Traveling from Otori Magic Academy to the park where I’m going to meet Master took approximately 15 to 20 minutes by bus.
But, as expected, there is still no bus passing at 4 o’clock early in the morning. Thus, I decided to run to the park while warming my body up.
“Fuu, fuu, haa, haa…!”
I ran while consciously feeling the flow of my magic power. If I gather my magic power only in my lower limbs, my speed will certainly be increased, but if my unprotected upper body were attacked, I will definitely die.
Imagining a thin layer that can stretch, I poured the minimum amount of magic power to my lower limbs and poured the rest into my upper body.
In addition, I also gradually put some magic power into both of my eyes, making me capable of seeing the overlapping leaves of the trees to even their veins.
“…..Uh.”
That was until lightheadedness assaulted me.
Is this the effect of pouring magic power into one place at once?
Like magic power exhaustion, the symptoms like dizziness appear. As expected, pouring magic power in with all my might is not good. There seems to be a limit to the amount of magic power that can be used at one time, if it exceeds the permissible range, rejection will occur. Or rather, in the first place, a sweet situation where I can fight at 100% full power condition won’t always come.
How much power should I use to fight? With this basis, it is necessary to set the index to know where and what percentage of magic power I should use.
Which means, I have to make time to do something like meditation so that I can perceive the magic power that flows inside my body and the magic power that overflows outside my body, as it is necessary for me to be precise in detecting and controlling the amount of magic power to the level below the decimal point.
At any rate, with a good amount of sweat oozing from my body, I arrived at the park. And Master, who had arrived earlier, suddenly turned her face away when she saw me.
“Tsun!!”
“… What?”
Master looked in the opposite direction and shouted.
“Tsun!! Tsun tsun tsun!!”
This 420 years old girl… annoying…
While repeatedly glancing to see my reaction, my old enough master kept repeating the “Tsun!!”.
“… Do you not understand?”
With her arms folded, Master pouted her cheeks.
“I’m angry, you know?!”
“Ah, yes. I see.”
“Ask the reason!! The reason!! Ask the reason!!”
“Why are you angry (monotone)?”
“Looks like you got engaged.”
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The information already spread from Lapis, huh.
To that question, I nodded with a bitter smile.
“Un, I did, to the maid who worked at the Sanjou Family villa. I have been approaching her for a while, but the other day, she finally accepted.”
“Why haven’t I heard it even though I am your master?!”
“Because I haven’t told you (Obvious reason).”
With her cheeks cutely pouting, Master takes out a Nintendo Switch from her pocket.
“Even though I bought a Nintendo Switch!! Even though I bought it, so I can play Smash Bros with my cute disciple!! And yet, how could you get stolen from me!! My beloved disciple is taken away!!”
“That Joycon seems to be stuck in the opposite direction, did you break it on the first day by chance? The buttons are also dented, are you not capable of adjusting your power?”
Hearing that, Master imitated someone who broke down crying.
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“How pitiful… even Lapis was absent-minded all day long yesterday… What did she even do to get such a treatment?”
“But Lapis isn’t particularly attracted to me romantically, right? I’m quite sure about that, and yet, why is she disheartened?”
“… It’s complicated, you know? A woman’s heart.”
Calmed, Master puts the switch back in her pocket.
“Well, I won’t deny the engagement itself. Or rather, for a man, being able to make a fiancée this early is a good means of defense. You can also keep the Sanjou Family in check with that, after all.”
“No, it’s not like I wanted to profess something to the branch family by doing this, but…it would be a problem if they weirdly misunderstand about something and try to mess with Snow.”
With her arms folded, Master nodded heavily.
“In that case, I’ll leave that to Hiiro to decide. However, there is one thing I would like you to comply with.”
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“What is it?”
“Master>>>>>>>>>>>>Fiancée>>others. Absolutely, do not break this schema.”
“What is this girl talking about with such a straight face…”
As soon as I said that, Master shouted exaggeratedly.
“Because I am the one who found Hiiro first!! No matter what you think, Master’s position is higher, right? Higher! Which means, if I invite Hiiro to play Smash Bros with me, Hiiro is obliged to leave your fiancée and come to see me!!”
“No, I met Snow before Master.”
“… (Despair)”
While bending and stretching, I muttered.
