"Alright, here I go," Kaze told his friends, who nodded in response.
This time, Kaze held onto a sword lent to him. It was a pity but his sword shattered when he fought against the centipede. It was to be expected, especially since he was channelling so much pure magic into it. Even if it was given to him by his grandfather, it had its limits and he needed to get a new one.
Right now, for demonstration purpose, Kaze was to channel the pure magic onto the sword as a medium. The previous attempt to channel it mid-air failed, so this was the next step that allowed his friends to be able to see the concept of Phantom Rush for themselves. His job now wasn't to channel it and release it like his usual skill, but just to allow it to gently disperse after his limit was up.
Immediate, the sword he held began vibrating so violently he had to use two hands to grip the hilt while gathering mana from the surrounding. It was not a suitable sword meant to withstand pure magic as most swords were crafted with the intent to be used with magic in various forms. Even so, all Kaze had to do was to gather pure magic such that it was enough for his friends to see him do so.
"Hoo…" Yuuji widened his eyes when he saw a thick coat of white magic light fluctuating around the sword rapidly. "So, this is what it looks like to gather pure magic…"
"It doesn't feel that different from normal magic, but it is definitely more condensed," Mitsui agreed with her cousin's analysis. "But we don't possess eyes that elves do, which allow them to look at mana with more detail."
"Hmm, even if you say that, we lack the knowledge to comment on this too," Rena said with a sigh when Kaze dispersed the unstable pure magic. "All I can say is that it is indeed abnormal."
"Lunaria, what do we do?" Sera asked. "It's not like we have an answer to the gathering of pure magic."
"… What about your second attack?" Lunaria asked, deciding to put this on hold first. "The one that ultimately defeated the centipede."
"Oh, uhh, White Flash?" Kaze made a nervous chuckle at that. "The name itself sounds wrong, but that was because it was decided by my grandfather. Similarly, it utilizes pure magic but in a different form."
"Oh? Do all your sword skills consist of pure magic?" Irene raised an eyebrow at his words. "I mean, I don't want to make assumptions because you did say before that you are weak at magical perception."
"Yes and no. Grandfather's sword skills passed on to me are mostly based on honing my physical strength while using pure magic to complement it," Kaze admitted with slight shame. "He said the reason for it was because if my magical perception was to always be this weak even if I trained harder than ever, I would not be left behind in my sword skills."
At his words, everyone fell silent once more. They were beginning to reflect on themselves, thinking about their position compared to Kaze. While they weren't lacking in the fundamental basics of sword-fighting, they were really worried about what would happen if one day they couldn't rely on magic as much as they could now. It was as though Kaze's words dawned some light on them, but at the same time that didn't mean they could learn from him and use pure magic. As said before, pure magic was something that was impossible to control once channelling magic became the norm. Either that or it was as Kaze said, regarding how being weak in magical perception aided him.
"So Kaze, if you don't mind making a tangent, can we ask you how you trained?" Albert carefully phrased his words. "It's not like I mean I want you to reveal your training secrets or anything, but just the general routine. I understand that for so many sword styles, there has been differences here and there."
"Oh, no worries. I really don't do anything different than what everyone is doing during sword training," Kaze nodded, referring to their club. "I suppose if you want to compare what I do differently that helped me hone my basics to the point I can infuse pure magic… it probably is simply repetition? I trained 10 hours a day back when I was young, but now I'm forced to limit it to 6 hours."
"Wait, that's too much?!"
"Kaze… are you abnormal after all?"
"In a different way…"
All his friends groaned and gasped in surprise when Kaze revealed his training schedule. Even without telling them the details yet, the absurd amount of time he used was enough to make them look at him differently. If what he said was true, then it made sense as to why they rarely saw Kaze before and after class.
"Erm… let's see. I wake up at 6, train for an hour, get ready for school, return after school, train for another 2 hours, study for a bit, then another 3 hours of training?" Kaze recounted his activity log. "This is considering it's a normal day. Usually, I am forced to limit my training to 5 hours after studying with Lunaria."
"I'm glad you did," Shoko sighed in exasperation. "If this continued, I don't see why your results would continue to remain at the bottom."
"Kaze, I'm glad that despite everything, you seem to be performing better in class," Lunaria stared at him with deadpanned eyes. "I can't deny that I used to be like you, but that was way back in the days…."
"Hehe, this was my passion after all," Kaze made a wry smile. "I understand that everyone thinks I'm abnormal, but it just happened to be a schedule I stuck to since the church. It works."
