"Hmm, this will serve as good training." I quietly muttered

The goblins wore a cloth on their waste and carried a club. They didn't look strong and were the size of a dwarf, but looks can be deceiving and they are monsters after all. They be a bit buff but less than the blacksmith that we met. They definitely look stronger than a guy who's all skin and bones like me..

The Goblins slowly approached us. It seemed as if they were wary. For monsters they're pretty smart.

The first to attack was me. I shot off the 4 Ice spikes at the the 4 Goblins and in an instant, the moment there was impact, they froze up. They tried to dodge but my spikes out-sped them.

Whoa.. I might not need any other spells if this one is this strong, I'll name this spell Glacies.

Seeing as how their comrades were frozen. The remaining two looked frightened and slowly started to step back. However..

"Glacies."

At a single word, within seconds, 2 Ice Spikes were formed around me.

Since I've gotten a feel for the spell, i'm able to use it faster.

Seeing this, the goblins began to tremble and shriek..

"what..? You're scared? Even though you came all this way to attack us, you're thinking about running?"

After i said that, the goblins turned around and started running in an attempt to escape. But, before they even realised, they had been frozen by my Glacies.

Seeing this, Ariel looked speechless. I Couldn't really tell what she was thinking but she was probably afraid.. I mean it's only natural i guess..

After she saw my saddened expression, Ariel walked up to me and asked. "What's wrong? That was Amazing! You easily managed to take all of them out! C-Can you please teach me how to use magic just like you?" With dimly lit eyes and excited expression

That was the first time i ever saw her this agitated.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, yes, yes, i'll teach you"

Seeing my smile, Ariel showed a relieved expression on her face

So she was worried about me..

"Pfft, hahaha"

"W-What.. What's so funny!?" she said with her cheeks puffed up

"Sorry, sorry, It's just i feel like a big idiot." I said with a content expression on my face

"You're not! You're the smartest person i know! You always know what to do and take care of me.. I'm really grateful for it!"

"Aww.. You're making me blush..." I said in a teasing tone

After teasing her, she began to pout..

How cute...

"S-So how will i be able to use magic like you? I wasn't of any help in the fight and i don't want you to think i'm useless.." she said with a saddened expression on her face.

Ah.. so she was worried about that..

I let out another laugh

"W-What is it this time!?" She asked with a slightly embarra.s.sed and annoyed expression

"Sorry, Sorry, It's just that. Seeing you think that i'd think of you as useless is funny, i mean you've been taking care of me this whole time, there's no way i'd ever think of you as useless. And if anyone did, i'd teach them a lesson." I said with an expression that looked like it said 'isn't it obvious?'

"Is that so.."

She turned her head and face the other way so i couldn't tell what expression she was making. But she sounded relieved.

"But don't worry, i'll do my best to teach you what i know, but after we collect the goblin ears.. It'd be good if we could take their whole body in exchange for silver but we can't really carry it all."

She nodded in response

Wait, What if i use magic to create a portable s.p.a.ce in which i'd be able to put their bodies in? Like a black hole? No.. i don't think it works that way... I might just end up wasting mana.

Besides, despite all of those casts, i don't feel tired at all. Not to mention i don't need to chant. Isn't this pretty broken?

I walked up and asked."How will i melt these?"

She shook here head in response

"Ah i have an idea"

I placed my hand on the ice and it melted

"What did you do?"

"Well, I changed its state from solid to liquid. I imagined the particles which were once tight together, separating, having more s.p.a.ce to move and more movement. it may have melted but the water is still cold so be careful"

So basically i imaged the particles acting as they would in the liquid state

Ariel showed a deeply confused expression

That makes sense, she's never learnt about this so i can see why.

"Ah, don't worry about the details, i just imagined the Ice turning into water"

"Still.. To be able to do that.."

"Hehe.." I nervously chuckled

I unfroze all of the goblins and as it had turned out, they were dead. I didn't feel guilty at all for killing monsters, they're doing what they can to survive, and i'm doing what i can. Besides, i hate goblins.

We cut off their ears with the daggers given to us and placed them in the bag.

Despite all the blood spurting every where, Ariel didn't seem to bothered by it. In fact, she seemed used to it... Not a scene you'd expect to see from someone with such a cute face but i didn't mind.

In fact it was good that she had no problems with blood as we would be getting into a lot of fights as adventurers.

"Hm.. but this is certainly a problem.. Changing the state takes quite a bit of energy... Ariel."

"Yes?"

"I'm going to try learning a new a spell. Do you mind waiting, before we head back?"

"Mnm, not at all." She said while she shook her head.

"Thanks"

I sat on the ground and began concentrating again. A spell which can efficiently cut the enemies without having to worry about burning the forest.. Ah that's it!

"Alright, i have an idea."

She observed me carefully as if trying to understand the process. And around 10 seconds later a tree was sliced in half.

"?! Was that a wind spell?" She asked

"B-But how.. Most people are only able to use one element.."

"Hmm, It's either because i have apt.i.tude for both or because i am able to grasp the concept..?"

She gave me a look as if she wanted me to teach her.

"Anyways, i think it's time for your first lesson."

With a joyous expression on her face she thanked me

"The first thing i'll be teaching you is magic perception. To use magic you need to understand and feel the flow of mana in your body"

"Yes."

"For that you'll need to concentrate.. Close your eyes and focus on your senses.. Try to imagine what magic feels like and try to feel the flow of mana within you. Don't lose focus."

