A week passed and Frisk continued to learn wind magic with the help of Toriel and Flowey — since he couldn't teach him white magic— and with the guidance, he had learned another wind spell that could help him in a pinch. Its name was wily sounds, at first Frisk was not eager to learn such a spell, but neither of them would teach him anything else for different reasons. Frisk had also asked for an empty book and some quill.
[hahahaha! Really? That's the last spell I'd ever learn!]
"Gahahaha! I can't believe you are such an idiot! You learned it so fast!" Flowey cackled loudly.
"Mute," Frisk said with a blush, it wasn't exactly what he had on his mind after learning an attack spell, but Toriel seriously explained to him that she didn't know any defensive wind spells, frankly she only knew 3 that she had learned from boredom, so after this one he was going to learn the last one, she said it was a surprise.
However, during this period, he had another question.
Why did I grasp the understanding of wind so easily? I was stressed, this should have interfered with my learning…
However during the week, he could only take guesses, after the monsters left the ruins, they also left with their grimoires. If he wanted to learn more wind spells he would need to head out of the ruins, though he wasn't planning on doing that. He would stay for another week after he learned the magic, then he would reset.
During the 2 months he had been here, Frisk had taught Flowey a single summoning spell. He was just simply bad at it.
It was Subdue, but he couldn't command anything, so far it only served as an inventory space. This made Flowey annoyed and Frisk was all up for it.
"Wow, you can't even command a mouse. Then again, it's not easy to match my genius~" Frisk was getting playful with this flower.
"Shut up!" Flowey tried using the command spell to prove Frisk wrong, but it failed.
"Pft… this is too much fun.." Frisk said in between laughs
Though, by this point, he should've grasped it, subdue and command are intrinsically a pair.
Frisk felt more than just catharsis at the sight of Flowey not learning the spell.
[maybe he's bluffing.]
Frisk had stopped talking to Chara once Flowey practiced magic, hearing the name would break his concentration. He was also a little dismayed since even though he had asked for a month, he didn't get any answers on how they knew each other.
"Gah!" Flowey was bored and gave up, squeezing the mouse.
"Welp, I think that's enough for now, wouldn't want you to pop something." Frisk was referring to Flowey's temper, as well as the mouse's eyes. "Go outside if you are gonna do that." Frisk shooed Flowey away.
Flowey grumbled something while he was brought outside by
He jumped into the air before transforming into a wolf pup and plopping to bed. The awkwardness of the curse was gone, at least when he was alone.
[hehe, just like a dog trick. You should catch a treat next]
Frisk shivered and turned back into a white-haired human.
"Shut up!"
Of course, the one who enjoyed these 2 months the most was Chara, Toriel's home had never been so lively since…
"goodnight Chara," Frisk muttered and turned into a wolf pup again.
[you know I've been meaning to tell…] her reply fell on deaf ears, however, as Frisk fell asleep.
The next day…
Frisk woke up, tidied himself, and greeted Toriel. Today he would learn the last wind spell Toriel had learned. That day's breakfast was biscuits and gravy. They both ate silently, Frisk was simply mesmerized by the taste of a meal he never ate before. Usually, he'd have bread and milk as a staple food in the orphanage. He did not question where the gravy came from.
As for Toriel, Frisk had no idea what was on their mind. Each time he asked she always told a joke or a pun, and Frisk gave up trying to question her.
After complimenting the chef, Frisk went to study on his own, and after a couple of weeks, it became much easier to study as he had made it a habit.
They then started practicing magic.
"The last spell I will teach you is a versatile one. It is called wind surge, it originally was used to shield against arrows, however in times of peace and boredom, one monster had the idea to use it to trip people as a prank, and another had used it to hasten their steps, the way you can apply this magic is up to your imagination. However, I do warn you, this will be hard to learn, especially in this environment."
"Hehe, I have time." Frisk let out a childish laugh but then asked with a curious look. "What do you mean with 'this environment, if push comes to shove, there is always wind around that… balcony. He didn't fear the bridge on snowdin because it had snow, which would break his fall.
Hmm, maybe I could use this spell to jump mid-air
Frisk wasted no time, the concept behind the spell was simple, make air pressure to form a sphere, which would then be released by cutting off the connection with mana.
In practice, however, it was much harder, the opposite of simple in this case was "complex" cutting the connection between wind and mana was easier said than done. Significantly since the wind spirit couldn't interfere in this process, the spell itself should only last one second, and so far he had done this process in 20 minutes, by the time he did it, the wind had lost its potency.
Frisk didn't know this, but making wind surge truly yours was a rite of passage that had slowly died due to there not being enough wind magic users in the underground, don't even talk about humans who rarely learn more than 2 types of magic unless they're nobles.
However this did not make Frisk falter, he had cultivated something very important during his stay with Toriel. It was balance, by letting himself rest properly and eating healthily, as well as focusing his attention on other studies, his magic flourished. Perhaps it was because he had a clearer mind. Perhaps it was because he had a set schedule, either way, he felt more relaxed than ever.
During the week he practiced wind surge while teaching (making fun of him) Flowey, and enduring the constant teasing of Chara. Frisk was on the verge of being able to use the spell effectively.
Think Frisk, why would such a spell exist? Why would losing the connection with the wind create a versatile spell?
He walked inside the house and asked Toriel: "how does one determine the affinity to an element?"
Toriel chuckled. "There are many spells to confirm this, but do you wish to know which one I used?"
Frisk eagerly nodded. Toriel only smiled at his response. "None~!"
Huh? It's all luck based? Are you born-
Seeing Frisk's confusion, Toriel explained. "The best way to confirm your element is to have a clear understanding of your personality. Someone who brazenly accepts competition and challenges has fire magic," she said while having a fireball in her hand.
"a steadfast person whose motive and conviction does not change despite the circumstances would have earth magic. A person who is flexible and can adapt to situations, gentle or fierce when they have to be, has water magic. And…" dismissing the fireball in her hand and tapping his forehead. "People who have wild curiosity and zeal for exploring usually have wind magic I suspect that most other children that-" Toriel stopped herself before standing up from the sofa.
[...]
"Please… forget that last part. I need a moment." before Frisk could discern the problem Toriel locked herself in her room."
Most other children? So all of them escaped from Toriel? Wow. she must be feeling bad. To see children escape her grasp in the pursuit of freedom from the underground…
Frisk meekly knocked on Toriel's door.
"Ma'am, do you feel lonely?" he sent a wily wisp through the door crack.
"Heh, is it so obvious? we all are trapped here, not just monsters, but I feel so helpless each time I see your kind go… believing with all their souls they can find a way…"
"Toriel, I promise that if I see a way out, the first person to go out will be you."
"Ha, I would rather you stay with this old lady, but I suppose that it would only be a matter of time…" she sighed.
Frisk felt bad because his words didn't help, he never had a way with words…
"... sorry."
[...]
Click
Toriel exited her room and held Frisk by the hand.
"Sorry, you had to comfort this old lady."
Frisk didn't say anything as he hugged Toriel.
"But hey, we're all trapped inside with no way out right?" Frisk said it in a way that couldn't have been worded worse. Toriel simply chuckled. "Perhaps we should add persuasion to your study schedule.
But right now Frisk's mind was overtaken by a discovery.
Trapped! No way out! What would that be called? Isolation! The essence of Wind surge is to keep mana isolated from the wind!
While they both said down the sofa, Frisk created a sphere of compressed air. Then he stored the air in his inventory!
Woosh!
A burst of wind that only lasted for 5 seconds blew past Frisk and Toriel.
"Hahaha! Yes!" Frisk Cheered.
"Well, I suppose that is one way to dry my tears…" Toriel Lampooned looking at the little kid whose head had grown a pair of wolf ears. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Ma'am, perhaps, if luck smiles upon you, I'd stay with you."
That is if when I find my mother she is dead.
Chara silently watched the scene as her lips curled upwards into a smile