"Kaze, you grew up in a church?" Chris widened his eyes a little at this. "I was sure that you stayed with your grandfather."
"Oh, right, most of you don't know," Yuuji turned to the few of them who were new to this topic. "Kaze here is an orphan. As much as he doesn't look the part, he grew up in a church with a few other orphans. His grandfather was simply a retired adventurer of sort and he grew up together and trained Kaze."
"Yes, that is the gist of it," Kaze nodded at Yuuji's simple explanation. "But now that you mention it, grandfather doesn't seem to be a normal person if he can conjure pure magic too."
"That's what we've been trying to say this whole time," Rena sighed. "I would like to meet your grandfather if he truly was someone who trained you for 10 hours a day."
"Well, he isn't fond of guests. He gets really stubborn at times," Kaze chuckled, remembering the past. "Even when people from town came to the church, he would bring me into the woods to train. It's like he is actively avoiding unnecessary interaction."
"Anyway, back to the topic," Lunaria coughed. "Kaze, about White Flash."
"Sorry, we happened to be talking about something different," Kaze apologised and nodded. "So, what is different about that technique compared to Phantom Rush is that instead of focusing all the pure magic onto my sword, I apply it through my body instead."
Demonstrating in front of him, Kaze held the sword with both hands and did the same thing again. This time, the pure magic wrapped around Kaze's body. He had chosen not to gather too much pure magic since it was only for the purpose of showcasing.
"Ohh, so it is possible to gather it on yourself," Sera smiled at this. "And here I thought it would be strange if it didn't. If you could gather it onto a medium, then couldn't you consider your physical body a medium as well?"
"I never actually thought about it that way," Kaze felt a little surprised by what Sera had said. "When training myself to achieve White Flash, I had always envisioned myself being covered in pure magic. Instead of focusing the gathering of mana in a certain place, I tried to attract mana from all around me."
"That would explain why it is not as condensed as before, but at the same time still does not explain why you can gather pure magic," Lunaria frowned. "Is there really no other way to explain it other than training?"
"I don't know, I just am able to do it, but it is difficult," Kaze shook his head once more. "But to be honest, the only reason this worked when facing the centipede was due to me being lucky. My attack managed to slice through its core, causing the explosion. In the first place, White Flash isn't an attack that deals devastating explosion or high damage to an opponent."
"Hmm, I don't follow," Chris raised his hand to stop them for the time being. "If White Flash, a skill that uses pure magic to attack, can be used to block magical attack like the blast from the centipede, then how does coating yourself with pure magic not cause even higher damage output?"
"No, Chris, I think we don't understand how pure magic works in general," Lunaria answered the question for Kaze. "While it is difficult to comprehend the way it happened, I came up with two points on how pure magic could function based on Kaze's explanation. One, pure magic can be used to counter other forms of magic, just like how we fight magic with magic since its base is still mana but in a condensed form. Two, pure magic cannot be used on oneself because of its unstable nature and not being able to create any by-product, but it can be used to increase your own performance like body enhancement magic."
"I can agree with the first point, but not the second," Yuuji smiled at Lunaria's analysis. "We still haven't heard from Kaze what White Flash does after all."
"For that, I think we have to move outside," Kaze nodded. "Because the next demonstration… is a little dangerous."
With the group now outside of the house, Lunaria and Kaze stood opposite each other. For the purpose of showing what White Flash could do, Kaze had requested Lunaria to attack him with magic of her own.
"Just use a low-level spell," Kaze told Lunaria. "I don't want to have to counter anything higher than that when I am supposed to be still recovering."
"Got it. Then I will throw a simple fireball at you," Lunaria agreed with Kaze.
Raising her hand, she casted a fireball of decent size and sent it flying at Kaze. Immediately coating his body in pure magic, Kaze took the attack head-on without even using his sword. What happened was that Kaze's entire body immediately absorbed the fire magic and converged onto his sword, turning all the pure magic around him into fire instead.
"What?!" Chris jumped at the outcome.
"Did the pure magic… steal the opponent's technique?" Shoko muttered, widening her eyes.
"Thank you Lunaria, I believe that is enough," Kaze sent the fire magic up in the air with a swing of his sword to disperse it safely. "So, what White Flash does is by receiving the opponent's magic attack, it is immediately converted into my own attack to use it against the opponent."
"But… isn't that too overpowered?" Sera made a cramped smile. "If, hypothetically, you could receive any form of magic damage…"
"Yes, that is where White Flash falls short unfortunately," Kaze sighed and lowered his sword. "Lunaria, try attacking me with light or dark magic."
