Chapter 16 - Chapter 15: Earth Magic
One week after the day Mika went to the river with Ninetiana.
Mika was sitting in the grassy thicket along the village fence, a little way from his house.
It was for the development of new magic.
Because the danger of the forest became clear after the Agu Bear's attack, he had refrained from going into the forest since that day.
Using "Fireball" and "Fire Breath" inside the village is dangerous, so practice with these spells has been temporarily suspended.
More importantly, using such magic inside the village would inevitably attract attention.
Since it is practice within the village, he cannot do anything too flashy.
So, instead, he was trying various things regarding earth and wind magic that were still undeveloped, and ice magic made possible by manipulating thermal energy.
He cannot shout as loudly as when he was in the forest, but he continues the "conditioning" of manifesting magic by clearly speaking the words.
Regarding ice magic, "Ice Javelin" and "Ice Breath" have already been developed.
For "Ice Javelin," there was some trouble creating water and then turning it into a long, thin spear-like ice, but once accustomed, there are no problems.
After a few days of practice, it became possible to manifest it in a frozen state, and using the same method, "Ice Breath" also became possible.
Until now, I hadn't paid much attention to this, but things manifested by magic like "Fireball" or "Waterball" appear in the air.
Previously, it felt like the mana sphere I created changed into them, but now "Fireball" and "Waterball" appear directly.
And if I imagine them flying toward a target object, they fly exactly as imagined.
If I don't think about movement, they wait in that state.
Since I can move mana with my own will, I hypothesize that this act of "thinking" is giving kinetic energy to "Fireball" and "Waterball," but I don't know for sure.
More importantly, floating in the air must be a phenomenon occurring while consuming energy.
In other words, what I want to say is, "What the hell is mana?"
It easily interferes with thermal energy, kinetic energy, and potential energy, and on top of that, it even creates water.
Water. In other words, matter.
If mana is indeed a form of energy, then energy has been converted into mass.
Now, Mika has started to accept that this itself isn't strange at all.
He has memories of learning about the equivalence of mass and energy during his student days.
It is surprising that it appeared not at the quantum level, but as a large mass of water, but he had started to think the phenomenon itself might be "possible."
But if energy is converted into mass, the energy required for that should be enormous.
During fire magic practice, he casually splashed a lot of water for preparation and cleanup, but the total amount of water Mika has created so far probably isn't just a few hundred kilograms.
It will reach several tons.
He felt a sense of terror anew toward the energy called "mana," which can easily create such a mass.
No, perhaps mana is matter from the beginning.
It might just be an existence that fills this world as matter, capable of easily converting into energy.
Mika can easily create a mana sphere, and it has a faint bluish-white light.
Whether this is the state of pure mana or the result of being converted into light is unknown.
"Haaah... if only Newton or Einstein were here."
Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.
They are the geniuses of physics, well known to all.
Of course, there are many other genius physicists, but even just one of them.
I wish they could be born in this world.
The mysterious and "outrageous" phenomenon of mana was a subject far too large for a commoner like Mika to unravel.
"Well, leaving the elucidation of mana to future geniuses, I'll just do what I can do."
Mana is a mysterious power that makes your head hurt the more you think about it.
Fundamental theories like that are things I want to leave to those who find joy in unraveling them... no, to geniuses.
It's just like being able to watch TV by turning on the switch.
What structure the semiconductors, capacitors, and transistors arranged on the circuit board have, what theory creates them, and what function they perform.
Even if you don't know such things, you can watch the program you want by changing the channel. That's all there is to it.
I can use mana.
Even if I don't know what theory it is built upon, I can switch magic like changing channels.
Moreover, I can even add new channels, meaning I can add new magic.
If that's the case, I want to focus on adding channels rather than elucidating the principles.
"For now, the basics are the four elements, right?"
When it comes to fantasy and magic conventions, isn't it the four elements of fire, water, earth, and wind?
Originally, Greek philosophy blah blah blah, and I'm about to spout off erudite knowledge, but I'll hold back for now.
Since I've lived a life immersed in games and manga to some extent, if I start talking about this, I won't be able to stop.
