Let us roll time back a little. The setting was still a room inside a house, quiet and closed off from the outside. On the bed sat a black-haired girl in a cross-legged posture, hands together, eyes shut, breathing slow and even as she focused inward.
If the light in the room were a little dimmer, a faint halo could be seen around her body. The glow was weak and carried hints of red, orange, yellow, and green. Like water, Magic surfaced and flowed around her skin before slowly spiraling into her body, growing at a barely noticeable pace.
This method was called Mana Refinement Method. Phil had obtained it from Feltz by trading a single use of Icelis's saliva. It was a technique that allowed mental power and Magic to be cultivated at the same time.
Magic was one of the most important forms of energy in this world, entirely different from her previous life. It could be controlled and used through subjective intent. In this world, it marked the greatest divide between ordinary people and professionals, since all living beings possessed it in varying amounts.
The gap was like this: everyone had bioelectricity, but those without talent remained normal people who could at best watch the strong fight. Those with talent could control it with their will and gain power, though whether they became background fodder or someone who could overturn the world depended on aptitude. Fei'er Li had picked up many things from Feltz, including background settings she would never have known from a limited viewpoint.
For example, the earliest users of Magic were almost all Mage. The distinction of Warrior was a later development, even though the Battle Aura they used was also based on Magic. They followed roughly the same system, but before reaching Gold Rank, their paths were different.
Fei'er Li chose the Mage path without hesitation. The reason was simple: asking a tired office worker like her to train her body day after day for ten years like a Warrior was unbearable. She would rather be taken out on the spot.
The difficulty of learning as a Mage was much higher than that of a Warrior. It required better talent, memorizing elemental reaction formulas like chemistry, studying Magic Array like mathematics, and absorbing a huge amount of theory. The compiled material alone was thicker than a dictionary.
But she had an advantage that let her skip most of that process and save time. In most situations, Mage also had better prospects than Warrior, so she jumped in without regret. Once past the worst stage, life became easier, since at the same level Mage held a clear advantage.
The method Phil was using guided free Magic from the environment with mental power. It involved refining, compressing, and directing energy, but the benefit was training both mental strength and Magic together. Even after boosts, when Fei'er Li showed it to Feltz, she would never forget the shocked look on her face.
Fei'er Li trained with real enthusiasm. This was genuine supernatural power, the kind many people dreamed of. Even so, at her current level, casting a few small spells would drain her dry.
"Calm down, keep breathing, use your own spirit…"
She sat upright on the bed, silently reciting the meditation phrases and steadying her mind. Using her own spirit, she sensed the elements outside and drew them into a subtle rhythm that pulled Magic into her body. Then everything went wrong.
"Bang bang!!!"
A violent knocking sounded at the door. It was followed by louder impacts, then the noise of metal twisting and wood splitting apart.
Fei'er Li snapped her eyes open. Standing in front of her was Icelis, who had forcibly torn the door off with brute strength and her small fists. She looked innocent, holding a flaming soup ladle, while her clean face and smooth hair were a mess, her dress stained with oil and sauce.
The corner of the dress even seemed to be on fire. Fei'er Li's eye twitched hard.
"How did you even do this?"
She pointed in disbelief at what used to be the kitchen, which was now smoking. The pot had been smashed through by a block of ice, the stove was filled with charred and melted things of unknown origin, and tools were scattered everywhere, with a cleaver stuck in the wall.
Even worse were the ceiling, walls, and floor. Food was smeared everywhere, barely recognizable, with dried fish frozen into ice, bacon stuck into burnt flour, and bread frozen solid. The scene looked more like a battlefield than a kitchen.
"So how did you do this?" Fei'er Li asked again.
She stared at Icelis, who had her hands clasped behind her back and tilted her head away. More than anger or helplessness, Fei'er Li felt curiosity, like seeing a car somehow parked backward in a tree.
She had taught her step by step before. The ingredients were ordinary meat, vegetables, flour, and some preserved food, with a wood-burning stove and normal oil. How did that turn into an explosion?
There was also the fact that she had been so deeply focused that she noticed none of this. She stared hard at Icelis's innocent little face and tried her fiercest glare.
The response was hands on hips and pure confidence despite being in the wrong. "I'm hungry!"
"…"
Fei'er Li's eyes went wide. A soft growl came from her own stomach.
She realized she had not eaten for nearly twelve hours either. That sound only boosted Icelis's confidence. "See, you're hungry too!"
"That's fine for me, but why are you even hungry?" Fei'er Li shot back, her face slightly red. Elemental spirits did not have stomachs and did not need to eat, yet this strange Icelis had already eaten a lot since meeting her.
"I don't know," Icelis said, tilting her head again.
"…Forget it." Fei'er Li decided to endure it. After all, this was her source of income and her current support.
She had been a single office worker in her previous life, and after transmigrating she still did not get an easy hero life. Instead, she somehow entered early childcare mode. In the original story, this one had been quiet and well-behaved, not a troublesome foodie.
"All the ingredients are gone. Until we fix the kitchen, we can only eat outside," Fei'er Li said.
She checked her money. Icelis's saliva was very valuable, and even after trading much of it for knowledge and resources, daily living costs were covered. That was assuming this troublesome child did not cause more problems.
"Mm…" Icelis shook her head as Fei'er Li put a fur felt hat on her. She clearly disliked it, since she was not afraid of the cold.
"Stay still. If you want a proper meal, you wear this," Fei'er Li muttered while dressing her. She could not let Icelis develop the habit of ignoring clothes just because she did not feel cold.
This was their first time going out together. Before, Fei'er Li had handled shopping and cooking alone while running around for safety.
"Here, see if you want anything on the way," she said, slipping a few cold silver coins into the child's pocket instead of her hand, since they could freeze and shatter.
Fei'er Li locked the door. Behind her, Icelis looked toward a spot in the city and paused, her expression shifting slightly. It felt unpleasant, a familiar scent she disliked.
"Alright, let's go… ah!" Fei'er Li turned just in time to see Icelis sprint off, and she hurried after her.
The figure ahead ran fast. If Fei'er Li had not also invested a little into basic Battle Aura to strengthen her body, she might not have kept up. Her heart jumped when she saw where they were heading.
"You can't go in there!"
She watched in shock as Icelis smashed through the outer gate of a private residence and started pounding on the door with her small fists. Before Fei'er Li could stop her, a chill ran through the air.
She froze and saw Icelis wearing the coldest expression she had ever seen. It was like a giant looking down at something filthy. The outcome was obvious.
A small hand waved lightly. Fei'er Li found herself encased in ice, pushed away by rising ice spikes before she could react.
"Icelis!!!"
With a thunderous crash, Icelis glanced back, confirmed something, and nodded. Howling cold wind and rising ice spines crushed the small residence without mercy, and with another wave of her hand, snow and wind lifted her into the air.
She stared down with icy eyes as massive Ice Element gathered behind her into a huge vortex. "Disgusting bugs. Die."
Snow and wind pressed down as the clouds torn open by a vast ice vortex parted, revealing rows of magnificent six-pointed snowflake-shaped giant ice swords. Each blade stretched dozens of meters, clear as crystal and descending like divine punishment, dragging broken rivers of glaciers from the sky as they cut toward the filth on the ground. The shrieking cold wind never stopped, and the interwoven ice storm took the shape of a huge beast, tearing and grinding everything caught inside until it was crushed and frozen.
Countless ice shards and knife-like snowflakes filled the air, moving with the cold that cut straight into the body. "Die."