Water Magician

Chapter 2: Handling Water

Ryo, having won against who knows what with hydrogen bond, next aimed for hot water.

However, it was simple.

Ryo saw the prospects of victory.

Ice was created by stopping the vibrations of the water molecules H2O so he could perform the opposite process as well.

In other words, he increased the vibrations of the water molecules.

In the past, Ryo used to do free research during his summer vacation. Of course, it was not using magic …

Place water in a thermos bottle, cover it, and shake!

After shaking about 2000 times, the temperature of the water rose.

The temperature rose by forcibly increasing the vibration of water molecules.

That was already guaranteed success.

First, he took out the frequently used pail. He’ll try with that.

(<Water supply>)

He cast without chanting. He practiced so that he could do it while either chanting or not.

The same as when he created the ice lens, he prepared about 10cm deep worth of water.

Then, he held both hands over it and imagined the H2O molecules in his head.

Then, he vibrated them!

…….

“Eh?”

There was no change in the water in the pail. It didn’t feel like steam was coming out.

When he placed his hand in the water, he didn’t feel any temperature change.

“Why?”

Was his H2O image insufficient?

After imagining it more clearly … vibrate!

“The temperature isn’t going up.”

Even though it should work if he reversed the process he used to make ice.

“What else did I do that time …”

He thought about his actions.

“ … Ah, before stopping the water molecule vibrations, I combined the molecules. Maybe I have to do the opposite as well.”

He once again held both hands over the water in the pail and summoned the image in his head.

An image of breaking the hydrogen bonds between the water molecules and allowing free movement.

And then imagining each molecule vibrating.

Splash

Suddenly, hot water blew up as though a geyser spouted out from the pail.

“Hotttt”

Ryo managed to somehow avoid the falling geyser.

It would have been terrible if he got burnt. Water magic has no healing aspect after all…

That said, it was great that he succeeded in making hot water.

However, the current problem was that it was terrifying to attempt this unstable boiling water technique (Ryo-style definition) in a bath.

It would be a disaster if the stone bath broke.

So how should he do it?

That’s when he decided.

“I just have to practice!”

Increase his proficiency.

Experience success and failure countless times.

Slowly increase the number of times he succeeds.

Experiencing success many times would lead to confidence.

His lunch was also the same surprisingly unfrozen dried meat in the storage as yesterday … for some reason, only the dried meat was not frozen in the cold room … he repeatedly generated hot water while chewing.

It was about 3 pm in Earth hours judging from the time the sun moved across the sky.

Ryo suddenly felt dizzy and couldn’t stand.

“My consciousness is swaying …”

It was his first magic depletion.

He drank a little of the freshly generated water from the pail and somehow managed to reach the bedroom before collapsing and letting go of his consciousness.

The third day after arriving on 『Phi』.

“Reflection on yesterday. Let’s use up my magical power after taking a bath.”

Ryo spoke out loud and reflected.

It seemed that it felt unpleasant to sleep without taking a bath.

As expected of a former Japanese.

It was then he noticed something.

“I only have the clothes I’m wearing now.”

That’s right, in this home prepared by Michael (pseudonym), there were no clothes prepared.

“Thinking back, what was Michael (pseudonym) wearing?”

Something like a toga worn by ancient Roman aristocrats …?

Well, at any rate, there was no cloth in the house.

No, there was one. The cloth used as his bed.

But that was necessary for sleeping!

“Well, nobody is watching so if it came to that, I have the choice of not wearing anything.”

But even in the paintings of Adam and Eve, their crotch was hidden by leaves …

“When I eventually hunt animals, maybe I can wrap some skin around my waist.”

Ryo had always been a man who didn’t care about what he wore.

Now that he had decided on the direction for his clothes (did he?).

He had fire, water, and food.

In that case, it was finally time.

Right, a means of attack using water magic!

He had two months until the food in storage was exhausted.

Until then, he must become able to leave the barrier and procure food.

His only weapon was the knife prepared by Michael (pseudonym).

The man who made a name for himself using a knife on Earth … was not Ryo so he had zero confidence in hunting animals or monsters that attack him using that knife.

In the first place, it is almost impossible to defeat even a normal wild boar with a single knife …

It would be insane to attempt to cross a forest in 『Phi』 where monsters roam with just a single knife.

In that case, the only weapon Ryo could use was his water attribute magic.

“I wish I had the skills to make a bow and arrow and shoot it but I don’t have such a thing.”

Yesterday, when he made the ice lens, he thought that he could one day make an ice spear.

But it was still impossible.

Just making the water in front of his eyes into ice took a few minutes … making a spear in front of his prey and sending it flying … was not very realistic.

In that case, what can he send flying?

<Water> and <Water supply> both freely fall to the ground after coming out from his hand.

Right, first of all, he had to use something like a water ball.

He raised his right hand forward and made a mental image.

An image of him creating a water ball the size of his head and launching it from his right hand.

“<Water ball>”

Splash

Just like his image, a ball of water about the size of a head was launched from his right hand and flew.

It was about the speed of a basketball pass?

After flying about 10 meters, it fell to the ground.

“Ooo~!”

Ryo did a slight dance of joy from his first attack spell (?)

This time, he’ll fire it at the trunk of a tree about 7 meters away!

Splash …. drip

The trunk got wet with water.

“Yeap, it has no attack power, I knew it from the start.”

Ryo said as he collapsed to both his hands and knees. It was a pose of despair.

“But I have a trump card!”

