Mana Manipulation.
For someone like Alice, this skill was practically child's play.
After all, when Alice stitched her dolls together, she used threads woven entirely from her own mana. If her control over mana wasn't absolutely precise, there'd be no way to refine it to such a delicate, thread-like consistency.
This was perfectly clear just by looking at Lefiya and Ais, who were currently trying to gather the mana within themselves and manifest it in their palms.
In Alice's hand, a faint, golden mana had formed a tiny, exquisitely detailed replica of Alice herself, looking just like a miniature doll.
The mana in Lefiya's palm, however, was a rather pitiful sight, a soft, shapeless blob like a lump of mud.
As for Ais, she had it even worse. Despite her efforts, not a wisp of mana had appeared.
For a mage like Lefiya, being able to draw out her internal mana without an incantation and present it on her palm under Alice's guidance was already quite an achievement.
But for a warrior like Ais, it was different. Although she possessed an excellent magic like [Ariel]—which boosted her attack, defense, and speed, and even granted her brief flight—her approach to using magic was incredibly brute-force.
Thanks to the existence of the Falna, an adventurer like Ais only needed to chant the spell to activate her magic. In combat, the versatile effects of Ariel provided her with a decent workout for her mana reserves.
However, precisely because Ariel could be activated with such a simple chant, Ais had never developed fine control over her mana.
The Falna acted as a catalyst; through the god's blood, it fully unlocked the latent potential within a person. The fact that Ais obtained a magic like [Ariel] meant the Falna had awakened a power to command the wind within her, a power expressed through a magic slot.
If Ais could truly learn to develop and master this skill effectively, her strength would become immense.
So, in Alice's eyes, it seemed almost a waste—such a rare talent, left untapped.
"This is so hard, Alice-chan..." Lefiya groaned, straining to mold the 'blob' of mana in her hand into a desired shape. But the unruly 'mud' refused to be controlled; she couldn't even form a simple '1'. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead from the effort.
"Well, for anyone not used to controlling mana like this, it's always a bit awkward at first."
Not that Alice had ever actually seen anyone else learn this. In her [Knowledge Repository], everyone seemed to possess incredibly refined mana control. How else could they casually unleash those beautiful, yet utterly harmless, bullet curtain patterns?
The spell cards in Gensokyo contained bullet curtains that were breathtakingly gorgeous, yet their magical attacks couldn't even leave a dent in the ground. To control mana to that degree required immense mastery.
Right now, by altering her chants, Lefiya could increase her spell's destructive power. But if you asked her to strip her magic of all offensive force, there probably wasn't a soul in all of Orario who could do it.
In Alice's [Knowledge Repository], Houraisan Kaguya once said:
['A Magician who can't destroy anything, yet can obliterate the entire world.']
['The ultimate magic is that which can become the most beautiful, safest of things, yet at times, transform into the most dangerous.']
['Only when you have such effortless mastery over magic, where it moves as you will, can you truly be called a Magician.']
Although Alice always felt there was something a bit off about Kaguya's words, when she thought about the attacks released during spell card battles in Gensokyo, they did match the description. They were spectacularly flashy, yet never so much as bruised the flowers by the roadside.
Alice simply believed that in Gensokyo, this level of control—where you could make your magic powerful or weak at will—was considered the very basics, the entry point for any magician.
She deeply believed in the words of Houraisan Kaguya stored in her knowledge base.
It never occurred to her that maybe everyone in Gensokyo was just incredibly powerful, and that the attacks in a spell card battle were deliberately toned down to a non-lethal level. She also failed to notice that these battles were always confined to a specific area, likely protected by barriers to prevent collateral damage.
Such details escaped Alice's notice.
Anyway, Alice was currently striving towards that state of 'effortless mastery' that Kaguya described. She couldn't yet achieve completely harmless magic, but she could manage to significantly reduce its power.
Lefiya, having successfully summoned her mana, continued to struggle with control. It was slow, tedious, and difficult. But at least there was a clear path to improvement, a direction for her efforts.
Ais, on the other hand, was completely baffled by the very concept of mana control. Seeing Lefiya succeed only deepened her frustration.
'Why can't I do it...?'
Ais inwardly scolded herself, feeling disheartened that Lefiya could manage something she couldn't.
Seeing the dejected look in Ais's eyes, Alice felt a wave of helplessness.
To be honest, having Alice teach someone how to control mana was a bit like asking a fish to teach swimming. Mana control was something innate to Alice, as natural as breathing.
Lefiya could grasp it because, as a mage, she had a natural aptitude. Once Alice explained the principles, Lefiya could quickly manifest her mana. For her, too, it was becoming an instinctual act. Even without Alice, if someone else had explained it or if Lefiya had figured it out on her own, she could have accomplished the same.
But Ais was a completely different story.
"Oh, I know!" Alice exclaimed, an idea striking her as she looked at Ais. "Ais, your magic involves controlling the wind, right?"
Ais lifted her head. "Ariel. It lets me control the wind."
Hearing this, Alice smiled. "In that case, Miss Ais, why don't you try controlling the wind directly by yourself, instead of relying on your Falna to release it as a magic spell?"
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