She nodded her head and closed her eyes. After a while, nothing seemed to have happened. If a person walked in, i'm sure they'd find it weird how she just motionlessly stood there. But i knew that she was concentrating and didn't want to disturb her.

After a few minutes, she opened her eyes.

"Were you able to feel it?"

"Yes! I was able to feel and see my flow of mana and the flow of life coming from the trees, plants and you. It felt amazing being able to see the world in this new way.."

She said with an enthusiastic expression

"I see, that's good. Since you're able to feel it, you should be able to control your flow, right?"

"Yes, but it's a bit difficult"

"Don't worry, it'll get better with price"

She nodded

"Ah that reminds me, you were able to see my flow of mana, but were you able to see how much magic power i had?"

"No.." She said as shook her head

She wasn't able to see how much magic power i had huh.. No wonder the receptionist looked trouble when i told her i wanted to use magic. I know that i have a lot of magic power as i'm not tired even after all those casts. And being able to show my magic potential is a requirement for looking intimidating... I'll leave it for the me of the future to think of something.

"I see.. Well, never mind that let's move on to the next lesson."

"Yes!" She said with dimly lit eyes

"Well, since i don't use chants, i need to have a precise image when using a spell. The same goes for you. Probably."

"Mn." She said as she nodded

"Very well. Listen carefully. It will sound a bit confusing at first, but i feel like chant-less magic is only rare because one doesn't fully grasp the concept and the chants replace that part."

She nodded in response

Understanding the concept will also allow you to create your own spells.

"What causes wind?" I asked.

"Wind.. is caused by a change in the weather?" She replied

"Well you're not wrong, but, what exactly causes wind. The weather is a factor which affects it but not exactly the process."

"I don't know.." She said with a saddened expression

"No need to look so gloomy, i'll explain"

Her eyes lit up after she heard what i said

"Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale"

"Gases?" She asked

"Yes, gases. Gases are one of the four fundamental states of matter"

"States of matter..?"

"To put it simply, Look at this"

I cast glacies and a sphere of ice was formed slightly above my finger

"Look at the ice. you're able to touch it and it's hard, right? This is the solid state"

Showing a completely interested expression, she continued to listen to my explanation.

"mn" She said as she nodded

I changed the ice from solid to it's liquid state

"This is the liquid state. Think of it like this. When Water is frozen and turns into ice, it's called the solid state of matter. Once the ice melts and turns into water. This is called it's liquid state. and this.."

The water in my had turned into gas

"It disappeared?" She asked while surprised

"Sort of like that. I turned it into gas."

To be honest i wasn't sure this would work but i'm glad it did

"So, did you understand?"

She looked confused but nodded her head in response.

"Alright, now we can move onto the difficult topic"

She looked excited, completely unlike i expected, she didn't look worried at the possibility of not being able to understand at all

"You see, wind is the movement of air from a area of higher pressure to an area of lower pressure. Air is the mixture of different ga.s.ses all around us, but it's so small that you can't really see it, just like how the water disappeared."

"Mn.."

"Did you understand?"

"Kind of.."

"Well, don't think about it too deeply. Just Imagine your mana flowing to and causing pressure on the air in the direction you are facing. Image the air being under high pressure and imagine it moving to an area of lower pressure. Imagine where you want that area of lower pressure to be and that area which you imagined will be the direction and the area to which your wind will travel."

Ahh.. that definitely sounded confusing.. Will she be able to pull it off..?

"Mn"

"To increase the power so that it acts like a blade, you need to imagine the shape of a blade, add more magic power into the attack and increase the pressure that is being put on the air"

She nodded and stretched out her hands

After a minute, a transparent blade formed and propelled itself towards the tree at high-speeds.

*Bam*

It let out that sound after impact but it wasn't enough to cut it in half like mine had done. Either way for her first try, that was amazing. She might actually be a genius. Not even i understood what the teachers meant when they first taught me this

She showed an extremely joyful expression after being able to use magic for the first time and turned towards my direction to see how she did

"You did it!"

"I- I did it!"

We shouted as she jumped towards me to give me a hug. The power behind the jump caused us both to drop on the floor yet without saying anything she continued to hold on to me tightly.

As the warmth of her hug enveloped my senses. I couldn't help but notice that slight vibration of her flesh. As she hid her face behind my back. she let her pent up emotions flow out.

"I-i'm glad N-Now i'll finally be able to help you in the fight. T-This time i-i'll be able to protect you when you're in danger.." she said as her voice trembled in between the words

So she was still worried about being a hindrance.. I mean i'd understand why. Especially with the incident of the boar.

I wrapped my arms around her and quietly said. "Yeah, please continue to protect me."

"Yes!" She quietly replied

I could feel her rapidly heart beating on my chest as her soft breath brushed my ears. We stayed in that position for the next few minutes without moving.

After we let go of each other, i noticed that her eyes were swollen and her cheeks were dyed in a bright red colour.

She turned around to wipe her face before saying "Thank you"

"Yeah, me too" I replied with a smile

"Well then, want to go further into the forest and try out your new spell?"

"Yes!" She replied while she avoided eye contact.

Seeing her try to avoid eye contact as she had bright red cheeks was really cute. Being able to see this side of her was definitely worth the lesson.

It was better that she was avoiding eye contact.. Because i was sure my face was just as red, and i was also struggling to make eye contact.

"Alright, let's take a short break before moving further in. I'd like to practice a new spell. Use this opportunity to practice your wind blade to, but make sure you don't use up too much mana."

"Yes!"

Well then, let's start!