After Makoto accepted their loyalty, he asked what had been on his mind for a while.
"By the way, there's something I want to ask," Makoto said as he looked at the sea creatures. "Aren't your sizes smaller than I expected? I'll set aside the turtles, sea eels, and octopuses, but blue whales, sharks, and dolphins—aren't you all far too small?" Makoto asked in confusion.
"Allow me to explain," replied the eagle perched atop the turtle's shell. "We magical beings possess a unique ability we are born with—we can enlarge or shrink our bodies at will."
After saying that, the eagle flew into the sky. Right before Makoto's eyes, its body grew enormous; just the span of its wings easily reached dozens of meters. After flying around for a short while, the eagle descended, and at the same time its body shrank to the size of a pigeon, landing once more atop the turtle's shell.
"In normal circumstances, we use the body size we find most comfortable. For example, sea turtles ordinarily have bodies with diameters exceeding ten kilometers," said the blue whale as it looked at Makoto. "Or sea eels, which usually measure tens of kilometers in length," the whale continued.
Makoto then looked at the turtle before him, which was only about half a meter in diameter, and the sea eel, which was roughly one meter long.
"Then why are you using such small bodies?" Makoto asked.
"The reason we are using smaller forms is because we felt it would be disrespectful to meet the Ruler of the World with bodies that are too large. Moreover, we did not wish to disturb the sacred tree by damaging this area with our size," replied the turtle.
"Can you also become that large?" Makoto asked as he looked at the bear.
"My apologies, Lord Ruler of the World. We land-dwelling creatures cannot grow as large as sea creatures. If our bodies became too big, it would make movement difficult," the bear answered.
"That's fine. I'm not blaming you—I was just curious," Makoto replied casually.
"Stop calling me 'Lord Ruler of the World.' You can call me Waka, like my other followers," Makoto said.
"We understand, Waka-sama," all the magical beings replied in unison.
"But you could say you arrived at just the right time," Makoto continued, looking at them.
"Excuse me, Waka-sama, may I ask what you intend to do?" the deer asked shyly.
"I want to give the World Tree a name," Makoto replied.
Upon hearing Makoto's words, the World Tree conveyed feelings of joy and at the same time swayed its branches, expressing its happiness. Seeing this, Makoto smiled gently and stepped closer to the World Tree.
"From now on, your name is Erin."
After Makoto spoke, the World Tree—now named Erin—emitted a powerful green light. Even Tomoe, Mio, and the magical beings around the tree could feel Erin's joy at receiving a name from Makoto. Erin, who had originally been only one meter tall, grew rapidly. It did not take long before Erin reached a height of three meters, then stopped growing.
"Thank you for giving me a name, onii-chan," Erin said happily to Makoto.
"You can talk now?!" Makoto asked in shock upon hearing the voice of a young girl.
"That's right. After onii-chan gave me a name, I immediately grew quickly," Erin said confidently.
"I'm glad to see you grow and be able to talk with me," Makoto said with a smile.
"You may already know this, but let me introduce my followers," Makoto said, turning to Tomoe and Mio.
"My name is Tomoe. It's nice to meet you, Erin," Tomoe said cheerfully.
"Good afternoon, Erin-chan. My name is Mio. It's also nice to meet you," Mio said gently.
After that, the magical beings introduced themselves one by one.
"Erin, now that you've grown, have you gained any new abilities?" Makoto asked curiously.
"Sorry, onii-chan. Other than being able to communicate, I don't have any new abilities," Erin replied.
"That's fine—I was just curious," Makoto said reassuringly.
"Tomoe, Mio, do you have any business after this?" Makoto asked.
"I don't have anything this afternoon, Waka," Tomoe replied.
"I'm free as well, Waka-sama. Is there something you need?" Mio asked.
"It's nothing special. I just want you to keep Erin company and talk with her," Makoto said.
"So what will you do after this?" Makoto asked the magical beings.
"We will return to our respective territories, Waka-sama," the tiger answered.
"Alright then. If I need anything, I'll contact you," Makoto said.
The magical beings then bid farewell to Makoto. After watching them leave, Makoto asked Erin, "Erin, why do you call me onii-chan?" Makoto asked, confused.
"Onii-chan is onii-chan," Erin replied proudly.
Makoto found himself at a loss for words.
