A week has passed since that eventful day. As usual, I spent my time practicing swordsmanship and magic.

What’s different now is:

“Big brother, use magic!”

“Okay! Here I go.”

Hina, the girl I saved from the demon, sat on the porch watching me practice magic. She had become my little sister. Well, technically, she wasn’t my sister. The Kisaragi family was fostering her to monitor her recovery from the traumatic event.

Demons hunt children with high magical potential, often killing their parents in front of them to consume the children’s magic as it is released in shock. It’s not unusual for exorcists to take in such children after the demons are dealt with.

In Hina’s case, she lost all her memories, including those of the incident. My father explained that it was a psychological defense mechanism due to the trauma of witnessing her parents’ murder. In her mind, she had replaced her lost family with mine, thinking of my parents as her own and me as her older brother.

Until her memories returned, which could be at any unpredictable time, she was staying with us. Hina enjoyed watching my magic practice, although she couldn’t use magic herself yet.

In our garden, there were wooden practice dummies like the ones at the Kamiarizuki family’s house. My father had set them up for me to practice on.

“Watch this, Hina.”

“Okay!”

To impress her, I chose a flashy spell. I formed my Silveit strands into a spear-like shape and ignited it with a fire attribute transformation.

“Wow! So hot! Big brother, it’s hot!”

“It’s not over yet!”

The burning spear alone could harm a weaker monster, but it would only char the surface of the wooden dummy. To increase its power, I extended a second Silveit strand and used a wind attribute transformation to compress air and launch the spear forward.

Booom!

The spear shot through the air with tremendous speed, striking the dummy and exploding on impact.

Boom!

The air split, shattering the dummy into splinters. As I admired the power of my new spell, I heard Hina clapping excitedly.

“Big brother, that was amazing! So amazing!”

“If you practice, you can do it too.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Everyone has the potential to use magic. Hina had it too, which is why the demon targeted her. Although we hadn’t measured it, her magic potential seemed to be around Second Rank, which was average.

If Hina stayed with us, she might start learning magic as well.

“You’ve already mastered two attribute transformations, Itsuki,” said my mother, who had come to the porch, likely drawn by the explosion.

“Mother!”

I had started calling her “mother” instead of “mama” now that I was five. I still called my father “papa” because he would get noticeably sad if I didn’t.

“Mom! Big brother is amazing! Amazing!”

“Yes, Itsuki is really amazing… truly,” she said, smiling at me. Being praised by my mother and sister made me feel quite good. It was nice to have my efforts recognized.

“Big brother, I want to see more magic!”

“Sure! What kind of magic do you want to see?”

“The sparkly kind!”

Responding to Hina’s request, I began to prepare another spell. I never had siblings in my previous life, but having a sister was wonderful. It was a bit embarrassing to be relied on, but it made me want to show off my best.

“Sparkly… huh?”

I thought about how to combine attribute transformations. Silveit transformations were limited to one per strand. Using two attribute transformations in one spell required two strands.

Most exorcists could handle three to four strands at a time. When I pushed my limit, I lost count after sixty, but the number of strands didn’t matter. My father, with Fifth Rank magic power, could only use two strands but charged them with immense power, significantly boosting the spell’s effect.

What mattered was becoming stronger. The goal was to kill demons before they could kill me. Focusing on that, I started the spell.

“Watch closely, Hina.”

“Okay!”

I combined water and wind attributes, creating a mist that filled the air. The sunlight refracted through the mist, creating a rainbow.

“Look, Hina! It’s a rainbow!”

“Wow! It’s beautiful!”

While non-combat spells might seem less useful, the joy on Hina’s face made it worthwhile. Plus, it was good practice for combining attributes. Watching the rainbow I created, Hina stood up and ran toward me.

“What is it?”

“I want to see more!”

She wanted to see more up close, perhaps? Sometimes it was hard to understand a three-year-old’s words. I tilted my head, puzzled.

“Hina, be careful,” my mother warned, but Hina tripped and fell before she could reach me.

I hurried to help her up, but she got up on her own before I could reach her.

“I’m okay!”

“You scraped your knee.”

Though she claimed to be fine, her knee was bleeding slightly. My mother, concerned, came down to the garden.

“Mom! Look, my knee is bleeding!”

“Does it hurt?”

“Yeah, it hurts!”

“Let me see the injury.”

“Okay!”

My mother gently touched Hina’s knee with a Silveit strand wrapped around her hand.

“…?”

I watched closely, curious about my mother’s magic.

“There, all better!”

“Wow! Mom, you’re amazing!”

Hina’s knee was healed.

“What?!”

Healing magic?!

“Mother!”

“What is it, Itsuki?”

“How did you do that?!”

If I could use healing magic, I could recover from fatal injuries quickly. It would be invaluable in battle.

My mother smiled, considering my request.

“You want to know?”

“Yes, I do!”

“Then, practice more magic first.”

“I’ve been practicing!”

“You’ve been focusing on attribute transformations. This is a form transformation.”

“Form transformation…”

Repeating the words, I felt my mother gently pat my head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you soon, Itsuki.”

I couldn’t wait. Determined, I resolved to start practicing form transformations right away.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep