A man from the remaining group stepped forward, stopped a short distance from the dome, and bowed politely.
“Sorry for following you all day. I’m Jake, leader of Earth’s Shield, a party based in Roxanne.”
Having seen how I handled the previous bunch, this man chose his words carefully.
“We didn’t follow you to recruit you. Ever since you traveled with Bord of Strongarm, rumors have spread that his skill with magic has improved.”
“I’m Lindy. When I heard that, I was hoping you could give me some instruction in magic—or even just some advice.”
This party had shown no hostility toward either me or the earlier group. They had remained quiet throughout the other party’s attempt to recruit me.
Thinking back to the advice I had given Bord, I realized again that I knew almost nothing about how other mages used their magic.
More accurately, I knew very little about this country or adventurers in general.
All I had to draw on was what I learned while gathering herbs with Ted and the others in Lynas.
“You’re asking for magical instruction, but first, could you show me which elements you were granted and how well you can use them?”
“I was granted Earth Magic and Lightning Magic, but I can only use Earth Magic. I have eighty-four mana… What do you mean by how well I can use it?”
“Show me the spells you normally use. Earth Magic can be used for both defense and offense, right?”
She nodded, turned to the side, and began an incantation:
“O almighty Goddess Felicienne, grant us the strength to raise a shield that will protect us… Shield! Ha!”
The ground about five meters in front of Lindy slowly rose into a defensive wall, much as Bord’s had when I first taught him.
I asked her to attack the completed wall with Stone Lance. Her chant was similar, but the spell was slower and weaker than Bord’s had been at the beginning.
Earth’s Shield seemed a couple of levels below Strongarm, so this was a good opportunity to learn how ordinary adventurers fought. I decided to teach Lindy no more than I had taught Bord.
Even then, I had only shown Bord the fundamentals: refining mana and using it efficiently. Beyond that, he had to improve through his own effort.
A short distance away, I created a large [Dome!] with an opening barely wide enough for one person to crawl through and offered it to them as a campsite.
“This will last about twelve hours and can withstand Strongarm’s full-power attacks. If you place sharpened stakes in the entrance, wild beasts won’t be able to get through. Lindy, keep creating shields until you exhaust your mana, but use less mana for each one than you normally would. We’ll decide what to work on after seeing the result.”
“Use less mana?”
“By ‘shield,’ I mean the defensive walls you normally create. You probably stop casting before your mana is completely exhausted, but first we need to learn how many you can make before you truly run out.”
After explaining that, I returned to my own dome.
Almost immediately, I heard her begin chanting again and again.
I regretted not setting up farther away, but there was no other flat ground nearby. I covered my ears, finished eating, released my mana, and went straight to sleep.
“That kid said ‘until you run out of mana’ so casually, but chanting that many times is exhausting, you know?”
“Leon doesn’t use full incantations. He casts silently or with shortened chants.”
“If it were an incantation under his breath, his lips would still be moving.”
“But you saw him make this dome. It appeared almost instantly.”
“And that whirlwind he created behind Black Whirlwind was terrifying. He’s no mere Breeze—he’s a highly skilled mage.”
“Keep going, Lindy!”
Encouraged by her carefree companions, Lindy continued creating one shield after another.
Partway through, she switched to using only the word “Shield,” as instructed.
She followed my instructions exactly. From her own experience learning Earth Magic, she knew that faithfully practicing what she was taught was the fastest way to improve.
Just as I was about to check the time after my mana had recovered, I felt the presence of wild beasts—and heard voices from the neighboring camp.
“You sure we’re safe in here?”
“Leon’s sleeping like a rock. Look, that wolf’s clawing at the invisible wall but tilting its head.”
“Never thought I’d see a prairie wolf look confused.”
“Same here. Didn’t expect to be staring one in the face from this close.”
“Maybe we should’ve made sturdier stakes.”
“Relax. If things go bad, we can block it with our spears.”
They were surprisingly calm—guess they realized how strong the dome was.
Checking the clock, I saw I’d woken after about seven hours.
I couldn’t tell if my total mana had increased, but my recovery time had definitely shortened.
I sensed more beasts nearby but couldn’t judge their distance precisely.
I decided to use them to test my Detection range again, using the neighboring camp as a reference point.
I cast a bright [Light!] and asked Earth’s Shield to extinguish their lights and remain quiet.
Before long, Prairie Wolves began circling my dome.
I created six large [Whirlwind!] spells, trapping the wolves and spinning them through the air.
Once the remaining wolves fled, I cut off the mana, finished the trapped ones, and stored their bodies in my Magic Pouch.
“Did you see that?”
“Yeah. Those whirlwinds were smaller than the one he showed Black Whirlwind, but…”
“Remember the goblins he toyed with? Those whirlwinds were about this size.”
