Adventure Awaits! Huzzah! 10

Fighting Alm was akin to weathering a storm.

The boy hadn't changed much of his fighting style from his younger days, except for polishing it, of course, still being as aggressive as ever. The method Himmel had arrived at to deal with such a style was simply playing it a bit more defensively than usual.

Now, one could not be as passive as Celica used to be, that would mean getting quickly overwhelmed. So Himmel made sure to at least trip the boy up with a few hits here and there.

And before long, Alm was on the ground. "Ugh...! Lucky hit!"

Himmel chuckled. "It's always a lucky hit when I win, huh?" Which did not happen as often as he would have liked.

While he currently held the higher win record, that changed all the time. His adult mind had not been enough to bridge the gap between the extra years of training Alm had received. Not to mention how the green-haired boy was a natural swordsman and possibly had a brand of some sort.

Protagonist bullshit really loved Ram Village for some reason.

Alm smirked. "I call it like it is."

Himmel extended an open hand to help him get up. "Then allow me to call it like it is. You're being foolish by never adapting." He seriously needed to learn something else or at least have someone by his side that could balance his sheer aggression.

Alm took his hand. "I will adapt by becoming even faster and stronger." How scary, then, Himmel would fail to keep up.

Gray, who was on the sidelines waiting for his turn, sighed. "Please don't. I'm in the dust already." It was a sad truth for the future merchant.

Alm and Himmel were freaks of nature who frequently broke weapons during training. Gray was a normal, albeit talented, boy who was interested in swordsmanship. There was no way he could keep up with them.

Himmel respected his drive. "Trust me, Gray, if Alm keeps fighting like this, then soon you will be winning more than losing when it comes to him." Alm's style was great with strangers who weren't ready for him.

But for people like Himmel and Gray, who sparred with him? They got used to the storm eventually.

Gray chuckled. "Really now...?" He sent a smug look towards Alm. "Hey man, don't listen to Himmel. Guy's an idiot."

Alm pouted. "Okay, okay, I got it. I will try doing something else..." He sighed. "I just get lost in it, you know?" Those were some... concerning words. That was for sure.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. You're weird, Alm." Ayup, that was the normal stance.

Alm blushed. "I am not!" He totally was.

But Himmel saw him as a friend, so he interjected. "C'mon now. If we are going to fight, then let's have a fight that will actually improve our skills." He was definitely up for a second round, his stamina was pretty immense.

It was another reason why he and Alm had quickly eclipsed poor Gray. Contrary to the boy, they could train and fight for hours until they actually felt tired. Obviously these extra hours of training made quite the difference.

"How about you three stop fighting at all for a moment?" Tobin walked in.

He didn't participate in their sparring, so this all probably looked a bit extreme to him. Not to say he wasn't training—Mycen made sure all kids were, but he was training with the bow instead. Which was probably good for his confidence, he didn't need to get compared to Alm and Himmel all the time.

Faye was with him, although she was on top of Epona. "We bring good news!" The girl trained in combat too.

Probably just to keep up with her social circle, but he appreciated her efforts. She had taken to the spear, which meant that her fighting style was shaping up to become quite a bit different from Himmel's.

And as for why she was riding Epona... that was pretty simple. Himmel let every kid ride his horse occasionally, he felt like it would be good training for the future. Mycen certainly seemed to appreciate it when it came to Alm at least.

Horses were expensive, buying and maintaining one for each brat would be hard. This, however? This was doable.

Himmel raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Did Tobin finally finish another obstacle course?" It was part of the deal he had with the boy.

He wanted to use his coin to support his poor friend's family financially, but Tobin was too prideful to just accept it. So instead he occasionally used Tobin as... a squire of sorts. By far his biggest job was building obstacle courses so that Himmel could practice combat while riding Epona.

Tobin waved him off. "Nope, though it's almost ready. The reason why we're here is that your magic teacher arrived." That's...! "We were in the area, so we came to fetch you."

He dropped his training sword on the ground immediately. "Thank you. I'm going to go meet them then." He was so incredibly excited.

Swords and horse riding were cool and all, but they just couldn't beat magic.

Faye frowned. "Okay... just... um... be careful." That was strange.

"Careful about what?" Was his new teacher scary-looking or something?

Tobin sighed. "She's just scared your magical teacher is going to get her paws on you." So it was a woman... "She pretty much already did so with Kliff. Guy was basically drooling." That was to be expected, even if his teacher had been a man.

Kliff was clearly interested in magic after all, and he had started practicing it. However, he was quickly learning the drawbacks of it, since he was currently stuck in the weak spark stage. Himmel pitied him.

Faye sputtered. "N-no... I'm not scared! I just... I just...!" She was totally jealous. How cute.

They were all reaching the age where their hormones started to go crazy, so Himmel was glad the future looked bright. "Don't worry, Faye, I won't be stolen or anything like that." And he meant that.

