CHAPTER 70: THANK YOU LESSONS FROM LILY

Lily, who suddenly appeared in the Garden, was frozen in place.

　I wave my hand in front of her eyes, but she does not react at all.

“What is wrong with her?”

　I think back to the match earlier while pondering about Lily’s condition.

　I already have [Sword Arts lvl5] and [Aikido lvl5], after supplementing my skills using the skill board.

　However, it was as if I still could not match up with Esther.

　After all, the problem lies in my lack of experience.

　Esther is much better at timing and planning on when to use [Strength Enhancement].

　The technique itself is by no means losing.

　Rather, there were many instances where I was the one with the upper hand.

　However, I could not completely defeat Esther.

　I was so absorbed in attacking that I found myself stuck in Esther’s tactics and had her sword pressed against my neck.

(Pulling back can also be part of a battle strategy… Mmm, it is so hard!)

　When I enhance my abilities on the skill board, I am inevitably ending up pushing much harder.

　That is what happened with my moves.

　Esther is skillful in fighting an opponent with a higher ability than her.

　Until now, I had only had one experience in fighting opponents who are more capable than I am.

　–Only the werewolf at the time of the monster stampede.

　Esther, on the other hand, has an abundance of experience.

　She does not have a skill board, so she has no choice but to steadily improve her technique.

　As long as you are weak, all the monsters around you are considered powerful enemies.

　Moreover, she has to defeat them while standing her ground and avoiding losing her life and being injured.

　The result of that experience is clearly evident in the form of Esther’s victory.

(I have to work harder!)

　I am called an “inferior” person but I cannot help but want to survive in Eargard.

　I immediately focus my magical power and cast a small magic bullet.

　There are three magic bullets. Fire, water, and earth, respectively.

　All of them spinning overhead.

　This is training while controlling multi-attribute magic that the previous me was unable to do.

　Even in the present, a great deal of focus is used to control the magic.

　Nevertheless, my [Magic Art] is at level five. It is not as if I cannot do it.

　It is not because I do not have the technique. This just because this body is not yet accustomed to controlling magic.

　If this can be done normally, then my control of magic will be raised another notch.

　While I was desperately, controlling multi-attribute spells,

“…what is that?” (Lily)

　Lily, who has succeeded in restarting her thoughts, asked me.

　She looks over my head and has bewilderment written all over her face.

“Uh…”

“They were spinning all the time while you were fighting.” (Lily)

“Oh, yeah. This is a bullet-shaped version of the spells. As I said earlier, I am a ‘Lost’ person, so I am not good at controlling magic.”

“What… Really?” (Lily)

“Yes. There was no magic in my original world. This is how I use magic to get used to it as quickly as possible.”

(…) (Lily)

　I do not know why. I am not sure why, but Lily’s gaze is becoming stonier and stonier.

　So I continued on talking hoping to give a clearer explanation.

“What I am doing now is using the three attributes of fire, water, and earth simultaneously. I thought if I trained while constantly using them like this, I would be able to activate my magic freely even while I am fighting.”

“I see. That is why Toru’s movements were so simple.” (Esther)

　Esther’s words made my eyes widen.

“Well, so?”

“Oh. I guess you were too preoccupied with using magic. If you had not used magic simultaneously, I might have lost.” (Esther)

“I see. Hmm, I think I was moving normally. I just need more practice–“

“Wait a minute.” (Lily)

　Lily suddenly interrupted our conversation.

　Her eyes are quite agitated.

　Did I say something to make her angry?

　I waited for her next words with bated breath.

“First, Esther” (Lily)

“Yes?” (Esther)

“This is not normal.” (Lily)

　At this point, she was pointing a finger at me.

　-I cannot understand.

“Well, is that so?” (Esther)

“This is not normal.” (Lily)

　Lily’s words pierced my heart.

“Do not you think this is not normal?” (Lily)

“Well, yeah. I did not know much about magic, so I thought ‘this’ was normal.” (Esther)

　Not only Lily but also Esther is calling me weird.

　-Both of them are terrible!

“Usually, you cannot activate magic while fighting. Remember that?” (Lily)

“Oh, oh …” (Esther)

(Hey… It is not usually possible. That means [Magic Lv5] is already pretty powerful.)

　I was just thinking about that.

“And Toru” (Lily)

“Yeah!?”

　Being glared at by Lily seems like she is mastered a few skills, I reflexively straightened my back.

　After all, she is a B-rank adventurer.

　The pressure from her gaze is great.

　A large bead of sweat appeared on my forehead as it drips down.

“Toru is weird.” (Lily)

(…)

　The person that looks like a young girl has hit me with such words.

　The impact was so strong I was almost brought to my knees.

“Normally, you do not do that training out of the blue. Failure is normal.” (Lily)

“… What did you say?”

“This level should be about right.” (Lily)

　With that said Lily faced her palm forward and stretched her arms forward.

　As I was looking at her palm, mana gradually gathered in the center of her palm, and magic was activated.

　The magic that was activated were bullets with the same three attributes as mine.

　What is different from me is that the bullets are near Lily’s body.

“It gets harder when you move them away from your body. It is better to have them near you at first.” (Lily)

“I see. But will not you receive a burn?”

“It is okay. Damage is diverted away from your body.” (Lily)

“Really!”

　As a test, I activated [Fireball] on my palm.

　It was a terrifying burning [Fireball] so it could be released at any time, but I never felt the heat.

　Wow, that is exactly what Lily said.

[Fireball] is not hot.

“Why did not you notice such an easy thing?” (Lily)

　Recalling the past instances, I have always released magic from the side once it is activated.

　That is because there is a belief that [Fireball] was hot.

　It is probably a negative effect of learning Physics from Earth.

　Magic is a phenomenon different from physics.

　In physics, a flame can burn, but with magic, it does not get hot even if it is on top of your palm.

“Thank you for teaching me!”

“Hmm, good. The dinner was delicious.” (Lily)

　Apparently, Lily gave me some magic lessons as a thank you for lunch.

　The lunch was something that I wanted to make, so I took the liberty of making it.

　I was not expecting to be thanked.

　I followed Lily’s teaching and activated a magic bullet again.

　This time, it is not a wait-and-see, but at full power.

Then the next moment–.