“Good luck then, you two. Try to bear with it as much as you can.”

「Unfurling my hands which had been clasping theirs and tucking them behind my back, I stepped back in leisure while encouraging them as much as I could. At this point in time on this day – today – will mark the moment of their awakening as they will be taking their first step into mastering magic under my tutelage.

The Awakening of Phantasia.

Likewise, this was their one and only beginning.」

“I don’t know what it is, but oh well, bring it on!!! Nothing will faze u–”

「At once, fountains of sanguine fluids spurted out from both their hands, held up in the air. Droplets of blood rained down to their feet.」

““ –hk??!!””

「Gasping in shock, they couldn’t hide the affliction appearing in their eyes. Through each of their palms were perforations brought about by the cross-sections of sharpened mana shortswords. Lepidolite-coloured blades within which liquified darkness had been swirling and soon disintegrating away into particles, leaving behind a lacuna of agony within their right hands.

‘Nothing will faze us’ huh?」

“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

“KYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

「Their young faces twisted in sheer horror as the blade grated against their nerves. Like boiling water injected into their bloodstreams, it threatened to cauterize their minds apart. Their high-pitched screeching like sirens of distress went unheard and up in the air. Trying to ease their pain by covering their hands only exacerbated the intensity of pain which they felt first-hand.

Bear with it for a bit longer.」

“AAAAAAAAA!!!! IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HUUUUUUURTS!!!!!!”

「Their minds having caught up to the molten searing, their senses finally kicked in.

It wasn’t an illusion. It wasn’t some form of mental interference. It was as real as it could get, unfortunately.」

“SAKUYA!! WHHHYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!!?!?!?”

「Smiling wryly at Yuki’s recrimination, I saw there being no point in answering her question. The apology can come later.」

““UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!””

“!?!”

「Wha…!?!? Their Od?!?! Such tremendous mana!!!!!

The mana of Elyiere spiralled into them at the surging center of mana being absorbed by Sora and Yuki. Their pure white auras were bursting up as high up to the prerequisite boundaries I had set up prior to their awakening. I almost shuddered in fear of what would have happened if I hadn’t designated an isolation barrier for their awakening.

The earth, ground, clouds, atmosphere, stars – everything quaked in their presence. The trees and grassland were uprooted, breaking apart the ground and carried away by raging winds.

Gradually, the incident mana tried pushing me in towards the pulsating mana they were generating as I braced myself, arms resisting the gravitating flow of mana and rooting myself to the ground.

Their power was immense, even for their age as children. And they haven’t even begun to understand the tiniest bit of what magic is.

The true extent of how much they can exert their wills upon Elyiere.

They weren’t even aware of the depth of their talent and potential – all they knew was that that they were special and nothing more. They never knew what that encompassed. No one had taught them what it meant to be one of the chosen ones. Not even the ludicrously outrageous amount of expectation that comes attached with it. Falling into the eternal trap of greed and pride, being sucked into the obsequious world of beings without any morality. A corrupt world where people would kiss the asses of those more superior to them.

So I’m guessing this was what others had felt when they witnessed my own awakening all those years ago. Not that I empathise with them, I merely understand the thoughts that had most likely been racing through their minds.

And I won’t let Sora and Yuki become prey to such a hideous, merciless world. I will do everything it takes to keep them away from a horrendous fate.

And that alone was what had kept driving me to such lengths.

Reaching out my hands, I was about to cast restriction magic on them and stabilise their chaotic deluge of mana, but…」

““Hnngg!!””

“No way…”

「Their extreme auras started waning ever so slightly. They were reeling in their mana, concentrated on the hole in their right hands which had begun to close back up. Soon, the perforation had disappeared and the onslaught of mana released from their Od dispersed before finally fading away.

