Emilia leads Straf and Cycelia out of the city's walls, and then along them. They walk through thin vegetation consisting of young trees and small bushes for just a moment before they reach the last of the trees. Emilia stretches her palm out ahead of herself as they exit the treeline.
「Here it is… The old training grounds…」
Straf looks around as they walk closer. He sees a few wooden training dummies with swords and shields in hand, so to speak. A square area fenced off by a rotting, falling apart wooden barrier draws his attention.
「Was this an arena? I thought this was the mages' guild training grounds.」
「Ah, no… This place is from before the adventurers' guild and the mages' guild split.」
Emilia says as she walks up to Straf and adjusts her glasses. She points to the archery targets in the distance.
「Here… I'll show you the freezing ray on those targets.」
She leads Straf closer to the coiled straw rings, covered with a colored cloth. The sun is nearly hidden below the horizon, leaving its last rays of orange as it slowly departs.
「Ah… I really don't like being outside the walls this late…」
「Stumbling through that forest on the way back is going to be a pain, don't you have a torch or something?」
「Ah, no… But don't worry, I can cast a spell that will light things up. Okay. Please watch closely, I don't want to have to show you multiple times…」
「Woah. Didn't expect that of you. Strict teacher, huh? I'll do my best-」
「Ah-! No- Uh-」
Suddenly, the shy mage starts waving her hands around in panic.
「It's just- I'm not very good at magic… My mana capacity is abysmal, so I took up alchemy instead… I can't cast too many spells. I didn't mean it that way, but please do pay attention.」
「Huh… Alright, show me what you've got.」
Straf puts his fists on his hips as Emilia takes a few steps forward ahead of him, Cycelia has finished looking around and so she joins Straf's side. The mage points her palm out with fingers forward at one of the archery targets, as if trying to catch a small ball, and closes her eyes…
「Frigid winter winds come at my beckon and howl through these fruitful lands, let unrotting cadavers and chattering teeth cry out for the mercy of spring…」
《Man… That's a really long, and frankly purple prose filled verse. This better wow me.》
Straf thinks to himself as Emilia continues reciting the spellwords in a monotone voice hastily.
「…Golden leaves your harbinger and vacant branches be your herald. Listen to my call and heed my will, entomb my enemies in a sepulchre unmelting!」
Straf and Cycelia both become visibly surprised as the shy, quiet mage suddenly breaks out of her monotonous recitation with a raised voice. A chilly gust of wind coming seemingly from nowhere, causes Emilia's robe to flap wildly. She raises her head, opens her eyes and glares at the archery target.
「『Freeze Ray』!」
《Woah, that's actually kind of cool-》
A bright, shining ice-blue orb forms right in front of Emilia's outstretched hand. Without a warning, it shoots out a narrow beam of the same color at the archery target in front of her in a brilliant light show. The archery target is coated in a crystal-clear layer of ice of deep blue hue. The layer is no thicker than perhaps a finger, and doesn't stretch very far past the circle on the target. It steams heavily in the ambient air, and lets out a cracking sound every second or two.
《New spell memorized.》
A familiar monotone female voice announces in Straf's head.
「...Wow.」
Emilia looks over her shoulder at Straf, grinning contently as she lifts the brim of her pointy hat with her index finger. Cycelia is amazed, her mouth slightly open from witnessing the flashing lights.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
「Pretty cool, huh?」
She asks as she blows warm air into her casting hand.
「Yeah! The wind went like fwoooom!」
Cycelia mimicks the howling wind she just heard, like a small child re-enacting a cartoon scene…
《That's it? All that for this? Magic sucks.》
「Yeah… I'm at a loss for words…」
《Because I can't believe I blew 50 skill points on this shit.》
「How about you try it now?」
Emilia asks Straf as she walks back to them. Straf sighs.
「Say, is that whole frigid winter winds blah blah blah really necessary?」
「Huh? Well, it's how you cast the spell-」
Straf sighs as Emilia tries to figure out what he meant with his question.
「Can't I just shout the last bit out and cast it? You know, like a catchphrase?」
「No- Nhm- Well… I don't know a lot about magic. I haven't actually tried to do that. All I know is that you need to summon the spell, imagine its effect on target, let the mana flow and then call out its name. It's how I do it, but…」
「Imagine the spell, huh? How original.」
Straf takes a few steps forward, looking at the archery target next to the frosted-over one.
「『Freeze Ray』!」
Straf shouts out, full of confidence. A beam of light suddenly materializes right in front of him, somewhere in front of his chest and hits the round target… It immediately explodes into a massive boulder of ice, roughly the size of a minivan.
《Well, then… That's not too bad in that case.》
「Wha-?!」
Emilia exclaims in surprise, meanwhile Cycelia looks at Straf and is too stunned to even say anything.
「You can do that?! You don't need the incantation?! 『Freeze Ray』!」
Emilia walks out in front of Straf, facing the archery targets. She shouts out the spell name and… Nothing. Her arms drop limp in disappointment, while Straf grins and starts chuckling.
「Ahahaha! Athea, you bimbo idiot! You screwed up again! I got this as a freebie?! Hahaha!」
「Bi-… Who's Athea?」
Cycelia asks Straf with furrowed brows and slight, veiled worry on her face. They look at each other as Straf keeps cackling to himself like a madman.
《You can make an entire novel centered around this, and I didn't have to spend a single point?! You duuuuuumbassssss!》
《Who are you calling a bimbo idiot, you wretch? I can hear you.》
Straf suddenly stops laughing, he looks up at the darkening sky.
「Wait, you can?」