Chapter 21: The Shield of the Earth
The remaining group of men stood a little distance away from the dome and bowed politely.
“Sorry for tailing you all day. I’m Jake, leader of Earth’s Shield, based in Rosenne.”
Having seen how I handled the previous bunch, this man chose his words carefully.
“We didn’t follow you to recruit you. Ever since you joined up with Strongarm Bord, rumors have spread that his magic skills have improved.”
“I’m Lindy. When I heard that, I was hoping you could give me some instruction in magic—or even just some advice.”
These two hadn’t shown any hostility, either to me or to the others earlier. They’d stayed quiet the whole time the previous group was trying to recruit me.
And come to think of it, just like when I helped Bord, I realized again—I don’t actually know anything about how other magic users operate.
No, more accurately, I don’t know anything about this country or adventurers in general.
The only experience I have is what I learned gathering herbs with Ted and the others back in Lynas.
“You said you want instruction, but could you first show me what type of magic you use and your skill level?”
“I’ve been granted Earth and Lightning magic, but I can only use Earth. My mana is eighty-four… what do you mean by skill level?”
“Show me the magic you normally use. Earth magic can do both defense and offense, right?”
He nodded, then turned sideways and began an incantation:
“O Almighty Goddess Felicienne, grant us the strength to raise a shield that shall protect us… ha!”
The ground about five meters ahead of Lindy began to rise and form a wall, but it lifted slowly—just like Bord’s had at first.
I asked him to attack the finished wall with a Stone Lance. The chant was similar, but the spell’s power and speed were lower than Bord’s early attempts.
They were a couple of tiers below Strongarm’s party, so I decided this was a good chance to learn about regular adventurers. I’d only teach them as much as I’d told Bord—nothing beyond that.
And even then, what I’d taught Bord were just the basics: how to refine mana and how to use it efficiently. The rest he had to figure out himself.
A little distance away, I created a large [Dome] with a narrow opening just wide enough for one person to crawl through and offered it for their camp.
“This will last about twelve hours and can withstand Strongarm’s full-power attacks. If you wedge sharpened stakes in the entrance, wild beasts won’t get through. Lindy, I want you to keep casting Shield until your mana runs out, but use less mana per spell than you normally do. Based on the results, we’ll decide what to work on next.”
“Use less mana?”
“Yes. Shields and barriers are the same thing. You probably stop casting before you run out of mana, but we need to know how many you can make before you’re fully drained.”
After explaining that, I returned to my own dome.
Almost immediately, I could hear her chanting over and over.
I regretted not setting up farther away, but since there wasn’t any other flat ground nearby, I just plugged my ears, finished eating, released some mana, and went straight to sleep.
“That kid said ‘until you run out of mana’ so casually, but chanting that many times is exhausting, you know?”
“Leon doesn’t even chant fully. He’s using silent or shortened spells.”
“If it’s silent casting, his lips aren’t moving at all.”
“But you saw him make that dome—it was almost instant.”
“And that whirlwind he used behind the Black Whirlwind group was insane. He’s no gentle breeze—he’s a master magician.”
“Hang in there, Lindy!”
Encouraged by her carefree companions, Lindy kept creating shields one after another.
Partway through, she switched to Shield as instructed.
Practicing exactly what she’d been taught—she knew from her own experience learning Earth magic that following instructions precisely was the fastest path to improvement.
Just as I was about to check the time after my mana had recovered, I felt the presence of wild beasts—and heard voices from the neighboring camp.
“You sure we’re safe in here?”
“Leon’s sleeping like a rock. Look, that wolf’s clawing at the invisible wall but tilting its head.”
“Never thought I’d see a prairie wolf look confused.”
“Same here. Didn’t expect to be staring one in the face from this close.”
“Maybe we should’ve made sturdier stakes.”
“Relax. If things go bad, we can block it with our spears.”
They were surprisingly calm—guess they realized how strong the dome was.
Checking the clock, I saw I’d woken after about seven hours.
I couldn’t tell if my total mana had increased, but my recovery time had definitely shortened.
I sensed more beasts nearby but couldn’t judge the distance precisely.
Might as well use them to test my detection range again—with my neighbors as reference points.
I lit a bright Light spell and asked Earth’s Shield to extinguish theirs and stay quiet.
Soon, prairie wolves began circling my dome.
I conjured six large [Whirlwinds!], trapping and flinging them around.
Once the remaining wolves scattered, I cut off the mana flow, finished them off, and tossed the bodies into my magic pouch.
“Did you see that?”
