.
.
"So you woke up, created a portal and just… passed through?"
"Well, yeah."
"How!?"
Quinn groaned, letting her head hit the table with a resounding 'THUNK'. When she had spilled the beans to Helena and the other girls, she hadn't expected them to make such a big fuss about it. She had, however, forgotten about a tiny detail when she told them about how she had simply left the headquarters in the middle of the night: the barrier.
::
"You have to be back to the headquarters before night falls, however. Otherwise, the gates will be closed and the barrier erected to protect us from nightly assaults will stop you from entering, and it will not be taken down until the first lights of tomorrow morning."
::
She hadn't really paid the warning much mind at the time, since she wasn't exactly concerned by it. Bypassing magical barriers? Please, she had done it when she was barely starting to get a grasp of her powers. How else could she have possibly managed to illegally enter Clover, if not by breaking through the magical barrier erected around Kiten? But of course, her red-cladded companions didn't know that, and they had been hounding her about it for the past half-hour.
"Look, I'm a Mana Manipulator, okay?" she huffed, rubbing her temples. "Magical barriers are made of what? Mana. That means I can manipulate those too. I'm not saying it's easy, but it certainly isn't impossible. Now will you drop it? Please?"
"That still doesn't explain how you knew there was trouble in the Capital," pointed out Daphne.
"Magic mirror used as a communication device. Happy?" It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. Shaking her head, she then got up. "I've got some more matters to handle. Is there a mission I should know about?"
The other women exchanged glances when noticing the rather abrupt change of subject, but decided not to press it.
"Something might come up if it's an emergency, but I doubt you'll have another mission for a while," then admitted Helena.
"What? Why?" Quinn paled a bit. "Is it because I acted out in the last mission? Did I do something wrong!?"
"W- what? No, I didn't mean it like that," instantly assured the bespectacled woman. She pushed her glasses up a bit. "I meant that I think the Captain is planning something, hence why you're still here while the other two rookies are currently away on their first mission."
"I see… Well, in that case, I'm going back to the Capital," announced the purple-haired girl. "I should be done with my business in about two hours, at most. I'll come back then and see if you guys need me for anything."
"Just don't do anything stupid!" warned Debra.
Quinn offered her a cheeky grin as she stepped through her portal. "I'm not you, Debra. I know not to use Fire Magic to light up an oven when there's food inside already."
"Why you—"
But the girl was already gone, her laughter filling the air as her portal closed behind her. There was a moment of silence, before a scratching sound drew their attention to Astel, who soon showed them her new drawing: it was Quinn, running back and forth at high speed, with some flames elegantly sprouting out of her rear.
"You're right, she really can't stay still, uh?" snorted Debra, falling back on the couch. "Ugh, I don't know how she can have so much energy after staying up the whole night like that."
"She probably doesn't and is simply running on fumes," sighed Daphne. "We'll have to keep an eye on her, else she'll probably end up collapsing from over-exhaustion."
"She better not, or I'll tie her to her bed myself," grunted Helena.
The others simply chuckled a tad nervously, knowing full well that she could and would go through with that threat, if needed.
.
.
After having spoken with Jemima and Alani, who had recuperated fairly well from their rough night, it was decided that they would temporarily move to Kiba, at least until Count Ido was shoved into court. So, with the help of many of the men of the village, she went back to Kikka and quickly emptied whatever was left of the house and the shop. Everything salvageable they could find, they brought back and, in a little under two hours, the seamstress and her sister were placed into one of the new houses, where they immediately started settling in.
I've still got a lot to do, but I don't have much time left…
She reappeared inside the headquarters, and quickly went to her Captain's office. She knocked and, once he invited her in, she wasted no time in getting to the heart of the situation.
"Fuego-danchou, is there anything you might need me for?" she asked seriously. "Any matter that would require my direct involvement? Any mission?"
"You're on standby for a few days," answered simply the fiery man, unperturbed. "Why?"
"There was some trouble with Count Ido, the man who was arrested a few days ago," she explained, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to go into the details either. "My presence is required in Kikka so we can properly handle it."
"How so?"
"Julius-san asked—I'm sorry. The Wizard King asked me to put the women who were rescued under witness protection, of a sort." Which was… kind of true. "I have to relocate them and their families, so it'll probably take a day or two, at the most."
If the Captain noticed the familiarity with which she addressed the Wizard King, he didn't question it. Instead, he simply nodded, giving her free rein on the situation. After all, if the Wizard King himself had asked her, he certainly wasn't in any position to refuse.
::
"Yo, Julius-san!"
"Oh, Quinn! What are you—"
"One of the women I saved from Count Ido was attacked last night, I relocated her and her sister in Kiba for the time being. I don't think it's safe for the other two main witnesses to stay in the city right now, so do you mind letting me handle the situation?"
