It was high noon. Clear skies, somewhat windy and a bright sun. Alice couldn't have asked for a better day to go exploring. Just feeling the sun's rays on her body brightened up her mood, a spring setting into her steps.

She summoned her magic stave from her ring, clasping it in her left hand. Over the last few weeks of magic practice, she had begun to use it to cast formulaic spells. It was evident that any mana that passed through the core would be enhanced with the wind attribute. This would not affect non-wind attribute spells but would increase the power of wind attribute spells. This did not affect her Concept Manipulation however, as she was using her own body to tap into her Concept.

Whenever she had the chance, Alice would have the stave in hand, constantly channelling mana through it. This was in order to increase the synergy between herself and the stave. It would become more and more used to handling her mana, making it faster to cast spells. It was a property that Alice discovered by reading [Natural Artificing 3rd Edition - Blacksmith Association].

'I'm about a quarter of the way through the books. However, even if I manage to finish them, I'll still have to reread some of them to deepen my understanding. Some of the books relate to each other, meaning it'll aid my comprehension if I use the knowledge I acquired after to reread previous books.'

Out of all the gifts she had received, the books were the most important. With every piece of information she consumed, her thoughts and mentality changed. Her horizons broadened. Not only that, but she wouldn't be as vulnerable when she began to travel out from Paradise Forest.

Her trek across the forest was uneventful yet as calming as always. Alice had made the habit of using magic instead of Concept Manipulation for any tasks where it was required. It forced her to practice formulaic casting more often instead of relying on her gift as an Immortal.

As for the fruits of her labour...

'An eagle this time...'

Her ears pricked as she felt the presence of a giant eagle swooping down onto her position. It was extremely fast, but it wasn't fast enough. The wind had already told her everything.

In an instant, Alice began to weave runes into the air with the end of her staff at blistering speeds, at least compared to her first attempts at formulaic spellcasting.

A short series of runes blossomed into existence in front of her, after which she initialised the spell with a burst of mana. The runes shone brightly for a moment as she initialised the spell.

The wind rippled as it formed into a sharp gale that cut towards the descending giant eagle. Unable to stop its great momentum, the eagle could only watch as the gale slashed it into ribbons. Alice, who hadn't even looked upwards at her enemy the whole time, breathed a sigh of relief. It was a flawless execution.

This was the first spell she used, the closest rendition of the first attack she ever used. It was a series of sharply focused winds in the shape of needles that were shot towards the enemy head-on. Back then, she had unleashed this attack on the charging boar within a moment's notice. With a formulaic spell, it took her a few seconds to formulate, compile and initialise.

Even so, she was satisfied. She had only been practising spellcasting for a few weeks now. Although she had only learned a few spells, each one was a sign of her progress. They showed that she hadn't been stagnant.

The eagle's lifeless corpse crashed into the ground after the young Immortal quickly moved out of the way. Not only had her magic and knowledge been improving, but so had her battle sense. Although Paradise Forest was said to have weak monsters, that was only relative to other dangerous areas of the continent.

Mana permeated every inch of the realm. This empowered all living beings, including wild animals. This made them bigger, stronger and faster. To the normal person, many of these beasts were life-threatening. This meant that Alice still had to keep her guard up at all times.

Even if she was an Immortal, she could still be killed in a moment of distraction. Keeping up Wind Probe continuously was infeasible, so she had to remain cautious. Being in this state of focus all the time allowed Alice to hone her instincts.

Like all of her previous kills, she stood next to the body, closed her eyes and bowed her head in silence for a minute.

Alice opened her eyes, identifying her attacker as the Grey Crested Giant Eagle. As soon as she made that connection, the girl quickly went on guard. Grey Crested Giant Eagles usually hunted in pairs, a female and a male. Males were much larger and were more aggressive than their partner while the female usually attacked where the male failed.

A few more minutes passed, but nothing happened. Even when she spread Wind Probe, she couldn't detect anything. The sky, where her wind was freest, came upon nothing of note apart from some passing birds. Instead, it was the ground where she detected something strange.

'A human...'

Her eyes turned to an opening in the trees, in the direction of the approaching human. Subconsciously, Alice neatened her hair and adjusted her clothes. It hadn't been long since she met Jeanne but she felt nervous meeting someone else. This whole time, she had only been in the company of the wind and forest.

'I didn't realise it at first, but maybe I starve for social interaction. Maybe I should go out travelling sooner rather than later.' Her face turned pensive at the thought. She was daunted, yet excited.

Rustle, rustle.

A young man wearing mercenary gear moved the branches in front of him out of the way as he walked into the
clearing. He had common features, with brown hair, slightly tanned skin and a lithe figure. The only noticeable thing about him was his rather handsome face. He seemed to be around his early twenties in age.

As the man spotted Alice, he froze, his right hand clasping over the handle of his blade. He had come here to investigate the last known location of his prey, only to find a teenage girl standing beside the dead body of his target.

Because he reflexively readied his sword, the young man didn't even have time to gaze upon her countenance properly. His jaw became slack as soon as he did. She was utterly beautiful and angelic, with a perfectly proportioned face, soul-stealing eyes and an otherworldly temperament.

He gulped.

"Greetings. May I ask if you are searching for this eagle?" Alice spoke after a prolonged stare-off.

Her question broke him out of his stupor. Clearing his throat and releasing his sword's handle, he said, "Ah yes, I am. My name is Henry. What is your name?"

"Alice. I am a mage living in this forest. If you want this corpse for yourself, I have no objection. I just hope that I'll be able to take some of the meat for my meal tonight." She scratched her cheek anxiously.

