Before I can ask, she holds out her hand in front of her, then seems to focus for a while. After a minute…
"Okay, I think I'm doing what you described, Mizuki. You spoke about magic like it was a separate substance, like these atoms, and that confused me at first. Anyway, what now?" (Alto)
Wait…they don't think about magic as a separate entity? I guess there's time to press her about that later.
"Great! Now, imagine the outside edge of your magic sphere reflecting any atoms in the air, so that the atoms outside it don't come in, and the ones inside it don't leave. After that, imagine the atoms inside it starting to move and bounce around faster and faster. Will your magic inside the sphere to speed them up as much as you can without letting them escape." (Mizuki)
Alto nods and begins to focus quietly. After several minutes, the air in front of her palm begins to glow red. It looks like one of my basic fireballs. Alto squeals out in excitement and surprise.
"Mizuki? It started glowing!" (Alto)
"Yes, when you get the atoms in the air hot enough, they start glowing red like this, like fire. Great job! Now, try and heat them up even more, until they look blue!" (Mizuki)
Alto is trying to focus through her gleeful state, and eventually the fireball starts to change colors again. Yellow…green…finally, blue. Alto squeals.
"Mizuki, this is warm!" (Alto)
Yeah, the magic sphere should be a perfect insulator, but that doesn't stop heating through radiation.
"Yeah, now imagine that, instead of warmth passing through your magic sphere, it's reflected back in towards the atoms! You should start to feel the heat go away." (Mizuki)
Alto attempts to comply.
"O-Okay, that seems to be helping, thanks!" (Alto)
"Great! Now, launch it towards that boulder whenever you're ready. Make sure to keep containing everything in your magic sphere until it hits your target!" (Mizuki)
Alto nods and launches the blue fireball towards the boulder, and it lets out a marvelous explosion with a brief afterburn. For a few seconds, the rock can be seen glowing a dull red. Alto is ecstatic.
"Mizuki, I did it! That was incredible! Did you see how hot the rock was after it hit!?" (Alto)
I nod at her approvingly, and she beams with pride again.
"Congrats, Alto! Just so you know, you can use the same concept to heat and cool a room that you're in, or to make ice out of your water. You can also change the heat of that fireball spell to be even hotter. That massive hole you see in the boulder is from me doing that. It's the spell that almost killed Nina when we met." (Mizuki)
Alto's face goes pale at the mention of the spell's capabilities, and she looks at the hole in the boulder nervously. However, it quickly changes to excitement. I think my work here is done.
"Okay, that's all I'm going to teach you for today. Please feel free to practice with it as long as you want…I'll have a test for you tomorrow." (Mizuki)
Alto gives me a smirk.
"Oh, what kind of test?" (Alto)
I make sure to smirk right back. I think I'll be somewhat vague.
"Oh, just something to make sure that you're proficient with the basic concept of heating and cooling atoms, instead of just that fireball spell. So, I'd practice some of the other applications I mentioned if you want to pass." (Mizuki)
Alto smiles confidently and nods. I guess she's sure she can rise to the challenge. Alto turns her attention back to the boulder and appears to be starting her self-training.
I turn my attention to Ilina, who seems to be taking a break on the ground across the clearing, and I teleport over to her and sit down beside her. Seeing me appear in front of her, she yelps initially, but then gives me a huge grin.
"Mizuki…this is incredible…watch this!" (Ilina)
As she speaks, I see a small rock start floating off the ground nearby, then go screeching towards a tree. The impact is enough to shatter part of the tree trunk – definitely useful for combat. She's also started experimenting with the other applications of the spell, too.
I give her an excited smile – she's made quite a lot of progress for just a couple hours of work.
"Congrats, Ilina, I'm really happy for you. I didn't know that you couldn't use any offensive spells, so I also appreciate you trusting me enough to tell me. It gives me peace of mind to know that you can defend yourself now. I'm sure that with time you'll be one of the most powerful beings on this planet." (Mizuki)
Ilina's eyes go wide, and she stares at me with a strange expression for a moment. Before I can react, she launches herself into a hug around my neck and knocks me on my back on the ground.
"U-Uhm, Ilina, what gives!?" (Mizuki)
Ilina cuts me off with a tongue click.
"Tch…shut up, Mizuki, and just let me hug you!" (Ilina)
I'm…not sure how to respond to that, so I just hug her back for a moment. Eventually, she speaks again.
"I'm really glad that we met, Mizuki…I hope we can stay in each other's lives like this, at least until our different lifespans get in the way." (Ilina)
Well, I know it seems short to her, but I'll live another sixty years or so if I'm careful. That's plenty of time for me.
I can't help but laugh at her, and she pulls away to look me in the eye. She seems annoyed, so I explain myself.
"Woah don't be mad! It was just funny hearing you make fun of my short lifespan. I know 60-70 years doesn't seem like much to you, but it does to me. I promise I'll hang around for as much of that as I can!" (Mizuki)
Ilina gives me a very puzzled expression, then seems to realize something. She sighs deeply, and I think I hear her mumble something about a dragon. Not sure what that's about?
After a moment, she smiles at me warmly, then leans over and kisses me on the cheek before climbing back to her feet.