"Well, I have no issue with it. Do what you need to do! In the meantime, I'll personally look into this new development."
"Thanks! Later!"
::
Okay, so he didn't exactly ask me, sweatdropped internally Quinn as she left the Captain's office. But! The point is, he agreed to let me handle the situation, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
Considering what had happened to Jemima and Alani, who was to say the same thing wouldn't happen to the others she had rescued? The women who were directly rescued after Count Ido's arrest shouldn't be targeted, but those Quinn had personally gotten out surely wouldn't be let off the hook so easily, since they were the ones who had helped in his arrest in the first place. Winry, Jemima, and their respective families were now safe, but that left two others: Ariella and Cindy.
Quinn met up with the family of bakers first. They startled a bit when seeing her show up on their doorstep, and started stressing over how they hadn't finished with her order yet, and she honestly wished it could have been the only reason why she dropped by. Unfortunately, it wasn't, and so she sat them down and gave them a thorough explanation, along with her honest thoughts on the matter:
"I think you should leave Kikka," she stated bluntly.
"L- leave?" echoed Malta, paling a bit. "But- but it's so sudden! Where would we even go? We don't have any family outside the castle town…"
"In Kiba," suggested the purple-haired girl. "It's very far from here, and the Count would never even think of looking for you there. The village is quite small, and is still under some serious reconstruction, but it's already better than it was not even a week ago. Everyone has a roof over their heads and food on their tables, and they help each other out."
"Kiba?" echoed Martin, a bit confused. "Ain't that the village that went missing all those years ago 'cause of a curse of a sort?"
"The curse has been taken care of, and the inhabitants of Kiba have decided to rebuild in the forest. It's already well on its way to becoming a beautiful village," assured soothingly Quinn. "I understand that it is a lot to ask of you, but it would only be temporary—you know, until your official testimonies are required for Count Ido's trial. Once that's done with, you'll be able to settle back in Kikka again."
"We're talking of what, a few months? It sure is gonna hit the business," sighed Martin, rubbing his forehead. His eyes then softened. "But… I don't want my Cindy to be brought into this mess again. Her and Malta are my life—I'll do anything to keep them safe."
"Oh, honey…"
The sweet words had apparently the intended effect, for his wife quickly gave in after that, while Cindy simply rolled her eyes a bit at the lovey-dovey display. After what, it was agreed that Quinn would come and help them move out the next morning.
The young Lion was a little worried things wouldn't go as well with Ariella and her family. After all, they owned a rather prosperous inn, and they made good money thanks to all of the Knights who usually dropped by after a long shift. However, almost as soon as she walked inside, she was greeted by a little redhead tornado.
"Queen-nee!"
She almost fell over at the suddenly added weight, but managed to stay on her feet. Then, she offered a small grin at the little girl now occupying her arms.
"Hey there, Meredy. How are you?"
"I'm great! I'm so happy to see you! Mom and dad said you'd be dropping by soon so we needed to get ready to leave, and—"
"Wait, what?" Quinn put her down, confused. "What do you mean?"
"We heard about Jemima," announced Ariella, coming down the stairs. She was carrying… a sealed box? "Everyone is talking about the fire, but even more so about the young Magic Knight bearing the red of the Lions who miraculously showed up and saved the day. I came to check earlier and saw you and some other people moving out their stuff, so I simply guessed you decided to take them to the same place you took Winry and her family." The red-haired woman put down her box atop another, and Quinn finally noticed all of the boxes piling up in a corner of the now empty room. "I want in."
"You mean… you want to leave?" echoed dumbly the girl.
"Wherever you took them is safer than here," replied firmly Ariella. "I was starting to worry about staying in Kikka after what happened with the Count but, now that I've seen to what lengths he is ready to go in order to protect his dumb name, I'm through. I'm through with him, I'm through with Kikka, I am done. So—" She jabbed her thumb at the boxes. "—moving out. Where are you taking us?"
Quinn blinked a few times again, honestly unsure of how to react to that. She had expected an argument, maybe some cursing, but it would seem she had greatly underestimated the woman's intelligence, and her determination to protect her family, too.
"W- well, I was planning on asking you to move out, yes, so I guess that makes it easier," she finally managed to say, shaking her head. "We're going to Kiba. It's a little shabby right now but, in a few weeks, it'll definitely look as good as new. So… you're ready to leave now, or should I come back later…?"
"Nan, we're about done," assured the innkeeper. "Eric! How far are you with the barrels?"
"Almost done!" exclaimed her husband from somewhere upstairs.
"I don't think there's any proper place where you can put away the alcohol right now," admitted Quinn, rubbing the back of her head. "You'll surely be able to have one built by the end of the month, though. When that's ready, I'll drop by to help you move them out of here."
