Kuuza letting go of his staff was an unexpected action, causing me to freeze for a moment. But I quickly returned my gaze to him, and light was being born from his left hand.

“First, this.”

The light was golden. It shimmered ostentatiously, taking shape and transforming into a martial weapon that I could clearly recognize.

“A bow, huh?”

“Correct.”

Kuuza had a bow in his left hand. And an arrow in his right. However—

“……Kuuza, you could use a bow?”

“No, not at all.”

I slumped my shoulders slightly at his unexpected reply.

“Hey, wait. If you can’t use it, then why a bow—”

“When I use magic, I accumulate magic power in both my arms.”

Interrupting my words, Kuuza began to speak.

“As Ruon also knows, I can effectively cast lower-tier magic with no-chant casting. The main reason for that is by accumulating magic power in both arms, I omit the process of drawing magic power from within my body. Of course, various methods are required to utilize that immediately for magic.”

…He says it so easily, but I probably couldn’t imitate it even if I tried. It’s likely a technique Kuuza acquired after much research.

“So, how could I shorten that even further? I came to the conclusion that I should maintain the magic power exposed outside my body, rather than inside.”

“And that’s why the bow?”

“I thought about what kind of martial weapon uses both hands, and also for attacking from a distance… and only a bow remained.”

If he could gather magic power in both hands, any method would probably have worked. He adopted the bow because it was easy to visualize, which made it quicker to learn the technique.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Alright then, I’ll begin.”

Kuuza announced in response to my question—and then nocked an arrow, taking aim.

Immediately after, the arrow was fired without any action of drawing the bow or releasing his hand.

Wait a minute! Kuuza herself isn’t moving!?

Of course not. I barely remember anything about using a bow from seeing it a bit during Academia training.

I was about to retort that it wasn’t even an imitation, when I realized something.

Dozens of arrows were fired at once, coming straight at me.

That’s a troublesome attack…!

I parried the arrows with my sword, a wry smile on my face. From the feel of the Magic Power, it was probably an application of the lower-tier fire magic, “Flame Needle.” That’s probably why there were so many arrows.

Kuuza continued to fire yellow arrows. These were probably “Thunderbolts,” and perhaps because of the image of a bow and arrow, all the magic took the form of arrows, with little visual change.

What is fired by the arrows is merely imbued with the Magic Power of lower-tier magic.

Kuuza explained.

I suppose the power might be slightly increased compared to casting magic normally, as the Magic Power is compressed, but it’s still negligible.

More arrows came while she spoke. Ice, wind, fire… various arrows were aimed at me, and I deflected them.

But for a normal monster, it should be effective enough.

That’s certainly true.

I replied, deflecting an arrow that had come straight at me. Then, Kuuza’s movements stopped.

What’s wrong?

…And that’s the basic ability.

Just as I thought there must be applications, Sofia, who was watching, cried out.

Those arrows, don’t tell me—

That’s right, Sofia. Ruon, I think you’ll know as soon as you sense your surroundings.

At her words, I looked around—and realized.

From the previous rain of arrows, the ground was somewhat gouged, and there were marks where arrows had pierced. What did those mean—

…A Magic Circle?

It’s not a formation, but I’ve embedded my Magic Power into the ground. A little trick can be activated.

No sooner had she spoken than the ground beneath my feet suddenly glowed.

I instinctively put up a Barrier and moved to escape the light. But the next moment, spear-like light shot up from beneath my feet.

It followed me—I immediately swung my sword to bat it away. My plan succeeded, and I managed to deal with it by sweeping it aside.

…Well, this one is still incomplete, though.

While Kuuza explained, the light disappeared. The duration seemed quite short.

In reality, I intend to unleash even more powerful magic while activating and stopping these kinds of magic, but that is also still incomplete.

So that wasn’t your trump card?

That’s right… I’m done. Next is Sylvie.

Kuuza easily yielded her position. As Sylvie confronted me, I began to think.

If she had mastered her unique advanced technique—”One Instant,” which had extraordinary power in the game—

Shall we begin?

Sylvie drew her sword. Her aggressive gaze was probably due to her desire to test her skills and the fact that she could fight me.

…You should make the first move.

I unilaterally told her, then observed Sylvie. She wasn’t converging Magic Power… or rather, was she doing something at a level I couldn’t perceive?

While my questions remained, Sylvie ran. I lightly parried her first attack, which served as a greeting.

From there, Sylvie smoothly swung her sword. It didn’t seem like she was putting her full strength into it, and I understood that it was primarily a feint.

She was probably gauging the timing to show the results of what she learned at the Academia. I adopted a stance to await Sylvie’s attacks and continued to receive her sword.

—Hmph!

Sylvie let out a small sound—then suddenly, her strength increased, and there was a faint resistance against my parrying sword.

What is she planning…? Just as I thought that, her sword was unleashed at an incomparable speed.

“Whoa there.”

But I blocked it. With an exceptionally loud clang, Sylvie’s sword stopped, and for a moment, we were locked in a struggle.

“You can’t beat me by just overpowering me or increasing your sword’s speed.”

“I know.”

Sylvie replied and disengaged.

“I apologize for making you go along with this. The way I’m refining my Magic Power is different from before, so I’ve been struggling a bit.”

“I don’t mind, but… it sounds like it’s still far from complete, then.”

“No, not really.”

A fearless smile. In a flash, Sylvie’s body tilted slightly.

Perhaps, until now, her movements were just to get used to the refined Magic Power. Now that she’s done that, she’s entered an offensive stance—

“The match will be decided in an instant.”

Sylvie declared. Immediately after, a flurry of attacks surged towards me.

It’s clearly faster than normal Combination Attack techniques. Even if an average monster tried to defend, they would be unable to do anything and the battle would be decided in an instant.

This must be her strongest technique, “One Instant.” It’s hard to judge if it’s perfected, but I can still tell it possesses high offensive capability.

In the game, each hit of the techniques belonging to Combination Attacks didn’t have much power. The exception was her “One Instant,” which had an absurd amount of power that seemed like a bug… but it gave off the impression that if she mastered it, she could reach that level.

I reacted to it and met it with my sword. But even if I parried, the next sword surged forward, and I kept parrying it. From Sofia’s and Kuuza’s perspectives, it must have been over in an instant. An exchange of astonishing speed took place between Sylvie and me—and eventually, her sword stopped.

“As expected, you wouldn’t just take it.”

“It might have been dangerous if I had taken it head-on.”

“You say that, with your abilities.”

Sylvie gave a wry smile. She withdrew her sword, looking refreshed.

“I’m satisfied. There are still some things missing, but it’s enough.”

“When you use that technique just now, do you refine your Magic Power differently than usual?”

“Yes. I’ve never done it myself, so I struggled with it. It’s difficult to use in a real battle unless I increase the speed of refinement, but by training it, my other abilities have also been boosted. It’s a satisfactory result for me.”

“I see…”

It didn’t seem like “One Instant” was ready for actual combat yet. However, receiving her sword, it was a fact that Sylvie’s abilities had definitely improved.

“…Sylvie.”

“What is it?”

“After receiving your sword, I thought of something. However, I want you to consider what you think about it.”

“Why so formal?”

To Sylvie’s question, I paused for a moment before telling her.

“—It’s about Sylvie’s objective. There is a place within the Nateria Kingdom Territory that you must go to achieve it.”