Chapter 5 – Into the mountains
"That should be about it," Raphael said to himself as he finished putting the last of his supplies into his bag before zipping it shut and falling back onto his bed with a brief sense of relief. 'There's still some time before we meet up…' He thought whilst he glanced at a nearby clock without much care.
It wasn't like it meant much as there was barely any time to do anything aside from catching a break before they left, yet that was all that was needed. It wasn't like he could say he knew what it would be like to be with Caminal the whole time, but Kimberly was likely to be a source of trouble at some point and he knew that he would appreciate the energy that he could get.
Yet the such opportunity was quickly robbed from him as he heard knocking at his door, quickly shifting his attention. "Who is it?" He called out as he then made the choice to instead get comfortable on a corner couch instead.
"It's Caminal, there was something that I was hoping to talk about before we started the mission." The muffled yet familiar voice responded through the door.
"Feel free to come in then."
"What?! I mean…" Caminal said in a stunned manner, something that Raphael found himself oddly not questioning in the slightest.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing…" Caminal replied before being followed by the creaking sound of the door as it ever so gently opened, allowing Caminal to first poke her head looking almost like a timid animal.
"Is there something wrong?" Raphael asked, now perplexed at whatever warranted such a reaction out of the girl.
"It's just that…" Caminal started to respond whilst continuing to look across the room before her eyes stumbled across Raphael calmly looking back at her. "You're not even doing anything!" She then exclaimed.
"Well, I finished packing not that long ago so you should be mad about that." Raphael nonchalantly said.
"But it means that you could have answered the door yourself, that there was no need for me to come in here!"
"Is there something wrong with this?"
"Of course, there is! I've never entered a boy's room before!"
Upon hearing her words there was a moment of silence as Raphael let the words sink in before he looked away leaving Caminal in her flustered yet frustrated state. "Right, you're the really innocent kind… I didn't actually think I would ever find someone who would actually get worked up over something as small as this…"
"This is another thing that is considered normal here then? Like everyone waking up later in the day?" Caminal asked almost cautiously, now fully stepping into the room and closing the door behind her as she looked around the room.
She had already guessed that Raphael's room was something unique and entering the room had proved that she wasn't wrong. Compared to her own rented room, Raphael's was immediately notably larger with separated sections with shutter doors whilst Caminal's own was effectively just one large room, the separations made only through the positioning of the default furniture.
Naturally, the room was also clearly far more lived in as well from the non-prefect condition with much more modern styled furniture spread out that contrasted with the more traditional atmosphere that plenty of the guild carried but it only helped serve as something refreshing instead.
"Pretty much, but what are you here for? You said that you had something that you wanted to talk about. Did you manage to get everything that you'll need?" Raphael asked, startling Caminal out of observations.
"Ah, yes. I've bought everything that was on your list, so thank you very much for your advice, in fact, I came here hoping to return the spare change that you gave me before we left for the mission. I wanted to do so before I forgot. And I didn't want to have to struggle around Kimberly either." Caminal answered with her usual composition, reaching into a small little pocket of hers and managing to pull out the small bag of money that she had received before, only now that it lacked as much mass as before.
"Thank you very much," Raphael said as he took back the bag. "So, all ready for the mission then? We'll be leaving in just a few minutes."
"I feel perfectly prepared now, thank you. But if you are also ready for the mission then shouldn't you be waiting upstairs until Kimberly arrives?"
"But we have an agreed-upon time, you know you should appreciate the rest that you can get before going on a mission like this."
"You can still rest in the main hall, however, and we will be getting on the train won't we? I don't see why you feel the need to wait until the last second." Caminal said with some disapproval in her voice. "Come on, we're going to wait in the hall now."
"Huh? Wait…" Raphael said in bewilderment as he watched Caminal walk towards his packed bag.
"This is what you packed for the mission right? Here you are." Caminal said, briefly pointing at the bag before picking it up and gently tossing it onto Raphael's lap.
"But…"
"No buts!" The small girl shot back with more authority than Raphael had previously thought possible for her small stature. "We should be waiting for her and not lasing about, it's all about having good punctuality!"
'How fast can she change gears? And she's likely even more intense than Kimberly, at least with her we broke and gave one another a break. And yet…' he thought to himself almost with a sense of tiredness. 'If Mina is going to insist on this then there's no point in resisting, there's going to be no actual chance to relax like this…'
"Fine, we can go! We'll go!" Raphael said whilst getting to his feet, swinging his bag onto his back and resting on one of his shoulders in the same smooth motion. "But, where is your stuff? Did you put it down somewhere?"