At his words, Lunaria shot a simple light javelin at him. This time, instead of absorbing the magic, Kaze got pushed back easily.
"White Flash only works on common magic elements, not rare magic," Kaze stated. "That is the first point. Secondly, I am unable to take on higher-level magic with White Flash. This is a bit subjective in terms, but basically it means that if I don't raise the amount of pure magic level around me to that equivalent of how much it takes to cast middle-level magic or higher, I will receive twice the damage instead."
"I see. So, while it does sound useful, it actually really is not," Lunaria giggled. "I was a little worried there. If you could truly receive all sorts of magic damage and come out unscathed, that is too powerful for its own liking. You have to not only match the magic output, but also take into account what type of magic is being used too."
"Yes. If I predicted a wide-range magic attack and raised my magic level to match that, I would also have to predict the overall damage to me should I receive it," Kaze explained simply. "That would mean needing to concentrate even more to gather pure magic all around my body, which is already a crazy task to gather all of it in one spot at the time. If it was a simple magic casting like Lunaria's fireball, I can focus most of the pure magic on a certain spot of my body to receive the attack with minimal damage."
"Then how does that relate to what you did to the centipede?" Albert asked, wondering about the attack itself. "If you were talking about the beam, as far as it seemed it was unlike any magic element. It was more of a skill itself."
"I used Phantom Rush to counter that, since pure magic cancels out any form of magic," Kaze put up a complicated look on his face. "No, then it shouldn't be right. If pure magic does cancel out any form of magic, then I wouldn't be able to convert common magic elements with pure magic. I suppose it's the way I use pure magic?"
"I think, instead of saying it completely cancels out magic, it dispels it would be a right way of explaining," Rena suggested. "Pure magic being unstable suddenly encounters magic that has already been channelled and taken form. The two colliding against each other should result in three different outcomes: Pure magic being converted from unstable to stable, pure magic dispelling normal magic with its own unstable element, or 'nothing happens'."
"Nothing happens?" Mitsui tilted her head at this. "What is the difference from dispelling magic then?"
"I think what Rena meant was that pure magic was never activated in the first place," Sera giggled as she knew that it was very difficult to understand it. "If you activate pure magic and magic at the same time, how can it have 'never occurred'? Because having 'not occurred' is the same as 'nothing happening', meaning that it was like magic was never used in the first place. Whereas with 'dispelling', it acknowledges the clash of magic but it breaks down the magic back to its most basic form."
"This is going in very different direction than what I expected…" Irene sighed and turned around. "Let's get back in the house to talk now that no more demonstrating is needed."
Moving back to the living room, everyone was filled with more questions towards the nature and interaction of pure magic with magic. Even Kaze, who was trained with pure magic, had never expected Rena to predict the third outcome.
"Okay, back to the explaining," Sera glanced at Kaze. "Kaze, can you first confirm that you have certain access to determine whether you want pure magic to dispel or absorb magic itself?"
"Not really," Kaze hesitantly agreed. "It isn't the best way to put it, but it is the easiest way to understand it."
"Alright, we will go with that then," Sera took his word for it. "Assuming Kaze is able to determine whether he wants to 'not accept' or 'accept' the magic targeted at him, these are scenarios where pure magic has always been in his control."
Taking two books from the table, Sera used magic to hover it in the air to represent the metaphor. With the red book being Kaze and the green book being a random opponent, Sera floated a pencil as well to represent the magic attack.
"Given that the pencil is thrown at Kaze, he can throw the pencil back at the green book or he can stop the pencil from attacking him," Sera continued. "This is what I mean by him being attacked. But what happens if Kaze was the one to attack with pure magic? What if Kaze released pure magic to the green book instead of the green book attacking first?"
"However, this is assuming that Kaze can control pure magic enough that he can attack with it," Lunaria added in. "Right now, we all know that Kaze can only control pure magic enough to incorporate it into his physical attack or defence, but never magic."
"Right. From there, if pure magic, an unstable element, touches an opponent…" Sera floated in a fourth item, a keychain, and directed it from the red to green book. "… What do you think happens?"
At her words, everyone else fell into silence once more. No one was able to tell, considering this was a very hypothetical question that didn't have a basis for it other than assumptions. Rena's suggestion was just being used to be the topic of discussion itself, meaning there was no right or wrong answer either.
"Why do you think nothing happens then?" Kaze was the first to break the silence. "Can't you assume pure magic dispels magic too?"