A creak appeared within the ‘reality’ under my domain. It transformed into cracks before shattering away the fake reality I created.」

““Kh…””

「They used too much of their imagination, such that their souls could no longer keep up. There's a limit to how much a person can imagine at once and using magic, it’ll gradually exhaust their minds. Reaching that limit, their supply of mana shrivelled up into a barren planet’s desert and they were just about to fall down to the ground, lifelessly dropping in enervation. Quickly supporting them from the front and squeezing then in my embrace,

I honestly thought they really were just another two more idiots like myself.

I let out the audit they were due with my heart.」

“You were amazing… Well done.”

「Hoping that they heard my heartfelt praise, I gently eyed their tear-stained faces as they slowly and lightly nodded away. An instant later, they sunk into the abyssal darkness I had only just recently been forcibly kicked out from.

Wiping away their innocent faces, I silently sought penance within my soul, for which I wondered if I would be forgiven for pulling the wool over the eyes of children who knew no better. Oh well, let’s think of it as a necessary requirement in the long run.

In the meantime, I might as well restore all the collateral damage done here.」

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

““Nn…””

“Ohhhhhh… to think you two would also wake up together? You’re more like siblings than cousins…”

「They’re so well in sync, it was unbelievable. A wry smile slipped out in admiration of the two. Rising up in a disorderly state of mind, they fought against themselves to sit up in a stupor.」

“What... just happened?”

“Hm? Ah! I remember everything that happened!!!”

“Hnn... it’s gone...!?”

“Eh?!?! Really??”

“Yes, really. Your own wounds have completely disappeared.”

“So our hands did get stabbed! And Older Sister was the one who did it!!”

「When I said that whatever they were experiencing was real, I actually meant that the pain they felt for themselves was real on a fictitious and superseded ‘reality’ which I created counter to real ‘reality’. And it couldn’t be helped – it was needed.」

“Yep. I'm really sorry about it! This was something you two had to complete before I could really start teaching you two about magic. Otherwise, it'd be too difficult to handle Elemental Magic.”

“What do you mean difficult?!? We could’ve done it just fine!!”

“Yeah! Why did we have to something like that!!! Elder Sister is a big meanie!!!”

“It’s not like you would know... Then, I'll show you later why that is, but for now...”

“...”

“What's it, this time...?”

“Congratulations on your Awakening of Phantasia!!!”

「Firework VFX!!!! My arms were stretched out in a V-shape gesture while illusory blasts of fireworks appeared through the visualizer in my Ring.」

“You two were fantastic!”

““Eh? Okay...?””

“As I guessed, you don’t know about the Phantasia… It’s an awakening process so that you can refine your imagination through an intense stimulus.”

“Imagination?”

“Yep, that’s right Sora. Magic relies on how much of your will you are able to impart to your own mana and manifest as your own magic And for that, the Awakening of Phantasia plays a very crucial role of stimulating brain activity to levels you wouldn’t have been able to reach without it. That’s why you needed to feel an intense amount of pain in order to release adrenaline like never before.”

「Their physical bodies didn’t actually get harmed – that was simply a realistic hallucination. Imagined on another plane of reality superposed above the already present reality. But it’s not like they would understand any of that...

The phenomenon where their hands had healed back was actually that second reality breaking away from the intense pressure of their mana back to our original reality.

They were able to unconsciously alter reality, whether they realised it or not. And that’s a very strong sign of their hidden prowess.

Hahhhh... Goodness...」

“The real stuff begins later, so for now you two should rest. It’s only been a couple minutes since you two fainted from overexertion. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

“Huuh!?!? Let’s start right now! Tomorrow is too la– !?”

“No mean no. Though… it’s not like you’re awake to hear me say that however.”

「That’s right – they couldn’t whatsoever. I surreptitiously knocked them out cold by wafting them with a little surge of mana. Weak from all the pressure put upon their souls, they went unconscious without any resistance.

It was time for them to go to bed so that their souls could relax spiritually. It’s not like they’re in their teenage years.

