"Flame, thou art that which burns all, and... dwelling within the four limbs of my body, thou art that which conquers the sky. The flame becomes a wheel, and dwells in my hands and feet."
As he chanted the spell, flames appeared at the tip of Death Scythe's blade. They split into four and entwined themselves around Rei's limbs.
Rei never felt any depletion when using ordinary magic. This time, however, he sensed his mana draining rapidly. And then—
"Flame Heaven Wheel."
The magic activated. The flames coiled around his limbs solidified into distinct wheels.
"Phew."
He had cast this spell many times since first developing it and beginning his training. Yet even now, he could never get used to the massive surge of mana it consumed on activation.
With this spell, I don't think getting used to the drain is even an option.
Rei's magical aptitude was entirely specialized toward fire. Activating a spell that made him fly—or float, more accurately—meant the very structure of the magic was inherently unreasonable. For an ordinary mage, activating it would be utterly impossible. The only reason Rei could sustain it was that he forced the spell to remain active through sheer, overwhelming mana.
Given that, he couldn't exactly expect familiarity to reduce the cost.
Feeling the drain, Rei lifted gently into the air. He didn't fly by flapping wings like Set; rather, he rose as if weightless, suspended in the sky.
"Oh, this is... flying through the sky..."
Dolf, watching from a short distance away, voiced his admiration.
And it wasn't just Dolf. Back at the campsite, those preparing meals, finishing chores, or simply waiting to eat all looked up at Rei floating against the backdrop of the sunset, cries of surprise escaping their lips. Unlike Dolf's pure wonder, though, fear laced many of their voices. For Centaurs, losing contact with the ground was apparently terrifying. Only a select few—Dolf chief among them—viewed the sight with delight rather than dread.
"How's that? I can fly like this."
Thanks to extensive training, Rei could now converse normally while airborne. Wielding Death Scythe mid-flight was still difficult, however, and Twin Spear Style with the Twilight Spear remained out of the question entirely.
"Amazing. That's truly amazing... How exactly do you do it? Judging by the magical structure, I can't imagine that someone specialized in fire like you could pull it off."
Dolf's genuine astonishment faded, replaced immediately by puzzlement. Given that he couldn't comprehend the spell at all, that was only natural. Even if he replicated the formula, he doubted he could activate it himself.
"Yeah. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone besides me activating this spell. It's inherently difficult to cast; I only manage by burning through enormous amounts of mana."
"...Mana? I'm afraid I lack the ability to sense it, but do you really have that much, Rei?"
"Yeah. My mana is vast enough that I've never met anyone with more. Although..."
He trailed off. Dolf couldn't tell what Rei meant to say, but for Rei, it was a source of frustration that even with such reserves, he still couldn't fully master his power. Many skills—like the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—existed precisely because of his enormous mana. The flight spell itself was only possible because of it.
"Phew."
Rei descended, and the magic dissolved. He would have liked to practice more, but with so many eyes on him at the campsite, he wasn't about to continue under such scrutiny. He did need to refine the spell until he could fight in his usual Twin Spear Style while airborne, though.
"No, that was splendid. Still... it's remarkable that you, a fire specialist, managed to develop such a spell."
"I construct my magic through instinct and imagery. That lets me bend the rules quite a bit."
He silently thanked the subculture—manga, anime, novels, games—he had enjoyed back in Japan. Without those hobbies during his high school years, he probably could never have developed magic so freely.
"I'm honestly envious of that ability, Rei."
"Setting me aside, what kind of magic can you use, Dolf? I heard you focus on wind but can handle other types as well."
"Right. Attack and support magic. Wind Magic is particularly well-suited to both."
"...Is it?"
In Rei's experience, Wind Magic suited offensive spells, but support seemed like a stretch. Dolf smiled at his doubt.
"It is. The simplest example would be using wind to disrupt an opponent's movements."
"Disrupt with wind?"
"Exactly. If your opponent is a living creature, just getting debris in their eyes mid-fight puts them at a massive disadvantage."
"Is that... well, is that really acceptable?"
