Awe In Glow - 62
He saw nothing complicated.
Only wonder.
Curiosity.
Both quietly reflected in Marc's eyes beneath the moonlight.
Bell smiled.
"You're really curious, huh?"
Marc continued looking ahead and simply smiled.
"Mmm! I am..."
…
And then, suddenly, Juro appeared from Marc's other side and rested his arms on the balcony fence.
"How's the view out here?" he asked.
Marc looked out into the distance. "Pretty..."
Juro turned his gaze toward the horizon as the cool night wind brushed against him. A small smile appeared on his face before he looked down at Marc.
"Then why don't we go explore this vast land together, huh?"
"Mmm! I'd love to, but me and Bell have to go to Noria's and Brea's academy as their assistants, right?" Marc replied, looking up at him.
Juro simply waved his hand. "Nah, don't worry about it. They only made that suggestion because they thought we'd be staying here for a few days."
"Really? Then... I'd like to continue exploring with the two of you," Marc said with a smile. "But Noria and Brea might get sad... I'll tell them later."
Juro smiled and patted Marc's head. "At first, you sounded excited about attending an academy. What made you change your mind?"
Marc lightly shook his head. "I still am excited about going to an academy, but... I feel like before I go to any kind of academy, I wanna explore around together with you and Bell."
A big, bright smile spread across his face.
Both Juro and Bell smiled at his response before Princess Heler called out to Marc and Juro. She wanted to talk about Marc's idea of giving some of his gold to the orphanage and Alex's family.
Juro placed a hand on Marc's shoulder. "You stay here. Just give me the pouch and I'll go tell her the details. Enjoy the view while you still can."
Then, behind Marc, Bell wore a blank and suspicious expression as he slowly glared at Juro.
"(≖_≖ )"
"Whaaaat? I'm not gonna take anyyy, you can even count it yourself when I get back!" Juro exclaimed.
Marc chuckled before taking out his pouch and handing it to him. Juro accepted it and walked back inside.
But as he walked away, he quietly glanced behind him.
The two kids stood together beneath the moonlight, looking out across the vast land before them.
Juro quietly smiled before continuing forward.
After watching the view for a while, Marc started talking about the person the king had called earlier.
"Bell, that person earlier beside the king... he was so cool. He appeared out of nowhere. Do you think he was using some kind of magic? I didn't notice any big mana, so I don't think it was mana manipulation magic, and I didn't hear him incant anything."
Bell was quite surprised by how observant Marc had become in such a short amount of time.
But he smiled and replied, "It's probably magic, but something more complicated. Maybe it's a magic that he's used countless times throughout his life."
"Oooo, I heard that The Greatest Mage can use magic without any incantation, so it's probably similar to that, right?" Marc asked, his eyes still focused on the vast lands stretching out before him.
Bell smiled and replied, "Yeah, it probably is."
Marc smiled as well before saying, "He's really so cool... He learned so many magics and spells, and so much more. He traveled to all kinds of lands, and he helped all kinds of people."
Bell looked at him.
"Is that something you wanna do?"
Marc's smile grew even brighter.
"Yeah..."
Bell simply smiled after hearing his response.
After a few seconds, Marc spoke again. "Now I'm curious about how that person vanished. I wonder what magic he used."
"Probably something about wind or air," Bell casually replied.
"Wind or air? eh how?" Marc asked.
"Mm. You saw that small flow of air when he appeared and when he disappeared, right?"
"Oooo, yeah, yeah. I guess that'd make sense." Marc smiled before adding, "I hope I can learn that someday."
Bell simply smiled.
"That man Gertha, the person the king called..."
Recalling that moment, there had been wind around him when he appeared.
"So I'm guessing he used that type of magic... I think it was calledAnemos Das Znykaye."
"But if we go further than just the incantation and actually look at the mechanics behind that magic..."
The air around his body moved into a precisely controlled layer of circulating currents, subtly altering its density and refractive index so that incoming light bent around him rather than revealing his presence. The airflow remained confined within the field, producing no noticeable breeze to those nearby, while the invisible optical distortion continuously adjusted itself to preserve the appearance of the surroundings.
Then, as he released the magic, the carefully balanced atmospheric layers rapidly collapsed and equalized. The air suddenly spiraled and rushed toward the space where he was about to reappear, and from within that brief surge of wind, his form gradually became visible once more.
Bell smiled to himself, feeling a little proud.
"Heh... I still have it in me."
Then Marc turned toward Bell.
"Oh, I forgot to say, Bell! Remember that time in the orphanage when I created that ball or orb thingy??? That thing appeared again while I was sleeping, and, and..."
