Chapter 365 : Spirit Magic
After introducing Diadora to Delica, I moved on to my second objective of coming here which was learning tree spirit magic!
「So, Diadora, since I have free time now, would you teach me your spirit magic?」(Mark)
「My spirit magic…? But… I don’t know how to teach you…」(Diadora)
「Eh?」(Mark)
「I had never befriended a human before… You are my first friend… So… I don’t know how to teach…」(Diadora)
「I see…」(Mark)
I was excited to learn new magic, but… She doesn’t know how to teach me, huh?
Hmm… This is somewhat problematic…
I can understand. Sometimes, I have a hard time teaching Celine my spells too.
「Mark… Are you sad…?」(Diadora)
「Sad?」(Mark)
「I’m sorry… Are you going to stop being my friend…? I’ll do anything, so please… stay as my friend…」(Diadora)
「What?」(Mark)
While I was thinking of a solution, Diadora suddenly apologized and said something unexpected.
『She will do anything, she says!? Muhehe~』(Nicola)
『…..』(Mark)
I then heard Nicola’s voice in my head, making a dirty joke, but as always, I ignored it.
「I’m not going to stop being your friend. Why do you have such thoughts?」(Mark)
「Because we are linked… and… I can feel your sadness…」(Diadora)
「Linked? I see.」(Mark)
It seems that making a contract with a spirit means that we can somehow tell each other’s feelings.
When I focused my mind, I could certainly feel emotions that were not mine. They seemed to be Diadora’s.
She felt anxious and lonely. She was worrying that I would stop being her friend.
I understand her feelings, however, she misunderstands me, probably because she doesn’t fully comprehend human feelings.
「Diadora, don’t worry. I’m not sad. What you feel is not sadness. It’s called disappointment.」(Mark)
「Disappointment…?」(Diadora)
「Yes. When you are expecting something, but it doesn’t work out the way you want, you feel disappointed. I was excited to learn your spirit magic, but you don’t seem like you can teach me, so…」(Mark)
「I see… I’m sorry… I don’t know how to…」(Diadora)
「No, it’s alright. Here. You can have this, so cheer up.」(Mark)
「More snacks! Thank you, Mark! *munch munch*」(Diadora)
I took out a cucumber from my Item Box and handed it to her. She then immediately started eating it.
She is a spirit, but it feels like I’m feeding a small animal or something.
While watching Diadora eating, Celine put her hand on my head.
「Mark, don’t be so discouraged. From what I heard, spirit magic is not something you can learn quickly, so even if she could teach you, it would take some time.」(Celine)
「I see. How long?」(Mark)
「I don’t know, but one of the elders in my village said it would take years, even decades.」(Celine)
「Decades!?」(Mark)
「Don’t worry. You’re an extraordinary child. You will master it in no time.」(Celine)
「I’m not really sure about that…」(Mark)
It may be true that it takes time, but the problem is how can I even start learning it if Diadora can’t teach me?
I doubt there would be books about spirit magic in the church’s library either. Most books there are for kids who attend Sunday School after all.
While I was wondering, I heard Nicola’s voice again.
『Onii-chan, why don’t you ask Diadora to do something for you?』(Nicola)
『You still talking about that? Cut it out already! 』(Mark)
『Hahh… I admit I’m a pervert, but no, I’m not telling you to ask her to do some pervy stuff for you, instead, ask her to help you with work or something using her magic. That way, you can watch her in action and learn.』(Nicola)
『I see. Learning by observing, huh? That’s a nice idea.』(Mark)
「Right? Even if Diadora could explain the theory behind her spirit magic to you, I doubt you would comprehend it.」(Nicola)
『Ugh…』(Mark)
I feel like she was insulting me, but… she’s right. I might not be able to understand the theory.
「Say, Diadora, will you show me your spirit magic? I want to see it.」(Mark)
「Of course… But… What exactly do you want me to do…?」(Diadora)
「Let’s see… I want you to grow a tree. Not a big one like your home, but a small one about Celine’s high.」(Mark)
「Easy peasy…」(Diadora)
She nodded and then walked toward the slightly open area next to where Mom’s drying the laundry in the middle of the backyard.
As soon as she pointed her finger toward the ground, a small sprout came out of the ground and started to grow at a rapid pace.
I remembered watching a fast-forward video of a sprout growing into a tree on the internet in my previous life, and it looked exactly like that.
「ー!?」(Mark)
While I was watching the tree growing, suddenly I felt some kind of reaction deep in my chest.
Something… foreign… but it’s not a bad feeling.
「Mark, it’s done…」(Diadora)
While I was wondering what the foreign thing in my chest was, Diadora turned her face to me.
The small sprout has become a tree about Celine’s high in an instant.
「Hee~ So this is what tree spirit magic looks like. Interesting~」(Celine)
「Wow! So that’s how she grows a tree!」(Nei)
「I don’t know anything about magic, but that’s amazing!」(Delica)
Everyone was impressed.
Diadora’s magic is indeed amazing. She can grow a tree so quickly, even quicker than the video I watched.
I was impressed too, but at the same time, the foreign thing I felt earlier bothered my mind.
Diadora said our feelings were linked, so I wonder if it came from her.
「Diadora, did you do something to me while you were growing this tree?」(Mark)
「Hm…? What do you mean…?」(Diadora)
「…No, it’s nothing. Forget what I said.」(Mark)
She tilted her head. She didn’t seem to know anything about it.
However, I no longer felt that foreign thing as soon as Diadora finished creating the tree. It proves that it did come from her. She just wasn’t aware of it.
