The music spirit burst into a fit of giggles.
“Yep~! The idea is, if you can’t muster up the [Context] to blow away the giant tree on your own, then why not try to befriend the wind itself and then ask for help?” she asked in a curious tone.
……What?
The little spirit swirled in disbelief, thinking she must have misheard. After all, how could a being, a living breathing individual, become friends with the wind, a force of nature?
Nevertheless, as if to disprove this notion, the music spirit continued to explain further.
“What I’m saying is to form a [Bond]~! Think about it, [Context] is the circumstances in which things can occur. So by befriending the wind, it becomes reasonable for it to listen to your suggestions. After all, friends have the responsibility to help each other out~!” she stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Of course, I’m only using wind as an example. You can try to form a [Bond] with any concept you like, provided it’s an element or an essence. In my case, I formed a bond with Music, which is how I became a music essence spirit~!” she proclaimed proudly.
So what you’re saying, is that the true magic was the friend we made along the way…? What kind of dumb explanation is that?!
Does this mean that if I become friends with money, it will line up to fill my pockets and make me super rich? Isn’t that too ridiculous and too unbelievable?
Disbelieving remarks bubbled up in Chara’s mind one after another. And yet, she also couldn’t rule out the idea entirely. After all, at the end of the day, it was an undeniable fact that Music was a music essence spirit, while she wasn’t. If the other spirit claimed that her transformation was a result of her bond with music, then who was she to argue? It’s not like she had a bond herself.
Furthermore, although Curiosity never specifically used the term “context,” she had essentially explained the same idea, even down to describing invocations as a “basis” to activate spells during her explanation of casting.
In fact, the two spirits’ explanations aligned so perfectly that Chara momentarily suspected if they’d been colluding to trick her. Though the more likely and less paranoid conclusion was that they were both simply describing the same thing, albeit from their own understanding.
“So um, how do I form a bond?” Chara finally asked.
Pleased by the way things were developing, the music spirit’s mana condensed in anticipation. “As far as I’m aware, all you need to do is select a subject of interest, and then find a way to connect it with magic.”
Select a subject of interest and connect it to magic?
Feeling that this explanation was too vague, the little spirit asked another question. “Then, how did you become a music spirit?”
Music swirling slowed as she drew up memories from long ago.
“Hehe, when I was young, I discovered some rocks that made a cool whistling sound when the wind blew through them just right. I thought this was fascinating and wished to learn how to do it myself. As time went by, I grew really good at it, and eventually, I became a music spirit~,” she recounted fondly.
Wow! Baby Music was a big dummy… Chara thought. She then asked, “Is that why you are traveling around playing music?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Oh, that?” The music spirit paused slightly, before answering, “I’m doing that for two main reasons. Firstly, to improve my bond. I want to experience the unique ambience of many different kinds of places, with the hope of capturing it and expressing it through my music. The second reason is to raise my [Piousness].”
Piousness?
The little spirit’s mana rippled at the unfamiliar term.
“Oh my~. Could it be that you don’t know about faith magic either~?” Music teased. However, before she could elaborate further, a furious shout echoed across the cavern.
“Heeeeeeeey—!!”
From afar, a glimmering cloud of iridescent water mana came rushing towards them like a surging torrent. In the next instant, a very angry curiosity spirit had positioned herself protectively between Baby and Music before swirling fiercely.
“Noisy wind spirit, what do you think you’re doing?!” Curiosity demanded in a childish yet menacing tone.
“Fussy water spirit, we were just chatting. Mind your own business,” Music responded in a dismissive voice.
“Just chatting? Hmph~! Let me guess, you were trying to trick my cute, smart, and precious student into becoming a noisy music essence spirit—!”
“Your ‘student’ huh? You accuse me of trying to trick her, and yet, aren’t you doing the very same thing? The standards of water spirits are really lacking!”
As the two spirits confronted each other, the mana in the air churned restlessly. Around the curiosity spirit, the scenery seemed to ripple and blur, the light becoming slightly dimmer, as if submerged deep underwater. Simultaneously, the air around the wind spirit emitted a low hum, like a speaker with power but no sound, the air pressure steadily rising.
The little spirit, feeling a tad nervous, but unable to ignore what she just heard, hesitantly asked, “Um, Miss Curiosity, what does she mean by ‘trick’?”
“Ahhh—! My gentle spirit!” Curiosity cried melodramatically.
“You mustn’t listen to what this dummy wind spirit is saying, she’s trying to trick you! She probably didn’t tell you on purpose, but bonds are extremely clingy and jealous! Once you form one, you definitely won’t be able to form a second one or change it to something else!” she exposed while pointing a mana tendril. “Had I not rushed here to warn you, she definitely would’ve tricked you!”
“…”
In other words, one was trying to lure me into forming a music bond, while the other was trying to tempt me into becoming a curiosity spirit… Is this what they call ‘the pot calling the kettle black?’
Sensing the little spirit’s silent accusation, the curiosity spirit hurriedly defended herself. “No, it’s completely different. Unlike music bonds, which are so noisy and useless, curiosity bonds help you peer into the secrets of the unknown~!”
“Okay well, while you have fun peering into your boring, ‘secrets of the unknown,’ me and Little Spirit are going to have fun playing music~,” Music stated while reaching out a pair of illusory mana tendrils.
“Noooo—!!” Curiosity reacted quickly and shoved Chara out of the way, only for her to get embraced instead. The pair of essence spirits immediately tried to separate, but the mutual attraction between their water and wind element mana caused them to get magnetized together.
“Get away from me you dummy wind spirit! How are you going to compensate me if I start dispersing?”
“Shut up you sloppy water spirit! I can already feel the moisture in the air starting to condense—!”
“Don’t blame me for such a trivial problem. Didn’t that happen because you are too weak?”
Just as the two were starting up again, an eerie hum swept through the air. Both spirits paused, as a disquieting resonance rippled through the air. It was unsettling and dissonant, as if someone had played three clashing notes simultaneously.
The two spirits, like they had reached some kind of unspoken agreement, immediately ended their quarrel and separated, their attention turning somewhere far beyond the hill. At that moment, their swirling gradually ceased, and their mana grew calm as they seemed to fall into a deep, trance like state.
As the three spirits fell silent, faint vibrations began to stir in the stillness, rhythmic and layered, yet disturbingly out of sync. An offbeat melody that seemed to disregard every rule of music.
Chara, deeply unsettled by the eerie turn of events, looked around anxiously and asked, “Umm, did something happen?”
The two spirits exited out of their trance like state and exchanged wary glances.
After a short pause, the curiosity spirit approached Chara and spoke, “Little Spirit.” However, before she could give a proper explanation, a haunting, raspy voice echoed through the cavern.
“A̛̰̦͎͒̔̈́r̨͈̳͋ȅ̗̫̝̰̏̊͠ ̣͗͆̊͠y̡̬̍͂̈͆̐ó̗̗͕̿u̪̱͚̽̉̀̓ ̜̩͔̅͊̃t͕̣̱̏͜͝͠͝ḧ̘́͗ͅe̱͘͝ ̳̤̐̇ò̡̂n̥̺͆é̢̛̫̇͑͌ ̹͇̩͍̱̿̾͛͠ẅ̢̪͚̘́͠ḧ̳́̎̀͠ő̗͘ͅ ̢̤̝͆ṣ̢̧͕̥̔̉̉t̛̥̞̳͑ͅo͙̬̣̤̓͂̾͝l̞̲̯̙̥̈́́͘e̗͖͂̆͒̊ ̥̩̙̣̊̾͝͝m̹̹͎̔̑̏̈́y̥͒͂͐̕ ̝̱͈̑̄̑̅͜ȧ̫̖̮̯͉͌̌u̢̧̻̎͗́̀ḓ̢̩͉͖̆̾ḯ̛̜͖̟̠̒͂̓ẽ͎̘͘̚n̡̦̖̟̈́͊̚c̠̝͎̤̦͗ẻ͎̪̥̼̽?”