Yes, but remember what is the other difference of pure magic and magic?" Rena nodded. "Pure magic is gathered externally while magic is channelled internally through our body. Both processes have great differences, but we just assume it falls into the same category since we 'gather' it. If someone 'gathers' pure magic into their system, something that is not gained 'internally' but 'externally'…"
"… Are you saying that… it is possible to neutralize any attack before it even happened?" Shoko shuddered at the realization of this. "B-Because pure magic is so unstable that it requires to be gathered externally, if we happen to absorb it, it would render us unable to use magic at all?"
"Yes… but that is just my prediction," Rena shrugged, setting down the four items. "Who is to say that pure magic wouldn't be channelled directly into our body? This is entirely reliant on whether or not we can channel pure magic internally since we only channel mana, not pure magic. By the time we realized what we are doing, it is already too late."
"But the theory does have some sense in it," Yuuji gripped his fist tightly. "There is a reason why pure magic can only be gathered externally instead of internally. Since the interaction of magic being shot at Kaze happens on an external level, what pure magic would do if being used on a normal person who is used to channelling magic is… somewhat unpredictable. We know magic against magic would result in physical injury, but pure magic… would it result in somewhat of a magical injury? I don't think there even is a term for it."
"Not accounting for attacks that deal mental damage like charms or hypnosis, this also isn't like restricting the flow of mana either," Albert gulped, starting to get the feel of the situation here.
"May I present a fourth outcome?" Lunaria raised her hand. "Taking the situation of the centipede. If White Flash truly worked in the sense that it converted the enemies' attack, then it wouldn't explain how Kaze defeated the centipede still. Even assuming Kaze was able to gather enough mana at a time where we lacked mana to defend against an Advanced class spell, but the centipede did a physical attack. How was Kaze, without the mana required, able to split the centipede in half such that it directly cut through the core?"
"That is true," Rena pursed her lips at this and leaned back against the couch. "What is your theory Lunaria?"
"I have a feeling that we may have been looking at this entirely wrong," Lunaria looked at Kaze. "Kaze, was the mist around us considered magic?"
"Uhh, it was a sort of miasma, but yes it did contain mana," Kaze nodded. "That was how I was able to gather the mana required to cast White Flash over myself."
"Then, we can assume the fourth scenario with that," Lunaria made a satisfied smile. "Unlike normal magic where we channel already existing mana in the air, pure magic is essentially different from the mana we know. It is able to adapt to different sorts of magic, whether it be natural, from skills, magic attacks, etc. Based on the element of mana itself, pure magic can adapt to it and produce something of equivalent return. Like with rare magic, Kaze was seen being pushed back."
"Why are the results so different from fire magic, a common element? My guess is that the 'interaction' differs. Kaze, you might not know this yet but it is likely you haven't figured out how to adapt to rare magic elements like light and dark magic due to its ambiguous nature. Even comparing common and rare magic elements, rare magic elements are effective when used against each other while common elements exist a counter for each of them. Isn't it weird that light counters dark magic and dark counters light, but yet both are neutral against all common magic and vice versa? Why are there only two rare elements?"
"Pure magic being able to counter common magic elements in a simplistic manner is due to the reaction of common magic elements with each other, like fire to water, water to earth, earth to wind… However, when dealing with rare magic elements, you only have two and both counters each other. What is the point then? How does pure magic react to it? My proposal is… pure magic is 'a form of adaptation to different sorts of magic'. Taking account this theory, Kaze used the mana available that formed the miasma and returned the attack to the centipede. Due to us not understanding what the miasma is made up of, we also would not be able to understand the attack of White Flash other than it being even more powerful than anything… but I could be wrong too."
Even though Lunaria's theory contained just as many holes as the other theories, it was also one that was convincing in idea. Rena's theory fit the general situation but couldn't explain the centipede attack while Lunaria's helped to explain the centipede attack but was lacking in general evidence to back up the explanation. Although both sides had their right and wrong, it just went to show how hard it was to understand pure magic.
Regardless, this topic allowed them to understand Kaze even more, as well as why he didn't want to use pure magic attacks during training sessions.
- - - - -
The group continued to chat a little longer about various topics once they decided to stop talking about the battle. With time quickly flying came the end of their party too. Albert left back home alone since he didn't stay with them in the dorm while everyone else simply retired to their rooms.
Meanwhile, Kaze was still caught up on their earlier conversation. Even though it was mentally exhausting thinking about the arguments back and forth, it still intrigued him to no end. What exactly was pure magic that his grandfather wanted to teach it to him?
