“Thanks, Lardon. I’ll make sure to work in this direction too.”
Lardon chuckled as she propped a hand on her hip. “I’m eager to see what you come up with.”
Normally, that pose would come across as haughty and especially bizarre on a young girl, but it looked exceedingly natural on Lardon. I’d say it even added to the air of dignity about her.
As I was entranced by her figure, another thought came to mind.
“Guess I’ll have to come up with proper criteria, then.”
“Criteria?” Lardon cocked her head. Coupling that with the hand on her hip lent her a quite lithesome and elegant bearing.
“Well, counting the number of spells is a straightforward way to check my progress, right? It’d be much harder to judge the difference for a single, fully powered spell.”
“Hmm... Fair point. So, you wish to set clear parameters to gauge your spell’s power.”
“Right.” I nodded. “I can compare it to multicasting to a certain extent. For example, it’s easy to tell when I jump from the equivalent of two simultaneous spells to eleven. But the power difference between two and three spells isn’t as easy to spot.”
“Indeed. The stronger you become, the smaller your growth increments.”
“Uh-huh. That’s why I want a proper criteria.”
“Any ideas?”
“Well, maybe...”
For starters, I tried emitting a fair amount of mana and condensing it into a manastone—a bloodsoul. Then I chanted an aria to amplify my mana and once again converted it into a manastone. This one was ten times bigger than the first.
I held one in each hand and showed Lardon. “If I give it a tangible form, the size directly translates into the amount of mana. So, I guess I can try using the weight as a reference point.”
“True, but will there not be some mana lost along the process?”
“Ah... You’re right. It’s like rolling a ball of dirt. You exert more effort and move your hands differently when you want to make it bigger. Some gets stuck on your palms too.” It wasn’t the best comparison, but they were similar enough.
“Shall I gauge it?” Lardon offered.
I turned to her with an arched brow. “You?”
Still in her pompous pose, she said, “Fire your mana at me, and I can gauge it for you.”
“Well, sure... But would you be able to gauge it the same way each time?”
Lardon frowned. “Hmm... I suppose not.”
Humans had their good days and bad days, and apparently so did dragons. Although, I doubted a human could tell the difference—dragons were just that much stronger.
But the point was, dragons were subject to varying physical conditions too. Even if Lardon could swat away an all-out attack from me no matter her condition, the feel of it against her skin—or scales—could vary depending on how she felt that day and consequently affect her feedback.
I hummed. “I want something more...objective.”
“An objective criteria, hmm? I concur.”
“Problem is...I can’t really think of one.”
Lardon and I were both racking our brains. She looked a lot more troubled than earlier.
“Um...” Suddenly, Amelia spoke up. She’d been keeping quiet all this time but seemed concerned to see us both so lost.
“What is it, Amelia?”
“Well, I’m not very well-versed in magic,” she began, “but Your Majesty, I’ve heard that you are skilled in creating spells. Could you not craft a spell that gauges mana?”
I felt like a hammer just hit me on the head. Her meek, innocent suggestion was a heavy blow, and certainly threw me for a loop.
Amelia panicked at my reaction. “C-Could I have been mistaken?”
Lardon chuckled. “No, not at all. He’s in shock that he’d missed such a blind spot.”
“A blind spot...” Amelia gasped as she realized what that meant.
Lardon nodded. “You made a most excellent suggestion.”
“Yeah!” I chimed in. “Thank you so much, Amelia! It’s a great idea!”
“N-Not at all. I was just...”
“Indeed, we were the fools this time around.”
I nodded firmly. “We sure were.”
Though solving everything with magic was my thing, this new ground I was treading thanks to Lardon swayed me from how I usually thought of things. But that was no excuse. It was such a simple solution—there was nobody but ourselves to blame for failing to think of it much sooner.
“Thank you very much, Amelia.”
After one last bow to express my gratitude, I steered my thoughts toward my new mana-measuring spell.
