It wasn’t as straightforward a process as it looked.
What Audrey had just done was actually pretty complicated.
You had to decide how cold the mana was going to be, the shape and hardness of the bullet, how fast it would fly, where it would hit, how much damage it would do, and even the effect of freezing the target after impact.
Spell formulas were all those details, packaged up into a single image you could call to mind instantly. A Hunter needed to be able to use them as naturally as breathing, even in the middle of a fight.
You could make the imaging stronger by using a chant or a trigger word, and using a tool like Audrey’s pistol helped by giving you a clear picture to focus on. But in the end, the whole thing had to happen at the level of instinct, so it definitely wasn’t something just anyone could do.
"That looks really nice for a hot day," Ruby said, eyeing the frozen scarecrow. "But is that all it does, Madness?"
"...If you’d like, I can demonstrate the rest of it on you directly."
"Audrey...!"
"It’s a joke, Manager. I haven’t forgotten my promise."
Audrey lowered her pistol, her face completely serious, then shrugged and took a step back.
Ruby immediately pounced on that. "What? You two made a secret promise? Tell me!"
"I refuse."
"Hey! Don’t be such a killjoy!"
If she told her, it wouldn’t be a secret. It wasn’t like it was something that absolutely couldn’t be shared, but Audrey seemed to be enjoying teasing her by acting mysterious.
"More importantly," I said, turning to Audrey. "How did it feel? Using your ability again after so long."
"Hmm... I’m a bit rusty with the spell formula. I’ll need more rehabilitation training."
"No. Originally, it should have—" she started to explain.
Just then, a sharp cracking sound came from the scarecrow. Cracks spread across the surface of the ice, and with a final, loud crunch, the whole thing—ice and scarecrow inside—shattered into pieces and crashed to the floor.
"...It should have ended up like this," Audrey finished.
Thud. Thud. The sound of heavy chunks of ice hitting the training room floor echoed in the sudden quiet.
So much for a suppression-focused spell formula.
I went and got a broom, sweeping what was left of the scarecrow into a disposal bin. For some reason, I couldn’t help picturing a person inside that ice instead of a straw dummy, which made me feel a little sick.
"Alright, we’ve seen Audrey’s. Ruby, you’re up next."
"Yes! Batter number four, Ruby, has been waiting for this moment!"
"...Where did you get that?"
When I brought over a second scarecrow, I saw Ruby already holding a baseball bat in one hand, excitedly swinging her arm in wide circles.
"It was just leaning over there. I recognized it right away—it’s a big bat, just like Manager’s~"
"Ruby, what exactly does that mean?" Audrey asked, her voice flat.
"Oh? Are you curious? Well, I’m not gonna tell you either~ Neener neener~"
"...I don’t really know what she’s talking about either," I said quickly.
Audrey glared at Ruby, who was sticking her tongue out, then turned her sharp gaze on me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell her the truth.
I was already suspected of having ’kissed a prisoner under my management a whole lot.’ If I added the story about us sleeping together naked in a bed, I had a feeling I’d end up taking the place of that scarecrow. Read the latest chapters at novelping . com.
"Manager, I’m starting now?"
"Yeah. Just stick to body enhancement for now."
Ruby gave me a quick nod and walked up to the scarecrow. She patted its head a couple of times, like she was saying ’nice to meet you.’
"Hi-yah! Cha!"
Then she swung the bat hard. A loud crack echoed as it hit the scarecrow square on the head. The thing was built pretty sturdy, but with just that one hit, its head tilted at a bad angle.
"Ahah! Manager~ Doing this after so long is really fun, you know? Ahaha! Kyahaha~"
"..."
With a genuinely joyful laugh, Ruby started swinging the bat wildly without stopping, beating the scarecrow I’d given her for testing into a ragged mess.
Unlike Audrey, who projected mana outside her body, Ruby’s method was to reinforce her own body with mana. Compared to spell formulas that created external effects, the ones for strengthening yourself were usually simpler, but they also had a lower ceiling. Because of that, body enhancement was basically a standard skill for Hunters around A-rank and above.
But even among them, Ruby was special. She didn’t just use body enhancement.
"Manager, hey~ Can I blow this up? I need to test it, right? Yeah? Please?"
Her other ability was explosive force. Or more accurately, it was detonation.
Her fighting style combined close combat using body enhancement with wielding explosive force—with a high chance of getting caught in the blast herself. It was a style that seemed impossible for anyone but her to use.
I was curious about how she controlled that power, but...
"That’s too dangerous. No."
"You told me to test it! And you bragged that this training room is super sturdy!"
"No matter how sturdy it is, it can’t perfectly handle the explosive force of an S-rank having a blast."