Practicing magic in human form seemed to actually be incredible beneficial in Jelin's training.  He still had a monster core and could feel it but it was like it was slightly subdued or hidden.  He was pretty sure it was part of the whole making him seem as human as possible thing.  It did make drawing mana from his core more difficult and he could only seem to pull about half as much as normal.

Humans' normal way to use magic, though, seemed to be not to draw it from a core inside themselves but from outside.  Since the mana outside of his body was a lot more sparse in ways, like dust clouds sitting in the air, then he could only assume that normal human magic was weaker until they learned more precise control and could pull from a wider area to cast spells.

Since he could still get half a draw from his core while using the half as much from around him it made his magic not actually weaker than his normal monster self.  Working on magic in human form like that helped him improve his magic skills considerably, though.  He had to sense more mana in a wider area and learn to control it much better than he normally would.  He decided that it was one of the few benefits of his human form.

When lunch time came he sent a message through the link to Conk to ask her to bring some extra berries for the faerie as he headed out to join everyone for the meal.  He noticed that the faerie was still thinking while watching them so he mostly ignored her while talking to everyone else and asking what they'd been up to.  When everyone was done eating he debated whether to talk to the faerie or give her more time and go talk to Scratches about her new evolution abilities.

<Okay.  So I said I'd let you think by yourself until lunch about whether you'd actually let me teach you or not.  I just don't want to have to argue every time I say something.>

<...I want proof.  Prove your way works.>

<I have no good way to do that anymore.  You showed up late and the proof I could have shown is already gone.  Unless you can find a new faerie that has never evolved and is willing to listen to me, I can't think of a good way to prove it other than you just giving it a try.  The only other proof I have is all the girls here.>

<How are they proof?>

<That's my point.  They won't work as proof for you.  You're too young.  If you could find a much older faerie that had seen a lot of arachnae and manteae then the girls here would be good proof.  You could easily see how different they are to other arachnae and manteae.>

<How much time would you need me to try it for to prove it works?>

<Considering we have to do this the hard way...probably thirty days if we both really push it but sixty if you want a guarantee that there would be proof.  The easy way would be about half the time.>

<So if I do everything you say and don't argue back for one month then you'll have proof that your way works?>

<Within reason, yes.  I don't want you to be my slave or something.  Part of what I'm teaching involves actually thinking for yourself.  For instance, the mantea that's always walking around and playing with the plants has had four or five evolutions and has not yet picked any that are meant strictly for combat or any that are near the strength where you would be able to become a queen even though she had the options to.  She barely ever fights anything and spends most of her time just playing around with plants or checking on the rest of us and we all consider her pretty much the strongest one here.>

<She's the strongest one even though she can't fight and even refused to pick a strong evolution?>

<Other than the part where she can't fight, the rest of that is right.  She can fight, she just doesn't because she doesn't need to.  Nobody could really hurt her anyways.>

<How does that work?>

<Because she learned the first thing I tried to teach everyone very well.  There are a bunch of ways to say it but I like the simplest one.  There are a lot of different kinds of strengths.  What's yours?>

<Huh?>

<Ya.  It seems hard to understand but that's really all it is.  Look in the workshop over there.  There's an arachne in there who also pretty much never fights.  She thinks of things and makes things.  Think of the humans who captured you.  Did all of those humans just walk into you all and punch each of you one by one to capture you?  Did you ever even fight the queen they brought?  No, right?  Different kinds of strength.>

<Humans are weak, though.>

<Then why did you run away and come here?  Humans are physically and magically weak compared to most monsters and yet they still managed to capture the strong fox that helped you and forced you to flee as soon as you escaped.  It's just a different kind of strength.  You could try and be strong the same was as others you've thought of as strong until now, sure.  It's not for me to force you into a direction, just to teach you that there's more than the one direction you thought there was.>

<What's your kind of strength, then?>

<Guidance and knowledge.>

<What about the bee evolving in there?>

<Camaraderie, leadership, and determination.>

<What's mine.>

<I don't know.  That's for you to find out.  After I spend some time with you I could take some guesses but it's still partly your choice.>

<Partly?>

<Everyone has their own natural inclinations.  Just like every faerie has their own magic.  You're not the faerie I would go to when I feel too hot and need something to help me cool off.  It's not to say you couldn't still find a way to do it but your natural magic is definitely not made for that.>

<That part actually made sense...>

<Types of strength are similar.  It's something the non-monsters have been using as their advantage for so long.  They figured out that monsters are too strong normally and not everyone has the same kind of strength.  Once they started letting more of themselves work in the ways of their own types of strength they managed to start matching us monsters.

Actually, that's not entirely true.  First mistake in what I said is that they aren't matching us monsters.  They're winning against us.  The other thing I said that was a little off was that they started winning not when they started to follow their own types of strength but when they did that as well as learned how to become constantly stronger like us monsters as well.

No matter what they will never be as good at getting stronger as us.  We will also never be able to be as good at following our own types of strength as they are.  The biggest problem is that too few monsters even know that there are different types of strength or how to figure it out and work towards it.

So now I've taught you the first big lesson, even if you don't fully understand it yet.  Here's the second: knowledge is a type of strength.  If you can learn these two things and adhere to them, then everything else is actually pretty easy to learn or figure out yourself.>

<Maybe you aren't human...>

<All of that and that's somehow what you got out if it?>

<Well, it felt like you thought of them like an enemy.>

<...I do.  We can still learn from our enemies, though.  That said, I think it's pretty much agreed that I only have one month to teach you and prove that my way works.  So let's figure out what type of strength you're naturally inclined to.  Forget about being queen or getting stronger for a moment.  What do you want to do?>

<...that's all, though.  I have to get stronger and become a queen.>

<Okay, let's just imagine that you can't.  What would you do instead?  What sounds like fun?  It doesn't matter how silly or pointless it might seem.  Go swimming?  Stop flying and climb trees?  Play pranks?  Maybe think about the time you were safe in the other forest with the fox.  What did you do then?>

<I flew around and blinded things with magic.>

<All the time?  No sleeping or anything?>

<Of course we slept.  Oh.  Sometimes we rested on the fox and helped her scratch some of her itches.>

<Now we're getting somewhere.  Why did you blind things, by the way?>

<That was my role.  Blind like whoof and then the things are confused and can't find us to eat us.>

<So you only blinded enemies and food?>

<No.  I blinded all the things because I'm really good at!  It was funny when some things started stumbling around.>

<So you like causing confusion and playing tricks but your magic is the only way you knew how.  Alright.  I think I have an idea.  Come with me but be very very quiet, okay.>