Despair when first entering a party in Black Magic, where I was basically told to sit down.

Imagine compressing a spherical block of wind with a diameter of 30 cm into a sphere about 5 mm in size.

"Attribute: Wind. Pressure definition. Shape is a cone with the tip indented by 2 mm, radius 5 mm, and length 7 mm. Fixed at 10 cm in front of the right index finger. Fire forward at a speed of 300 km/h. Execute."

The moment it hit the middle of a tree about 30 cm in diameter, a muffled "Ggyaa" sound was heard, and fragments scattered everywhere.
This is a forest on the way to the northern woods. Since there's no dry tinder wood here, I'm using it as a practice area.

Approaching closer, I check where the wind bullet hit.
The surface has a hole about 10 cm in diameter, but when I stick my finger inside, it seems to have dug out more than twice that depth.
Perhaps because there's nowhere for the released compressed air to escape, cracks are spreading throughout the inner cavity.

"This is definitely unusable in combat against people. It would be too messy. Maybe use it as a trump card if something happens."

The same compression image as before, but my head doesn't feel as heavy this time.
This must be what Pardis meant by getting used to it.

Let me test it out.

"Perform self-recognition."

Skill Information

Sage
Recognition
Acquisition
Stealth 0.12
Bravery 0.20
Fua Continent Common Language (Speaking) 0.23
Fua Continent Common Language (Reading) 0.07
Fua Continent Common Language (Writing) 0.01
Spearmanship 0.18
Vigilance 0.34
Prayer 1.20
Magic Control 1.12
Attribute Control (Wind) 1.33

Vigilance has increased significantly. It must be showing that I'm paying attention to avoid being attacked while gathering materials.
Prayer has gone up quite a bit with just one use. Since I talked so casually, maybe that's why...
Spell Control has also increased. Maybe it rises faster when someone teaches you properly?
Wind Attribute Control has risen a lot. Since I can only use wind, it's satisfying to see my efforts paying off.

"End self-recognition."

I guess I'll have to train using both elements and Spell Control as two distinct things.

Oh, I should try other shapes too.

I Imagine compressing a spherical block of wind with a diameter of 10 cm into a disk about 1 mm in size.

"Attribute: Wind. Pressure definition. Shape is a plate 0.5 mm thick, 10 cm long, and 40 cm wide. Fixed at 10 cm in front of the right index finger. Fire forward at a speed of 100 km/h. Execute."

I fired it at another tree.
A high-pitched "Kakon" sound was heard. The tree didn't break, but when I approached, there was a deep cut halfway up the trunk.

"Can this be used as a slashing attack? But even so, it's still pretty dangerous against people. It would definitely slice through flesh."

A slight heaviness in my head appears again, though not as bad as before.

"Mages must have a tough job. If you don't treat them as stationary artillery with bows or something, they won't be useful."
I remembered MP management from old MMORPGs. I was told it's okay to rest, but since I'm busy, I felt uneasy.

Looking at the clock, it had passed noon. I guess I got carried away practicing.
For now, I'll go eat lunch and practice restraining magic and glaive-wielding at Ast's place.

Returning to the village, I headed to the only restaurant besides the tavern.

"Welcome!"

A cheerful girl came out.
Lunch seems to be a fixed set menu. After ordering, it was brought out immediately.
It was fried chicken legs, various vegetable soup, and wheat bread.
The fried chicken is about what I expected. The soup had bacon bits in it, which added depth to the broth.
The wheat bread was dry and hard to eat, probably due to insufficient fermentation or yeast issues, so I dipped it in the soup.
I ate until I was full. Satisfied.

"Thank you for the meal."

"Hey, that's kind of polite. That'll be 600 Waruru."

I handed over a 5,000-Waruru coin and received four 1,000-Waruru coins and four 100-Waruru coins in change.

"Thank you. Please come again."

As I left the shop, given a farewell by the cheerful girl, the sky began to clear up.
It's a relief that I won't have to train in the rain.
I walked leisurely back to Ast's house.

"I'm back."

Riz came running out with a thud.

"Welcome back! How was it? Did you learn anything?"

"Yeah, he was a good teacher. It was helpful. I'm glad I did it."

"Oh, that's great. Can I see what you learned later?"

"What about your chores for Ast?"

"Haha, I'll work hard on them..."
She dragged herself back to the barn.

Alright, let's start with glaive-wielding practice first.
Stepping into the yard, I began swinging my arms in rhythm while imagining rice as I did two days ago.
As I swung mindlessly, I felt someone nearby. Looking up, Riz was staring at me blankly.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be helping?"

With a slightly exasperated smile, she approached with a red face.

"Yeah... You look so cool when you're working hard like that."
She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and went back to the barn.
Hmm, this kind of affection is youth. I left that behind over 20 years ago.
For now, I focused on my swings again. Sweat poured from my body, and my arms trembled, but this time I lasted about 50 minutes.
This is how a determined man lives, right? Even if it's just an extra 20 minutes.

Taking some scrap materials from Ast in the barn, I used them as targets.

Since restraining magic doesn't aim for fatal blows, hitting limbs to slow down movements should suffice. A small stone would make their actions sluggish.

Imagine compressing a spherical block of wind with a diameter of 10 cm into a sphere about 5 mm in size.

"Attribute: Wind. Pressure definition. Shape is a cone with a radius of 5 mm and height of 1 cm. Fixed at 10 cm in front of the right index finger. Fire forward at a speed of 300 km/h. Execute."
The projectile went halfway through a 5-cm-thick piece of scrap material. Hmm, the power seems a bit low. It would probably just pierce through fat and stop at the hide of a wild boar.

Let me try using a life ring instead.

Imagine compressing a spherical block of wind with a diameter of 10 cm into a sphere about 5 mm in size.

"Attribute: Wind. Pressure definition. Shape is a cone with a radius of 5 mm and height of 1 cm. Fixed at 10 cm in front of the right index finger. Fire forward while adding rotational spin, speed of 300 km/h. Execute."
A sharp "Bass" sound was heard. The scrap material was completely penetrated.

After that, I continued making adjustments by changing the shape, trajectory, and speed.