[V13C34] Training and Fooling Around

The day after Melissa kicked him out of the Mage Association, Isaac was silently practicing magic in the backyard.

He had been training for hours, so his mana had fallen below half capacity, reverting his face back to the original one with a scar above his right eye.

His sharp, slanted eyes were fixed on a stone about five steps away, which he was using for target practice. His goal was to hit the stone with a water arrow.

However, the stone remained completely dry, without even a speck of water on it.

“Master, perhaps you should consider taking a break…”

The white lizard Wildianu offered his opinion in a quiet tone.

Rather than his usual spot of Isaac’s shoulder, he was currently perched on the bricks surrounding the flowerbed.

Isaac shook his head, keeping his training staff pointed at the target.

“No, not yet.”

Monica was not back yet. He didn’t know exactly when she would return, but he wanted to be able to shoot water arrows by the time she got back.

As Isaac adjusted his stance with the staff, he suddenly remembered seeing his contracted spirit packing food into a basket last night.

Wildianu hardly ever cooked, but he had sliced the meat grilled by Isaac and made simple sandwiches out of it.

“By the way, Wil. Didn’t you say that you were going out with Nero today?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should get going. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“…Understood.”

Wildianu jumped off the bricks and transformed into a young man in servant attire. He would need to use his human form to carry the basket.

Isaac wanted to advise his spirit against wearing the tasteless summer vest, but he hesitated. Before he could reach a conclusion, Wildianu had said, “Please excuse me,” and departed.

After a slight pause to pray that he didn’t bring the vest, Isaac immersed himself in training once again.

(My arrow won’t shoot out even at minimum power. Is it a problem with the timing? Do I need to wait before detaching the spell from the formula? I guess I can try varying the delay…)

As Isaac attempted to shape his water into an arrow for the next try, he heard a pair of voices shouting behind him.

“There you are, President!”

“Dudley! How dare you barge into someone’s yard without permission!”

Isaac usually kept an eye on his surroundings, but right now, all of his focus was on his magic.

Then, the sudden shout startled him, causing him to lose control over his spell. Instead of turning into an arrow, the ball of water ended up exploding right in front of him.

Now drenched from head to toe, Isaac turned toward the unexpected visitors, Glenn and Cyril. They stared at each other for a while, everyone frozen in an awkward silence.

Cyril was the first to regain his composure.

“I-I am incredibly sorry about this, Ike!”

“No, it’s okay.”

Cyril hastily took out a handkerchief, but Isaac raised a hand to stop him. It was a pretty hot day, with clear skies. There was no risk of catching a cold.

After wringing the water out of his sleeves, Isaac turned to face Cyril and Glenn again.

“More importantly, you guys came at the perfect time. Cyril, Dudley-kun.”

Glenn looked apologetic, and Cyril was still anxiously holding onto his handkerchief.

“Would you mind teaching me magic?” Isaac continued, gesturing towards his staff.

Cyril and Glenn widened their eyes simultaneously. They were frozen in shock for the second time today.

＊　＊　＊

Isaac explained how he had started practical magic training, but was having trouble shooting water arrows.

“President,” Glenn said, tilting his head with genuine confusion. “Didn’t you already make some super complicated formulas? Like the one for water dragons…”

“You mean the underwater reconnaissance spell? Yeah, I made that, and I can use it too. I can even maintain it simultaneously with the sharing formula.”

“And you can use magic swords, right?”

“Right.”

Glenn pressed his temple with a finger. He had the face of someone faced with an unsolvable problem.

“…But you can’t shoot water?”

“Yeah, I can’t.”

Glenn fell silent with a puzzled expression. He seemed to be completely stooped.

Meanwhile, Cyril crossed his arms and interjected.

“It’s due to the difference in elemental affinity. Water magic is ill-suited for projectiles.”

“Really?” Glenn asked.

“Imagine creating fire arrows and water arrows of the same size and mana density. The water arrows will be much heavier.”

“O-Okay…?”

Glenn groaned in contemplation. It was unclear if he truly understood or not.

Thinking it would be faster to show them, Isaac aimed the tip of his staff at the stone target and started chanting.

He created a ball of water and shaped it into an arrow. However, when he tried to release it, the water arrow fell to his feet, leaving only a puddle.

“Oh, you really can’t do it…” Glenn muttered after blinking a few times in surprise. “I’ve used the other elements a few times, but I never had trouble shooting them out… Though they ended up telling to use fire because I can’t control anything else.”

“Dudley-kun, what does it feel like when you shoot a spell?” Isaac asked.

“Uh… I go like ‘Hyah!’ and the spell starts flying. The more power I put in, the further it goes.”

Glenn’s use of magic seemed to rely more on feeling than theory. Even so, there might be some truth to the idea that more power led to greater distances.

Isaac decided to try recalculating the balance between mana used for power and propulsion.

Next, he turned to Cyril.

