Seren 37
The True Form of the Magic Source
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“ARE you all right?”
I watched Lord Viol walk off after casually casting a healing spell on Arshtag.
Arshtag stopped staring at the retreating Lord Viol and turned to look at me with a blank expression. Then, his eyes focused.
“Mrs. Seren…” Still not used to being addressed that way, I blushed. Arshtag simply gazed solemnly at me. “What kind of magic spell did you cast on your husband?”
“Huh? Um, well, nothing in particular…”
“Oh, come on.”
I had no idea what Arshtag was referring to.
“I’d heard he’d softened up around the edges a little lately, but… To this extent? He’s practically friendly. Pleasant, even.”
“Oh? But Lord Viol has always been gentle and kind,” I insisted.
Arshtag raised a doubtful eyebrow. But I’d never seen Lord Viol as anything other than kind, gentle, and calm. I’m not sure I’d say he was overly friendly, though.
Arshtag looked like he wanted to say more but thought better of it. He got to his feet, and Vellia laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.
“The power of a wife, eh?”
“It’s something else, all right. It makes me want to get married, myself,” Arshtag said.
I inclined my head to one side, not following the conversation. Then I noticed Lord Viol looking my way.
“Seren! Can I have a minute?” he called.
“Sure!”
I jogged over to Lord Viol, and Gil—someone who’d joined the Third Mage Guild at the same time I did—was with him. Clad in flexible clothing, he looked every inch like a former adventurer, especially with his muscular build.
“Hello, Seren. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
It’s always good to see Gil’s smiling face.
“Gil! Long time no see!”
“I was surprised to hear that you got married. I was just giving my congratulations to Archmage Viol here.”
“Thank you!”
“Here, a wedding gift from all of us who joined the same year.” Gil took out a cute, small glass vial from his pocket. “Lucien crafted this magical device from a magic stone I procured. And Arles imbued it with magic. I’m not the best at this kind of thing, but Arles and Lucien added all kinds of bells and whistles to it. We’re all pretty proud of how it turned out. Hope you enjoy using it.”
“Th-Thank you…!”
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“It’s something for a couple to make use of together. It’s pretty fun to use it at night in a dark room.” Gil shot me a saucy wink, bowed politely to Lord Viol, then quickly left.
“He may look free-spirited, but he’s a very considerate fellow, isn’t he?” Lord Viol observed.
“Yes. I never imagined everyone would work together to make a present. I’ll have to thank them all later.”
“Right, but I was referring to how he handed over the gift in my presence to avoid any misunderstandings. He was telling me earlier that he had something to give you.” Lord Viol smiled a little. “Now there’s a person who understands the way people think. I’d like to emulate him.”
“Oh, yes, indeed. But you understand the subtleties of human emotions as well, Lord Viol. Like before… You casually cast that healing spell on Arshtag, didn’t you?”
Lord Viol made a “But anyone would have done the same” sort of face. He IS, though. A considerate person, I mean.
After thinking for a moment, Lord Viol looked at the magic device I was still clutching and smiled a little. “You have so many kind people in your orbit, Seren.”
“Recently, I’ve felt grateful for my relationships. I only hope I can repay everyone in kind.”
“Indeed. Seren, may I borrow that magical device for a moment?”
“Certainly.”
“Your coworkers worked together to make you this, right? We should get as much use out of it as we can.”
I handed it to Lord Viol, and he immediately cast a small magical barrier spell around the vial-shaped device. Indeed, it would be a right shame if it broke during our flight training.
“Thank you…! Oh, I can’t wait to try it out!” I took it back and tucked it safely in my pouch. I couldn’t wait to use it the moment we got home.
“Gather round!”
Our group of ten came together at Arshtag’s summons. He looked around at us all, then, in a clear, deep voice, he briefly outlined the training session about to commence.
“We will now begin full-fledged flight training. I’d like everyone to master balancing during normal flight and maneuvers. Also, I want everyone to master accelerating and decelerating and to practice engaging in combat while in active flight.”
“Yes, sir!”
“There’s every possibility that we’ll be fighting mid and even advanced-level magical beasts tomorrow. So, we must practice combat in flight training today.”
Internally, I was a little surprised we were already starting combat training. But it might make everyone feel safer to be more prepared. The first time I battled while flying, it was nerve-wracking.
“Today’s training program will begin with a demonstration by Lady Seren and Archmage Viol. The wind mages should have a good grasp of flying by now, but I’d like you all to be as aware as possible of the survey member riding behind you as your passenger.”
“We’ll start off flying normally at first, but we’ll also throw in some weaving through the branches of the tall trees…” I whispered to Lord Viol beside me. “Do I have that right?”
“Exactly right. The hardest part of forest flying is navigating through the trees. I’ll be casting magic from the back, so you just focus on flying.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, but I’ll explain the Wind Shield first, so give me a minute.”
“Okay. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.”
After our quick brainstorming session, we exchanged nods. I felt a lot calmer now. Lord Viol’s advice would be invaluable to everyone.
Arshtag continued addressing the group and explaining things. “After the demonstration, we’ll move on to individual training. Once Lady Seren and Archmage Viol are satisfied that you can all fly competently, we will enter the forest and practice having the survey members cast offensive spells while navigating through the trees. Finally, we will reach the deep forest and train in battle against mid-level magical beasts. This ends the explanation.”
“Roger!”
“Now, Lady Seren, Archmage Viol… Please, show us how it’s done.”
On Arshtag’s signal, I levitated the cart gently and floated over to him.
“Before the demonstration, I’d like to briefly explain some points to bear in mind.” Lord Viol magically amplified his voice and began a calm and clear explanation. “The person in the back should try not to obstruct the pilot, and when turning, should lean their body in the same direction to maintain balance. Also, the pilot should do their best to warn the passenger about any sudden maneuvers.”
Even I was surprised by what a passenger had to bear in mind. Come to think of it, I’d never paid much attention to that sort of thing. It seemed the others were also surprised and exchanged nods and glances.
“Incidentally, if you fly too fast, it will be hard to hear one other, and the wind will also hurt your eyes, so it’s a good idea to put up a Wind Shield. That should be no problem for you wind mages.”
“Ah, I see.”
“That’s true.”
The wind mages muttered and began immediately casting Wind Shields.
“By the way, if you cast it in a sort of bubble shape that’s narrower at the front of the cart, you can cut down on wind resistance.”
“That makes sense.”
“Yes, that does make a lot of sense.”
I smiled to see the others trying out the trick Lord Viol had just suggested to immediate effect. Lord Viol’s advice was always so useful.
“As for the rest, practice will make the best teacher… Seren, do you have anything to add?”
“Nope. Let’s fly.”
“All right.”
“Let’s do it!”
Quite determined, I floated up high in the sky. At first, I simply rose straight up, spun around in a figure eight, then suddenly rose and fell, going through a full range of movements, before flying straight up towards the large tree. Just before hitting the trunk, I made a sharp right angle and shot up along the trunk. Then, I threaded through the gaps between the branches and emerged from the top of the tree.
Some branch damage was, unfortunately, unavoidable like this.
“That was a bit rough. I’ve got some leaves in my hair,” Lord Viol muttered softly behind me.
“Sorry. I’ll brush it out for you later. Now then, I’ll fly to the center of the forest at super high speed and then come back at medium speed, so could you cast some magic spells at the end where everyone can see?”
“Leave it to me.”
I nodded and then accelerated to the max.
“Whoa… aren’t you going too fast?” he asked.
“I wanted to demonstrate top speed.”
Talking back and forth, we flew right to the center of the forest. I looked down at the trees from high in the sky, then looked back… The whole survey team looked tiny, like little bean humans.
“Now we return,” I announced.
“Ready.”
We zoomed back at high speed, the others getting closer and closer.