance at Semilis.
“You are completely hopeless, Shulim~!”
“Hmph—!” Shulim's cheeks puffed up with anger.
“Ah, fine, I apologize, I apologize. Little Shulim isn't hopeless...” After coaxing her for a while, Shulim's puffed-up cheeks finally deflated.
Semilis continued, “...Little Shulim, your current issue is that your physical fitness is severely lacking.”
“Physical fitness?”
“Yes. To escape from various dangers, a strong body is essential. During your escape just now, you lost all your energy after running less than a hundred meters, didn't you? You practically crawled the rest of the way.”
The only reason she managed to escape here in the end was because that shadow wolf was actually just meant to scare her and wouldn't attack at all. However, Shulim had been scared out of her wits at the time and hadn't noticed this at all.
“...”
Shulim's little face flushed red once more.
“So, from now on, we are going to increase your physical training~! Let me think, mmh... okay!” Semilis clapped her hands and made a decision. “We'll start with ten round-trips up and down the mountain!”
“...Eh?”
In the days that followed, Shulim began a high-intensity training regimen that someone her age should never have had to endure.
Weighted running, obstacle courses, and...
“Wah! Help—!”
“Awooo!”
...racing against shadow beasts.
In addition to that, there was willpower training.
Splaaaaash!
Under the pounding waterfall.
“Steady your mind. Don't let external factors affect you. Focus your attention and control your mana. Only then can your mental strength improve rapidly.”
“I... I can't... gurgle gurgle...”
And then, there was the refinement of magic.
“Excellent mages refine their magic skills at all times. Blindly pursuing stronger spells is meaningless. Only when the foundation of basic magic is constructed firmly can one go faster and farther in the future.”
“The activation speed is too slow. Redo it.”
“Ugh... I'm out of mana.”
“Is that so? Then off to the waterfall to temper your mental strength~”
“Noooo—!”
...
Seasons shifted, and the stars wheeled through the sky.
Day after day passed.
The young girl was growing at an unimaginable speed...
“Awooo—!”
In the mountain forest, several shadow wolves swiftly pursued the young girl ahead. Her movements were nimble and graceful as she darted through the woods, consistently keeping her distance from the wolves.
Whoosh!
When the girl finally burst through a thicket and arrived by the lake, the shadow wolves pursuing her stopped in their tracks and vanished into thin air.
“Not bad~ You were faster than last time~!” Semilis appeared out of nowhere with a flash.
Long accustomed to this, Shulim did some stretching exercises on the spot, relaxing her aching limbs. “Because I ran faster than before,” Shulim replied calmly.
“Mmh, is that so... It seems we need to crank up the difficulty. How about we set the starting point deeper in the forest next time? The terrain might be more complex, and there might be other dangers.”
“It's fine. I can try.”
Despite the increase in difficulty, Shulim's expression didn't change much.
Long-term training had not only made her stronger, but also gradually ground away her inner weakness and naivety.
Although she wasn't so detached that she could handle everything with absolute composure, she no longer screamed in terror whenever she encountered an emergency.
After that, Shulim's training intensity was ramped up once again...
Her weights were increased, the obstacle course grew harder and longer, and the impact of the waterfall during her waterfall training became much more intense.
Speaking of which, why did the waterfall get stronger? There was another premise that had to be mentioned.
There was no waterfall in Mente Town at all!
Semilis conjured this waterfall temporarily every single time! Therefore, she could freely adjust the water flow to the level most suitable for Shulim's training, and...
...according to Semilis, she had infused this waterfall with a special magic element. By constantly resisting this magical energy, Shulim's body would continually build up its magic resistance.
In addition, during breaks in their training, Semilis would explain various aspects of Shimulir to Shulim, including various legends, creatures, and wondrous places.
Unwittingly, Shulim's level of knowledge was also rising rapidly.
Just like that...
a year went by.
...
...
The forest outside Mente Town.
A head taller than she was a year ago, Shulim made her way to the lakeside with practiced ease.
There, the great being known as the Fairy Queen was lazily lounging on a large boulder by the lake, one smooth leg crossed over the other. She held a newly published book in her hand, and to her right sat a box of fried snacks in exquisite packaging.
“Hahaha, this is so incredibly stupid~!”
Utterly oblivious to anyone's arrival, Semilis roared with laughter at a lowbrow story in the book. She reached into the box with her right hand, grabbed a fried snack, and stuffed it into her mouth. She casually licked her greasy fingers clean, completely unaware of the grease smeared around the corners of her mouth.
If the church followers who revered her were to see this image, who knows what kind of disillusionment they would suffer.
“Semilis, what are you reading?”
“Haha~... Oh, Shulim, you're here.” Semilis put down her book, rolled up her sleeve, and carelessly wiped her mouth.
Shulim: “...”
“You humans are just too amusing. I didn't even know someone could be this stupid. Living a long life really does let you constantly see all sorts of things.”
Shulim glanced at the book cover.
Yes, indeed. It was a collection of lowbrow, trashy stories, almost entirely made up.
“Those are all fabricated stories. The people in them don't exist in reality. Semilis, don't take them too seriously.”
“Eh?! Really? I was actually planning to go meet this person in the book!” Semilis looked completely crestfallen. “Whatever.” Semilis casually tossed the book away, sending it flying off to who knows where.