Falling into my arms, I took them to my auroral castle and laid them in bed within my chambers for the rest of Elyiere’s night-time.」

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

“Nhn...”

「Waking up to a bright dawn, the morning star in the distance brought about a melange of warm colours splayed across the upper atmosphere beyond the open balcony.

I've been admiring the sky a lot recently. I wonder why? I suppose it’s because I’ve missed seeing the glory of the stars. Glittering in the heavens. Cloaked in their own miasma. Unperturbed throughout their main sequence. Synthesising their own skies.

Such colourful gradations do not exist within Prystia. Only hexadic colourations had dominated the Spires. As bland as our own lives were.

Woah, what’s with all the sudden depressing thoughts so early in the morning?

The daytime period of the cosmos has arrived, which means another day shall begin once more. I should banish these distasteful, lingering visions of the past. They'll just sour my mood.

Having only just recently gotten up, I ought to refresh myself.

Extricating from the queen-sized bed where all three of us had soundly slept for the night. I realised that I almost suffocated Yuki in my embrace. Oops.

I translocated through the interior of my grand, majestic castle – adorned in crystalline decor and architecture from top to bottom – all the way to the rear bathing area where a stream of groundwater flowed, geothermally heated by magma deep within the planet’s mantle and flowing up to the surface.

The stream was just beside the hot springs left out in the open for convenience’s sake. Activating my Ring, I opened up a UI window and configured the controls in order to tamper with the hot spring. Right now, it was hot enough to scald one’s skin if they weren’t actively protecting themselves within an aura of their own mana, so I had to turn down the temperature to around 37°C.

While I was at it, I ran a few external commands for later on.

Casting an isolation spell, I separated this hot spring from the outside within an invisible barrier.

Undressing myself, I left my clothes on a nearby bench and took a quick shower, drizzling in my own mana-infused aqua. Taking a mouthful, I cleaned and purified my teeth first just as I let myself take in the moisture. Washing my hair with some shampoo before applying hair conditioner from the range of auto-refilled bottles, I let the conditioner sit while I lathered the shower gel into foam from top to bottom.

Rinsing myself, I finally dipped into the clear water of the steam bath. Relaxing my limbs, I could feel the tension in my shoulders drifting away, dissolving away as I submerged my lower body in relatively hot water.

My eyes wandered to the skies once more as the steam billowed before my eyes.」

“Fuwa~ ~ ~!!! The water feels great!”

「A rejuvenated sigh sailed across the hot spring, or was it something breaking the surface of the water? A splash resonated in ripples as I anchored my sight to the unknown intruder...」

“Yah! Don’t look~ ~ I’m stark naked yanno~ ~??”

「...and there was the elven beauty named Freya.」

“Hya!”

「In a fluster, I screamed out in second-hand embarrassment, forgetting about it completely. I hugged myself and submerged myself into the water.」

“H–?! Freya-san?!?! What are you doing here?!? No wait, how’d you–”

“Don’t worry~, I didn’t break the barrier~. I just slipped through~ the barrier since all~ it did was conceal~ your presence. Anyways~, I came to check on Sora-chan since he’d disappeared~ all of a sudden~. But it looks to me~ like Ojou-chan~ already initiated them~ upon Phantasia, haven’t you~?”

“Yeah, that was yesterday. Did Freya-san need Sora by any chance?”

“Oh no~, not at all~. It’s my duty as a maid~ to keep an eye on Sora-chan.”

“Eh? Why’s that? Aren’t you under Ayame-obasan’s tutelage?”

“Not always ~ ~ I’m having to keep an eye~ on the young master when Ayame-sama~ isn’t around. Even then~, I only supervise them from time~ to time~.”

“Nnn... who would have thought?”

“Well then~, how'd their awakening~ go? Their mana see~ms to have stabilised already~.”

