A Villainess Should Be Strong

"It's a similar concept with the original magic," Estelle twirled her finger in the air, preparing to use her magic.

But before that, she remembered. "Ah, am I allowed to use my magic here?"

"Mhm, just wait a second.." Frey rubbed her thumb, index, and middle finger together repeatedly. In seconds, magic circles appeared in the air and decorated the area. "There you go,"

Letting out a small breath, Frey brought her hands together and clapped. "It should be safe now,"

"I basically froze the.. things. You can do it now, nothing will happen," Frey chuckled.

Estelle nodded, continuing with formulating her process after her doubts had been confirmed.

She showed her own variant of the Elven Winds, which made Frey's eyes sparkle and gleam with a mysterious glint.

"Hmm... care to tell me how you got to this stage?" Frey asked.

"The magic that helped form this combination is.. my own special magic. I already knew a similar technique to the Elven Winds, so I thought to apply it to my own element. In fact, if you were to ask me to make a similar configuration with other basic elements like fire or water.. it would be possible," Estelle answered.

"That is very interesting," Frey smirked. "So this is why that kid sent you here, huh.." she whispered at a low enough volume for Estelle to not be able to hear clearly.

"Hm? What was that? I couldn't hear it well," Estelle tilted her head.

"No, nothing. Continue on, what do you want to ask?"

"Master told me that in theory, this application should work because there was no definitive aspect to the original Moonlight Bow's creation. Everything was done loosely, and nothing specified that we must use the Elven Winds that is known to the masses," Estelle began her question.

"I have problems with connecting my combination magic with the bow, I couldn't make the string nor the arrow appear. I wonder what did I do wrong? I want to check my fundamentals. Whether the problem is my magic or the way I work around it,"

"I can't judge that without seeing it in action, but.. let me see what I can do for you right now. When is the due date for your challenge?"

"...Tomorrow," Estelle replied grimly.

"Huh? That's a bit worrying," Frey's gaze turned serious as she began thinking deeply.

"Alright, reading here won't help you. This place has a spare space, let's go there and practice immediately," Frey clutched her hands together as she spoke.

"Ehh.. practice?" Estelle became dumbfounded. Her sole reason of coming here was to deepen her knowledge because she got stuck with her progress.

However, her mind told her to just follow Frey. She was undeniably an expert and should be able to provide insight on her matter.

"Yes, I need to see it for myself," Frey grinned.

"If that is the case.. then, let's go," Estelle sighed. "I still want to keep the scriptures though, may I reserve them for another time?"

"Of course, of course! Now, let us hurry," Frey said. "To my.. somewhat secretive place,"

______

They began embarking on their path.

After they passed through a couple corridors, their lengthy walk led them to a door.

"Is this another space? Just like the other rooms?" Estelle asked, curious. She still hadn't managed to find out how exactly Frey managed the spatial rooms, but after learning that she was the Void Witch Shanatos' real identity, it seemed possible.

"Yep. I call it the 'I want to feel the energy of going outside without actually going outside' room. Basically, I replicated the outside environment and pasted it into this room, making it somewhat of my relief space," Frey scrambled inside her pocket for a key, which she found in seconds after her search began.

Estelle raised a brow at the nickname Frey provided, but did not dwell on the matter further.

"There it is," she held the key tightly and stuck it into the keyhole. Twisting it, she managed to open the locked door and revealed a stunning sight.

It was a flower field. Dazzling sunlight. Beautiful view.

"This is.." Estelle looked around with a gaped mouth, shock catching her off guard.

"Spectacular, isn't it? I spent a lot of time on this place. Anyway, rather than just admiring the view, let us get straight down to the practice session," Frey took out a Moonlight Bow of her own out of nowhere.

It had fine details that were different from the one Neil provided her with.

"Should I just shoot anywhere?~ Let's see..." Frey began to calm down, letting the Winds envelop her as the string and arrow appeared out of thin air. The components placed themselves in their respective positions.

Frey only needed to shoot. Her posture was steady as she aimed towards a nearby tree. It had a relatively thin trunk, and because the space also had extra elements like fabricated wind currents, shooting an arrow here would pose a challenge for those who were not talented enough.

Of course, Frey was much more than just a talent.

She shot with confidence, hitting the trunk with ease.

The winds that surrounded her gradually dropped and dissolved back.

"That is how you do it. How was it? I'm pretty, right?" Frey boasted. "I have always prided myself in shooting beautifully,"

"Ahh... haha," Estelle let out an awkward laugh.

"Now, it's your turn," Frey handed her the bow.

With strings of nervousness spreading across her heart, Estelle held the bow and entered a shooting posture.

Her target? The trunk that Frey had hit prior to her turn.

She conjured her magic and made the winds brew around her. This was the stage she got to on her previous tries.

If compared with Frey's demonstration, the next stage should be an easy and smooth sailing one. The arrow and string would appear, sealing the deal with the only thing left to do being to shoot.

However, the two components did not appear even after Estelle focused as hard as she could, brewing her magic as much as she could.

Sighing, Estelle dropped the bow in shame.

"That is how it goes," Estelle spoke up.

Meanwhile, Frey, who was watching by the sidelines had a different set of expression jotted down on her face.

Frey grew silent, making Estelle wonder and gulp her saliva in fear. Could it be that she was a lost case? That she would not be able to complete the challenge after all?

Was she too confident in stating her will?

However, Frey then spoke up and voiced her thoughts, which put Estelle at a deeper level of confusion.

"This.. is not a matter of your fundamentals or the way you wield the bow. I'm afraid that you.. you're not able to use the bow because of a different reason," Frey theorized.

"What does that mean..?" Estelle asked carefully.

"To be short..." Frey took in a deep breath.

"I think the bow is not strong enough to contain the power you channeled," Frey grimaced. "This is the first time I came across such a case. You should be familiar with your own power, so you would naturally know that you are much stronger than the average basis," Frey added.

Estelle nodded. She was indeed quite confident in her own skills, although she did not regard herself as a 'strong' person yet due to the comparisons she came across during her life story.

"Hmm.. if you have gotten an explanation about the bow before, then you must know that the bow is meant to be an additional instrument. An instrument to channel your power. To materialize it. If we put it as an example for you, then it would be the same as overloading the instrument with power, and thus ruining the magic circuit within the instrument. Naturally, you would get no result," Frey summarized.

"I see..." Estelle took in Frey's input. "If so, what could I do to fix this problem?"

"I would love to say that it is easy, but it's honestly a matter of suppression at this point. Because your power is too strong, and there is not enough time to make another Moonlight Bow on the spot, our best solution is to suppress your magic,"

"Please continue on," Estelle became curious.

"Haah.. you would not be able to use the bow like others do. We have to make your own version. Your own way," Frey pursed her lips. "Give me a few moments to think. Until I figure something out.. You should just experiment with your magic and see if you can suppress it by yourself,"

Estelle nodded, agreeing with the woman's suggestion. They both separated to go on with their respective duties.

After a few minutes, an idea sprouted inside Frey's mind.

While Estelle was deeply engrossed in her own practice and lamenting because she still couldn't do the deed no matter how hard she tried to 'suppress' her magic, Frey got up from her sitting position and approached Estelle excitedly.

"That's it! I got it! Little child, your problem will be solved!" Frey exclaim in an ecstatic manner.