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10.42% Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World / Chapter 40: Arc 2, Chapter 18: Trial and Error

Chapter 40: Arc 2, Chapter 18: Trial and Error

Wheels scraped against the floorboards, the blades all clanging as it moved. Jotou pushed the rack of second-hand swords out the door, blocking the exit.

"You're gonna have to push that till the back," Hotaru told through the gap above.

Jotou sighed. 'Why does every sword I use end up breaking?' She pushed it out the- "THumP! ClAng!" -door…

The withering white flowers and grass were trampled by metal. Jotou groaned to the sky whilst a brunette slipped past, quickly making her way to the back of the house.

"Some help would be nice!" Jotou exclaimed before Fumeko got out of earshot. "Asobi!? Can you help me with this?"

The magician appeared out the door and peered to the fallen blades, "Are we burying the swords? Silly Jotou, they're swords, they don't need funerals!" Asobi shook her head with a smile.

"Just help me pick them up…"

Fumeko made her way to the back—the open plane of grass stretched out till Kria Park in the near distance, trees scarcely to their side.

"Woah! Are these all for me to learn shadow magic!?" Fumeko gawked to the dozens upon dozens of open books, with notes pinned to bookmark the pages.

Hotaru held her fists to her waist, "What? No, yours are over there," she pointed to about five books, closed and stacked to the side.

"These are all for Jotou. You're going to be learning heat," the teapot kept to that side made more sense now.

Fumeko's eyes lost all lustre, "Heat…? All the magic in the world and a shadow affinity to learn heat?"

The mass of bouncing swords clattered up the grass to the back of the house, pushed by the other two.

Hotaru glared, "If you can learn heat quickly, we can do something else. You don't have to master it, you can even forget it afterwards, it doesn't matter.

It's just to give you a warm up. As much as you think I'm great at magic, I'm only great at my magic. I've yet to actually pinpoint what yours and Jotou's affinities actually are; we only know what your magic is based on.

With that information, I can then get a better set of spells for you to learn; unless you do want to be a bleeding mess with shattered bones?"

"Ai, ai, ai, I get it! Can we stop bringing it up?" Jotou set the rack up, a training dummy she stuck into the ground like a scarecrow.

"Fine, but a cool spell later?" Fumeko bargained.

"That's the entire point- Jotou? You didn't put it on an even surface," Hotaru noticed to the side of her; the rack of swords began to roll back to the front of the house.

"Asobi!" Jotou chased the fleeing rack.

Asobi had moved over, playing with butterflies made from her wand, "Huh?" the rack rolling right past her face.

_

She felt a calming tingle in the back of her mind, the tea being sipped down her throat. Jotou sat across from Hotaru; Asobi tried to catch actual butterflies near some of the closer trees.

"Feeling ready?" Hotaru's tail swished, some fruits sitting by her side.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Jotou set the cup down, the tea actually tasting good this time, "Take it away senpai."

Hotaru's ears pricked as she tilted her head, "What did you call me?"

"Uh," Jotou winced an eye close, "It just means mentor, different language, sorry… You said that I need to know exactly what my affinity is, right?"

Hotaru smiled, "No need to apologize, I like learning about your world; and yes. You've already casted a few spells successfully, so, from there we can figure out what the major one is."

Hotaru pulled out the scrolls they got from the shop and flipped open some pages, "Spark is an enchantment spell, but also a support spell.

You imbue lightning into something, like yourself and the things you hold, and create a soft field around yourself. That just means you can take a few more punches than normal;"

She opened up another book, "and you can also cast Thundering Strike; which is purely an offensive spell," she shrugged.

"Oh?" Jotou made a connection, "That's why Thundering Strike always injures me? It's not my affinity to cast it."

"Wait, no," Hotaru shook her head, "You casted it successfully, your body was just not ready for that high of a spell."

"Then… I have two affinities?" Jotou came to the conclusion.