If I start talking otaku talk, I'm confident I could talk until dawn, not just until sunset.
Fire and water are done, so the rest are wind and earth.
I have already thought of ideas for each magic, so I'll start with earth magic first.
Why start with earth? Simply because it looks easy.
The earth magic Mika plans to master is "Stone Bullet" and "Earth Wall."
Both are classics of earth magic, and I really want to realize them.
"Stone Bullet."
He opens his left hand and imagines a pebble on his palm.
Since getting burned on his right hand, Mika decided to basically perform magic with his left hand.
Of course, he practices so he can use his right hand, but the main hand is the left.
In case of failure, to avoid injuring his dominant hand.
...No, considering how often he fails, "in case" feels like an understatement.
Anyway, staring intently at the empty space above his left hand, sand-like particles begin to float up.
As he pours more mana in, new sand particles are created, and they stick together.
Sand particles are made continuously, and as they stick together, the lump eventually becomes large enough to be called a "stone."
Exhaling deeply with a "phew," the stone pebble drops onto his palm with a clink.
A stone about the size of the first joint of his thumb rests in his palm.
He observes the stone carefully, and it looks completely like a stone.
Having watched the process of sand particles sticking together, he thought it was just hardened sand, but it has properly become stone.
He picks up a stone lying on the ground at random and presses the created stone against it.
He pushes in hard with force, but it doesn't crumble or crack.
"...It looks exactly like a pebble from around here. It has hardness too."
He observes the created stone again.
It's angular, gray, with some whitish and blackish bits mixed in. What was that stone called?
He has memories of learning it in class as a child, but he can't recall it, unfortunately.
Andesite or granite? Basalt?
Several types come to mind, but he certainly doesn't remember their specific characteristics.
"Even with such a pebble, it uses quite a bit of mana."
It required far more mana than the "Fireball" he usually creates.
Even with the materialization of the same mana, "Stone Bullet" requires more mana than "Waterball."
Simply by mass, "Stone Bullet" is smaller than "Waterball."
Still, the fact that "Stone Bullet" requires more mana suggests there is some law here.
But today's goal isn't such things.
"Then... let's try it."
He tosses the stone in his hand aside and stands up on the spot.
He looks around, searching for a suitable stone.
Mika finds a stone about the size of a human head about five meters away and makes that his target.
"Stone Bullet."
Extending his left hand and gathering mana again, this time he creates three stones.
He pours mana until each is about the same size as the previous stone, but this time he doesn't lose concentration.
Imagining "Stone Bullet" flying like a bullet toward the target stone, he feels a sensation of mana being taken away in bulk.
At that moment, a faint "shush" sound occurs, and almost simultaneously, a loud "gagagan" sound rings out.
"Stone Bullet" hits the target stone, shattering it into pieces.
(...As expected. This is...)
He instinctively covers his mouth.
Seeing "Stone Bullet" exert the power he expected, Mika trembled.
It was too much like what he expected.
He aimed for high temperature to increase the lethality of "Fireball," yet he wonders why he's thinking this now, but seeing this power firsthand makes him question what he is doing.
(I don't intend to aim at people. This is for when facing magical beasts.)
If he were to fire "Stone Bullet" at an Agu Bear, could he defeat that magical beast?
If he keeps firing like a machine gun, it might be possible, but he couldn't get certainty.
Since he hasn't actually fought, he can't say it's fine.
(...Let's do what we can. To avoid regret.)
Deciding this is enough, he imagines the despair if it fails. The enemy he assumes is a magical beast.
If he uses the "Fireball" and "Ice Javelin" he has learned so far, and even this "Stone Bullet," and still can't match the enemy, what he loses is not just his life.
More importantly, Agu Bear is not the strongest magical beast.
Even if he can defeat Agu Bear as is, what happens if a stronger magical beast appears?
How far these will work can only be known by trying.
Of course, there must be limits to what Mika alone can do.
That is precisely why he should not easily set an upper limit.
Regaining his composure, Mika decided to tackle "Earth Wall."
He will continue practicing "Stone Bullet" in the future, but first, he wants to realize the magic he is currently thinking of.
"Earth Wall."
He concentrates mana in his left hand and throws a mana sphere about the size of a basketball toward the ground.
He imagines creating earth underground and having an earth wall about 1 meter wide, 1 meter high, and 20 centimeters thick emerge.
Then, earth rises vigorously from the ground where the mana sphere landed.
However, the earth stops moving with a mound only as high as a mole's trail.
".................. Is this the end?"
He watched for a while, but there was no change from the initial movement.
"Did I simply lack mana? Or was it a lack of imagination?"
This time, instead of a mana sphere, he places his left hand directly on the ground and sends mana.
He creates a wall with the same image as before about 1 meter in front.
"Earth Wall."
He mutters the spell name and concentrates mana on the hand touching the ground.
A massive amount of mana is taken away, incomparable to the previous "Stone Bullet."
Immediately after that, the earth wall exactly as imagined appears before his eyes.
The way it emerges, rising all at once from the ground, is also perfectly as imagined.
He touches the wall, which is slightly lower than his height, to check the texture.
"It feels like dry earth. Well, it is as imagined..."
When he picks at it with his finger, it crumbles with a gritty sound.
To be honest, the durability is trash.
It looks as imagined, but practicality is almost non-existent.
"I can't use this as a defense unless I imagine the material as stone or something."
In games, creating an earth wall to boost defense is a familiar effect, but in reality, it seems completely useless.
"Besides, since it's earth, you'd expect the strength to be low, right? Am I an idiot?"
He is amazed at his own stupidity for not understanding until he fails once, as usual.
Well, there are things you can't know without trying.
"Just like 'Stone Bullet,' it's fine in the sense of identifying areas for improvement... But the biggest problem is---."
The amount of mana consumed.
Mika's current mana capacity has increased significantly compared to the beginning.
Previously, he grasped it in terms of how many softball-sized mana spheres he could make, but he doesn't do that anymore.
He probably could, but if he did now, it would likely reach several thousand mana spheres in conversion.
He could make dozens of "Fireball" or "Waterball," so there is still room.
Recently, he hasn't emptied his mana, so he doesn't even know his limit himself.
Mika, who is like that, had a significant amount of mana taken away by a single "Earth Wall."
Probably about 30% or 40% of the total.
If he does it again, even if he doesn't collapse, he will definitely feel sick.
(No matter how you look at it, the cost-performance is too bad.)
"Earth Wall" was a ridiculous failure, useless and with the worst cost-performance.
He wants to improve the wall material from earth to stone, but it might be wiser to seal this for a while.
Rather than one "Earth Wall," he wants to practice "Stone Bullet" with the same amount of mana.
As he practices magic, the total amount of mana will increase.
For now, he should focus on proficiency with "Stone Bullet," and when his mana capacity increases sufficiently, he can challenge "Earth Wall" again.
For now, he decides to stop magic practice for the day.
He wants to develop wind magic too, but he doesn't know how much mana new magic will require.
If the newly tried magic turns out to be another magic with the worst cost-performance, he might end up collapsing anyway.
He decides to call it a day and do something else.
Mika sighs looking at the earth wall standing firmly, kicks it down with effort, wipes the sweat, and starts walking home.
He reconsidered that even such a weak earth wall might be quite effective against children.
Returning home once, he takes a bucket and comes to the river.
To try a practical application of magic he recently started thinking about, combining utility.
Utility. This time, the goal is to enrich the Noisheim family's dinner table.
In other words, the "Plan to Catch Fish and Add a Dish to Dinner."
Today, it seems no one is at the river, making it perfect for an experiment.
He fills the bucket with river water, takes off his shoes, and enters the river.
(How many should I catch? Should I take some for Ninetiana-san and Radi? If so, that means Diego and Kifrod too... Seven fish.)
He can't say, "I'll take some for Ninetiana, but not for Diego," so the number becomes considerable.
Two for Ninetiana and Diego, two for Radi and Kifrod, and of course three for the Noisheim family.
He thought about taking some for Horatio, but it would be troublesome if he brought raw fish to the workplace.
He would be troubled.
So, Horatio is excluded this time.
