We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Though we are in the middle of a trial, there’s been an incident!
As the night deepened, the harshness of the trial began to stand out.
First, I’m sleepy.
I’m not bragging, but I’m on the longer side when it comes to sleep.
During the day, I spend my time happily and busily with everyone, and at night, I spend it quietly.
Those ideal days are rare, and it’s busy every night. And when I get into bed, I sleep soundly as if to heal my tiredness.
Even today, I had a fun but busy day with Mary-sama, including a long journey and reporting to the King. At night, I ate until I was full.
So, it’s natural for the sleep demon to attack.
“But I won’t sleep!”
“Munyaan.”
Because if I fall asleep here, the Chicken Dragon’s technique will be released, and the trial will end in failure.
Nimia had been prepared a fluffy bed and was sleeping there.
Beside her, I concentrated on staying conscious.
The sleepiness is bearable.
No matter how sleepy I am, I can stay awake in crucial moments. That’s me.
However, the next problem is concentration.
I’ve been maintaining the Chicken Dragon’s technique for longer than ever.
Originally, after it appeared, I would have it charge at the target, and that would be it. The Chicken Dragon’s technique was supposed to require only a moment of concentration and minimal maintenance. But I had been maintaining it for more than half a day.
“Elnea-sama, the outline of the Chicken Dragon’s tail feathers is starting to look hazy?”
“Oh, my apologies.”
At Mary-sama’s remark, I hastily corrected the shape of the Chicken Dragon.
I used my imagination to restore the Chicken Dragon’s tail.
If I focus and concentrate, the Chicken Dragon’s technique is maintained, and it behaves as if it were real.
However, when this is prolonged, the outlines become distorted, and the movements become unnatural, as they are now. This is because my mind wanders even though I think I’m concentrating, or things that wouldn’t feel strange for a short time become unnatural when they last for a long time.
And by tightening my stray thoughts, refocusing, and correcting unnaturalness, I further deplete my spirit and dragon energy.
“Mary-sama, you are amazing. To maintain a spell for two days!”
“Elnea-sama is more amazing! Your battle against the Demon King was deeply moving!”
Mary-sama, who had just finished hearing stories about the battle with the Demon King from Madrine-sama, had her eyes sparkling.
Unusually for a girl, she seems to love adventure tales. Or rather, it’s natural for her, being Madrine-sama’s sister.
“That’s right, Mary. Elnea-kun is a splendid person. If it weren’t for Elnea-kun, we could never have defeated the Demon King.”
“Wonderful, amazing, moving!”
Even though it was past midnight, Madrine-sama, Leonora-sama, and Iria-sama remained in the living room, perhaps to accompany me in the “training” of maintaining spells through the night.
It’s kindness, not wanting to put only a girl through hardship.
Also, it seems the apprentice miko serving the Variety Family are also staying up all night.
Moreover, to make sure their waking hours are not wasted, Leonora-sama’s lecture began late at night.
The apprentice miko gathered in front of the fireplace, unused since spring, and earnestly received Leonora-sama’s lessons.
“I can’t fall behind either.”
Madrine-sama also had a long journey. In fact, Madrine-sama, who worked late into the night, should be more tired. Nevertheless, she is taking care of Mary without a single yawn.
The apprentice miko are surely tired from various services during the day, yet they are attending this sleepless lecture.
If that’s the case, I, the head of the Ys Family, cannot afford to complain or fail the trial!
The basic principle of training is meditation.
I closed my eyes, calmed my consciousness deep within, and entered meditation.
The next day, the training continued even as the morning sun rose.
I maintained the Chicken Dragon’s technique, and Mary-sama maintained a small Moonlight Arrow.
After finishing breakfast, I went out to the garden with its gently sloping lawn and continued my meditation.
It’s better to be awakened by bathing my whole body in sunlight.
Mary-sama also ran around the spacious garden with Nimia.
Mary-sama is energetic again today.
I kept my mind from being disturbed by the surrounding noise, maintaining a stable spirit.
