Once again, she stood before the fireplace.
Shulim still squatted there all day long, but unlike before, this time she wasn't just staring at the flames—she had also begun attempting magic.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᚣᚲ】”
The fire elements around the hearth fire flickered imperceptibly, and then did nothing else.
...
Shulim was not discouraged and kept trying.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᚣᚲ】”
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃ...”
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠ...”
The process of practice was tedious and agonizing; any normal young child wouldn't have been able to sit still through it.
Even Shulim, when she had first met Semilis, would have been the same. However, after having grown up a bit by chance, her fixation on winning or losing could no longer easily shake her resolve. Even when she thought about the mockery she would face if she lost, Shulim calmly suppressed it deep in her heart.
For her, the only thing she had to do right now was learn that spell. Everything else, like winning or losing, was no longer of any concern.
Just like that, one day passed.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡ...”
The fire elements did not respond to Shulim.
Two days passed.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪ...”
The fire elements wavered slightly.
Three days passed.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖ...”
The fire elements wavered noticeably.
Four days passed.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾ...”
The fire elements finally began to move, drifting toward Shulim.
And then...
The seventh day.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᚣᚲ】”
Whoosh!
A tiny spark of flame danced on Shulim's fingertip.
“I... I succeeded!”
Shulim's eyes widened as she stared intently at the weak little flame on her fingertip.
After a full seven days, she had finally cast the most basic fire spell: Ignition.
The joy of success made Shulim's heart leap with excitement.
And with this surge of emotion, her mana went out of control, causing the flame on her fingertip to sputter out.
“Ah... it went out.”
Her excited heart gradually calmed down.
Adjusting her state of mind, Shulim quickly recalled the sensation of success just now, engraving that feeling deeply into her heart.
“Phew~!”
Shulim closed her eyes, slowly let out a breath, and then snapped her eyes open. Her lips began to move.
“【ᛓᚠᛟᚾᚲתᛖᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᚣᚲ】”
Whoosh—!
As she chanted the spell, she felt a slight drain on her mana, and the familiar, warm little flame lit up on her fingertip once again.
Shulim had finally mastered her very first spell.
...
Shulim sat on the stone steps in front of the manor, resting her chin on both hands as she gazed at the sky, her eyes uncharacteristically filled with confusion.
Although she was happy to have learned the spell, it had taken her a whole half-month to do so!
Only half of the promised one-month period was left, and she still had a whopping six spells left to learn!
“What am I going to do?! To learn six spells in half a month... Just one took me half a month! How is it even possible to learn six in the remaining time?!”
Shulim clutched her head in frustration, all traces of joy completely vanished from her face.
After a long while, Shulim calmed down. Lying back on the stone steps, she held up her right hand and looked up at the sun in the sky through the gaps between her fingers.
Then, she sat back up and slapped both cheeks.
“No matter what, I won't know unless I try!”
Shulim carefully recalled her experiences over the past half-month. Although it had taken her that long to master a single spell, she hadn't actually spent all of that time studying. Her actual practice time was only about ten days.
And out of those ten days, a good portion was spent just sensing the fire elements. Furthermore...
all magic is interconnected. Even though the elements were different, the experience could still be applied.
Thinking about it this way, the time it would take her to learn the next spell would definitely be nowhere near ten days.
“...Alright! Time to practice the next spell!”
Shulim leaped up from the ground, her motivation fully renewed once again.
The second spell Shulim chose was the First-Tier water spell—Water Current.
Since there was a river just outside Mente Town, it provided a perfect environment for learning water magic.
From then on, Shulim left early and returned late every day, spending the entire day by the river.
“【ᛣᛏᚠᚷᛜᛣᛃᛗᛡᛁᚾᛗᛚᚪᛜᛈᛒᚱᚪ】”
By the riverside, the sound of Shulim chanting the spell echoed continuously.
Just as she expected, with her prior experience, she quickly sensed the water elements and was able to communicate with them on the very first day.
However, getting the water elements to move according to her will was still a hurdle.
After all, water and fire were opposing elements, making them the furthest apart in terms of transferable experience among the seven basic elements.
However, by the time Shulim realized this, a lot of time had already passed, and it was a bit too late to switch to a different element.
So, she simply forged ahead and kept practicing.
Hard work paid off.
Five days after Shulim began her water magic practice.
“【ᛣᛏᚠᚷᛜᛣᛃᛗᛡᛁᚾᛗᛚᚪᛜᛈᛒᚱᚪ】”
Splash!
A thumb-thick stream of water wrapped around Shulim's index finger and then shot forward.
After successfully casting Water Current, Shulim felt a brief wave of excitement before quickly checking her state of mind and carefully retracing all the details of her success.
And then...
“【ᛣᛏᚠᚷᛜᛣᛃᛗᛡᛁᚾᛗᛚᚪᛜᛈᛒᚱᚪ】”
The exact same scene unfolded once more.
Shulim had successfully mastered the First-Tier water spell—Water Current.
After practicing it many more times to ensure there were no issues, Shulim stared at the slowly flowing river before her, feeling a mix of happiness and lingering worry.
“Only ten days left...”
This meant she would have to master a new spell every two days on average.
But Shulim didn't give up; instead, she threw herself even more resolutely into practicing the other elements.
And things finally took a turn for the better when she started practicing her third spell.
...
“【ᚣᚠᛟᚪᛚᛜᛖᛗᛞᚪᛡᛖᛞᛃᚺיᛤᛜᛣᛃᚢᚠᚳ】”
Crack!
Looking at the chunk of stone—smaller than her palm—that had suddenly appeared in her hand, Shulim was momentarily stunned.
She tried launching the stone forward.
Whoosh!
The stone shot forward and shattered against a large boulder, leaving a clear impact mark on its surface.
“I... I succeeded?”
It was no wonder Shulim was so astonished—this was only her second day practicing earth magic!
Mastering the First-Tier earth spell, Rock Chunk, in just two days made the struggle she went through with the first two spells feel almost like a joke.
Shulim looked at her hands and tried casting it several more times in disbelief. Yet, every single time, she successfully summoned a Rock Chunk, and the sensation of mana draining from her was absolutely real.
Only then did she finally believe that she had truly mastered the First-Tier earth spell, Rock Chunk.
But how on earth had she done it?
Shulim's mind was full of questions.
She didn't know yet that because she had mastered two opposing elemental spells, her understanding of magic had taken a massive leap forward. When she turned her attention to learning other elements, this understanding became her greatest asset, allowing her to master the third spell in just two days.
“Two days... I can do this! I can really do this!”
Shulim's eyes lit up, and she pumped herself up.
She could finally see a realistic hope of winning the bet!
...
With eight days left until the end of the month.
Shulim went to the windmills outside town.
The narrow terrain flanked by hills on both sides funneled frequent gusts of wind through this spot.
Listening to the creaking rotation of the windmill behind her, Shulim carefully sensed the magic elements floating in the air.
Before long, she saw streaks of green light swiftly cutting through the air, passing through the windmill blades. Whenever they did, the slowing windmill would pick up speed once again.
“【ᚷᚲᚠᛏᛗᛜᚻᚠᛏᛖᛡᛣ...”
With seven days left until the end of the month.
“【ᚷᚲᚠᛏᛗᛜᚻᚠᛏᛖᛡᛣᛏᚠᚳᛜᚻᛄᚾ】”
Whoosh~!
She felt the drainage of her mana.
A gentle push emanated from her palm, and she watched as a nearby bush swayed from the breeze.
First-Tier wind magic—Breeze.
Mastered!
At this point, she had mastered all the First-Tier spells of the four natural elements.
...
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