"Good idea, though we've got to finish sealing them shut first," nodded Ariella. "In the meantime, though, how about we get started? I don't know about you, but the earlier we're out of here, the better I'll feel."
"Right, right. We'll, let's get to it!"
By the end of the day, Ariella, Eric, and Meredy had also moved to Kiba, claiming the old, half-destroyed inn as their turf. They were hard at work and weren't afraid to take up the challenge of rebuilding most of it, which pleased Quinn to no end. She had a feeling that, in at most two weeks, there'd be an inn up and running again in Kiba.
The next morning, Cindy and her family also moved, having spent most of the night packing up. To say the villagers of Kiba were happy when the bakers offered everyone freshly baked loaves of bread would be an understatement. They had more than enough necessities to make bread for a while, too, and Quinn would be more than happy to help them order some more in the city once the need arose.
"I'll probably be going away for a bit in a day or two," announced Quinn, looking over the handmade map laid over the table. "I don't know for how long I'll be gone, so I'd like to handle as many things as I can in the time I have left. Other than more food, do you need anything else?"
"We talked of starting to grow our own food again," informed Chenoa. "But of course, doing so in the middle of the forest would be difficult. We thought of bringing down some trees in order to make some space… but the trees ended up growing back the next day."
"That's… pretty cool. Freaky, but pretty cool." Shaking her head, Quinn reported her attention on the map. While not the prettiest, it was accurate enough. "Actually, it might even be helpful if you want to grow some stuff. If things grow faster here, you'll probably be able to harvest a lot more than what you usually would in natural soil. Talking of soil, though…" She used some ink to mark a certain location with an X. "I suggest you try there."
"Next to the lake?" blinked Chenoa, uncertain.
"The soil is bound to be more than fertile, considering how close it was to the Seed of Life, through which the Yume Forest has apparently been accumulating mana for a pretty long while. Adding to that a proper canalization system, you'll surely be able to establish a rather large field where you could grow the basic necessities: potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, etc." She wrote it down on another parchment. "I'll bring a few crates of different seeds so you can get started on that and test out different locations around the lake. I take it Elric-san has made good progress with the tools?"
"He and his family are very efficient," nodded the old woman. "Did you know Alphonse-kun is also an architect? And Edward-kun a carpenter? They've been here for barely a few days, but they've already helped out greatly with building up houses and repairing old furniture."
Quinn wrote something down again. "I'll bring more material. The last thing we want is for them to run out of metal. Say, do you have an idea of some animals that might be able to live here?"
"You mean like cattle?"
"You could get meat and other stuff from them, like milk, leather, and fur," shrugged the girl.
"Well, I guess some chickens and sheep could be a good idea. It'd certainly put some more food in our plates, and we could use the feathers and the wool, too…" mused Chenoa, obviously pleased by the idea, but she quickly deflated. "I'm afraid we don't have the space nor the necessary furniture for actual cattle, though."
"Well, we'll work on that soon enough," simply nodded Quinn, biting her lower lip. "And since the trees keep on growing back, you've basically got an unlimited supply of wood… You know what? I'll also find a mana-evaluating device. I'm rather curious to find out just how much mana actually resides in Yume… Say, do you need more medicine?"
"Well, maybe some bandages," relented Chenoa. Medicine was a rather touchy subject, since it was so expensive. "Some ointment for the pain, at most."
"I'll see what I can do," simply nodded the Knight. She then glanced at the parchment on which she was writing. "I'll bring a bunch of paper, too. And ink. Now, I feel a little bad, but let me ask a rather indiscreet question: do you know how to write and count?"
Chenoa simply smiled a little. "I do know how to count, but I'm afraid writing isn't a skill I've been taught."
"I see… In that case, I'll ask Ariella to take charge of the accounts while I'm gone," she announced, gathering a few documents. "I hope you don't have any issue with it?"
"Of course not, child. As long as it can help Kiba, I'll be more than happy to stand on the sidelines," chuckled the old woman.
"Well, it's not so much as staying on the sidelines, more like supervising from above. You are the village's leader, after all," shrugged the teen. "In the end, you always have the final word. On that note, though, I should get going: there's still so much to do, and so little time!"
Chenoa simply laughed again at the girl's rather dramatic exit.
"You want me to what?"
"Write down everything," repeated Quinn, gesturing around them. "How many houses are required, how much each house should cost when being built, along with every necessary item a single person might need to live a comfortable life, from clothes to tableware—anything that comes to mind, along with the average price from Kikka. While we have a lot of money still, I don't want to waste any either. Since you're used to keeping the counts for your inn, I assumed you'd be perfect for the job." She then offered the woman a sheepish grin. "Unless, of course, you don't want to. I can always try and find someone else if you don't feel like it."
