The Great Fireball

Anana really liked this kind and friendly senior.

It was a pure and warm kind of liking, completely devoid of any romantic feelings, just like the early spring sunlight shining on tender sprouts, gentle and bright.

Anana also did not feel that she had reached the age for dating. To her, romance was still too distant and unfamiliar, like the moon hidden behind thick layers of clouds; she knew it existed, but never thought to reach out and touch it.

She felt that this senior was like the little squirrel from the fairy tales she had read, the one in the forest that guided the brave hero onto the right path...

Although she was no hero, Mian had indeed helped her a great deal.

"The library is huge, be careful not to get lost," Mian half-joked, the corners of his mouth curving into a handsome smile.

Unexpectedly, Anana nodded solemnly. "I know, Senior Mian. I already have experience with that... There are so many bookshelves in the library, row after row, it really is exactly like a maze."

"Uh..." Mian was momentarily speechless, raising a hand to scratch his slightly curly hair.

So there really were people who could get lost in the library...

"Then how did you handle it the last time you got lost?" Mian could not help but ask.

"Oh, I really had no other choice, so I tried climbing up the bookshelves to see if I could find a way out... After all, if you stand a little higher, you can always see the path clearly, right?"

"And then you found your way?"

"No, then a librarian immediately came over and stopped me!" Anana recalled. "So I just asked that Mr. Librarian for directions, hehe."

Mian: ...

Only this little smart aleck could come up with such a method.

"Don't worry, I won't get lost again this time." Seeing Mian's rather worried gaze, Anana patted her chest and confidently promised.

Mian raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You memorized the way?"

"No, that librarian drew a map for me last time!" Anana proudly put her hands on her hips. "There will definitely be no problem this time!"

She pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it. Sure enough, it was a meticulously drawn map, with even the magic classifications of each area clearly labeled.

"That librarian is such a good person."

Mian said no more, only hoping that Anana would fare well on her own.

After bidding farewell to Mian, Anana walked into the library alone.

Olifendo's library was less a repository of books and more a magnificent sanctuary of knowledge. Crystals emitting a soft white light were embedded in the domed ceiling, flanked by dark wooden bookshelves that reached all the way up. The air was filled with the unique scent of paper and ink.

"Fire magic... low-tier..." Anana followed the map all the way, finally stopping in front of a bookshelf.

The shelves were packed full of brand-new grimoires.

These, naturally, were all copies... Fire magic grimoires had the highest number of borrowers, so Olifendo had spent a massive fortune to print a large batch of them...

Because even low-tier fire magic possessed quite considerable destructive power and lethality... and the fire element itself was a very common affinity, the number of people studying it was quite large.

However, being common did not mean that the fire element was weak. On the contrary, it was precisely because fire magic was so powerful that so many people studied it. After all, nobody was a fool.

Even Aina was most proficient in using fire magic on a daily basis... although nowadays, its primary use was mostly not for attacking.

But to truly master it, or to make a name for oneself with it, was no easy task.

Wolund's title, the Mage of Purifying Flames, actually held much more weight than most people imagined...

"Great Fireball."

Anana took a grimoire down from the shelf.

An advanced spell of the Fireball technique.

Anana had already learned the Fireball spell and could release a fireball the size of a fist... while the fireball condensed by the Great Fireball spell was fully the size of a basketball.

It was not merely a difference in power and size; the difficulty of controlling it also multiplied. For a beginner, whether they could freely master such violent energy was a massive hurdle.

She had heard that many people would get injured by out-of-control fire elements during this practice, so it was best to have someone watch over you during the learning process...

Who should she find to watch over her... Senior Mian probably wouldn't refuse, but he had already helped her too much, and Anana felt embarrassed to trouble him again.

"Guess who?"

A pair of cool little hands covered Anana's eyes from behind.

"Mida!" Anana turned around in pleasant surprise.

Mida pursed her lips. Being guessed right away was a bit boring.

She had learned this from her mother. Once, by chance, Mida had seen her mother teasing her father just like this...

"You haven't gone back yet?"

"I already went back once." Mida pulled out a letter from who knows where. "Earlier, you asked me to deliver a letter to your father... This is his reply to you."

"Really? Father replied to me? Thank you, Mida!" Anana looked quite happy.

Having a Demon King act as a messenger boy, Anana was probably the first person to ever enjoy such treatment.

"And this."

Mida pulled out a bamboo basket from nowhere, filled to the brim with sausages.

"Your mother prepared this for you," Mida said, unconsciously swallowing her saliva, her eyes practically glued to the sausages and unable to look away.

"Uh... I won't eat them, Mida. You can have them all," Anana said with a smile.

"Really?" Mida's eyes instantly lit up, but then she shook her head. "No, this is what your mother prepared for you..."

"Actually, when I was at home, I already got a bit sick of eating sausages." Anana stuck out her tongue. "The spice flavor is a bit too strong, it doesn't really suit my taste... Mida, if you like them, you can just have them all."

Hearing this, Mida stopped being polite. With a wave of her little hand, the entire basket of sausages vanished.

"Anana... no matter what request you have, as long as I can do it, I will do my best to help you." Mida's little face was serious. Her mother had taught her never to accept favors from others for nothing.

"That's wonderful! Mida, practice magic with me!" Anana immediately said in excitement.

Since Mida was so powerful, having her act as a guard would definitely be no problem.

"Okay! You need me to practice with you? What kind of magic is it?"

Mida remembered how, in the past, her mother had also made her accompany Wolund to practice magic.

"It's fire magic!" Anana said excitedly.

"Oh? Fire magic... Is it the World-Extinguishing Flames, or the Solar Flare Fireball? Or perhaps the Hellforge?" Mida asked seriously. That guy Wolund had only learned a superficial amount from her mother, yet he could still make Mida feel a slight threat.

Listening to Mida earnestly spout these spell names that sounded utterly terrifying just by hearing them, Anana blinked her eyes.

"It's Great Fireball!"