Appraiser's Job Chapter 31

Appraiser's Job Chapter 31: Io Learns Compression Magic

We had an acceptable teppanyaki for lunch. The flavor of the crisp, fried bacon was irresistible. Ms. Eve and I stuffed our faces full of the teppanyaki in the adventurer's guild's business area. The crunchy cabbage was deliciously appetizing. It had that unchanging flavor you can always get from a food stall.

I licked my lips having eaten it all and straightened myself as my stomach had grown a bit in satisfaction.

Now it was time for Ms. Eve's magic lecture.

I stared down at the magic scroll she'd pulled out from somewhere and spread out before me, when she said, "Alright, I'll teach you about the compression magic." She sounded serious.

I paid attention to how Ms. Eve moved her hands.

"Compression magic is literally magic that compresses a substance. You can comfortably transport any large object by shrinking it. We use it to reduce the amount of labor needed to transport slain monsters and other goods."

The shape of a box appeared in the hands she held out over the magic scroll.

"When you use compression magic, the magical power is like this….knit together into the shape of a cage wrapped around the object. Then instill the image of the box shrinking into your magical power, and then the object will condense," she said picking up the wrapping paper the teppanyaki had been wrapped in. She roughly crumpled it into the shape of a ball and placed it in front of me. "Since you're an appraiser, I think you're already used to using your magic power. Therefore, I'll skip the explanation about how to manipulate your power. We'll start with knitting your magic into the shape of a cage. Please knit your magic into the image of a cage wrapped around this piece of thrash."

Knit my magic into the shape of a cage…..?

When I use my appraisal magic I don't particularly think about the magic, but even so I might be able to manipulate the will of my magic. Rather than thinking about it, let's give it a try.

I stared down at the wrapping paper.

Shaping my magic into that of a cage——I focused my concentration and felt an unseen finger of magic extend outward and gently embraced the image of the wrapping paper in my mind. I sensed the power flowing in my body. I stared through my mind's eye at the thin strands that moved out  and grasped at them.

"That's right. Good. Just like that, tightly wrap your magic around the target——"

Circle. Circle. Gently embrace it.

"When you think you've tightly wrapped it, picture the image of it becoming smaller. And with the image of the whole object shrinking, little by little, slowly——"

The cage shrunk. I squeeze it little by little making it go smaller and smaller. The wrapping paper gave a curious sound as it shrunk before my eyes. I exhaled and in the front of my mind I sensed the feeling of something coming out. It shrunk further. The wrapping paper literally became smaller.

My hands didn't touch the wrapping paper.

However, the wrapping paper continued to shrink from a large object into a smaller one before us. The palm sized object, as if crushed by one hand, shrunk to the size of a finger. Then finally it shrunk until it was as big as a fingernail.

I slowly exhaled the rest of the air in my lungs.

Ms. Eve gave me a small applause. "That went quite smoothly, didn't it." It did somehow seem to go quite smoothly.

"Now, let's return it to its original size. Contrary to what you've just done, please picture the image of the shrunken cage spreading out and becoming bigger."

The image of the shrunken box expanding——I focused my consciousness on the wrapping paper. The image. The image of enlarging the wrapping paper by swelling the interior. Little by little. Little by little. Unhurriedly, slowly. The wrapping paper began to expand. As if growing a leaf into a plant, it was slowly returned to its original size.

After about one minute pa.s.sed it perfectly did so.

"You were able to do it." Ms. Eve took the wrapping paper into her hand and with a pop, hit it from them. "With practice you'll be able to do it faster."

"Did I do it properly?"

"Yes. It was perfect. As expected of you, Mr. Appraiser, you understand things quickly."

….For the first time I used magic other than appraisal magic. I didn't think magic was a thing to be worried over like this. Sorcerers are amazing. Manipulating various magics so easily.

"Please continue to practice by yourself after this."

In the end there is only practice. But even so it's fine.

Using magic other than my appraisal magic is surprisingly pleasant. When it came to compression magic, the situation in which it was used was limited to that of the appraiser's body, but I could use it sufficiently if I took the effort to learn it.

I bowed my head. "Thank you, Professor."

"Same here, I was able to get good practice for my lecture. Thank you."

Ms. Eve and I exchanged glances at each other's face and laughed.

And thus like this the lecture marked it's end at the same time as the lunch break ended.

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Footnotes:

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T/N: It's been a while….

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Credits: