Intimidation, Magic Strike, and Magic Power Conversion

For the next 3 days, I devoted my time to practicing 【Intimidation】.

At first, 【Intimidation】 left me exhausted every time I used it, but once I learned how to limit the amount of magic power I released or restrict the direction of the release to a single path, it became much easier to use.

The hard part was using 【Body Strengthening】 and 【Intimidation】 together. In terms of magic power flow, I had to do two completely opposite things, ‘keeping it in’ and ‘letting it out’, and that was pretty tough.

I managed to make it work by intentionally loosening the control of my 【Body Strengthening】 and releasing the leaking magic power as 【Intimidation】, but I think I'm still far from being able to use it practically.

......And having done all that, I realized something.

Wait, haven't I strayed from Master's task?

<Finally noticed?>

H-hey!

Omake-sama! If you noticed, you should have told me sooner!

<Since this is a useful technique in its own right, I thought I'd let you do as you pleased. Your concentration is wonderful as always, Emi.>

G-geez!

Don't think you can get away with everything just by praising me! Pout pout!

But I'll forgive you! Ehehe.

Now, since I've noticed the detour, I have to get back to Master's task.

Fortunately, thanks to the 【Intimidation】 practice, I've more or less grasped the knack of magic power release.

Let's apply it to the task immediately.

For starters, I used 【Silverfish】 to climb a nearby tree and tried jumping down from about the height of the house's roof.

Using some 【Body Strengthening】 so I wouldn't get hurt, at the moment of landing I sent my magic power toward the ground and...... RELEASE!!

DOGOOO!!

Then, with a loud noise, the ground was gouged out.

A small crater had been created.

......Huh?

Omake-sama, I didn't reduce the impact at all?

If anything, I increased it?

<Hmm, I suppose simply having the image of ‘releasing magic power’ wasn't enough. Magic power is, in essence, energy, so perhaps releasing it without a plan leads to destruction. This is difficult......>

I mean, this is just that, right?

In addition to the energy of the fall, I just slammed the energy of my magic power into the ground, didn't I?

Now that I'm thinking calmly, I'm doing the exact opposite of what I want to do......

But I think this is a useful technique in its own right.

As a test, I tried lightly punching a rock lying nearby.

At that moment, just as my fist hit the rock, I slammed my magic power into it with all my might.

BAAN!

Then, with a loud noise, the rock burst apart.

Eh...... eeeeh......!?

<A-amazing, Emi! That was 【Magic Strike】! The one I saw on the Fighting God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast! It consumes magic power, but it's a very powerful attack technique!>

O-oh!

Yeah, that really is amazing, Omake-sama!

Unexpectedly, I've acquired a special move!

<Though you haven't made any progress on the task!>

Dammit!!

◇ ◇ ◇

For about 2 weeks after that, I was completely stuck in a rut, mindlessly climbing trees and jumping down, climbing and jumping, over and over.

I mean, I just didn't know what to do no matter how much I thought about it.

Climb and jump, climb and jump, climb and jump......

Ah, it's Master.

Eh? Is it already dark? Is it dinner time?

Whoa, it's true, the sun's already going down.

I'll call it a day.

<A master and disciple who only ever talk with their eyes......>

It's convenient, isn't it?

I followed Master inside the house.

◇ ◇ ◇

After the meal, I was blankly gazing at the fire in the hearth.

Master was doing handiwork as usual.

He works on several projects at once, but today it's the deer antler polishing I'd seen before.

I wonder what he's making.

I mean, it's impressive how Master manages, working with nothing but a candle for light.

If only we had electricity, his work efficiency would go up so much more with electric lights......

While I was thinking about such things, Master's hand stopped.

He slowly lifted the antler he had been polishing.

Then that antler...... lit up, as bright as any electric light!

Eeeh!? What is that!?

<Oh! This is quite a primitive magic lamp. I see, so that's how he used the Electrideer antlers.>

Magic lamp?

What's that!?

<It's a magic tool that lights up by infusing it with magic power. They're actually quite common and widespread in urban areas.>

Heeh! A magic tool!

So such things exist!

I've only ever lived in a boondocks village or in the forest, so I didn't know!

Master looked at my surprised face (expressionless, though) and gave off an air of having pulled off a successful prank (stern-faced and expressionless, though).

Then, he handed the handmade magic lamp to me.

Immediately, I felt a sensation of my magic power being slightly sucked away......

The deer antler continued to glow.

<Electrideer antler is a material that can convert magic power into light or electricity. This one has been worked so that it can't generate electricity and only gives off light.>

Heee...... So magic power can be used like electricity.

It really is a versatile energy......

......Hm?

Magic power...... conversion......?

<What's the matter, Emi?>

I looked at the deer antler in my hand.

This antler was still sucking magic power from me and shining brightly.

......I intentionally tried to reverse the flow of magic power.

In other words, I performed magic power manipulation to suck magic power out of the antler.

I felt a slight resistance from the antler, like a snag, but this was just the reverse of magic power release, which I'd practiced to death with 【Intimidation】 and such, so I could do it without much trouble.

Suck magic power, suck, suck......

Then, the light of the antler weakened, and I got the sensation of a tiny bit of my magic power returning.

At the same time, with a Pishii! sound, a crack appeared in the deer antler.

I might have broken it.

Beside me, Master was giving off a dejected vibe, but sorry, Master, I've got bigger things on my mind right now!

Magic power can be converted into light, and light can be converted into magic power.

<Um, so what about it, Emi?>

In other words, Omake-sama, magic power energy can be converted into light energy, and light energy can be converted into magic power energy!!

<Eh? So, what about it?>

I see, this must have been the answer to the task!

<Heeey, hellooo?>

I placed the deer antler on the floor and clapped my hands.

A small pan sound echoed.

There's a small impact.

I kept clapping my hands.

Pan, pan, pan, pan, pan......

I concentrate on whether I can turn that impact into magic power.

How do I do it?

I have no idea!

But I'm sure I can.

I'll somehow find the method, the sensation!

In other words, the ‘silent landing’ Master showed me.

It works by converting the landing's impact into magic power and then scattering that magic power into the air around your feet or something.

That's my hypothesis.

At first, seeing the way the magic power spread like ripples, I thought Master was doing something about the impact by releasing magic power...... but that was probably wrong.

To be precise, I think it's not so much that Master released magic power as that the impact energy, converted into magic power, got scattered and spread out like ripples.

If this is correct, its usefulness is immeasurable!

Because it's not just about ‘not making a sound’.

It means you can deflect impact.

Theoretically, as long as you can perform magic power conversion, you can neutralize any physical impact!?

Wait, isn't that invincible?

Once I realized that, well, I was just super excited, you know?

Frantically, single-mindedly, I just kept clapping my hands, you know?

But, it's pretty late, you know?

Master's sleepy, you know?

Clapping hands is noisy, you know?

So of course I get a knuckle bonk, you know?

And then I get grabbed by the scruff of my neck and tossed into the futon, you know?

I got scolded again.

I'm sorry, Master. Sniff.