Chapter 93

None of them could come up with an answer to my question.

This doesn't mean they lack knowledge. For humans, magic is something that is taken for granted. Even those who have nothing to do with magic know that there is magic in the air. It's common knowledge.

People rarely question something that is taken for granted.

"Come to think of it, what happens to magic after it's used? We use it as a matter of course, but—"

"Indeed, I can't explain it either... The more I think about it, the more mysterious it seems..."

"Hmm, even you two, who are well-versed in magic, don't know? When Rain taught me magic, she never mentioned anything like this."

All three of them seemed confused.

"You shouldn't feel too bad about not knowing. It's rare for anyone to even have such a question. Even top explorers probably don't know. I doubt even Selma, Rain, and Lucre, who are top magic users in the *Silver Hare of the Night Sky*, know about this."

"Even my sister...?"

"Probably, but that's just a guess. There's no need to be ashamed of not knowing. You can still become a top explorer without this knowledge. Knowing it won't suddenly make you better at magic. In the end, what you do remains the same. However, knowing this will definitely help you handle magic better."

Although this is a lecture about spirits, I'm talking about this because magic and, by extension, magic power, are closely related. I believe it's easier for you to understand this way than to just explain spirits.

"I'm not blaming you, but you probably thought you understood magic, right? In reality, your understanding is still shallow. But don't be discouraged. If you don't know, you can learn from now on."

"Understood!!!"

The atmosphere had been gloomy because they couldn't answer my question satisfactorily, but they seemed to have perked up a bit thanks to my reassurance.

"Let's move on to the explanation. First, the answer to the question. What happens to magic after it has served its purpose? It—returns to magic power."

"Returns to magic power?"

Log repeated my answer.

"Think of magic power as a 'versatile worker.' For example, when we cast *Fireball*, from the perspective of magic power, it receives the command to 'burn in a spherical shape and move to the designated location,' and it faithfully executes this command. Once the command is completed, it returns to a standby state until the next command. We call this standby state 'magic power in the air.'"

Strictly speaking, there are conditions for returning to this standby state, but explaining them in detail would be confusing, so I'll skip that part.

"I thought magic power disappeared when we cast magic. So, magic power doesn't disappear?"

Sophie murmured, seemingly understanding.

So far, everyone has been following along.

"From here, it gets a bit complicated, so I want you to listen carefully. Magic power executes our spells, which are essentially commands. Suppose the majority of the commands it receives are fire-based. What do you think would happen?"

By the way, offensive magic is divided into six categories: fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, and ice. There are also categories for healing and support magic, but I'll skip those for now as they are less relevant.

"Hmm, nothing special, right? It's just executing commands, after all."

"True. Ten or twenty times wouldn't make a difference. But if it happens a hundred or a thousand times, a change occurs in the magic power."

"Would it only be able to execute spells of that category?"

Log stated his thoughts.

"Close, but not quite. Even after changing, the magic power can still execute all categories. However, the changed magic power becomes more adept at executing that category. It's the same for us humans; if we repeat a task, we get used to it. Think of it the same way. We call this changed magic power a 'spirit.'"

"Changed magic power... So, does that mean magic cast through a spirit would be faster or more powerful?"

Sophie asked a question.

"Exactly. So, if there are spirits in the area, casting spells of that category would be more efficient."

"I see. Knowing this would be an advantage... So, how do we check if there are spirits?"

"There is no way to check."

"Huh?"

"Spirits are the same as magic power. Since we can't sense magic power, it's natural that we can't sense spirits."

"Whaaat?!"

Carol expressed her disappointment at being let down.

"That's why I said at the beginning that knowing this won't necessarily make you better at magic. However, knowing this will help you handle magic better. Especially for explorers who make a living exploring dungeons, it's definitely useful to know."

"Oh, I see."

Sophie seemed to have realized something from my statement.

"Sophie, what did you realize?"

Log asked her.

"Well, spirits are magic power that has executed hundreds or thousands of spells of the same category, right? And in dungeons, the monsters that appear on each floor are fixed. So, if there are many monsters weak to fire on a certain floor, wouldn't there be fire spirits there? Everyone would be casting fire spells, after all."

"Hmm. There might be spirits in such places, but it wouldn't make much difference. If it's effective, everyone would use spells of that category, whether they know about spirits or not."

"Carol's point is valid. But, as Orun said, knowing this can help you use magic more efficiently. If a monster can be defeated with a spell of ten power, you would use ten power, right? But if there's a spirit, you might actually be using eleven or twelve power. Conversely, you could defeat the monster with nine power. In other words, you can use less power than usual, which means more efficiency!"

...Impressive.

I almost said everything I wanted to say, and Sophie said it all.

"True, using less power makes the spell construction easier and reduces the burden on the brain. Knowing this makes a big difference!"

"Orun, is my understanding correct?"

"Yeah, it's correct. Good job figuring that out."

"Hmm? But that's strange."

Carol seemed to have noticed something.

"What's strange?"

"According to your explanation, spirits are just an extension of magic power, right? Then, what did that lady mean when she said she was taught by a spirit?"

"Good point..."

"I haven't explained that part yet."

"Hmm? What do you mean, Orun?"

"Spirits, as I explained, can't communicate. But there are exceptions."

"Exceptions?"

"Yes. Occasionally, some spirits develop a sense of self. They are still classified as spirits but are sometimes called 'fairies.'"

"Fairies, like the ones in fairy tales who help heroes defeat evil gods?"

"Right. But it seems that only a few have existed since the time of fairy tales."

"Hmm? So, that lady can talk to fairies? But aren't fairies the same as spirits? If so, she shouldn't be able to sense them."

"I can't explain that part. For now, that's all I can say about spirits. It's not a bad idea to keep this in mind."

"Thank you!"

The day ended with unexpected events, such as receiving gifts from my disciples and explaining about spirits.

And finally, the martial arts tournament begins.

Thank you for reading to the end. The martial arts tournament starts in the next chapter. I'll try to keep the pace brisk and lively, so I hope you enjoy it even if the story progresses faster than before.