Chapter 110: Water Magic, Though Late, Has Arrived

Furina finally agreed.

This could be considered Lin Shu’s second time teaching someone magic.

She simply explained the key points of focusing one’s intent when casting, and Furina immediately picked up the materials and began to try.

Soon, after a faint fluctuation of energy, a radiance flowed in Furina’s small palm.

“You’re picking it up quite smoothly,” Lin Shu remarked.

Most people would be ecstatic upon their first successful magic cast, but only a flicker of surprise passed through Furina’s eyes, with no great emotional turbulence.

With the aid of her memories, Furina learned quickly.

If not for the limitations of casting materials, she should have been able to master the vast majority of spells.

In the following days, the dynamic between the two became subtly different because of the teaching.

Furina initiated conversations more often.

Although most were about magic, Lin Shu could feel the distance between them gradually shrinking.

“Why don’t you need materials to cast spells?” Furina suddenly asked one day.

“Ahem, because I’m an old mage.”

“?”

“New mages follow the rules, old mages exploit the rules.”

Furina’s blue eyes stared directly at her:

“Liar.”

Seeing she couldn’t brush it off, Lin Shu could only resort to the universal answer formula:

“You’ll know later.”

Many times, Lin Shu couldn’t answer those tricky, sharp-angled questions, but she noticed the icy chill that kept people at a distance in Furina’s eyes was slowly melting.

Though she still didn’t smile and spoke very little, a light had begun to shine in those eyes.

This comforted Lin Shu greatly.

The two continued heading towards the Sacred Race’s imperial capital. During the day, Lin Shu went out to take commissions to earn money, and at night, they rested at inns in the towns they passed through.

The days were simple and fulfilling.

Until one day, Furina proactively suggested doing commissions together with Lin Shu.

Lin Shu was somewhat surprised, but after thinking it over, she agreed.

After all, knowledge from books is ultimately shallow; practical combat is the true way.

—

Outskirts, on the wild grassland.

A giant bear several meters tall suddenly reared up, completely enveloping Furina’s small frame in its shadow.

Lin Shu stood several meters away, gripping her war banner, ready to intervene at any moment.

Furina rapidly chanted an incantation, raised her hand, and pushed forward. Several suspended ice spikes condensed in the air.

Sharp and fast as lightning, the ice spikes shot towards the giant bear’s chest.

Before the bear’s claws could swipe down, the sharp ice spikes pierced straight through its sturdy body.

“ROAR——!!”

The bear let out a final roar, its massive body crashing backward. Gushing blood blossomed like a flower of blood on the grass.

“It’s over.” Furina sighed in relief and turned her head.

“That was amazing!” Lin Shu exclaimed happily, running over, but her steps suddenly halted when she clearly saw Furina’s face.

The corner of Furina’s mouth seemed to have lifted slightly.

Huh?

Lin Shu blinked. “Are you smiling?”

Furina’s expression instantly returned to calm. “What about it?”

“Nothing, it’s just rare to see.” Lin Shu kept her joy to herself and changed the subject. “Let’s do commissions together from now on too. Things go much smoother with you, Furina!”

“Is that so?” Furina asked proactively.

She was a bit surprised; this was the first time she’d been praised by a partner.

So this is what it feels like to be accepted and affirmed.

Back in the town, when doing other odd jobs, the partners assigned to her would always complain about her dull personality and refuse to team up with her.

Later, finding it troublesome, she simply stopped partnering with anyone, preferring to go collect crystals alone.

“Yeah, why do you ask so suddenly?” Seeing Furina’s uncertainty, Lin Shu asked in return.

“Because I talk very little,” Furina said softly, using her dagger to skin the bear. “The family that raised me said a personality like mine isn’t good.”

Lin Shu crouched down, helping Furina process the giant bear’s carcass:

“Don’t mind them. With your magic and memory talents being so good, talking little isn’t a flaw.”

Furina’s movements paused briefly.

“Is that so…”

“Mhm.” After packing the commission materials, Lin Shu turned her head. “Let’s head back.”

As their commission rewards accumulated, Lin Shu and Furina’s journey to the imperial capital also sped up considerably.

Nearing the imperial capital, the surrounding towns were much more prosperous than the places they’d passed before.

Figures of the Sacred Race filled the streets more and more. Almost every town had two or three churches, their melodious bells ringing on the hour.

When passing shops run by Humans, constant hawking could also be heard. The long-missed atmosphere of mundane life made Lin Shu feel for a moment as if she had returned to her original world.

By the time they returned to the inn, it was already dark.

Lin Shu put away their things, while Furina leaned over the desk, quietly continuing her writing work.

“I’m going to take a bath first,” Lin Shu announced, stepping into the bathroom and removing her outer clothes.

Water fell from the showerhead, hitting her body.

But before long, the water flow grew smaller and smaller, until finally only a few drops remained.

Lin Shu raised her hand and tapped the showerhead, but there was no reaction.

No water?

The worst had happened. She was still covered in soap suds, not rinsed clean.

“Furina, are you there?” Lin Shu called out.

Footsteps sounded outside the bathroom door.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice came from outside the door.

“Is the water cut off outside?”

The sound of the doorknob turning. Through the frosted glass, Lin Shu saw Furina’s figure. She walked to the washbasin, turned on the faucet, and the sound of rushing water echoed.

“It seems it’s just the showerhead that’s broken.”

“Do you need help?”

“Maybe we should ask the front desk? But I’m covered in suds right now… Achoo!”

Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Shu couldn’t hold back a sneeze, goosebumps erupting all over.

“You’ll catch a cold,” Furina said.

Before Lin Shu could reply, rustling sounds came from outside the door. Within seconds, Furina’s figure was back outside the glass door.

“I’ll help you first.”

“Huh? What?”

While Lin Shu was still puzzled, she heard Furina chanting an incantation. Transparent water condensed into a clear stream of water.

The water stream, as if alive, snaked in from the ceiling and coiled around her body.

“Eek!” Lin Shu’s body stiffened, her scalp tingling.

Furina steadied herself. She hooked her finger, manipulating the water flow to envelop Lin Shu’s body.

Standing on the other side of the glass door, separated by a thin layer of frosted glass, she couldn’t see Lin Shu’s expression clearly, only the outline of her body.

“Did it reach?”

On the other side of the glass, Lin Shu’s heart pounded thump-thump-thump.

The water was controlled by Furina with remarkable precision, flowing slowly, gently brushing away the suds from her arms and thighs.

“Whoa! Fu, Furina!…”

The water brushed over sensitive peaks, sliding down the skin along the inner thighs. A chill instantly stimulated her nerves, an electric shock-like sensation rushing to her brain.

“Th-that’s enough, I can do it myself!”

“…Okay.” Furina lowered her hand, and the water, losing its control, splashed down onto the bathroom floor with a splash.

“Then I’ll step out first.” Her voice sounded a bit unsteady, and her departing footsteps were quick.

After leaving the bathroom, Furina didn’t go far.

Her mind involuntarily sketched the outline of Lin Shu’s body.

She pressed the back of her hand against her cheek, feeling the heat.

A bit hot. Was she running a fever?

Hearing Lin Shu’s cries, something in her heart felt like it had been tickled, an itchy sensation.

A completely unfamiliar feeling she’d never experienced before.

She leaned against the door, hearing the faint rustling sounds of fabric rubbing from inside.

We’re both girls, so why do I feel like this?