A cloud of dust erupted inches away from Shun’s face, causing him to flinch and cover his eyes with his hand. 

“Boy, your reflexes, reflexes!” Neko yelled over the explosion. “Quit standing there like a mouse and BLAST IT!” 

Blast what exactly? With a warrior cry (at least, he hoped it sounded like one), Shun took aim at the billowing dust cloud and squeezed the trigger. Almost immediately the recoil from releasing the payload slammed his entire body into the ground. 

“Guowahh!” He let out an instinctive gasp as the wind was knocked out of his lungs. 

“You okay?” Rya asked frantically, rushing forward to help him to his feet. 

“Y-yeah, I just unexpectedly lost my balance because f*cking someone—” He glared at Neko “—removed the counter-weight.” 

“Oh, sorry about that,” the cat remarked nonchalantly. “I thought it wasn’t necessary for someone as strong as you.”

“Why, yooouuuuu!” 

“Shun, watch out!” Rya stopped him from lunging at the cat and frantically pointed towards his front. “It’s not finished!” 

“Eh?” He snapped his head around and realised that the golem, which was now missing its head, was stomping towards them at an incredible speed. 

This guy is angry that I shot its head off?! Sh*t, I don’t have time to aim!

“GOGOOGOOOOO!” The clay humanoid doll raised its arms along with a loud roar. 

“Girl, use the support magic I taught you earlier,” Neko said calmly with one eye closed. 

“G-got it.” She quickly placed her hands on the ground and chanted the spell to create a silvery magic circle.

“Light magic, 1st tier 《Reflect Barrier》!”

A dome of pure aureate light suddenly enveloped them. The next moment, the golem’s fists smashed against the barrier and vaporised into sand. It staggered before losing its balance without the help of its limbs.

“O-go?!” 

A thunderous boom sounded as the golem collapsed onto the ground in a cloud of dust. 

“Sugoi…” Shun was so awestruck he began speaking in a different language. 

“It worked?” Rya blinked, stopping the magic spell abruptly. “S-Shun, it worked! My magic worked!!”

“Con—” His words were suddenly cut off by her hug. “—grats?” 

“I…I…” She struggled for a while to put her jumbled thoughts into words. “H…have always wanted to…but I…was so…”

“Easy, easy.” He patted her head softly and smiled. “Thanks, Rya. You did a good job protecting me there.”

“E-ehh? N-no, I wasn’t really…” She blushed and faced away from him. “I’m glad that you’re alright, Shun.” 

“You fools, stop acting so relieved when it was a mere earth golem,” Neko interrupted them with a sigh before looking off into the distance. “I’ve realised that it’ll be a problem if we create too much noise here in the town, so let’s move to the dungeon to continue our training instead.” 

Huh? Wait, there’s something like… 

“There’s a dungeon in this city?!!” 

Neko cocked his head to the side. “Well, it’s not exactly the sort of dungeon you probably have in mind…”

After ten minutes of walking, he brought the two to the southern edge of the district, where there was a tall barricade surrounding some sort of hole in the ground. 

“…but rather, an abandoned mine filled with invasive species from all over the continent.” 

“Um, invasive species?” Rya whispered into Neko’s ears. 

“Well, technically they’re…never mind, you can see for yourself when we enter.” 

Looking around, Shun noticed a metal plate nailed to the barricade wall, with Shangrinese characters inscribed upon it in red. 

“Rya, what does that say?” Shun pointed at the ominous-looking sign. 

“Oh, I think it says—” 

“Give a person a fish, and he’ll be full for a day. Teach a person how to fish, and he’ll be full for a lifetime,” Neko said with a disapproving look. “Never heard of this proverb before, fools?” 

“Huh?” the two muttered in unison. 

“Basically, stop spoiling the boy and teach him the ways of this world instead.” The cat held his paw up to Shun’s forehead and recited a magic spell. 

“《μεταφραση》”

“Hi—i! W-w-what did you just…”

“Read that sign again, boy.” 

He blinked and looked at the metal plate. “D…danger, no entry…wait, did I just-huh-how?!”

“I blessed you with a translation spell I came up with myself,” Neko said proudly. “Bow before my genius, hooman!” 

“Woah, you’re amazing.” Honestly, it was impressive that a cat knew such a useful spell, so Shun decided it was fine to give credit when it was due. 

“Neko, what was that language you spoke just now when reciting your spell?” Rya quizzed with a confused look in her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve heard it before, but it sounds strangely…”

“Familiar, is it?” The cat gave her a sidelong glance. “Well, I can’t comment that it’s a surprise. After all, it’s the language of your ancestors.” 

“Ancestors…you mean, the long-lost language of the Ancients…? B-but, no one should—”

“Uh, it’s not ‘long-lost’, you know?” Neko grabbed the divine manuscript which had been following after Shun and flipped it open for her to see. “All these words which make no sense to you are written in your ancestors’ language. Actually, anyone can read divine manuscripts regardless of whether the ‘Chosen’ is present if they simply understand this language.” 

“S-simply understand an ancient language that is sacred, you say…”

“Would you like to?” Neko held his paw up towards her forehead. 

“U-uh, no thanks, it’s equivalent to defiling the divine manuscripts.” 

“Defiling?” The cat cocked his head to the side as if mocking her. “You hoomans are so weird.”

killwrites

Light magic - A support type magic that utilises the power of Heaven's holy light. Rya's healing magic 《Ephemera》 falls under this category.