Between Rudeus and Eris, the leaves danced and flew upon his palm.
The reactions from the others varied.
Rudeus stared at his own hand, his mind filled with Alan's tireless encouragement over the past two years. Through his correspondence with Roxy during this time, he had confirmed just how his magic level ranked in this world. He had also managed to pull himself out of the depression of being an isekai protagonist who was completely outclassed in talent by a native like Alan.
He wasn't weak. In fact, when it came to magic, everyone around him acknowledged him as a 'genius.' It was just that Alan was too exceptional in every other aspect. There was nothing to be dejected about.
And at this moment, he understood very well that Sylphie and Alan had laid all this groundwork for him to showcase the charm of magic and convince the young lady to study it peacefully. Thus, he adopted the authoritative demeanor of a teacher. This would clearly add to his persuasiveness.
As for deliberately avoiding Eris's gaze, it was because—
He wasn't sure if he could maintain his composure if he looked at Eris and she made a provocative or arrogant face. He worried it might reignite her anger, leading them to start bickering again, wasting all the effort Sylphie and Alan had put in for him.
Beside him, Alan and Sylphie stared wide-eyed at the 'swimming fish' on Rudeus's hand, their expressions full of anticipation. They secretly watched Eris's face out of the corner of their eyes.
Up to this point, from Sylphie's verbal persuasion to Alan's cooperation, and Rudeus's well-timed appearance with the 'Gust spell,' they had basically done everything they could.
Will Eris become interested in magic?
In their peripheral vision, Eris frowned at Rudeus, but her attention wasn't focused on the magic in his hand.
She pursed her lips.
Raised her hand.
Lifted it high.
And brought it down with a slap! Right on top of Rudeus's head!
The blow sent him staggering.
The magic in Rudeus's hand instantly broke. In that moment, anger flared up, and he couldn't maintain his composure, looking up with a cracked expression.
"What are you doing now?!"
"Tch."
Eris crossed her arms, shot a very subtle glance at Alan and Sylphie, and turned to walk away.
Beside them, Alan and Sylphie's faces stiffened. But Ghislaine, who had been observing the 'situation' from a distance, had a slight smile on her lips.
Rudeus took a deep breath, realizing he had likely failed the final step of this 'guided teaching' process. He didn't even have the energy to chase after Eris to argue. He just opened his mouth helplessly and looked at Sylphie and Alan.
In his vision, they both sighed and returned a wry smile.
But in the next instant, a spirited voice reached their ears!
It was the young lady's high-pitched chant, her energy renewed!
"Oh, great blessing of water, I ask you to descend upon this place. Manifest here, a cool, gentle stream—Waterball!!"
However, no water ball formed in front of her palm.
Eris pouted, then spun around to face the three stunned figures. Her gaze swept over them before settling on Rudeus, her attack magic teacher. She yelled, quite 'displeased.'
"Hey! Weren't you supposed to be teaching me magic?"
Rudeus blinked. Although Eris's tone was still as 'tyrannical' as ever, he found, absurdly, that he didn't find the young lady so annoying anymore. He instantly snapped out of his dejection from having ruined the final part of the plan and became motivated again. He hurried over to observe Eris's arm.
"You're still casting magic as if you're swinging a sword. You need to break out of that state and use the incantation to naturally draw out the mana within your body."
"Hah? Make it simpler!"
Rudeus stroked his chin, studying Eris's still-tense arm muscles. After a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"I've got it. Imagine that you're not in class right now, but eating, or in a moment when you're completely relaxed... Your problem right now is that the muscles in your arm are too tense."
As he spoke, Eris quickly glanced at Alan and Sylphie, who had walked over and were now staring at her intently.
"Relax? I… I can't do it!"
Hearing Rudeus's words, Alan paused, then suddenly interjected.
"Eris, close your eyes."
"Huh? Okay!"
"Focus all your attention on your senses. Gather your Touki and let it surge within your body, just like you do when you practice swordsmanship. Imagine you're holding a sword in your hand."
This was familiar territory for Eris. Her furrowed brow instantly relaxed. With her exceptional talent for swordsmanship, she didn't need to consciously focus. Her entire body tensed up, and in her senses, the wind crawled across her arm. The muscles in her palm curled slightly. The air in her hand felt like the hilt of a sword.
The next moment, Alan's gentle voice reached her ears.
"Good… very good… hold it… don't open your eyes, Eris."
"Mhm!"
"I'll count to five, then 'let go' of the sword in your hand and repeat what I say, okay?"
Hearing this, Eris 'squeezed' the non-existent hilt in her hand tightly.
"Okay!"
"5…"
"4…"
"3…"
"2…"
"1…"
"…Let go of the 'sword'."