"U-um, of course. I only need to take home one of the claws. I am working as an adventurer you see, so I need to present proof of completion. You can take the rest. I've already killed the female eagle earlier, so I can use that body instead."

Their conversation was awkward and disjointed. One was thrilled with social interaction while the other was overwhelmed by the other's natural beauty. Fortunately, both seemed content with it.

Plucking up a bit of courage, Alice extended an invitation. "Is that so? How about you stay so I can cook something for you as repayment? I may have been caught off-guard by the female if it wasn't for you."

---

Thus began the two's amiable relationship.

Henry, who worked as an adventurer, made frequent trips to Paradise Forest to complete low ranked requests such as gathering herbs, exterminating pest species or harvesting fruits that the Adventurers Guild had planted.

This meant that Henry could visit Alice many times a week, sometimes every day.

Alice discovered that Henry was actually very well-read. For her, who was still somewhat ignorant of the world, everything he told her was new and exciting. It was hard for Jeanne to provide her with books on every facet of knowledge, nor was that her intention.

Not many people bothered to fully explore Paradise Forest. Not only was it fully mapped long ago, there just wasn't much to be interested in. Paradise Forest was about as mediocre as it could get. In spite of that, Henry continuously accompanied her on strolls around the forest.

They would mostly talk about Henry's adventures around the world. He had many, many stories to share.

"I was almost scammed by the magic shop if it wasn't for a passer by who exposed him. In return, I allowed him to make one free request for me in the Adventurer's Guild, which he hasn't used yet..." Henry sighed. He was very fortunate to have met that man on that day. Otherwise, he could've lost his life in a request if the Blood Replenishment Potion was not up to standards.

"That's very lucky. Do you know where that man is now?" Alice was curious.

"No. Apart from giving me his name, he didn't say much else. Although we had a drink together in the tavern, he was very tight-lipped about his identity. I didn't pry because he was my benefactor."

"Then how do you know that the one requesting you is him?"

"I'm not too sure either. All he said was that 'the time will come', and paid for my drinks before leaving. I was confused but grateful, haha."

Many of his stories were strange yet absorbing all the same. Alice soaked it all up.

She started to wonder. What it would be like to adventure the same way he did.

It was now two weeks after they had met. Henry had visited her purely for personal pleasure, to talk to her a bit more. While he was there, he decided to train his swordsmanship as Alice pored over her magical books. Jeanne had the foresight to include a backpack inside the Spatial Storage Device for this very purpose. Because she couldn't show strangers her necklace, she could fake it by using a bag.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

Her ears perked up. Henry's swings generated a clean cutting sound as they sliced through the air. With her wind, she could tell that each and every single swing was completely straight and consistent. There was no deviation whatsoever.

She could tell. This was the product of hard, relentless work. Countless hours had been put into his sword, which was something that Alice could respect wholeheartedly. She became intrigued.

In her books, there was little mention of swords or any other weapons. It seemed Jeanne had wanted her to take the path of a spellcasting mage from the very beginning. The only thing she did know was that mages were the only beings in the world who worked with mana. Everyone else was exempt.

Instead, they used something called aura. It was briefly described as the manifestation of a being's will. A very vague description, but now, Alice could somewhat understand it after watching Henry for a bit. Even though it didn't seem tangible, she could sense the projection of power in the air.

She continued to watch him for a bit more, trying to figure out the mechanics behind aura. However, even after observing for fifteen minutes, she still wasn't able to make heads or tails of it. It simply didn't follow the same logic as mana.

Henry, who had felt Alice's piercing gaze for a while now, stopped his training and cleared his throat. "Is there something wrong, Alice?"

"Ah... Sorry, I was just trying to figure out how aura worked from looking at you." Slightly embarrassed, she averted her eyes.

"No, no, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that you won't be able to figure out much because my aura hasn't fully manifested yet. Also, you can just ask about these things. Knowledge of aura is quite common, so nobody will be offended if you ask."

Not noticing the slight probe with his last sentence, Alice merely nodded in reply.

"Aura is the collection of our will, achievements, beliefs and inner strength. It is how we warriors project ourselves into reality. A strong aura is a strong warrior. That is the universal rule. Aura cannot be faked. It has to be built step by step, brick by brick.

"It is a mystical power that can't be studied like you mages want to. Although I describe it so amazingly, aura cannot truly compare to mana in many aspects. Aura is purely for fighting and battle while mana can be used for so much more." Henry didn't look sad or angry at the statement. He was merely stating the truth.

"I see... I want to learn it. It interests me." Her voice was bright, full of conviction.

"Eh? I don't recommend that, truly. People who tread both paths will find themselves confused and lost, never to advance far. Not only that, but the properties of aura and mana are so different that they'll interfere with each other."

"It's alright. I'll only dip my hand into it. The way of the sword looks interesting to me." She couldn't be persuaded.

Henry felt his lips twitch. He had realised that Alice was actually a very bullheaded person sometimes. If something caught her interest or attention, she would fixate on that one thing endlessly. Her patience and energy for her topics of interest was endless.

Deciding that it wasn't worth trying to stop an unstoppable force, he let up. "Alright, fine. We should go and get you a sword though. Do you want to go into the town with me?"

Henry currently resided within a nearby town that bordered Paradise Forest. It thrived off of the bounties in the forest. He was currently staying there to rest for a few months, to take time off after a long, arduous journey through the lands.

His offer had a tentative tone as if he was apprehensive of her response.

"...Alright."

---