Two weeks had passed since Lina had fainted, and I had finally memorized all the vocabulary I needed—I could read any books.
It was now afternoon, with still some time before dinner, and I was outside with Lina as she practiced her new magic.
"The holy water, take form as a hardened spear, pierce through the enemy's body!"
After accompanying Lina in her magic training for two weeks, I'd discovered something interesting—the incantations for advanced magic were only slightly longer than intermediate magic. Maybe the longer the chant, the stronger the magic power.
When Lina finished chanting, she crouched down and pressed her hand to the ground before calling out the spell's name.
"Ice Spike"
A huge cone of ice rose from the ground, sending a wave of cold air over to where we stood. In this sweltering heat, that chill felt like a blessing.
Lina's bright eyes fixed on me, clearly expecting praise.
"Lina, you're amazing. You've already mastered another new magic."
"Hehe, thank you~"
As soon as I praised her, Lina smiled adorably and thanked me. No matter how many times I saw that expression, I never got tired of it.
Over these two weeks, Lina had learned a ton of magic. So far, she'd only been practicing water-element magics and hadn't started on wind-element yet—apparently water-element magics were quite a lot of them.
To have learned over twenty magics in such a short time… Lina really was a genius.
The day after she fainted, she suddenly told me she could control a water ball. I was so shocked I grabbed her shoulders and asked if she'd passed out again.
She said no, that she actually felt fine—and insisted I watch.
She created a water ball of floating, then tucked in four fingers, leaving only her index finger extended. As she pointed forward, the water ball moved—not too fast, not too slow—in the same direction.
Then she pointed upward, and the wayer ball rose. Downward, and it fell. Finally, she curled her index finger into a fist, and the water ball stopped, frozen in midair.
I began to understand how it worked—the water ball followed the direction her finger pointed, almost like controlling a joystick in a game.
"Lina, can you control it with two fingers?"
"Can, it moves faster that way."
She held out two fingers and pointed left. The water ball shot off much quicker than before. I couldn't help but wonder—if she pointed with all five fingers, would it move so fast we couldn't even see it?
But thinking back, the reason the water ball exploded in the first place must've been because she gave it commands in all five directions at once.
"So now you can control water ball of any size, right?"
"Yes."
That meant she could probably use the "Water Cage" on land too—trap monsters inside and then finish them off.
"That's incredible! You found the solution so quickly."
"I know, I'm amazing!"
Lina proudly put her hands on her hips, chest puffed out, and then leaned her head toward me. I tilted mine in confusion.
"Lina, what's wrong?"
She looked up at me with a pair of pitifully expectant eyes.
"Karen, aren't you going to pat my head?"
I blinked twice. Pat her head? Why? I'd never done that before—why was she suddenly asking?
"No, I'm not."
"You're not…?"
Lina's expression immediately sank into disappointment and loneliness. Then I remembered—last night, when she couldn't sleep, I'd patted her head while singing her a lullaby.
But normally, I never touched anyone's head. I'd hated that in my past life—messing up my hair always annoyed me. Since I don't like it, so I'm not doing it.
Last night had been an exception. I'd stroked along the direction of her hair tips, so it wouldn't get messy. That was all.
After returning home, I went into the study and began taking books off the shelf one by one to see what kinds there were. Many of them were completely blank.
Then, halfway through, one particular book caught my eye.
Its title read: The Eleventh Brave.
I opened the book and instantly became absorbed in it, a feeling washing over me that I couldn't put it down until I finished. It wasn't because it was entertaining, but because this book recounted the true reasons the ten Braves of the first generation actually founded the kingdom, and the existence of the Eleventh Brave.
The story began with the origin of the Eleventh Hero, telling of a timid young man named Henry who lived in a place far from the ten Braves.
One day, a Goddess appeared before Henry and told him to defeat the Demon King. The Goddess granted him all-element magic and two special abilities: Knowledge of Ancient Languages and Magic Create.
Henry asked why the Goddess chose him. The god smiled and said it was because he saw hope in Henry.
Hearing the Goddess's words, Henry gained confidence and immediately agreed to the mission.
But even with newfound confidence, Henry's timid nature hadn't changed. Having been oppressed by demon race for many years, he dared not resist them, and so he couldn't fulfill his mission. Yet he secretly practiced magic.
One day, Henry's close friend fell ill. Henry pleaded with the demon to let his friend rest for a day. But the demon didn't care. They whipped his friend, insulted him, and even threatened to kill him.
Hearing this, anger surged within Henry. Using magic, he killed the demons who had threatened his friend.
At that moment, Henry felt sick and vomited, but he had finally resisted the demons and gained true courage.
His friend, shocked by Henry's use of magic, listened as Henry explained the situation and healed his wounds.
The friend did not doubt Henry and chose to trust him, urging Henry to leave immediately. The commotion had drawn attention, and he warned that other demons might arrive at any moment.
Henry wanted to take his friend with him, but the friend refused. He believed he couldn't help and that bringing him along would make it harder for Henry to escape.
The friend also told Henry that he must defeat the Demon King and make the world a better place. Henry promised him and then turned to leave.
On the way out, Henry encountered many demons and killed them all. At first, he felt disgusted, but gradually he grew accustomed and no longer felt repulsed.
He realized that if he killed the demon with the greatest authority in the area, he could safely bring his friend away. He ran with all his strength toward the demon's stronghold.
Along the way, he killed many more demons. The people around were shocked, but Henry ignored them and pressed on.
After what felt like an endless journey, he finally arrived at the stronghold. Henry had fought through countless enemies to reach the ruler.
The ruler was no ordinary demon. Unlike the ones Henry had faced before, he exuded far greater power.
Though initially at a disadvantage, Henry used the two special abilities granted by the god. Instantly, the battle turned in his favor, and the ruler was defeated.
Henry happily returned to his friend, encountering no demons along the way.
When he arrived back, he saw his friend lying in a pool of blood in the distance. Panicked, Henry ran to him. Seeing the numerous wounds, he desperately used magic to heal his friend—but he did not wake.
Henry finally understood, his friend was dead.
He began to cry, clutching his friend tightly, regretting not insisting on taking him along. It was all his fault.
He wept for an unknown amount of time, then brought his friend home to bury him. Determined to fulfill his friend's wish, Henry embarked on his journey to defeat the Demon King.