The words 'practicing magic' are hard to understand. For example, let's say you want to run faster, and for longer. Then you just have to run.
Human muscles are structured to tear, recover, and grow stronger. But magic isn't used with muscles. In terms of pure output, if you want to use stronger magic, you have to pour in more mana, and the amount of mana is determined by the number of mana circles.
So, how do you increase those all-important mana circles? This is the most ridiculous part.
"What am I supposed to do...?"
I spread out dozens of books I borrowed from the library in the storage shed and looked through all of them. And even combining that with what I heard in class, it was all the same. Do you wish to increase your mana circles and walk the path of magic?
If so, then expand your enlightenment. Shouldn't I first have to know what this 'enlightenment' thing is? But then, this thing is supposedly the law that builds the heart-realm, and something like a very subtle and secretive weakness of a mage.
They say you must never, ever go around talking about what you've realized. Not even to your family. So there are no examples at all.
I don't know what I've realized. The mana circles exist beneath enlightenment, so I must know something. I held my chin and pondered.
'That all nobles are deformed?' Hmmm, the law that constitutes my Deep Sea Realm couldn't possibly be something like this. 'That I'm fated to die soon?'
It doesn't seem likely that a heart-realm called the Deep Sea Realm would be formed from such an enlightenment. There's only one thing left.
"This world is inside the sea... huh."
I guess this is it. The first thought that came to me after suffering the divine fever, and the biggest problem I have to solve. If it's the law that constitutes my heart-realm, I couldn't think of anything else.
Then two new problems arise. What in the world does it mean to expand it from here? Did Dersia use the fact that I don't know much about enlightenment to secretly listen in?
Even if I let the latter slide since I received help, the former is the problem. The enlightenment of being inside the sea is literally just recognizing the situation. Rather than an enlightenment, isn't this something you'd be an idiot not to know?
If you grab a person, encase their legs in concrete, and throw them into the sea, a hundred out of a hundred would gain a similar enlightenment as me. That this is the inside of the sea, and that they are dying. How am I supposed to expand this? ...
Of course, it's not like I have no idea at all. I consciously ignored the lamps hanging around the storage shed. It's still... dangerous.
Someday I'll have to make the two stars float, but— If I did that now, I'd be crushed to death. Even if I somehow survived, without Dersia I could get the bends. I need to create a way to withstand at least the water pressure before I can increase them.
Well, it'll come on its own even if I don't increase it.
"Ha..."
The current situation was so hopeless that a hollow laugh escaped me. Is it a relief that I at least know exactly what is coming? For now, I had to do what I could without touching the mana circles.
Chwaaak!
I organized the books and poured water on the dirt floor. I don't use the currents. I took a breath, slowly looked down at the floor, and took a step back.
"Rise."
A breeze stirs in the stuffy storage shed. The wet earth writhes. Then, as if boiling in a pot, it bubbles and becomes a viscous mud. - And it began to move.
Like a living creature, it slowly rose into the air and gathered into the shape of a sphere. I was going to leave it be, but my fingers twitch. It feels ticklish.
Creating something with magic instead of my hands is not something I'm used to. The wind slowly began to crush, split, and sculpt the mud. Since it's the first time, shall I set an easy goal, like a dog?
"Cut a little bit on top, no, not there, below... ah."
I'm muttering to myself like a madman. It can't be helped. The proficiency of magic is a battle of how well you can paint what's in your head onto the world.
They say you use your five senses in the process... but it's not like I'm going to taste the mud, and touching it with my hands is meaningless. It means I have to rely almost entirely on sight. The only other thing that can help is hearing.
If you mutter what you want, you slowly get a feel for it. It's not for nothing that people say commands like 'split' or 'rise'. The goal is to realize the desired action exactly as intended, relying only on sight without such aids, but...
"Ah, really, f..."
It's difficult.
Sweat is dripping down, and parts of the levitating lump of mud keep falling off. I can't even cut it properly, just maintaining it is hard. The dog I was trying to make is starting to look like some kind of twisted, hellish Cerberus.
"Ugh."
Plop.
My mana ran out midway, and the mud fell into a puddle. I used it well for about 3 days. I sighed, steeled my resolve, and breathed in the seawater.
"I... choke."
I forced back the urge to retch. I thought that no matter how adaptable humans are, one could never get used to drowning... And I was right.
I can't get used to it. However, I was able to suffer without making a sound in preparation for the coming pain.
".... Kuh, keuk....."
Every time I recharge my mana, I sometimes think. Should I just let it all go? If I threw myself into a nearby lake, I could end it after feeling this pain just once, but to survive, I have to go through it several times a week.
And even if I do this, survival is uncertain. No, it's beyond uncertain; only a definite hell awaits.
"... Fuck that."
I grabbed my staggering legs and got up. I glared at the puddle again. The mud rose, and it was carved away much faster than before.
To borrow Dersia's words, the world wishes for my death... but honestly, it doesn't matter what you put in place of 'the world'.
