“Tek here, eco-friendly is important on Earth, but I guess that the one that’s closest to me is solar power. My house had solar panels on it. There is Magic in this fantasy world, I wonder if it is eco-friendly? Where does Magic come from, in the first place, anyway?”

 

“Here I go, *, Wind!” Aialize shows an example.

 

Since I’ve activated the Spirit Seer Skill, I can clearly see what Aialize’s done. With just a single word, she had chanted the spell that made colourless Spirits gather around here--which then turned into the green-coloured Wind Elemental Spirits, which created the Wind phenomenon.

 

The strength is only around Air Hammer, but the chant is incredibly short.

 

“See? The manifested Magic is no different from normal Magic, but the chanting is short, and the required Magic Power is much less--these are the advantages.”

 

“On the other hand, it’s powerless at places without Spirits.” Lua added the disadvantages, which Aialize seems to have forgotten to mention.

 

It’s unclear as to what she means by places without Spirits, but it seems that there aren’t many spirits in man-made places, and Monsters’ dwellings. I understand the latter--they probably become food for the Monsters like the Armoured Newts back then.

 

As for none being where Humans are--it’s probably because the Human Magic turns them into Magic Power, so they can’t breed with all the Humans around using their Magic.

 

When I activated the Spirit Seer Skill, I was treated to the view of light the colour of gold emitted from Aialize. Lua has a faint, flickering light of a colder, silvery, colour.

 

I can see it on the birds flying above the waterfall, though the light is quite faint and hard to make it out.

 

The light leaking out of my body is pale white. When I release the restrained Spirit Light, it’s so intense it makes you think your eyes have stopped functioning, dyeing the surroundings. The Spirits around the waterfall all gather to me at incredible speed--I can’t see too clearly because of the Spirits obstructing the view, but the light seems to be almost warm.

 

Mia has commented that it’s Beautiful, but aesthetically speaking, I think the Spirit Light emitted by Aialize is far more beautiful--I don’t really like white…it’s almost always linked to truly-objectively evil gods, such as gods of light, law, justice, ‘good’, etc.

 

Oops, I can’t see the surroundings like this.

 

I converge the Spirit Light in a hurry, and make it stop leaking. The Spirits, who have lost their goal, unsteadily scatter. The only Spirits remaining, are mostly the ones who have attracted to the Spirit Light emitted from Lua, and Aialize, the world is back to normal.

 

“You’ve already been able to control it at will, haven’t you? Your adaptability is amazing isn’t it. Right, Aze?”

 

“Y-Yeah.” Aialize seems to have been dazzled as she answers Lua half-heartedly, while blinking repeatedly.

 

“I’m sorry, Aialize. I relaxed my control since I wanted to confirm something for a bit.”

 

“I-It’s your first time, so it can’t be helped.”

 

Huh?

 

Why has Aialize’s shyness been reactivated?

 

Even though she was able to talk to me a while ago, she turned towards Lua again as she spoke to me--it might have been too dazzling.

 

“R-Rather than that! Try it!”

 

“Yes, ^, Wind!”

 

Oh?

 

A slight breeze blows even though I failed the chant. I wonder if the Spirits are being considerate?

 

“Oh my? Are you not good with chanting?”

 

“Yes, I can’t do it--no matter what I do.”

 

“Yet, didn’t the wind blow just now?”

 

“The Spirits might be trying to be considerate.” I tell Lua my hunch.

 

But she readily denies it, “That’s not what’s happening. With the exception of something like the Dryad, Spirits don’t have an ego, or rather intelligence. Their only roles are to mechanically take Magic from the Earth Veins, and deliver the Magic to the creatures that need it.”

 

“Is that really so? They’re saying something when a lot of them gather sometimes, you know?” Aialize presents a dissenting opinion.

 

“Aze is the only one who says that. Even the other High Elves don’t say anything like that.”

 

“Uuu, that’s true, but--I really feel like they’re saying something.” Aialize, who was denied by Lua, puffs out her cheeks and turns away.

 

I wouldn’t discount it. It’s both that I learned by working a long time in the field of game development to never consider ANY bug report as an ‘It’s just your imagination’…no matter how strange or silly they may seem.

 

“May I test it once?”

 

“Jeez, even you Tek.” Lua rolls her eyes.