I drew power from the Dragon Vein, replenishing my lost Dragon Energy, and continued to maintain the Chicken Dragon’s technique.
The problem of Dragon Energy depletion is irrelevant to me now. However, maintaining concentration is truly painful.
Just a moment of laxity and the Chicken Dragon’s movement stops, its outline distorts.
“This won’t do. Concentrate!”
“Elnea-kun, please do your best.”
“Yes, leave it to me.”
Madrine-sama seems to be off today.
It seems she worked late last night to make time for me.
Madrine-sama is also working hard in unseen ways. If so, I must work even harder.
Even so, will I be able to maintain the Chicken Dragon for another full day…
As expected, the most concerning issue is concentration.
Meditation not only replenishes Dragon Energy but also calms the mind, prolonging concentration. However, I can’t just meditate endlessly. In fact, if I, the elder, can’t break out of a meditative state while Mary-sama is energetically running around, I feel like I’m losing even if I overcome the trial.
As expected, countermeasures to maintain concentration are necessary.
I need to re-examine the basics.
What is a Dragon Technique? How is power transformed into a technique and how does it manifest its effects?
Just as Mary-sama is maintaining the Moonlight Arrow, a basic spell, I must return to the basics of Dragon Arts. Otherwise, I may not be able to truly overcome Mary-sama’s trial.
So, what are the basics, the fundamentals of Dragon Arts? I was about to ponder this when…
“A-a-a, it’s an emergency! Please help us!”
A man came running up from below the hill in a panic.
Madrine-sama reacted quickly.
“What is the matter?”
Madrine-sama asked, addressing the breathless man with concern. The man, still out of breath, pointed down the hill, signifying a disturbance.
“Monsters! An Earth Snake has appeared!”
At the man’s shout, people from the main house also emerged.
“Apprentices, prepare your naginatas and medicine. Madrine, as Head Miko, you will wait here. I and Iria will head to the scene.”
“No, Mother. I will accompany Elnea-kun as well.”
As Leonora-sama gave the order, the apprentice miko who were serving moved swiftly.
Madrine-sama refused her mother, Leonora-san, who was also a High Miko, and looked at me. Then, urging the man who brought the monster information, she began to descend the hill.
“Sister… Head Miko, I will also assist as a Miko!”
Following Madrine-sama, Mary-sama, though young, also ran out.
“I’m going ahead!”
I, too, couldn’t afford to be leisurely.
Scanning the surroundings from the top of the hill, I could see a place where dust was rising between the rows of trees and the roofs of houses.
Immediately after confirming the location. I had already activated the Spatial Jump.
With the first jump, I descended the hill, and by the time my vision changed for the second time, I had passed through the forest and was on the roof of a house. Using the next jump, I arrived at the location where the monster, the “Earth Snake,” had appeared.
And then I saw it.
In front of my switched vision.
A man cowering by the roadside, perhaps in fear. A long, earth-colored giant monster was extending its body from underground, about to attack the man by opening its mouth wide at the tip!
“Haa!”
Maintaining the force of the Spatial Jump, I delivered a kick.
The Earth Snake, hit by my kick, wriggled its earth-colored body, like a snake born from the ground, like a rope.
The intense impact shook the eyeless head of the Earth Snake, and its gaping mouth crashed into a place different from the crouching man.
However, my impromptu kick lacked sufficient Dragon Energy.
The Earth Snake, failing to land a finishing blow, let out a strange cry and disappeared into the ground.
It has a similar nature to the “Demon Beast’s Hiding Technique.”
The monster called the Earth Snake does not burrow holes in the ground to hide.
It merges with the ground and hides its long, snake-like body underground.
Therefore, it leaves no trace of burrowing, and attacking the ground indiscriminately will not defeat the Earth Snake.
Moreover, unlike the Demon Beast’s Hiding Technique, which conceals its true form within the Dragon Vein, the Earth Snake had completely merged with the ground.
