Almark gently turns his right palm up.
"Do you remember what you looked like the last time you failed?"
Ilmis asked, and Almark nodded.
"Yes. Imagine a little flame in the space just above your hand."
"You keep looking like this."
Illmis shows the flame of his own hand.
"Yes."
Almark nods.
"Thank you. In you, the image of the flames seems to precede you."
When Illmis says so, he lowers Almark back with a hand gesture.
"If we treat the flames in this hand as flames, it is their nature as flames that appear on the table"
Immediately after the words, the flames swung in Irmis' hands.
"Ah."
Almark speaks up.
The flame became a firepillar during the sight and rose to near the ceiling of the magic practice field.
If it hadn't fallen back, Almark would have been involved too, a giant flame.
"Dragon Flame!
When Almark screamed, the flames were gone without a trace.
"And so it is."
Another small flame appears above the hands of Illmis.
"So don't think of this as a flame"
To that word, Almark stares unexpectedly at the flame of Illmis' hand.
"So what is this?"
"This magical name is right."
Illmis says without incident.
"Light up our feet. What do you call this?"
"Lights..."
"Yes."
Illmis nodded.
"The magic of the lights must not be confused by appearance. There are many misguided magicians out there. It is important to treat this flame not as a flame, but as a light. I mean, on my right hand."
"That's an image of a little light on."
Illmis nods at Almark's words.
"That's right. You understand fast."
"It's not fast."
Almark shakes his head.
"Since that day, I've been thinking about it. What was wrong with my image?"
"Right."
Illmis smiled.
"It's a necessary process for true understanding. Your troubled time is never a waste."
And slap Almark on the shoulder.
"Well, let's try it"
Almark focuses his consciousness on his right hand.
In my body, I've already worked out my magic.
Focus it on your right hand.
"You don't have to gather magic that far."
Ilmis calls out.
"It's not like the magic of fog. If you have enough magic to have a little light, that's enough."
"Yes."
Almark answers and scatters extra magic from his right hand.
"Lights."
Tell Irmis to check with Almark again.
"It takes the form of a flame, but it is not a flame. Lights."
Lights.
Almark nods.
"It's not a flame. A gentle light that illuminates your surroundings."
That's right.
I've seen this magic many times.
No one in this college used this flame as a flame.
I only used it as a light.
This is not a flame.
Light.
When I first used the magic of fog, I had fear and anxiety.
Not now.
Almark already had that much confidence in his magic.
Now, I can get it out.
Light.
On Almark's right hand, a small flame lit up.
"Done."
"It's coming from here."
Quite the voice of Ill Miss.
You know what I mean.
"Yes."
Yes, I know.
I failed after this.
Almark concentrates.
Like the magic of fog, it's not the same as continuing to infuse magic.
Keep the magic fixed there.
The flames flutter with instability.
"Recognize that the light is there."
says Irmis.
"A little above your palm, he said, is fixed. Otherwise, the lights won't come on if you walk out."
"Yes."
Concentrate.
Fixed.
Sweat seeps through Almark's forehead.
Flame as light. If you recognize that, you don't feel the heat at all.
The image of fixing over one's right palm rather than fixing it in this space.
The flame shape is hard to stabilize.
Fixed images don't work.
"Focus."
Almark nodded at Irmis' words.
"Let's get this far"
To the words of Illmis, the sweaty Almark nodded.
"Yes."
Another different sense of fatigue than when using the magic of fog.
"You did well in the beginning. Tomorrow, let's practice alongside the magic of fog"
"Okay."
"The magic of your light is still incomplete. Don't ever use it because it's dark on your way home."
"I won't use it."
Almark laughed bitterly and shook his head.
"Fine then. Go home with care."
"Yes, thank you"
Almark bows his head.
"Oh, speaking of which,"
Ill say, as I recall.
"About that stick."
"That stick."
Almark shall be decent.
"On the day of the martial arts tournament, a magician of silver and copper coins came after me, that stick"
"Oh, is that the stick Mr. Maia gave me"
Almark scratched his head.
"I totally forgot. I thought the dean wanted to talk to you."
"Uhm."
Illmis nods.
"As soon as the Dean returns to the Academy, I'll need to speak to you."
"Is the Dean of the College away now?"
To Almark's inquiry, Illmis nods vaguely.
"That one's a star reader. We're moving for reasons we don't understand, and we're going everywhere."
"... Really?"
Speaking of which, it is true that Eurolog had his face all the way to the northern lands.
So I stumbled upon Almark.
"I also happened to be headlined by the Dean of the Academy in the North."
said Almark.
"So I was two years late, but I was able to come to this college."
But Ilmis shook his head.
"That's not true. It wouldn't happen to be anything like that."
The Dean of the Academy, says Illmis.
"Show up where you need it, as you need it. For those who need authority, in the form of an authoritative old man. If you are an unauthorized, but righteous opponent, in the appearance of an old man seeking weak help. Even if you look like a coincidence, there's no coincidence there."
To the words, Almark looked out.
Ward told me about it at the Winter Mansion, the first time a yolog appeared under Wendy.
Wasn't the yologue its majesty and repressed even Wendy's father, the great nobleman?
Almark's father said he helped Yologue out of the bandits.
But it would be too unnatural for a magician like Yolog to have fled without being attacked by a burglar now that he knows the depths of the magician.
Did my father help Yologue?
Or did they make you help?
"The Dean of the College has an in-depth idea. It's no use trying to predict it."
Irmis said so, as if he had read how Almark felt.
"There will be a call from the Dean of the College soon. All you have to do is listen to that story and think carefully."
"Okay."
Almark nodded.
But I felt like I was suddenly thrown out into a big stream of things that I didn't know what to do.