Hotaru closed the book, "It doesn't work like that. Don't think of it as a lock. An affinity is more like… a sponge, that absorbs types of magic from the element you're aligned with.

Like, my rejuvenate spell is a pure support spell. My 'main' affinity is healing, but I can also cast support spells to a lesser degree.

If someone had a support affinity aligned with water, their rejuvenate would be much more effective than mine even if I do master the spell to a tee.

Out of the current spells you've casted, you can either cast enchantment or support magic and can definitely cast offensive magic. But we still need to narrow it down further."

"So, what affinity does heat pinpoint?" Fumeko leered over her own shoulder. Her hands were still pointed towards another teapot—the spell still not working.

"You don't talk till you can boil the water in that," Hotaru ordered.

She was responded to with a grumble, "At this point the Sun will heat it before I do," or the light morning breeze brushing past her hair might cool it too quickly…

"How do we narrow it down further? I assume through trial and error?"

"You assume right," Hotaru took notes she had written herself; neat in her penmanship. "Sparkglow is a pure enchantment spell that makes things give light; it's intermediate so, not too hard," she opened up a book and showed it to Jotou.

Jotou read the spell. 'Lightning coalescing around an object to make it glow brightly.' Ready, she stood up, grabbing one of the many swords.

"Ooo! Spell time already!?" Asobi rushed over, letting a blue butterfly escape from her palms.

Jotou held her sword up. "Remember, take it slow and don't force it. You've casted a few lightning spells now, so you know the best thing that gives you control over your spells," Hotaru hoped at least.

Jotou took a breath and closed her eyes, the eyes of her companions all taking glances. "Sparkglow," something went wrong, no something's not wrong.

She said the words, but her body felt stiff… 'What's going on?' She felt a sudden; 'What's this… buzz?' Her eyes tightened and tightened. Something in the back of her mind, like her spine was being blocked.

"Jotou?" Hotaru's voice called her out of it before the blonde gritted her teeth.

Jotou opened her eyes, the odd sensation akin to being coiled around by a snake, disappearing as she did. The sword remained as dull as when it was taken from the rack.

Hotaru got up, "It didn't work?" she narrowed her eyes.

"I- It felt like a buzz… it, it never felt like that before, it was always more of a, tingle I guess; I don't know how to explain it," Jotou moved her limbs like an awakened statue.

Hotaru walked with haste towards her, checking her arm immediately, feeling her face and shoulders. "What are you doing?" Fumeko leered.

"I get what you mean, but you're okay?" Hotaru checked.

Jotou nodded, "Yeah, just felt a little, off."

Hotaru exhaled, "That buzz is what many mages try to push past and cast spells they're not supposed to. It means you can't cast that type of spell. Don't try again."

"I can't cast enchantment magic then…"

"That doesn't make sense! Look at her, she's so enchanting! How can you not use enchantment magic?" Asobi lied on the grass with her legs swinging behind her, head held by her hands.

Jotou's face reddened slightly.

"What that means, is that she can cast support magic and offensive magic, which is what we need if we're ever to properly face a velatos," Hotaru brushed aside.

Fumeko turned her leer to the teapot, her hands getting tired. Her nose scrunched more and more.

"What do I do now?" Jotou steadied.

"Luckily, the tea prevented that mana-block from turning into an injury. Let's see how good you can get with your support magic, then we try your offensive magic," Hotaru scheduled.

The redhead picked up an apple, "Spark imbues lightning energy from mana. This means you can give others some support too," she placed the apple on the ground a few metres away, "Cast spark on it."

"From here?"

Hotaru nodded to Jotou.

"Okay…" Jotou reached her left hand out. 'Come on magic, work.' "Spark," she, didn't cast? 'That… feeling again, ugh!' She tried to shake off.

'Come on, work, I know I can cast you. Just spark the apple!' Try as she might, not even a shimmer of shock appeared. 'Fine, how about a book?' Jotou changed her focus, brows knitting together.

The book only flipped pages by the wind. She could feel the buzz. 'Come on!' The result remained the same. 'Why isn't it working!? AH!' "GAH!"