Ryo immediately stood up and declared.

“If water ball doesn’t work, I just have to release a water jet.”

On Earth, the water jet was said to be able to cut anything.

However, fundamentally it was not ‘cutting’ but ‘shaving’ with water.

In the past, Ryo researched water jets for company operations and was convinced that it was the likely winner for water attribute attacks.

Raising his right hand forward, he made a mental image.

The image of a thin, high-speed water jet launching from the tip of his right hand.

Water was made as thin as possible by applying pressure from the surroundings.

“<Water jet>”

Trickle trickle

A thin stream version of <Water supply> with little momentum appeared.

Yeah, that will likely not cut anything.

Ryo once again was on both his hands and knees on the ground and overwhelmed by despair.

“I lost …”

It seemed that he lost to something …

“Let’s calm down.”

Just like yesterday’s lunch, he bit down on the dried meat from the storage.

(There’s no need to rush. I could only use the boiling water technique fairly well after practicing for half a day. In that case, if I pile on practice for this Water jet, won’t it become a strong weapon? Furthermore, I’m now able to create ice. That should be useable in the upcoming battle with monsters … I just don’t know how I can use it yet.)

“I just have to practice after all. Hard work does not betray!”

He devoted himself to practicing Water jet.

After around 2 pm on Earth time, he surpassed to make a slightly more vigorous version of Water supply. However, after that, he could not focus the pressure beyond that of a car wash hose.

Then, Ryo suddenly realized.

“I have to enter the bath for today.”

And in the bathroom. It was time to show the results of his half-day training yesterday.

“<Plenty of water>”

The bathtub was filled with water in just 10 seconds.

He was now able to control the amount of water produced.

That was the result of the magic control he acquired after training for half a day and collapsing.

Next will finally be the time to make the water hot.

But Ryo was not worried. With yesterday’s training, he was confident.

He held his right hand over the bathtub and imagined in his head.

The image of the water molecules moving around freely and each one of them vibrating.

He performed it for about half of the water in the bathtub. He didn’t want it to be too hot.

He placed his hand in the hot water each time and raised the temperature while repeating the fine adjustments.

And then, finally, it reached the perfect temperature.

“Yes~”

Ryo’s efforts were thus rewarded.

“Tiredness is the cause of failure. Don’t work to the point of exhaustion.”

It was somewhat of a signature phrase from Ryo’s father.

It was true but … a difficult phrase to put into practice.

He slowly immersed himself in the hot water and organized the current situation.

Water jet still could not be used as a means of attack.

Forming ice takes a couple of minutes. Before that, he had to verify if he could directly create ice in mid-air.

(But I still want to be able to say ‘Icicle Lance!’ and launch an ice spear.)

Any man would like to perform cool things.

(First, I have to know a little more details about using ice with water magic. Next, if I could generate ice faster, I might be able to use it when confronting monsters.)

After getting out of the bath, Ryo went to the garden and put it into practice.

“I’ll try directly generating ice from the air. <Ice lens>”

Between his hands, the same ice lens he used to create fire appeared. It took about five minutes to complete.

“It is possible to directly create ice from the air. But it takes quite a long time.”

Unlike yesterday, it was made without a pail … it was actually quite significant progress but Ryo was not aware of it …

The ice lens would not melt while magical power was channeled into it. Once that was stopped, it would melt like ordinary ice.

“I wonder if I can make this lens can fly.”

Swish plop

He used his arm strength to toss it and it drew a parabola before falling.

“Yup, I knew it couldn’t fly. I made it to be an ice lens after all so it’s natural that it can’t fly!”

Of course, it was a secret that he was feeling depressed internally.

Then, next will finally be … an ice spear, Icicle Lance.

“This is the favorite for attack magic using ice!”

First, the image was important.

In his head, he imagined an icicle about 30cm long.

“<Icicle Lance>”

Compared to the generation of the second ice lens, this took considerably longer.

After 10 minutes, after 15 minutes, it finally took shape.

“Alright, just as imagined. Then, fly!”

Swish plop

“Ah …”

He used his arm strength to throw it and it drew a parabola before falling.

“I imagined it flying but maybe … it was not enough?”

Shooting the <Water ball> from his hand allowed it to fly for about 10 meters.

But then why didn’t the < Icicle Lance> fly?

“The Ice lance is heavier? But the Water ball was about the size of my head so the weight should be about the same. Hmm~ I don’t know. Maybe I will find out after trying a few times.”

“<Water ball>”

From chanting to launching, it became much faster after repeated practice.

Initially, it took about five seconds from chanting to launch but after dozens of practice, he could now fire after around one second.

The distance also seemed to have extended further from the initial 10 meters.

The power was … the same as the start.

“Fuu. I’ve gotten used to it. Well, Water ball worked well from the start. Now, it will be Icicle Lance based on that. I’ll try firing the Ice lance from my right hand like the Water ball.”

He adjusted his breathing and chanted.

“<Icicle Lance>”

Swish plop

The instant it shot from his right hand, it fell to the ground.

“<Icicle Lance>”

Swish plop

It was the same no matter how many times he tried.

“The time taken to generate the spear has become much shorter but … why can’t I get it to fly?”

He had probably released dozens of Icicle lances.

The time from generation to launch had been reduced to about a minute.

Then, the time came.

“Ah, I’m losing consciousness.”

It was the same magical power depletion as yesterday.

While staggering, Ryo reached his bed and let go of his consciousness again.