"Listen well, Übel. Having overwhelming strength, or Mana, doesn't automatically make you the winner. A fight has countless variables. Whoever seizes the opening and lands the killing blow — that's the winner."
"Yes, Grand-Master..."
Übel kept her eyes on the direction Nanoda swung the branch, her body already moving to slip past the Severance Magic that came lashing in at her.
"At close range, Severance Magic is faster than Killing Magic — than Ordinary Offensive Magic. It makes an excellent substitute for melee combat. Compressing and firing the Mana is deceptively simple and deceptively hard to control. Once you're practiced, the smallest shift of your hand will send out slashes of completely different strength. Learn it and you'll find it very convenient."
"Hah! Like this?"
Übel flicked her palm lightly to one side. Two invisible slashes collided and canceled out, the air cracking apart with a bang — she had blocked Severance Magic with Severance Magic at point-blank range.
A genius, no question. Or rather, her affinity for Severance Magic was every bit as good as Yuna's.
Even Aura had never managed to learn Severance Magic, no matter how many times Nanoda demonstrated it.
Nanoda picked up the pace of her casting a little. Übel still handled it with room to spare.
Quick reactions. Excellent use of Mana Perception, too.
Dodging like a squirrel, striking back or parrying now and then, Übel wore a grin of pure delight.
Just the right amount of thrill, sweat flung off her skin by the wind of a passing slash.
And right as little Übel was starting to feel pleased with herself —
— the warning came all at once: countless slashes bearing down from every direction.
Übel, a beat too slow, threw herself down into a rolling dive. In that instant of panic, her Mana Perception wavered.
Then came a roar as a bolt of Killing Magic tore out.
Übel, who had just lifted her head to get up, tucked it back down and rolled twice more across the dirt.
When she raised her rather grubby head again, Nanoda — who had been perched on the treetop — was standing right in front of her, the tip of the branch already resting against her throat.
"I told you from the very start. Whoever can land a killing blow is the one who wins in the end. A single moment of carelessness is enough to tip the scales."
"Grand-Master, that's cheating!"
Übel pulled a face and scrambled up off the ground, taking the hand Nanoda offered.
"That is what a surprise attack is. You'll never guess what your opponent might suddenly do, so you have to watch the details with far more focus. Little Übel still has a long way to go before she passes."
Nanoda patted her on the head and brushed the dust off her.
"You're just picking on someone smaller than you!"
Little Übel puffed out her cheeks, sulking.
"Of course. And when the gap in strength is too wide, running away is a perfectly good tactic too."
Changing the subject, Nanoda marveled to herself — so even that Übel had a phase as adorable as this.
"Also, don't neglect your daily physical training. The body matters most of all."
"Mm-hm!"
Übel looked up at Nanoda, her eyes shining.
"Lord-Na-no-da—! How can you teach a child things like that? Übel is still little, and all you ever show her is combat and — and how to kill people. Fighting from dawn to dusk. That is not good for a child's development!" Yuna, who had been watching the whole time, finally spoke up.
Nanoda looked at her standing there with her hands on her hips, scolding, and patted the head of the little Übel pressed against her side.
"I only want Übel to have the strength to protect herself. Besides, look at her — Übel loves magic that much..." She thought suddenly of another girl, years ago, braids and all, who used to trail after her begging to be taught magic. "When you were small, Yuna, I taught you exactly the same way."
In truth, Nanoda was a little afraid of it too. Raising a second Übel with a strange temperament and a taste for picking fights everywhere she went really wouldn't be ideal.
"Lord Nanoda, your methods are out of date. The past is the past, and now is now."
"Eh? Eeeh?"
"What the Continental Mages' Association recommends these days is Mana manipulation and medium magic that controls the environment. Less live combat. Little Übel should be reading more books."
"But conditioning the body really is important, you know... these are the fundamentals!"
"That's right, that's right! I'm with Grand-Master!"
It warmed Nanoda's heart to have Übel chiming in at her side.
Yuna flicked her braids back, tugged Übel — who was clinging to Nanoda — gently into her own arms, and produced a handkerchief to wipe the mud off her cheeks. "Then all the more reason for Übel to learn the most basic Defensive Magic from me, her master."
"Hm? Übel can't use Defensive Magic yet?"
Nanoda thought back and realized that no, in all of that training just now, Übel had never once put up a guard.
"I'm no good at that sort of thing... If I can dodge without wasting any Mana, why would I bother defending? And isn't it faster to just crush the enemy's attack with a fiercer one of my own? ...Ow, ow, ow!"
"Absolutely not." Yuna promptly pinched down hard on the soft cheek she had just wiped clean. "You're still young. Magic that's nothing but hitting and killing doesn't suit where you are now."
"Gaderia is at peace. There's no need to force a child out of her childhood and turn her into a warrior. Magic ought to be something lovelier than that."
"Well, you have a point. Children ought to act like children. You and Übel both grew up far too early."
"Lord Nanoda~"
"Oh my. Yuna's blushing."
Seeing her disciple flustered for the first time, Nanoda allowed herself a rare smile.
"Though come to think of it, our fighting styles really are alike..."
All-out assault.
In how they moved and in how they cast — the same style, throwing everything into the kill.
"That's all our Grand-Master's fault, isn't it?"
Yuna gave Übel's little head a pat of her own.
"Grand-Master! You've only taught me Severance Magic. Is there any new magic you can teach me?"
Übel gazed up at Nanoda, wide-eyed with curiosity.
The question stopped Nanoda cold.
She really didn't have all that many spells worth showing off, because up to now what she had was entirely sufficient.
Ordinary Offensive Magic, Defensive Magic, Flight Magic — all recorded and taught by Humans already. Rule those out.
Severance Magic, the one she used most, had already been learned.
Paradox Magic had been crammed into her head by her predecessor; it wasn't suited to teaching Übel in the first place, and even Nanoda herself — demon that she was — found it hazy around the edges.
What remained were all "legend-class" spells, or else conceptual and folk magic.
"Magic that makes a rooster lay eggs?" That one she'd only picked up recently, and never tested.
"Magic that turns you into a patch of grass?" That one she'd learned from Aura.
"Magic that conjures a black cloak?" That was her very first original.
"Magic that finds a delicious roast pheasant?" Years of living off wild game had honed that one.
"What on earth are any of those?"
One bizarre spell after another came out of Nanoda's mouth, and not just Übel — even Yuna's mind took a while to catch up.
____
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