Yesterday, a person fell from the sky. Covered in mud. Documents glowed rainbow. Name read as dice. Dice chewed his breakfast. Remembering yesterday's events in order. Sighed three times. Bit the bread. (That was some day.) Kanade Terminal—a smartphone-type magical device with Soltia particle circuits running inside—showed a notification the moment it powered on. "Beginner Training Plan Complete Edition [Part One]" video. He'd managed to queue it up last night before collapsing into bed. The screen displayed a thumbs-up photo of Dice's face. "Training again today!!!" written in determined handwriting. "Alright." He stood. ── Faldine Forest lay five hours' walk east of Toretta's east gate. But today he'd use the outer perimeter—within five kilometers of the entrance, relatively safe area—practice grounds. A place maintained for magic training. Wooden targets stood ready. Dice brought Liliý there. Liliý walked beside him. Eyes darting everywhere. Silver hair swayed in wind. Odd eyes—left gold, right silver—reflected light with each dapple of sun. Clothes same unfamiliar material as yesterday. Five centimeters taller than Dice. Walking slowly. Stopping at everything. "Lots of bird sounds," Liliý said. "Yes," Dice replied. "Smells like our world's forest," Liliý said. "Huh," Dice said. Conversation died. Their relationship was still that fragile. Yesterday they'd filled out Kanade Academy paperwork together. That's all. Liliý was polite to Dice. Not afraid. But shared nothing personal. Dice didn't know how to approach her yet. The practice grounds appeared. Half the size of a schoolyard. Three wooden targets spaced evenly. Morning light slanted in. Grass glowed. No one else. "Here," Dice said. "I see," Liliý said. Liliý stared at the targets. "What do we do with those wooden boards?" Liliý asked. "We practice casting magic at them. Today we start with basics," Dice said. "Basics," Liliý repeated. "Right. Aelios magic—the Soltia system—requires three elements," Dice said. Dice pulled out the Kanade Terminal. Played the video. "Beginner Training Plan Complete Edition" title. Upbeat sound effects. Young instructor on screen raising his hand. "First, the basics!" Dice showed the screen. Started explaining. "Soltia system magic needs three things: ① Incantation, ② Hand seals—gestures like this—③ Will concentration," Dice said. "Mm-hmm," Liliý said. Liliý pulled out a notepad. Serious face. "The hand seals, ②," Dice said. Dice positioned his hands. Right index and middle fingers up. Ring and pinky folded. Left hand forming support seal. "Like this—ow! Ow!" Crunch sound. Base of left index and middle fingers cramped. "Ah! Ah-ah, cramp! Fingers cramped!!!" Dice yelped. "You okay?" Liliý asked. "Fine! Fine! Just a second!!" Dice said. Desperately massaging his fingers. Burn scars on his arm stung. Liliý scribbled in her notepad. "What are you writing?" Dice asked. "② Hand seals—fingers cramp easily. Caution required," Liliý read aloud. "Don't write that!!" Dice shouted. Regrouped. Dice looked at the Kanade Terminal. Video had changed. Auto-switched to something else. Cheerful music. "Let's try together!" bright narration announced. Radio calisthenics. "Oh," Dice said. His hands moved. Reflexively. Liliý moved too. Same timing. Arms stretching straight up. Two people did radio calisthenics in the forest for a while. Ten seconds later Dice stopped. Liliý kept going. Serious face. "Liliý," Dice said. "Hmm?" Liliý replied. "This isn't training," Dice said. "But our bodies are moving, right?" Liliý said. "That's not the point," Dice said. Liliý opened her notepad. "Magic begins with calisthenics—" Liliý wrote. "Stop writing!!!" Dice yelled. Fixed the video. Took a deep breath. "So next. How do you actually cast your magic?" Dice asked. "Hmm. Like this," Liliý said. She raised her hand lightly. Just lightly. Just raised it. Dice started to say "Ah—" Couldn't. Ten