Rhode, Wendy, and Carla, like ordinary orchard workers, spent two days pruning, finally seeing hope of completion.
When they first arrived, Rhode thought it might take until next year to finish such a large orchard.
Puxi Meng looked at the sun gradually setting in the west and encouraged, "Let's put in some extra effort; if we finish pruning the remaining few trees today, we can just sweep the fallen leaves tomorrow."
Wendy wiped the sweat from her forehead and said energetically, "Perhaps we won't need to wait until tomorrow; we might solve it today."
"..." Puxi Meng felt the kid was too optimistic; sweeping the leaves is exhausting as well.
But when they finished pruning the last few trees and Puxi Meng was about to call it a day, Wendy asked, "Where should we sweep the leaves to?"
"Just pile them up in that corner over there; we'll burn them all later. In past years they were used for compost, but this year it seems too troublesome, so we'll skip it."
Puxi Meng pointed to an unused corner of the orchard.
Wendy clenched her fist, "Alright, let me give it a try."
Puxi Meng was puzzled, "What?"
Rhode pulled him back a bit, giving Wendy space to show her skills, and Carla also stepped behind Wendy.
Warm, seeing the persimmons gone, chose to head home directly.
"Sky Dragon's..."
Wendy took a deep breath, and an invisible vortex of air seemed to form in front of her. If you were a Mage, you could feel the considerable Magic Power gathering in Wendy.
She puffed her cheeks and spread her arms like wings, exhaling a dramatic gust of wind that nearly knocked her down:
"... Roar!"
Whoosh...
A violent wind rose in front of Wendy, causing three rows of persimmon trees to sway, and affecting several nearby rows as well. Importantly, the fallen leaves under the trees were caught up by the gust, swirling into the air like they were in a tornado, flying all the way to the other end of the orchard.
Even standing behind Wendy, everyone's clothes fluttered.
"Wha... what is this?" Puxi Meng was shocked, not even bothering to fix his wind-tousled hair.
Over the past few days, Rhode and Wendy acted like ordinary people while working, and Puxi Meng nearly forgot that he hired a Mage.
As the wind subsided, Wendy jogged forward to check the tree that took the brunt of the blast. She breathed a sigh of relief after confirming it hadn't lost any branches.
Indeed, the power of the breath can be focused or dispersed.
"Great, it works!" Wendy clenched her fist in a self-encouraging gesture.
Puxi Meng, like coming out of a daze, asked in surprise, "Are you planning to clear the leaves like this?"
Wendy nodded vigorously, "Yes! Rest assured, I controlled the power well, and the fruit trees weren't harmed. Just a few more times should do it."
"Hmm... ah..." Puxi Meng didn't know what to say, "That's amazing."
Carla looked proud, as if she was the one being praised: "Wendy is a Sky Dragon Slayer Mage; this level of task is quite simple for her."
After recovering from the shock, Puxi Meng looked at Rhode: "Can you also use this magic?"
Unconsciously, his address had become respectful.
Rhode said, "I can use a little Wind Magic, but not to this extent."
He could only write 'WIND' with Text Magic to create a slight breeze, not enough to cover such a wide area.
"But I can help in another way... Cyan Engraved Golem."
The sudden appearance of a stone giant startled Puxi Meng; that big white fluffball from before must have been summoned in a similar manner.
The Golem placed a Crown of Insight on Wendy, who looked up and sweetly said, "Thank you, Mr. Golem."
The Golem scratched its head with a large hand and followed behind Wendy step by step.
The tall stone giant moving with the petite Wendy made one worry she'd get stepped on.
Wendy ran a short distance away, once again using Sky Dragon's Roar. This time, she controlled the power better; a sudden wind rose, branches swayed, and another pile of leaves accumulated against the corner wall.
After using the breath three times in a row, Wendy was a bit short of breath. Despite the Crown of Insight's help, her Magic Power was still insufficient.
But she would be fine after resting for a few minutes.
Carla said, "I feel like we shouldn't just stand by and watch."
Rhode said, "What can we do? This task is meant to train Wendy."
Carla thought for a moment and asked, "Can we use those two books you gave us? There seems to be Wind Magic in them."
"Using those would be a waste," Rhode said, "and even if cost isn't a factor, the spells inside are rigid Attack Magic, not as controllable as Wendy's; using one could ruin a few trees."
Puxi Meng quickly said, "Although I don't know what you're talking about, please don't use anything dangerous."
Carla said, "Don't worry, we won't do anything rash."
Puxi Meng had a remark stuck in his throat; he heard Fairy Tail Mages were quite known for being rash.
Thankfully, he encountered reliable people this time.
Watching Wendy rest for a while before getting busy again, Rhode sighed, "Too bad I'm not good at Wind Magic yet, otherwise..."
"Aren't you already proficient in Earth and Fire Elements? Can you learn Wind Magic too?" Carla looked at him in surprise. If she remembered correctly, his Earth and Fire Magic corresponded to a Dragon each, could it be...
"Hey, hey?" Carla noticed Rhode suddenly stopped responding and flapped her wings, flying in front of him to wave her hands.
Seeing him blink, she asked, "Why did you suddenly zone out?"
"Well... how to put it?" Rhode didn't know how to describe his current feelings, "I seem to be able to use Wind Magic shortly."
"Huh?"
Just now, he suddenly noticed that in the Summoner's Rift, where the Dragon Pit was initially divided into earthy-yellow and fiery-red areas, a section of blue-white appeared, with a symbol of white wings painted on the wall.
In that sky-like area lay a light blue-gray Giant Dragon.
Cloud Sub-Dragon, commonly known as Wind Dragon, could provide speed boosts to players in the game.
Based on his experience with the Mountain Sub-Dragon and Purgatory Sub-Dragon, he guessed the Cloud Sub-Dragon here would likely be a speed-specialized Dragon using Wind Magic.
Rhode looked around the environment; clearly, he couldn't summon the Dragon Soul in someone else's orchard, and it had to wait until he got back.
Just not sure what temper this one would have...
Carla was still puzzled by what he had said earlier: "What do you mean by you'll soon be able to use Wind Magic?"
"We'll talk when we go back... uh..." Rhode paused strangely and said, "Alright, I can use it now."
"?" Carla couldn't understand him anymore, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Who masters a magic spell in the time it takes to speak three sentences?