“Let’s stop joking and get started. There is someone I want to surpass, and people I want to protect.”
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“I’m not joking in the middle, though… But well, very well.”
Master throws a stick-shaped magic device at me. And as soon as I caught it, my arms sank.
It is several times heavier than the Kuki Masamune that I usually use… And the trigger is pretty hard as if it had just been melted. Or rather, I don’t think it’s made to be pulled. Without the trigger, people probably wouldn’t have noticed that this was, in fact, a magic device, as it seemed like a block of iron.
“What is this?”
“Canon.”
Master quietly whispered.
“It is a slot-less magic device. An out-of-place artifact that is said to have been used by the ancient elves who ruled Alfheim since ancient times.”
“But if it has no slot… How do you even activate magic with this?”
“There is one kind of magic that can be activated without the need of slots, right?”
I slowly opened my eyes.
“Non-attribute magic, huh…”
To that, Master nodded.
“But isn’t this impossible? Without the generation system console, the magic won’t be able to keep its shape, and my magic power will vanish like the mist.”
“I suppose. However, there is one way to use it.”
I took a long hard look at Canon and finally noticed.
Perhaps she is talking about 『Nameless』?
It is a cashable item dropped from the boss enemy of 『World Tree Dungeon』 that has a description that said 『Unusable magic device. An antique that has no value except for selling it to get money.』. And that is what was called 『Nameless』 in Esco.
But if I remember correctly, there is a condition that changes it into a strong weapon… And at this moment, I realized.
“Magic Eye?”
Hearing that, Master smiled happily.
“Wonderful intuition. Hiiro, I didn’t evaluate you highly for your high parameters. It is your sharp intuition and strength in challenge that is not possible to get only with effort.”
“Well, I’m happy you praised me, but… Magic Eye… Can I even awaken it… ?”
“I have a basis for that. You are the one and only legitimate successor of the Sanjou Family, right?”
She sure investigated it thoroughly… The information about Hiiro being the legitimate successor of the Sanjou Family can only be found in the setting, you know?
Speaking of which, Sanjou Hiiro indeed has achieved the conditions for opening the Magic Eye.
Due to the origin of one’s birth, special magic operators created inside one’s body can be gathered in his eyes, turning one’s eyeballs into a pseudo-magic device. And those changed eyes are called— Magic Eyes.
The trigger of that pseudo magic device can be triggered by consciously pouring magic power into one’s eye. And since the eyeball itself is a magic device and also the console, it can only activate one special magic, but… the power of the said magic is enormous, and it also produces a side effect (It seems Master is trying to make me use Canon with this side effect).
The Magic Eye has the highest probability of awakening in someone due to their lineage. The more you are born in a good family, the more you are likely to awaken the Magic Eye. And the probability of the Duke family in the Esco world to awaken the Magic Eye should have been set to 3%.
And the Magic Eye of the Sanjou Family is– 『Epic Daybreak』
In Sanjou Rei route, after completing a certain event and satisfying the conditions, Rei may acquire the Magic Eye with a low probability after the battle. If I remember correctly, that probability was less than 3%. Even though she is indeed from a Duke family, the blood of the Sanjou Family in her is pretty thin, so the probability may be low because of that.
“But aren’t we skipping too many steps at once? I wanted to learn water attribute magic, basic swordsmanship and archery first, though?”
“Of course, awakening your Magic Eye is not our current goal. But it eventually is. It also depends on your luck, after all.”
Master smiled while stroking her chin with her fingertips.
“However, there is a world of difference between the Magic Eye that you are consciously trying to awaken from an early stage and the Magic Eye that you unconsciously awakened later… Hence, I think it is necessary to have you bring Canon and keep an eye on that goal from now on.”
Personally, I think it’s a bit too fast, though. But since what Master said is absolute, I decided to hang the heavy Canon on my waist.
“Well then, what are you going to teach me first, Master?”
“The basics of swordsmanship comes from swinging. That said, I think it would be hard for you to work on simple training right after running.”
Master smiled.
“Let’s start with archery. But what I’m going to teach you is not just a normal bow.”
Saying that, Master pulled the trigger in front of my eyes, and–
“I think this one should be more familiar than a normal bow for you.”
— I laughed seeing the 『Bow』 that exceeded my imagination.