Ais's magic is "Ariel." A blessing develops based on each person's latent potential; if the potential isn't there to begin with, no amount of development can make it appear.
Ais's blessing developed the magic known as [Ariel].
This shows that Ais has a natural talent for controlling wind.
Theoretically, everyone possesses a talent others cannot reach; each person is a genius in some specific aspect.
However, through upbringing, experience, and effort… and because personal inclinations differ… bringing out the innate talent each person holds can be incredibly difficult. Some might never unlock their potential in their entire lives.
This is especially true in Orario.
When everyone's goal is to become stronger, when everyone yearns for magic and skills like these, the likelihood of individuals failing to develop their unique talents becomes even greater.
After all, many people's talents simply don't lie in combat.
Take Lili, for example. No matter how hard she tried, her basic attributes never increased much.
As for Ais…she's actually been quite fortunate.
Her innate talent for controlling wind was successfully drawn out by her blessing.
Since the talent has already been awakened, it should be possible to master it directly. Because even if the ability was unlocked by the blessing, it's still Ais's own inherent talent.
It would be strange if she couldn't use her own talent herself and instead had to rely entirely on the blessing to access it.
After hearing Alice's words, the disappointment in Ais's heart faded slightly, but she wasn't entirely clear on what Alice meant.
"Manipulate the wind directly?" Ais tilted her head, looking at Alice with confusion.
"Exactly," Alice nodded, smiling at Ais. "Simply put, it's like how Lefiya shortens her magic chants. You could shorten the incantation for [Ariel] as well."
"I see," Ais understood. "But the chant for Ariel is already quite simple. There's really no need to shorten it."
Ariel, being a magic developed by a blessing, and a versatile instant-cast type at that, has an incantation of just a single short phrase. If she needs to activate other effects of the magic, she only has to tweak the chant slightly. It's very straightforward—much simpler than the magic Lefiya learns.
"No need to shorten it, hmm?" Alice smiled, understanding Ais's point perfectly well.
"If there's no need, then we won't. We'll keep the activation phrase as it is. But we can certainly study this magic more deeply, can't we?"
"Regarding your control over this magic, if I'm not mistaken, Ais, you simply wrap the wind around your weapon or your body to enhance attack, defense, and speed. You don't attempt more intricate control over the wind itself, right?"
If Ais were a magician like Riveria, she'd probably have found countless creative applications for Ariel.
Although Alice didn't know why Riveria had never pointed this out to Ais, she could guess: in this world, the ability to truly learn magic is generally believed to be limited to magical races.
While humans can acquire magic through Falna or grimoires, that's usually seen as the extent of it. Magic obtained from grimoires might indeed be fixed. But is magic developed through a blessing really so rigid? Probably not.
Alice shared her thoughts with Ais.
Her idea was simple: she wanted Ais to engage more deeply with her own magic, to think beyond its conventional uses and explore other possibilities.
When it came to swordsmanship, martial arts, or close-quarters combat, Alice had no experience. In Ais's eyes, she wasn't even a beginner.
But in magic…
Alice believed that even Riveria couldn't compare to her. And Riveria's mastery of magic was among the very best in Orario.
Which meant…
In Orario, no one could match Alice's understanding of magic.
After listening to Alice's ideas, the gloom in Ais's eyes vanished, replaced by a lively spark. Although the expression on her face remained mostly unchanged, after their short time together, Alice could already tell that this Sword Princess was a bit of an airhead.
Expecting Ais to show dramatic facial expressions was probably asking too much.
"So, Miss Ais, would you like to try some other ways to use your wind magic?" Alice asked with a smile, a pale blue, crescent-shaped wind blade appearing in her hand.
Ais looked at the wind blade in Alice's palm, clearly sensing the concentrated wind within it.
"Ais," Ais lifted her head, meeting Alice's eyes with serious intensity.
"Hmm?" Alice tilted her head.
"Just call me Ais," Ais said earnestly.
Simultaneously, she decided inwardly that after returning today, she must ask Riveria how to properly repay Alice for her guidance.
Even though she hadn't seen any changes in herself yet, Ais could feel the sincerity behind Alice's efforts.
To Ais, Alice had previously been just a stranger whom Loki happened to like very much. She didn't belong to a familia; she wasn't even a comrade. Although she had come along to the dungeon today, in Ais's mind, it was probably more about accompanying Lefiya and Lefiya's friend.
But now, Ais had firmly etched the girl named Alice deep within her heart.
"Ais, huh?" Hearing this, Alice smiled gently.
"Then you can just call me Alice from now on, Ais. Now, let's try to directly use the wind to attack while Ariel is active."
Alice withdrew the wind blade from her hand and pointed into the distance where a Minotaur had just spawned.
"Ais, try to gather the wind and then throw it at the enemy."
"Mm." Ais's eyes sharpened. She stood up, focusing intently on the distant Minotaur.
The three of them were currently in the safe area of the 16th floor. They had just cleared out all the nearby Minotaurs, so the newly spawned one in the distance hadn't noticed them yet.
It had no idea a Level 5 adventurer was about to use it as a test subject.
"Awaken, Tempest."
This time, Ais did not draw her beloved sword.
Instead, mimicking how Alice cast magic, she raised her hand.
After reciting the chant, Ais's control over the magic seemed to simplify. Pale green magical energy formed a faint air current, gathering in her palm and condensing into a small sphere of wind.
Then, as if obeying Alice's instruction, Ais hurled the wind sphere from her hand toward the distant Minotaur.
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