Alice's Basic Barrier.
It's a simple barrier formed by Alice using her own magical energy, offering basic protection. By consuming a certain amount of mana, it can block all kinds of attacks—pretty handy, all things considered.
In theory, as long as she has enough mana, this basic barrier can even withstand blows from a god.
But theory is just theory. To actually block a god's attack, the mana cost might be greater than what several gods possess combined. Even though it's a basic barrier and fairly easy to deploy, it's really only suitable for situations like this.
When not infused with elemental attributes, Alice's mana takes on a faint golden hue.
The basic barrier is formed from this pure, unadorned mana.
From the outside, though it's a bit difficult, one can still make out what's happening inside the barrier.
After following Alice and Lefiya to the training grounds, Finn immediately noticed this golden barrier. He raised a hand and gave it a couple of light taps—yep, definitely solid.
Just as Finn was considering whether to simply break through the barrier…
The flow of mana across its surface gave him a glimpse of what was happening inside.
Lefiya, the promising mage of the Loki Familia, was actually scrambling to evade Alice's magical attacks. Now, it's true that Lefiya had her share of issues in combat.
But she was still a Level 3 adventurer. As a mage with unique spells, if you threw her into a group of other Level 3s, she could probably hold her own just fine.
Lefiya's biggest problem was that she tended to get overly nervous during expeditions when facing monsters.
Beyond that, she didn't have many other flaws.
But now, Finn had noticed another issue: her lack of combat experience. Even though he was only observing from outside, and the barrier limited his view…
He could still clearly see Alice's spells.
As a Level 6 adventurer, Finn had vast combat experience. After watching Lefiya dodge a few of Alice's attacks, he pinpointed the problem with Alice's offense.
Alice suffered from the same issue as Lefiya—a lack of combat experience. In fact, compared to Lefiya, Alice's technique was like that of a rookie adventurer who'd just learned magic, recklessly flinging spells around solely because of her deep mana reserves.
Loki's explanations were completely lost on the Amazon sisters, who tended to think with their muscles.
But Finn was different—sharp and clever. He knew about Alice's background.
He was genuinely astonished by how effortlessly Alice cast her magic: the sheer number of spells that defied common sense, the extravagant way she spent mana, and the fact that she could cast without any incantations.
If word of this got out, it would definitely cause a major uproar.
But Alice's combat skills were seriously lacking.
Finn was certain that if he had Alice's abilities, he could take down Lefiya in an instant. That was the difference experience made.
'So these two aren't really fighting—they're testing out some kind of magic, aren't they?'
Finn pinched his chin, deep in thought.
With his keen combat insight, Finn found Alice's clumsy attack methods puzzling. He began to think that rather than sparring, Alice and Lefiya were conducting some kind of magic experiment.
Then, Alice stopped attacking and seemed to be saying something, which made Finn even more convinced that they were testing out a spell.
In that case, you couldn't really say their combat skills were poor—after all, this was just a magic "experiment."
--+--
The barrier faded, revealing Alice and Lefiya.
"Huh? Captain Finn, what are you doing here?" Lefiya asked in surprise the moment she noticed Finn outside the barrier.
"I saw a new face in the familia, so I thought I'd come take a look," Finn replied with a warm smile, his eyes settling on Alice.
"You must be Alice, the puppeteer Loki mentioned. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Finn Deimne, captain of the Loki Familia. As you can see, I'm a Pallum. I look forward to working with you."
His voice was bright and cheerful.
Seeing Finn in person, Alice realized he was one of the few men she didn't dislike.
He was the second man she'd ever felt this way about—Bell was the first, and Finn was the second. Technically, Bete was actually the first man she'd met whom she didn't dislike, but because of what happened later, she'd grown to despise him.
Finn's attitude was so welcoming it felt like a gentle spring breeze.
Even Alice couldn't help but feel that this man was exceptionally steady and reliable.
"Hello, I'm Alice," she responded with a smile.
Finn nodded, then looked at them curiously. "Were you two testing out some kind of magic earlier?"
Hearing his question, both Alice and Lefiya looked puzzled.
"Captain, why do you say that? Although we did have some ideas we wanted to try out," Lefiya answered honestly.
At first, Lefiya and Alice had indeed intended to spar.
But after Alice tossed out a few spells, neither of them felt much like fighting anymore. Lefiya was fairly dedicated to training—if it meant getting stronger, she wouldn't mind spending all day at it.
Even for an elf, mastering magic was crucial, especially for someone like Lefiya who possessed the skill [Elf Ring]. She had to memorize a vast number of magical incantations.
So, unlike most elves, Lefiya wasn't particularly fond of studying. But if it meant gaining power, she'd gladly lose herself in books for hours.
As for Alice, she wasn't big on training. Maybe it was because of the sources of her current abilities.
Right now, Alice's powers came from three individuals:
Herself from Gensokyo, Patchouli Knowledge, and Yukari Yakumo.
None of them were exactly the type to enjoy physical activity. So Alice, who already preferred staying indoors, became even more of a homebody.
That's why they both stopped halfway through.
The reason they paused was to experiment with what Alice had mentioned—separating spiritual energy from mana, or generating mana independently.
But Finn didn't know that. Hearing Lefiya's response, he nodded in understanding.
"No wonder. The way you two were fighting looked like child's play."
At Finn's words, the expressions on both Lefiya's and Alice's faces froze.
--+--
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