"It's not that I don't want to do it," assured Ariella, offering the girl a small smile. "I was simply surprised you thought so far. Doing this will definitely help in the long run, so sure, I'll do it."
"Thank you so much!" Quinn let out, relieved. "To be honest, I had no idea what I'd do if you didn't accept."
At that, Ariella simply grinned. "I know. You don't have that great of a poker face, kid."
Quinn ended up having to go through about five random villages before finally finding someone willing to sell her a dozen of chickens and exactly seven sheep. It wasn't much, especially when compared to the number of people living in Kiba, but it was a start. She also bought a few bags of grains, since she had no idea of how they'd possibly keep the chickens alive otherwise since they still had no idea of which plants in the forest were comestible—something on which they'd have to get started on at some point but, right now, they had to focus on building back Kiba.
The teen then returned to Kikka, where she bought many different seeds (even of fruits and vegetables she had never heard of) so Chenoa and the others could find out through a trial-and-error method which seeds could grow in the forest's soil and which couldn't. Adding to that more actual food, more flour, sugar, salt, and other spices for the bakers, more ore and other stuff for the blacksmiths, more materials for the seamstress, a pack of paper and ink, and finally a full box of medicinal herbs, well… Yeah, needless to say it was a pretty expensive shopping trip. Though, even if it all amounted to a rather incredible price that Quinn would never dare to say out loud, it barely made a dent into the money they had left, so she wasn't all that worried.
And, while she was at it… well, she brought over some toys, too. Like, dolls and balls and other such things that would keep the children entertained. There were almost thirty of them now, children ranging from three to thirteen years old, and while it was important to rebuild Kiba as quickly as possible, she also wanted them to fully enjoy the childhood that had been stolen from them for full decades.
I'll need to see about giving them an actual education, too, she thought. If they ever want to reintegrate the modern society, it'll be easier to do so knowing how to read, write, and count.
But that was an issue she'd resolve later. For now, she needed to focus on the present of Kiba's inhabitants, and not their future. Otherwise, they'd never get anywhere. Tackling too many problems at the same time would only worsen them in the long run, and she didn't want to rush such a delicate situation. Building a fully functioning village in such an isolated part of the kingdom wouldn't be easy, but Quinn knew they'd manage, as long as they took things slowly.
Though, at the rhythm they're going, I doubt it'll take more than half-a-year…
Once she had dropped off all of the supplies that had been requested of her, Quinn bid her goodbyes to the people of Kiba and its new residents. After promising to keep them updated as much as possible about the situation with Count Ido, and also promising not to push herself too hard since Ariella insisted, she returned to the Lions' headquarters.
As soon as she stepped out of her portal and onto the training field, though, a giant rock twice her size almost smashed her face in. Not thinking straight, she gathered mana around her head and took the rock quite literally head-on. There was a moment of stillness, before it crumbled to the ground, and she started coughing as she accidentally inhaled dust following the impact.
"Q- Quinn! Are you alright!?"
"Uh?" Coughing some more, she then noticed about thirty or so red-cladded Knights lying all around. They had apparently been beaten black and blue, and Leopold was no exception. "What's—cough, cough—what's going on?"
The orange-haired boy winced when trying to pull himself up, before giving up and laying back down, smearing some more dirt over his face.
"She- she's back…" he simply groaned.
"What? Who?"
"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT!? I'VE BEEN GONE FOR MONTHS AND NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU CAN STAND FOR MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS AGAINST ME!?"
The yelling was loud, and feminine, and coming from further away. Blinking a few times, Quinn finally noticed the large and unbridled mana lashing out in the middle of the field, taking down the last of the Lions. The Fire Magic that was being used was one of the most powerful Quinn had ever seen, and probably one of the most dangerous, too—it was wild and unchained, almost as if someone had let out some sort of fiery beast and was letting it run free, barely keeping a hold on its leash. However, no matter how uncontrolled it looked, Quinn knew better: whoever was behind that intimidating mana was—
"OI, YOU!" Quinn startled, quickly looking around, before pointing at herself. "YES, YOU!"
"W- what is it…?"
At once, the fire died down, dispersed in a matter of seconds and finally revealing the author of this massacre: it was a tall woman with a wild orange mane and sharp-looking eyes. She looked a lot like Fuegoleon and Leo, though, and the red cape bearing the Crimson Lion Kings Squad's emblem was tightly attached around her shoulders.
"That rock!" The woman abruptly pointed at the rubbles before Quinn. "It was twice your size, yet you managed to destroy it in the span of a second! How?"
"I- I—"
"SPEAK UP, GIRL!"
"Y- yes ma'am! I head-butted it, ma'am!"
…
…
…
"You what now?"
Quinn gulped a bit. "I- I head-butted it, ma'am. It was coming too fast, I reacted instinctively."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Yet you don't even have a scratch."