✦ ✦ ✦
A ways from the magic city, but still within the promised land, was a forest that didn’t usually see any visitors. Today, however, I dropped by on my own in search of a certain something.
“What are you looking for?” Lardon asked after a while in the forest.
“A snake.”
“Hmm? What for?”
“I’ve got a plan for that mana-measuring spell, but I want to see a snake in person to solidify my mental image.”
“Oh? Interesting. Then I shall not spoil myself the fun.”
Lardon chuckled in amusement and refrained from asking more questions. I wasn’t so sure I could meet her expectations, but I went ahead with the search anyway.
After walking for a while, I heard rustling from the shrubbery. I froze in place, waited a while, and...bingo! A snake emerged from the bushes! From the shape of its head, it looked like a venomous snake. Just what I was looking for.
“Nice...” I approached it with slow and cautious steps, until I remembered that I could just use magic. “Time Stop!”
This spell couldn’t hold for long, so I made a dash for the snake. This would typically be a struggle, but in this frozen world, I easily grabbed it by the base of its head before releasing my spell.
“Oh? You stopped time?”
“I didn’t want it to escape.”
“Ah. Then it’s certainly safest this way.”
With one hand grabbing the snake’s head, I used the other to grab its tail. It took a few tries now that it was flailing around, but I had a firm grip on its head, so it was only a matter of time.
Finally, I forced its maw open and made it bite its own tail. A strange liquid oozed from its fangs and seeped into the open wound.
“Venom?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded without taking my eyes off the snake, practically boring a third hole into it with the intensity of my gaze. I focused on the liquid seeping into the snake’s body, as well as its consequent reaction—or lack thereof. The snake showed no response whatsoever to the venom—just as I expected.
“Nice.” With a nod, I let the snake go. It bolted straight into the bushes.
“Are you done?” Lardon asked.
“Yep. I’ve seen what I came to see. My mental image is solid now.”
“Hmm. And what was it you wanted to see?”
“Well, I’ve heard long ago that venomous snakes don’t succumb to their own venom.”
“Indeed. I know that as well.”
“Thing is, I’d never seen it for myself. It’d help fortify my mental image if I did, so I had to look for it personally.”
“It’s certainly not a common sight.” Lardon chuckled. “So? What now?”
“I’m gonna start with a preliminary test.” I closed my eyes.
“Very well.”
Lardon fell back into silence, set on observing as she had earlier. She understood that she’d be better off watching than asking.
I amplified my mana and, like kneading dough, emitted it all onto one spot until it materialized. I’d been doing this a lot recently, and with the mental image from the snake still fresh in my mind, it took me no time at all.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing face-to-face with another me, made of mana.
“Good.” I spun on my heel and took some distance. Once I was dozens of steps away, I stopped and turned back around. “Amelia Emilia Claudia... Atomic Blast!”
Though I hardly used this spell, it was the most powerful singular attack in my arsenal, now further enhanced with an aria.
I unleashed it toward the other me. Instantly, it got swallowed up by a huge upward blast. Flames rose to the sky like a pillar, scorching the surrounding trees and vegetation till they were pitch-black.
“Huh. Was this spell that strong?” I wondered to myself.
“With you casting it, I expected no less.”
“Really...? Uh, anyway...”
The flames gradually died down, leaving behind a vast patch of blackened land—and at its center stood the other me, completely unscathed.
“I see... That’s why you sought out a venomous snake,” Lardon mused, finally realizing what I was up to.
I nodded. “Venomous snakes don’t die from their own venom. In a similar vein, I wanted something that wouldn’t be destroyed by my mana.”
“Hmm... A barrier would simply repel your mana. What you needed was something to receive the full brunt of your attack and still escape unscathed.”
“Exactly. It’s also easy to visualize myself being impervious to my own power. This way, I didn’t have to worry about controlling my strength.”
Lardon chuckled. “A most fascinating idea. Impressive.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. That cleared the first stage of making my mana-measuring spell.