Chapter 32: Body Enhancement Magic
TL: Scaramochi
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"Damn, this is boring. Come on, Dale, do something funny."
"You know, Frey, that's called being reckless."
Just a little piece of advice, that reckless behavior should never be used in a meeting. Especially don't f*ck with the faint of heart.
"I'm tired~ Athena, give me a piggyback ride."
"I can't, I'm carrying my luggage too."
It's been about two hours since we left Chloris, and I'm already starting to get dizzy. Frey is explicitly clicking her tongue and shaking her head, and Mirialia is getting tired. Athena seems okay, but has remained silent the whole time.
I'm discovering now that the downside of this party is that there ain't a single motivator.
She's a jovial, or a good-natured, or a silly character in the best sense of the word. Just having someone who can lighten the mood of the party. Even a simple road trip can be fun if there is one person who can hum along with the party.
But in Stardust, there is not a single character who can fill that role.
Athena is a stiff, Frey is always irritating, and when she opens her mouth, she only says negative things like "I'm tired."
Of course, I'm not one of those characters either.
"Oh well, let's take a break here for a bit."
"Yeah, let's take a break."
"Wow!"
"Oh, no. What a bunch of lazy assholes."
They decided to take a break just off the road.
While everyone is rehydrating, Mirialia lies down on the ground. Hey, you elf, it's just a short break, don't fall asleep.
Well, I don't blame you for wanting to sleep. The weather is nice today and the wind is nice and warm. The sound of the...... weeds swaying is like a lullaby.
I haven't experienced this kind of relaxing time and air for a long time, but it's nice.
Thinking of this, I call out to Frey, who is biting her lip.
"Hey, Frey, you're still looking good, aren't you?"
"Of course I am. I'm not sure who's going to get tired at such a leisurely pace."
"Then, I'm going to give you a little training just for you."
"Oh! That's great! That's what I've been waiting for!"
"Wait, if that's the way it's going to be, I'm in!"
Athena was already showing her willingness to join in with Frey, but I said "Wait a minute."
"You'll be exhausted anyway, so don't be in such a hurry. You'll get used to the trip. Frey seems to have plenty of energy, so let her do it."
"Okay........"
Athena looks frustrated, but Frey beams with pride and says, "Hehe."
I'll tell you, there's a reason why your attitude is annoying me. But I'm not going to tell you that.
"So, what do I have to do?"
"That's easy. Just keep invoking your body-enhancing magic until I say it's okay."
"Oh? Is that all?"
As soon as she heard about the details of the training, Frey took an attitude of disapproval, and I explained it to her as I let out a sigh.
"You're underestimating body enhancement magic, aren't you? This magic is surprisingly severe in controlling magic power. Especially you, you are so bad at controlling it that you can only produce a hundred at any given time. That's why there's too much waste in terms of fuel consumption and efficiency."
"And? There's no such thing as waste in magic. If you can activate it, that's all that matters."
I guess I didn't teach her that part in detail.
I don't know who taught her fire magic and enhancement magic, but she seems to know only a little bit about magic.
I'll have to give her a lecture first.
"You see, magic is the miracle of creating something out of nothing by interfering in the world with the magical power that resides in your body. Think about it, to be able to create water and fire out of nothing is nothing short of a miracle, right?"
"Oh ..... if you ask me, that may be true."
"Magic is particularly prone to interfering with forces that belong to nature, such as the wind and the earth. That is why magic is naturally found in nature, such as the elementary fire magic and the elementary water magic. So how is magic invoked in the first place? How do you manifest it in this world using magic power?"
"I don't know...... I can use it somehow, I've never cared about that stuff."
Yes, that's the difference between an ordinary person who can use magic and a mage.
All living things have magical power. However, there are infinitely few who have the "capacity" to interfere in the world.
Simply put, they cannot store enough magic power in their bodies to manifest magic.
That is why most of them cannot use magic.
However, there are rare ones who have the capacity to interfere in the world. Some of them have large vessels from the beginning, while others grow larger as their body grows.
They can handle magic "by accident" if they have a knack for manipulating magic power. Even if they don't know any spells.
But that's the extent of the magic that ordinary people can do.