"I used mana to coat my skin and enhance my strength," explained Quinn, growing less nervous now that she knew whom she was dealing with. "I'm a mana manipulator, ma'am. That's just basic stuff for me."
"Is it, now?" Suddenly, mana started gathering in large quantities in the fury's clenched fist, and a wild grin spread on her lips. "Then let's see you stop this one!"
She pounced like a lioness on her prey, her fist so heavily coated in mana Quinn truly thought it could destroy a mountain if it made contact with one. However, if there was one thing she never did, it was backing down from a challenge: avoiding it was simply out of the question. So, bracing herself for the incoming impact, she bent her knees and gathered all of the mana she could manage to grasp in her forearms, before placing them before her in a defensive position.
Barely a moment later, the woman's fist connected with her forearms, the strength of the impact making a cloud of dust literally explode around them.
"Oh God!"
"She went all out!"
"Damn, Quinn must have been sent flying…"
"Quick, we have to—"
"Wait! Look!"
At Leo's startled exclamation, the other members calmed down and looked back. As the dust started settling back on the firm ground, it revealed the orange-haired lioness and the purple-haired cub, both of whom were still very much standing. Looking closer, they all noticed how Quinn's feet had broken through the ground, hence why she hadn't been sent flying.
"… you literally planted your feet in the ground so you wouldn't fall."
"Aa."
"You could have broken both of your ankles doing that."
"I used mana to enhance my legs, too."
"And… you hit me."
"You never said I couldn't."
It's only then that their fellow lions noticed that one of Quinn's arm was no longer brought up in a defensive position. Her right arm was still protecting part of her body, and had been the one to receive the brunt force of the attack. The woman's fist was still pressing against it, though it was no longer enhanced by mana. Quinn's left arm, though, was actually lowered… and digging directly into her opponent's stomach. Neither of them was moving but, then, some blood trailed down the fury's lips… which twisted in a smirk.
"… Eh." Her smirk turned into a feral grin, and she locked eyes with the girl. "Not bad, cub."
She stepped back first. As soon as she did, though, Quinn collapsed to her knees, rubbing her right arm.
"Ooh, stars, that hurt like a bitch!" she groaned, still feeling the hit echoing in her bones. "You almost broke my arm, you crazy lady!"
"Who're you calling crazy, brat!? You're the one who decided not to move!"
"You're the one who told me to take the hit! And then you attacked me out of nowhere! I don't even know who the hell you are!" protested Quinn, no longer minding her tongue. She may not have broken anything, but it still hurt. "What the hell was that for, seriously!?"
The woman blinked a few times, apparently not having expected the outburst. Then, without warning, she threw her head back and laughed.
"You're great, girl! You've got spirit, and more balls than those idiots over there," she stated, jabbing her thumb at the defeated Knights. "What's your name?"
The teen straightened up a bit at that. "Quinn, ma'am."
"Well, Quinn, congratulations! You convinced me." Grinning from ear to ear, she placed her hands on her hips. "I am Mereoleona Vermillion, but you can call me Master!"
"… I'm sorry, but what?"
Turned out that the mission Fuegoleon blackmailed Yami into taking was none other than a retrieval mission in which he had to track down the Captain's sister and have her come back to the Lions' headquarters as soon as possible. Why? Because none other than the Wizard King suggested she take Quinn on as her official apprentice. The girl had no idea why he thought it'd be a good idea, but she couldn't deny the strength of the fiery woman or the usefulness of actual, rigorous training.
::
"So? Why did you ask me to come back? I wasn't done with my training," remarked Mereoleona, a tad annoyed. "What was so urgent?"
"One of our new recruits," answered simply Fuegoleon, leaning back in his seat. "She's talented, but her skills are unique. I believe you're the only person who'll be able to help her grow even stronger—a thought shared by the Wizard King. He's the one who suggested you take her as your apprentice."
"My apprentice? If this is a joke, it's not funny," she deadpanned.
"You know me better than that. I wouldn't have summoned you here for no reason."
She considered it for a moment, before scoffing. "I don't want to waste my time with a rookie. I won't bother with a dead weight, you hear me? If she can't keep up with my training, then your precious rookie is as good as dead."
At that, though, her brother smirked a bit. "I think you'll find her to your liking."
"Ah! I'll be the judge of that. If she can't convince me she's worth my time, then I won't bother and I'll grind her to dust," warned the woman, grinning challengingly. "Where is she?"
"Out for now, she should be back in an hour at most."
"Well, in that case, I'm gonna check up on your Knights."
"Why?"
"Can't have them smearing the name of the Lions in the mud, can we? They need to get in shape!"
