Reborn As An Evolving Monster

"What do you want to know?"

[Everything you can tell me.]

Elisa laughed out loud.

She found the question so ridiculous there was no way she wouldn't.

"Hahaha! That tells me way more about you than you might think! Ahh..." Elisa wiped a hanging tear. "I really needed the laugh."

The Monster seemed confused.

"If you want me to tell you about Wind Magic, seems I would have to tell you about Magic in general."

[Then do that.]

"BFFFWAHAHAHAH! Seriously? What am I, talking to a newborn?"

Sigh-

[Explain the same way you would to a newborn.]

Sensing the Monster's growing annoyance, Elisa took a couple of deep breaths to calm the laughter.

"Okay. Um... Let's start with this. What is Magic to you?"

[The use of Mana.]

"And what's Mana to you?"

[An energy that I can use.]

"That you can use to do what?"

[To use Magic Skills.]

Elisa did her best not to chuckle.

"Okay. Alright. Um... So if I get this right... You have no understanding of Magic, correct?"

Mark knew she would laugh at his answer, so he thought of a different one.

[Did you expect a Monster to have some kind of profound understanding of it?]

Elisa moved her head from side to side repeatedly, a large smile on her face.

"It's not about being a Monster or not. Understand Magic isn't a prerequisite to using it anyways... Which is obvious, since you're able to use Magic."

She brought a hand to her chin, and thought silently for a bit.

'Usually, one must understand the Wind to be able to wield it. Truly understand it. The kind of understanding that cannot be taught... That's why most can wield one Magic Type, if that. Rarely can a being use three or more Magic Types...'

[Still waiting.]

Elisa wanted to think a bit more, but she decided to leave that for later.

Giving a short and concise answer to the Monster seemed like the thing to do right now.

"What is Wind Magic to you?"

[The ability to manipulate wind.]

"That's it?"

[Yes.]

Elisa stayed silent for a bit, and her silence made Mark he was mistaken.

"Mmm... Well, you're not wrong. But we would need to go deeper. Um... Why do you want to learn Wind Magic?"

'Learn?' Mark was surprised by the word.

[If I can use Wind Manipulation, I would be able to counter the Guardian's wind.]

"That's it?"

Mark didn't answer.

"You'll need more than that. Huh... Okay. Tell me, what's is wind to you?"

[What it is?]

"Mmm... More like... What does it feel like? Think about everything you know about Wind. Every impact the wind has ever had on your surroundings. How does Wind feel to you?"

[How it feels?]

Nod-

Mark found the questions strange, and intriguing.

"Take your time to think about it." Elisa walked towards a nearby tree and took a seat below it.

[Is it that important?]

She didn't hide how ridiculously amusing she found the question.

"How can you expect something to listen to you when you don't understand it?"

Mark was left perplexed.

He went back to the spot he was seated on earlier.

'Wind... The air moving? How does it feel...? Cold, and sometimes hot. Strong, and sometimes weak. Pleasant, and sometimes annoying. The wind...'

Mark moved his hand, feeling the air in front of him.

Elisa chuckled silently. She had already seen, more or less, the exact same scene. But trying to remember made the Corruption act up, so she did her best to think about something else.

'The wind. The air. It's... Light...?' Mark found his thoughts too embarrassing to share.

He stared at the hundreds and hundreds of trees that made up the forest in front of him.

'It's hard to stop, or contain. The wind finds a way to go everywhere. If strong enough, it can turn into a storm. If strong enough, it can... Move anything? Is this the type of thing I'm supposed to think about? How can I expect it to listen if I don't understand it...? What is there to even understand? It's the wind. It does what it wants. It can't be controlled. It just comes and goes- '

A cold breeze passed by.

'It does what it wants...'

Mark's eyes widened.

A cold and gentle breeze had passed through hundreds and hundreds of trees before passing by him.

None of those trees, even though they stood in its way, could stop the breeze.

Despite its lack of strength or speed.

'Huh...'

"What do you think?" Elisa asked.

[Light and free.]

She chuckled.

"That's the most basic answer. Got anything else? Something with more... Personality?"

Uncontrollable and unpredictable.

Can be gentle or merciless, depending on...

It can make its presence known, or not.

Even when it can't be felt, the wind is still there.

Just now, the breeze had passed through the whole forest.

Inconspicuously.

You don't realize it's there until it passes by or surrounds you.

It had danced through numerous trees, freely and gracefully. It had stealthily passed by them, without damaging them.

It hadn't damaged them, but it could've.

The only reason the trees were still standing, was because the wind hadn't decided to bend them to its will.

Not yet anyway.

[The Wind is a lot like you.]

Elisa was taken aback by the answer. And she didn't hide it.

[Or rather, you're a lot like the Wind?]

"I didn't expect a Monster to come up with such compliments."

[Compliment?]

[How?]

For a bit, Elisa silently fiddled with a rebellious lock of hair that the Wind had, playfully, covered her left eye with.

"When you want to use a Magic Type, in a way, you try to... Emulate? That Magic Type. Once you become the same as that Magic Type... Once you truly understand the Wind, the Wind will, in return, understand you."

Mark didn't really get it. He stayed silent.

"Once you become one with the Wind, you'll be able to truly wield it."