“Yeah. The whirlwinds were smaller than the one he showed Black Whirlwind, but…”
“Still—remember those goblins he toyed with? That was about this size.”
“A prairie wolf’s smaller than us, sure, but getting spun like that? No way they’d survive.”
“Even those goblins couldn’t stand after ten spins.”
After breakfast, I asked how many shields Lindy managed before running out of mana. Nineteen, she said.
If her mana is 84, that means she’s using about 4.5 per shield.
She said she could cast Stone Lance fifteen or sixteen times, so the cost seems roughly the same.
“Jake, could you stay with me for a week or ten days? During that time, I’ll give you all the non-bird prey we catch.”
“If it helps Lindy improve, we don’t need any payment. We’ve got enough supplies.”
“It’s mainly for my own study. I want to compare her progress with Strongarm Bord’s.”
“Strongarm Bord?”
“Yes. I gave him some pointers too. I’ll be comparing your results with his to refine my own magic, so don’t worry about it.”
“Got it. But if we spot prey, we’ll hunt it ourselves—you don’t owe us anything.”
“Yeah. After what we saw yesterday, it’s obvious Leon’s magic is far beyond ours. Just learning from him is reward enough—we’d even give you all the prey if you asked.”
“Agreed. His takedown of those prairie wolves last night was spectacular.”
“Then, Lindy, next we’ll work on reducing the mana you use per spell. But before that, I’ll teach you how to make proper Shields and Shelters.”
“I understand what a shield is, but what’s a shelter?”
“A shield is a flat panel, while a shelter is basically that—turned into a cylinder. My motto is safety first: earn money without taking unnecessary risks.”
I heard someone stifle a laugh with a little pfft, but I gracefully ignored it and had Lindy start creating shields.
I told her to use only the word ‘Shield’ as the incantation.
“Can it really work with such a short chant?”
“Sure. I only say ‘Whirlwind’ or ‘Dome’ myself. You’ve chanted enough by now—just focus your mana and say a single word, like Shield or Barrier.”
She looked doubtful, but as a student she seemed determined to follow instructions.
With a serious face, she glared at the ground and said, ‘Shield—ha!’
About five meters ahead, the ground slowly rose up to form a wall.
Just like with Bord, I couldn’t help wondering—why do shields form so sluggishly?
It’s fine if Arrows or Lances take their time, but shields should really appear instantly for safety’s sake. Why don’t they?
When I asked, I found out she was simply copying the one who had taught her magic.
I remembered hearing that “to learn is to imitate”—but true mastery means evolving beyond imitation.
Her teacher had apparently been an earth mage who didn’t know lightning magic, so it made sense she couldn’t use that at all.
In that case, I decided to adjust my teaching method a bit.
“Lindy, you’ve now seen that you can cast Shield even with a short chant. Magic can and should be used in an instant. If you can’t, you’ll never make it in an emergency.”
“I’d like to be able to use magic like yours, but…”
“I can’t make a shield like yours—but I can do this.”
I pointed a little ways away and cast ‘Shield!’, creating a circular wall that touched the ground, kicking up dust as a pale brown, solid disk appeared.
“When you make a shield, you’re probably not thinking about width, height, thickness, or density. You’re just copying your earth-mage teacher, right? So your shields end up looking exactly like theirs.”
“That’s true—but if I don’t follow what I was taught, the spell won’t work, will it?”
“At first, yes. But once you can use it, you should adapt it to suit yourself. You’ve seen how I make mine—now you know a shield can be created instantly.”
She nodded earnestly, and I had her try creating her usual shield as quickly as she could.
She thought for a moment, then shouted ‘Shield!’
It didn’t appear instantly, but it was much faster than before.
“Wow, she managed that much improvement from a single lesson.”
“Impressive indeed.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. She already can use magic, and she’s used it plenty. The key is whether someone can accept new ways of thinking. If they cling to their old habits, teaching them won’t help.”
Then I had Lindy stand between Jake and two of his men, spacing them one body-width apart and imagining a rectangular shield fifty centimeters taller than Jake.
Her imagination lagged behind, so the wall rose slowly—but eventually a proper shield took form.
It ended up about thirty centimeters thick, but that was forgivable.
I showed them my own shield from the side to demonstrate the difference in thickness, then had Jake’s party attack it.
Their strikes did nothing, and even Lindy’s Stone Lance bounced off harmlessly.
“Wind magic can do this much too. Lindy, try to make your shield the same thickness as this one. Today’s goal is to remember the correct size and thickness. Once you can do that, we’ll move on to making them faster and stronger.”
Lindy nodded seriously.
After having her make twelve shields for practice, we set out for the day’s hunt.