“One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven, eight.”
“…What are you doing…?”
One morning, as I was doing my calisthenics in the flower garden of my dwelling, Paula, who had come to visit, asked me.
『It’s practice for my 〖Skill〗. I want to use it in combat.』
〖Dance〗 is a 〖Skill〗 that makes movements more agile when dancing.
I was trying to figure out how to apply this effect during combat.
I was reviewing one of the few dances I knew, radio calisthenics, and searching for movements that I could do even with my slime body and that could also be used in combat.
“O-oh, I see…”
『Well then, let’s start practicing magic today.』
“Y-yes, please.”
I said that to her, who was somehow hesitant.
Since the day Ergo and she came together, I had been accompanying her in magic practice like this several times.
“Ah, before that. I brought what you asked for.”
『Oh, thanks.』
The girl said so and took out an arrow.
The arrowhead of the arrow was wrapped in white cotton, as if packing a fragile item.
“The tip is made of a special metal, and it explodes when it’s impacted, so take off the cotton when you use it, she said.”
『Okay, okay.』
As Paula said, this was a special arrow that exploded on impact. It was one of the things I had asked Ergo to procure.
It seems to be extremely expensive, so I’ll have Paula take it back after analyzing it with 〖Replicant Form〗.
For now, I put it in 〖Weapon Storage〗 so that it wouldn’t accidentally explode.
『By the way, it seems long-distance teleportation is working fine.』
“Yes, I still have a little trouble with multiple activations, but moving through 〖Space Hole〗 itself was no problem.”
〖Space Hole〗 is a magic that opens a hole in another dimension.
If it’s just for taking things in and out, 〖Space Storage〗 alone is enough, but with this magic, only one object can be targeted at a time.
For example, if you were to store a large number of weapons, you would need to activate 〖Space Storage〗 for each weapon.
Naturally, with this method, 〖Mana〗 efficiency is terrible.
If 〖Space Hole〗 could be used in such situations, you could stuff the weapons in while the hole is open.
Once the hole is open, it doesn’t take much 〖Mana〗 to maintain, so it’s more cost-effective if you’re storing multiple items.
And it was a little while ago that we started talking about whether 〖Space Hole〗 could be applied to teleportation magic.
If two holes could be opened, one near oneself and the other in a distant location, it would be possible to move instantly through another dimension.
However, there were two problems with this.
One was that living things could not enter another dimension.
The other was that 〖Space Hole〗 could not be created at a distant point.
The former was easily solved with a little training.
By bringing the holes into close contact within the other dimension, that is, by making the distance of movement within the other dimension zero, it was possible to pass through without entering the other dimension.
The latter problem also seemed to be solvable to some extent by improving magical skill.
In just half a day of practice, the range of the hole had increased by ten centimeters.
It seemed that short-range teleportation would be possible in the near future.
However, that would mean that long-distance teleportation would never be possible.
So, after thinking and trying various things, I discovered that it would be fine if I used ‘Marking’.
This ‘Marking’ is the act of creating another dimension on an object at the location you want to teleport to.
〖Space Storage〗 is a magic that creates another dimension linked to a real object, and this “real object” does not have to be Paula.
And it seems that the distance limit can be ignored between self-made other dimensions, and even if they are quite far apart, Paula’s other dimension and the object’s other dimension can be connected with 〖Space Hole〗.
When other dimensions are connected, the distance between Paula and the object also becomes almost zero, so 〖Space Hole〗 can be activated near the object.
After that, if the respective holes are brought into close contact, the long-distance teleportation hole is completed.
Well, to be honest, I was doubtful whether I could connect other dimensions from the town to this Ferocious Beast Zone, but that was just proven a moment ago.
If they are self-made other dimensions, it may be possible to ignore truly infinite distances.
Well, in any case. Thanks to that, I can start magic training early in the morning.
『For today’s training, I think we’ll deepen our understanding of 〖Space Storage〗.』
As can be seen from the fact that she is going through another dimension during teleportation, Paula has not yet grasped the sensation of interfering with the real space.
Therefore, she should learn more about the characteristics of space magic.
If she can interfere with the real space, she won’t have to do such troublesome things.
“Didn’t we do that before?”
『That was a simple one, wasn’t it? This time it’s a more serious one.』
Before, we found out that living things cannot enter, that 〖Space Hole〗 is canceled if they try to enter forcibly, and that the edges are very fragile and do not seem to be usable for attacks.
But this time, we’ll investigate in more detail.
『–So, we’ll train here today.』
“It’s been a while since we measured the maximum capacity of 〖Space Storage〗, it’s a little nostalgic.”
With the girl on my back, I used the kusarigama to move to the river that I usually use for fetching water.
It’s about a five-minute walk away.
『First, I want you to look at this.』
I said, and I hit the surface of the water with the weight of the kusarigama.
After the water column, bubbles floated up and were carried away.
I pointed at one of the bubbles with the weight and asked.
『What do you think that is?』
“What do you mean… a bubble?”
『That’s right. By the way, can that be stored in 〖Space Hole〗?』
“I think so… 〖Space Hole〗… It worked.”
When Paula activated her magic, a pitch-black hole appeared in front of the bubble.
The bubble was sucked into it along with the water flow.
『Okay, now try to release it above the river.』
“? Yes.”
Paula released the bubbles into the river as instructed.
Seeing the bubbles flowing without bursting, I asked a question.
『Do you know what’s inside that bubble?』
“Air, right?”
『That’s right. In other words, Paula just stored air along with the bubble.』
“…Ah!?”
『〖Space Hole〗 can’t suck in living things, but isn’t air different?』
The only restriction on the other dimension of 〖Space Storage〗 was that ‘living things cannot enter’.
If we believe that it’s possible, then we should be able to store air as well, I thought.
My prediction was correct, and when Paula expanded a new 〖Space Hole〗, a roaring sound of wind began.
But that also ends quickly.
“It’s already full.”
『Okay, then try to release it.』
“Okay… Ah, what? How do I release it…?”
It seems that gas cannot be targeted by 〖Space Storage〗, but she was struggling because she could not release it with 〖Space Hole〗.
She pondered for a bit and then turned to me.
“Kouya-kun, lend me your weapons.”
『Sure, go ahead.』
“Thanks, 〖Space Hole〗… Yeah, it seems I can push it out.”
She then threw the weapons into the other dimension one after another.
Even though it was full, the weapons went in, but the air was pushed out instead.
She repeated this, and eventually most of the air was expelled from the other dimension.
“Thank you, I’ll return them.”
『Okay.』
While returning the weapons, we discussed what had happened this time.
『Why was only the air pushed out? There are other things inside, right?』
“That’s because I was conscious of pushing out the air. It seems that if the volume is larger than the items being put in, it’s possible to push out other items.”
『I see, so it’s arbitrary… Oh, and just to be sure, check if 〖Space Hole〗 can be used normally.』
“Okay, 〖Space Hole〗… Yeah, if I’m conscious of not taking in air, I can use it the same as before.”
Like some of the 〖Skills〗 I have, it’s flexible in that regard.
I was a little worried, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
『By the way, did you expel all the air?』
“No, there’s still a little left.”
『Has the volume not expanded?』
“Yeah. It’s really only using a little bit of the capacity.”
『The density doesn’t change. I could have predicted it from the torch experiment, but it seems that in another dimension, the state is preserved as it was when it was put in.』
In this way, we continued our magic training that day as well.