"Jotou?" Asobi squeaked.

"Jotou!" Hotaru rushed over.

"Pins and needles, pins and needles," her arm fell limp, losing control.

"I told you not to push it!" water went around her arm, soothing through… Her fingers one by one could shift, allowing the blood to flow proper again.

"Idiot," Fumeko commented.

"I've casted spark so many times, even for fun sometimes, why didn't it work?" the blonde knitted her brows.

"There's a reason obviously but," Hotaru looked her in the eyes, the fur on her tail spiking up, "Don't. Push. It."

Jotou stepped back. She gulped feeling her heart stop for a second to the fangs that glared three simple words. "Sorry…" 'You can beat her in a fight Jotou… I'll, I'll get back at her for this…'

Hotaru sighed, "You should be fine to continue; as long as you don't pull something stupid like that again."

"I won't," Jotou submitted—for now at least.

"Good," she went and grabbed the apple, "I might have a theory. Try spark on your sword."

Jotou looked back and forth, the sword and her. 'Easier to listen for now.' She heeded, "Spark," the sword in her grasp lit up with fizzles of electricity and so did her other hand, "Oh now it works," she rolled her eyes.

"Dispel it," Hotaru threw the apple over. Jotou lost concentration on the spell and caught the fruit. "Try sparking the apple now," she told, "And don't push it!"

"Yeah, yeah," she looked at the bright red, taking a deep breath. "Spark," she attempted, her eyes closed; that slight tingle. When she opened them, the apple was coalescing with electricity, "What in the world?"


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Eletro101 Eletro101

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Fumeko and the teapot:

-Source: https://picrew.me/image_maker/1806243

Chapter 41: Arc 2, Chapter 19: When Met with Failure

"Throw it over," Hotaru put her palm out. Jotou did as such and the apple lost the spell effect mid-throw. "As I thought. Spark doesn't truly have a range; it seems like you need to be touching the object," Hotaru caught it.

"Throw it to me!" Asobi reached her hand up. Hotaru tossed the apple over, hitting her right on top of her head.

Hotaru flinched, "Sorry!"

"It's okay!" she picked up the apple and bit into it, "Mm, shocky!"

"So, I need to be touching it," Jotou repeated.

"Not only that, spark is based on your concentration. As long as you concentrated, that apple should still be under the spell no matter where it went," Hotaru added.

"I was definitely still concentrating," Jotou checked her hand which was still sparking arcs of electricity in between her fingers. "Did I cast the spell wrong?"

Hotaru checked the book, "No. These books and scrolls are just guidelines. Each person casts differently; I struggle a bit to cast at range, but it seems that you're physically unable to do it.

Not to worry, the more you learn and use, you'll figure out how to shape your spells based on you."

"Then you can make your own spells!" Asobi threw fireworks in the air, barely visible in the daylight.

"That's a whole other endeavour. Asobi's just gifted…"

"Now, offensive spells?" Jotou queried to Hotaru.

"Correct," Hotaru shut the book she held, "I already had one in mind," she grabbed the notes she had and handed one of them to Jotou.

"Zap?" Jotou read, "Creative name there… Let's out a desired amount of lightning energy in a quick jolt… intermediate…"

"Don't give me that."

"I wasn't complaining," Jotou quickly defended.

"It's purely an offensive spell, that releases electricity. If anything, it's thundering strike, but easier to learn.

Who knows? If you keep using it and empowering it, it might even become a grandmaster spell, substituting thundering strike completely," Hotaru shrugged.

"Uh huh, you're definitely not trying to coerce me there…"

She picked up another apple, "Try zap, then try it on this apple."

"What do you have against apples?" Fumeko spoke.

"What do you have against boiling tea?"

Jotou closed her eyes. 'I won't force it. This should be easy, just, zap.' Jotou put the blade down and followed the instructions Hotaru wrote on the paper.

