Inside the Meditation Room at Iowa Castle, Landen was still crouched beside Totapara, the Frost-Wolf. He stroked the white wolf's slightly cool belly and patiently explained.
"For example, Black Rabbit has no pack and doesn't fight much, but Night-Kirin City and Iowa have a great need for Earth School magic," Landen said. Magic flowed from his hand as he drew various shapes on the ground.
"When she has nothing else to do, she helps the Mages build houses and repair foundations. She's also been working on the recent railway construction every day with the Great Fairies Theresa and Elsa. When she was in Night-Kirin City, she often consulted with Archmages, so naturally her understanding of magic kept improving."
"Mm." At that, Totapara stopped wagging her tail and lay down in a more attentive pose to listen to Landen.
Seeing that the Frost-Wolf was finally willing to face her shortcomings, Landen quickly pressed his advantage. "Your strength is that you rely heavily on strategy and terrain in battle. Whether you were fighting the Archmages of Girislav or capturing a huge group of High-level rats, your tactics were very effective."
He deliberately paused. Totapara voiced her confusion.
"But strategy really can let you win against stronger foes and defeat the many with the few!" She didn't think there was anything wrong with her tactics.
"Of course. But to break through to the High-level Magic Beast stage, you need to deepen your understanding of magic. Sometimes, you have to go toe-to-toe with a stronger enemy to gain a sudden insight." Landen smiled as he stroked the Frost-Wolf's head.
"But what about your tactics? Forget going toe-to-toe—you often let Fang and the others do the work for you. You don't even need to face your opponents. How could you gain any insights into magic?"