Chapter 5: The Disaster Star grew (2)
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Various martial arts, spirit arts, and even magic.
Rionne was a skilled elf, proficient in all of them.
But among them, she held a particular fondness for two: swordsmanship and magic.
"Ahem. Enoch, magic is…"
Since Enoch seemed more talented in hand-to-hand combat than swordsmanship, she couldn't teach him the sword.
So, when he showed an aptitude for magic, she was thrilled.
"Originally, magic belonged solely to dragons. That's because to properly wield magic, you need to open your middle dantian. For other races, just opening the middle dantian makes you a renowned master."
Dragons were born with an organ called the "Dragon Heart," allowing them to freely control their middle dantian from birth.
But for other races, opening the middle dantian was an immense challenge, so magic should have remained exclusive to dragons.
It was only natural.
Opening the middle dantian was a prerequisite for learning magic?
Unless someone was incredibly eccentric, who would even attempt to learn magic?
If someone opened their middle dantian through proper training, they'd already be among the strongest on the continent.
"But there were a few eccentrics."
Long, long ago, an elf devoted their life to the pursuit of magic.
Lacking talent in martial arts, opening his middle dantian seemed impossible.
Everyone mocked his attempts.
But he persisted.
After countless experiments, after six hundred years, he finally found a way.
"That's the 'circle' that's widespread in the world today."
Creating a ring of mana around the heart to substitute for the middle dantian.
It sounded simple, but creating a new system was no easy feat, and that elf was still revered as a great archmage.
That elf was…
Pagandal Magision, the Father of Magic.
[Rionne, he's asleep.]
"Oops…"
Rionne scratched her head sheepishly, seeing Enoch dozing off.
It wasn't history class; she'd gotten carried away and rambled.
"Up you go!"
She slipped her hands under Enoch's arms and lifted him.
He blinked sleepily, then snuggled into her arms.
She patted his back.
"Um… Anyway! Enoch, you happened to open your middle dantian, right? So, instead of creating a circle, I'll teach you the way dragons use magic."
Yes, that was the point.
The talk about circles and Pagandal Magision had been a tangent.
"Let's see…"
To hide her embarrassment, Rionne stared at the blackened sprout – the result of Enoch's magic.
Due to his lightning power, the result was a bit strange, but it was still remarkable for a child who'd never learned magic.
"Enoch, you can feel two dantians in your body, right?"
"Yes."
"The one closer to your heart is your middle dantian. Can you focus on it?"
Enoch looked inward.
-Thump, thump.
He could feel the mana gently spreading with each heartbeat.
The proudly flowing mana felt powerful, capable of anything, but sometimes it hit a wall and had to detour.
"Can you feel the mana spreading with your heartbeat?"
"Yes."
"Can you also feel the mana around your body vibrating in sync with that pulse?"
Enoch tilted his head, then nodded.
"Yes."
"Really?" Rionne beamed.
"Then you're almost there! Using that vibration, if you manipulate the mana like this…"
Rionne's slender fingers drew a pattern in the air.
A blue magic circle, drawn slowly and clearly for Enoch to see.
"Water, rise."
With a clear voice, a ball of water the size of a human head appeared in her palm.
Enoch watched, fascinated, then imitated her.
His fingers moved.
-Thump, thump.
The pulse of mana spreading with his heartbeat.
He channeled that pulse into his fingers, drawing the pattern, and chanted, "Water, rise."
Crackle!
A sphere of electricity, the size of a human head, appeared in his palm.
A bit of water seemed to be mixed in, as a flash of vaporizing water was visible.
[Pfft!]
Enoch glared at the snickering Undine.
"Hmm… why is it like this? Is it because you're not yet skilled at controlling your power…? Then…"
Enoch tugged lightly on Rionne's arm as she pondered.
"Yes? What is it?"
Enoch silently pointed at the scarecrow Rionne had created.
Seeing this, Rionne remembered something she'd forgotten.
"Oh, right. I was going to teach you claw techniques."
Martial arts, magic, and general knowledge.
There was still so much to teach.
"Well… we still have about 150 years until Enoch becomes an adult. That should be enough time, right?"