Even when searching for any presence underfoot, I could vaguely sense the monster’s presence, but I couldn’t pinpoint its exact location.
In other words, the only way to defeat the Earth Snake is to aim for the moment it reveals itself from the ground.
“Now, please escape.”
Still, I had bought some time.
I urged the terrified man to flee to higher ground.
The Earth Snake attacks from beneath the ground. If so, the probability of being targeted should be lower if one flees to a higher location.
However, it was uncertain if the terrified man would move as I instructed. In fact, he clung to my leg, hindering my movements.
“Hey, please let go. I have to defeat the monster, and it’s dangerous here!”
“P-please! My brother was eaten by that demon!”
“What!?”
There had already been a victim!
Furthermore, the threat of the Earth Snake was not over yet.
“Kyaaaaahh!!”
A woman’s scream echoed from another path, beyond the houses.
“Damn it. It moved to that side now!”
The monster’s presence beneath my feet remained vague and extended over a wide area. And the Earth Snake attacked a different person elsewhere!
“Anyway, you get to higher ground on your own! And leave your brother to me!”
Honestly, I wasn’t confident I could save the brother who was supposedly eaten. Nevertheless, I had to make the man clinging to me feel at ease, get him to safety, and rush to the place where the scream had occurred.
With a somewhat forceful pull, I released the man and activated the Spatial Jump.
I jumped over houses and to the back alley, then performed a Spatial Jump again. There, I found a woman crouching down again. And this time, it wasn’t just the woman. Beside her, a girl let out a cry resembling a scream. Furthermore, there was a lot of blood from the crouching woman!
“Mom! Mom!”
The crying girl.
Apparently, the Earth Snake had attacked and injured her mother.
However, the Earth Snake itself was nowhere to be seen.
“Damn it. Did it escape!”
Luckily or unluckily.
Perhaps sensing my presence keenly from when I kicked it earlier, the Earth Snake seemed to have escaped underground before it could devour the attacked woman.
However, I could still feel the monster’s presence beneath my feet.
The Earth Snake hadn’t fled. If so, it would attack again somewhere!
While paying attention to the ground, I hurried towards the two.
The woman was bleeding heavily from her head.
“Elnea-kun!”
At that moment, Madrine-sama, who had rushed over using the spell “Star Crossing,” caught up. Mary-sama also arrived by hitching a ride on Madrine-sama’s Star Crossing.
“Madrine-sama, please protect the woman!”
“Yes. I will use healing magic. Mary, in the meantime, please set up a barrier around us to prevent an attack.”
“Y-yes!”
For a moment, Mary-sama looked up at the two Moonlight Arrows floating above her head. However, she soon closed her eyes and began to chant an invocation.
At the same time, one of the two Moonlight Arrows floating above Mary-sama’s head disappeared.
“I see. Mary-sama is using two spells simultaneously, one Moonlight Arrow each.”
As expected of a genius young miko.
But this is no time for admiration.
“Please be careful. The Earth Snake is submerged underground, aiming for its next prey. Also, Madrine-sama, if necessary, please use Grandpa’s secret medicine.”
“The subjugation of the monster is up to Elnea-kun. And. This woman has a head wound, but it’s not that deep. It looks like a lot of blood when the head is cut, but I judge it not to be serious enough for the secret medicine.”
While performing healing magic on the bleeding woman, Madrine-sama smiled.
Her gentle smile, full of compassion, soothed the heart of the girl crying beside the bleeding woman.
“It’s alright. Your mother will be saved, I promise.”
Enveloped by the Head Miko’s smile, the girl calmed down a little.
“Alright, then I’ll do my best and defeat the Earth Snake too!”
I stepped out into the center of the road, passing through the barrier Mary-sama had erected.
“Come on, if you’re going to come!”
Rather, I wish it would show itself quickly!
Otherwise, I can’t rescue the brother of the man who was eaten earlier.
“Kueh,” the Chicken Dragon, shaped by visible Dragon Energy, finally caught up to my feet at that moment.
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