A few days after the Harvest Festival, the Turgut Mountains welcomed the first snowfall of the early winter.
The straight birch trees stood in clusters, stabbing toward the sky, while black crows glided through the swirling snowflakes.
The biting wind howled, sending flurries of white snow spinning between the trees.
The heavy snow blanketed the entire mountain range, and the small courtyard of the El family was buried under a thick layer of snow. The bitter cold made outdoor activities increasingly difficult.
“This is exactly why I hate this other world.”
El leaned against the window, staring at the roaring snow outside, scratching his head in boredom.
“Other than zoning out in the room, there’s nothing to do.”
Nia had anticipated his complaint long ago.
El’s personality was not one to sit still quietly.
“If you have nothing to do, you could use this time to study magic,” Nia said. “You haven’t really spent time on magic lately, have you?”
“Who told you I haven’t?”
As if to prove himself, El raised his hand, and a small sphere of wind appeared.
It was a first-level wind spell.
He wasn’t lying; compared to those with better magical talent, his progress was actually quite fast.
This caught Nia a little off guard.
“But when did you start practicing?” Nia thought hard but couldn’t recall a single scene of him studying magic.
“I told you—I practice in my dreams while I’m sleeping. Believe it or not.”
“Do you think I’d believe that?” Nia retorted.
“But it’s true,” El said, his eyes unabashedly scanning her as he propped his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“Nia, are you really an elf?”
“?” Nia gave him a look that clearly said, ‘Are you okay?’
“If I’m not an elf, then are you?”
“Not really,” El said. “It’s just that lately, the feeling you give me doesn’t seem very elf-like.”
“Then what is it?”
“A Succubus,” El said with interest, “Nia, tell me secretly—do you have Succubus blood in you?”
The moment Nia heard the word “Succubus,” her face instantly turned cold.
“No.”
“Really not?”
“No.”
“That’s strange,” El muttered to himself. “Could it be that I’m truly a magical prodigy? Improving without training?”
“That’s just your illusion. I’ve never heard of anyone getting stronger without training.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll definitely practice hard,” El said. “After all, I have to protect you in the future. I can’t be weak.”
“Who’s protecting whom?” Nia laughed at him.
Apparently, elves do laugh when utterly speechless.
“I think Mr. El is right,” came a voice from the room.
Meira, who had been lost in thought, had somehow opened her eyes and joined their conversation.
“See? Meira knows good talent when she sees it.”
With someone backing him up, El’s confidence immediately soared.
“Miss, you think El is right too? That I need his protection?”
When it came to the dignity of a knight, Nia withdrew her smile and looked seriously at Meira.
“It’s not that I think so,” Meira smiled lightly, covering her face. “If anything, Mr. El has already protected you twice.”
On second thought, that was true.
Nia was momentarily speechless, wanting to argue but finding no reason, her face turning red.
“But Nia isn’t wrong either. Mr. El, if you’re going to travel with us, you can’t slack off on your studies. You at least need some means of self-defense,” Meira said seriously. “This concerns your life, Mr. El. You can’t be careless.”
“Mr. El, you should know, you might be Nia’s first and perhaps last friend.”
“I don’t want to see Nia spending her future days mourning the friend she finally made.”
This time, El was the one left speechless.
After a long pause, he awkwardly scratched his head.
“Sorry, after the Dragon Demon incident, I guess I got a bit arrogant. I’ll focus on magic seriously.”
…
El had a quality Nia admired—that he was like the elves in one respect: when he said he would do something, he did it.
Since that day, after the prince’s advice, El had spent the past two weeks studying magic every moment he wasn’t eating or sleeping.
Still, even with this effort, El found himself troubled by the need to eat.
After continuous snowfalls last week, the El family had run out of surplus food.
Gathering supplies was difficult as well.
Nia had spent the entire previous day in the mountains, but didn’t see even a shadow of any magical beasts.
Nia could hardly imagine that only a few months ago, she wouldn’t even dare to think about eating magical beasts, yet now she was out there hunting them across the hills.
Fortunately, she hadn’t come back empty-handed; at least she found two sprouting potatoes tucked away in the corner of the warehouse.
Perhaps she could give them to the prince and see if natural magic could speed up their growth.
At least it could keep them fed for a few meals.
With that thought, she interrupted Meira, who was currently teaching El.
“No way, there’s such a thing?!”
El clearly hadn’t seen the power of natural magic before. Upon hearing it could be used to ripen plants, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
“This kind of thing is very common in our forests,” Nia explained, giving an example. “It’s like how your human farmers work the land, but instead of using physical labor, we use magic.”
“No wonder you don’t have to farm—this is some kind of advanced tech.”
“This method is effective, yes, but it’s not easy,” Nia said as she watched Meira preparing the magic. “The caster must deeply understand the plant’s growth process. Usually, only the elders fully master this technique…”
“Meira, do you think I can learn it?” El asked, looking at Meira who was making preparations after hearing Nia’s explanation.
“Well… you can give it a try.”
After a brief hesitation, Meira agreed to his request.
“Miss, El isn’t an elf. How could he possibly use natural magic?” Nia expressed her doubts.
“That’s hard to say. Remember when El was injured? I noticed he has a strong affinity for natural magic.”
“Anyway, let’s just try.”
Meira handed the potatoes to El and took his hand.
A green light lit up the room.
“El, can you feel the flow of natural elements?”
“Kind of.”
“Good. Now remember that feeling and infuse it into the potatoes. Then imagine their growth process in detail—the more vivid, the better.”
“Natural science? I’m good at this!” El said, immediately starting to visualize.
Nia didn’t expect he’d succeed; this was a magic even many elves couldn’t master. And he was only human…
She was already prepared to comfort El if he failed.
Yet, in the next moment, something strange happened right before her eyes.
After the green glow, the potatoes in El’s hands suddenly began to grow in an unbelievable way.