“Ah, by the way, do you want some snacks? I just bought them from the Southern Federation. They're delicious!”
Looking at the food Semilis handed over, which looked like it had been completely soaked in oil, Shulim hesitated for a moment before flatly refusing. “No, thanks.”
“Sigh, what a shame. This snack has been really popular among the beastkin lately.” Semilis didn't push any further. With a wave of her hand, the box of snacks likewise vanished to who knows where.
“Alright, let's get down to business! First, let me see just how much you've grown up to now.” With that, Semilis's eyes lit up with that familiar glow.
Soon, a block of text appeared in Semilis's field of vision.
【Shulim Hayeral
Race: Human (Female)
Age: Eight years old
Life: D-Class
Mana: D+-Class
Magic Aptitude:
Fire Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Fire Blessing),
Water Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Water Blessing),
Earth Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Earth Blessing),
Wind Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Wind Blessing),
Light Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Light Blessing),
Dark Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Dark Blessing),
Non-Elemental Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Non-Elemental Blessing)
...
】
“Mmh, mmh, you've grown quite quickly, Shulim. In less than a year, your mana has grown by a huge margin.”
“Really? I've grown that quickly? But I've just been constantly practicing magic as you told me to.”
“The process of constantly consuming and replenishing mana stimulates the expansion of your mana capacity. That's why your mana pool has grown so rapidly.”
“So that's how it is,” Shulim nodded in understanding.
“Alright! Now that your mana has grown to an adequate level, it's time for you to learn Second-Tier magic.”
Hearing this, Shulim's eyes widened in surprise. “I can start learning Second-Tier magic? But why start only now? Why didn't you let me learn Second-Tier magic before?”
“Hmph hmph~,” Semilis smiled mysteriously. “Shulim, you're still too green. Though you could have learned Second-Tier magic a long time ago and made it your primary focus of practice, did you ever consider something? Before, your mana was only D-Class, and the amount of mana required for Second-Tier magic far exceeds that of First-Tier magic. If you had prioritized practicing Second-Tier magic as your main focus, how many spells would you have even been able to cast in a day?”
“But First-Tier magic is different. With a reserve of D-Class mana, it was enough to sustain a massive amount of First-Tier magic practice. This way, your growth would be the fastest, and your proficiency in magic would also increase at the quickest rate.”
“Also, don't look down on First-Tier magic. Even though they are the weakest spells, even the most powerful mages use First-Tier magic the most! That's because while practicing First-Tier magic offers negligible improvements to powerful mages, its cost is practically ignorable, and it can be controlled even while distracted. No matter how minuscule the gains are, accumulating them over time leads to a massive amount of experience.”
“Particularly for top-tier mages, keeping magic active at all times—whether eating or sleeping—is the most basic of operations. To maintain such an operation without affecting daily life, First-Tier magic is the premier choice.”
After listening to Semilis's explanation, Shulim understood. “So, you're having me start learning Second-Tier magic now because my mana has increased, meaning it can support a large amount of Second-Tier magic practice?”
“Exactly, that's pretty much it~! According to the standards of this world, your mana is already at D+-Class, and one step further will put you at C-Class.”
Semilis snapped her fingers and continued, “Alright, next, I'll pass down a Second-Tier spell to you. Let me think about which spell to start teaching you with. Knowing too many things is its own kind of trouble...”
While Semilis was contemplating, Shulim sat up straight before her with a look of anticipation.
What kind of magic would the Fairy Queen, Semilis—the strongest entity below the gods—bequeath to her? Would it be those lost ancient magics she had mentioned before?
“It's decided! Since the first spell you learned was of the fire element, we'll start with fire magic!” Semilis's words cut through Shulim's daydreaming. “And when it comes to fire magic, it has to be Fireball! It is practically the flagship spell of fire magic, known by everyone, and has never been lost from antiquity to the present day! Yes, indeed, you could say fire magic is Fireball!”
“...”
Shulim stared at Semilis blankly, completely unable to understand why Semilis was suddenly making such a highly enthusiastic and sweeping claim, so she chose to sidestep it. “Ah... I see. So we're starting with Fireball?”
“That's right!”
Shulim couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of regret. It seemed she wouldn't be seeing any lost ancient magic anytime soon. Or rather, did low-tier magic really change very little from past to present?
“Even though it's considered the flagship of fire magic, the complexity of Fireball's mana circuit is on a completely different level compared to First-Tier fire magic.”
While Shulim was still lost in thought, Semilis had already begun teaching the Fireball spell. Shulim quickly focused her mind to listen carefully.
“And it's not just fire magic. For almost all elemental magics, the difficulty increases exponentially with each higher tier. For example, Third-Tier spells are nearly a hundred times more complex than First-Tier ones. Without the corresponding talent, they're simply impossible to master.”
“I will teach you the mana flow circuit and auxiliary chants for Fireball. Observe and study them closely to get a feel for the jump in difficulty compared to First-Tier magic.”
With that, Semilis projected an image in the air using magic, showing the precise mana circuit for Fireball.
Shulim's eyes widened as she scrutinized every detail of the mana circuit. Just as Semilis had said, this magic circuit diagram was at least ten times more complex than the First-Tier Ignition spell.
However, Shulim was not intimidated by the sheer cliffs of higher-tier magic that lay ahead. This was a path every mage had to tread, a peak they were destined to climb.
Rate on N.U.