“A Prairie Wolf may be smaller than a person, but no creature could survive being spun like that.”
“Even those goblins couldn’t stand after ten turns.”
After breakfast, I asked how many shields Lindy had managed before exhausting her mana. She said nineteen.
With eighty-four mana, that meant she used roughly four and a half mana per shield.
She could cast Stone Lance fifteen or sixteen times, so its mana cost seemed about the same.
“Jake, could you stay with me for a week or ten days? During that time, I’ll give you all the non-bird prey we catch.”
“If it helps Lindy improve, we don’t need any payment. We’ve got enough supplies.”
“This is mainly for my own research. I want to compare her progress with Bord’s.”
“Bord of Strongarm?”
“Yes. I gave him some advice as well. Comparing your progress with his will help me improve my own understanding of magic, so there’s no need to worry about payment.”
“Got it. But if we spot prey, we’ll hunt it ourselves—you don’t owe us anything.”
“Yeah. After what we saw yesterday, it’s obvious Leon’s magic is far beyond ours. Just learning from him is reward enough—we’d even give you all the prey if you asked.”
“Agreed. His takedown of those prairie wolves last night was spectacular.”
“Then, Lindy, we’ll work on reducing the mana used by each spell. Before that, I’ll teach you how to create proper [Shield!] and [Shelter!] spells.”
“I understand a shield, but what’s a shelter?”
“A shield is a flat defensive panel. A shelter is essentially a shield curved into a cylinder around you. My rule is safety first: earn money without taking needless risks.”
Someone suppressed a snort of laughter, but I graciously ignored it and had Lindy begin creating shields.
I told her to use only the word “Shield” as her incantation.
“Can it really work with such a short chant?”
“It can. I only say ‘Whirlwind’ or ‘Dome’ myself. You’ve already practiced the full incantation enough, so focus your mana and use a single word, such as ‘Shield’ or ‘Barrier.’”
She looked doubtful, but she was determined to follow my instructions.
With a serious expression, she stared at the ground and called, “Shield! Ha!”
About five meters ahead, the ground slowly rose up to form a wall.
Just like with Bord, I couldn’t help wondering—why do shields form so sluggishly?
Attack spells such as arrows or lances could afford to take a little time, but a defensive shield needed to appear instantly. Why did earth mages create them so slowly?
When I asked, I found out she was simply copying the one who had taught her magic.
I remembered hearing that learning begins with imitation, but true mastery comes from improving on what one has imitated.
Her teacher had naturally been an earth mage and knew nothing about Lightning Magic, so it was unsurprising that Lindy had never learned to use it.
I decided to adjust my teaching method.
“Lindy, you’ve now proved that you can create a shield with a shortened incantation. Magic can be activated instantly, and defensive magic must be. Otherwise, it won’t protect you in an emergency.”
“I’d like to be able to use magic like yours, but…”
“I can’t make a shield like yours—but I can do this.”
I pointed to a spot nearby and cast [Shield!]. A circular wall of compressed air touched the ground, kicking up dust and appearing as a pale-brown disk.
“When you create a shield, you probably don’t think about its width, height, thickness, or hardness. You simply imitate the earth mage who taught you, so your shields have the same shape and dimensions as theirs.”
“That’s true—but if I don’t follow what I was taught, the spell won’t work, will it?”
“At first, yes. Once you can use a spell, however, you should adapt it to suit yourself. You’ve seen my shield appear instantly, so now you know yours can as well.”
She nodded earnestly, and I had her create her usual shield as quickly as possible.
After thinking for a moment, she shouted, “Shield!”
It wasn’t instantaneous, but it formed far faster than before.
“Wow, she managed that much improvement from a single lesson.”
“Impressive indeed.”
“Don’t misunderstand. She already knew how to use magic and had practiced it extensively. What matters is whether a person can accept a new way of thinking. Teaching is useless if the student refuses to move beyond old habits.”
I then placed Lindy between Jake and two of his companions, with each man standing one body-width apart. I told her to picture a rectangular shield fifty centimeters taller than Jake and wide enough to protect all three of them.
Her visualization took time, so the wall rose slowly, but eventually a proper shield formed.
It was about thirty centimeters thick, which was acceptable for a first attempt.
I showed them my own shield from the side so they could compare its thickness, then had Jake’s party attack it.
Their blows had no effect, and even Lindy’s Stone Lance bounced away harmlessly.
“Wind Magic can create a defense this strong. Lindy, try to make your shield the same thickness as mine. Today, focus on memorizing the correct size and thickness. Once you can reproduce those reliably, we’ll work on speed and strength.”
Lindy nodded seriously.
After having her make twelve shields for practice, we set out for the day’s hunt.
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