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  “Both of you possess affinities different from wind. Learning wind magic directly will be more complicated… but if you can control the motion of Astrons across a wide enough area, you should still be able to grasp it.”

  Her quiet explanation became the first sound to truly settle inside the hollow cavern.

  Haruto stood before her with his eyes closed, shoulders relaxed yet unmoving, as though even the smallest twitch might disturb something fragile he was trying to sense.

  Behind him, near the rough stone wall, Hana had already claimed a comfortable corner for herself.

  Haruki rested beside her, and she made absolutely no effort to hide her lack of motivation.

  Training sounded exhausting.

  Watching sounded perfect.

  For now, the basics were enough.

  Serious effort could wait until some distant, hypothetical future that may or may not ever arrive.

  Silence spread slowly through the chamber.

  Haruto focused inward first.

  That familiar current of Astrons moving through his body…

  warm, alive, responsive.

  Then he tried to reach beyond it.

  Past skin.

  Past breath.

  Past the invisible boundary separating self from world.

  He searched for the faint motion of wind inside the sealed cavern.

  Nothing answered.

  Only the turbulence of his own Astrons returned to him, wavering like disturbed water that refused to become still.

  No matter how carefully he stretched his senses outward, the space beyond his body felt distant… unreachable… silent.

  After a long moment, his eyelids lifted.

  A small sigh escaped him.

  “…This is way harder than it sounds.”

  When he looked forward again, the goblin girl was smiling.

  Not nervously.

  Not politely.

  Genuinely.

  Soft. Bright. Almost relieved.

  She had finally discovered something he couldn’t do instantly.

  And instead of frustration, that realization filled her with quiet happiness.

  Haruto scratched the back of his neck, suddenly feeling awkward under that gentle gaze.

  Until now, everything had simply worked.

  No effort.

  No understanding.

  Just results appearing as if the world itself were cooperating with him.

  But this—

  This was different.

  Still…

  “I want to try something,” he said. “Can you help me?”

  Her eyes sparkled immediately.

  “Of course!”

  “Then show me what I’m supposed to be doing. Not the wind bullet from before… something more complex. Something that uses deeper control.”

  If his suspected ability truly was Analysis…

  If he could trigger it intentionally…

  Then there was no reason this should be impossible.

  The girl didn’t understand why witnessing a higher-level technique would help him learn.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  But trust outweighed confusion.

  She stepped forward quietly, closed her eyes, and began to chant.

  The instant the first whisper left her lips—

  Haruto’s vision pulsed blue.

  The world slowed.

  Not metaphorically.

  Not emotionally.

  Physically.

  Sound stretched thin.

  Motion thickened like syrup.

  Even drifting dust seemed suspended between moments.

  His heartbeat thundered inside the silence.

  So it wasn’t a dream…

  That moment with the stone guardian… it was real.

  Wind gathered around the girl in delicate spirals.

  Invisible currents twisted, folded, compressed.

  Every movement carried intention.

  Every shift obeyed silent command.

  Flow.

  Direction.

  Pressure.

  Structure.

  The information carved itself directly into his awareness, deeper than memory, sharper than thought.

  Understanding didn’t arrive step by step.

  It flooded him.

  By the time curved claws of compressed wind formed around her hands—thin, elegant, sharper than forged steel—

  he already knew how they worked.

  Then—

  time snapped back.

  Sound crashed into place.

  Motion resumed.

  Breath rushed into his lungs.

  And inside his mind…

  The technique already existed.

  Complete.

  Clear.

  Reproducible.

  A second later, the claws shattered like fragile glass.

  The girl staggered, strength abandoning her body as she collapsed forward.

  Haruto moved instantly, catching her before she hit the ground.

  “Hey—are you okay?”

  “I… I’m sorry, Master…” she whispered, unable to meet his eyes.

  “I think… I’ve reached my limit for today…”

  “You just ran out of magic, right? That’s not dangerous or anything?”

  Her ears twitched slightly.

  Concern.

  Not disappointment.

  Worry.

  Not judgment.

  Something unfamiliar… yet warm.

  “It’s a risky technique for someone with small reserves,” she admitted quietly.