“Cyril, do you have any advice for me?”

“M-Me? I…”

Cyril cut himself off and closed his mouth. Most likely, he was about to say something like “I couldn’t possibly be so presumptuous.”

After a few moments of quivering his lips, Cyril awkwardly spoke up again.

“This is my feeling when using ice magic, but… I find it easier to send my magic across the ground rather than shooting it through the air.”

Cyril performed an incantation and touched the ground with his finger. A thin thread of ice extended from his fingertip towards the stone.

Once this ice reached the target, the entire stone froze over in an instant.

“This sort of spell is much slower and cannot reach flying targets. However, it does provide reduced mana consumption and increased accuracy.”

Isaac nodded, contemplating if he could do something similar with water magic.

He could already shape water in a rope, so it seemed possible. That said, the water was likely to be absorbed into the ground before reaching the target.

(…Oh right.)

Having a sudden idea, Isaac rushed into the house and brought out a wooden bucket used for laundry. It was a rather flat bucket with a diameter around the size of his armspan.

Isaac chanted a spell to fill the bucket with water. Then, he inserted his index finger into the bucket and touched the water’s surface.

He performed a second incantation for creating a small clump of water the size of a fist. But instead of shaping it into an arrow, he sent the clump running above the bucket’s water.

The tiny clump traveled from one end of the bucket to the other before bursting.

Isaac clenched his fists in triumph.

(As I thought, traversing a water surface is easier than the ground.)

Isaac was still unable to shoot water arrows, but this may help him grasp the sensation of propelling his spells. Now, he just needed to figure out how to launch the spell away from himself.

He decided to send another ball of water into the bucket to avoid forgetting this sensation.

Seeing this, Glenn muttered, “It kinda looks like squirting water out of your hand.”

This reminded Isaac of Melissa’s insult, “You can’t even squirt water without formula division,” causing him to cringe internally.

Meanwhile, Cyril mumbled, “Squirt water out of your hand?” in a confused tone.

“Vice President, you don’t know how to squirt water?” Glenn asked, genuinely surprised.

“…No.”

“It’s better with a wooden tube, but you can do it with just your hands.”

Glenn rolled up the sleeves of his blue robe and plunged his hands into the bucket. He interlocked his fingers, leaving a slight opening, and squirted a bit of water through it.

The water came out with a surprising amount of momentum, hitting Cyril squarely in the face.

After a moment of silence, Cyril glared at Glenn.

“Did you have to aim it at my face?”

“Why not? Isn’t that the whole point?” Glenn countered.

Watching this exchange made Isaac feel a bit nostalgic. He remembered back to his childhood, when his father showed him how to make a water gun.

Looking back, it was really nothing more than a small bottle with a hole in it. By pushing a small rod through, you could launch the water surprisingly far.

Isaac tried to make one by himself, but his parents stopped him due to safety concerns. Instead, he was given the task of wrapping a cloth around the rod for pushing water out.

When he asked why the cloth was necessary, his father said…

──The water won’t fly very far unless you cover all the gaps.

(Of course. You need to seal the gaps or the water will leak out…)

This also applied to squirting water with your hands. The water wouldn’t shoot out properly unless you cover all of the gaps other than the nozzle.

With a sudden burst of inspiration, Isaac raised his staff and began chanting.

He generated a ball of water and shaped it into an arrow. But this time, he created a membrane of increased mana density around the arrow. This would prevent his mana from leaking.

Then, he launched it.

(It worked!)

The small arrow of water flew out of his staff, straight toward his target…

“Good grief. You could at least show some remorse after getting my clothes wet. Have you already forgotten about our plans after… Pft!”

…And hit Cyril’s face, interrupting the scolding he gave Glenn. The spell was little more than a clump of water, so it did nothing aside from leaving Cyril soaking wet.

Ignoring the stunned Cyril, Isaac tightened his grip on the staff and exclaimed in joy.

“I did it!”

“…Ike.”

Cyril turned to Isaac with a blank face, as water dripped from his face.

“…Did you have to aim it at my face?”

“Why not? Isn’t that the whole point?”

Isaac grinned and waved his staff.

Meanwhile, Cyril silently rolled up his sleeves and plunged both hands into the bucket. He interlocked his fingers, just as Glenn showed him earlier.

“Why…? Why isn’t it working…?”

It seems he was trying to retaliate by squirting them with water. Unfortunately, he was having trouble with that part.

It would have been far easier to simply pick up the water in his palms and splash them directly, but Cyril was apparently too stubborn to do it any other way. He never changed.

(Well, I’m glad to see you’re willing to fight back against me.)

Isaac watched with a playful smile as Glenn stepped in to help Cyril.

“Vice President, you put your fingers like this… Then you close the gaps and squeeze.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah, perfect. Now squeeze!”

Cyril shot the water out of his hands, only to hit himself in the face. Isaac and Glenn promptly burst into laughter.

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