Chara envisioned a pair of mana tendrils and made them clap. As a faint, otherworldly weight settled over her mind—the sign of a completed spell construct—she pushed on it, infusing the spell with her mana.
Clap~! Clap~! Clap~!
Suddenly met with a round of applause, the music spirit’s mana couldn’t help but swell pridefully, their swirling growing noticeably more cheerful.
“Greetings, I am [Spirit Who Loves Music and Playing Flute], but you can call me Music~!” she introduced herself in a silky, high-pitched voice.
Chara’s swirling slowed as she parsed the words’ meaning.
What kind of name is that? Or rather, isn’t that just your entire existence?
She was momentarily stunned at how much meaning could be crammed into a single word using [Speak]. Making note of this observation for later, she returned the greeting.
“Hi, I’m um… [Spirit], but you can call me Little Spirit,” she introduced herself with a bit of uncertainty, as she tried and failed to think of how to define herself. She considered using her real name, but she was afraid that it might end up making her seem weird.
Wow, so cute…!
With a chuckle, Music approached Chara and spoke. “Little One, I can tell that there is a great musician swirling inside of you. Have you considered becoming a music essence spirit~?”
Become a music essence spirit?
Puzzled, the little spirit’s mana rippled in confusion. But then, she thought about Curiosity.
From the moment they first met, Chara had immediately discern that they were both different. For one, the greater spirit was clearly much larger than her, possessing far more mana. In addition, while both spirits were made up of the same unexplained iridescent mana, Curiosity’s exuded the same gentle and refreshing characteristic of water element mana. And this was not to mention any of her other strange abilities, like the way she always seemed to be aware of what piqued her curiosity.
“How do I become a music essence spirit?” Chara asked, with quite a bit of anticipation.
“The same way you become any other kind of spirit; by cultivating a [Bond]~!”
Cultivating a what?
Looking at the little spirit’s disorganized and messy swirling, the music spirit giggled. “Oh my... Could it be… That you don’t know about [Bonds]~?”
This question earned her a fierce glare from the now upset Chara, swirling as fast as a tornado, though it wasn’t very intimidating.
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How can I not know what a ‘Bond’ is? I just don’t know what it means yet!
From what she could grasp, the word’s meaning seemed to describe some kind of unique relationship between herself and something else, though she wasn’t sure exactly what. Nonetheless, she had the distinct feeling that this connection was magical in nature, and that it could be used to accomplish various things.
The little spirit’s musings were cut short by the gentle booping of an illusory mana tendril, which made soft whistling sounds each time it brushed against her.
“What are you thinking so hard about? Don’t you know that if you have too many thoughts, you will turn into a boring knowledge spirit~? If you have any questions, should you just ask this smart and reliable music spirit,” suggested Music,
“Then, what are ‘Bonds’?” Chara asked, slipping away the mischievous wind tendril.
“How do I put it… So, imagine I asked you to blow away one of these flowers,” the music spirit gestured using her freed mana tendril. “How would you go about doing it?”
“I would… cast a spell?” Chara answered.
“Naturally. I mean how would you cast it?” Music asked again.
The little spirit rippled contemplatively as she took a moment to gather her thoughts. “First, I would envision the flower being blown away. Next, I would recite an incantation that describes the blowing of wind. Finally, I would infuse the spell construct with wind mana.”
“Good,” Music hummed approvingly before launching into an explanation.
“The purpose of casting is to get mana to express its potential in a way that leads to a particular outcome. But well… as you might already be familiar with, mana is extremely silly and dumb! So much so, that it often struggles to follow even basic instructions~! Despite this, how do you think casting manages to overcome this dilemma and consistently bring about the intended result?”
How would I know? I only learned about casting less than an hour ago…
Noticing the little spirit’s confused swirling, the music spirit attempted to guide her thinking.
“So, imagine there is a ball on a slope. What do you think will happen if it’s just left there?”
“It will roll down the slope?”
“Exactly~! Now, imagine a chuck of ice left in a warm room. What do you think will happen to the ice if it’s just left there?”
“It will melt.”
“Precisely~! Then how about a pile of sand in a windy place?”
“It will get blown away.”
“That’s right~! My point is, in each of these scenarios, an object has been placed in a condition that naturally guarantees a certain conclusion,” explained the music spirit.
“Okay, but what does any of that have to do with casting?” Chara expressed her doubts.
“I was getting there. Anyways, without going into too much detail; the purpose of the first two steps, envisioning and invocation, is to establish something called [Context].
“Now, the thing about [Context], is that it is actually the circumstances in which things can occur. This is extremely important, because it means that by establishing a strong enough [Context], you can make it so that the possibility you seek becomes the most natural, inevitable conclusion.
“And as every spirit knows—mana is possibility~! Thus, just as the ball is destined to roll down the slope, the mana powering your spell will be naturally inclined to manifest its potential in line with that conclusion,” concluded Music.
So, kind of like the path of least resistance… Chara mused.
“With is in mind, suppose you tried to use a spell similar to the one you described earlier. Except, rather than blowing away one of these crystal flowers, you tried to knock over that giant crystal tree. Do you think you could do it~?” Music asked in a teasing tone, clearly already knowing the answer.
“…No,” Chara admitted.
“Likely so, but it’s not because of the reason you think. Setting aside the issue of mana, if a spell doesn’t have a strong enough [Context], then the [Spell Construct] won’t manifest in the first place. After all, without [Context], nothing can happen,” Music stated in a matter-a-fact tone.
“With all that said, what if I told you that there is a way around all of this?”
“Is it… bonds?” Chara asked.