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Chapter 6 – Training from Hell
The next day, we were gathered in the same square as yesterday.
I stood in front of everyone and explained the training I had planned yesterday using the Sea of Trees.
It’s a training exercise where several people work in groups to run through the Sea of Trees while defeating monsters.
“——So I’m going to have everyone follow this course. Of course, we’ll be joining in, too.”
But then a few elves objected.
“We are elves. We know the whole of the Sea of Trees in and out!”
“That’s right!”
Hmmm. Seems these guys haven’t figured out why they need to run? Did they even listen to anything I just said?
I lightly flicked a stone I had taken out of the subspace at the elf who had objected first.
The elf couldn’t react, and the stone hit him directly on the forehead. I didn’t hit it that hard, so he wouldn’t get hurt.
“See? You can’t even react to a surprise attack. I’m sure you must have heard me mention that you need to build up your stamina first, did you not?”
“Ugh…”
As I looked at the frustrated elf, I shot a stone each at Tendo and Mogami who were behind me. But both of them managed to avoid the flying stones while making strange noises.
“What are you doing all of a sudden?”
“Yuki, that’s dangerous you know!”
Ignoring their protests, I call out to the elf from earlier.
“Even these guys reacted way better? Don’t you feel mortified losing to them?”
“Damn, that’s…!”
“Aren’t you frustrated? Then take my course. If not, you’ll stay the same for the rest of your life”
“…Okay”
So they all got on-board, and we left the village.
“Oh, I forgot to mention, apart from watching out for monsters, sometimes I will hurl pebbles like before at you, so be vigilant!”
They all started complaining, but I didn’t mind them. In a real battlefield, you could never know when and where an enemy attack will come from.
That day, there were screams coming from all over the place in the Sea of Trees all day long.
～
——Four days after the training started.
“Ouch”
“Whoa!”
“Aah!”
Such voices still echoed in the Sea of Trees.
I was running in the lead, throwing rocks at them when they seemed to be losing concentration.
“If you concentrate too much on avoiding the branches, you won’t be able to avoid the actual attacks when they come.”
As I said this, I threw several pebbles, and, although a few avoided them, the rest were hit directly.
Well, on the first day, almost no one was able to avoid them. Now, as long as they concentrated, most could now avoid them, and the only time they got hit was when they were tired or distracted by another obstacle.
And by that afternoon, almost all of them were able to reflexively avoid or repel the stone in any situation.
Despite all their earlier fuss, everyone seemed to be picking up at a fast pace.
This means that the rest of the day can be spent training magic and coordination.
Having made that decision, we moved to a more open area.
When I explained the content of the training to them, as expected, some of the elves started to protest.
“Coordination? Piece of cake!”
I knew they would say that.
It’s better to just demonstrate it to them than to try explaining in words.
So, Finne and I decided to put it into practice.
The first thing we did was to prepare a metal target a short distance away and unleashed magic at it.
“——Fireball”
The flames hit the target and quickly dissipated.
I Ignored the elves who seemed to be trying to guess what I wanted to do, and shot the flames again and again.
By the time I finished unleashing my magic, the target was bright red.
“So? What now?”
Just keep watching.
I signaled her with my eyes, and this time, Finne released her magic.
“–Freeze!”
The red-hot metal target shattered as soon as Finne’s magic struck it, making a crackling, snapping sound as the cracks spread.
Seeing this, the elves became upset.
“H-How come?”
“How can it just shatter from such weak attacks!”
And so I sought to explain to the fuming elves.
“That’s the goal of coordination. Well, to be precise, that’s not exactly the kind of coordination I’m going to teach you though…say there’s an enemy that can’t be defeated in a conventional way, even two against one, you can use trial and error to exploit its weaknesses. It means that even the weakest magic spells can be combined to become stronger. You elves know that, don’t you?”
At these words, all the elves fell silent.
On the other side, Tendo and the others were talking in a relaxed manner.
“Yeah, thermal fatigue fracture of metal. That’s what happens when hot metal is suddenly cooled.”
“I guess that’s also a form of coordination, isn’t it…”
While Suzuno was convinced by Tendo’s words, Mogami looked at Tendo and the others as if to say, “How do y’all know all this?”.
