A Certain Magical Index: The Primal Spirit Descends to My Side

Faced with Ms. Xiaomeng's question, Index simply sat there, barely supporting herself. She answered the question in an extremely weak voice.

"The material doesn't matter. Just like a magnifying glass, whether the lens is made of glass or synthetic resin, it can still magnify objects. As long as the shape and the division of responsibilities are correct, the ritual can proceed." Index was sweating profusely, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

"But you must follow my instructions correctly. If you get the order wrong, your neural circuits and brain could be burned out."

"Hmm?" Teacher Xiaomeng turned around in confusion, as if she had heard something dangerous.

"What I mean is, failure will bring you physical destruction and death. Please be careful."

Teacher Xiaomeng was so startled that she let out a "pfft" sound, but Index didn't mind at all and continued to speak softly: "Now I will ask the angels to descend and create a temple. Please chant with me."

What Index was saying no longer sounded like language, but simply "sound".

Teacher Xiaomeng was humming a song, completely ignoring the meaning and simply imitating her voice.

then……

"Huh!?"

Suddenly, the toy doll on the low table started singing the same "song." Even the screams of "Ahhh!" rang out at exactly the same time. The doll was trembling. Just like a toy telephone made of paper cups and string, where the vibrations of the string transmitted to the paper cup turn into sound, the doll was imitating Teacher Xiaomeng's voice through vibration.

The fact that Ms. Xiaomeng didn't run out in fright at this moment was entirely thanks to the fact that she lived in "Academy City," a city with 2.3 million espers. An ordinary person would probably have been terrified, right?

"Connection complete." Index's voice rang out simultaneously with the voice of the toy doll on the small table. "The 'temple' created on the table is now connected to this room. Simply put, what happens inside the room will also happen on the table, and what happens on the table will also happen inside the room."

Index gently pushed the leg of the low table.

In an instant, with a loud bang, Teacher Xiaomeng felt an impact under her feet, as if the entire apartment was shaking.

The air in the room became as clear and flowing as the wind on the mountaintop.

There was no sign of an "angel." But there was a feeling that something was clearly present but unseen. It was as if an invisible wind was swirling in the room, carrying some immense will. At that moment, Index suddenly spoke loudly, as if making a vow.

"Imagine! The angel of wind! That blue angel wielding a serpent staff, bringing healing and purification!"

When casting magic, one very important thing is to determine the size of the area.

Just as throwing a small stone into the ocean won't cause much of a ripple, but throwing it into a bucket of water can create a huge wave, the same principle applies: if you want to change the world with magic, you must first define the scope of the world you want to change.

The so-called guardians are gods who temporarily become gods within that regulated little world.

As long as you can successfully imagine the guardian in the domain, fix its form, and freely control its behavior, you can do some "unbelievable things" within the limited area.

However, having never been exposed to this concept, Ms. Xiaomeng couldn't imagine the form of an "angel." When she heard "wind angel," Ms. Xiaomeng could only think of doctors in manga wearing white coats and carrying strange canes.

As if peeking into Teacher Xiaomeng's wonderful imagination, the surrounding atmosphere began to blur, and a stinging sensation, like a hot wind mixed with sand in a dry desert, assaulted Teacher Xiaomeng's back.

"Just imagine it! It's not about actually summoning angels! It's just something formed from invisible magic that takes shape according to your will as the caster!"

Perhaps because she was facing a critical moment, Index's originally very calm voice became unusually distorted and sharp.

Startled by the change in Index's voice, Teacher Xiaomeng quickly closed her eyes and muttered to herself:

Angels, angels, angels... angels with staffs... angels that heal...

Teacher Xiaomeng desperately tried to recall that blurry angel from her memory. She had seen it in a children's picture book before, a messenger bringing healing light.

Drifting through the room, the sand-like substances seemed to begin to coalesce into a human shape, as if they were being stuffed into a human-shaped balloon.

Teacher Xiaomeng opened her eyes while trembling.

Wait, did she just say she wasn't really going to summon an angel?

Just as Teacher Xiaomeng was filled with doubt, with a whoosh, the humanoid whirlwind exploded. With a whoosh, the humanoid whirlwind exploded, scattering invisible dust throughout the room and causing the pages of the books on the table to rustle.

"Aaaaah!"

"Form fixed, failed." Index surveyed her surroundings with sharp eyes: "However, the blue wind attribute magic has reached the minimum limit of the guardian temple... casting can continue."

She spoke optimistically, but Index's eyes held no hint of a smile. Teacher Xiaomeng couldn't help but feel a pang of fear, a feeling akin to having her parents discover a failed exam she had hidden away.

"Please continue chanting. Only one last line remains."

The distorted, shrill commands didn't even allow the already incapable teacher, Xiaomeng, to fall into confusion. Index, Xiaomeng, and the two toy dolls on the low table began chanting again.

Then, the back of the toy doll representing Index on the low table began to melt.

Like a wax figure being blown by hot air, its surface softened and began to flow. It melted, its surface lost its texture, became smooth, then cooled again and was reshaped. But at the same time, something black and murky seemed to be blown out of the doll's surface and dissipated into the air.

Teacher Xiaomeng felt as if her heart was about to freeze. Now, Index was sitting face to face with Teacher Xiaomeng across a small table. But Teacher Xiaomeng didn't have the courage to go around to Index's back and see what her back looked like now.

Sweat beaded on Index's pale face.

But those glass-bead-like eyeballs remained devoid of any pain or discomfort. "Life energy replenished, death crisis averted. Wound filth expelled, regeneration confirmed. 'Automatic Recording' enters dormancy."

Snapped--!

As if a switch had been flipped, Index's pupils glowed with a soft light, and her gaze became gentle and warm again, returning to the way a young girl should be.

"Next... all we need to do is send away the descending guardians... and destroy the temple..." Index forced a smile, her body swaying weakly.

"That's what magic is like. Just like apples and apples both mean the same thing. Even if you don't have a glass wand, you can use a transparent plastic umbrella instead. And take tarot cards, for example. As long as the design and number of cards are correct, even if they're cut out from a shoujo manga's supplement, you can still use them for divination..."

Index was sweating profusely, and Teacher Xiaomeng began to feel uneasy. Had what she was doing actually worsened Index's injuries?!

"Don't worry," Index said, who could collapse at any moment. "It's like a cold; it takes some time to recover. The injury itself has healed, so it's nothing serious. It's just... the process involved cleaning out the dirt from the wound, so it might look more frightening than before, but it was a necessary step."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Index collapsed to the side. The toy doll also fell over, the small table wobbled slightly, and the adjacent room shook slightly as well.