The first step towards the path of explosions

Underneath that hood of hers. The big sister with big breasts twitched slightly

“What…What did you say?”
“I said, please teach me that spell”

I repeated myself to that big sister, who wore an expression that was more troubled than
When I wished to conquer the world, more than
When I asked for a way to grow my chest, and even more than
When I asked her to make me into the demon king.
“That… This spell… I don’t recommend that you learn this spell”

………..

“Fine then, can you at least teach me how to catch some crayfish? I want something for dinner.”

“Don’t…Don’t look at me like that! I can try and teach you that spell, I didn’t want to because I don’t think anything good will come out of it…”

I looked at the big sister panicking in front of me

“What was the spell that you used just now”

“The spell just now? It’s call [Explosion Magic], it’s known as the strongest spell”

Strongest!

“It’s the most powerful magic known to mankind. It doesn’t matter if the opponent is a god or a devil, Explosion magic is the ultimate spell that can damage everything in this world”

Ultimate!

“However, learning it requires an enormous amount of skill points, and you need really high magic affinity to be able to learn it. Even you somehow learned it, the mana required would exceed human limits and… Hey, are you even listening to me?”

“No. Please teach me that spell, I want to use explosion magic”

I grabbed onto the big sister’s robe and started shaking her.

“How did this happen… I just wanted to thank her… but I might have set her down the wrong path instead…”
The big sister said this as she exhaled deeply.


–The Next Day

The big sister said that she will start teaching me explosion magic

“Little girl, are you sure you want to learn this?”

We met at the tomb and then the big sister took me far away from the village.

“Yes, the only thing I want to learn is explosion magic”

The big sister sighed

“Well, it’s just a spell after all. It should take you about 10 years to learn explosion magic, you’ll have given up long before then”
“Never! I will learn it for sure just you watch”

Even though she disapproved of my answer, the big sister nevertheless started slowly chanting the invocation.

“—Okay, that was the explosion magic chant just now. Try and see if you can memorize…”
Before the big sister had finished talking, I flicked my cloak and —

“I, Megumin, hereby declares! In the name of the true crimson god of destruction, I will return all creation to cinders!”
“… What kind of chant was that!? What is this true god of destruction, I didn’t say any of that!”

Just like that.
From that day onward, I learned magic from big sister whose name I didn’t know—

“—Hey little sister, I feel that you shouldn’t be improvising when performing the chant. While your version does sounds cool, I don’t think you can channel explosion magic with it”

“I want to add these words because I am a crimson demon”
 Asking me to not add my own impromptu phrases.

“—Little sister, don’t POSE while you channel magic! It’ll interrupt the flow of magic and make strange things happen!”
“The shoemaker’s son told me that victory without striking a POSE is unacceptable for crimson demons”
“That person is crazy, don’t listen to him. Please don’t end up crazy like him”
Correcting my posture while channeling magic

“—Look, this is the advanced magic spell <Inferno>! This powerful spell summons a large blaze and incinerates the enemy. How about it? Want to learn this instead?”
“No. Hurry up and use explosion magic! I want to see today’s explosion!”
“Little sister, explosion magic is not firework you know. Even if you learned it you can’t just fire away whenever you want.”
“I refuse”

Facing my stubborn self, the big sister was frequently left on the verge of tears.


“—Little sister, when combined, teleportation magic and advanced magic can safely deal with most enemies”

“Explosion!”

“If you use the spell <Light of Saber>, anything can be cut apart if you are skilled enough…”

“Explosion!”

“Okay, instead of explosion magic, how about learning blast magic or detonation magic? They’re strong spells in the own right…”

“Explosion!”

“I’m begging you, Listen to me!”

As I was practicing my cool chant, the big sister finally snapped and burst into tears.

—Afterwards.

“I don’t want to learn anything expect explosion magic! I don’t care how many years it takes. Even if I have to practice until I become an old lady, I will not give up until I learn explosion magic.”

“Hmm, what is it exactly about explosion magic that made you so obsessed with it?”
I ignored big sister’s question and handed her a piece of paper.

“Please use this chant for your explosion magic today”

“… You changed it again? The invocation for a spell isn’t meant to increase its power but to control it. To change it so carelessly is… sigh…”
Big sister deeply sighed when she read what I wrote, but she relented and used my chant for her explosion.

<Explosion!>

Amongst the rubble that dotted this wilderness, a crater appeared.

“What is this? How did it increase the strength of the spell!?
Big sister panicked when she saw an inexplicable increase in the power of her spell

“Of course a cool chant will increase the power of magic”
“Magic isn’t something so simple as that! … I understand now that little sister is very gifted. But… but please don’t be so careless with modifying spells okay?!”

“No way”
Once again I made big sister appear on the verge of tears
Big sister was clearly a beautiful woman, but for some reason she was always sad and tearful.


“—Then, before the actual training starts, there’s something I wanted to show you. But it’s really big and scary, and you’re a child after all, so I can’t force you to come along. What should I do?”