She brought her hands close together, not touching. 'Lightning, let's do this. We have a lot to learn and so many things to face.' "Zap!" sparks fizzled at her fingertips.

"PFT!" Within nanoseconds, a jolt of lightning zapped in between her hands—a yellow flash. "AHA! I did it!"

"Zap!" she did it again, the flash sparking in front of her eyes, "Zap," the fizzling sound was oh-so satisfying to hear. The mana flowing through gave her goosebumps, compared to from when they were blocked.

"Jotou! Jotou! Apple!" Asobi hopped up.

"Right!" Jotou smiled, facing Hotaru. Knowing she was prepared, the redhead threw the apple in the air. "Zap!" the sparks left maybe a few …centimeters from her palm. 

"Thud…" The apple fell onto the ground, "Oh come on!" Jotou groaned. "Zap!" the lightning left her fingers, dissipating again before it made any significant distance.

Hotaru picked it up from the ground, "I thought so," she threw the apple once more.

Jotou caught it; she examined it and rotating it in her grasp, "Zap," between her fingers it fizzled and popped! Smoke emanated from the burnt apple.

"Can I try it!?" Asobi ran over and Jotou handed it to her. "Mmm. Charred!"

"Yeah, I could tell…"

"Well, I think we know your affinity. The fact that your thundering strike does that much without fully killing you and the ease of you picking up that spell…

Your main affinity is close range offensive magic and you also have a slight affinity towards self-support magic," Hotaru diagnosed.

"I can buff myself and have melee attacks…? You mean, I can't shoot lightning bolts?" Jotou sighed, "Still, that's pretty cool."

"Selfish~ Selfish~ Jotou's so selfish~" Fumeko hummed, bobbing her head.

"You; heat," Hotaru's head twisted.

Fumeko huffed and stood up, "I'm so done with this heat thing! It's clearly not working! Give me an actual shadow spell!"

"Meko, it's better to at least get a feel for it," Hotaru calmly explained.

"Oh yeah? What was your first spell?"

"Heat."

"Liar," Fumeko folded her arms.

"Prove it."

"Come on!!!" Fumeko stomped the ground.

Hotaru let out a sigh, "Fine, my first spell was heal; it was on accident."

"Your first spell was an expert level and you want me to cast heat as my first ever spell!?"

"First of all, heal is an intermediate spell. I've used it and put enough effort into it, to make it an expert level. With all of Jotou's injuries-"

"Hey…"

"-I think I'm moving on to master level healing. The fact that you don't know that, is exactly why you should be taking it slow.

Second, there isn't some special seal to be broken for your first spell, it's trivial.

Third, you said yourself you've tried other spells, but that's before you even knew where your affinity was.

Now, if you tried to cast a shadow spell, how will I know if that is or isn't your affinity? You might've failed to cast it like heat and we'd be none the wiser."

"The only magic I tried were stupid ones; not heat, but this is a stupid one too."

"My first spell was light! Now Hotaru says it's become an expert level!" Asobi shined the white light on her wand, nearly beating the dawn light coming down.

"See? That's only my guess, but if she can do it and if heat's such a stupid spell, it should be easy to do, right?" Hotaru smiled.

Fumeko stared for a while… "I hope this grass has fleas," she had the final word before sitting back down and putting her hands to the pot.

"Jotou, try the spell on the dangerous enemy!" a spotlight shined on top of the training dummy Jotou stuck into the ground.

"Do I have permission teacher?" Jotou glanced over.

"Hm, I was planning that anyway; senpai will allow it," Hotaru agreed.

"Please don't say it like that," Jotou hid her face, walking over to the dummy.

"Don't take it too far!"

"Slice him in half!"

"Heat… heat… heat… this teapot's about to break… heat…"

'May not be what I expected; but having magic itself is exciting enough. I really should call myself lucky… Am I lucky if I died…? Don't think about that now dumbass.' Jotou shook her head.

