The next day, Luna and I visited a quiet, deserted shrine ruin.
"Orun, thank you for today as well!" Luna said with a voice full of determination and a serious expression. She looked admirable, but I could tell she was putting too much unnecessary tension into her shoulders.
She really is pushing herself a little too hard.
It had been a month since she started training to become a Transcendent. At first her growth was visible, but lately she had hit a wall. She was probably aware of it herself. That was exactly why she seemed to be spinning her wheels even more.
"Luna, you do not need to strain yourself so much. You have been steadily improving your control over magic power."
"B-but… lately it feels like I am not making much progress…"
When she bit her lip, I gave her a gentle smile.
"Hitting a wall is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a view you can only see because you have come this far. From what I can tell, you already have the foundation needed to become a Transcendent. All that is left is to grasp the trigger, the trick."
After saying that, I looked up at the sky.
"…Let us go back to the basics a little. We can review and organize what we know about magic power again. We might discover something new."
"…Understood."
Once I confirmed Luna was ready, I began speaking.
"First, magic power can be broadly divided into two types. Do you remember?"
"Yes. You taught me this when we started training. There is 'magic power of the structured world' and 'magic power of the outside world,' right?"
"That is correct."
Luna gave a small smile, then looked at me with serious eyes.
"And I was taught that the magic power of the outside world is the real magic power."
I nodded at her words and added a little more.
In the age of fairy tales, magic power was a blessing that enriched people's lives. But it did not bring only good things. Magic power gradually harmed the human body even as it provided convenience.
"Then beings hostile to humanity appeared."
"Those were the evil gods and demons, right?"
At the time, humanity was expected to prosper even further thanks to magic power. Instead, they became exposed to the threat of evil gods and demons born from that very magic power.
Eventually, war between humans and evil gods became unavoidable and developed into a full conflict.
"At the end of the war… the evil gods were sealed away. But the price was too great. The magic power filling the world became far too dense, and the environment was no longer suitable for humans to live in."
"So the solution was to migrate to this world," Luna said, nodding.
I added more. "A new environment cut off from the outside world by the wall of principles. That is this world. However, saying it was completely 'blocked off' is not accurate. Even at this very moment, magic power is still flowing in from outside."
"The wall of principles acts like a filter, removing the parts of magic power that are toxic to humans before it enters this world, right?"
"Yes. It flows in after the toxic components have been removed. That is why humans can live in the structured world."
"However," I continued, "that magic power is no longer real magic power. Because the toxins were removed, it became magic power that cannot be used to perform magic."
"That is why the people of the past created sorcery as a replacement for magic."
"Exactly. Sorcery is a system of techniques built on top of principles to reproduce phenomena similar to magic through accumulated logic."
Luna thought for a moment, then carefully chose her words.
"But you and Shion can still use magic in this world. Is that because the two of you are Transcendents?"
"Yes."
I nodded and affirmed her question.
"Transcendents can manipulate the magic power present in this world and open conceptual holes in the wall of principles. Through those holes, we draw in the magic power of the outside world directly and use it to perform magic."
"Does that mean if someone has advanced enough magic power control to break through the wall of principles, they can handle outside magic power too? In other words, that is what it means to have resistance to the magic power of the outside world?"
A faint spark of hope appeared in Luna's eyes.
But I slowly shook my head.
"That is not correct. Whether or not someone has resistance to the magic power of the outside world is not a matter of magic power control technique. It is decided by one of two things: whether they possess a special ability, or whether they can handle the ultimate point of ki known as 'Demon Breaking.'"
"So technique alone is not enough."
"Precisely. As someone with a special ability, Luna, you already possess resistance to the outside world from the start."
Luna let out a deep breath, then smiled with a touch of bitterness.
"So you need both extremely advanced magic power control technique and resistance to outside magic power before you can become a Transcendent… It really is a narrow gate."
"It is. But you have already reached right in front of that gate, Luna. All that is left is to pry it open and step through."
"…Right in front of the gate."
"Yes. Like I said earlier, you already have the foundation needed to become a Transcendent. You are just one step away."
Luna murmured softly and lowered her gaze.
When she looked up again, her eyes held both uncertainty and a clear, determined light.
"Thank you, Orun. I will not give up. For the sake of meeting Titania, I will definitely become a Transcendent!"
"Good. Then let us keep building from the basics today as well."
"Yes!"
Her energetic reply echoed through the quiet shrine ruins.