Ch. 197 - Lightning Magic and Elven Myth
Transferred to Another World and Became a TeacherThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
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"…Here I go."
Despite my worries, Shenley muttered quietly and began her magic incantation. Though she had performed this magic many times, Shenley, who suffered from stage fright, tended to grow nervous in situations like this and fail.
Last time as well, if left alone, it would have likely gone out of control.
"…Miss Shenley. You do not need to make it as large this time, so please relax your shoulders."
Not to scold her, but I called out to remind her not to overexert herself. In response, Shenley gave a small nod while still incanting.
The fact that she could hear my voice was a good sign. Magic incantation required concentration, but excessive strain would not lead to a good result. The same applied to *kendo—if one focused on the opponent's bamboo sword movements too much, their reflexes dulled. Concentration was important, but concentration so intense that one lost sight of their surroundings instead became a hindrance.
[*Kendo (剣道), meaning "Way of the Sword," is a modern Japanese martial art that evolved from traditional samurai swordsmanship and fencing techniques.]
Feeling somewhat relieved, I watched over Shenley's magic. Soon, a small thundercloud formed in front of Shenley, and I saw it gradually grow larger.
Then, with a sound resembling an explosion, the discharge began.
"Hmm…"
"Indeed, it is the power of lightning."
"…Is she controlling it?"
The elves all turned toward us and narrowed their eyes to observe the discharge phenomenon.
"Water, wind, earth… Though lightning carries heat, does no fire element exist?"
"Why is that? Is it not water, wind, and fire?"
"More than that, the wind's power is overwhelmingly strong. That combination and distribution of power may be what matters most."
The elves began discussing magic as if our very presence had vanished from their minds. Meanwhile, Shenley successfully finished her lightning magic and had even moved to the stage of maintaining it.
"…How can one use that magic?"
"If she enlarged it as is, would it not indiscriminately rain lightning upon the surroundings?"
"No, it may be possible to give it directionality."
Shenley had no spare capacity to answer the elves' questions. Unless she released it, she could only gradually shrink the lightning magic. In other words, aside from discharging it all at once or channeling the lightning into the ground via a lightning rod, the only method was to slowly shrink it and weaken the surging power.
That required considerable concentration. It was no wonder Shenley had no spare capacity.
Having no choice, I decided to answer in her place.
"We are indoors now, so we are careful not to make the lightning magic too large. Additionally, while it is possible to release it with directionality, it is quite dangerous, so we will also refrain from that."
When I answered thus, the elves nodded with stern expressions.
"I see…"
"It is not a lie, is it?"
"However, I want to see a scene where you release it with directionality."
The elves began discussing again as if forgetting our existence once more. Their appearance seemed less like councilors equivalent to high-ranking nobles and more like magical researchers.
In particular, the way they immediately lost sight of their surroundings reminded me of Owen, making me feel nostalgic.
In the meantime, Shenley's lightning magic grew smaller and disappeared. She had successfully ended the magic. Placing my hand on Shenley's back as she breathed a sigh of relief, I nodded.
"You did it very well."
"Th-Thank you."
Shenley replied happily.
"…Good. Then, would you please use lightning magic toward that direction?"
As if they had reached a consensus, Edra made that request on their behalf. Then, two elves sitting near the wall stood up and walked toward the wall in the direction Edra indicated.
When the two touched the wall, I realized that the wall, which had appeared as if nothing were there, was actually a white stone door. With a light sound, the door opened, and the blue sky appeared as if cut out.
Because the country was built so that one climbed the mountain from its base, ascending the castle perhaps brought one to a considerable altitude.
While thinking about such things, I pointed in the direction of the sky and looked at Edra.
"Should I cast the magic toward that direction? If someone were using flight magic, it might be dangerous."
When I told him this, Edra pulled in his chin.
"No one uses flight magic at this altitude within the country's territory. If one recklessly flies through the sky, a dragon occasionally appears."
Edra said this. It did not feel like much of an explanation, but there was likely an elven common sense that one did not use flight magic because dragons appeared. Perhaps the elves treated dragons as sacred beings and avoided conflict with them.
Owen and I had defeated many dragons to collect materials, but it seemed highly likely that Owen was the one outside common sense.
"Understood. Then, I will use lightning magic."
Saying this, I moved toward the opened door. The elves who had been surrounding the round table also stood and gathered around me. While thinking I would stop them if they tried to touch the lightning magic, I concentrated my magical power and raised one hand.
"…First, the lightning sphere: Electric Ball."
Murmuring this, I created a sphere of lightning equivalent to the one Shenley had produced earlier. Seeing a black sphere, as if formed by instantly compressing a thundercloud, appear and begin discharging, I heard several elves gasp.
"M-Mute incantation…?"
"Impossible, is it not an ancient magical tool?"
"It did not look like she used a tool…"
Hearing such voices, I added more magical power. To determine the direction of the discharge, I had to create a path for the electricity to flow. In other words, I simply had to prepare rails, as in a railway.
As preparation for this, while growing the thundercloud, I prepared water containing a large amount of conductive material in the direction I wanted to discharge and made the surrounding area a vacuum. Though a somewhat difficult magical power manipulation, it was not impossible as it was instantaneous.
"…Lightning Cannon: Electric Cannon."
The instant I cast the magic, the large amount of static electricity within the accumulated thundercloud surged all at once into the electrical path. The excessively intense current concentrated into a single point, emitting light bright enough to dye my vision white.
Immediately after, white light tore through the sky along with a roaring sound. The flash raced several kilometers through the sky in the blink of an eye and vanished like an illusion.
"…So, something like this."
As it had grown quiet, I muttered and turned around.
But everyone remained motionless, staring at the sky after the lightning had shot through. Because the thunder's roar was caused by a shockwave from the atmosphere expanding due to heat, the vacuum wall I had created at the discharge destination suppressed the sound considerably.
Even so, it was still a loud enough roar, but I believed it was not so loud that they could not temporarily hear my voice.
"…How was that?"
When I asked again, the elves' gazes finally turned to me.
"…Aoi, was it? Are you also a half-elf?"
"No, I am an ordinary human, why do you ask?"
Unable to understand the meaning of Edra's question, I asked back. Then, Edra looked at the faces of the surrounding elves for a moment before furrowing his brow and turning back to me.
"…This country, Aqua Vite, has a long history. There is likely no country with a longer history than ours. Unraveling that long history reveals ancient magics lost over long periods. The mighty magics that the founding king, a High Elf, could use, the unique magics of the sages who supported the ancient elven kingdom… Many such magics have now become illusory."
After this preface, Edra stared into my eyes as if glaring.
"…Among them was a lightning magic called Divine Thunder. The magic of Scott Forest Edread, the first king of the elven country."
When Edra said this, everyone's gazes turned to me.