“Huh?!”
I’d only heard rumors of Light Magic before—this was the first time I’d actually seen a Light Magic spell myself. Mages who could use it were a breed apart. The demand for their services was so high that it was basically enough of a qualification on its own to get them into any party of adventurers.
“This isn’t some sort of illusion, is it? I thought all you could use was Fire Magic, Estelle!”
“That was true when we first met, but since then, I’ve learned how to use Light Magic as well.”
“Seriously? How did you manage that in such a short period of time?”
Magic was far from easy to learn. I had started off only being able to use Water Magic and had since put some time and effort into learning other kinds of magic, but I’d had no success at all.
Estelle smiled at me and shook her head like she got why I was confused.
“It’s thanks to you that I was able to achieve this feat, Sai. Once I could see my own status screen, I learned I had the aptitude for Light Magic. If I’d remained unaware of that, I would never have even tried to learn it.”
“Oh, I get it now. By the way, who did you learn magic from, Estelle?”
“My mother. I wanted to become just like my mom, so Fire Magic was my first choice. Most people are only ever capable of using the first type of magic they learn, so the standard course of action is to find a master who can use that type of magic.”
“What if you fail? Do you look for a different master?”
“No. The people who fail just end up assuming that they have no aptitude for magic at all and give up. People who are capable of becoming mages are actually quite rare... Is there something bothering you?”
“...Nah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
I hadn’t been able to learn any other types of magic, while Estelle had been able to learn Light Magic in no time, so it was possible that learning each variety of magic required a specific aptitude skill. With all of that in mind, it was also possible that most mages in this world had just made a lucky choice and started off by pursuing the types of magic that matched their own aptitudes. However, there was also the possibility that you could obtain the aptitude for certain types of magic through some kind of training.
All of these were just untested hypotheses, so I decided not to share them with Estelle. At first, she seemed a bit confused by my reaction, but then she ignored it and changed the subject.
“Well, in any case, we won’t have to worry about hygiene issues now even if we stay inside the dungeon for an extended period of time. I can also use the Light Cure spell now, so let me know if you suffer any injuries.”
“Oh, that’s great to know,” I said. “Healing magic will probably be a huge help.”
“Indeed. According to the research I’ve done, Water Magic, Light Magic, and magic bags are all necessities for high-rank adventurers exploring deep inside of dungeons,” said Estelle. “It would be wonderful if we could obtain one more magic bag, but that won’t be easy.”
“Yeah. We don’t have enough money to purchase a new one, and there are none available for sale either.”
The amount of supplies and resources you could bring was one of the most important restrictions on dungeon exploration, together with the amount of materials that you could bring back with you. Magic bags solved both issues, but they were so rare that even if you placed an order well ahead of time, it was impossible to predict when it would be ready. The highest-quality magic bags were only available at auctions, and I’d heard that the bidding got pretty intense, so I was impressed that Estelle had one of her own.
“Well, I guess there’s no point in asking for too much,” I said. “What other new spells can you use now, Estelle?”
“Currently, Light and Light Protection,” said Estelle. “Light simply creates a light source, and Light Protection is effective against undead monsters.”
“Huh? There’s a spell that lets you create light? Interesting,” I said. “It sounds convenient. Is there a reason that you haven’t used it yet?”
For us as for most adventurers, lanterns were our main source of light, but they just weren’t that bright. They worked fine once you got used to them, but you had to be careful about how you handled them during combat. Plus, you had to lug fuel around at all times.
But Estelle shook her head. “If lanterns are sufficient, then I believe it would be best to conserve mana considering I also use magic to deal damage to monsters as well. Having mana for healing magic is a higher priority. Besides, using the Light spell inside of a dungeon would be an ostentatious way of advertising that I can use Light Magic, and I don’t want that—it’s best to avoid trouble whenever possible.”
“You make a good point,” I said. “You’d definitely stand out a lot.”
Light Magic was very convenient for all sorts of purposes, and mages who could use it were in high demand, so if a bunch of high-rank adventurers found out about Estelle’s abilities, there was a chance that they would offer her favorable conditions in an attempt to recruit her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t offer her anything better at the moment, so forming a party with some high-rank adventurers would be a more efficient way for her to accomplish her goals, but...
“Um, Estelle, do you think you’d be interested in joining any other party?”
Estelle lifted her eyebrows, looking exasperated and angry at the same time. “Not at all. Do you really think I’m that heartless?”
“I mean, of course not, but you want to achieve something significant as an adventurer so you can get rid of your father, right? So wouldn’t it be better to form a party with some stronger adventurers in order to—”
“Just so you’re aware, Sai, I absolutely despise the act of betrayal.” Estelle paused to look me directly in the eyes before continuing. “You acted of your own free will to save me during a crisis. That’s why I trust you and why I agreed to form a party with you. I won’t go back on my word even if the circumstances change, and I’ll never betray you. Do I make myself clear?”
I nodded a couple times. “O-Oh, yes, of course.”
For some reason, I found myself feeling really intimidated by Estelle, but then she sighed and relaxed.
“However, that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to have to deal with other parties trying to recruit me,” said Estelle. “I’d like to keep the fact that I can use Light Magic a secret. Can you promise me that you’ll never tell anyone else about this, Sai?”
“Of course. I promise.”
Would I ever get another chance to go adventuring with a beautiful girl if I parted company with Estelle? Nah, there’s no way. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even muster the courage to talk to another girl. I had good reasons of my own to keep Estelle’s Light Magic a secret, but I firmly declared once again that I would never tell anyone else about this.
★★★★★★★★★
After we reached the tenth floor of the dungeon, the number of stronger goblin variants noticeably increased, but the numbers of other monsters were more or less the same as on previous levels, so we ended up in an awkward situation where our earnings remained the same even as combat became way more annoying.
“Now I get why most adventurers avoid these floors,” I said.
“Mm. If you can find them, it’s much more efficient, purely in terms of earnings, to hunt short horn deer in the first few floors rather than having to deal with ten goblin fighters.”
Even the stronger goblin variants didn’t offer anything that was actually worth money apart from their magicites, and each magicite was only worth around four hundred Rea. In contrast, if you could lug an entire short horn deer back with you, the meat, magicite, and hide would sell for up to five thousand Rea. As a result, the population of short horn deer on the first few floors of the dungeon had been thinned out. The other weak monsters, like night weasels and giant rats, were only worth about two hundred Rea each. All of these considerations together meant you could probably earn more money per hour battling monsters on the eighth floor and beyond if you didn’t factor in the time needed to travel all the way here.
“Well, our current short-term goal is to train and get stronger, so fighting goblins is worth it for us,” I said.
“Indeed. We’ve gotten quite decent at working as a team, and we’ve gotten some practice fighting against groups of monsters,” said Estelle. “If we take our time exploring every corner of the tenth and eleventh floors in order to become more confident fighting in tandem, I’m sure it will help us in the future.”
“Yep. The monster attacks here don’t hurt much at all—it’s pretty safe.”