Two Elementary Magics

　

　In the meantime, Akira's party decided to take a break until Nao's health returned to normal.
　Akira found an un-vandalized vending machine and, when Nao sat down in the shade out of breath, he used a hatchet to slash open the Big Spider's nest next to the machine and forcefully opened the vending machine.
　He picked up the juices, teas, and PET bottles on display, and then carried the drinks he couldn't hold in his hands, breaking into private homes and stuffing them into bags and sacks they had borrowed.
　When he returned with a large amount of drinks, Nao's face had regained some color.

"Thanks."

　While accepting the mineral water that Akira offered her, Nao uttered a small word of thanks.
　Akira shook his head in response to her words, and like Nao, he took a bottle of mineral water and sat down next to her.


"……Speaking of which. Why was the only magic you used when fighting monsters Shock Arrow?　I believe you can use other magic spells after raising your skill level in the elementary magic spells."

　Akira's words, which opened up the topic, made Nao look up into the air as if she were lost in thought.

"Come to think of it, I haven't tried that. ……Well, I can more or less guess what the magic is from just looking at the name."

　After saying that, Nao glanced at Akira.

"Are you curious?”
"……Well. If you're asking if I'm interested or not, then the answer is yes. I haven't acquired any elementary magic."
"I guess so."

　Nao laughed at Akira's words.
　Then, as if to check her own condition, she held her hand open and closed it, and eventually she made a fist as if she had made up her mind.

"Well, in my current condition, I think I can manage two times. Yeah, let's give it a shot."
"Is it all right?”
"Yeah, no problem. I can somehow sense how much magic I can use before it becomes dangerous."

　Saying this, Nao aimed the gun with one hand in front of her.


"…………I'm going to tell you this first, but I don't think it's the kind of magic you're thinking of, okay?”

　Nao directed a glance at him as if to make sure of something.


"It isn't the kind of magic I'm thinking about?　What does that mean?”
"Well, you'll understand when you see it."

　Nao smiled slightly.
　Then, when she turned her gaze forward, she murmured that magic's name.


"Torchlight."


　In an instant, a ball of light the size of a baseball appeared at the tip of the gun that Nao was holding.
　The light twirled around Nao, and then floated up into the air, hovering in front of Akira's group.

"……See?　I told you so, right?”

　Nao, who was watching the scene, smiled as she looked at the ball of light floating in the distance.


"I knew it wasn't an offensive spell as soon as I saw the name."
"I was wondering if the ball would explode if you touched it?”


　Akira drank the mineral water he had on hand in one go and then threw the empty PET bottle at the light bulb.
　The PET bottle, which flew in an arc, hit the light sphere and passed through it as if nothing had happened, rolling onto the ground.
　In contrast, the light sphere that Akira hit with the plastic bottle only flickered slightly as if to protest the action for a moment, but in the end, it did not explode or pop, and continued to float in the air as it had before, illuminating Nao's path.


　Akira, who had been watching the scene, let out a soft gasp and became lost in thought, then slowly got up and approached the light ball.


"H-hey!　Ichijou! !”


　Nao must have realized what Akira was trying to do.
　She immediately shouted for him to stop, but her words came a little too late to stop Akira's actions.

　Akira reached out without hesitation towards the light sphere floating in the air, and used his own body to check whether or not it was harmful.

"……Slips right through."

　Akira muttered to himself as he stared at his own hand, which was passing through the light in an attempt to grasp it.
　Then, suddenly, the light ball started to move. When he turned to look, Nao was just getting up from where she had been sitting on the curb.


"Seriously, you――――!　Are you stupid?!　I did say it wasn't an offensive spell, but I don't know if that's really true, you know!?　We should try it out on a monster first to see if it actually has any effect on us! !”
"Y-Yeah…… That's a good point."


　When he was told this, Akira realized how thoughtless his actions had been.
　When Akira moved away from the light sphere floating in the air, he bowed to Nao as if to reflect on his actions.

(……No good. I'm starting to get used to returning from the dead.)

　――What if I died from this?
　It was true that he had thought about this, but it was also true that he was not very wary of it.
　Akira let out a sigh of exasperation at himself, and then turned his gaze to Nao and spoke.


"But this proves that this magic is not an offensive spell, right?"
"……Although it was against my will."

　Nao said quietly.
　Akira put on a forced smile on hearing this and opened his mouth to change the subject of the conversation.


"Are there any other magic spells?”
"……Well, there is one more, but..."
"Please tell me. What's the new magic?"
"Hey, listen here…… Haa…… All right. But don't try to check it out all of a sudden this time, okay?”

　Nao said as if making a point.
　Akira nodded slightly in response to her words, however, the look directed at him by Nao was cold. Akira smiled again at that look, as if to say no problem.
　Before long, Nao let out a small sigh and once again raised her gun, uttering another incantation.


"Create Water."


　――In an instant. The ball of light floating in the air disappeared, and a large amount of water gushed out from the tip of Nao's gun.
　Nao stared at the endless stream of water pouring out of the end of the gun, and then turned her gaze to Akira.


"These are all the spells I know."
"That's…… A magic that creates water?”
"I guess you'd expect that from the name."
"Can you drink it?”
"……Don't try it out of the blue, okay?”

　Glaring at Akira, Nao remarked.
　At that gaze, Akira smiled and looked away, and then he stared at the water that Nao was creating.


(Is it magic that creates water? If you could drink it, you wouldn't have to look for drinking water. ――That's right, isn't it possible to see the details through Appraisal? )

　Akira immediately decided to try out the idea he had just had.


"Appraisal."

　As expected, it was like that.
　The 『Appraisal』 skill reacted to the flowing water that Nao created, and an Appraisal screen appeared.



　 ――――――――――――――――――
　Generated water
　・Status: Hard water
　 ――――――――――――――――――
　・Magical Element Content：０％
　・No additional special effects.
　 ――――――――――――――――――
　Water created by magical power. Can be drunk.
　 ――――――――――――――――――



"It seems like you can drink it, after all?”

　Akira said as he stared at the screen.

"I've done an appraisal, and it says it's drinkable. Apparently it's hard water."
"…………Hard water?　Well, that's…… If we drink it, we'll get water poisoning."
"Yeah, I suppose so."

　Akira nodded in response to Nao's words.
　It was a famous story that Japanese people, who were used to soft water, would get water poisoning and have diarrhea as soon as they drank hard water overseas.
　In fact, if they wanted to drink the water created by this magical power, they would have to drink it little by little and get used to it.


"Can you really drink it……?"


　Nao said in a whisper, and once again stared at the flowing water spilling from the tip of the gun.
　Judging from her doubtful expression, it seemed that Nao still didn't believe Akira's words.
　Akira then suddenly asked a question to Nao.


"By the way, this water. When will it stop?”
"…………"


　Akira spoke, but Nao didn't respond.
　Akira realized what was happening when he saw Nao looking at Akira and the gun in turn with a puzzled expression as if she had just been reminded of something.


(How to stop it…… Does she not know?)


"Ichijou……"
"Yeah."
"How can I make this stop?"

　Akira, who couldn't use magic, could only smile wryly at the words that were muttered as if asking for help.

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