Rio's eyes widened. As far as he knew, the gods that the Strahl people
worshiped were referred to as the Six Wise Gods. He had never heard of
them as a group of seven.
"Oh, do the humans only speak of the Six Wise Gods? According to our
legends, there were seven gods that appeared in the Strahl region during the
Divine War that occurred over a thousand years ago. The seventh god was
exiled by the other six, so the humans must have completely erased that part
from their history."
"I had no idea..." Rio's interest was piqued by the difference in their
history, but now was not the time to ask about it. He decided to refrain from
questioning any further and derailing the topic at hand: learning more about
spirit arts.
"Hmm. Incidentally, there are spirit arts users amongst the humans of the
Yagumo region to the east. The use of magic didn't spread over there during
the Divine War. Speaking of which, I completely forgot to ask... Lord Rio,
were you born in Yagumo? You seem to have come here from Strahl, yet
your hair color is that of the humans born in Yagumo."
"No, I'm originally from Strahl. But my parents were migrants that
moved from Yagumo to Strahl, so..."
"Ah, is that so. That must be why you're heading to Yagumo."
"Yes," Rio said simply, without adding any additional details. He gave
an evasive smile and a short nod instead.
"I see, I see. Hm. My apologies — I seem to have gone off track. What
were we talking about?"
"The difference between magic and spirit arts, Head Elder. And how the
story of the Seven Wise Gods came to be," Orphia informed Ursula, making
her grin.
"Oh, that's right. Thank you, Orphia. Which reminds me... there was one
more thing I need to ask you, Lord Rio."
"What is it?"
"Well... We spirit folk use not only spirit arts, but sorcery as well. There
are some things spirit arts aren't suitable for, after all. However, the one thing
we make sure to avoid is writing magic into our bodies. That is where my
question segues in: has Latifa acquired any magic?"
"Just the one. Don't tell me... Can Latifa no longer use spirit arts?" Rio
asked, expression clouding over slightly.
"No, it won't be a problem. It is possible to remove formulas from the body. We will take it out of her before she begins her spirit arts lessons.
When that happens, Orphia, you shall be her teacher."
"Are you sure you don't want to teach her yourself, Head Elder? Latifa is
your..." Orphia examined Ursula's expression carefully.
"It's fine. If I took on the role, I'd be too soft on her," Ursula beamed
widely.
"My words were out of line. Please forgive me," Orphia said, bowing her
head.
"It's fine, it's fine. Let us return to the topic at hand. Anyway...
Depending on the capability of the user, spirit arts can cause phenomena far
more freely than magic, and even do some things that magic can't do. For
example, this," Ursula explained, using her spirit arts to create a small ball of
fire at her side. Then, the fire changed its form into a person, an animal, a
sword, and then a spear — each transformation taking less than a second.
"That's... amazing. Magic formula can be altered before the spells are
cast, but they cannot freely change shape after they've been activated. So
that's what you meant." Rio watched the fireball with round eyes.
"Hm. As long as you continue to use spirit arts to imitate magic, the
mana will only alter phenomena in response to your image of magic. In order
to use spirit arts more freely, you must first discard that preconception of
yours. It may be best to start with your specialty elements. What spirit arts
are you good at, Lord Rio?"
"Spirit arts I'm good at? I don't have any particular strengths or
weaknesses. I've heard that people have magic they can and cannot learn, but
I have yet to encounter a magic I couldn't imitate..." Rio answered, making
Ursula's eyes widen this time.
"Oh? Normally people have their own individual affinities for particular
elements. You must be an all-rounder type like Orphia, your resident high elf.
It might be better to simply start learning from what you want to learn
instead. What kind of spirit arts would you like to learn? You could even
learn how to fly, if you wanted."
"Flying...?"
"Correct. Orphia, show him."
"Yes, Head Elder." Orphia nodded. Suddenly, a draft of wind started to
blow around her, lifting her body up into the air. Rio's eyes widened in
shock.
"That's amazing. Will I be able to do that too?"
"Of course. Being able to fly should make your travels much easier as
well, Lord Rio. Let us start with how to float in the air, then practice various
flight controls little by little."
"It sounds like a worthwhile art to learn. Please give me your guidance."
Rio gave a fully motivated smile and bowed.
Meanwhile, at the same time as Rio's spirit arts lesson with Ursula and
Orphia, Sara and Alma had invited two of the village children over to
introduce them to Latifa.
"Arslan, Vera. This is Latifa. She can only speak the tongue of the
humans right now, but I hope you can all get along," Sara said, gesturing
towards Latifa, who was sitting beside her.
"Okay! Hi, Latifa. My name's Vera. Let's be friends!"
"H-Hey. I'm Arslan. Nice to meet ya."
Sitting on the sofa across from Latifa was the silver werewolf Vera,
whose greeting was energetic, and the werelion Arslan, whose introduction
was shy. Vera and Arslan were both of village council bloodlines — Vera
was Sara's little sister — and were taking lessons on how to lead the village
in the future. The two were the leaders of their age group, so by becoming
Latifa's first friends, they could encourage the other children to warm up to
her one at a time.
"N-Nice to... meet you. I'm... Latifa," Latifa introduced herself
hesitantly.
"Ehehe! I'm so happy to make a new friend! Let's talk about lots of
things together!" Vera said, standing up from the sofa and moving to sit
down next to Latifa instead. "Here's a question for you!" she said, throwing
out questions one after another.
Arslan was a little bashful, but did his best to speak to Latifa, too. It
didn't take too long for Latifa to open up to them.
"Arslan, you're acting a little weird. Why won't you look at Latifa in the
eyes? And your face is a little red, too." Vera tilted her head at Arslan, who
seemed rather nervous and uncomfortable.
"He's just being shy. Latifa's cute, after all."
"Yes, that's right," Sara and Alma said, smiling happily.
"Wha — that's not it! You're wrong! What are you two saying?!" Arslan
denied with a furious blush on his face.
"Ehehe... Arslan's right. Because Vera's so much cuter. You're just shy, right? I am too." Latifa took Arslan for his word.
"Wahoo, that makes me so happy! But I think Latifa's cuter," Vera said,
hugging Latifa tightly.
"Ah, no, that's not it..." Arslan mumbled as he tried to take back his
earlier words, but Vera's loud voice drowned him out. His shoulders slumped
at his mistake.