::
And that was basically why Quinn stepped quite literally into the midst of an absolute one-sided beat-down. However, the more she thought on it, and the more a single detail became evident—
"Why are you staring at me like that?" asked Mereoleona, lifting an eyebrow.
Stars started dancing in Quinn's eyes. "You're so cool, Mereo-sama! You're super strong and really good at mana control and you completely kicked everyone's asses!" The girl inhaled sharply, before bowing. "I know that's why you came here, but let me ask properly: please, train me and help me grow stronger!"
Mereoleona blinked a few times, before laughing again, roughly slapping her back. "Sure thing, cub! Try not to die on me, though, will you?"
"Yes, Mereo-sama!" she saluted, grinning broadly.
"Alright, then, first thing first, let's find that spatial mage of ours," muttered the lioness, who started roaming the halls. "Any idea where we can find him?"
"You mean Warrick-san?" asked Quinn, a tad surprised, though she quickly fell in step with her. "Well, I'm guessing he was amongst the poor guys you beat down earlier… He's probably at the infirmary with everyone else."
"Ah, right… Well, let's go!"
"Aa!"
Quinn had no idea why Mereoleona possibly needed the spatial mage, but she honestly couldn't wait to see what she had in mind.
"The Yultim Volcano?"
"The particularity of your magic is that you don't need to have been to a certain place in order to reach it," recalled Mereoleona. "As long as you know the name, you can open a portal leading there, as long as the people passing through have the destination in mind. So, now that you know the name, open that portal!"
"Y- yes ma'am!"
Warrick shot Quinn a mildly terrified look, but opened the portal nonetheless. Mereoleona passed through without a second thought but, just as Quinn was about to follow her, Warrick held her back.
"Wait a moment!" he warned, a little pale. "You probably don't know, but the Yultim Volcano is actually a—"
"Don't tell me! If Mereo-sama didn't tell me, then it's probably a test or something." Grinning, she placed a finger against her lips. "Can't have me cheating on my first day, can we? Later~!"
"W- wait!"
But she didn't wait, and jumped through the portal excitedly. However, said excitement died down… as she started suffocating. She instantly collapsed to her knees, an incredible pressure bringing her down as all of her muscles grew tensed and cramped. It felt as if she was burning from the inside out, black dots dancing before her eyes as red swarmed around her head and burned burned burned—
"WAKE UP!"
Out of nowhere, Mereoleona kicked her back through the portal. Quinn crashed into the hallway in which she had been standing just a few seconds earlier, wheezing as she tried to breathe properly, barely able to twitch a muscle. After a moment, Mereoleona appeared, looming over her with her arms crossed over her chest and her face unreadable.
"When my brother mentioned your sensibility to mana, I didn't think much of it," she admitted bluntly, neither impressed nor disappointed. "However, it would seem I greatly underestimated it. If nurtured properly, that skill could become pretty dangerous. Unfortunately…" Her traits darkened. "That was pathetic. Until you can stand on your two feet in that place for a full ten seconds, don't count on me to bring you along for my training. We'll be going to much more dangerous places, and I won't be able to look out for you, so you either push your limits right now, or you give up at once." On that note, she started walking away. "I'll stick around for a bit, beat some drive into those rusty Knights of ours, but don't make me wait too long, cub."
Honestly, Quinn didn't even have the strength to reply, the whole ordeal having thoroughly weakened her. After a while, none other than Warrick approached.
"So… still sure you don't want to cheat?" he drawled, unimpressed.
"Ugh…"
Shaking his head in mild exasperation, he easily picked her up and placed her on his back so he could carry her back to the women's quarters.
"What I was trying to tell you earlier was that the Yultim Volcano is one of the most potent Grand Mana Zones in the country," he explained as he started walking. "Using your mana skin, you would surely have been able to hold your own for a bit."
"N- no…" Quinn meekly shook her head. "I- I need… I need to do it… on my own. Mana- mana skin would be cheat- cheating… I'm- I'm stronger than that."
"Whatever you say, kid, whatever you say."
.
.
In her haste to fulfill her duties as a Knight, Quinn had neglected her training quite a bit, something she only now realized. Even if it hadn't even been two weeks since she joined, she easily noticed the difference. Back in Hage, she used to train every day, from sunup to sundown, and she barely ever took a break. After joining the Squad, though, she grew a tad lazy and, while she kept running around to accomplish her duties at the headquarters, or help out Kiba, she rarely trained. Sure, there had been the spar with Leo, and the one with Cosmos, but let's be frank: those hadn't exactly been challenging.
The only way to grow stronger right now was to push her limits, and the only person who could help her do that was Mereoleona—that much, Quinn was certain of. However, she understood the message: she couldn't completely rely on the woman, if at all. In a way, their training had already started, and Quinn needed to prove she was worthy of her time and effort.