"Seven fish... That's quite a lot."
He looks around in the river.
Today is an experiment for catching fish using water magic.
There are quite a few fish in the river flowing in front of the village.
Sometimes people fish with rods or spears in the river, but Mika has neither a fishing rod nor a spear.
Fish never appear on the Noisheim family's dinner table; it's basically vegetable soup and bread, with fruit occasionally.
So he thought, "Let's catch them ourselves," and considered a practical application of magic.
Mika was attracted to magic because he initially wanted to gain such practical benefits.
He wanted to enjoy the benefits gained by being able to use magic.
Such wishes, or rather desires, private interests and selfishness, were the driving force.
(But seven fish. Well, if it fails, I'll just reduce the share.)
The minimum target line is three fish.
He wants to enrich the Noisheim family's dinner table no matter what.
He looks at the shadow of the large stone where fish usually stay.
He confirmed the figures of about two fish, but they quickly fled, noticing Mika's shadow.
"Well, that's what happens."
Mika steps back a few paces and dips his left hand into the water.
"Limiter Off. Waterball."
Mika creates a "Waterball" in the water.
However, he maintains the shape as he thinks so it doesn't mix with the river water.
Making this "Waterball" into the shape he wants is a technique he learned during "Ice Javelin" practice.
He stretched a simple sphere into a long shape to create a spear shape.
As a first experiment, he asks if it is possible even in a water current.
First, he must test if he can keep it staying as he wants within the water flow trying to push the "Waterball" away.
(...Is it okay for now? Even though he is clearly consuming mana.)
It seems he is consuming mana to go against the current, but it seems manageable.
The amount of mana consumed is not significant.
With the water current of this river, it seems there are no problems.
"Then, I'll expand this 'Waterball'---."
He slowly expands it within the river water.
The destination is just behind the rock, where fish usually gather.
He expands the "Waterball" to that point, and then waits still.
Until the fish come.
If he moves, the fish will get wary and won't approach, so he endures without moving.
Then, fish came immediately.
Suddenly, he felt "something" in the mana for a moment, but he immediately drove it from his head.
He cannot miss this chance.
The moment he confirmed that the fish had completely entered the "Waterball," the "Waterball" suddenly splashed.
Following the method of "Water Splash," he blows the "Waterball" toward the riverbank.
Splashes rise as if an explosion occurred underwater, and a large amount of water, along with fish, pours down onto the riverbank.
"Got it!"
The fish washed up on the riverbank are jumping around energetically.
After struggling to grab the fish, he creates a "Waterball" again and washes it inside.
After cleaning the fish full of small stones, he reduces the amount of the "Waterball."
He freezes it carefully until the amount of water is enough to freeze the fish.
If he lets go, the fish will fall, and if he freezes it all at once, his hands will freeze too.
He freezes only the top of the "Waterball," where the fish's head is, to fix the position, then freezes the whole thing at once.
Thus, a perfectly frozen fish is completed in Mika's hand.
"...Nice!"
He instinctively makes a victory pose.
He puts the frozen fish in the bucket and enters the river again.
"At this rate, I'll catch them all!"
He checks several rocks where fish gather from a slightly distant place.
This time, he cautiously advances the "Waterball" toward the rocks where fish are already present.
Previously, he used the method of setting a trap and waiting, but this time he tries the method of going for fish that are already there.
This also yields good results, and since there is no time to wait with bent knees, the burden is less.
"Good, good. With this, seven fish might be a breeze."
While putting the second frozen fish in the bucket, he dreams of the scene where fish are added to tonight's dinner.
Mika pats his waist and stretches widely.
(...There was a time when I thought like that too.)
After putting the sixth fish, which he caught with effort, into the bucket, he enters the river aiming for the seventh target fish.
"At first, it was going well..."
He doesn't know the exact reason, but as he advances the "Waterball," fish often notice and flee.
Whether they noticed it was different from the river water or sensed Mika's presence, it seems there are fish with good intuition.
So he switches to the trap-setting style he tried first, but this is really tough.
Waiting still for fish that might come at any time with bent knees is truly difficult, and he frequently straightened his waist or took breaks, but the damage accumulated.
