Deep within the forest, inside a patch of bushes.
Fern held two tree branches in front of her, using them as cover. She stared intently at a spot not far away, barely daring to breathe.
"Mana control is the foundation of all practical magic," Frieren whispered beside her.
"[Bird-Catching Magic] may look simple, but it heavily tests the caster's control over timing and speed. To succeed, you must not let excess mana leak out, must not alert the birds to danger, and you must activate it within fifty centiters to guarantee binding the target."
Fern nodded.
Without blinking, she kept her eyes locked on the sparrows pecking at the ground ahead.
Those tiny creatures were incredibly alert. The slightest disturbance would send them flapping away. Quietly getting within fifty centiters was a huge challenge for a beginner.
Holding her breath, she inched forward step by step, gripping the branches.
At that mont, a set of slightly brisk footsteps approached from afar.
Shane's voice followed.
"Honored mages, it's ti to head back and cook for the kids."
Flap flap—
All the birds scattered instantly.
Fern stared blankly at the empty ground, at a complete loss.
Shane imdiately realized he had ruined Frieren's lesson.
Once he understood they were practicing [Bird-Catching Magic], he hurried to apologize.
"But seriously, what kind of [Bird-Catching Magic] is this? The effective range is only fifty centiters—can it really catch birds? Birds are so alert. By the ti you get that close, they've already flown off without a trace. Doesn't it feel kind of useless? If you ask , it sounds more like sothing for catching chickens."
As soon as Shane finished speaking, silence fell over the area.
Frieren and Fern exchanged a glance, both finding the logic strangely convincing.
"That actually makes a lot of sense. This magic was probably originally designed to catch poultry. After all, it's folk magic—your reasoning holds up. But then why is it called bird-catching instead of chicken-catching? That's odd."
A mont later, based on Shane's comnt, Frieren adjusted her teaching thod.
"Fern, to learn this faster, don't imagine catching birds. Try imagining catching chickens instead."
"Catching chickens?"
The little Fern thought seriously about it.
Shane was a bit speechless.
'I was just making a joke…'
————
On the way back.
Frieren and Fern were still discussing the key points of using [Bird-Catching Magic], while Shane followed behind, bored out of his mind.
Suddenly, he felt the ground beneath his feet disappear.
Not good!
Before he could cry out, he plumted downward.
Up ahead, Frieren and Fern noticed nothing.
It wasn't until Frieren turned around to ask Shane sothing that she realized he was gone.
Fern looked back and said, "It feels like we haven't heard Mr. Shane's voice for quite a while."
Helpless, the two retraced their steps.
Before long, Fern spotted a small hole in the ground. The opening was narrow and dark, impossible to see how deep it went.
"Do you think Mr. Shane fell in?"
"Unlikely," Frieren said calmly, glancing down. "A pit this size should be easy for a normal person to avoid."
The mont she finished speaking—
A weak and helpless voice ca from below.
"Sorry… I didn't manage to avoid it."
Frieren: "…"
Fern: "…"
They descended into the hole.
The pit wasn't very deep, but the light was dim.
Shane sat on the ground, his right leg slightly bent. His pant leg was torn, and a bit of blood seeped through, making him look rather miserable.
"You actually managed to step right into it," Frieren said, her tone unreadable—sowhere between mockery and surprise.
"Ms. Frieren, Mr. Shane, there's a stone tablet here."
Up ahead, Fern had found an ancient marble stele. It was carved with ancient Elven script, though she could only barely make out half of it.
Frieren's interest was imdiately piqued. A stone tablet like this usually indicated an [Ancient Ruins].
Shane stood up, supporting himself against the wall as he slowly walked over.
"It seems to say: This place hides the most precious possession of a mage nad Daenerys."
A mage!
Frieren instantly caught the key point.
She imdiately abandoned Shane and began searching for the entrance to the ruins.
Shane: "…"
Fortunately, Fern was considerate. She found a sturdy branch nearby and gave it to Shane as a makeshift cane. The little girl supported him as they carefully followed behind Frieren.
Shane couldn't help but sigh inwardly. 'This is the difference between an old thing and a little angel…'
The three of them continued deeper along the tunnel, where they saw many murals.
The drawings were crude, like a child's scribbles. Still, one could barely make out that they told a moving love story.
A fallen princess from a ruined kingdom wandered the grasslands of a foreign land. Starving and freezing, she was even sold by her own brother in exchange for hollow respect and a piece of bread.
She wanted to escape, but had no power to do so.
Unexpectedly, the one who bought her turned out to be a great hero.
Though rough-looking and uneducated, he was surprisingly gentle.
He provided her with food to her liking, punished servants who bullied her, and even promised to conquer the world for her—to build her a throne forged from stars and moonlight.
In the end, the princess fell in love with him.
The story ended there.
Like all the tales of princes and princesses in the world, it stopped at the most beautiful ending.
The tunnel also reached its end.
Fern was deeply moved, her eyes reddening.
Shane curled his lips slightly. The girl really was at the age where fairy tales hit hardest.
Frieren, however, looked thoughtful. Why were all the descriptions irrelevant? Where was the most precious item? A grimoire? A magic tool?
Shane felt speechless.
'You two really are sothing…'
At that mont, at the end of the tunnel, the previously unremarkable stone wall suddenly lit up.
Images began to appear across the surface, playing out as if they were real—recreating the very scenes depicted in the murals.
"It's [Recording Magic]," Frieren concluded.
The mage nad Daenerys had turned the entire wall into a magic tool.
She was the princess from the murals.
It was Fern's first ti seeing such a breathtaking magical effect, and her eyes sparkled.
Frieren, however, felt a bit disappointed. A magic tool this large was rare—but it was a wall. You couldn't take it with you.
Ignoring Frieren's disappointnt, Shane's lips curled upward uncontrollably.
Before his eyes, a line of clear text appeared:
[Recording Magic]
Type: Folk Magic
Effect: Using a solid dium, it can display mory scenes personally witnessed or read by the caster
Status: Not Learned
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