The Water Magician

Ryo woke up.

Yes, he had not died.

He had only lost consciousness for a few seconds, probably just one or two.

This could be inferred from the fact that the bamboo spear he had dropped was still close by.

Why was he alive?

He wasn't sure, but that wasn't something to think about right now.

The shrimp that had been hiding behind the rock was now facing off against a crab.

It seemed to have completely forgotten about Ryo.

Ryo reached out to grab the bamboo spear and used the water jet propulsion he had employed to escape from the bait ball to shoot straight up to the surface of the sea.

He leaped out of the water and crash-landed onto the land.

Hastily putting on his sandals and grabbing his loincloth, he sprinted home like a startled rabbit.

He was finally able to catch his breath once he entered the barrier.

"This time, I survived..."

"Still... how weak am I... A water attribute magician losing control of water magic."

Ryo felt downcast.

The fact that he could take control of someone else's magical creation was completely unexpected.

"Perhaps you can only take control of magic of the same attribute... But if I could control a different attribute, that would be a serious threat..."

Putting aside the possibility of controlling a different attribute, he realized that being able to take control of magic created by others was a skill he needed to acquire.

Otherwise, he might be robbed of his magical creations, just like how the ice walls had been peeled away one after another.

Of course, the goal was not to allow the opponent to have control over his magic... but honestly, he had no idea how to avoid losing control.

Although he referred to it as "magical control" for convenience, he honestly didn't quite understand what that "magical control" really was.

His first experience had been when Michael (alias) had created frozen meat and he had been unable to thaw it.

Then there was the underwater battle with the bait ball today.

The seawater near the hands and feet of the monster, which he believed was under its control.

This served as his second example.

In both cases, whenever Ryo tried to cast magic, he was repelled.

And he clearly felt that he had been "repelled" in his mind.

How had he managed to thaw Michael's (alias) frozen meat?

"By concentrating magical power in that area alone, breaking the molecular bonds. Then breaking the bond next to it. Then the next one. Further and further. The areas where bonds were broken turned from ice into water. Wasn't that it?"

He hadn't done anything special; he probably just focused more magical power than usual and unraveled the magic that Michael (alias) had cast on a molecular level.

In the case of Michael's (alias) frozen meat, he had a certain conviction that "since it was prepared by Michael (alias), it absolutely could be thawed," which allowed him to concentrate and believe in it.

But the underwater battle was fundamentally different.

First of all, even if he concentrated, he wouldn't know whether it had melted or not.

With no certainty of it melting, he would have to work on a molecular level one by one... while in combat.

That was almost impossible.

It seemed entirely unfeasible, but the fact that there were monsters capable of controlling magic meant he had to acquire a countering power.

That was a matter of life and death for him.

So how could he acquire it?

He thought that probably improving his skills regarding changes in molecular bonds and vibrations would be the right way.

Was there anything else...?

Yes, there was a standard training method for what was called "magical control" or "magical power control."

For earth magic, it involved creating figures, for example.

"Damn, earth magic... why don't we have anything like that for water magic..."

The grass on the other side always seems greener.

"Alright, I’ll use ice to create a model of the Tokyo Tower."

He had seen something like that in an anime.

Slimes had been doing something like that!

"Is there anything else to organize... oh, the shrimp..."

Ryo thought he had seen it somewhere before... but he couldn't remember.