One spell is enough sometimes.
Summary:
- Fern knows only one offense spell.
- She’s the best user of Zoltraak.
- Fern doesn’t need to learn more battle magic, one spell is enough for her.
There are various spells in Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) that can help a mage achieve basically any result they want. But there’s always a catch, so, of course, they have to learn these spells to use them.
Just One Spell
Fern knows only one offense spell, Zoltraak, and while it might seem that it’s nowhere near enough to protect oneself and win a fight, the girl has proved this wrong several times in the series.
Zoltraak is a simple and offensive spell, it allows the user to shoot blasts of mana, be it one major blast or several small ones. It was originally created by a demon, but mages altered it and started using it as a weapon against demons.
Although Zoltraak is a rather simple spell, Frieren mentions that it’s the only spell that mages need to know to stand their ground. And Fern is the best proof of that.
Fern Is the Best at It
Despite struggling with the spell initially, Fern learned to master it with Frieren’s help. Even though Frieren wasn’t the one to teach the spell to the girl, since she was already practicing it when the two met, fans think Frieren might have shown Fern a modified version of Zoltraak. The one that we see Fern use ever since.
Fern is exceptionally talented at the use of this spell. Her casting speed is the fastest in the series and her reserved nature allows her to hit the target with great precision. She’s truly the best when it comes to Zoltraak, and it seems that Frieren was right: no other spell is needed.
Frieren doesn’t want Fern to become a weapon, that’s why she sees no need in teaching her more magic. She wants Fern to be independent and able to take care of herself in a battle. After realizing how talented and powerful Fern really is, Frieren saw no point in teaching her more offensive spells.
The point is, Fern doesn’t need to be a great warrior, but she has to know how to defend herself from demons and other beings that wish to harm her. And Zoltraak is truly good for that. Especially in the hands of someone as gifted as Fern.
Battle magic shouldn’t be the priority to Fern because there’s so much to life apart from it. We’re sure that if Fern wants to learn more spells one day, she’ll be able to do so and even be very successful at it, but for now Zoltraak is more than enough,