 

“Try it! You’ll absolutely hear it!”

 

When I release my dazzling my Spirit Light, hundreds, thousands of Spirits rush towards me, dancing and spinning. After almost ten minutes, I am surrounded by them, like a glowing, shifting, cocoon.

 

Hmm…I don’t hear anything.

 

Right as I think this, I receive a microscopic amount of Magic from the Spirits.

 

Hmm?

 

This seems to be similar to a Signal?

 

The moment I recognize this, I can hear a little commotion, as well as the sense as though something clicked. My Magic is depleting incredibly quickly, but I am sure I can hear 7 voice whispering, just outside my range of ‘hearing’.

 

I didn’t get any Skills however, so maybe there is a missing condition.

 

“They seem to be saying something, or relaying something…I can hear seven individual voices--but I can’t understand it.” I hide my Spirit Light again, allowing the Spirits to disperse.

 

“That’s right! I want to hear it at least once!” Aialize raises her hands as she almost cheers.

 

“Tek, you’re not kidding, right?”

 

I explained to the perplexed Lua that I was telling the truth.

 

***

Unfortunately, I couldn’t employ Spirits either.

 

I had already expected it, just like with Magic--I couldn’t chant.

 

It’s almost as though Chanting was made to be my direct antithesis--it went beyond pure tone and tune deafness. It was like my psyche was programmed against it--It annoyed me, I vowed to myself that I would somehow learn it.

 

Due to a careless mistake from Aialize, who tried to show me an example, Lua and I were soaked--but I couldn’t complain, since I obtained the Spirit Magic Skill at that time. Aialize being scolded, looking down and scratching at the rock with her toe--is strangely cute.

 

When I turned and looked at the World Tree behind me with Spirit Seer activated, since it caught my attention, I saw that the body of the tree shines incredibly brightly. Moreover, when I strain my eyes, I can see concentric circles of light spreading out like ripples around the tree branches.

 

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

 

“Yes, very much so. Is the World Tree a ‘Source’ like in Dragon Valley?”

 

Aialize had explained that usually only Sources gave off Spirit Light--and the occasional Elf…almost never Humans. Which was why I was so unusual.

 

“No, it’s different--”

“Aze.”

“--, that’s not from Earth Veins, but from the Void…err, I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?”

 

“Well, I don’t mind if it’s Tek, but please don’t spread it to the outside world, okay?”

 

I nod to Lua.

 

Aialize smiles happily at Lua’s words, nodding enthusiastically, before continuing to speak, “Do you know that there is Ether flowing in the Void?”

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

“Oh my, you can just study if you don’t know. Ether is--” Aialize proudly began explaining Ether.

 

She began explaining about the four main Elements: Water, Earth, Air, and Fire. How they were the source of everything around us, but, but there was one hidden Element. This Element is called Ether, and it is basically the other four combined into one--it is Magic, with no modifications…pure Magic.

 

“--and then, you see, the World Tree uses its foliage. Rather, its roots?” She cutely tilts her head with a slim finger resting on her chin, “No, Terminals, to suck Magic out of the flowing Ether. Then the released Magic is sent deep into the ground, and supplied to the Earth Veins, which split it into the four Elements and supplies it to the world. The Spirit Light on the World Tree is the figures of Spirits who have gathered on the leaking Magic that’s flowing from the Void and to the Earth.”

 

I see.

 

So the World Tree is basically a gigantic Magic Tool.

 

However, Aialize, she’s explaining very fluently, completely unlike before, “If such a thing was to be known to the greedy Huma--people around here, a lot of countries would aim for the World Trees--starting from Bornean, so please, keep this a secret.”

 

It seems to be a gigantic Zero-Point Energy Generator, feeding off the free energy (Zero Point Energy) in space. Whoever made it seems to have either an incredible knowledge of Magic, or Technology…or both.

 

I promised the two that I absolutely would never reveal it. I told them that I wouldn’t mind being bound by a Contract, or Geass, but Aialize smiled wryly, saying, “You don’t have to go that far.

 

I was serious, I wonder if the Elves don’t have much of a sense of crisis?

 

Lua confirms for me, “If the world is looking like the World Tree is being mismanaged, Divine Punishments will fall from the gods…so I don’t think the worst would happen.”

 

That reminds me, this is a world where gods exist…it still seems so odd to me.