“It came up in class duh? Oh, but I guess someone who is always asleep in class wouldn’t know right.”
“I-I do not…”
Yep, you did.
While looking sideways at these classmates of mine, I opened my mouth to address the elves.
“Coordination is about exactly what I just told you. Depending on how the magic is combined and attacked, it can be a powerful force. And as for magic… It’s all about visualization.”
The elves had question marks floating above their heads, as if they didn’t understand what I meant.
So I asked them a question.
“You there. What is the most important thing in invoking magic?”
The elf looked as if he was about to say something that’s quite common sense.
“It’s about chanting accurately and quickly. It’s also important to communicate with the spirits.”
I nodded my head in agreement, but…
“You’re right, but not quite.”
“What do you mean?”
Aegan tilted his head.
“Well, do any of you guys have the no-chant skill?”
“Yes, we have a few skilled people. So do I…at least up to medium grade magic spells”
“I see. The first thing you need to remember is that you don’t get the no-chant skill just because you’re an expert. With the method I’ve found, anyone can acquire the no-chant skill.”
The elves’ eyes widened at my words.
Well, I don’t blame them, since they were denied their conventional wisdom and given hope to become even stronger.
Once I have them acquire the no-chant skill, all that’s left is the effort, and from that point on, it’s up to each individual.
“Aegan. How do you do it when you cast a magic spell with no chant?”
“How? Basically, I visualize the magic the same way I do when I chant. The only difference is that I’m not chanting, so it’s less powerful.”
“I see. The reason why it’s less powerful is because you think it’s less powerful if you don’t chant. The more you visualize it, the more powerful it will be.”
“Visualization, sir?”
I nodded and proceeded to set an example.
“I command thee, woman. Spirit of the wind, pierce my foe——Air Shot!”
First, I released the chanted air shot. Let’s see, I guess the visualization follows the image of a cluster of wind flying through the air.
The iron target that took a direct hit was slightly dented.
“Now, in another, more detailed visualization, released with no-chant——Air Shot!”
This time, it’s a visualization of a compressed mass of air flying at the speed of a bullet.
Then, with a louder sound than before, the target was deeply indented.
“What’s going on, Haruto?”
Ephyr asks me.
“What did Ephyr visualize when you released the air shot?”
“I envisioned a ball of wind flying fast.”
Hmm. That’s different from what I envisioned. Let me ask Tendo and the others the same thing.
“I envisioned an air cannon.”
The elves had a similar image to either of the two.
When I asked Tendo to try an air shot with the same visualization that Ephyr had described, the target dipped slightly. The next time I asked him to do it using his own visualization, the target was more deeply depressed than before.
Now I am sure they understand the importance of visualization.
“What do you think? The same person casting a spell with the same chant, so why is there this much of a difference?”
I asked the elves, who were in an uproar.
“The chanting of magic is only there to solidify the visualization with words. Conversely, the more solid the visualization, the easier it is to cast a spell without chanting…it takes some getting used to, though. And as I’ve just shown, the power changes depending on the visualization. In other words, if you have strong visualization, you will be able to invoke powerful magic without chanting.”
At my words, Tendo and the others as well as the elves both had a look of surprise on their faces.
“I’m going to teach you exactly how to go about making your visualization more powerful in a bit…but first, Aegan, can you give it a try?”
I described my visualization to Aegan and asked him to cast an air shot, and the target dipped deeper than it had at first.
Aegan’s eyes widened in surprise, and the other elves bowed to me.
“‘Mr. Haruto…no, sir Haruto, thank you very much! This will make us stronger!”
“Please don’t call me ‘sir’!”
It’s a different story with the folks in the mansion, but I’ll get goosebumps if this many people call me “sir Haruto”!
“But…”
“Anyway, please don’t call me ‘sir’…”
“…Okay. Then, what about ‘master’?”
“Huh…all right, fine. That’s fine.”
I realized that nothing I could say would change this, so I decided to give up.
“Please provide us with your guidance from now on!”
Aegan and the other elves bowed deeply to me.
Even the lot who were initially hostile towards me are looking at me with respect.
Well, if they’ve had a change of heart, that’s good, right?
And so the training of the elves continued.