"?"
[Even if he's a complete idiot, he should be able to learn everything in that time.]
"Yes. Enoch is a genius, so we might even have time to spare."
The human boy tilted his head, watching the elf and the spirit converse.
'150 years? What are they talking about…?'
****
Enoch chose to keep quiet.
Whatever it meant, if he had 150 years, it was good for him.
"Now! The Angry Hawk Claw Technique is super simple. We'll finish this quickly and move on to magic!"
The enthusiastic Rionne curled her fingers like a hawk's talons.
"The basic form is like this. You attack your opponent with your curled fingers, tearing…"
'Tearing' isn't a good word to use with a child.
"…attacking them."
Rionne gave a simple demonstration, lightly kicking off the ground and slashing at the scarecrow.
Rip!
A gash, like the claw mark of a large predator, appeared on the scarecrow's body.
"Oh, right."
She'd forgotten to teach him footwork.
The foundation of all martial arts was footwork.
It had been so long since she'd taught anyone that she'd forgotten such basic common sense.
"Well, we have 150 years!"
They could take their time.
****
Basic footwork, the Angry Hawk Claw Technique, magic, general knowledge, forest exploration, and practicing his power control.
Enoch's days seemed incredibly busy, but they weren't.
He mostly spent his time playing and eating!
About a month later, Rionne made a big decision.
"Undine, I've been studying hard, you know?"
Rionne pointed at a stack of books in the corner of the room.
'The Art of Parenting', 'My Child is a Genius!', 'Parenting for Everyone', 'My Child is Too Smart, What Should I Do?', and so on.
Undine grimaced.
[Why those books…?]
"Anyway, I think it's time to start giving him errands."
[Just give him some. What's the problem?]
Undine lay languidly in the air, scratching her soft belly.
[Do you really think he's an idiot? He's incredibly cunning! He pretends to be innocent and stupid in front of you, but you should see how he acts around me!]
"Honestly. Do you have to be like that to a child?"
[No, but… I'm serious!]
Undine flew around agitatedly, but Rionne ignored her.
She seemed sulky from not getting enough attention lately, but slandering cute little Enoch was childish.
"Deer nose mushrooms… a rabbit… and some three-shadow herbs."
Rionne wrote down the items on a small piece of paper and checked the list again.
'This shouldn't be too difficult, right?'
Satisfied, she went out to the yard.
Enoch was squatting there, drawing on the ground.
Crackle!
Electricity briefly took the shape of a scarecrow before vanishing.
Enoch stared blankly at the spot where the electricity had been, poking at a sprout.
It was definitely bigger than it had been a month ago.
"Enoch!"
Enoch looked up quickly at Rionne's call.
She smiled brightly and opened her arms. He ran to her and hugged her.
"Rionne."
"Hehe, were you practicing?"
"Yes. But it's not working."
"But you're good at lightning magic."
Rionne stroked his hair.
He closed his eyes, nuzzling his head against her hand.
"Enoch, look at this."
He took the paper she offered and examined it.
The names of several items were written there, all easily found in the forest.
He tilted his head, and Rionne explained,
"Noona is a little busy, so could you get these for me?"
"Okay."
"Really? You're such a good boy."
The stroking intensified.
Enoch enjoyed it immensely.
"Now?"
"Yes. It's not urgent, so no need to rush. But it's dangerous, so come back before it gets too dark."
"Okay."
Enoch nodded and immediately set off.
Rionne watched him go, then winked at Undine.
"Let's go."
[Huh? Where?]
"We're following Enoch."
[Seriously? He's not a baby. Just let him go by himself.]
"Is he an adult, then?"
[Well…]
It was true, but was there anything dangerous for him in the forest?
She couldn't think of anything, but there was no stopping Rionne in mother mode.
[Oh well… such is my fate.]
Undine joined the Enoch-tailing operation.
****
Enoch strolled through the forest, relaxed and carefree.
He didn't like being away from Rionne, but since she'd asked him to do this, he didn't mind.
Besides, it was Rionne.
She was probably secretly following him right now.
He purposely put on a more innocent, blank expression.
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