"OK, I'm interested! Where are the others?"
She nearly threw her hands in the air as she relented, she was embarrassed to admit her interest in monsters, it wasn't exactly a feminine interest but he seemed adamant on calling her out, she could tell he was amused and that smile on his face was kind of cute.
"No. Reading the first volumes before this one is part of the experience."
Arthur gave her a look, one that told her that she was being a bit irrational but he didn't voice that, instead, he shrugged.
"Ok then, I'll send a letter to the guild and have them deliver the earlier volumes"
"Thank you, oh speaking of, we never finished our conversation about magic"
She reminded him that during their shopping trip, he had made it a point not to speak of magic publicly and had promised to tell her about it once home.
"Oh, I did promise that. What do you want to know?"
In his words, she practically bolted down the stairs and sat right next to him.
"I want to know everything!"
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, and the excitement in her voice felt sweet like a block of sugar.
"We'll be here all day if I tell you everything. I'll tell you what I can."
He decided to rein in her excitement, forcing her to lean back and clear her throat.
"Okay, but before that, yesterday you said we couldn't talk about it, because there might be people watching, what did you mean?"
That was what was most curious to her. Most people would be excited to witness magic, as such, what reason would there be for Arthur to hide it?
"It's not anything serious if that's what you're thinking. It's just that there's plenty of Mercenaries out there who think beating an Explorer in combat means they're good enough to be considered Explorers themselves"
It is honestly something that Arthur found rather tedious, some Explorers tended to entertain it however it can get annoying whenever you enter a city wanting to relax but there are people who want to harass you because they feel entitled to the title of Explorer.
"Oh, are mercenaries powerful? I didn't think an Explorer would need to worry about them"
Having said so, Esme pressed her lips together and her mind began to think about the relationship between Explorers and Mercenaries, she had assumed the Explorers were so above Mercenaries, and they did not need to even look at them.
Similar to how an adult would not be threatened by the strength of a toddler, but it seems she has to reconsider her opinion.
"Heh! You're getting the wrong idea"
He poked her forehead while saying so and stopping her train of thought before she could make the wrong assumptions.
"Then what's the right idea?"
She rubbed her forehead gently. The poke did not hurt, but having her forehead assaulted was unexpected thus gave Arthur a slight annoyed look.
"Think of it like having an annoying little sibling that won't leave you alone, no matter how much you expressly tell them to f… leave you alone."
"Does that mean Explorers and Mercenaries don't get along well?"
"Yes and No, Mercenaries have a desire to prove themselves that they're just as good as us, but most Explorers don't care"
In fact, most Explorers liked having Mercenaries around, as that meant more people who could fight monsters after all. Explorers couldn't be everywhere.
"In any case, back to the topic of magic, what do you want to know?"
He rested his elbow on the armrest of the couch, ready to answer her question.
"How does it work? How can you use it when most people can't even sense its existence"
"I told you last time that no one in this Era can use magic the same way the mages of old used to. What I do is not necessarily magic but instead magic skills"
"What's the difference?"
She could not really see how magic skills and magic were different, both were magic, if anything it seemed like a pointless splitting of hairs.
"The difference is that mages, used to use ambient mana in the air to cast magic spells, but Explorers use internal mana to perform very specific phenomena.
Think back to the electricity I generated, an explorer with only a single magic skill for example the skill to generate electricity, can only ever generate electricity nothing else, while mages were free to do practically anything they want with mana."
"I think I get it, mages could cast any spells they want, fire or ice spells, or any attribute but Explorers can only cast single attribute spells, if the attribute is fire then that's all they'll be able to do for the rest of their lives"
With those words, she began to realise how powerful mages would have been. A person who can do practically anything would not only be unstoppable but they would be coveted by every nation in the world.
She also understood why Explorers were so coveted as well, although they did not have the same power as mages they still held more than enough power.
Esme couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder as her mind continued to think about it. Her imagination ran wild with every thought, imagining what could be possible with magic, what Explorers could be capable of, what Arthur could be capable of.
Arthur looked at her with a small smile on his face. It was like watching a kid come to some sort of revelation. The look of wonder on her face was pleasant to see.
"That's pretty much it."
His words brought her back from her daze.
"You still haven't answered my question. How can you use it?"
