Another world, Celeste

Chapter Twenty Two, pt 3

Luna is surveying the enclosures; watching to see if any of the monsters and magical beasts retiring to the inner part of their shelter has come out of hiding. The experienced keepers are baffled by these unforeseen behaviours, not expected for this kind of outcome after being informed of today's visitors. As such, the guards are particularly wary today thus contributing to the tense atmosphere. Nevertheless, some hostility is not uncommon in the rehabilitation centre since the monster residents here suffers traumatising events that leave them suspicious and distrustful of others. The stone walls are part of the rehabilitation centre's safety measures. Enchanted with barrier magic on both sides, not only it fences the monsters and magical beasts from breaking out of their enclosures, but it also to thwart trespassing attempt into a monster den. That second part is a rare occurrence.

In the meantime, Roy watches with hawk's eyes despite the glowing white light that can easily obscure an ordinary person's sight and also monitoring for any slight changes to their surroundings through his other senses. Momentarily forgetting about a possible risk of a monster charging in and putting her confidence towards her trustworthy bodyguards, Iris is entirely focused in sustaining the spell within the fixed circular domain to the point she memorises the exact dimension, saving it as a default range to be used for future Area Magic or large-scale magic reference.

10 minutes... 20 minutes... 30 minutes

Luna returns from her inspection, standing beside Roy.

"How is she?"

Roy replies without taking his eyes away from Iris, "It looks like she can still go on much longer."

"How many potions has she drank?"

"None."

"None?"

Luna repeats his words, taken aback by the information.

"Iris exercises her mana control every day. That's the reason she could hold out for so long as evident right in front of us." Roy explains to Luna as a person who has spent more time in watching Iris than the elf. "Look, despite looking unaffected by the burden of the limitless duration, she's been carefully monitoring the flow of mana in the air. Iris possesses keen mana perception that even the head elf and Elder Spirit recognises."

Luan worriedly says, "I'm more concern about the after affect towards her physical state."

Roy shares her concern, remembering the toll it took in Iris when she handles body enhancement magic. Having a large pool of mana does not exclude a person from undergoing any hardships. It means they have to try much harder than anyone else in controlling not just their mana, but also the waves of emotion from tipping over the boat they're on. Roy also goes through that turbulent period of growth before finding his balance which is his sword. On that note, Luna and Luda's balance is their bond. All the more reason for him to think that Iris needs an external source of stability should either her mana or emotion is clouding her clarity.

Roy changes the subject. "The monsters?"

"Aside from their evasive behaviour, there is nothing unusual. However before those two arrived, the monsters were behaving normally and idly moving about and now, the ones with timid demeanour won't come out of their hiding spot," Luna comments on the monsters' noteworthy reactions. "Keepers and guards are on alert in case the monsters are turning restless especially the ones that tend to be hostile towards trespassers."

"Specifically when the supposed trespassers is a noticeably powerful magical beast that obediently follows a human girl who attracts monsters and magical beasts alike." Roy contributes to the comment.

Not only monsters and magical beasts, Lord Sol and Kinai receives repetitive reports of the village's abundant harvests since Iris's arrival to the points the amount is becoming excessive for the stockpile. Further investigation reveals the wild herbs planted in the village the healers manage for potion-making grown more in quantity and the quality are much more superior than any of their previous yield. They conclude it's more likely the mana she unknowingly leaks to the soil act as some kind of elixir fertiliser that enhances the quality of the soil around the village when Kana Forest long since been undisputed for its high-class harvest of the plants and meat variety.

Roy muses at Iris's progress thus far. "At this pace, she'd be able to perform 'Light Shield'."

Luna says, "That is a highly advanced defensive-type light magic."

'Light Shield' is essentially a large-scale barrier made out of light magic with an additional feature of purifying those that come into contact with it, or more likely ram their heads into it. Though made of magic, 'Light Shield' is considered the sturdiest and toughest shield to break through. It's a crucially needed spell in the frontlines against a legion of tainted monsters.

Fearing Iris's plausible mastery of the spell, Luna expresses her displeasure in a firm tone. "Roy, I do not wish for her to be involved in the manipulative scheme of men."

"I get it." Roy sigh, taking the hint. "I won't mention 'Light Shield' to her."

Another ten minutes pass, both Roy and Luna judge the situation to be safe, for the moment at least. Due to their combined experience dealing with tainted monsters, they are refraining from making a quick judgement before considering other possibilities.

"That's enough for today," Luna announces loudly to Iris.