"Well then, you all keep chatting. I'll go practice controlling my magical energy," Makoto said, walking away from them.
Tomoe and Mio, who were sitting in front of Erin, watched Makoto walk off and continued their conversation about him.
Once Makoto felt he was far enough away, he sat down on the ground. He made sure to use Sakai to block his magical energy from being detected from outside. Then he resumed his earlier experiment of concentrating magical energy in the palm of his hand. This time, unlike before, he did not rush. He tried to feel every change occurring within the magical energy.
Focusing on the energy in his hand, Makoto sensed every flow of magic gathering there. He tried to control the magical energy leaving his body. At first, he found it difficult to control the energy flowing out, but after several attempts, he was able to clearly sense and control it.
He then rested for a moment, pondering a physics theory: if gas can become liquid, liquid can become solid, and solid can become gas. As Makoto's thoughts wandered aimlessly, an idea suddenly struck him. Without hesitation, he immediately tried it.
Makoto closed his eyes and released magical energy from his entire body. The energy was so intense that it distorted the surrounding area. He then imagined his body being enveloped by a membrane that prevented the magical energy from escaping. When he released magic to a certain level, Makoto felt something different—his magical energy, which had felt like a gas, now seemed to have weight and density, like viscous slime coating his body. Makoto then opened his eyes.
When he did, he saw that his body was enveloped in dense magical energy. Makoto tried using the energy outside his body to create a fireball—and succeeded. He then imagined the membrane around his body hardening, took out his dagger, and stabbed it into his own palm.
"Ting!"
A sound like metal striking metal rang out.
Makoto smiled in delight—his experiment had succeeded. From this, he concluded that as long as he had sufficient imagination, control, and magical energy, he could do almost anything.
Before Makoto began his training, Tomoe, Mio, and Erin had been chatting.
"Can I call you onee-chan?" Erin asked.
"I don't mind, Erin. You can call us whatever you like," Tomoe said.
"Yes, Erin-chan. You can call us anything you want," Mio added.
"Alright, Tomoe onee-chan, Mio onee-chan," Erin said happily.
"Tomoe onee-chan, Mio onee-chan, how did you meet onii-chan?" Erin asked curiously.
"When I met Waka, he attacked me while I was sleeping. I remember thinking, 'Who dares attack me while I sleep?'" Tomoe said.
"Then what happened?" Erin asked impatiently.
"Then Waka beat me up thoroughly. The punch he landed on my face hurt terribly," Tomoe said, holding her cheek.
"And then?" Erin pressed.
"After that, I surrendered to Waka and formed a contract with him," Tomoe said proudly.
"How about you, Mio onee-chan?" Erin asked.
"At that time, I couldn't think of anything except the hunger that had been tormenting me for who knows how long. I broke into a sub-dimension and fought Waka-sama. As he launched attack after attack, my consciousness gradually returned. But what left the strongest impression was when Waka-sama put his bleeding hand into my mouth and let me drink his blood. That was the first time I ever felt full," Mio said, holding her cheeks.
"And what happened next?" Erin asked.
While talking with Erin, Tomoe accidentally glanced toward Makoto and her eyes widened.
"Mio, look at what Waka is doing," Tomoe said without taking her eyes off Makoto.
"What is Waka-sama doing?" Mio asked as she turned to look.
When Mio saw Makoto, her body stiffened. "Tomoe-san… is my eyesight deceiving me, or is the area around Waka-sama distorted?" Mio asked in shock.
"If you're seeing it too, then I'm not imagining things," Tomoe replied.
They were speechless as they watched Makoto releasing an enormous amount of magical energy, enough to distort the surrounding space. Even though they could not directly sense the magical energy he was emitting, just seeing the distortion was enough to imagine how vast it was.
Then they saw the magical energy around Makoto as if it were being blocked by something. Soon after, the energy surrounding him transformed into something like a membrane enveloping his entire body. The magical energy that had previously been formless now took shape as a membrane covering him completely.
"Mio… I must be really tired. Somehow I'm seeing Waka materialize magical energy," Tomoe said as she rubbed her eyes.
"You're not mistaken, Tomoe-san. I'm seeing the same thing," Mio replied.
Although Mio was also shocked, she did not dwell on it. As long as she could remain by Makoto's side, whatever he did did not trouble her.