"Remember I said Explorers use internal mana, also known as Od. Od is the excess energy of the soul or life energy that's converted into mana and stored in the body."
All people are born with souls, some people with bigger and greater souls than others. Normal people like yourself have souls that fit into your body as they should, however, Explorers are the rare type of people born with bigger souls, so the excess soul is converted into mana.
Think of it when you eat food, if you eat a small amount you'll be full but you're poop will be small but–"
"Ew!! Gross, stop, stop! Arthur, don't use that as an analogy."
She wrinkled her nose as she cut him off, not wanting to tarnish her imagination by thinking of poop of all things.
Arthur let out a hearty laugh at her reaction. She was such an adorable little thing wasn't she?
"What? It's just an example"
He asked while giggling to himself, amused. The way she seemed not to want to look at him and her nose wrinkled as if she could smell the poop was genuinely funny to him.
"Then use a different one, on Sol! That's disgusting"
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Let me find a better example"
"No, it's alright. I think I get the overall idea. When your soul is too big, the excess is converted into mana and stored in your body, allowing you to use mana."
Her summary showed that she had grasped the concept, Arthur was able to use magic because he had a soul that was too big for his body.
"Although this is just one theory out of many, it's the one that most Explorers believe in."
He clarified, although to him, that was the theory that made the most sense.
"Are there any books? I'd love to read them, not just the ones about magic, but any books that the ancient mages wrote, I bet they'll have a lot of interesting things written in them"
She could not help but let her curiosity get the better of her. There was no doubt in her mind that books written by mages would be filled with knowledge about a lot of things. The royal library didn't have an expansive collection as she would have liked.
"Yeah there's plenty, although some of them are old, with some crazy theories and ideas, written by equally crazy people"
"What do you mean?"
"You know how several centuries ago, Elves, beastmen, and dwarves went extinct"
When magic began to wane, some of the more fantastical races slowly died out, as their existence was apparently being supported by the magic, leaving only humans to inherit the world.
Esme gave him a nod, that was something that most people grew up being taught, it was also something she was curious about, a world with not just humans but other kinds of races as well, she couldn't imagine how fantastical such a world could be.
"Well when that happened, apparently some years prior to that, the mages had noticed the decline of beastmen and one of them proposed an idea to revive the Beast folk should they go completely extinct, wanna guess what that idea was?"
"Something like a spell to preserve the Beast folk."
"Hah! You're a sensible person, mages are not. The idea was for humanity to start breeding with animals, like horses, wolves, and bears…"
He ended his words with a cackle, finding it hilarious how a mage would come up with such a ludicrous idea, although he could see the rationale behind it.
"Arthur please be serious, mages were touted as the wisest men of their age, no Wiseman would ever suggest such a stupid idea"
Unconvinced, Esme spoke with frustration in her voice. It was ridiculous to even think a mage would come up with such a thing.
At her sudden anger, Arthur couldn't help but laugh even more. It seemed she didn't believe him, and that somehow made things funnier.
"Heh just you wait, I'll have the guild send the book. Trust me, it's one of the funniest things you'll read"
He gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder to ease her up a bit. He understood how she wouldn't believe him, despite being long gone, mages were highly respected and powerful, so it was hard to believe that some of them were genuinely stupid.
"I doubt that, but speaking of magic, you generated electricity with your fingers. Was that your magic skill?"
She recalled the crackle of blue electricity dancing along his fingers. It was a fantastical sight, and she wished to see it again.
"In a sense, like you guessed, most Explorers have single attribute skills. However, I'm a bit different. My magic skill allows me to use multiple attributes like fire, water, electricity, and wind. So yes, generating electricity is my skill, but that's not all I can do"
He explained before gesturing to her to back up a little. He already knew she probably would want to see what he could do, and a little demonstration was something he could do without issues.
"Pay attention"
He opened his hand and showed his inner palm, with his fingers stretched apart. With a bit of focus, he channeled mana into his hand and then directed it to the tips of his fingers.
Esme watched his hand with keen interest and unabated curiosity, her expectations fueling her imagination.
A flame came to life, right above his middle finger, startling Esme and causing her to lean back cautiously.
"Whoa!"