So, for the following two weeks, Quinn spent every single day in the training field. She decided to drop spars and weapons for now, fully focusing on building up her endurance and her mana control through physical training and meditation sessions. She activated her Mana Eyes for as long as possible, too, even if they always burned like hell by the end of each day.
After the first week, she started asking other Knights to surround her and spread as much mana as they could, as if to trap her in it. The experience was… disagreeable, to say the least, like a feeble echo of the agonizing hell that had been the few seconds she spent near the Yultim Volcano, but she soon started getting better at handling the pressure.
And, of course, now that she had been to the Yultim Volcano, it meant she could open her own portal. So, at the end of each day, accompanied by Warrick and Helena in case something went wrong, she opened a spatial door and stepped into the Grand Mana Zone. She honestly hated every second of it, but her determination never wavered and, though difficult, it slowly became easier to breathe, easier to stand, easier… not to block out the mana, so to speak, but rather accept it—make it circulate safely through her body.
It required a lot of focus, and keeping the flow stable was painful and exhausting, but Quinn pushed and pushed and never lost sight of the end goal, and finally—finally, she did it.
"So?" Shaking a bit, she offered a proud grin at Mereoleona. "How- how's that for ten seconds?"
The woman gave her an appraising look, not a single emotion portrayed on her face. The purple-haired girl hadn't been standing in the Grand Mana Zone for ten seconds, but for ten minutes. And she wasn't even using a mana skin! Of course, it's not like she was actually climbing the volcano but, for someone who almost died two weeks earlier just by being near it, it wasn't bad.
In fact, it was pretty good.
"You've been working hard, uh?" Satisfied, Mereoleona patted her head. "Good work, cub. You can go back to the headquarters and rest for what's left of the day. We're leaving tomorrow morning!"
"Y- yes, Mereo-sama!"
"It's Master for you, cub."
Quinn's grin widened a bit at that. "N- nan, too stiff. I could always call you 'Big Sis Mereo', or something, though."
"Try it and I'll fry your brains out, smartass."
When Mereoleona said they'd leave the next morning, she meant it a little too literally: at exactly three hours past midnight, she dropped by Quinn's room and loudly banged on her door until the girl woke up. After what, the fiery woman had grabbed her by the collar before dragging her away without a second thought. She had barely gotten the time to grab her bag!
"So, where are we going?"
"The Yultim Volcano."
"Again?"
"What, you thought standing near it was enough?" scoffed the lioness. "Now that you can actually stand without suffocating, we'll start the real work."
Quinn sweatdropped. "For some reason, it sounds really ominous. But anyway, I can take us there using my Magic—"
"Don't be lazy, girl!" retorted Mereoleona, stopping before her. "We're gonna use our feet to get where we want to go, got it? You better keep up!"
"What—"
But she suddenly took off, her speed greatly enhanced by mana. Quinn gasped, before shaking her head and running after her. She quickly caught up, and Mereoleona grinned, before picking up the pace. Anyone watching from afar would have only seen two red blurs. As she started running even faster, though, Quinn couldn't help but laugh.
Looks like I finally found my match, uh?
She had no idea of what Mereoleona had in store for her but, whatever it was, she knew it was going to be awesome.
.
.
"Alright, first thing first: mana skin." Mereoleona crossed her arms over her chest, facing the young girl. "You've learned to coat your body in mana in order to defend yourself when in the midst of combat, but the same can also be done to shield you from the harmful mana surrounding you."
"You mean like that?"
At once, a thin layer of mana covered her skin, and it instantly became much easier to breathe.
"So you already knew about it," the woman realized, quirking an eyebrow. "But if you did, then why didn't you use it earlier?"
"I didn't want to take the easy way out," simply shrugged the girl. "There's no point in training if I'm not ready to make the necessary effort, is there?"
"Ah! Well said!" grinned Mereoleona. "Though, I'm afraid you'll have to resort to that technique if you don't wanna die." At once, she jabbed her thumb at the volcano behind her. "You're gonna climb it! I want you at the top before the moon is up, got it?"
"Wait, what!?" Aghast, Quinn looked back at the volcano further away. "But it's in the middle of an eruption! There's lava everywhere! It's—"
She suddenly paused. Mereoleona lifted an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's what?"
At once, a fire lightened the girl's eyes. "I just said I wouldn't take the easy way. I'm not gonna back down from this! I'll be at the top of this damn volcano before you know it!"
"Then why are you still wasting time? GET TO IT!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Did Quinn manage to reach the top of the volcano before the moon was up? Yes. Had it been a fun experience? Hell to the nope.
She was exhausted, she was pretty sure some patches of her skin had gotten what could be assumed to be sunburns at first glance, but change the "sun" part to "lava", and struggling not to suffocate under the pressure of the natural mana present all the while climbing up an erupting volcano had simply never been on Quinn's bucket list. However, as tired as she was, she couldn't stop a gleeful grin from stretching her lips.
"I- I did it…!" she gasped, panting profusely.
"Well, about time you showed up," snorted Mereoleona, who hadn't even broken a sweat. "And just in time, too!"
"In- in time for what…?"
As if on cue, the ambient mana that had been pressuring her ever since she stepped foot in the Grand Mana Zone suddenly vanished. At once, a hissing sound echoed hollowly, and the lava in the crater started… disappearing? Before she knew it, the lava had turned to water, and the crater had become a fricking hot spring.
"That's… cool, I guess," sweatdropped Quinn. "Is that the actual reason why we're here?"
"Take it as a reward for your hard work," the woman replied, smirking.
Mereoleona Vermillion was many things, but prudish wasn't one of them. She wasted no time in getting rid of her clothes and descending in the water. Quinn did hesitate a bit—they were still in a volcano, weren't they going to be boiled alive?—before she gave in and started undressing. After a few seconds, she, too, was in the water.
"Oh my stars, that hits the spot…" she groaned, sinking a little deeper. "So soothing…"
"This special hot spring only appears when night comes, since the Grand Mana Zone takes most of its energy from the sun itself," explained Mereoleona. "The hot spring is however still full of mana, and the water can soothe any pain and restore your energy, too."
"That's pretty neat," sighed happily Quinn.
Her exhaustion was quickly disappearing, leaving place to absolute bliss. She was more relaxed than she had been in a very long time, and her irritated mana coils had stopped hurting. Her muscles no longer ached, and she could feel her inner mana replenishing at full speed.
"Tell me more about yourself."
"What?" Quinn snapped out of her trance, looking at the woman in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"It isn't like my little brother to ask me for help, even less to actively seek it out," replied the lioness, leaning against the edge of the hot spring. "He said the Wizard King himself suggested it, actually. What's up with that?"
"Julius-san…?" echoed Quinn, honestly surprised. Understanding, however, quickly dawned on her. "Ah, I should have known. He's the type of guy who worries too much."
"You're being awfully familiar with the most powerful man in the country," mused the orange-haired fury.
"I've known him for years." Quinn settled a little more comfortably, letting her eyes roam the night sky and linger on the gleaming stars that were starting to appear. "You see, I come from Diamond Kingdom. I don't remember much from my childhood there, but my earliest memory is waking up in a burnt down house amongst the corpses of my family." She smiled dryly, her fingers brushing against the scar on her throat. "I was what, four at the time? I left after that, decided to find a new place to call home, and that's when my abilities have started to appear." She lifted her hand, and the water suddenly followed, rising up and twirling around her fingers for a bit, before it dropped again. "Mana Manipulation is pretty rare, from what I've gathered. I don't have a specific affinity with any of the basic elements, but I still have some control over each of them, and that drew the attention of… unsavory people. That's how I ended up on the run from Diamond Kingdom." Finally, she looked back to Mereoleona, and she smiled. "And that's how I met Julius-san. He, Will-san, and Yami-san were in Kiten when I showed up with Diamond soldiers hot on my trail. I owe all three of them my life!" She shook her head, this time rolling her eyes a bit. "I'm guessing that's why he suggested you train me. So far, you're the person whose natural abilities with mana are the closest to my own, and I can obviously learn a lot from you. I'm guessing he hopes I'll get even stronger in case Diamond comes after my head again."
"… You know, when I told you to tell me about yourself, I didn't ask for the whole fricking sob-story," drawled the lioness. She then grinned a bit. "Can't say it wasn't entertaining, though."
"So glad you got a kick out of my misery," deadpanned Quinn.
"Oh, please. You look anything but miserable to me, cub," snorted the woman. Then, without warning, she placed her hand on Quinn's head, and she lightly ruffled her hair. "Life's been rough on you, but you didn't break. That shows just how strong your spirit is. I like that."
Blinking a few times, Quinn then grinned. "You know, the other women said you were really scary, but you're actually pretty soft, uh?"
Instantly, the gentle hand turned into a clawed grip, and Mereoleona's eyes darkened as a dangerous, mad smile stretched on her lips.
"What was that, brat?"
"No- nothing, ma'am!" gulped the teen.
The woman's smile widened threateningly. "Tomorrow, you're climbing this volcano twice."
Note to self: don't ever call her soft again, groaned internally Quinn.
So... Yeah. That happened.
I am in love with Fuegoleon and I am in love with Mereoleona and I am a proud bisexual who's hopelessly in love with cartoon characters. Yikes.
Anyway, a lot of technicalities to get through this chapter, but now we're REALLY getting started, eh, eh. Look forward to Quinn's Training of Hell!
Also, Happy New Year~!