He was twelve. His teacher was probably a woman in her forties or something. Not that Himmel had anything against that, but he seriously doubted his teacher would be attracted to a boy. Unless she was... special.

Not the good type of special, the Himmel type of special! And Kris would never let such a woman near him. Probably.

A shy smile appeared on Faye's face. "Okay then..." She was seriously way too cute.

He chuckled in response. "Well then, I should take my leave... but before that." He took off his Paragon Ring. "Catch." And threw it at Gray.

The boy caught it without issue. "You want me to put it on this time?"

Himmel nodded. "Yeah. If you're feeling left behind, maybe it can help." He still didn't know if the Paragon Ring actually worked or not, and he doubted he ever would.

Still, he nonetheless shared it with all his friends. Every time they got stuck with something, for example, he would lend the ring. That said, he couldn't explain to them that the ring was something left behind by Sigurd of Chalphy, so he just claimed it to be a gift from Kris.

Gray put on the ring. "Hopefully it does... But don't you want to wear it for the meeting with your teacher? What if you suck and she rejects teaching you?" He doubted that would happen.

Himmel didn't know who Kris had hired to be his teacher, but whoever she was, she was not doing it out of charity. He was seriously going to throw a lot of coin her way... Magic teachers were as expensive as one would imagine.

Himmel shook his head. "If I need a magic ring to be capable of learning magic, then perhaps I shouldn't learn it in the first place."

Gray rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah... Good luck with her."



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Himmel had failed Faye. All it took was one glance at his teacher, and he had been stolen.

Kris cleared his throat. "This is Lady Sonya, Himmel. Although she may be young, I have heard only good things about her." She had to be a super prodigy.

Because she seriously looked not even close to thirty yet, Kris, of all people, found her suitable for teaching, something which he was very strict about.

Sonya leaned down, matching Himmel's height. "I'll be doing my best to teach you from here on out... as long as the gold keeps flowing, of course." This was a horrible moment for his hormones to kick in.

It made his reply... not exactly great. "O-okay..." He felt shy for the very first time in this life.

Which was probably a good thing. Spending time with the brats of the village had lowered his resistance towards real women! With real tits! Which was just unacceptable. Ah... he really hoped Faye reached Sonya's level of... maturity someday.

The woman chuckled. "Good. A polite student is a good student."

Kliff interjected, the brat sounding mad for no reason. "You better treat Lady Sonya well, Himmel!"

Himmel sent him a sideways glance. "Why are you even here...?" As Tobin had said, the kid was drooling.

Ah... she was gonna have to live in the village for a few years to teach Himmel. While looking like she did. While his friends were just starting to go through puberty.

It would be some awkward years, that was for sure.



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"Before we start with anything, Himmel, I would like to know... What exactly can you do? From what I've heard from your father, you have some experience with magic already."

He nodded. "Yeah, I can make a fireball, but that's pretty much it." She had taken them to an open field, presumably for practice.

However, they were not alone, of course. Sonya had yet to earn such trust, which is why Kris was close by, keeping an eye on things. And to make the point even more clear, his guardian had actually come wearing armor and carrying weapons.

Thankfully, she didn't seem bothered by it. "I see. When exactly did you start then?"

Ah... it was time to tell her an embarrassing story. "When I was like... four." Was that right? He couldn't really remember. "Back then I could only make a spark though, and then I would pass out." His face was becoming red as he talked.

He could only hope she wouldn't laugh.

Sonya's eyes widened. "You started at four? What kind of irresponsible mage taught you?" Huh, his teacher now seemed a bit pale.

He didn't blame her, his past conduct had been pretty dangerous, he could have gotten himself killed. "No mage, really, I sort of did it by just trying it a lot." It wasn't impressive. Kliff himself was now doing the same.

His teacher gasped. "At four years old...!?" Yeah, yeah, he was an idiot. Hopefully she could correct that, since it was her job and all.

He scratched his cheek. "Yep. I had to stop eventually because I kept passing out though... not enough life force, I guess. So the only improvement I've had since then was by growing older." And therefore gaining more life force.

His major Holy Blood's awakening had also severely increased his stamina. That would probably help too.

Sonya still seemed shocked at his stupidity, but eventually she recovered. "Very well then. Show me your fireball... and don't worry, I'll extinguish any flame you make." Clearly she was worried about the forest burning down.

He waved her off. "I can just extinguish it before it hits anything. I've done it before." With sparks, not fireballs, but it was the principle.

"Y-you have...?" Was that bad? "When did you learn such a thing?"

He shrugged. "The same age I learned everything. I mean, I didn't wanna go around burning important stuff." It was a lesson Kliff desperately needed to learn.

For now it was fine, but once the boy reached Himmel's level he could potentially cause a serious amount of trouble. And even now, a small spark could always turn into a hellish inferno.

She seemed to be shocked again... but then slowly a smile reached her face. "Maybe teaching you will be fun beyond the coin." Oh, she was buttering him up. How hot.

