If you don't want to just drift through life, you have to go through time.

After defeating the Black Horned Dragon and extinguishing the forest fire, Truman and Frilline embarked on their journey once again.

He didn't have anywhere in particular to go, so he just followed Frillie. And during the journey, Truman also had the rare opportunity to ask Frillie about magic.

For example, right now, they are in class.

Preschool education in magic.

"The so-called three elements of magic refer to the amount of magic power, the flow of magic power, and the certainty of one's belief."

What is magic? It is the power to change the world. So, if asked what magic is, my answer is the method of giving magic power to cause changes in direction.

For example, concentrate magic at your fingertips and chant... Fire!

See, it will turn out like this.

At that moment, a bright flame rose from Frilian's fingertips, warm, bright, and exceptionally docile.

Truman instinctively reached out to feel the temperature, but before he could, Frilian blew it out.

Some regrets.

"These words are used to fix the changes caused by magic in the direction of the flame. There are other ways to express it, such as by means of technique... First like this, then like this, then like this, and finally like this... Look, fire."

She made several movements in succession, not fast but with the same frequency, as if she was consciously adjusting something.

It looks a bit like forming hand seals.

When the action was over, flames rose again from Frilian's fingertips.

"By using specific combinations and sequences of gestures to express what you just said, you will achieve this result. There are several other ways to express the same variation, each with its own methods and techniques, which I will teach you later. However, this method is rarely known; it is a technique of rather obscure magicians and is on the verge of being lost, so it doesn't matter if you don't learn it."

"...It looks a bit like ninjutsu."

"Ninjutsu?"

"Yes, there's a technique unique to a certain world called ninjutsu hand seals. Also, that world has a substance similar to magic called chakra, which is composed of spiritual and physical energy. And chakra, through different flows, can release different types of ninjutsu... uh, magic."

"What you're saying does sound a lot like magic."

Is it a case of different paths leading to the same destination, or all laws converging into one? However, it is certain that these two are not the same substance. After all, magic power does not weaken with age like chakra; on the contrary, it increases with age and continuous refinement.

"Of course, this is just the most basic technique; what I just did can only be considered rudimentary magic."

"I feel the same way; I can do that kind of magic too."

Truman casually unleashed a basic fire spell, which he had learned from Axel and Lynn. He mastered it after watching it only once and it only cost him a mere 1 skill point.

"It seems there's no need to elaborate on this part. So, let's move on to the flow of magic."

"The flow of magic?"

"That's right. Magic is very difficult to control, and many people get stuck in a bottleneck. Giving magic a clear way to cause changes is the flow of magic. And when it conforms to the order of the world, or rather, conforms to the rules of the world, its power will become stronger. Specifically, the flow of magic transforms into a magic circle."

Frillie casts her magic again.

It was also fire magic, but unlike the previous spell, it was more ferocious yet more stable, and a small magic circle appeared between his fingers. The intense heat was noticeably different from the previous basic spell.

In other words.

Magic becomes stronger only when it contains the truths and rules of the world, and the manifested magic circle represents that the conditions are met.

"This is intermediate-level magic."

"...I see. No wonder I ran into trouble when I was learning intermediate magic. It turns out I also had to learn how to flow magic."

Under Truman's humble guidance, Lynn naturally shared everything without reservation, but unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't grasp the technique because Lynn's ambiguous explanations left people confused.

But under Frilian's easy-to-understand teachings, he suddenly had an epiphany.

"What about higher-level magic?"

"Just like intermediate magic. In fact, this is all a mage can do."

"real?"

"real."

"But I've seen high-level magic, even more powerful extra-level magic. It's not something a mere mid-level magic can compete with. Even the magic that Frilian just used wasn't at the level of mid-level magic, was it?"

"Then we have to talk about the third one: conviction."

Frillie's tone became slightly more forceful.

She seemed to be emphasizing something.

"Magic is mysterious, yet simple. To put it bluntly, the more powerful the magic is, the more stable and potent the magic will be when the magic circle is constructed in accordance with the flow of the truth of the world... but this is not absolute."

"Because of conviction?"

"Yes. Certainty represents affirmation, it is confidence in one's own magic. With the same amount of magic power and skill, the more confident one is, the stronger the magic will be."

Conviction...

Truman's mind conjured up an image of a Crimson Demon girl who had learned the Explosion spell. She had killed hordes of mid-level demons as soon as she learned the Explosion spell, and even at level 5, she had blasted two high-level demons to death.

While the ultimate destructive magic, Explosion Magic, is undeniably incredibly powerful, there's certainly an element of overconfidence involved...

No, very likely.

After all, Megumin is most confident in her Explosion Magic. She has boasted that she can even obliterate Demon Kings and Goddesses.

And she did indeed do it.

"However, the world of magic is also a world of imagination, and everything is based on imagination. What a magician cannot imagine cannot be achieved through magic. Conversely, what can be imagined can be created, and even substances that do not belong to this world can be created."

"My power of thought!?"

"But it might be more convenient for you," Frillie said after thinking for a moment, "because you have that thing."

Adventurer Card?

Truman immediately understood what she meant.

Indeed, adventurer cards seem convenient, but they're not the kind of thing you can learn just by looking at them once.

That was his initial thought as well.

After actually using it, I found that basic skills like magic and theft are easy to learn and understand after just one viewing. However, once the difficulty increases to intermediate magic or swordsmanship, it requires much more learning time.

Otherwise, if it were really that easy, Megumin wouldn't have pestered Warbak to teach her the Split Magic.

It's relatively easy, though.

That concludes today's lesson.

Frillie knew Truman was processing information; cramming too much knowledge into him would only confuse him, and besides—

"Truman, I'm hungry."

"...Yes, yes, I'll go cook right away."

For some reason, Truman naturally accepted the job.