『Vol. 2 Extra: Ice Ball』

It was a cold and eerie night, the sound of two people happily chatting could be heard—far away from one particular individual.

"They didn't have to be so harsh..."

Naoki was sitting amidst a clearing on the meadows—hugging his knees. It seems that he was ostracized by the two, after what had happened.

"Maybe I should have considered Raelei-san's offer..." Naoki laughed at the thought, cheering himself up.

Reminded by the person, he began to practice his Ice arts—since he had nothing better to do. No matter how he tried though, he still couldn't make any more than a pebble.

A few moments passed...

"This... it's the 7th ice, and I'm already wearing out my soul." Naoki panted, it seems that learning it was not easy.

Naoki had quite a robust soul—with its ability to recover faster than average. He does not require sleep since his soul is resistant to Soul Sickness, but even this was starting to take a toll on him.

"Oh yeah—it's quite late to be realizing this but... it's still hard to believe that this is real."

Naoki had looked up at the stars, the marvel gems of the sky had mesmerized him. He had not recognized a single constellation yet somehow the scenery had brought him comfort—he began to recall the moment that he was transported into this world in the first place.

"Come to think of it, I wonder how Fujiyama-san is doing—is she also in this world? No way..." Naoki humored the thought.

The person that he saw at the train station began to surface in his mind. Back in his old world, she was known for being diligent and proper. Knowing this, Naoki thought of her as another stuck-up person—until that day that they were transmigrated.

"I never thought she was quite easy to talk to, even if our conversation was short." Naoki sighed, taking in all of what has happened thus far.

It could be said that this was Naoki's first time in a while that he had reflected alone like this—the series of events was quite hectic, after all. He began to recollect all of his memories, both the bitter and the sweet.

"This is...!" Naoki looked at his hand.

To his surprise...

It was a fist-sized ice ball—he had not noticed it all.

"But... why!? I wasn't focusing at all."

Surprisingly, the ice didn't bring him discomfort, even if it was extremely cold. It was a weird phenomenon for Naoki when he first discovered this—while the ice was chilling, it didn't harm or affect him at all.

<That's because you've tried to understand a part of your soul.>

"...Eh?"

"Oh, it's just you, Lea." Naoki sighed.

This was Leariz telepathically communicating with Naoki—it seems her powers could extend even outside her Domain. Naoki had learned not to question her, or else she might work him to the bone again.

<I'll pretend I didn't hear that...>

<Anyways, the language of souls can help you increase your comprehension—essentially teaching your nodes to learn the Ice art. One such way is by understanding a deeper part of your soul—which turns your soul to be more fluid.>

While Leariz was being vague about it, Naoki had understood. It seems that the "soul" existed in all things, even the things that are not living, and all it needs is to be understood. This was why some people are talented and some are not—they differ in that they, whether unconsciously or consciously, understand the language of souls.

<Now, it's time for your alchemy lessons~> Leariz said mischievously.

"Yes..." Naoki grimaced, reluctantly agreeing.

While he had wanted to get stronger, Naoki had still dreaded his Alchemy lessons—mainly because Leariz could just toy with him. He had to swallow his pride though—he had to accept these defeats, for now.