Alas, he would not throw more money than necessary towards her way. Her attempts would fall upon deaf ears.

Still, he was flattered. "Thank you, Lady Sonya." He had put tons of work into his magic and only gotten people calling him an idiot in return. So this felt nice.

He raised a hand. "Now let me show you what I can do!" He would cheat with his Holy Blood! As he always did, really.

If he just fired a normal fireball, she would probably be thoroughly unimpressed. So since he wanted to make a good impression on his teacher, he would have to make something truly big! Something bigger than her boobs even!

It was definitely not the time for jokes like that.

He opened his hand and started calling upon power. At first a small spark appeared, then a normal-sized fireball, then... something as large as Himmel himself.

At that moment he finally threw it, becoming a bit pale in the process.

The fire giant flew for a bit, traveling at surprisingly fast speeds. Before it could hit anything, however, Himmel cut its "flow" off, and the fire began to dissipate. Before long, it completely disappeared.

Sonya clapped her hands. "Oh my...! That was mighty impressive!" She really did sound like a teacher complimenting her far too young student.

He didn't know how to feel about it. "Was it?" He could see numerous issues with it.

First of all, it took a lot of time to conjure it. Second of all, even if it was bigger, it was no more powerful for it, he should have made it denser instead. Third of all, he wasted a lot of energy on it, far more than he should have. Fourth of all, it was hard to control it, it didn't disappear immediately as he had hoped. And finally, wouldn't it be better if he had given it a solid shape? Like making it into a spear or something.

She nodded. "Yes... but I suppose I can see ways of improving it." As expected. "Well then, magic control comes better with practice, so for now let's see how many fireballs you can fire in a minute..."

She put a hand on her chin. "But only fire sparks, please. We can't have you tiring it out already." Sadly, he already felt tired.

But if nothing else, he knew how to work on himself until he passed out! So he would keep going until she told him to stop!



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Fire magic was easy. Fire magic could be done through trial and error by most humans. It was just how their life force naturally manifested as.

Other types of magic?

Himmel was gonna have to actually study for those.

Sonya raised a finger as she paced around the room. "Thunder. That is the second most basic spell a practitioner of Black Magic can learn, which is why—." She was already getting ahead of herself.

As expected of someone who was probably new to teaching. "Excuse me, Lady Sonya, but what is Black Magic exactly...?" He pretty much knew nothing of magic.

Even the little he knew about fire magic, he just knew because she had talked about it while they trained on the field.

She blushed. "Oh, my apologies, Himmel." She cleared her throat. "Black Magic is one of two fields of magic commonly practiced in Valentia. The other one being White Magic." How very JRPG.

She continued. "We of Valentia are actually... an odd bunch. The other continents of this world tend to use staves and tomes to accomplish their magic, as an example." That much he knew about.

Sort of. Not really. He knew of their existence because he had learned of it during tactics training and history, but that was about it.

His teacher scowled. "They're a crutch... not that it's a bad thing, and I'll teach you those schools of magic eventually as well, but keep that in mind. There are many mages of Archanea who become worthless without carrying a little book around. Not all of them, but many."

She sighed. "It's an exchange, really. In other continents, magic is more common than in Valentia, but here every single mage of ours is a master." He got the idea.

He was against it, though. There was a reason why the gun had overtaken the bow... Not that it mattered to him, however. He wasn't about to try and modernize Valentia's magical warfare or anything that crazy.

Her comments did raise a spark of curiosity in him, though. "Lady Sonya, have you ever traveled to other continents?" She spoke of it like she did.

Sonya denied it. "No. Although I've met a few Archaneans before their war started." Right. Nowadays it was rare to see a single one show up in Valentia. "Still, I have educated myself on their style." She did say she would teach him that style eventually, so it made sense.

She suddenly realized she was getting off track. "But back to the matter of Black Magic and White Magic... I'm sure you're wondering what the difference is between those two schools. Well, there are many." Oh? What did that mean?

She raised a hand. "Black Magic is derived from Tome Magic. Typically it's used in combat, and it tends to be very... direct. Commanding fire and thunder, you understand the idea."

She raised another hand. "White Magic is derived from Staff Magic. It also sees its uses in combat, but typically not directly. It encapsulates things such as healing and teleportation. It was also hoarded by the church for the longest time, so many believe faith affects it." Scary.

What if he prayed to Momma Mila during his teleportation, and she banished him to the shadow realm!?

His teacher joined her hands together. "I am a master of Black Magic, but I know a thing or two about White Magic as well, so I will be teaching you both."

She smiled. "Which brings me back to what I was originally talking about. Thunder. It is the second step, after Fire. It comes in two forms, one that leaves your body immediately as lightning and one that affects the environment to create lightning from the skies."

She pointed upwards. "The latter is by far the most common in Valentia, so it will be the first you learn."

So he would be going from throwing fireballs to throwing lightning? Yeah, magic was cooler than swordsmanship.