Chapter-07 · EP-108

Episode 108: Yuno's Healing Magic Skill Training

The three of us came back to the first floor of the academy dungeon.

"So… how do we level up Healing Magic? …Don't tell me, Shirou, you're going to intentionally get hurt and be my practice dummy?"

"No, I… that could work, but I've heard that repeatedly healing the same person doesn't raise the skill level."

I imagined myself continuing to get hurt as Yuno's practice dummy and broke out in a cold sweat.

I have no desire to willingly get hurt.

During Golden Week, I got badly hurt by Grey Wolves on the fifth floor of Okutama, but I was so hyped up then that my sense of pain was numb.

"Then what do we do?"

"Heal slimes."

"Huh?"

"Humans getting hurt is painful. You damage a slime, cast Healing Magic on it, then defeat it. Repeat this process."

"I've never heard of that. Where did you hear that?"

"I haven't heard it either. I came up with it."

"Just like that? Listen, raising Healing Magic to level 2 is a big deal, you know?"

"So I hear."

"Basically, almost no one raises their skill level before graduating from the academy. It's that hard, so there's no way doing something so strange will work, right?"

Even if she said that, my Healing Magic had reached level 2 that way. But I couldn't say that because it's a secret that I can use Healing Magic.

"But Shirou-kun says so, so let's try it…"

Maika timidly supported me.

Having just made Yuno angry, I didn't want to upset her again. Honestly, Maika's support was a relief.

"Well, if Maika says so…"

Yuno reluctantly agreed. Good. Now we could move forward.

As usual, I had Maika lure slimes with her Water Magic. When a decent number of slimes appeared, I began explaining.

"Listen. If you hit a slime hard, you'll kill it right away. First, gently touch it with your wooden sword. It's important to strike with just enough force to make ripples on the slime's surface."

As I spoke, I gently touched a slime with my wooden sword.

The next moment, the slime vanished and a gem dropped.

"…"

I'd killed it.

"…As you can see, it's easy to kill them. So you need delicate control. You have to damage them just enough not to kill them."

Hearing my explanation, Yuno similarly lightly touched a slime with her wooden sword. Ripples spread across its surface.

"Like this?"

"Yes. Good. Then bring the wooden sword close to the slime and cast Healing Magic as if from the tip of the sword."

"Why do we need to do something so complicated?"

"Healing Magic has a range. You can't cast it if you're too far away."

"But at this distance, it should reach, right? Heal."

Yuno said, spreading her palm, and cast Heal on the slime at her feet.

Sparkling light enveloped the slime.

"It really works. I can heal monsters too!"

"Huh? It reaches at that distance?"

Yuno and I were surprised by different things.

"Of course it reaches, right?"

Yuno looked at me as if to say, "What are you talking about?"

When I used Healing Magic, I couldn't do it unless I got within about 10 centimeters of the target. That's why I used the wooden sword to channel the magic… Yuno's range seemed to be at least one meter.

Probably, Yuno and I had different magical aptitudes. Well, I'm not a mage type, so it can't be helped… It can't be helped…

"Then I defeat it after that?"

"Y-yes!"

Yuno asked permission to defeat the slime, and I agreed.

"Th-that's the idea. Keep casting Heal on new slimes. That should build up Healing Magic experience, and eventually your skill level will rise to 2."

"I don't know if it'll really go up, but I'll try."

Yuno managed not to kill the slime on her first strike. After successfully using Heal on about twenty slimes that she had damaged, she looked tired.

"Phew… I can't use Healing Magic anymore today. I wanted to keep going a bit more."

Come to think of it, when I used Healing Magic, I could only use it four times in a row. I remembered resetting the usage count with Skill Camouflage to continue. Huh? Yuno could use it twenty times? That's a huge difference from me.

"Being able to use it twenty times in a row is amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Thanks to you, Shirou, my explorer level is 3, so I feel I can use it more than before."

Huh? When I verified my skill, I was level 4, right? Does that mean Yuno at level 3 has five times as much magical power as me at level 4? Is my talent that lacking, or is Yuno's that great?

"Shirou?"

"Ah, sorry, I was thinking. Yuno, do you want to continue a bit more?"

"Yeah. We just started, and Maika has gathered more slimes. If only I had a bit more magical power…"

"Then I'll do a secret charm right now. Keep this a secret too."

"Huh?"

I opened Yuno's skill as a party member. I set Healing Magic to Inactive once, then back to Active. A usage count reset. When I did that, I could use magic again.

"Try using magic again now."

"What did you do?"

"It's a charm."

Though she seemed doubtful, Yuno damaged the next slime and cast Heal.

"It worked? Why? I couldn't do it before."

"Then shall we keep going until we defeat all the slimes here?"

"No. Maika, could you gather some more slimes? I want to keep going as long as I can today."

At Yuno's request, Maika answered, "Okay!"

Seeing Yuno's motivated expression, Maika and I looked at each other and smiled.