"We'll rest around here for today."
After wiping out the massive horde of undead, we resumed our trek toward the Town of Ghosts. However, the deeper we went, the more frequently we ran into monsters. Considering how much time we’d spent on the extermination, we decided to stop at a campsite one stop short of our target.
The undead were most active at night, which was dangerous even without the darkness. There was no reason to push ourselves, so the decision was sound. No one, myself included, raised any objections to Siber’s suggestion.
"Remily."
"Leave it to me. Ryoma, I’ll show you a useful spell."
"Thank you! I’m looking forward to it."
"Now then, here I go. Holy Space."
A beat after her casual remark, I felt a massive surge of mana. It was more than she had used for any other spell since we started this journey. A pale radiance rippled out from her, expanding past the campsite until it reached the edge of our defensive perimeter. There, it stabilized into a glowing hemispherical dome.
Inside the dome of light, the air felt strangely clean—likely the effect of Remily’s mana permeating the space.
"This is the intermediate light magic, Holy Space. It creates a temporary territory that undead monsters cannot enter. Weak ones like zombies, skeletons, and wraiths will vaporize the moment they touch it. It’s perfect for camping or resting in areas like this."
She paused to let the information sink in.
"There are two things to keep in mind. First, the duration and range depend entirely on your skill. Second, powerful undead can force their way through. They’ll be weakened, but they’ll drain your mana rapidly in the process. If a strong one appears, you have to deal with it immediately or the barrier will fail. Finally, don't over-rely on it. It’s always better to find a safe location to camp in the first place. Now, for practice... Ryoma, just try to mimic what I did. Aim for a space just large enough for one person to lie down."
I gave it a shot. I gathered light-attribute mana and defined the boundary using the same logic as a barrier, then solidified the image of filling that volume with light before chanting the spell.
"Holy Space."
The spell activated exactly as I’d envisioned, but the control was trickier than a standard barrier. If conventional barrier magic was like a wall and the mana filling it was water, this spell felt more like cloth. A wall held water in easily, but with cloth, the 'water' wanted to seep through the fibers. If I hadn’t stayed focused during the activation, the mana would have leaked out instantly. It seemed I’d succeeded, though.
"Remily, how was that?"
She looked somewhat conflicted.
"It’s a bit rough, but you did it. Congratulations on learning Holy Space. I’m glad you’re a fast learner, but it doesn't really feel like I’m teaching you anything... This is supposed to be the hardest spell to control among intermediate light magic."
"I’ve used barrier magic before, so I just applied that same sensation."
"Well, barrier magic and light magic are fundamentally the same in that you’re using mana to manifest a phenomenon. If the purpose is similar, the usage usually follows suit. After all, the different categories of magic were only created by humans to make the techniques easier to teach and understand. You shouldn’t get too hung up on them. I think you’re exactly the type of person who flourishes by ignoring those boundaries."
Since arriving in this world, I’d always appreciated the freedom and convenience of magic. Her words about all magic being the same at its core really resonated with me.
"Anyway, now that we’ve practiced Holy Space, let’s get the camp ready."
"Even if the undead can't get in, we won't get much rest if we're exposed to the wind and cold," Reinbach noted.
"Exactly."
I was about to start setting up the tents when Siber called out.
"Ryoma, we’ll handle the camp. Could you use Earth Magic to build some walls? Even with the Holy Space, it’s good to have physical obstacles in place just in case."
"Given our luck so far, that’s a good idea. What size are you looking for?"
"About as wide as a man’s outstretched arms, and roughly chest-high. Any higher and the blind spots become too large, making it hard to maintain lines of sight for our spells. Don't block the path entirely; just hinder their approach and funnel them where we want them."
"Understood. I have the perfect slimes for the job."
"We’ll help as soon as we finish with the tents," Siber added. "Don't push yourself."
I didn't think I’d need the help. The obstacles Siber described were simple enough. I summoned six types of slimes from my Dimension Home: Stone, Spider, Wire, Sting, Metal, and Iron. I took the Stone Slimes—who now numbered over ten thousand—to a nearby rock face. I used Earth Magic to break off chunks of stone into manageable sizes.
"Eat these and grow big for me."