「I dipped back into the hot water beside Freya-san.」

“Yep, it’s just as you say. They did great. Although, it comes across as a surprise how much control the two of them have over their magical prowess. I sensed it first back when Yuki-chan and I had a sparring match. Yuki has great control and Sora can already see into Elyiere.”

“Eh~?!? When was this~!? That’s great~ news!”

“Ahaha... they boarded the line of challengers as I fought against other practitioners. Everyone got all exhausted, so I went up to them and had a little talk. I doubt they'd have taken part if it weren’t for me.”

“Hnnnn~ I see~. I'll be sure~ to convey this to Ayame-sama~!”

“No wait, I don’t think there’d be any point…”

“Hmm~ ~ I wonder… Oh! I forgot to say~, but don’t worry about others~ telling off to Amamiya-kyo~. Even if the other~ Servants find out, I've made them enter~ a pact so that they do not go~ around telling others.”

“Really!?? Thank you, that’d really help!”

“No problem~ but in exchange~… my~, haven’t you~ grown quite a bit?? Ojou-chan~ went from being that tiny~, little~ girl all those years ago to such a splendid~ young lady...??”

「Oh no.」

“??!! Wait a sec– Miss Freya?!?! No, not ther– KYAAH!!!!!”

「WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! HER HANDS – NO WAIT, STOP FONDLING MY CHES–

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!」

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

「Letting out such embarrassing and licentious moans for a while longer until Miss Freya decided to stop teasing me, she left the hot spring as suddenly as she appeared, translocating across the cosmos.

After our intimate skinship session, I dried off all the water trickling off my hair and returned back to my castle in order to check up on the silvery pair.

Gently sleeping away, it seemed like they’d still be under the blanket for quite some time. But as if detecting my presence alone had enough to rouse them, once more they woke at the same time.

Unless it was intentionally done and they were already awake, but I knew it to not be the case.」

“Mnnn... good morning.”

“Ahh?? Sakunya~????”

“Rise and shine!!! Today's the day we'll finally get down to using the Six Magical Elements!!! Take a bath and come up to the top floor for breakfast, you two!!”

“Eh?!?! What's hap–”

“Wait, you aren’t actuall–”

“Oh yes I am!!! Off you go!!!”

““NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!””

「Hurdling them into space, they did a full orbit before they landed out at the back. They'd better do as I say ♪.

Soon after, we had our breakfast which I'd pre-ordered the NPC maids (loaded with AI) to make just as I entered my personal hot spring. There were other NPCs living down at the citadel, but they were just there to create the impression of there being a population’s presence so that these habitable planets don’t feel completely devoid of character. There wasn’t much of a need to focus on them, since they're like background filler entities anyway, so they’re mostly to be ignored.

With that being said, we'd finished our meal later on, out on the top floor upon the prominent middle tower of my crystalline palace. We then set out to continue what was originally yesterday's plan for them two, I suppose?」

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

「Out in the front courtyard, I conjured up the same six paradigms from yesterday and displayed them to Sora and Yuki.

A white paradigm for Lumen magic.

A red paradigm for Blaze magic.

A green paradigm for Zephyr magic.

A brown paradigm for Tera magic.

A blue paradigm for Aqua magic.

A black paradigm for Umbra magic.」

“We went over them yesterday and I hope you know what the actual names are for each and every one of Elements.”

“Yeah, we know.”

“Then, do you know what each of the Elements influences over what aspects of nature?”

“Un...?”

“Let’s begin with a simple one. Lumen. What is ‘lumen' exactly? What’s it used for? Where is it found?”

“Light itself is ‘lumen’ and that’s what we can see with our eyes!”

“Where does light come from naturally?”

“Everywhere around us!”

“Er-Er! Wrong. If light were everywhere, there'd be no shadows. Yuki, what do you think?”

“Stars?”

“Correct!!”

“Ehh!?!? But you can clearly see everything aroun–”

“That's because you're seeing everything with mana. Sora, you're not actually using your eyes to see when you are just sensing the mana around you. And stars are one of the many things that give off light. Anything that is bright and reflects light is visible.”

