Magic Lesson

Morning sunlight streamed through the inn window and fell across Frieren's face. She slowly sat up in bed, her long silver hair sticking up in a tangled mess, her eyes still hazy with sleep.

"Lady Frieren, are you awake?" Ruby's clear voice came from outside the door, accompanied by a gentle knock. "I've already finished breakfast. You said you'd teach me new magic today!"

Frieren blinked, seeming to take a moment to remember the promise. She scratched her head and gave a little yawn.

"I'm coming."

When she opened the door, Ruby was already dressed and ready, clutching a small notebook and pen tightly in her hands. Her upturned face was full of barely contained excitement. The little girl's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"You promised to teach me that magic that makes a field of flowers appear!" Ruby said eagerly. Her gaze swept over Frieren's sleep-mussed hair, and she instinctively touched her own neatly combed red curls. "Would you like me to comb your hair first?"

Frieren shook her head, merely running her fingers through her hair a few times before gathering it behind her head. "No need to go to the trouble. Let's begin."

The two went to the little garden behind the inn. Frieren held her staff, her expression turning focused.

"Watch closely," she said softly. A gentle light glowed at the tip of her staff.

With a light turn of her wrist, the light fell over the grass like a fine rain. The ordinary flowers and plants began to grow and bloom visibly, forming a small flower field in the blink of an eye. Its colorful blossoms swayed gently in the breeze.

Ruby watched openmouthed, then clapped her hands excitedly. "That's amazing! You're amazing, Lady Frieren!"

Frieren's expression remained unchanged as she held out the staff to Ruby. "Now you try. The key isn't how much mana you use, but feeling the rhythm of their growth and guiding your mana like breathing."

Ruby took the staff, her little face tense. She drew a deep breath and concentrated on imitating Frieren's movements. On her first attempt, a few blades of grass trembled slightly, but soon returned to normal. On her second, a small flower bud managed to open a little, only to shyly close again.

"That's not right," Frieren pointed out calmly. "You're rushing too much. Imagine the warmth of sunlight and the nourishing rain, instead of forcing them to grow."

Ruby pouted, looking a little discouraged. "But you made it look so easy..."

"I practiced for hundreds of years," Frieren replied impassively. She walked behind Ruby and gently adjusted the way she held the staff. "Relax your wrist and let your mana flow as naturally as your breath."

Ruby took a deep breath and tried again. This time, several blades of grass at her feet grew slowly, producing tiny white flowers. Though it was nowhere near as spectacular as Frieren's flower field, it was unmistakably a sign of success.

"I did it!" Ruby looked at the trembling little white flowers, nearly jumping for joy, her face flushed from excitement and effort.

A fleeting, barely perceptible look of surprise flashed in Frieren's eyes, but she quickly returned to her usual impassive expression. "That's a decent start. But maintaining that kind of fine control will take a lot more practice."

The lesson lasted all morning. When Lowell found them, he saw Ruby sweating profusely as she struggled to maintain a small flower field, while Frieren sat quietly to one side, watching and occasionally offering brief instructions.

"It's time for lunch," Lowell reminded them, holding a bag of freshly bought fruit.

Only then did Ruby notice the time, and her stomach gave an ill-timed growl. She rubbed her head in embarrassment and released the magic, and the flower field slowly faded back into ordinary grass.

On the way back to the inn, Ruby skipped along ahead, still excitedly practicing the hand movements. Frieren and Lowell walked side by side behind her.

"How did the lesson go?" Lowell asked softly.

Frieren looked at Ruby's back, the corner of her mouth moving almost imperceptibly. "Better than a certain elf who blew an entire patch of grass into scorched earth on her first try."

Lowell chuckled. "Are you talking about yourself?"

Frieren neither admitted nor denied it. She merely pouted slightly and quickened her pace a little to catch up with Ruby.

At lunch, Ruby was still caught up in her excitement over the magic. As she ate, she asked, "Lady Frieren, where did you learn so much magic?"

Frieren took her time swallowing her food before answering. "I figured some of it out myself. More of it I picked up by watching and learning."

"Did you create magic like Flower Field Magic yourself?"

"No, I learned Flower Field Magic." Frieren's gaze grew a little distant, and no emotion could be heard in her voice. "That woman wasn't my teacher, but she taught me quite a bit of magic."

Ruby nodded thoughtfully, then became interested in another question. "What's your most powerful magic?"

Instead of answering directly, Frieren pulled a small bag from her pocket and handed it to Ruby. "Try this."

Ruby opened the bag curiously. Inside were several crystal-clear candies that gave off a faint floral fragrance. She picked one up and put it in her mouth, and her eyes lit up at once.

"It's delicious! What is it?"

"Star Candy," Frieren said with her hands on her hips. "Made with starlight and flower nectar. It took me a hundred years to perfect the recipe."

Ruby savored the candy melting in her mouth. Its sweetness carried a subtle floral fragrance, as if she could truly taste the stars. Perhaps, for Frieren, this was the most powerful magic—not meant for destruction, but for creating small beauties, just like herself.

That afternoon, as Ruby continued practicing, Frieren unusually did more than just watch. She sat beside her and began casting magic as well. But rather than demonstrating offensive or practical magic, she conjured flower after glowing flower. They floated in the air, swaying gently to the rhythm of Ruby's magic, as if encouraging her.

When Ruby succeeded in maintaining the flower field for more than ten minutes, the flowers of light suddenly burst into brilliant radiance. They scattered above the garden like fireworks and fell as specks of starlight.

"Is this... to celebrate for me?" Ruby asked in surprise.

Frieren had already risen and was walking toward the inn. Without looking back, she said, "That's enough for today. You've made pretty good progress."

But Ruby noticed that the starlight did not disappear immediately. Instead, it drifted slowly down around her, lighting the path beneath her feet. Watching Frieren walk away, she suddenly felt that the seemingly aloof elf lady actually had a very gentle side.

At dinner, Ruby made a point of sharing half of her dessert pudding with Frieren. "Thank you for teaching me today," she said earnestly. "I'll practice hard and make sure I'm worthy of your Flower Field Magic."

Frieren looked at the extra half portion of pudding in front of her and was silent for a moment. She gently prodded it with her spoon and commented, "There's still too much sugar in it."

But Ruby noticed that Frieren eventually took her time and finished that half portion of pudding too. And as she bent over her meal, the corners of her mouth seemed just a little softer than usual.

As night fell, Ruby carefully recorded the key points of the magic she had learned that day in her little notebook. From time to time, she paused to look at the stars in the night sky outside the window, remembering the brief but brilliant shower of starlit flowers that afternoon.

In the next room, Frieren stood by the window, unconsciously rolling a piece of leftover Star Candy between her fingers. Outside, a breeze drifted past, carrying the fragrance of a real flower field in the distance, quietly overlapping with certain far-off fragments of her memories.