After finishing the lecture on theory as well as being guided by Tris on how to operate spiritual energy, Rin began practicing with the puppet.
To make it easier for Rin to observe, the puppet once again moved extremely slowly, as it had at the beginning.
Every movement of it was gentle and graceful.
In contrast, Rin's movements were clumsy and awkward.
Her feet, enhanced with spiritual energy, made heavy, dull thuds each time they touched the floor—like someone hammering repeatedly inside a sealed room.
If Tris hadn't prepared soundproofing magic in advance, the landlord would probably have rushed up to check whether the guest was smashing the floor apart.
At the very start of practice, what surprised Rin most was realizing that her small feet could now stomp out such great force.
If Tris hadn't carefully protected the floor with magic, she really would have damaged it just as he predicted.
Quickly recovering from her astonishment, the girl refocused on training.
'Even though Master told me all the notes and tricks for this exercise, it's still much harder compared to the previous ones.'
Rin knew exactly why.
In the earlier exercises, her body position was static, always with at least one foot firmly planted on the ground.
But this time, her whole body had to move continuously, changing posture, spending much of the time suspended in midair without any foothold. That required far greater control over her body.
'Don't give up, you can do it.'
Encouraging herself, Rin threw herself into practice.
Seeing Rin get into rhythm, Tris nodded in satisfaction and turned to study the newly gifted magical item.
Naturally, he intended to use one of its charges on his black sword, his strongest weapon at present.
Many might think it wiser to save it for some rarer weapon later, but the black sword was already high-grade. If he kept waiting greedily, "Magic Hand" might never be put to use.
Holding onto it without using it would be wasteful. This world was full of danger; boosting combat strength immediately was precious. Better than regretting later for not using it sooner.
One hand holding "Magic Hand," the other the sword, Tris carefully pressed the seal onto the blade near the hilt—the least damage-prone spot.
Even though Erik had said the connection wasn't easily broken, caution cost nothing.
As the seal touched the blade, a brilliant light flared then vanished, leaving behind a faint mark shaped like a leaf.
Because the sword was black, the mark was barely visible unless examined closely.
Right after sealing, a special connection formed between Tris and the sword.
He felt he could lift and swing it easily without even using his hands.
Testing immediately, the sword rose into the air and moved on its own. Floating, it performed thrusts, chops, slashes, spins, etc.
'Truly marvelous. But channeling spiritual energy feels harder than when holding it directly. I'll need time to adapt before mastering sword techniques this way.'
Fortunately, his experience controlling puppets remotely had many similarities, so he quickly became proficient.
The rest of the afternoon was a bizarre scene in the inn room:
On one side, a boy sat blankly watching a black sword float and move with various maneuvers.
On the other side, two identical girls, like twins, kept leaping back and forth, facing each other.
It looked even stranger since one of them wasn't wearing clothes.
If someone else were to step into the room, they would probably think they had just walked into a special ward for mental patients.
. . .
By late afternoon, after long practice, Rin lay sprawled on the floor, chest heaving heavily.
Especially since she was lying in a large pool of sweat, the image made her look like a stranded fish on the shore waiting to die.
'Ugh, looks like child abuse. Does this world even have child protection organizations? Probably not.'
Tris's mind wandered uselessly before returning to analysis.
'The exercise is indeed tough at this stage, as expected. Still, she showed clear progress later—her steps sounded lighter, no longer like hammering the floor. The merchant caravan departs in a few days. Will she finish learning in time?'
Rin: "Master, Rin's legs are too sore, can't stand up."
Tris: "Just rest there. I'll go downstairs to buy dinner."
He replied and left.
Rin: "Yay!"
'Master truly perceptive, knowing exactly what Rin wanted without her saying.'
She thought happily, then crawled toward the bathroom.
Through the puppet left in the room, Tris saw Rin crawling like an inchworm.
But with sweat trails left behind, she looked more like a slug with slime.
Sighing, Tris had the puppet pick Rin up under its arm and carry her to the bath.
Rin, astonished that the puppet could move without Master present, widened her eyes.
Every day, she discovered new wonders of magic. Dangling in the puppet's grip, she once again wished to become a true Mage and use magic herself.
The puppet then used magic to fill and heat the bath before dropping Rin in.
Rin: "Amazing! It can use magic just like Master."
Tris: "Idiot, because it's me using magic."
His voice came from the puppet.
Rin: "Wow, Master, you can hear Rin? What other functions does this puppet have?"
She was amazed again.
Tris: "Besides serving as a sword or Mage's staff, basically that's it. Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes; take your time bathing."
After giving instructions, the puppet stepped outside, went to the black sword that Tris had left in the room, and tried to control it without using its hands.
Tris wanted to test whether he could use the puppet to break the limitation of only being able to control within arm's length. Surprisingly, the answer was yes.
In this way, by using the puppet as an intermediary, Tris could move his sword a distance far beyond a single arm's reach.
At that moment, his feeling was like that of a gamer discovering a bug and exploiting it to gain an advantage.
Waiting for food at the restaurant downstairs, Tris smiled with satisfaction.