Rei gathered that Dolf meant kicking up sand and dirt from the grassland as a blinding tactic. In combat, that would naturally flood the eyes with tears, destroying visibility and shattering concentration. The technique wasn't flashy by any means. But as someone with extensive real combat experience, Rei could easily imagine how vicious it actually was.
"I don't mind. It's a fight. Anything goes."
Rei couldn't argue with that. In battle, any method was justified. The Centaurs were fighting the Dragonias in a simple binary: survive or be eaten alive. It was a literal struggle for survival. Under those circumstances, he couldn't possibly object. The Dragonias were driven by hunger; they only cared whether they could devour whatever stood before them. With an enemy like that, there was no reason to hold back.
"I understand the support side, but for attack magic, is it something like launching a Wind Blade?"
"Something like that."
"By the way, it's not exactly a Wind Blade, but I can do something similar."
Dolf gave him a look as if wondering what on earth he was talking about. Rei had brute-forced flight through fire magic, so it wasn't impossible to think he could manage a wind-based attack too. But this was specifically about a wind blade. It was only natural for Dolf to doubt whether a fire specialist could pull that off.
Meeting that skeptical gaze, Rei swung Death Scythe toward an empty patch of ground.
"Flying Slash!"
A blade of force shot from the weapon. With no target, it simply vanished into the distance. But the fact that a slash had undeniably flown through the air was visible to Dolf—and to everyone back at the campsite.
"How's that? Not wind, just a slash."
"...Is that magic too? You said you specialize in fire, Rei..."
"No, it's not magic. That's exactly why I can do it. It's what you'd call a skill."
"A skill...?"
Hm?
Dolf's reaction struck Rei as odd. Zai had confirmed that the concept of skills existed in this world. Given that, Dolf should have known about them too.
Maybe because Dolf's settlement focuses so heavily on magic, skills aren't well-known there?
It seemed plausible, yet also somehow unnatural. Even if his settlement didn't teach about skills, contact with other settlements would inevitably reveal their existence. Avoiding such contact was nearly impossible, so there was no way they wouldn't have heard of skills.
Still, since Dolf claimed ignorance here, Rei wondered if pressing the point would be wise.
"Just think of it as a power different from magic. More importantly—putting Wind Magic aside—is the magic you use fundamentally the same as mine?"
"Huh? Where is this coming from?"
Dolf couldn't fathom what Rei was suddenly driving at. But just from seeing his bewildered expression, Rei understood. Magic in this world was likely identical to magic in Elgin. The language was mutually intelligible, word meanings matched. It wouldn't be strange for the structure of magic to align as well.
No, that's absurd. Can things really match up this perfectly? If so, then maybe this place is actually...
The thought took hold. What if? He asked Dolf.
"Hey, let me ask you something. Elgin, the Kingdom of Mireana, Gilm. Do any of those names sound familiar?"
Dolf considered the question carefully. After a minute of silence, he shook his head.
"No, I don't recall hearing those words. Is this Mireana Kingdom your homeland, Rei?"
"Something like that. More precisely, a city called Gilm within the Mireana Kingdom."
He was now certain this was another world. The Wisp had opened that hole, and Grimm had explicitly stated as much. No matter the similarities, they were coincidences. He reaffirmed that conviction.
For just a fleeting instant, the ease of their communication had made him wonder if this was Elgin. Fortunately, it wasn't.
But then again, living on a grassland like this, it's only natural they wouldn't know Elgin, the Mireana Kingdom, or Gilm, right? If only there were two moons, or the world had some bizarre shape—something to make it obvious.
Once this mission was over and he returned to Elgin, he would ask Grimm about it.
As Rei mulled this over—
"Food's ready!"
The call echoed from the campsite. Rei sensed that Vihera and the others, who had been sparring some distance away, stopped at the sound.
"Sounds like dinner. Let's call it here."
"Agreed. I'd have liked to discuss magic more, but today isn't our last chance."
Rei nodded. Whether or not this was Elgin remained unresolved, but setting that aside, exchanging knowledge about magic could potentially strengthen his own abilities. There was no reason to refuse.
"After dinner, there's free time. We need to rest for tomorrow, but even so, we should have room to talk more."
At Rei's invitation, Dolf nodded with a happy smile.