She held her sword tight, feeling the mana flow through and around, "Zap!" Jotou casted and swung, the tip of the blade sparkled into a—"zip…"—upon impact…

"BOOM! BLAST!" Fireworks launched around Jotou. "She's amazing! The crowd can't settle down!" Asobi screamed.

"That was… great Jotou! I'm so proud of you!" Hotaru's smile wriggled alongside her mild clap.

"That was pathetic," Fumeko mocked.

"What the hell happened?" Jotou readied another swing, "Zap!" sparks flew from the blade against the straw construct. She furrowed her brows; that was barely what happened to the apple.

"Zap!" "Zap!" "ZAP!" Jotou gripped the blade with both her hands, continuously abusing the training dummy with light sparks of electricity.

"Why!" "Slash!" "Isn't!" "Smack!" "This!" "Thud!" "WORKING!?" Jotou kept at it, no longer even saying the spell, but the spell was being casted nonetheless.

"Look at her go!" Asobi cheered.

"Jotou…" Hotaru called out.

'You're struggling to break a test dummy!? Are you kidding me!? How are you supposed to defeat that giant velatos huh!?' The sparks gained more vigour, flashing brighter as her thoughts ran.

"It's okay, you'll get better Jotou, don't stress yourself," Hotaru could see Jotou get angrier and angrier with each smack and slash. However, Hotaru was taken aback for a moment…

'Are you really that pathetic? Thundering Blade; nothing more than a joke. What will people see when they see you struggling like this, huh? Should've just bent over and went to college, right!?'

Within her conflict of thoughts, she heard Hotaru's advice… The blade sputtered with electricity. 'I'll prove them wrong; I'll show you I can do it!'

"Zap!" Jotou announced, before…

"…crackle, ZAP!" The fizzing sound subsided in an instant, the dummy was charred at the waist and fell aside. Only when it hit the ground did both pieces spark on fire—the straw sizzling.

Her fingers constricted around the hilt of her blade, having sliced her opponent. Jotou's breath, heavy, "I, did it? I did it," she stood up, facing her achievement.

Hotaru stared in bewilderment. "Wooo!!! Go Jotou!!!" Asobi cheered from the side, the word 'Jotou' flying all around in holographic images.

Jotou walked back, "Well… that was something," her frustration became a smile. 'Ha, I showed you. I win this time.'

Hotaru tilted her head, tail wagging curiously. "I, I'm gonna go put that out before it becomes a problem," she pointed, walking past Jotou to the flaming straw.

"Great… I'm the only failure now…" Fumeko moaned, slumping on the ground.

Noticing the brunette's sigh, Jotou strode over. She knelt down, "Hey, if I can do it of all people," Jotou smiled. Fumeko looked to her, frowning.

"Keep going, okay?" Jotou took Fumeko's hand; it instantly made her scowl fade. "Let the mana flow through you and believe in yourself.

You're not a failure; not yet. You only fail if you give up now," her blonde strands fell like a curtain to Fumeko's view, "Feel the teapot heating; clear your thoughts for now, understand?"

Fumeko silently nodded, letting her hand be guided. "Good. I like logic as much as you, but I like magic a lot too. Let the doubts go for just a second and do it.

You're magical, whether you like it or not. You're safe to fail as long as you keep going. It can't get any worse, right?" Jotou sprinkled in a little logic.

Fumeko's mouth was slightly agape, "Okay," she whispered, the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Jotou?" Hotaru called, having put out the minor flame.

Fumeko broke from Jotou's eyes… it felt like hours.

"Yeah?" Jotou stood up, "I feel great; invigorated. Should I try Thundering Strike?" she jested.

"No," Hotaru shook her head, "A word?" her head tilted to the house.

"Oh, sure," Jotou's smile shrunk.

"Asobi, make sure Fumeko stays out of trouble," Hotaru said whilst walking with Jotou to the front.

Too distracted to comment back, Fumeko blinked at the pot, "I can do this."

Asobi examined the damp straw, giving it a slight kick, "Don't worry! I'll watch over the rascal!" she waved.


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