But a mage is different. The mage, especially those who have large vessels, are the elite who have accumulated knowledge about magic.
What is the difference between an ordinary person and a mage?
It depends on the amount of knowledge.
To create magic, all you need is an imaginary image.
"Imagination?"
"All magic is created by imagination. It sounds so easy, doesn't it? But, on the contrary, imagination is much more difficult than it seems."
Then I asked Mirialia, who was about to fall asleep.
"You often use the freezing magic icicle rain, but have you ever seen an icy rain?"
"No."
"Then who taught you how?"
"Tom, the spirit, taught me."
--Yes.
The only way to imagine something you've never seen is to have someone tell you about it. In the case of Mirialia, it was a rare case of a spirit, but ordinary mage buy books on magic left by their predecessors at high prices, read them deeply, and compensate for what they lack in imagination with knowledge.
Then, they are finally able to manifest magic.
However, it's extremely troublesome to imagine every time to use magic. It's not even possible in the middle of a battle.
Then, how can you manifest magic instantly?
Spells are the crystallization of the efforts of our ancestors, who devised them so that magic could be used instantaneously. It's because we key spell words to unconsciously imagine just by saying the words that we can optimize and simplify our imagination and use magic.
The difference between the ordinary person and the mage lies in the amount of knowledge.
"What is needed for magic is imagination. But you can't do everything by imagination. Magic has a kind of color or aptitude, and you can't use the attribute that doesn't match, even if you try your best."
I don't know much about this either. I heard it has something to do with talent, parental blood, and generation.
To be honest, my magic doesn't match any of the attributes. So even if I could use it, it would only be a little useful, and I can't do offensive magic.
The magic is categorized from the bottom to the top as beginner, intermediate, and advanced, but that is simply due to the difference in the amount of magic power required as compensation. There are only a few who can use advanced magic, and it's an extremely difficult task that requires a level of magical power in the level of a miasma or a demon god.
"I've talked about it in a complicated way, but in short, you can do magic if you can imagine it. And I can do it somehow, just like you. So let's get down to business."
I got carried away and said a lot of unnecessary things, but I'll get back to it here.
"If the miracle of creating something out of nothing is magic, then what is body enhancement magic?"
"What do you mean by that? It means to strengthen the body."
That's exactly what it means. Body enhancement strengthens the body. This magic is the most rudimentary of the rudiments, and for adventurers it's essential.
Without it, they wouldn't be able to engage in proper combat. On the other hand, those who can't, no matter how hard they try, end up as bronze-level. That's how simple and important this magic is.
--That's why it's so deep.
"Yes, it is. But there's something different about physical enhancement than other magic. Do you know what it is?"
"What?"
Instead of Frey scratching her head, it was Athena who answered.
"Physical enhancement doesn't manifest anything.......?"
"Bingo. Unlike magic that interferes with the world and creates something out of nothing at the price of magic power, physical enhancement is magic that interferes with oneself. So there's no need to pay a price for it."
The mage refers to this magic as "attribute-free" magic.
It can mean simply that it has no color or attributes, or it can mean that it's complete with nothingness, without producing anything.
Well, this is not that important. It doesn't matter whether you know it or not.
"As the name implies, body strengthening increases the strength of the body. Its mechanism is to circulate and protect the magic power that resides in the body so that it won't break even if the limiter is removed."
"I see....... that's what you meant."
"No..... I'm getting confused."
Humans unconsciously control the power of their bodies. If we don't, our bodies will soon break down. But body enhancement can raise the limit of the amount of power released.
The essence of this magic is not to strengthen the body. It's a magic that "protects" the body from being destroyed.
"Magic that interferes with oneself, not with the world. Then there is more than one way to do it. It's possible to strengthen the whole body, or just a single point on the fist or leg. If you strengthen your eyes, you can see farther. If you strengthen your ears, you can even hear your heartbeat. If you go further, you can even affect your reactions and your ability to think."
"Hey...... are you serious?"
Frey is astonished by what she hears. She's finally starting to understand the fun of physical enhancement.
I rub my chin and tell her with a grin.
"It's getting a little exciting, isn't it? Not that the possibilities aren't endless...... but there are a lot more ways to use physical enhancement than you can imagine."
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