That’s right! The bracelet! I have a feeling I will know the answer if I put on the bracelet she gave me.
Following my instinct, I took out the bracelet from my Item Box and put it on my wrist.
「Diadora, can you do it one more time?」(Mark)
「Alright…」(Diadora)
She nodded at me and started growing another tree.
As expected, I felt that foreign thing in my chest again. However, I could feel it much stronger and more vibrant than before, probably thanks to this bracelet.
It seems that this bracelet amplifies the link between me and Diadora.
I wonder what on earth this foreign thing is… It felt warm and gentle, but also solid and strong, and for some reason, an image of a tree crossed my mind all of a sudden.
This is… I think I know what this is… It’s probably an elemental mana. However, I’ve never felt this kind of element before.
I know earth, water, wind, fire, light, and dark elements, but I can tell that this is not one of them. It’s something different.
Ah! I know what element this is!
That’s right! Wood!
I think it’s wood-attributed mana!
The foreign thing I feel in my chest is without a doubt wood-attributed mana coming from Diadora!
This is it! I think I know the answer! I solved the mystery of spirit magic!
「Mark, it’s done… I grew another tree for you… What’s next…?」(Diadora)
「Thank you, Diadora. Next is my turn. I will try growing a tree.」(Mark)
「Alright…」(Diadora)
「Ho, hold on! Mark, you will grow a tree, you say? You know how to do it?」(Celine)
「I think, I know.」(Mark)
「So you say that you learned spirit magic just by watching her growing a tree twice?」(Celine)
「Well, you can say I did.」(Mark)
「Hee~ That’s Mark for you. Show us then!」(Celine)
I replied to Celine with a nod and looked at Diadora.
「Diadora, are you ready?」(Mark)
「Hm…? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but… I’m… ready… Probably…?」(Diadora)
She was confused. Well, I can’t blame her. She doesn’t seem to know anything about the secret of spirit magic.
Well, I’m just going to borrow a little bit of her mana, so I think she’ll be fine.
「Alright. Let’s do it.」(Mark)
Imitating what Diadora did, I pointed my index finger at the ground and then started to concentrate.
First, I feel the wood-attributed mana in my chest and let it flow from Diadora into my body. It’s getting stronger and stronger like a river that increases in volume over time. After that, I imagined a tree growing from the ground.
「Here we go… GROW!」(Mark)
ーbbbbrrrrRRRRRRRーー
As soon as I cast the spell, the ground started to shake.
And thenー
ーBOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!
A giant tree emerged from the ground at high speed like a volcano spewing a huge amount of lava.
「My god!」(Celine)
「Waaaaaaa!!」(Nei)
「Hiiiiyy!!」(Delica)
「Whoaa!」(Nicola)
The tree was double the size of the tree that Diadora grew as her home last night and was twice as tall as our inn.
It was so huge that I was sure all the people in this area of the town could see it.
「Holy shit…!」(Mark)
Naturally, everyone was shocked. I was shocked too. I didn’t mean to make a tree this huge.
「Unbelievable! Mark, you have done many things that surprised me many times, but I think this is the most shocking one!」(Celine)
「Mark, you’re amazing!!」(Nei)
「Uwaah… I’m so shocked that my heart is beating so fast!」(Delica)
Celine, Nei, and Delica tilted their heads upward, looking at the giant tree with their mouths wide open.
「Aaa… Aaaa!!」(Nicola)
However, Nicola looked in a different direction.
『Onii-chan, what the hell are you doing!? Mom will get mad!!』(Nicola)
『Hm? ーAaaa!!』(Mark)
She was looking at the laundry.
The clothes and blankets that were hanging on the rope a second ago are now lying on the ground. It seemed that the rope collided with the tree as it emerged from the ground and snapped.
Not only did this giant tree ruin the laundry, but it almost destroyed my herb field and hit the back wall of the inn.
Mom will definitely be angry! This is really bad!
『D, don’t worry! I’ll fix it later!』(Mark)
That’s right. It can be fixed later.
The most important thing now is that I can use tree spirit magic!
「Diadora, we did it!」(Mark)
I was so happy. I turned to Diadora to see her reaction, butー
「…Pwaaaahhh~~~……..」(Diadora)
ーDROP!
「…Eh?」(Mark)
「Aa, she fainted.」(Nei)
「Oya~?」(Celine)
「Wawa!」(Nicola)
「Hey, are you alright!?」(Delica)
Diadora collapsed on her back.
Hold on… I feel like I’ve seen this before… No, it doesn’t matter.
I quickly approached her and crouched down.
「Diadora! Diadora!」(Mark)
『Onii-chan, what have you done!?』(Nicola)
『I, I don’t know! I just borrowed her mana a little bit!』(Mark)
That’s right. I just used her mana a little.
The secret of spirit magic is actually simple. You borrow the mana from the spirit you make the contract with to perform their spirit magic. After all, you and your spirit are linked, meaning that not only can you supply them with your mana but you can also borrow their mana.
『A little bit, you say!? You don’t seem to be aware of it, so I’ll tell youー A small amount of mana to you equals a tremendous amount of mana to others, you know!?』(Nicola)
『Aa…』(Mark)
Now that she mentions it. I have a much larger mana bowl than normal people, so I unconsciously use a huge amount of mana whenever I cast a spell.
Last time, Diadora fainted because I gave her too much mana, but this time, she fainted because I sucked too much of her mana.
She lost consciousness twice because of me…
Uugh… I’m sorry, Diadora…
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His understanding of small is the same as the understanding of cheap for a multimillionaire.
it would take sometimes –> it would take some time
as always, thanks for the corrections