CHAPTER 177: MAGIC DEMONSTRATION

Leo quickly scampered into the house, put on the warm sweater and pants that Eric had pre-warmed in the blanket, then gleefully ran out and grabbed his brother’s hand:

"Eric, let me play too!"

Eric smiled, gently placing the shuttlecock into the little cub’s hand.

Surrounded by his friends, Leo eagerly tried his hand, but kicking the shuttlecock is a game that requires skill. The little cub fumbled for a long time but could only manage a single kick, unable to perform the continuous, graceful kicks like Eric.

Leo’s clumsiness made the other cubs restless. If it weren’t so cold, the whole group might have transformed into their human forms right on the spot to snatch the shuttlecock.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t brought their beast-skin clothes, and in this weather, even a Snow Wolf couldn’t bear to play naked.

The short-tempered Tullte watched for a while, finally couldn’t stand it, and leaped up, catching the shuttlecock in his mouth. His short, thick neck wagged and tossed the shuttlecock up, then he flailed his short hind legs to kick it.

Eric clutched his stomach, roaring with laughter, especially when he saw Tullte’s hind paw miss, which looked even more hilarious.

However, Tullte’s action unexpectedly inspired the other cubs. They all started using their paws to bat and kick, and one of them actually managed to hit it.

The cub who had just successfully kicked it hadn’t even had time to show off before the shuttlecock, still in the air, was snatched away by another quick-footed little snow wolf.

A dozen cubs playing with just one shuttlecock was clearly not enough. Eric had to make a few more for them; after all, there were plenty of materials.

Just then, a tall figure in green attire walked in through the courtyard gate. It was Evan, who had leisurely returned.

He smiled watching the noisy cubs chasing each other. With a slight shift in his thoughts, his index finger pointed towards a dry branch in the corner of the wall.

Under his control, a few small branches slowly floated into the air. They were originally dry and withered, but at this moment, they suddenly became pliable, twisting together on their own, forming a perfectly round ball.

A few green sprouts even emerged from the ball’s surface. Evan waved his hand, and the ball of vines flew straight into the midst of the cubs.

The kids, who were fighting over the feather shuttlecock, were immediately drawn to this beautiful, living ball. Flower leaped up and, without needing to be taught, instinctively knew to use her head to butt the ball away.

The ball whizzed to the opposite side, and another cub dashed forward like lightning, caught it in its mouth, and then tossed it to its friend.

With the additional magic ball, the remaining shuttlecocks were enough for the others to play with. Even so, Eric still made a few more, intending to ask Leo to bring them to Robin later so the Dwarf children could also have new toys.

"Evan, your magic seems to have gotten stronger than before!" Eric said in admiration as he continued to carve the seashell pieces.

He still remembered when he first met Aiden’s group of Dwarves, every time Evan cast magic, he had to recite a very long incantation, and he couldn’t control it as freely as he could now.

Evan was a bit surprised by Eric’s sharp observation: "My spiritual power has indeed recovered quite a bit recently, much faster than I imagined."

"Spiritual power?" Eric asked blankly. He had only seen this word in novels.

The handsome Elf nodded and explained: "Spiritual power is an extremely important ability for a mage. Even if a mage has abundant magic power, if their spiritual power is weak, the magic power will easily go out of control."

Eric nodded as if he understood.

"The Human mages’ guild has a special scrying orb used to measure spiritual power and magic power. If you have the chance, you could go and try it out," Evan suggested.

Humans had such a magical thing? Eric immediately felt an infinite longing rise in his heart.

Sam, who was squatting nearby, found his hands subconsciously slowing down, his eyes darting back and forth between the vine ball and the shuttlecocks.

Eric laughed and tossed one to him:

"Hey, don’t fight with the kids over a toy. Be careful not to break his magic ball, play with this one for now."

"I wouldn’t fight with cubs over a toy," Sam grumbled.

But his hands were still covered in duck blood, so when he saw the shuttlecock flying over, he hurriedly caught it with his mouth, causing his words to become mumbled.

Flower, who was chasing the vine ball, ran past and saw Sam’s odd posture. She rolled on the ground laughing, even forgetting to fight for the ball with her friend. When the others saw this, they also gathered around, pointing at Sam and bursting into laughter.

Sam’s face turned beet red. Dammit, I was just focused on catching the ball, why did I use my mouth...

He was about to get up and get some clean water to wash his hands, as the water in the basin was already dirty.

Suddenly, Eric felt a flicker of inspiration. He focused his mind, directing his attention to Sam’s basin and imagining a stream of clean water.

With a "whoosh," a stream of clear water suddenly appeared from thin air right above the basin. It twisted like a tiny water dragon, swirled gracefully, and then poured down, creating a continuous, unending flow.

Sam’s eyes widened, his mouth hung open in astonishment. He absentmindedly reached out to touch the stream of water that was flowing on its own, even though there was no wind.

The man was so stunned he forgot he was holding the basin, and as his hands touched the water, the basin fell to the ground with a "clang."

The duck blood on Sam’s hands was quickly washed away. The faintly red-tinted water continued to flow into the basin on the ground until it was full, and only then did the stream of water in the air gradually disappear.

During that magical moment, the entire courtyard fell dead silent.

Every single cub remained in a head-tilted-back posture, their short necks as if frozen. Their mouths were all open, eyes wide in shock, not even daring to breathe.

Even Evan, who always maintained his elegant composure, who hadn’t lost his cool even when he was first picked up by Eric, was now stunned on the spot, staring blankly until the water vanished.

He rarely lost his composure like this. He pointed a trembling finger at the basin and asked Eric in disbelief:

"This... was this magic you just cast? You... you didn’t chant an incantation? And what kind of magic is this, why is its form so strange?"

The little snow wolves and the little lion on the ground all snapped their necks to look at Eric. Sam was no exception.

Under everyone’s gaze, Eric scratched his head, a little embarrassed:

"I just wanted to see if I could do that..."

Sam hurriedly spat out the shuttlecock in his mouth, his voice trembling from excessive shock:

"Eric, you... you know magic?"

Not expecting such a strong reaction from everyone, Eric hesitated slightly:

"I just learned it today, I couldn’t help but want to try it out."

With that, he turned to look at Evan; this always-elegant young man rarely had such a shattered expression:

"Magic has forms? I didn’t know. Didn’t you say that whichever element one is close to, one can use? I just tried it. As for incantations... what am I supposed to recite..."

Eric felt a bit gloomy. He also wanted to be like those anime characters, having to shout a cool incantation before casting a spell; that was the only way to have flair!

Unfortunately, no one had taught him. Was he supposed to just make up a cool-sounding one himself?

Evan’s expression nearly cracked completely. He took a few deep breaths, raising a hand to rub his forehead.

Only after a long moment could he temporarily calm down. He looked up, his voice still tinged with shock:

"You mean, you’ve only meditated twice and you can already cast magic successfully, and it’s even magic without an incantation, correct?"

Eric looked at him and nodded hesitantly.

Evan let out a long breath, his gaze at Eric filled with complexity:

"Then it seems your talent is exceptionally good. You’ve managed to learn water-based magic without a teacher, which proves your affinity with the water element is extremely high, so high that you can cast without an incantation.

It’s a pity I’m not proficient in the water system, otherwise I would truly want to be your mentor, to see what level your magic could cultivate to. Talent like yours, in all my years of living... I have truly never seen it before."