Five days later, it was time for the ship to depart. It was almost disappointing how easy it was for them to board—they even spent time worrying over escape routes and creating alternative plans in case they were caught!
Despite the initial anxieties, they felt relieved it was all for naught.
The ship was making excellent progress, though the currents were rough. It was as if it was always facing a headwind. They enjoyed only a few reprieves of calm waters.
Regular vessels were ill-suited for traversing these tides, which was why they were on this specialized craft. At least…that was what Zig could gather on their journey so far.
“And…there’s basically no information about the unknown continent itself,” he continued.
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
It was their second day at sea, and they were lounging in their cabin. Zig was briefing Siasha on the information he’d gleaned, the two of them trying to piece together a vague picture of what their future held.
Siasha seemed puzzled by what she was hearing. “Shouldn’t the vanguard unit have arrived by now? Why wouldn’t they have sent any word?”
“It sounds like they still haven’t been able to get in touch with the ship that went ahead.”
According to the plan, one ship was going ahead of the main force to go ashore and find a place to set up camp.
“Maybe some of the local wildlife devoured their messenger pigeons,” Zig surmised.
They were hoping to obtain as much information as possible since they were headed to an unknown land where anything could happen, but there didn’t seem to be much news from the other passengers.
“We can’t help it if there’s no information available,” Siasha said. “But…there is something I’ve been wanting to ask you, Zig.”
Her eyes shone with curiosity as she gazed at him from her position sprawled out on the bed.
“You were able to read my spells before I cast them when we were battling, right? Was there some sort of principle behind it?”
Zig sighed, “Oh, that…”
“I won’t force you to talk about it if you don’t want to. I understand that a warrior wouldn’t be eager to reveal their cards.”
After a few moments contemplating, he spoke.
“That’s not the problem. To be honest, I don’t really understand it myself. Would it make sense if I told you they had a smell?”
Zig didn’t know the reason for the smell, but perhaps the witch would have a clue?
“A smell, you say?” she asked slowly.
“Right. It was downright putrid before you cast anything offensive, and when you used magic to heal my wounds, it gave off a sweet scent.”
Siasha furrowed her brow and groaned. “Hmm… Was there anything else that stood out?”
“Anything else?” He tried to recall that battle. “Oh, right. That attack of yours that practically turned the ground into a pincushion had a way stronger smell than the other ones.”
“This is just a guess,” Siasha speculated, “but mana can’t be used as is.”
“What’s…mana?”
“Oh, that’s where I have to start from?” Siasha’s tone began to sound authoritative, almost like a teacher. “Basically, it’s the fuel used to cast magic.”
Zig listened as she launched into an impromptu lesson. She looked like she was having fun—perhaps she enjoyed explaining things?
“Invoking magic requires several processes. The first process is drawing forth mana.” Siasha raised one finger before continuing. “Imagine using a bucket to scoop up water from a lake. The second process is manipulating it.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Mana is manipulated depending on the purpose of the spell. You know, using it offensively or defensively… But once it’s given a purpose, that’s the only thing you can use it for. For example, you can’t use offensive mana for a defensive spell. The third process is giving the manipulated mana a form. In other words, the casting itself. There are various ways of doing this, like making symbolic gestures or incantations.”
Zig kept listening as he tried to absorb all the information.
“Those are the processes that are involved in invoking magic. I think what you smelled was a reaction from the mana when it was going through the manipulation stage.”
“You think?” he said. “Which means…”
Siasha looked slightly vexed as her legs dangled off the bed. “Right. I don’t know for sure.”
Zig watched her pale limbs swing back and forth. “Why not?”
“Being around mana is as natural as breathing to me. It’s been a part of my life ever since I was born. I can only make speculations because it’s not something I’m consciously aware of. I think it also probably functions differently than smelling something like you normally would.”
Zig once again thought back on their battle. “You may have a point. It felt like I was sensing those smells with my mind instead of my nose.”
If he had been using his normal sense of smell to detect those odors, it likely would have taken longer for him to realize that she was about to cast magic. Depending on the direction of the wind, he may not have been able to pick up anything at all.
“Hmm…” he mused. “That probably means it wasn’t just me. The others should’ve sensed those smells too.”
“I think they did,” she replied. “I do recall the troops stirring before I let my magic loose. I just thought they started to realize their lives were in danger, though.”
“Why wouldn’t they try to avoid it then?” Zig realized the answer as soon as he posed the question. “It would be difficult to make that association right away.”
“Exactly. Most of them were dead before they had the chance to connect the dots. And even if they did, it’s not like they could’ve easily dodged an attack of that scale.”
“That makes sense. Can I ask you something?”
Siasha got up from her bed and went to sit across from Zig. “What is it? What do you want to know?”
“Why are you in such a good mood?” She was in such high spirits that he couldn’t help but ask.
“This is the first time anyone’s ever asked me about myself.” She smiled bashfully. “It just made me happy for some reason.”
Zig felt the corners of his own mouth starting to turn upward at the sight. He put his hand up, trying to hide his expression and appear nonchalant.
“You didn’t create fireballs or call forth a flood, though. Why is that?”
One of the witches of rumor was said to have flooded a village before turning anything that managed to survive into a sea of fire. Siasha gave him a wry smile and waved her hand in front of her face.
“That story’s been blown out of proportion,” she said. “No single witch has that much power. The type of spells we lean toward using depends on our attribute.”
“What’s an…attribute?” It was another word he had never heard before.
“There’s an affinity between each kind of spell and the individual’s mana. For example, I’m good at manipulating earth and rocks. It’s not that I can’t use other materials, but it takes a lot of energy, and the results aren’t as effective, so I usually don’t.
“However,” she continued, “depending on certain conditions, we can accomplish great feats. A witch with a water affinity could probably change the flow of a river to flood a nearby town, just like I could probably cause a landslide to bury a mountainside village.”
If that’s the case, I guess all the hullabaloo over witches makes sense, Zig thought.
“What about healing magic?” he asked. “What affinity is that?”
“Well, when you’re manipulating a body… A human affinity, maybe? Mana is intrinsically part of the physical being, so I think it’s something anyone could use. I learned just recently that the composition of witches and humans is surprisingly similar.”
“You better not experiment on me,” Zig warned.
So magic wasn’t just some omnipotent force that one could use to do anything, but abilities with principles behind them. Zig was never one for book learning, but having his curiosity about the unknown satisfied gave him a pleasant feeling.
“That was very interesting,” he said. “Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me.”
“Not at all!” Siasha said cheerfully. “I’m happy I was able to solve a few riddles myself.”
The ship drew ever closer to their destination as the pair continued to discuss—or rather, Siasha continued teaching Zig—about magic.