The slimes swarmed the pile. If they hadn’t been moving, it would have been impossible to tell the slimes apart from the rocks. I left them to their meal and returned to the campsite.
Stone Slimes had bodies made of rock. Like other slimes, they reproduced by dividing after eating, but if I ordered them not to divide, they would instead grow from pebble-sized lumps into stones larger than a man's palm.
By taking advantage of this, I could have them stack themselves in specific locations to create a stone rampart. These structures had been used to defend castles since ancient times. While these wouldn't be quite that majestic, they would be more than enough for our needs.
But I wasn't finished yet. I arranged the stone ramparts in a double circle around the camp, leaving gaps wide enough for a person to pass through. I made sure to stagger the inner and outer layers to eliminate direct paths. Once the positions were set, I used Earth Magic to dig holes in the gaps and stood up pairs of Metal and Iron slimes that had deformed into pillars.
"All right, you're up."
The waiting Spider, Wire, and Sting slimes moved into action. The Spiders climbed the pillars to spin anchor webs. Then, the Wire Slimes worked with the Spiders to stretch their bodies into spirals between the pillars. Finally, the Sting Slimes attached their needles to the wire... and just like that, I had a perimeter of barbed wire and wire entanglements.
The poison wouldn't affect the undead, but the needles would still snag on their clothes and flesh. More importantly, since the 'wire' was actually slimes, I would immediately know the location and number of any monsters that touched the fence.
The work went quickly. Between the slimes and my magic, the fortification was ninety percent complete in under thirty minutes. The camp itself was simple—just two tents and a fire—so we were done before I knew it.
"Siber, what do you think?"
"It's more than I asked for. I suppose our help wasn't needed after all."
"I’ve been watching for a while," Remily said. "A stone wall that builds itself is incredibly handy. It looks like it would be easy to repair, too."
Siber and Remily both approved of the defenses. Sebas arrived with a tray of steaming cups, and I saw Reinbach tending the fire.
"Good work, everyone. Please, have some tea."
"Thank you, Sebas."
"Sit here, Ryoma," Reinbach said, gesturing to a chair.
We gathered around the bonfire. I hadn’t noticed it while working, but the wind in the canyon was biting. The fire and the tea were a welcome comfort.
"I finally feel like I can breathe," I sighed.
"Let’s make the most of this peace," Reinbach replied.
We were all in agreement. We had an early dinner and chatted to recover our spirits. But as the sun dipped below the horizon...
"Of course. I almost wish I’d been wrong."
The undead emerged from the shadows. Along with the skeletons and zombies, wisps flickered in the air like ghostly lanterns, and translucent humanoid wraiths swarmed like moths around a light.
The numbers continued to grow, but they seemed to loathe the mana radiating from the Holy Space. For now, they stayed outside the perimeter. Still, leaving them there was a risk we couldn't ignore.
"They’re here, so we might as well deal with them," Remily said.
"Agreed."
During dinner, we’d decided that Remily and I would use our light magic to clear the immediate area. In exchange, we’d be allowed to sleep through the night watches later.
"I have an idea," Remily said with a smirk. "Let's make a game of it."
"A competition?"
"It’s more motivating that way. We'll see who can take down the most. The loser has to grant the winner one wish."
"Wait, if this is a magic duel, I'm at a total disadvantage. You have decades more experience."
"Then we’ll restrict ourselves to only using Light Ball. That should level the playing field in terms of knowledge and complexity. We’ll set a ten-minute time limit, too. If we went until our mana ran out, your massive pool would give you the edge. And if we limited the number of shots, my experience would give me the advantage."
"I guess that's fair."
"Good! Then it's settled. Sebas, you and the others be the referees!"
"As you wish," Sebas replied.
"I suppose I'll keep count for you," Reinbach added.
"I'll count for Ryoma, then," Siber said.
We took our positions on opposite sides of the Holy Space.
"Are you ready?" Sebas called out.
"Ready," I said.
"Ready!" Remily chirped.
"Ten minutes on the clock. Begin!"
I immediately aimed for the head of a skeleton.
"Light Ball."
The orb flew straight, vaporizing the skeleton’s head before punching through another monster behind it. If I aimed for the clusters, I could take out several at once. But then...
