CH 45

Flan struck the goblins in the forehead adroitly, and they immediately fell simultaneously…

Their survival instincts were ignited at once.

There were ten goblins…

The distance between them was about 15 meters.

While watching the situation, Lou instructed Fran again.

“Fran, this time we’re going to shoot multiple Fire Blitzes together. Don’t panic, shoot your magic with impunity! If you miss, don’t worry, I’ll follow you.”

Fran once again invoked her magical powers to increase.

The new Breathing Technique that Fran had learned from Lou had created a good rhythm for her.

When she called the name of the Fire Magic heavenly apostle with reverence…

She sincerely prayed and begged for a small portion of the immense power generated by the flaming fists of the apostle to be bestowed to her.

This was the magic formula for Fire Blasts.

“O Great Apostle, who sits in heaven! Lend me thy divine cleansing flames! Fire Blast!”

Fran chanted a sharp and swift magical formula, and released an even more divine orange fireball.

One of the goblins that had rushed towards Fran unprotected was razed by the Fire Blast and was blown to pieces.

It was apparent the power of the magic itself had also increased significantly.

Without a pause, Lou’s chanting echoed out.

“Fire Salamander! O child of flames born from the veins of the Earth! I seek thy power! Come on!　Annihilate the enemy with thy divine fire!”

All of a sudden, a huge Fire Salamander astral, the size of a large dragon, appeared above Lou’s head.

It was indeed an astral with a will.

KAAAAAH!

The astral howled with its tremendous voice.

Then, what appeared to be its mouth opened, and as the cavity inside turned bright red, it shot out a series of huge Fire Blasts.

It had all happened so fast.

The pack of ten or so goblins were annihilated in less than three minutes after meeting Lou and Fran.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ 

“You’ve gone too far, Lou!

“Oh, I guess so, haha.”

It was the result of Lou’s Spirit Magic that Fran was scolding him about.

The fireball from the Fire Salamander had burned all the goblins and trees in the area.

“It’s a good thing it’s put out right away.”

The forest almost caught fire…

Lou summoned Undine, a Water Spirit, to put out the fire.

“So, how many did you kill, Lou?”

Lou smiled in an unusually embarrassed manner.

They showed each other the magical bracelet that Ibert had given them.

The result was 3 points for Fran with 3 goblins.

And 7 points for Lou…for 7 goblins.

“Was that magic an exercise in the power of a Great Seraph, Fran?”

“Yes, I have used a little of His work to burn blasphemers in eternal fire.”

“I see, that’s great.”

“What are you saying, Lou?! That dragon-like Fire Salamander is too awesome.”

“Ha-ha-ha. Stop chastising me already.”

“No, I’m not. I’m complimenting you, again!”

Fran said, smiling and holding out her hand.

Lou also extended his hand and grasped Fran’s hand tightly.

The two of them cuddled up and went further into the forest.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ 

Lou urged Fran to activate her Scouting Magic spell.

What was Scouting Magic…

It was a magic that supplemented and promptly alerted you to danger as soon as a malicious magical aura appeared in the vicinity.

This was also part of the training.

In the natural world, humans basically fell into the category of weak creatures.

They did not have the sharp claws and fangs of carnivores, nor did they have the sense of smell to detect their enemies, or the legs to run away at lightning speed like herbivores.

Therefore, the habit of always being ready for the enemy was the first step to survive in the forest.　

Speaking of which…

Fran recalled the first time she had met Lou.

At that time, she had used her remaining magical power to activate her Scouting Magic spell.

However, she couldn’t supplement those horrible variants.

But Lou…Lou had a firm grasp of their coming attack.

Fran asked him again.

“It’s easy. Sylph, the Wind Spirit, told me about them.”

“What?! Sylph, the Wind Spirit?!”

According to Lou…

He said that those deformed variants were man-made, and that they probably countered her Scouting Magic.

Such variants normally were aggressive toward people and emitted an evil and unique magical aura that was easy to catch.

However, the magical aura they released was that of a harmless small herbivore.

“Eh?! The magical aura those monsters emitted was that of a rabbit?”

Rabbit’s magical aura…

It was no wonder that Fran couldn’t detect them as enemies.

“It’s so frustrating…I just wasn’t strong enough…”

Fran gingerly slumped.

If she had detected the enemies in advance, the knights guarding her wouldn’t have died…

Even Lou could feel the wailing of Fran’s heart.

It was not Fran’s fault that the knights died.

Lou wanted to say so, but…

Fran exuded a feeling that comforting words were unwelcomed.

I must awaken Fran’s dormant power!

I wish she won’t be this sad again.

Lou decided at that moment.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ 

According to Lou, there were no enemies within a kilometer radius right now.

The one who informed him this was none other that Sylph.

As for Fran’s still dormant magical talents…

She was not an all-attribute magical user, an all-rounder like Lou, but…

Lou saw that she might be a multi-attribute magic user, with a significantly higher aptitude for fire and wind than normal people.

The school’s aptitude test for the attributes weren’t far off the mark and wouldn’t be a mistake.

In other words, there was no doubt that she had the attributes of fire and wind.

If successful, she would receive great blessings from the spirits.

Fran might even be able to use Spirit Magic.　

In the breathing exercise that Fran just did, she didn’t receive Sylph’s full blessing.

In order to receive her great blessing, Fran must make her magical aura far more in tune with the spirit.

Fortunately, they were in a natural forest, even though it had been artificially modified.

The presence of spirits was much more dense than on the school campus in the royal capital.

There were no enemies in the vicinity at the moment.

Thus, the conditions were favorable for training.

“Fran, what about the Breathing Technique you just used with the Fire Blast?”

“Uh…abdominal breathing.”

“Okay, I want you to start with the abdominal breathing. When you feel more relaxed, we’ll try some breath regulation.”

“Breath regulation?”

“Yeah, I learned it from Grandpa. It’s an exotic breathing technique, but one that the Arlvs adopted and applied to their own training. It is said that it had to be done at night for it to be effective, but the Arlvs never had any problem doing it.”

Even with Lou’s explanation, Fran still was confused and did not understand.　

Seeing her incomprehension, Lou smiled calmly and gently gave her a lecture.

“Don’t worry, it’s not that hard. Okay, let’s get to it. I want you to hold your hands lightly and inhale slowly through your nose.”

“L-Like this?”

Fran folded her hands lightly and took a deep breath.

There was no problem. Lou nodded and gave me further instructions.

“Sylph’s magical power now resides in Fran’s chest. Hold your breath and picture the image of the spirit you’ve held in your chest until your heart beats 120 times. Then exhale very slowly.”

Fran was surprised when she heard the length of breath Lou had given her.

“H-Huh?! I can’t do 120, it’s too painful.”

“Even if you can’t do it at first, try little by little. 120 times is just a guideline. It doesn’t have to be it. If you feel pain, just exhale.”

“…That’s a relief. But what is this?”

“During our Breathing Technique exercise, you received the blessing of the Wind Spirit Sylph. This Breathing Technique is designed to help you form a deeper bond with Sylph.”

“P-Pardon? With Sylph, the Wind Spirit? Un! I’ll give it a try!”

Deepen my bond with the spirit! As expected, Fran’s eyes had changed color when she heard that.

Lou confirmed with Sylph that there were no enemies nearby once more, and then…

He watched as Fran tried her best to breathe.

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