While I waited for Trixie to wake up, I again continued my work on enhancing my spell. To better understand [Frost Grasp] and practice speed casting, I had my [Sub-Cores] rotate through the castings of the spell at a distance. Icy, ethereal hands formed briefly to freeze a nearby rock or flower in the distance before disappearing.


    I hadn''t noticed it at first with spells like [Icicle] or [Water Orb] due to their minimal cost; it seemed that forming the spell outside of my aura incurred an additional fee, a percentage of the original spell''s cost factored over the distance. In the heat of combat, I didn''t anticipate this to be a significant issue; it felt more like a safeguard to prevent long-distance spellcasting.


    ''Or at least limiting them to one or two while waiting for mana to regenerate.'' I noted.


    While the idea of spell sniping didn''t interest me much at present, I did see good use in it for rapidly expending my mana so that I could work on my mana-related traits, which had become an issue since I was, in theory, always capped out. The only problem was that while I could sense mana leaving me and a rough approximation of the quantity, my actual capacity levels were completely unavailable. Trixie could somehow feel my mana levels due to her nature, but I didn''t feel comfortable leaving it in her hands; it would be like relying on someone to tell you when to eat or breathe.


    I was on the verge of what felt like a breakthrough when the pixie abruptly appeared and seized the spell out of my grasp. I tried to struggle and fight to hold it, but it was beyond me and broke apart. The frustration was overwhelming, and I wanted to scream in anger. Still, I managed to hold back since, with my [Sub-Cores], I could recover the point of progress relatively easily, and Trixie probably wanted to prove the point that I needed to work on my defense.


    "I don''t know whether to applaud your insight of working on a spell outside your aura to train multiple skills at once or slap you for putting yourself at so much risk," Trixie said with an exaggerated sigh.


    "I figured it would be worthwhile if I knew I was in a safe area." I defended myself.


    "True enough, I suppose. We are safe up here, thanks to me, but I hope you''ll remember you won''t always have me around."


    I nodded in agreement. I planned to be very aware of my surroundings if I tried something like this again.


    "It''s frustrating that I can''t just drop the spell once you''ve claimed it. I would have thought that would be a reliable defense."


    "Technically, you''re right; that''s the best to do if you''re desperate and don''t feel confident in wrestling back control. You just lack the capability to even do that right now." Trixie said and presented a skill.


    <[Counter Magic]


    This skill allows spell constructs to be seized or reinforced.


    Skill level determines your base attack and defense but can be further enhanced through knowledge, mental attributes, or other magic-related skills and traits.


    Defend your spells or dominate your opponents!>


    <Skill [Counter Magic LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 15.>


    I hastily bought the skill; I was sick of feeling like a toddler trying to stand up to an adult. I was glad that the skill level wasn''t the only determining factor, and I wondered what other skills or traits would aid. The obvious two were [Mana Manipulation] and [Mana Conception], but I glanced through my others to see if anything stood out while reading through the description.


    ''Reinforce... Huh...'' I thought.


    "Trying to think of what works with the skill?" Trixie asked despite giving me a knowing smile.


    "Yeah... I have the [Mana Reinforcement] trait and thought it might work. But the description mentions the body specifically, so now I have my doubts."


    "Maybe? You might need to find a different teacher, though. I certainly don''t focus on reinforcing my spells; I prefer trickery and deception." Trixie replied. "Now, let''s try out your new skill!"


    We started off with me trying to defend my spell. Now, instead of feeling like a toddler, I felt like maybe a child or teen trying to protect myself, and [Mana Manipulation] was my knife. Trixie explained that the quickest way to defend myself if I was willing to take some mana burn was to rapidly disrupt my own spell; we practiced back and forth doing that. Trixie would seize my spell, and I''d defend it by quickly throwing it into a tangled mess.


    Trixie was gentle with me, but I felt like I was making progress and was eager to try attacking later on. During our practice, I had the errant thought of wondering if [Ritual Casting] would apply to this and had my [Sub-Cores] join in with destroying my own spell.


    "Yes! Excellent use of [Multitasking] to destroy the spell from multiple points," She smiled happily, and I felt a little guilty. "If you can do the same when attacking, you''ll be a tough opponent."


    We continued for a bit longer, and I felt quite confident in rapidly destroying my own spell. Then Trixie suggested we swap to trying to maintain the spell.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    "As I said, this isn''t really my specialty. But from what I know, the stronger the recollection of your spell, the better. If you can maintain a strong image of the spell and fix the mistakes." Trixie explained.


    I had to suppress a laugh; if spell recollection was a benefit, then my cores would be an extreme handicap in my favor. This time, Trixie suggested we use [Icicle] as if I was continuously fixing the spell, then I''d probably gain some experience toward [Ice Magic].


    We started off slow. Trixie only used one point of attack, where she tried to unravel my spell, forcing me to fix it. Despite not having my [Sub-Cores] to help, I found this quite manageable as I found my recollection of this spell structure perfect. Trixie started picking up the pace to put me under some pressure, and after some time passed, she eventually began to increase the number of attacks she made.


    I tried my hardest to defend alone, but after a few losses, I decided I was being stupidly stubborn and brought in the full team. At first, Trixie was smiling, but then her face started to contort, and a look of confusion was noticeably present. Trixie could maintain about seven attacks at once, a shocking number alone, but I could mount six defenses before even getting [Multitask] involved.


    "Okay... You are shockingly good at defending your spell. Did your skill level up already?" She asked, clearly getting a little frustrated.


    I blinked in confusion, then looked at the two notifications I had somehow ignored.


    "Oh! I got a level in [Mana Manipulation] and [Counter Magic]!" I said excitedly.


    "Even with tutoring, that feels too fast for [Counter Magic]..." Trixie said, scratching her chin in thought.


    "Well, I do have [Prodigy]." I pointed out, causing Trixie to raise her eye in surprise. "Also, there''s a chance you''re triggering my emblem. Although I have no idea if that''s true or not."


    "You have a trait and an emblem for bonus experience? Talk about lucky." Trixie said with a hint of jealousy.


    "I mean... I could share [Prodigy] with you?" I offered. Trixie had more than earned it, in my opinion.


    "Aww... That''s sweet, Syl. But unfortunately, I believe that''s a birth trait, so I''d be blocked."


    I tried anyway, but Trixie frowned. "Wow. I can''t even read the trait; it''s completely garbled."


    I apologized, and we went back to our practice battle. But it wasn''t long until Trixie stopped us and shrugged. "I think you have the gist of it by now. Let''s do a little bit of attack practice."


    Trixie held out a [Water Orb] construct, and now I got to see what it was like on the other side. Surprisingly, it came rather naturally to me, as it was almost like an alternative version of when I was trying to create a custom spell. However, despite Trixie saying it wasn''t her specialty, I had to admit her defense felt rock solid, and she showed off a little trick where she would actually cause her spell to squirm out of my mental grasp like an oiled-up snake.


    Our practice went on far longer than I expected. Trixie seemed to be having a lot of fun, as she would add a lot of colorful commentary as we fought over the spell. Unfortunately, I only managed to break her spell once when I threw all my cores at her and told them all to utilize [Multitasking]. It was a massive coordinated assault, all at once, and rather than tangling up her spell, it was like I had torn at it from multiple different points.


    Trixie groaned, clutching her head as if recovering from a migraine before she chuckled. "Damn, you got me good. I think we can bring this boot camp to a close."


    I smiled and politely bowed to Trixie, "Thank you so much for the help; this honestly feels like a new door has been opened."


    "You''re welcome. I''m glad I could give you a better reward than just some pixie dust for helping me out of there. Honestly, I might have been stuck there for eternity if you didn''t show up." Trixie said with a giant smile plastered on her face. "The only thing that sucks is I don''t know how useful this will be for you. Breaking through your aura is a definite, but you might be hard-pressed to even get a chance to use [Counter Magic]."


    "True... Against non-spellcasters, I''m perfectly safe, and then against another caster, what are the chances they have [Counter Magic]?"I pondered aloud, "Actually, do they need to have broken through their own aura to use it?"


    "No, but learning the one without the other is rather strange. But I''ve certainly seen stranger things." She gave me a big wink. "If you can''t find someone you trust to practice with, I suggest you do what you were doing earlier by modifying spells outside of your aura. Also, you should practice changing a spell; that would be a good tool in your arsenal, but it''s another way to practice."


    "So cast [Water Orb] and upgrade it directly into [Torrent]."


    "Yeah. Or, if you want to really get creative, change it into an ice spell." Trixie nodded as if agreeing with herself.


    "Great. Sounds like a fun change of pace. Now I just need to complete my spell modification, and then we can deal with the other essence thief, right?"


    Trixie fluttered over to take a seat on my head. She sat cross-legged and started humming to herself as she arced her back backward and had her eyes shut tight. She rocked back and forth, trying to make up her mind.


    "You could probably take her now... But it might be worth getting some genuine combat practice before."


    "Sounds good to me. There''s probably a few pegasi still, although I didn''t notice them flying past."


    "No, I think they fled the island; maybe there are a few stragglers, but without a leader, they become rather dumb." Trixie replied, "But new monsters have been spawning, and I''m sure you haven''t explored the entire island."


    "Yeah, I wanted to explore the lake."


    Trixie shook her head, "No. Not there. That''s where she is."


    "Ah... Okay, well, there are plenty of other smaller floating islands. Not to mention a rainbow-colored forest I didn''t explore and some caves."


    "Good. Plenty of options for tomorrow!"


    "Now, if only I could solve my messed-up mana."


    "From what I can tell, other than messing with your status and occasionally draining the mana from your slime, it doesn''t seem to be doing much?" Trixie said, shrugging.


    "Wait, it''s draining mana from my slime?" I asked in a panic, Trixie nodded, "Shit, I didn''t even notice. I don''t even know what the repercussions of that would be."


    "I dunno... Normal slime?" Trixie responded, unsure.


    "Mana slime is my normal, though..."


    I tried looking at my slime reserves, but I wasn''t entirely sure if it had diminished at all or not. I had gained a lot from the pegasi and unicorns.


    ''Well, I can always just make more too.'' I told myself and activated [Slime Conversion].


    <Error. Trait is temporarily unavailable.>


    "Well... That''s not good."