"Light Ball."
I noticed a sudden glare behind me. I looked over and blinked in shock. Remily had produced ten light orbs with a single chant. Every one of them struck an undead’s head with surgical precision.
"This is a technique called Parallel Casting," she explained, her voice cheerful even as she kept firing. "It lets you manifest multiple copies of the same spell at once. Light Ball. It takes practice, though. Light Ball."
She didn't miss a beat. When she caught me staring, she gave me a smug grin. Then it clicked.
"So the rule about using only Light Ball was specifically because of this..."
"Too late now! Light Ball."
"That's so unfair!"
I had to counter with Parallel Casting. She’d even given me a hint on how to do it.
"Light Ball... Light Ball! Light Ball!"
It was harder than it looked. I could manifest multiple orbs on the first try, but I hit a wall at five. Any more and I couldn't maintain the spell. Even with five, I couldn't control them independently; they all just flew toward the same spot. It was a waste of mana.
I scaled back to two orbs and tried to send them in different directions, but my aim was off. One missed entirely, and the other only grazed its target. It felt like trying to draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other. This wasn't something I could master in minutes.
I went back to firing standard Light Balls as fast as I could. But for every two or three shots I fired, she was clearing ten targets. The gap was widening fast.
I need a way to clear a wide area... Think, Ryoma.
The undead weren't entering the Holy Space, so I was perfectly safe. As I fired shot after shot, a strange sense of nostalgia washed over me. This felt exactly like playing a light-gun game at an arcade back in Japan. An easy-mode zombie shooter.
I hadn't thought about games in years. I wondered if that one series ever got a sequel... In those games, the key was choosing the right weapon for the situation. Grenades, machine guns, shotguns...
Wait. Magic is all about imagery. If I can't do Parallel Casting, can I just change how the Light Ball behaves?
I started iterating. Exploding rounds were too complex, and a machine gun would drain me too fast. A shotgun seemed like the right balance. A shotgun shell fired a cluster of pellets... so if I imagined the Light Ball fracturing into a spread of smaller projectiles...
"Light Ball."
The orb dispersed exactly as I’d imagined, but the pellets were too weak. I wounded a few zombies, but didn't kill any. I’d spread the mana too thin.
I tried again, pouring ten times the usual mana into the shot. This time, it obliterated everything in a four-meter arc, even catching some wraiths in the air. That was too much mana. I didn't need that much power, and the spread was too wide to be efficient.
"Wait, what was that!?" Remily shouted.
"It’s a Light Ball! I'm just playing with the trajectory!"
She was using Parallel Casting, and I was still technically using the same spell, so it shouldn't be a violation of the rules. Sebas didn't intervene, but Remily's pace increased. I had to concentrate.
I had plenty of mana, but I needed to narrow the spread. I cut the mana to five times the usual amount and focused on distributing it equally among the pellets, just like I had with the Holy Space. I imagined splitting the mana into exactly fifty projectiles.
"Light Ball... damn."
The control was grueling. The pellets dispersed before hitting the targets. I only managed to take out two zombies. I tried again, focusing entirely on the internal structure of the spell while keeping my kill count up.
"Ten seconds! Nine, eight, seven..."
Sebas’s countdown snapped me back to reality. One last shot. I had to solidify the image. Differentiate it.
"Light Shot!"
The final blast was perfect. It riddled the undead in a three-meter arc with holes, vaporizing them instantly. It wasn't as powerful as the ten-times version, but it was incredibly efficient for the mana cost.
I felt a surge of pride as the timer hit zero.
"Time's up!" Sebas shouted.
I looked at him, eager for the results, but he was wearing a stern expression.
"Ryoma, what did you call that last spell?"
"The last one? Just a regular Light—"
My heart sank. Had I actually shouted 'Light Shot' at the end?
"Regrettably," Sebas said, his tone professional but firm, "by changing the name of the spell, the final activation must be judged as a different magic entirely. Therefore, the winner is Remily."
"You're surprisingly airheaded, aren't you, Ryoma?" Remily teased, wearing a devious grin. "But a win is a win!"
I felt a cold sweat break out. I had a very bad feeling about what she was going to wish for.