Marc continued, explaining to Bell what he had seen while he was asleep.
After telling him everything, Marc waited for Bell's response.
Bell simply smiled at him.
"You don't need to worry about that. Just focus on growing yourself."
"Really?" Marc asked.
Bell nodded.
Marc immediately smiled brightly, trusting Bell's words.
"Okay!"
A few seconds later, Noria and Brea walked up to them.
Marc and Bell noticed their approach, and Marc turned to look at them. He scratched the back of his head before speaking.
"Um... I think Bell and I can't attend the academy tomorrow. I'm sorry."
As he said that, Marc lowered his head.
Neither Noria nor Brea's expressions changed. Instead, they simply smiled.
"It's fine. We understand," Brea said.
Marc raised his head.
"Really?"
Both princesses nodded, and Noria replied, "Yeah, and we could somewhat already tell."
"Ehh? How?" Marc asked with a confused expression.
Noria and Brea lightly chuckled.
"Well... your eyes," Noria replied before continuing. "The way you look outside, it looks like you're ready to go out and explore. And we don't want to hold you back from going out and exploring things."
Marc looked at them for a moment before smiling warmly back at them.
Then Bell suddenly exclaimed, "I'm sure Kel would be happy."
Noria, Brea, and Bell chuckled, while Marc remained there with a confused smile on his face.
"(ᵕ • ᴗ •)?"
...
And so, time passed quietly.
Juro, Bell, and Marc were then given a room to stay in for the night. Marc looked around, still admiring how big and spacious the room was.
"So many decorative stuffs..." Marc exclaimed as he looked around.
Juro casually laid down on his bed and placed his arms beneath his head.
Marc then turned toward him.
"Oh, Teacher Juro, me and Bell are gonna hang out in Noria and Brea's room for a bit. We'll be back soon."
Juro remained comfortably on his bed and simply nodded without saying anything else.
"Mmm."
Bell and Marc then made their way toward Noria and Brea's room.
While walking, Bell asked, "Did Juro return the pouch?"
Marc nodded. "Yep. It's in our room. I placed it on the table."
Soon after, they arrived at Noria and Brea's room. Brea opened the door for them, and the two went inside.
They all sat together on the carpets, casually talking about the books inside Noria and Brea's room. Marc enthusiastically wanted to take a look at all of them, especially the ones involving magic or his idol.
Then Brea brought up their footwear.
Marc immediately remembered.
"Oh, wait! The spell!"
He quickly put down the book and looked toward their footwear. Noria slowly flipped one over, revealing the spell underneath it.
"Woa... Look at those symbols. I don't understand what they mean, but they look really cool..."
Brea and Noria simply chuckled at his reaction.
Meanwhile, Bell also leaned closer and took a look.
"Hm... that's a well-crafted spell."
While they continued talking, Marc looked at one of the lamps for a moment before suddenly remembering something.
"Oh! Wait, Bell, Bell! Remember that magic Noria taught me?"
Brea became curious.
"Ooo, you taught him magic?"
Noria nodded. "Yeah, the Gluhen one."
Bell looked toward Marc.
"Hm?"
Marc smiled as a fun idea came to mind.
"We should all do that magic together and turn the lights off! It'll be really fun!"
"Ooo, yes, yes. I'm interested," Brea agreed.
"But... I'm also kinda worried, hehe..." Marc said, scratching the back of his head.
Noria chuckled as she remembered what had happened last time, while Brea wore a confused expression.
Marc then explained what had happened before, and Brea quickly understood why Noria had started chuckling.
Bell also lightly chuckled.
"I'll help you with that."
Marc smiled.
Bell then taught Marc how to control the magic and prevent the light from becoming too bright.
After a few minutes, Marc finally got the hang of it.
Bell then turned off the lights in the room, leaving only the dim natural light coming through the window.
After turning off the lights, he sat beside Marc and Brea. The four of them formed a small circle.
Then they all held out both of their hands and opened their palms.
Then, together, they incanted.
"Gluhen."
As those words left their mouths, a small, warm yellow glow slowly appeared in their palms.
Marc was happy and relieved that this time, he didn't get flashbanged by his own magic.
But more than that, he admired it.
The warm yellow hue slowly illuminated the room as the light from their palms gathered together.
While looking at their hands, Noria slowly turned toward Marc.
And as she looked at him, she found herself more in awe of his expression than the magic in front of them.
What she saw wasn't a simple smile.
It was pure and genuine admiration for the magic.
Even though Gluhen was one of the simplest and most commonly taught magics, Marc looked at it as if it were something grand.
Noria smiled.
He still had the same expression he had when she first showed him the magic.