It was immediately apparent to Sara that she wouldn’t be able to rely on Nelly for this, so she had no choice but to go back to the textbook. Sara recalled what she’d read.
“I think in the textbook, it said that mana will do whatever you imagine it to. Take into account the amount of mana you have, don’t push yourself, and imagine freely. There was an example too...”
“That’s right. Most people start with water magic, since it’s safe, but that’s not what I did.”
Nelly hesitated for a moment, but she then thrust her hand out at Sara.
“Hold my hand.”
“Like this?”
Sara gripped Nelly’s hand and squeezed. Even through the glove, it was soft and comfortable to hold.
“It’s just your hand.”
“Yep. But if I put mana through it, see?” Nelly held her hand out to Sara again.
“Huh?”
Her hand was hard. Like a rock.
“Why?”
“I specialize in using my mana for physical strengthening. I’m a swordsman, but honestly, I don’t really need my sword. If you use your mana the right way, your whole body becomes a blunt weapon.”
“So that’s how you can punch wolves.”
“Yep.”
Nelly clenched her fist and turned toward the steps, and a roving wolf took a few steps back. If they were so scared of her, then they didn’t have to rove so close by.
“The wolves only started gathering here after you showed up, Sara. They must be waiting for you to leave the cottage.”
“That’s scary. They don’t need to do that,” Sara said, horrified.
The mountain wolves were probably two meters long from head to tail, and their faces sat right about at Nelly’s chest height. At that height, they were perfectly positioned to gobble up Sara’s head whole. That was too scary.
But if Sara didn’t make it past these wolves, she would never be able to gather medicinal plants, let alone go into town. If she wanted to do either of those things, she’d have to gain the sword or magic skills necessary to take down these wolves. She might as well give up hope. Sara was practically ready to give up before even starting her magic practice.
That was when Sara had an epiphany.
“Hey, if I learn physical strengthening too, could I stop a wolf’s fangs from getting through my skin?”
Even if she couldn’t defeat them, if she could protect herself somehow, she’d at least be able to move around.
Nelly nodded, impressed. “It’s possible. Come to think of it, I’ve seen casters use shield magic to create protection fields around themselves.”
“That’s it! That’s what I’ll do!”
Sara’s goal was established. She just needed to use Nelly as an example. Nelly didn’t use physical strengthening while she was at home, since the amount of mana in one’s body was limited. For the same reason, casters couldn’t keep up a shield or a protection field forever.
“Come to think of it, what happens when you run out of mana?”
“Well, you won’t be able to maintain your physical strengthening.”
That was obvious. And not what Sara was asking.
“Does it make you feel bad or something?”
“When you run out, you just can’t use it anymore. It’s not like you feel bad, but you definitely feel lethargic. If you rest for a bit, it’ll recover on its own, but that’s a dangerous state to be in for a Hunter, so you’ll probably want to keep mana potions on you.”
“I see.” Sara was relieved to hear that, since she didn’t want to feel exhausted like she had in Japan again. “Right, but I’m an Invited. I’m always absorbing mana and can always use it, so it won’t be a problem for me.”
So theoretically she could use magic forever. It was true that she’d never felt particularly low on mana before. Not that she’d really used it or sensed its presence either. She just felt healthy every day.
“So that must be why the Invited do so well as Hunters! Not that I’m gonna be one.”
Sara didn’t want to do any harm to people, monsters, or any living thing. This was very important to her.
“I think you’d make a pretty good Hunter, though...”
“Are you just saying that because you want me to come hunting with you?”
“Ahem, ahem.”
She must have hit the nail on the head. Nelly clapped her hands together in front of her chest, changing the subject.
“Now, first of all, try picturing another you. Basically, the source of your energy.”
She should have just started with that. Sara sighed and collected her focus. She’d never had this internal wellspring of energy when she was living in Japan. She’d never thought about it before, but when she realized that was mana, it was surprisingly easy to get a feel for it. She even felt like she could move it if she wanted to.
“I think this is mana. If I just gather it in my hand and make it hard... Picture it being hard enough that a wolf couldn’t bite through it... Hard, hard, like iron, I guess? Harden!”
Sara tried just making her right hand hard. Nelly grasped her hand solemnly and squeezed. Sara could feel the sensation of her taking her hand, but there was no pain or anything.
“Oh? Pretty impressive... Hmph!”
What’s “hmph” supposed to mean? Sara questioned for a moment, but Nelly was clearly also using physical strengthening to grip her hand. Actually, she was trying to crush her hand.
“Wait, wait, wait, I’m just a beginner! Don’t crush it!”
“Oh.”
Oh? What was she gonna do if Sara’s physical strengthening wasn’t good enough and she actually crushed her hand? Of course, though Sara could feel pressure, she hadn’t actually felt any pain. How strange.
“That’s what these greater potions are for.” Nelly smugly took out a vial with a potion in it. In this world, injuries were typically healed with potions. How strange.
“No, no, no, just because you can heal it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt. No way.”
“Huh.”
Don’t gimme that.
“I couldn’t crush it even with my own physical strengthening activated. The Invited really are something else.” Nelly seemed satisfied. “Should we see what a wolf can do, then?”
“Huh?”
“A wolf.”
“I heard you. You don’t need to repeat yourself.”
I just started learning magic five minutes ago, Sara thought to herself. She’d managed to use physical strengthening somehow, and avoided having her hand crushed by Nelly. So she should try it against a wolf now? That was weird, wasn’t it? It was too soon.
“You should put it into practice, though.”
“I got it. I get it already.”
Sara gave in. As long as its teeth can’t get through my skin, it’s fine, she thought to herself, completely unaware that the very thought marked her as a rather gutsy girl.