Glancing at the broken sword lying on his table, Kaze's heart was filled with slight sadness. It was something that his grandfather had given him as a memorial before he departed to Tristania and it already broke. How was he going to train forward? The only way was to buy a similar sword, but Kaze knew it was going to be both tough and expensive due to the unique nature of his sword.
Kaze decided to not think about it too much and fall asleep. Closing his eyes to drift off to the darkness, his other senses automatically heightened. The feeling of the softness of the bed was unreal, something he never imagined was possible before. The other people he stayed with currently lived an even more comfortable life before, so he didn't know how they felt about a house as simple as this. But for Kaze, he was both thankful and jealous of them. This warmth and comfort were something unattainable for Kaze since young, but it was a different type of warmth that Kaze had with his friends and grandfather. It was the warmth from familial love that Kaze lacked.
Being an orphan was never easy, for he automatically didn't have many choices available to him. He had to work hard to achieve what that was already achieved by many others, ranging from education to the right to study in Tristania. It was common to see many orphans ending up with an average life after they were big enough and not many could succeed in a bigger setting. Thanks to his grandfather who saw Kaze's potential, Kaze was given a different chance at proceeding in life.
This was also what reaffirmed his beliefs of becoming stronger. While it was still unclear to him whether or not he had a goal in mind already, but Kaze knew that he wanted to be someone who could be relied on at all times. In a world where so much danger and uncertainty existed, strength was one of the more defining manners to determine a person's quality.
Kaze's mind shifted to the events of the afternoon shortly.
What Lunaria did to him was also something he couldn't comprehend. He felt embarrassed by his own actions and thoughts, especially after Lunaria dumped the potatoes on him. While they were both to blame for the sudden shift in mood, it was surprising to Kaze that Lunaria reacted differently from what he expected. The only reason he found himself admiring her was due to being drawn in by her beauty, but what was it that Lunaria was so engrossed about him?
The line between them as friends became messy as a result. It was almost like stepping over the boundaries but then quickly retreating again. This was the signal that Lunaria was giving to him. Kaze was sure that at some point of time in life, something happened to Lunaria that made her interested in certain aspects that he possessed. From the beginning when they met, Lunaria had already been relying on him, starting from him pulling her away from the student crowd harassment.
The next thing that Kaze could think of was the voluntary tutorial for him followed by the most recent individual examination case. Varying from major events to minor details, it wasn't like they had done as much to shorten the gap between them. From start till now, they were still friends and this was reaffirmed by Lunaria earlier during the day.
Why Kaze felt a little off despite his personal interactions was mostly due to what Sera, Rena and Shoko had been telling him about Lunaria.
Lunaria was someone who valued a person more for who they were than their worth, this much was clear. Her giving him the attention that he had up till now all started because of a debt that she felt she owed to him, even if it was clear that it was not comparable to what Kaze would have done for her. Sera had once said that Lunaria truly treasured 'people like Kaze', but she never elaborated further on the issue. Perhaps that was the reason she treated him so differently, to act as a replacement of sort.
But if that was the case, then why was it that when Lunaria embraced him that there was so much sadness in her eyes?
Before Kaze could further contemplate the issue, a light knock on the door made him sit up. Walking over to the door, he opened it and found Lunaria standing there.
Lunaria wore what that could only be described as a sleeping gown that heightened her sexual appeal even more. From their previous interaction of her hugging him tightly, Kaze already knew that her features were very alluring, such that it made him blush just from the thought of it. It didn't help that her outfit was slightly see-through and her cleavage was exposed, causing him to look away. He didn't want to start thinking about how short her gown was because he was afraid that it would awaken crazy thoughts within him.
"Sorry to disturb you at this time Kaze," Lunaria smiled gently at him. "Am I bothering you?"
"N-Not at all, I haven't fallen asleep yet," Kaze muttered. "What is it?"
"Um… I was thinking of talking about this afternoon," Lunaria blushed lightly, finding herself unable to look at him as well. "Um… I believe I owe you an explanation… so… can I come in?"
"... Is it alright for you to be wearing this and showing up at a guy's room in the middle of the night?" Kaze whispered, realizing the gravity of the situation should they be found out.
"I-I know its not the best choice made by me, but I promise this won't turn into a big issue," Lunaria whispered back. "I really need to talk to you right now… please?"
With a sigh, Kaze stepped back to make way for her to enter before closing the door on both of them.