“Nnmmm...”

“But everything gives off light then… is that why we’re able to see things?”

“Only when light from a source, like flames and the stars, bounces off of something and enters our eyes can we then see other things.”

“Eh? Then how does it work with magic vision?”

“You enhance your eyes with mana, then spread out your aura and you’ll be able to see everything within your vicinity. That’s how it works. We can get to it in more detail another time. First, understanding Lumen magic will greatly help your perception. It’ll be the easiest on your imagination as you train it. Lumen magic can be used to alter one’s perception and visibility of things around you. You know how you can see things inside your vision with the Rings, right?”

“Oh!! Is it a form of Lumen magic?”

“Yep, that’s right. Virtual things and illusions can fall under Lumen magic. It can also be used as very powerful magic and cause serious damage if you cast really strong light spell rites. They could destroy entire planets and star systems. There are many different other uses, but you'll understand them gradually over time.”

“Is light really that dangerous??”

“It’s completely harmless if it doesn’t damage our eyes, though?”

“That’s why I said it takes reaaaaally strong spell rites for it to become dangerous enough to hurt you. And don’t worry how that'll happen because you wouldn’t want to know. Next, let’s over 'aqua'. It’s water, simple as.”

“Vynexians need food and water to survive. And sometimes it’s really warm and sometimes it’s really cold!!!”

“It's essential for life and it’s what we’re mostly made of, right?”

“Correct! It’s great that you’re familiar with this. Then I won’t have to explain it much. The other two of 'blaze' and 'tera' you should understand simply enough. I'll skip over them then, but I'll at least briefly sum up how their magic works.”

“Then what about Umbra and Zephyr magic?”

“Both Elements are a bit complicated to understand, so I’ll go over the easier stuff first, then I'll get to the advanced ones. One step at a time.”

「There's a lot more to each of the Elements than I could hope to say. Time is key to grasping what magic is and some to this day still do research on magic as their tema. After all, learning about the world is questioning the existence of everything itself, within which is the illusion of freedom.

There's no way the Elemental Emperors would want that. The Elemental Pact exists for a reason.

Tch. I'm going off on a soliloquy of my own once again.」

“The magic of ‘aqua’ controls water and any other things that can flow. You can create water and use it for its own purposes, which you'd easily be able to name. Using planet aqueducts, controlling oceans, manipulating lifeforms to an extent, extinguishing flames and so on.”

「It was simple enough to give a straightforward level of explanation. However, it barely scratched the surface of what Aqua magic really is at its heart.

As such, I'll explain where the crux of Aqua Magic lies.

A control of flow isn’t so simple as imagining water itself. Flow is evident in many fluids which change shape and vary depending on how it’s used. Liquids and gases are mostly utilised as Aqua Magic.

At the heart of Aqua is stability itself and having fine control of one's mana, like the serenity of the seas.

I could on and on and it’d take quite a while to explain how each of the individual Elements function.

The ones I haven’t explained become more complicated down the Elemental Affinity Circle.

Blaze Magic:

Blaze magic works by creating flames that burn and use up other entities to fuel itself. As such, it is usually a magic associated with destruction.

Blazes are manifested by consuming a mage's mana to vivify flames, creating blazes in intensity and scale proportional to the amount of mana burnt over an area of influence. When it comes into contact with other objects, the blaze spreads and continues to burn before the object is incinerated or the source of combustion is removed. The heat generated is indeed, the vibration of blazes that disrupts the mana in Elyiere.

It is one of the more commonly used Elements, alongside Lumen, Aqua and Tera.

The opposite in nature to ‘Aqua’ which stabilises mana flow with control with its own chaos.

Tera Magic:

Transmutation and the creation of matter is governed by this Element. The manipulation of all things that can be physically touched.