  “It drains too quickly… I was foolish to think I could maintain it…”

  A faint blush colored her cheeks as she accepted his support and stood.

  “Then go rest,” Haruto said gently. “I’ll handle the rest.”

  “But—”

  “No arguments. Sit down.”

  The calm firmness in his voice left no space to resist.

  She obeyed.

  Hana watched the exchange with lazy amusement.

  “You’re talented,” she teased softly. “But terrible at hiding your feelings. Want acting lessons? I give discounts to emotional disasters~”

  The goblin’s face turned bright red.

  Across the cavern, Haruto lifted his hand slowly.

  He replayed everything he had seen.

  Every motion.

  Every current.

  Every invisible law.

  Then—

  he moved.

  Wind answered.

  A powerful gust rippled through the chamber, scattering dust across stone.

  The goblin stared in silent disbelief.

  Again.

  And again.

  At this point, questioning it felt meaningless.

  “…Looks like he figured it out,” Hana murmured.

  “About time,” Haruki added flatly.

  Haruto’s control spread wider through the air, expanding like unseen roots through empty space.

  He glanced toward the resting girl.

  “We just need to cross that gap, right?”

  “Yes… but the only method I know is enhancing a jump. It would take training… and I can’t use magic again today…”

  “You can’t,” he said calmly.

  “…No.”

  “Then don’t worry about it.”

  “But, Master—”

  “I said don’t worry. I have a plan.”

  Final. Certain.

  The girl lowered her gaze, unable to argue.

  “My people might already be dead…” she whispered.

  “I was too late… even Lord Charybdis is gone…”

  Hana’s teasing faded.

  She understood that pain too well.

  “It’s not too late,” she said gently.

  “We’ll help. However we can. Promise.”

  Haruto glanced back once.

  Unreadable.

  Then forward again.

  “…Alright. Time to test a theory.”

  Wind gathered beneath his feet.

  “Test one.”

  A platform formed.

  He stepped—

  —and fell through.

  “Failure.”

  He compressed it tighter.

  “Now… test two.”

  He placed his foot onto the thin layer of wind.

  For a brief second, it held.

  Then his shoe slowly sank through it like stepping onto weak ice.

  “…Failure again.”

  He exhaled through his nose, staring at the massive gap ahead of them.

  “A quick aerial boost might work… but a simple double jump won’t be enough.”

  The distance was too wide.

  Too clean.

  Like the labyrinth was daring him to try something stupid.

  Then—

  “Wait…”

  His expression shifted.

  A spark.

  Recognition.

  Wind gathered faintly around his body, thin currents spiraling in controlled loops. Not to launch himself. Not to fly.

  To lighten.

  To redirect weight.

  To confirm a theory he’d once written only as fiction.

  Back in his old world, he’d needed explanations for impossible movement.

  Ways wind magic could lift objects… carry them… move them smoothly without brute force.

  So he invented a concept.

  Layered wind currents, looping like invisible conveyor belts.

  Reducing effective weight while guiding motion forward.

  He’d even named it back then.

  Conveyor Levitation.

  A narrative excuse.

  A writer’s trick.

  And now—

  He was using it on himself.

  In reality.

  A slow grin spread across his face.

  “Alright…”

  He turned toward the three girls.

  “Get up. I found a way across.”

  “That quickly?” the goblin asked, eyes wide with awe.

  Hana glanced at the exhausted girl on the ground and frowned.

  “She just sat down. Let her rest a little, will ya?”

  “Who said she’s walking?”

  Before anyone could react, he stepped forward and lifted the goblin girl into his arms.

  She let out a small yelp, face instantly burning red.

  He ignored the panic and looked at Hana instead.

  “Come on. Hop on. We don’t have much time.”

  Hana scooped up the mask with a slime tendril, then bounced onto his head and settled in place, setting it over his face.

  “You really like it when I sit on you, huh?” she teased.

  “Did you really had to make it weird?”

  “I mean… it’s only weird if you’re thinking about it that way.”

  She suddenly gasped in fake shock.

  “Ah! So you are thinking about it! You perv!”

  “…I genuinely hate you.”

  Hana giggled, completely unbothered.

  “Love you too, buddy~”

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