Whether it's a thug with a club, a knight who could turn someone like me into mincemeat in an instant, or the king of a nation who can command hundreds of such knights— You want me to meekly offer my neck to something trying to kill me? I'd literally rather die.
Even if a fate worse than death awaits as a consequence, I refuse. If my enlightenment is that this world is the Deep Sea, then the Deep Sea's enlightenment will be that it picked the wrong enemy. I'll make it so. -Splish!
"Hoo..."
I swept back my sweat-drenched hair. This time, at least, I managed to create something recognizable, with four legs and a head. Though honestly, anyone could see it wasn't a dog.
I felt an ambiguous emotion somewhere between dissatisfaction and satisfaction. Right now, precision is what's important. I have to circulate air inside the body.
If I make even the slightest mistake, I'll die. Is there no way to increase the precision? As I was pondering, the currents wavered slightly.
"...?"
It was truly faint, but I definitely felt it. Of course, I'd always felt the flow of the currents. They actually interfered with me, making me stumble often, but— this was the first time I'd felt such a subtle movement.
Feeling that subtle movement, I closed my eyes and analyzed it.
"Is this... someone coming?"
I scratched my head. I could feel a faint wave heading this way. I definitely called for Linmel... -Bang!
"Jern!! You called, so I came!"
"... Oh, uh, yeah."
It's really her. I tried hard to hide my surprise. Wait, this works?
The storage shed is a sealed space. How can someone from outside interfere? ... Well, I guess if seawater couldn't get into a sealed space, I could just hole up in some narrow steel box and figure out a way to get the seawater out.
Like that time the water pressure ignored my clothes and crushed only my body, it seems things around me are meaningless until I become aware of them. The strange thing is how Linmel could have touched the currents from inside the sea.
"Why did you call? Why? Why?"
"There's something I need to teach you."
I looked at Linmel's bright eyes and realized. It wasn't that she had started touching them; she had always been touching them. When Dersia showed me magic, the surrounding currents swirled.
That would be impossible if I were the only one who could interfere with the currents. Now that I've gotten used to the currents, I've become able to detect even the smallest movements. My mind is getting used to the world I'm in.
It's a good thing. If only it weren't for the fact that the time limit for being crushed by the water pressure is drawing near.
"Something to teach? What is it?"
Unaware of my worries, Linmel asked with a cheerful face. I held up the book with the body‑reinforcement techniques.
"I roughly learned this to teach you. The knight gave it to you, right? It's better to accept it."
"How much does it hurt?"
"... A little."
I told a white lie. It would hurt quite a lot. I thought I was going to die, after all.
But it can't be helped. Thanks to it, I've acquired body‑reinforcement techniques, so it's my job to make Linmel's talent bloom.
"Hmm~ Okay, then! In exchange, let's go to the forest in the west together after we're done!"
"It's nighttime."
"It's fine, I can beat everything on the back mountain!"
"There are bears there..."
"The bear paw soup we ate last time was made from a bear I caught!"
"... Alright."
I readily nodded. I'll have to train her a little hard. She probably won't be able to move when we're done anyway.
She won't even be able to think about the forest.
"Okay, first, put your hands above your head, interlace your fingers, then without bending your elbows, bend 90 degrees to the right."
"Okay! Done!"
"... Doesn't it hurt?"
"Huh?"
Linmel tilted her head in that bizarre pose, as if asking what I was talking about.
"Why would this hurt? Jern, are you hurt somewhere?" ...
Oh really.
Are you provoking me just because you're a little flexible? I gave a wicked smile and immediately moved on to the beginner's course.
"Really? Alright. Next, in that position..."
"Done!"
"I... good, well done."
Intermediate course.
"Now turn just like that. Until your arms touch your waist-" "Okay! Done!"
"G-good. You're doing well."
Advanced course.
"Now, just like that, put your head between your legs and hold it for 10 minutes."
"What am I supposed to be enduring?"
"Well, it's hard, isn't it?"
"It's not hard?"
Is this for real? Not believing my eyes, I had her do the advanced course that even I hadn't learned over and over. This kid followed all of it while saying things like, 'When does the training start?'
In other words, Linmel— has already awakened all the detailed muscles in her body. Meaning, she is already learning body‑reinforcement techniques.
"Where did you learn this?"
Now, if it was the kind of thing you could learn naturally while exercising, I wouldn't be this surprised. But you can't learn body‑reinforcement techniques without a manual. You have to follow a special training method.
Linmel blinked her eyes and answered.
"Umm, I've never learned it."
"Then why are you so good at it?"
"Uh..."
After thinking for a moment, Linmel answered.
"Um, I think I learned it while playing around during gymnastics class?"
Learning body‑reinforcement techniques, which are impossible to learn without special training, while playing around... Can this even be called talent?
"More importantly, when is this over?"
"It's over now. The forest, let's go right away."
"Oh, really??"
"Really. Let's go."
I watched Linmel's face light up and gave a warm smile. Earning points with the future Knight Commander will be a great help to my survival.