“No problem, I won’t be afraid because my mom is also really scary”
Big sister actually laughed for once

“The thing I wanted you to see, is many times scarier than your mother you know”

“Really?! When my dad went out to borrow money for his strange inventions, my mom froze his body from the head down and threw him out into the forest. It’s scarier than that!?”
“…Oh right, your mother should also be a crimson demon. Then never mind, it’s about as scary as your mother”

Something that is as scary as mom…

“Are we going to see the demon king or an evil god?”
“How scary is your mother really? … Just now your eyes were glowing, are you perhaps interested in the demon king or evil gods?”

I nodded towards the big sister who smile mischievously as if she was about to pull a prank
“After I defeat the demon king, I will take on his name and become the new demon king!”

“You can’t do that! The demon king is the king of demonkind, not a hat you can just put on!”

“…Although, demon king aside, you might have already encountered an evil god unknowingly”
She let out a strange smile as she said this.

“That’s impossible, if an evil god got anywhere near the village, the villagers would captured it and seal it away, and then turn it into a tourist attraction”
“I think the crimson demons should stop treating divine beings as toys!”


–Deep inside the forest on the village outskirts

This place is usually sealed off as it contains numerous strong monsters.
Big sister took me here to…

“Little sister, I think we should go back! Please listen to me, I was wrong!”
“One strike bear’s liver and stomach are worth a lot of money! I don’t know why it’s so afraid of us but this is a wonderful opportunity! If we catch it, we can eat it for dinner!”

Chase this pack of strangely cowardly one strike bear that looks like they’re running for their life.

“W-wait, I only brought you here because I wanted to teach you that advanced magic is much better for dealing with dangerous monsters! I didn’t come here to hunt one strike bears!”

“No problem, I feel like I won’t lose to anyone right now. In the heat of the moment I will awaken my latent power as the god of destruction and smite my enemies”

“How are the Crimson demons so… even someone this young can be so…”

Big sister let loose her spell after an exasperated sigh

<Freeze Gust>

White powder burst from big sister’s hands and the one strike bears became motionless as it spread amongst them.

“I feel like this can be made into a new landmark if we bring it back to village”
“No way am I letting you do that! Like I said there are better magic out there you know?!”

Looking at the petrified pack, big sister let out a rare smile
“What I used just now was the intermediate magic <Freeze Gust>. See? With enough magic reserve even intermediate magic can be a powerful weapon. This requires much less magical energy than explosion magic. If you use advanced magic and intermediate magic strategically, you can one day become the best or the second best… little sister, what are you doing!?”

She hurriedly moved in front of me and stopped me from approaching the one strike bears.

“It’s rare to come across defenseless monsters of this size, so I want to finished them off and gain a lot of experience. Some people from the village make money from this, freezing monsters and selling them off, some even raise monsters just for that”

“What in the world! D-do the crimson demons have any decency at all?!”


—These happy days continued for quite a while.

But in time, it looked like big sister finally started to get restless.

“Little sister, can I ask you something?”
“What is it? If you wanted to know where the crayfish nest is I’m not telling”
“Don’t worry I don’t need to know that. …hmm, crimson demons have their adventurer cards made when they’re born right? Then can your sister take a look at your card?”

Hearing this, I tried to hide the card that was originally in my robe pocket.

Big sister once again sighed

“I knew it. Explosion magic already appeared in your learn-able skills hasn’t it?”
“No, I am a bad student, so I need a lot more time to learn something like that”

Big sister raised her hand towards me.

<Paralyze>

After she chanted some strange spell, I found that I couldn’t move at all.

“What is this, you want to have your way with me while I can’t move? I will call for help when I get back to the village! When I get back I will call everyone and tell them that a big sister with big breasts and yellow eyes kidnapped me. S-stop! Stop!”
“I just wanted to confirm your adventurer card! Please don’t tell people about me!”

As much as I wanted to resist, I couldn’t move a muscle and my card was easily taken from me.
Big sister removed her spell once she took my card, and started reading it in a low voice

“Explosion magic is under learn-able skills alright... What? The other skills that I showed you are here as well!? How can you call yourself a bad student if you learned everything just by seeing it once!?”

Seeing that I crossed my arms and turned away, the big sister wore a complicated expression on her face

“Little sister, I have a great of thing I must do and a many places I must visit. Now that I have taught you explosion magic, it’s about time that we part ways”
“I don’t wanna! If big sister leaves then I won’t see explosion magic anymore!”

With a bitter smile, she bent down to my eye level
“Didn’t you say you will learn explosion magic for sure? Then of course you’ll see it again one day”


“Let us part here then. I feel like there will be danger if we get any closer to the village. Even though I didn’t approve at first, but this is your life and it’s up to you to make your own choices.”

Even though our time together was quite short, but every day I spent with big sister was fun and exciting
I had food to eat, I could see big monsters up close, and I learned many types of magic.

Then…

“Okay, time to say goodbye. If little sister ever learns explosion magic one day, then I want to see it”
“Yes, if that day comes please don’t forget about me”
“That… I don’t think I could forget even if I wanted to, with your unusual name, all the things you did and your aptitude for magic. I even feel a bit nervous when I look at you now”

“Then I promise you, that I’ll show you my explosion magic one day, so…”

As if she knew what I was about to say, big sister had a wry smile on her face

“Could I please see big sister’s explosion magic one last time”


One day, I’ll show you my amazing explosion magic for sure—