CH 176

Azriel closed her mouth for a moment and went over the thoughts she had before making the relics in her head again. “Yes. It would be hard to follow if you want to make multiples at once as I did.”

“I-I see…” the brown-haired wizard said.

“But if you make one, giving it some time, the answer is no,” Azriel added.

“…!”

“It will be possible for most of you in this place. You will need a lot of practice, though,” Azriel said.

A silent astonishment swept the crowd of wizards. Azriel could feel their eyes, which became brighter than earlier, focusing on her. The eyes of wizards—full of curiosity, thirst for knowledge, and the spirit of inquiry—almost felt hot. She remembered when she first learned how to make relics from Rhema before.

***

The production of magical artifacts was among the very last spells she learned. That day, Rhema waited for Azriel after putting down a box full of various jewels on the terrace table. Opening the terrace door, Azriel was startled to see the pile of jewels that were shining brightly under the afternoon sun.

“What are these, Rhema?” she asked.

“The materials for the practice of magical artifacts production,” he said.

“…Do you want me to practice with jewels?” she asked.

“Magical artifacts are more efficient when you make them with jewels,” he replied.

“What if I fail?” she asked.

Rhema tilted his head and grabbed a pebble-sized sapphire. Then, he carelessly threw it behind his back. The blue jewel flew under the clear sky and fell into the lake.

“You can throw this away outside like this,” he said.

“…”

“Since it’s a kind of a rock, there won’t be a problem even if you dispose of it randomly. The failed mana will mix with nature and scatter,” he added.

“…”

“Azriel?” he called.

“No, nothing… For you, rocks and those jewels are the same…” Narrowly managing to calm herself down from the shock, Azriel shook her head. She asked something that suddenly came across her mind, “Is the magic you use to turn a stone into a jewel or a leaf to paper dragon eye magic?”

“Yes, it is,” he said.

“That’s what I thought. I think that’s a relief somehow.”

If just anyone could use such magic, the world would have long since turned into a mess. Azriel took a deep breath and picked up a jewel. It was a diamond of all things. What was worse, it was about the size of a young child’s fist.

“…”

“Azriel? Is there a problem?” Rhema worriedly asked as Azriel took a deep breath, grabbing a diamond.

“It’s nothing,” she replied.

“Something must be bothering you,” he said.

He would ignore it if another person passed out right in front of him, but he acted quite sensitively if it was about her.

“…I’m afraid of failure,” she said.

“Even if you fail, making a magical artifact is not dangerous. So, you can fail as much as you want. I’ve got plenty of materials,” he said relaxedly, but Azriel felt like crying somehow.

She replied, “Okay… I will try.”

She tried her best to concentrate. Nevertheless, despite her talent for magic, it was difficult to succeed at once, especially when Azriel was nervous. After pouring mana into the diamond, it cracked and partially crumbled into dust. Azriel turned pale.

“That was close. This time, try it a little slower.” Rhema took the diamond piece from her hand and threw it away beyond the terrace. Brownie, who was lingering nearby, quickly flew in and wiped the dust from Azriel’s hands.

“Esthera, cheer up! Esthera, you’ll do well! Go Esthera!” Brownie naively cheered and stepped back after putting a huge ruby in her hand.

“Th-thank you…” Azriel said.