Starting the next day, Kuma-san began teaching me magic.

Since we’d gone to bed early the night before, we arrived at the square in front of the village chief’s house before sunrise.

Even at that hour, a few villagers were already awake, and we exchanged several morning greetings as we passed by them.

“The first thing you’re lacking, little miss, is athletic ability.”

If I had better reflexes, I’d be able to dodge goblin attacks and move around much more effectively.

Still, expecting a frail little girl to have great athletic ability seemed a bit unreasonable.

“So first, I’ll teach you Body Enhancement.”

“You lifted that huge Earth Sword pretty easily yesterday, right?”

“That wasn’t because of Body Enhancement.”

“You were unconsciously channeling magic through the sword and manipulating it with earth magic.”

“Go ahead and summon the Earth Sword.”

“Then try to focus on the flow of magic running through it.”

I summoned the Earth Sword and concentrated on the flow of magic traveling from my hand into the blade.

After a moment, I felt something faint and hazy flowing through it.

I could even sense that same feeling inside the sword itself.

It almost felt like the Earth Sword had become an extension of my own arm.

“Body Enhancement works by channeling magic through your muscles to strengthen them.”

“To do that, you first have to become aware of your muscles and picture them in your mind.”

“But…”

“Do you even know what muscles are, little miss?”

In my previous life, I’d seen diagrams of the human body in textbooks, manga, and anime.

Visualizing muscles wasn’t difficult at all.

Closing my eyes, I gathered the hazy magical energy into the muscles of my right leg.

Then into my left.

As for imagining them growing stronger…

I pictured the aura techniques I’d seen in anime and video games.

It almost felt like an aura was surrounding both of my legs.

Whoosh!

Just to test it, I gave a light jump.

My head instantly reached the roof of a nearby house.

“What!?”

“You mastered Body Enhancement already!?”

“But at that height…”

“Can you land safely!?”

‘This is bad!’

‘If I fall like this…’

“Earth Sword!”

Without thinking, I thrust the Earth Sword into the ground and used it to support myself as I descended.

Gradually tilting the sword, I slowly lowered myself until I landed safely.

“You really know how to make someone’s heart stop.”

“I never imagined you’d master Body Enhancement on your very first try.”

“Still, don’t overdo it like you just did.”

“That level of enhancement is far too much for a little body like yours.”

“Try using only about a third of that power.”

“And honestly, even at one-third strength, you’ll probably need to reinforce more than just your muscles.”

“You’ll have to strengthen your whole body, or it won’t hold together.”

‘So Body Enhancement affects more than just muscles…’

That made sense.

If I wanted to absorb the impact of jumps like that, strengthening my entire body would definitely help.

Next, I focused on my skin, bones, muscles, and internal organs in that order, imagining each becoming stronger.

Then I lightly punched a nearby tree.

Tap.

Tap.

It wasn’t much of a punch with a little girl’s strength.

But…

It didn’t hurt at all.

My fist was completely unharmed.

Next, I tried jumping again using only one-third of the previous enhancement.

I didn’t reach the rooftops this time.

Even so, I leaped to roughly twice my own height.

Then I landed.

Thud.

There was a decent impact when I touched down.

But I didn’t feel the slightest bit of pain.

My body had become remarkably sturdy.

When I looked over, Kuma-san was staring at me with a complicated expression.

“Listen, little miss…”

“It’s completely impossible for an ordinary child your age to master Body Enhancement this quickly.”

“That can’t be true.”

“I just did it.”

“There might be other kids who can do the same thing.”

In a world where magic existed, it wouldn’t be strange if there were children like me.

“No.”

“There aren’t.”

“Since we’re on the subject, I should teach you a bit of common sense.”

‘Common sense?’

Did he mean common sense about magic?

That was exactly the kind of information I wanted to hear.

“Normally, magical power doesn’t awaken until around the age of ten.”

“After that, people spend several years increasing their magic and gradually learning spells.”

“A child as young as five or six being able to use magic at all is practically unheard of.”

“I’m not saying you should hold yourself back.”

“But you should at least understand that you aren’t normal.”

‘If I’m not normal…’

‘Then what exactly have I been reincarnated as?’

Judging by my appearance, I assumed I was human.

I still hadn’t found a mirror since arriving in this world.

‘I’m not secretly a vampire or something… am I?’

Once all of this was over, maybe I should travel around and find out exactly what I was.

“Jonas is back!”

Just then, someone shouted that Jonas had returned from scouting Westwood Village.

I was now gathered inside the village chief’s house along with all the men of the village.

Quite a few of them looked at me as if wondering why a little girl was attending such a serious meeting.

Unfortunately, since I knew more about what had happened than anyone else, there was no way for me to leave.

“Jonas.”

“Tell everyone what you found at Westwood Village.”

“Yes.”

“To put it simply…”

“I don’t believe there are any survivors left in Westwood Village.”

“What!?”

“Are you certain!?”

The room immediately erupted into an uproar.

“Quiet, everyone!”

“Jonas.”

“Continue.”

With a single word from the village chief, silence returned.

“As the little girl said, Westwood Village has been occupied by goblins.”

“I counted roughly three hundred of them.”

“I also spotted one higher-ranking goblin among them.”

“What!?”

“You’re sure about that!?”

“If three hundred goblins come here…”

“This village won’t stand a chance!”

“What are we supposed to do!?”

The room once again descended into panic.

Angry voices and frightened murmurs echoed throughout the house.

When I’d been in Westwood Village, there definitely hadn’t been three hundred goblins.

Had they all fled after fighting me…

Only to return with hundreds of reinforcements?

Maybe they’d gathered an army specifically to kill me after I’d slaughtered several of them.

“Dakan!”

“Ride to the city immediately and report this to the Adventurers’ Guild!”

At the village chief’s command, the men sprang into action.

“Chief…”

“I hate to say it, but I don’t think the adventurers will arrive in time.”

“I expect the goblins to attack this village within a few days.”

“If that’s true…”

“This village is…”

“Chief.”

“How many people here are actually capable of fighting?”

Kuma-san asked about the village’s fighting strength.

“There are around fifty adult men.”

“But only about ten of them can actually fight with weapons like bows.”

Hearing that hopeless number, many of the villagers lowered their heads in despair.

“Then if the goblins attack…”

“You won’t stand a chance.”

“Right now, this village is protected by nothing more than a wooden fence.”

“My advice is to reinforce it.”

He was right.

The village fence was nothing more than a crude wooden barrier.

Something like that could easily be smashed apart.

Westwood Village had been protected by the same kind of fence.

It hadn’t stopped the goblins from invading at all.

If anything, it was surprising it had lasted as long as it did.

“We’d certainly like to reinforce it.”

“But no one in this village is capable of building anything stronger.”

“Leave that to me.”

“I think we can manage something.”

As he said that, Kuma-san turned to look at me.

‘Wait…’

‘Is he planning to make me build it?’

‘Or is he about to teach me another spell?’

Well…

I’d already said I wanted to save the village.

I didn’t really have the option of refusing.

Together with the village chief and the other villagers, I followed Kuma-san to one section of the wooden fence surrounding the village.

“Alright, little miss.”

“Place your hand on the ground beneath the fence.”

“Then channel your magic into the earth.”

Following his instructions, I knelt down and placed my hand on the ground.

I slowly poured my magic into the soil.

Before long, I could feel the magic spreading beneath the fence.

“Now…”

“Push the earth upward together with your magic.”

I imagined lifting the earth itself.

The ground suddenly bulged upward.

“What was that!?”

“Was that magic?”

“That little girl used magic!?”

The villagers burst into astonishment.

Ignoring the commotion, Kuma-san continued his lesson.

“Now turn it into a wall.”

“Compress the earth.”

“And don’t forget to make it as sturdy as you can.”

Following his instructions, I shaped the earth into a wall.

With a deep rumble, it rose from beneath the wooden fence, lifting it upward.

“If you leave it like that, the wall will collapse once your magic disappears.”

“Imagine each grain of sand binding tightly to the others.”

“That way, the wall will hold its shape even after your magic is gone.”

‘I see.’

If the wall relied entirely on magic, it would crumble the moment the magic vanished.

But if I fused every grain of earth together…

It would become solid like stone.

A sturdy stone wall nearly three meters high stood before us.

The village chief and all the villagers stared at it in amazement.

“I see…”

“A wall this tall and sturdy won’t be easy for goblins to cross.”

“But…”

“Can that little girl really build enough of these to surround the entire village?”

“The perimeter is quite large.”

The village chief sounded worried about whether my magic would last.

“I think she’ll be fine.”

“The hardest part for her will probably just be walking around the village.”

‘Can Kuma-san use some kind of appraisal magic?’

‘Or can he actually see how much magical power someone has?’

I had no idea why he sounded so confident.

But he certainly believed I could do it.

The village chief looked at me skeptically.

Still…

This would be a good chance to find out just how much magic I actually possessed.

There was one thing that worried me, though.

“Kuma-san.”

“What happens if you run out of magic?”

Concerned, I asked him directly.

“Humans use magic to sustain their lives.”

“But when your magic drops close to that limit, your instincts automatically stop you from using any more.”

“In other words, before you can completely exhaust your magic, your body prevents you from casting any further spells.”

So complete magical exhaustion wasn’t actually possible in this world.

In that case…

There was no reason to hold back.

So I started building walls one after another.

Each time another section of stone wall rose from the ground, the villagers cheered.

Eventually even the children gathered to watch.

Whenever I placed my hand on the ground, they excitedly shouted,

“Come on, wall!”

And every time another wall appeared, they ran around laughing with delight.

There wasn’t much entertainment in this world.

Apparently, my earth magic had become today’s main attraction.

By early afternoon, the entire village was surrounded by towering stone walls.

Even after all that, I still felt like I had plenty of magic left.

‘Just how much magical power do I actually have?’

Curious about my own progress, I opened my status window once again.

“Status Open.”

[Name: Rinne (Female)]

[Health: Weak (A little tired)]

[Magic Power: Only about one-third has been used.]

[Physical Attack: Weak]

[Magic Power: ?]

[Magic Affinity]

[Earth Magic]

[Learned Spells: Earth Sword, Earth Wall]

[Special Skill: Body Enhancement]

Earth Wall had been added to my earth magic.

And my previous talent, Running, had been replaced with Body Enhancement.

‘Wait…’

‘Body Enhancement counts as a special skill?’

My status window was still as vague as ever.

If building an entire defensive wall around the village had only consumed one-third of my magic…

Did that mean I could build three complete walls around the village?

If that was the case…

Maybe today I should have Kuma-san teach me even more ways to fight.

“Sacred Beast.”

“We’ll prepare bows and whatever other weapons we can so we can fight alongside you.”

“Good.”

“Even if there aren’t many fighters, defending from behind these walls will make a huge difference.”

“The more prepared you are, the better.”

“While you’re doing that…”

“The little miss and I will continue strengthening her magic.”

And so, under Kuma-san’s guidance, I continued learning one new spell and combat technique after another.