Finally, he reached one fish short of the target of seven, but Mika's waist was already at its limit.
"...Having back pain at this age is no good."
Coming into the river is fine, but he has no motivation to start preparing.
(...Six fish. Two each for Ninetiana-san and the church, and the rest for Amalia and Loretta.)
Although the fish Mika caught, he considers giving them away this time.
Ninetiana has taken care of him, and Radi is his savior.
Amalia and Loretta are constantly worried about him and take care of him.
It is a small thing, but he has a feeling of wanting to repay that kindness.
(No, that won't do. Amalia and Loretta won't accept that they eat themselves while I don't.)
Mika has established a method to catch fish through this experiment, so in the future, he can eat whenever he wants.
It was difficult because he tried to catch seven fish in one day, but in the future, he can just catch a few and eat them anytime.
If it's grilled fish, Mika, who can use "Fire Breath," can eat it anytime.
"Well, that doesn't matter anyway. For those two."
Probably, it's not a matter of "being able to eat later."
As he is thinking about what to do, he suddenly sees a fish at the edge of his vision.
It seems a fish has come to a rock upstream a little distance away.
Mika gazes at that fish for a while and slowly checks the surroundings.
Then, he carefully aims his left hand at that fish.
".................. Ice Javelin."
An "Ice Javelin" about the size of chopsticks flies to the fish in an instant, skewering it.
He picks up the fish flowing down from upstream.
The fish that flowed down with the "Ice Javelin" stuck in it seems to still be alive.
With practiced movements, he freezes it, climbs out of the river, and puts the last harvest in the bucket.
"Phew... Goal achieved. Limiter On."
There is a somewhat uncomfortable feeling of cheating.
For the first time, of his own will, he used magic, and killed a living thing.
That fact stabs his heart a little like a thorn.
Setting a trap with magic and freezing it results in killing regardless, but somehow he felt guilty for using "Ice Javelin."
This is just sentimentality.
But he felt this sentimentality was something very important.
Walking down the main street of the village with the bucket containing fish.
"...Oh, too heavy."
Since he froze seven fish and soaked them in water, the water in the bucket is full.
A bucket full of water was a bit heavy for seven-year-old Mika to carry.
On top of his abused waist, it is ruthlessly delivering the final blow.
After struggling to carry it to the church, he takes out the first fish from the bottom of the bucket.
The fish caught at the beginning have already thawed.
Even so, since they were soaked in ice water, they won't spoil even in summer.
He swaps the fish in the bucket so the frozen fish are at the bottom.
So that even if someone peeks into the bucket, they won't see the ice.
The church door is open, and inside were Radi and Kifrod.
"Hello."
When Mika calls out, the two notice him and come to the entrance.
"Welcome, Mika-kun. What did you do today?"
Radi, still wearing her sparkling Mother Aura, smiles brightly as always.
"It's a share."
Saying that, Mika takes out fish from the bucket and offers it, and the two look surprised.
"That is welcome. What happened with these fish?"
"I caught them just now at the river. I caught a lot."
"I see, I see. Then we shall accept them gratefully. Even though you are still small, Mika has a splendid mindset."
After speaking gratitude to the gods for the bounty and then to Mika, Kifrod takes the fish.
"...Mika-kun caught them? Even this much?"
Radi's eyes go wide as she looks at the bucket.
Kifrod calls out to the stunned Radi.
"This. What about thanks, Radi?"
Hearing that, Radi snaps out of it and hurriedly speaks words of gratitude.
"Ah, thank you, Mika-kun. Gratitude to the gods' bounty and to Mika-kun."
Saying that, she takes the fish from Kifrod and goes to put it away in the back.
"............ Mika, sorry. You are surprised because small Mika caught so many fish."
"No, I am surprised too. I am always taken care of by the church. I will bring more if I catch them."
"Kakkakka. That is happy, but don't overdo it. Just the feeling is happy. And also..."
Kifrod looks straight at Mika with a serious face.
"If Mika catches all the river fish, everyone in the village will be in trouble."
Saying that, Kifrod laughed loudly with a "kakkakka."