However a moment later surprise became etched to her face, and another second later, Arthur produced a small ball of water, that swirled to life and shaping itself into a clear perfect sphere floating above his index finger.
Esme leaned closer, both curious and having determined she was in no danger.
From his pinky finger, another ball appeared, a crackling sphere of lightning buzzing to life and erratically flickering as it floated above his finger.
Another second later, Arthur brought to life a small tornado that swirled over his open palm, generating a small gust of wind that gently caressed Esme's face, forcing strands of her hair back.
"Arthur, this is incredible!! Can I touch it?!"
The excitement bubbled from within her heart, and a child-like smile blossomed on her face. She was like a kid in a candy store that was just permitted to pick whatever candy they wanted.
She wished to know what it felt like to touch magic, an experience that most people would never get the opportunity to know, and something that Judith would never experience.
He gave her a nod and without hesitation she stretched out her hand and touched the ball of electricity, and felt the tingling sensation as it traveled into her finger, as if it was like touching an exposed low-voltage power line.
Moving on from that, she brought her finger close to the ball of fire, feeling its warmth, its heat was like passing your hand above a candle, a gentle warmth that you could put out with just your wet fingers.
Touching the sphere of water felt, like making contact with ice-cold water, a complete contrast to the gentle fire, the cold was sharp and surprising but also pleasant in its own way.
Arthur adjusted his hand and allowed her to touch the wind. The small tornado felt like a gentle and cool breeze. It felt like a weak force pushing against her fingers exactly how a breeze feels when brushing against your
"Arthur, this is amazing!"
She found it difficult to suppress her desire to squeal in genuine excitement, her imagination running wild with ideas of what Arthur could do.
"Yeah, I know, I was just as excited when I found out I could do it"
Although there was a lot more screaming and cursing on his part. It was the equivalent of finding out you have superpowers. He reacted exactly as a ten-year-old should despite mentally being much older.
He ended the demonstration and saw the excitement in Esme's eyes die just a bit.
"What else can you do?"
"A lot of things, but there's a cool down, I have to wait another couple of minutes before I'm able to use it again"
"Isn't that too long"
"Not really, it depends, if I use a single element, there'll be a less than five-second cool down only on that one element and I can use the others without waiting, however using them all at the same time for longer, the cool down is longer"
"Well that's no fun"
Her face showed some disappointment, and her shoulders slumped just a bit.
"Yeah, I know"
He understood how she felt. It sucked a lot, especially when you're in a heated battle with a monster, it leaves you only able to rely on yourself, it's even worse when your items are also on a cooldown.
In those instances, a single minute can feel like a lifetime. Sometimes, he swore the universe purposely slowed down time just to make things difficult.
"In any case, thank you for this. I've been curious about it for a long time."
Gratitude flowed from her mouth, and a pleased smile showed on her lips. She couldn't help but appreciate Arthur as an individual for what he's done for her so far.
Arthur simply shrugged it was hardly anything to be thankful for in his eyes, but she was cute when excited like that, so that was a treat.
Looked at her for a bit, he noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday which prompted him to suddenly change the subject.
"Magic aside, are you sure you don't want new clothes?"
Arthur questioned his wife who was wearing the same set of clothing yesterday, most of her dresses were very noble like in their make and therefore if she were to wear them it would not present a good picture as it could be seen as her flaunting her husband's wealth.
For commoners wearing expensive clothing was reserved for special occasions such as celebrations or birthdays.
Wearing gaudy and expensive clothes every day showed everyone your wealth, and it also attracted unwanted attention, especially considering where Esme and Arthur lived.
"Ah–"
Esme was going to deny his words. However, she held her tongue, remembering that it was unnecessary for her to worry about being frugal with money, Arthur had assured her of that.
"Yes… I do need a dress or two"
Answering his question, I felt a little awkward. Her assumption about being frugal had proven unnecessary, and thus, there was no point in not buying new clothes for her.
After her mother's death, she has never had to verbally tell someone she wants something like a dress, all her clothes were given to her, and at the very least she wasn't being completely neglected in the palace.
"Excellent, let's return to the market, I'm sure we'll find plenty of dresses for you"
Arthur quickly jumped off the couch and onto his feet displaying an enthusiasm that did not match the occasion, Esme could only give him a look of curiosity, why was he more excited to buy her clothes than she was?