Infusing mana and giving it a shape, it allows a mage to fabricate entities through the cathexis of an image in their imagination. When synthesised, the object gains the properties of whatever a mage has imagined, but it must comply with what Elyiere allows. Unstable and incompatible creations will simply dissolve or cause massive failures as they are not able to sustain their existence.

A very versatile Element which expands into many areas in the fields of magic use.

Zephyr Magic:

The breakdown and erosion of all things physical, the Element of disassembly. It is the magical Element that allows the existence or presence of certain entities, otherwise voiding them.

Through the expenditure of mana, it can destroy and return anything it touches back to Elyiere. By doing so, it can reduce physical entities to nothingness. One of the more difficult ones to grasp – a potent Element at that – as the uses of this Element are very specialised towards anti-magic methodology.

It’s the most esoteric form of the Elements where there are few users of its kind.

The antithesis of Tera Magic.

Umbra Magic:

The antithesis of Lumen magic and the manipulation of the 'unseen'. It is the element of magic capable of distorting Elyiere's existence and overwriting magic. By expending magic to Elyiere, an Umbra mage can control the ‘unseen' and alter them to their will.

What the ‘unseen' is can only be understood by other mages like myself. Entities that do not exist within the Elyiere we perceive but exist where we cannot comprehend.

The most complex element of the elemental types of magic because of the sheer amount of imagination, theory, understanding and sensibility needed to wield this element.

The order of complexity in Elemental Magics goes up, starting with the simplest to the most complicated as such:

Lumen, Blaze, Zephyr; Tera, Aqua, Umbra.

The former three are the simpler Elements; the latter three are the advanced Elements.

For Sora and Yuki, I'd have to simplify each of the Elements so they could understand them. Thus, it had taken quite some time to break down the Six Magical Elements into simple bits they could digest with ease.」

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

“Elder Sister, which of the elements do you use?”

「After I had rounded up the basics of what each element encompasses, Yuki-chan asked a question I had been fully expecting, albeit it came a little later than I had thought.」

“All the Prystal mages from Lacuna are of Umbra, so I’m a mage of Umbra. Each of the different Spires represent the different elements and those belonging to the Spires dedicate their lives to that element. Having said this, that should sum up what the Six Elements of Magic are! Now we move onto casting the simple elemental spells.”

“I wanna know how you did that Eversio Sphere or whatever it was!!?”

“It’s too complicated for beginners to handle. And plus, it’s Umbra magic. I might show you how to use it later, though.”

“Whaaaa!?!? Later? Does that mean we could use many of the elements if we wanted to?”

“Of course, why not?”

“But... I thought we were only able to use one element at a single time?”

“Oh, not at all. It’s just because the Elemental Pact enforces mages to choose a single element, it doesn’t mean that they can’t use other elements.”

「Though I'll have to leave out the fact that there are some strings attached to using the elements aside from your main element.」

“Then we’ll learn all the elements and choose them all!!”

“Perfectly said! Now then, which one of the elements do you two want to try out first?”

““Umbra!””

“So anyways, we'll be starting with the more simpler ones.”

““HUUUUUUH!!?!??!?!?!””

“Lumen it is. We’ll start practising with Lumen magic first!!”

“No! We want to learn Umbra magic first!!”

“No means no.”

“Nnnn…”

「Ah, I put up their guard. Pouting like They’re wary of me alright...」

“Hold onto my hands, you two. Oh, and don’t worry – I won’t pull off another scary prank like last time.”

““Hmm... okaaaaay...””

「I thought that it'd be better if I showed them an example of Lumen magic by getting close up to my own star. Translocating near the host star in the sky, we landed on a chthonian planet with absolutely no atmosphere and an molten-red surface.」

“WOAAAHHHH?!?!?!? WHAT THE!?!?”

“THIS IS WAAAAYYYYYY TOO HOT!?!!? 3,816 DEGREES CELSIUS?!?!?”

