SWNOVELXO Chapter 84
At first, the plan was for me to learn elven healing magic from Aria, but before I knew it, we had shifted focus to unraveling the mystery of this strange magic I seem to possess.
Aria and Eurua, the two elves, were far more enthusiastic about this than I was—especially Eurua, whose researcher nature had overtaken her usual reserved demeanor. She was constantly bombarding me with questions.
…Well, I suppose I could think of it as us getting closer.
“If your magic reacts, even slightly, to the words of the healing spirit Romelza, then perhaps it’s linked to a higher-tier special magic of the same nature… or maybe to a spirit related to Romelza,” Eurua suggested thoughtfully.
While she explained, both Aria and I sat and listened carefully. Eurua, in full lecture mode, would have made an exceptionally popular teacher if you put her in a suit—she had that kind of aura.
“Uh… do spirits have families or something like that?” I asked, still processing her explanation.
“Yes, if we’re talking about Romelza, her parent would be the Great Spirit Themis, and she has two sisters: Aurora and Sialo. Romelza, the eldest, is the spirit of healing magic; Aurora, the second, governs illusion magic; and Sialo, the youngest, presides over cleansing wind magic,” Eurua explained.
She grabbed a black marker and sketched a simple diagram on a whiteboard she had in the room, illustrating the hierarchy. Spirits apparently had something like a family tree. At the top was the Great Spirit Themis, and just below were the names of the three sister spirits Eurua had mentioned.
“Basically, the closer a spirit is to a Great Spirit, the higher its rank and power. Of course, there are exceptions, but for the most part, lower-tier spirits govern basic magic,” she said.
At the bottom of the diagram, she wrote the name of a wind spirit called “Seaf,” a lower-tier spirit responsible for wind magic.
“So, what kind of magic does a Great Spirit control? Being at the top of that chart, it must be some pretty powerful stuff,” I asked.
“In all of recorded history, there are no known beings that have ever wielded the magic of a Great Spirit. Romelza is an exception, but magic tied to higher-tier spirits like Aurora or Sialo is incredibly rare. It’s said that only a handful of people in any era have ever had such an affinity,” Eurua explained.
“Wow, really?”
According to elven records, Romelza, the healing spirit, is an unusually friendly and proactive spirit who seeks to engage with humans and elves alike. As a result, she’s a well-known and widely trusted spirit. In a city as large as the capital, there are dozens of people who possess an affinity for her healing magic, which is comparatively common.
In contrast, Aurora and Shiaro’s magic—illusion and cleansing wind—are so rare that it’s unclear whether anyone in the entire Kingdom of Kainriese has an affinity for them, Eurua said.
While Romelza’s magic was an outlier, there were far more people with affinities for other types of higher-tier special magic.
“If there are so few people with those affinities, how do they even learn it? I can see how healing magic might be passed on, but if the users are that rare, wouldn’t even learning the words for it be impossible?” I asked.
“That’s a good question. From what I’ve heard, these rare magic users are closely guided by the spirits themselves. The spirits apparently teach them directly,” Eurua responded, though her tone carried a hint of uncertainty. Clearly, there wasn’t much information on the subject.
“Spirits like Romelza, who govern higher-tier special magic, are generally benevolent toward humanity as a whole. However, their interest is broad and shallow—they don’t focus much on individuals,” Eurua continued.
“I see…”
Romelza, for example, might bestow her power on many people, but she wouldn’t go out of her way to teach each individual how to control or use that power. In other words, she might give someone magic, but they’d have to figure out how to wield it on their own through research or trial and error. I couldn’t help but think how irresponsible that seemed.
“On the other hand, there are spirits who, while they dislike humans, will show an intense, almost obsessive affection for someone they’ve accepted. These spirits stay close to their chosen ones, lending them immense power. It’s said that when one of their favored dies, the spirit might even manifest in this world to take the body back to the spirit realm,” Eurua added.
Apparently, the fewer people with a particular affinity, the deeper the bond between the spirit and its chosen one. These rare individuals would receive direct guidance, learning the words and symbols from the spirit itself—a far cry from the distant benevolence of Romelza.
“I don’t know all the details, but the words of different spirits tend to share certain patterns. Romelza’s language is said to be very similar to that of her parent, the Great Spirit Themis, as well as her sisters, Aurora and Sialo. Based on what we’ve seen so far, I think your magic might be aligned with Aurora or Sialo,” Eurua speculated.
“If I really had an affinity, wouldn’t the spirit have already come to teach me?” I pointed out.
If I truly had an affinity for Aurora or Shiaro’s magic, the spirits themselves should have appeared to instruct me. But there was no sign of them at all—only the faint reactions I had to the words Aria used for healing magic.
Eurua had presented several theories, blending traditional beliefs with her own ideas, but none of them seemed to fit my current situation.
In the end, the nature of my power remained a complete mystery.