Under the rhythmic clinking of tumbling diamonds, Chara tried her best to keep up with the advancing spirit while also carefully avoiding the myriad of crystal columns.

Hwee~! What a smart and obedient spirit. I would much rather teach someone like her than that lazy and selfish light spirit. That lazy spirit won’t do a thing, even if I beat her up… thought Curiosity.

Still, although she had said she was going to teach Baby “something interesting” on their way to their destination, she wasn’t actually going out of her way to do anything unplanned. Instead, she was just following up on a preexisting lesson plan that had gotten interrupted as a result of Baby’s tantrum. Except this time, she had cleverly labeled it as a “concession” to show the little spirit how generous and magnanimous she could be.

To this end, she had been taking advantage of her sheepish little follower’s low vantage point, lackluster spiritual perception, and the chaotic maze of mirrors, to subtly adjust their traveling direction the entire time.

Unbeknownst to Chara, she was being led around by the nose once again!

As the pair of spirits navigated deeper into the translucent maze, the density of crystalline pillars was increasing little by little. Accordingly, Chara had to allocate increasing amounts of her attention just to keep up.

Soon, it was almost every three seconds that she had to adjust her path to avoid an oncoming collision. It was to the point where she had begun to suspect that the greater spirit might have chosen a difficult route on purpose.

Before long, the pair of spirits had arrived at a narrow corridor made up of many branching and intersecting pillars. Even at Chara’s reduced size, she would have to be extra careful if she didn’t want to accidentally bump into anything.

The little spirit glared at the greater spirit full of incredulity. Are you stupid? How are you going to squeeze in between all those crystals when you are so fat?!

Sensing her little baby’s doubts, Curiosity let out a short giggle but didn’t explain a thing.

Without any pretense, she entered a profound state of concentration. Her mana, like a reflection of her state of mind, ceased its unconscious swirling, becoming as calm as a lake.

Intrigued, Chara unconsciously focused all of her attention on the greater spirit.

Suddenly, as if Curiosity’s previous state had been only a facade, a torrent of mana surged out from her body and rushed into the corridor. With perfect precision, a stream of Curiosity accurately maneuvered its way through the confusing series of crystals, as if being guided by an invisible tunnel.

Once the curiosity stream had reached an area where there was a bit of open space, it abruptly stopped. With nowhere to go, the still-moving mana crashed, causing all the non-moving mana to collapse in on itself and form into a whirlpool. As if nothing had happened, the chaotic vortex of mana kept funneling in more and more mana, until a new curiosity spirit had swirled into existence.

Ehh!?

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Astonished, the little spirit quickly shifted her attention to the curiosity spirit next to her, only to witness her last remnants being sucked into the stream of mana and soon joining the reformed Curiosity.

Uwaa?!!

Chara was so astonished that if she had eyeballs, they definitely would have popped out of her head like a cartoon character by now.

What?! I thought she was trying to shoot a magic spell or something! Who could have guessed that what she had actually shot had been herself! Wait! I—I’m a spirit too! If she can do that, then shouldn’t that mean I can do it too!? Surely that has to be the case… wondered Chara.

Basking in the little spirit’s curiosity, the curiosity spirit swirled proudly. Having concluded her performance, she looked over at Baby and said, “Now it’s your turn~!”

Perplexed, Chara shot an incredulous gaze from all the way on the other side of the long and confusing corridor, even piercing through several crystals.

…What? …How am I supposed to do that?

The curiosity spirit’s mana pulsed. Even without verifying, she could immediately guess what Baby was thinking. Still, she held back from answering right away. She didn’t want a repeat of the previous incident. So, in an effort to be more prudent, this time she took a moment to carefully review what she was going to say before speaking first.

After a brief silence, she started, “Movement is simple. Just [Imagine] where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there.

“Altering your form is similar. First, [Imagine] your current form. Then, [Imagine] it deforming into something else.

“Once you have a clear [Visualization] of both, you just have to [Envision] it,” explained Curiosity, while taking special care to pause between each explanation to avoid any potential misunderstandings.

Finished with her explanation, she quieted down, carefully observing how her little student would react. After a short pause, she could feel a disapproving glare.

What the heck is “envision”…? I still don’t know what this means... glowered Chara.

Stunned, the curiosity spirit rippled in confusion. ……What?

Actually, her perplexity was fairly warranted. When she first encountered Baby, it looked like she was trying to cast magic. The thing is, Envisioning is the first step of casting. And later, when she was given instructions on how to speak, she was very specifically told to Imagine, and not to Envision.

At this point, how could Curiosity not believe that Chara knew the distinction between Imagining and Envisioning? But contrary to her expectations, the little spirit’s curiosity appeared to be genuine.

At a loss, Curiosity didn’t know whether to feel glad or troubled.

Jeez, look at how helpless you are without me. I guess it can’t be helped… thought the greater spirit with feigned pity.

For her, it didn’t matter how sad, silly, and pitiful a spirit was. As long as they had the willingness to learn, she would be more than willing to provide. They just weren’t allowed to leave.

Suddenly in a good mood, Curiosity explained, “Well, to explain envision properly, I’m going to have to explain Imagination first.

“Imagination is the act of forming new ideas, images, or concepts, that may or may not exist in reality. In other words, when I ask you to Imagine, I am asking you to form a mental image.

“Envisioning is Imagining, except, with one key difference. Intent! When you Envision something, you are not merely thinking about the idea of something; it is something you intend to accomplish!

“Just keep in mind that this acknowledgment can be either subconscious or deliberate.

“For things that aren’t dangerous, like movement, perception, or [Speak], this acknowledgment is usually granted subconsciously, which is why I asked you not to envision when I instructed you on how to speak.

“However, for things that are complicated, things that require a price, and things you’ve never done before, your apprehension will work as a subconscious barrier, making it so that you cannot perform those actions on accident.

“As you grow more confident, these mental barriers will naturally disappear, until you can perform super complex operations like it’s second nature. At this time, you will be able to become an expert floater, like me~!”

Curiosity was about to continue her explanation by giving numerous examples of all the things that were possible, but then she froze.

Oh no! It happened again…! I—I talked too much!