「Erupting with looks of panic, they were probably referring to the surface temperature of the planet. They would have been able to see it on their Rings since it was a magical tool with various uses.」

“Well, you should have expected it. Anyways, here.”

「No, they wouldn’t have expected it. Haha…

Conjuring an ice spell, the temperature drastically fell down to 0 degrees celsius as a broad circle of icicles popped around them while the surface was also touched with a freezing chill from the spell. Latent ice crystals hung in the air, perpetually countering the heat by absorbing it.」

““Ahhhh, that feels nice...””

“Now look above your heads.”

「I pointed up as their countenances slowly morphed into looks of astonishment.」

“No way…… you’re kidding!?!? That’s huge!!”

“Is that Elder Sister’s own star?!?!”

“Yup, we're on a planet that’s orbiting suuuuuper close to it. You don’t realise the sheer size of something unless you see it close up.”

“The star might as well be the whole sky?!?! Just how big is it?????”

「The red supergiant did stretch over the hemisphere. Their disbelief wasn’t unfounded.」

“It’s nothing compared to the hypercities, as one would be millions of times larger than this. You do realise that? So you've never seen a star up close at all huh?”

「No surprise here either. They wouldn’t have been able to vest themselves in a mana cloak strong enough to resist such extreme heat. They haven’t realised that they’ve naturally gone past that stage for quite some time.」

“No, we weren’t allowed to ever go near a star.”

“Now we get why that is... it literally feels like we’re being burned just by being this close it... wait, why did Elder Sister bring us here in the first place??”

「As soon as their minds caught up, I stepped forward before turning around to look at them while continually pointing my index finger up st the star.」

“Here's what I want you to do. Take a gooooooood look at what I’m about to do because this is something you’ll have to learn and be able to pull off with ease.”

「Diffusing mana around the corona of my star, I ushered the name of the spell which really isn’t needed. But hey, incantations do sound cool right?」

“『Lumos Candescere』.”

“Oooohhhh!?!?”

“Wha…!?!!”

「The red supergiant increased in luminosity as it turned yellow before gradually blueshifting into a white plane.

Of course the star itself wasn’t actually giving off brighter light. That would only happen if the star was forced to produce more energy by forcing it to accelerate its own processes of fusion, which takes a lot more than simple spells to pull off. Buuuuuuuut then again, if that was the case, the star would swell up and burst into a supernova – not something kids like them should be witnessing from up close.

All I am doing really is just making the light itself brighter, not the star. Then again, it’s not like Sora-chan and Yuki-chan would know that. I'm quite the charlatan, aren’t I? Teehee...」

“Amazing!!!!!!!”

“We... have to do something like that????”

“Yep, but I’m not saying that you have to do something this hard.”

「The star gradually returned back to its original luminal magnitude as I brought down my hand. It was just a display of magic, but I plan on having them actually do something even harder. Fufufufu... once again, it’s not like they’d know that anyway.」

“We're moving to another planet. Come.”

“Eh?!! Are we going to get even closer?!?!”

“Goodness, of course not... You two wouldn’t even survive for one second if we got as close as the corona.”

「Even I’m not sure how close I can get. It solely depends on whether I could get past the supergiant’s upper atmosphere. Taking their hands, we translocated to a far away planet where the star in the sky was just about as small as a dot.」

“Hnn? Now we're super far away??”

“That one there is Elder Sister's star isn’t it?”

“Hnn... it should be...”

Click!

「The sound of my fingers snapping knocked against the environ’s mana as a small luminous circle traced out two arcs from above my star, winding around it before completing the cyclical shape.」

“That's my star without doubt. You two can see what that star looks like from afar, right? It looks like such a tiny spot in the sky!”

「Pointing out to the empty void where my star had floated without care in the sky, I feigned the excitement in my voice.」

“Now then, let’s make a star just like the one in the sky within the palms of your own hands, you two!”

““…eh???””

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꧁꧂