Eris repeated the words aloud.
"Let go of the sword…"
With those words, she subconsciously relaxed her hand, breaking out of her sword practice stance, and her muscles suddenly loosened.
"Open your hand."
"Open my hand…" Her palm opened.
"Oh, great blessing of water, I ask you to descend upon this place…"
"..."
Eris's eyelashes fluttered. She continued to slowly recite along with Alan's voice.
"Oh, great blessing of water, I ask you to descend upon this place…"
"Manifest here, a cool, gentle stream…"
"Manifest here, a cool, gentle stream…"
At this point, without needing Alan to prompt her again, she murmured the last word of the incantation.
"…Waterball."
The moment the word left her lips, she felt something like a current of water 'flow' from all over her body towards the front of her palm.
It was similar to the feedback of Touki in her body, yet completely different!
"Gurgle."
Eris opened her eyes.
A transparent, fist-sized water ball was swirling in front of her palm!
Her eyes widened in shock, and she turned to look beside her.
Alan, Sylphie, Rudeus, and Ghislaine were all smiling at her.
"I… I did it…"
Before she could finish, the water ball fell from her palm, dropping weakly onto the grass in front of everyone and shattering into a splash.
Eris's expression changed, and she quickly looked down at the ground.
But before she could clearly see the water spreading on the ground, Rudeus shouted in her ear!
"You did it!"
She turned to look at him, stunned.
The happiness on his face was clearly genuine.
"You've succeeded with the first step!! The next step is just to control another burst of mana output to 'set' the speed and size of the Waterball, and then you can release it!!"
"That's Waterball!"
"You did it!"
Eris blinked, stunned for a moment, before a smile slowly spread across her face.
"I… I did it?!"
"Yes!"
"I did it!"
"That's right!"
"Hmph! It wasn't that hard after all."
"Exactly! It's that simple! You've learned it!"
"Oh, great blessing of water, I ask you to descend upon this place! Manifest here, a cool, gentle stream! Waterball!"
The sound of a water ball shattering on the ground.
"Oh, great blessing of water, I ask you to descend upon this place! Manifest here, a cool, gentle stream! Waterball!"
The sound of a water ball shattering on the ground.
Beside the wild dog, Alan shook his head helplessly, watching the excitedly practicing Eris, who was constantly releasing half-finished Waterballs, and Rudeus, who was cheering her on wildly. He then turned his head and exchanged a smile with Sylphie, who was looking at him.
Through their combined efforts, they had rekindled Eris's interest in magic.
At this moment, he also came to understand why Eris had slapped Rudeus earlier.
Because under everyone's expectant gazes…
The wild dog had gotten shy.
Her personality was direct and unrestrained, with a strong sense of pride. Deep down, she longed for recognition, and her instincts were incredibly sharp, one might even say sensitive. That's why she didn't want to do something she knew she couldn't do well, for fear of being laughed at.
Her decision to continue chanting and practicing Waterball wasn't because she was fooled by the lie that magic was a lesser version of the 'Flow' technique. It was because she had sensed the underlying 'expectation for her to continue learning magic' in his and Sylphie's long conversation. And she had also noticed, after seeing Rudeus's skilled magic control, that Rudeus, who was shorter and younger than her, didn't take the opportunity to mock her or act like a superior teacher.
Since everyone was 'helping' in their own way to get her interested in learning magic again…
Then she was willing to give it a try.
To try again.
To…
Meet everyone's expectations.
This was the wild dog.
This was the same tsundere young lady from the original story who, despite not wanting to learn the dance for her birthday party, chose to 'give it another try' just because of Rudeus's sincere but ultimately ineffective words of comfort!
A cloud of dust appeared.
[Instant Quest Completed — The Prematurely Formed Mushoku Tensei Protagonist Group. Time Elapsed: 00:06:52.]
[Tutor Period Participation Score, Increased!]
[Current Stage: Youth Tutor Period. Cumulative Participation Score: 50 points.]
[Without you realizing it, a 'group' of your own has formed around you, a group that was 'built' by your own hand.]
[When hearts and minds are connected, do your ideas truly need to be pushed solely by you to be successfully implemented?]
[Evaluation: A win's a win, even if you were carried.]
'Screw you, I wasn't carried.'
[Yeah, right.]
Alan waved his hand, dismissing the system panel.
The dust dissipated.
In the courtyard, on the green lawn, Eris was laughing happily, constantly casting powerless Waterballs that fell the moment they were formed. She had transformed into a human sprinkler, running all over the place.
Sunlight fell on Alan's face.
For the first time since the tutor period began, a genuine, happy smile spread across his face.
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