Volume 2 - CH 8

It was the first day off after the entrance ceremony.

I was at the training hall of the Shimotsuki family, facing Renji-san.

“Itsuki-kun, how is school going?”

“I’m studying hiragana right now.”

“Are you having fun?”

“Yes! I’m having fun.”

“That’s good. It’s always best to have fun.”

When Renji-san laughs like that, the vertical scar running across his face was emphasized.

I was numb to it, but Renji-san is a tough enough guy. If he didn’t have scars, he would be young enough to be called a college student.

By the way, Aya-chan is not here today.

She and Momoka-san are out shopping for things she needs for elementary school.

“Well then, let’s start with the study of barrier techniques, shall we? But, Itsuki-kun, I think you’ve seen it once.”

“You mean the one my dad usually does?”

During the incident with the ‘fifth rank’ monster we fought in the forest a few months ago.

In order to find the bear monster it created, my father used the barrier technique.

“Yes. We couldn’t find the hidden monster at that time, but basically, there are no monsters of the fifth rank. So you don’t have to be that nervous about searching for them. The important thing is to find the enemy. Let’s give it a try.”

Renji-san said and covered his whole body with guiding thread silvate like a cocoon.

And the moment he made some kind of change, the thread silvate became transparent.

“This is a simple barrier. This is the destination of the ‘sixth sense’ practice that you’re practicing right now.”

“What kind of magic is it?”

“No matter where the attack comes from, your body automatically reacts the moment it enters the barrier.”

Oh, that’s what my father was talking about.

When I first trained for the sixth sense, he said that if you train it, you will be able to do a certain amount of attacks with an automatic response.

I wonder what it would be like.

…… Eh, I’d like to take a look.

As my curiosity was growing inside me, Renji-san said with a laugh.

“Do you want to see what happens?”

“…… Yes.”

“Okay, good. Let’s try it.”

Renji-san laughed as if he was playing make-believe with a child. Well, this adult’s composure. I want to learn from him.

“You can shoot magic from anywhere.”

However, when it comes to the magic that can be used for a surprise attack.

I have just the right one I just made the other day.

I silently weaved the thread and sent it flying towards Renji-san’s back.

Then, I wrap the guiding thread silvate around it and make it into a sphere.

Then, I turned it into a lightning ball by using the magic of “Attribute Change: Lightning” – the magic of Raikou-Douji.

Now, here comes the moment!

The silent lightning sphere that was generated charged the air, and then released lightning on its own toward Renji-san, who was in the closest proximity!

The installed lightning ball senses the weak electric current that flows through the living body and sends down its own charged lightning. I thought of many names for the magic, but when I consulted the dictionary, I found the perfect word.

I borrowed it as it is.

It automatically intercepts enemies who approach the magic set up in advance.

Therefore, it is called “Mine Kirai” (mine destroyer).

This time, since it was aimed at Renji-san, the power was reduced to the level of a biribiri pen.

Since it makes no sound and is invisible unless you look closely, this magic is perfect for a surprise attack, and the moment it entered Renji-san’s barrier, he made a move that made no sense.

As if he had read the attack from the beginning, he avoided the lightning by deflecting his upper body widely and shot a single thread silvate into the ground like a lightning rod, then turned around to guide the lightning strike into the thread silvate.

The next moment, my magic touches Renji-san’s silvate and is poured into the ground.

Renji-san is unharmed.

“You see?”

He says with a casual “It’s easy, isn’t it?” look on his face. No, he moved faster than lightning right now.

Not a human skill, I thought, but some magic can drop meteorites or create black holes. Thinking about it, maybe there’s nothing crazy about being able to move faster than lightning. No, really, isn’t it crazy?

“Then, Itsuki-kun, let’s give it a try.”

“But I still don’t understand my sixth sense at all….”

“It’s better to get used to it than to learn it. Besides, look at this. Here’s a cushion.”

With these words, Renji-san held two cushions in his hands, both of them pink.

I wonder if this is Aya’s taste.

“I think you’ll get used to them in real battles anyway.”.

“Eh? Why?”

“The barrier that the body reacts with and the barrier that detects monsters are done by trait change. Only exorcists above the third rank can use this, so when Itsuki-kun works with first- and second-ranked exorcists from now on, Itsuki-kun, you will be the one to put up the barrier.”

“Do you use that much magic?”

“Well, yes. There’s a lot of information about change.”

I was wondering if that was the case, but my expectations were correct.

But when you think about it, there are some magic that you can’t use if you’re low in rank. I’m glad I did it, “Magic Eater” training.

But now thanks to Renji-san, I’ve got a little spark.

I’m going to weave thread silvate so as to prepare for the new magic.

Okay, it looks pretty good. Now I just need to see if it reacts properly.

“Renji-san, try it. Throw it out there.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

The sound of Renji-san’s footsteps disappears.

My worries are disappearing.

I’ve learned a similar gait in my yato swordsmanship training, but I can’t do it as well as Renji-san’s accuracy. I think it’s out of the ordinary. I also think that I need to become as strong as him as soon as possible.

While I was thinking that, my body automatically moved.

I felt the cushion pass through the place where I was just a moment ago.

The sudden pull made me lose my position, but the thread silvate pulled me back just in time and my body didn’t fall to the ground.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that the pink cushion had fallen in front of me with a plop.

Just as I was about to turn around in the joy of success, my body was pulled back this time. The cushion passed just in time barely touching my body.

This is no time to be complacent.

Be on your guard.

So I prepared myself well for the next attack, and then I turned to Renji-san.

“Renji-san! I did it!”

“You did it!”

Renji-san gave me a look that said, “Not too fast, is it?” I looked at the thread silvate wrapped around my body.

I now have guiding thread silvate wrapped around my entire body.

The moment an attack touches it, my body automatically avoids it.

That’s the possibility of the thread silvate that my father had told me about in the forest.

At that time, my father said that the “detection magic” he used to search for hidden monsters creates something like a magnet that reacts to magic power.

At first I thought it was a crazy magic, but it wasn’t.

My creativity was more in the frame.

The witches of old used pumpkins as carriages, made mirrors talk, and turned the lower halves of mermaids into people.

If so, compared to such fairy tale magic, it would be easy to create a guiding thread silvate that reacts to attacks and pulls the body to avoid them. The amount of information in the “trait change” is so large that it eats up a certain amount of magic power, but that doesn’t matter to me.

“It’s thanks to you, Renji-san.”

I bowed my head in gratitude.

It was at that moment when I bowed my head and Renji-san’s phone started beeping with a sound I had never heard before.

Then, he suddenly turned a straight face and picked up his phone.

“…… Yes? I understand. I’m on my way.”

Then he quickly put it away and said.

“I got a job. Third rank, apparently.”

“So, is this the end of my training…?”

It is a difficult part of the exorcist industry that they are relentlessly contacted even when they are off-duty. Excellent exorcists are in great demand.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to do any more training today, but Renji-san continued gently.

“Come, Itsuki-kun.”

I don’t know if he was being kind or not.