meters around them changed. Baaaa!!!! Trees turned rainbow. Low shrubs nearby—leaves shifting red to blue to green to purple—completely repainted. Small flowers on ground began self-glowing. White glowing flowers. Orange glowing flowers. That wasn't all. Things gathered at their feet. Sylphinemice. Wind-attribute small magical beasts. Fur swaying like wind-blown grass. Small animals living around the practice grounds—Danger Rank E—about ten gathered. Standing on hind legs. Then they danced. Silently. Just spinning. Synchronized rhythm. Dice couldn't move. (What. What. What???) A fantasy picture book page had become three-dimensional. Liliý tilted her head. "Oops, maybe too many," Liliý said. Boom boom boom boom!!! Thunderous landing. Ground shook slightly. "What're you doing here!!!!!!!" a voice roared. Incredibly loud. A middle-aged man stood there. Thick, dark eyebrows. Sharp eyes. Six magical transceivers hanging from his belt. Work clothes with chest badge: "Faldine Forest Management Bureau, Outer Perimeter Division, Garaldo." Late fifties. Ran here. Breathing perfectly normal. "This pigment contamination, what is it!!" Garaldo demanded. "Um, well—" Dice started. "Sylphinemice are dancing!! Why are they dancing!!!" Garaldo roared. Liliý raised her hand honestly. "That's me," Liliý said. Dice held his head. ── "Fix the tree colors!!" Garaldo commanded. Standing imposingly before them. Dice nodded confidently. "Leave it to me! I'll singe the pigment away with a fireball!" Dice said. "That method exists?" Garaldo asked. "Probably," Dice said. "Did he just say probably," Garaldo muttered. Started chanting. Drew Soltia particles from inside his body. Concentrated will on hand seals. Positioned right hand. "'Spirits of flame, gathered heat, come to my hand—'" Dice chanted. But. Hand seal shifted slightly. Middle finger off by a centimeter. Different angle than before. Baaaan!!!! Fireball erupted. No control. Direct hit on rainbow tree trunk. Dogooon!! Sound. Black scorch mark on trunk. Then— Rainbow tree caught fire. "Ah! No no no!!" Dice panicked. "It's burning!! You made it worse!!" Garaldo roared. "Liliý put it out!! Fire suppression!!!!" Dice yelled. "Got it!" Liliý said. Liliý raised her hand. Lightly again. Expected light mist. Waterfall came instead. Zudododododoooooo!!!! Massive water volume fell. Not mist. Huge water mass dropping from above. Entire practice grounds soaked instantly. Water flowed across ground. Water level rose to knee height. Sylphinemice stopped dancing. Floating in water. Dice was drenched. Water dripped from bangs. Liliý barely wet somehow. Garaldo returned. Completely soaked. Forehead wrinkles increased to six. Pulled one transceivers from belt. Started to speak. Couldn't. Stared at Dice and Liliý. Then surveyed the flooded outer perimeter. Finally: "......" Five seconds of silence. "You're not leaving until cleanup's done," Garaldo said. Low. Clear voice. Then pulled out all six transceivers. Started radioing rapidly. "Outer perimeter east side. Pigment contamination and flooding. Need backup." "Flooded, you hearing me?" "Target four's scorched." "About ten Sylphinemice, they're floating." Three management staff arrived shortly. ── Work began. Draining water. Restoring tree colors. Dispersing dancing Sylphinemice. Staff moved with practiced efficiency. Pulled out tools. Worked steadily. Dice and Liliý helped. Waded through mud. Righted fallen targets. Guided flooded ground toward drainage. Eventually a staff member talked to Liliý. "How'd you make that color?" the staff member asked. Liliý thought briefly. Answered. "In our world we decorate trees like that. Festival season. Autumn. Whole village trees turn this color. Everyone dances," Liliý said. Staff member said "Huh." "You dance?" the staff member asked. "Sylphinemice danced too, so it matched," Liliý said. "They wanted to dance," another staff member said. Staff members' faces became slightly interested. Only Garaldo kept deep wrinkles between his brows. Continued draining water silently. Dice dug holes covered in mud. Watched the temperature difference absently. (Garaldo's not interested at all.) One hour later. Tree colors restored. Water drained. Sylphinemice vanished into brush. Target scorch marks remained, but staff said "Well, fine." Garaldo stood imposingly before them. "Next time, you're banned," Garaldo said. "Sorry!!" Dice said. "Really sorry," Liliý said. "Good," Garaldo said. That said, Garaldo left with staff toward forest depths. Six transceivers swaying at his belt. Clinking. ── Two sat on a fallen log near forest entrance. Exhausted. Dice covered head-to-toe in mud. Water inside shoes. Liliý's clothes slightly damp at hem. Barely dirty somehow. Why? Late afternoon light slanted through tree gaps. Birds called distantly. No Sylphinemice. Quiet. Dice pulled out Kanade Terminal. Stared blankly at screen. Battery: 38% No energy to play videos. Liliý sat beside him. About one meter apart. Sitting on fallen log together. Not talking much. Exhaustion made silence okay. Liliý suddenly noticed Dice's bag. "That," Liliý said. "Hm?" Dice replied. "Sticking out of your bag," Liliý said. Old book spine protruded from bag opening. Dark brown leather cover. Edges worn. Spine text faded. Hard to read. Dice paused. Choosing words. Several seconds of silence. Liliý waited. Said nothing. Just sat beside him. Dice started talking. "My parent was a mage," Dice said. Voice different. Not light. Lower. Slower. "They're gone now. Dead," Dice said. Silence. "This is their textbook. Soltia Particle Manipulation Basics. Writing's messy. Some pages end mid-description. Technically incomplete in places," Dice said. Pulled the book from bag. Placed on lap. "Soltia Particle Manipulation Basics"—faded text on cover. Brown stains. Pages slightly wavy. "I should throw it away. But I can't," Dice said. Looking at cover. Voice quieter toward end. "I want to get good at this. This magic. Want to improve," Dice said. Words trailing off. Voice small. Liliý said nothing. No additions. No encouragement. No comfort. No advice. Nothing. Just listened to Dice. After a while, Liliý looked at the textbook cover. Just for a moment. "That's a good book," Liliý said. That's all. "Gotta take care of it," Liliý said. Short. Yet Dice couldn't respond well. "...Yeah," Dice said. That's all he managed. Something stabbed his chest. Didn't know how to word it. Silence continued. Not bad silence. Liliý said quietly. "Our world's tree decorations. My parent taught me," Liliý said. Dice turned to look. Liliý watched the sky. Late afternoon sky. Orange beginning to mix in. "Your family... they doing okay?" Dice asked. Liliý made a smile-like face. "Who knows," Liliý said. Still watching sky. That's all she said. Dice didn't ask more. Liliý added nothing. Both just sat quietly in late afternoon light. Parallel. First time today, really felt another person beside him. That's all. But felt important somehow. ── Dice stood. "Training again," Dice said. Liliý looked up. "You don't learn," Liliý said. "I'm learning. Continuing anyway," Dice said. Looked at ground. Picked up fallen stone. Drew circle in earth. About one meter diameter. Not too big. Not too small. Just right. "Soltia system's probably too hard for you now," Dice said. "Yeah," Liliý said. "Try just controlling magic range. Image keeping it inside this circle. Decide: this far, no further," Dice said. Liliý looked at circle. "Just inside this stone circle?" Liliý asked. "That's it. Decide the boundary," Dice said. Liliý stood. Serious face. Eyebrows lowered. Odd eyes aimed at circle center. Different from earlier's carefree manner. Something else emerged. Raised hand. Dice stepped back slightly. Pop. Small sound. One glowing flower bloomed at circle center. White light flower. Not rainbow. Just