The next morning, I discovered that my concerns for Eleonora had come true—she was hungover. Leaving her with porridge and a bowl of miso soup and mushrooms that did wonders for a hangover, I set up breakfast for the rest of us. Eleonora would eat when she could eat.
At the table, I shared the information the gods gave me last night, under the guise of recalling a story my grandmother told me years ago.
Rosenberg grunted. “The change in capacity for magical energy... That would explain our results, but the solution to our problem remains elusive.”
“Can’t you just use less magical energy?”
“Miya. Unlike magical energy, normal people can’t even detect magitons. When you use enhancement magic, you can sense the magical energy in your body, but not in the world around you, right?”
“Miss Cilia is correct... We can control, for example, a half of the magical energy it takes to cast a spell, or maybe a tenth of it. Magitons are far more minute than that. Their existence is widely accepted, yet they are considered largely impossible for humans to control. Releasing control of magical energy and letting it dissipate should get it closer to a state of free-floating magitons. First, we would need to test if it is even possible to control dissipated magical energy without condensing it again. Even if it is possible, I expect mastering the craft to require some rigorous training.”
With my slime vision cheat code, I could at least observe magitons, which meant I was a lot closer to controlling them than the rest of humanity was. Moreover, I had a powerful ally by the name of Korumi. I decided to tell the group about him.
“Absorbing magical energy from nature...? I’ll add it to the list of crazy things you’ve mentioned like they were nothing, Chief,” Hudom said.
“I know it’s unheard of, but let’s table that. If I speak to Korumi, I’m sure he can share some insight on magitons with me. That won’t happen until I go back into the Sea of Trees, so I will continue my research until then. However, I was hoping to start exploring other methods of communicating with Korumi using hexes. What do you think?”
“There is no deadline. If those are tasks you would like to accomplish at some point, there is no harm in starting now...especially given how quickly you acquire these skills, Ryoma. Besides, I would be interested to hear this Korumi’s opinion on the matter myself. Have you thought about what kind of spell to use in particular?” Rosenberg asked.
“When it comes to this, no clue. Korumi’s body is an old house. I’ve tossed a few ideas around in my mind, but none of them have clicked,” I said.
For example, I remembered how, in countries with wider highways than Japan, houses could be driven from place to place on the back of a flatbed. In this world, though, moving a house from the Sea of Trees to any city seemed impossible, even with the help of magic. I could probably move the desk that constituted his core, but I wasn’t going to risk hurting him by ripping the desk away from the rest of his body. I’d been focusing on wireless communication along the lines of telephone or radio, but no idea had felt right.
“In that case, why don’t you put a pin in designing a specific hex, and focus on elevating your hexing to the next level?” Rosenberg suggested.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked.
“Casting a powerful spell requires great power. Warlocks draw said power by facing down their own negative emotions. In other words, you would be pushing your limits. You have learned to cast hex after hex that I have taught you, but you have never cast a hex with all of your power.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
“Just to be clear, you have been a model student,” Rosenberg continued. “There is no doubt about that, nor has there been any flaw in your approach. In fact, I believe it was your keen understanding of how dangerous these hexes can be that drove you to carefully wield your negative emotions and strength thus far. That is precisely why I feel comfortable testing your limits. The kind of training I have in mind would never be recommended to children when they have not yet emotionally matured. But I would sooner trust Ryoma with this process than anyone who has grown up simply by growing older.”
Rosenberg seemed to have sussed out my mental age. Even if I wasn’t exactly a well-adjusted adult, I was more mature than a preteen. He added that he only wanted me to challenge my limits under his direct supervision so that he could back me up in case of an emergency. If he was this confident, I had no reason not to take up the much-needed next step in my warlock training. “I will take you up on that.”
“Very well. There are some preparations I would like to make, so let us begin tomorrow. Ryoma, I would like you to pick out the hex you feel most comfortable with wielding out of the ones I have taught you. You may make improvements to it as you see fit.”
“So you want me to pick a hex to pour as much negative energy into it as I can? Got it.”
After that, I went to clear the lumber left from the path that we had laid out the day before. Sebas and Rosenberg went to check on the roped-off perimeter of the mountain. Hudom and the adventurers went to plant groves of baobark to serve as firebreaks. We each set out for another day of work.