"It's in my requip space," Caminal answered with factual tones. "But it's good that you're willing to come along, we might be able to leave a little earlier now and possibly avoid some trouble as a result."
"What kind of trouble would that be?" Raphael asked as the pair left his room, locking it before leaving the door behind, swiftly approaching the stairs that left the boy's rooms altogether.
"Train times, perhaps?" Caminal said, needing to think over the question for a brief moment. "Either way it's a better thing until waiting until the last moment in your room."
"I've got it already!" Raphael tiredly replied.
"Cami? Raphael?" Another voice suddenly called out to their pair, stopping them from travelling any further up the stairs as they instead turned around in curiosity to see who happened to be talking to them, quickly revealing them to be the missing member of their team, Kimberly.
"What are you two doing together? You're sounding like you went to get him, Cami-meow." Kimberly continued to ask whilst looking at the two, almost in shock.
"But of course, he was planning on just lying around and was about to make us wait for nothing just because it wasn't the meeting time." Caminal quickly replied almost on the beat.
"You know just how to make me sound like my worst, don't you?" Raphael quipped as he gave the small girl an unimpressed sideways glance.
"It's partially your fault for having such easily notable faults. You could be taking the effort to spare yourself of some shame, you know." Caminal quickly rebutted.
"Fair enough."
"And you should know better than that, it should be common knowledge that you shouldn't keep a girl waiting and should even be a few minutes early," Kimberly said with a grin.
"Isn't that just dating advice?" Raphael asked, not completely buying the information that Kimberly was trying to sell to him.
"No, that should be something that you would be better off living by on matter that the scenario happens to be," Caminal said with a troubled expression whilst Kimberly continued to look on with a pleased smile leaving Raphael unable to comprehend the situation that he was suddenly faced with.
It was a situation in which he had no idea how seriously he should be taking it, and it was causing him headaches. Usually, whenever Kimberly had brought something up it was easy to dismiss such a thing, but now Caminal was here and was relentless in not letting such things go, something that Kimberly was blatantly enjoying seeing him struggle over.
"I was thinking that Cami-meow would get tired of you at some point, I didn't think that she would start trying to improve you instead!" Kimberly said smirking before making sure to push her way past the two on the stairs, almost hitting Raphael in the face with the bag on her back.
"That can't be! That doesn't need to be done!" Raphael exclaimed in response.
"I don't see why you wouldn't try to improve yourself when you know where to start and the fact that there is someone willing to help you, they aren't even the largest of changes that could be made so I don't see the trouble," Caminal replied. "But at the very least I don't think that you are the person in the guild who needs it the most."
"Doesn't the master sometimes berate you about the occasional thing? I'm sure that letting Caminal change you would help reduce that." Kimberly continued to quip without even turning around to look at them, yet despite it, all Raphael was certain of the face that she making.
"Stay out of it Kimber." He said.
"I don't want to change him, it's only that there are some improvements that can be made." Caminal mentioned again, now having started to follow after Kimberly's lead up the stairs, leaving Raphael on his own for a few moments, merely able to ponder just what on earth had occurred within the small window of time.
He couldn't help but think that working with them was going to be a lot more challenging than he initially thought…
A couple of hours had passed when they finally made it off the train, stepping out of their carriage and out onto the platform. The two girls did so with energy in their step whilst Raphael made sure to follow with a continued sense of tiredness, almost glad for a new scenario to present itself.
Having been ready to leave there had been little hesitation for the group to make their way straight out of the guild and to the town's train station where it wasn't long before they had managed to catch their ride to their destination. At the start Raphael soon began doing his best to ignore the idle chatter and jabs of the two girls who sat across from him with him gradually wondering more and more if every mission that they took as just a trio would end up the same way…
"It's so lovely here! But, now that we've arrived we should make sure to find our client as quickly as possible. Do you know where to go here? Or should we ask for where the smithery is?" Caminal said as the three walked out of the station, only taking a few seconds to scan over the town.
It was a gentle town that they had arrived at, with most of its structures and roads being constructed out of smooth stonework yet at the same time the town clearly never inhibited the ability for nature to grow there as the sight of it was plentiful.
People walked under the natural shade of trees whilst there were bushes with buds and flowers that made use of the walls of the building to support themselves. To the three mages, the town made the appearance of where civilisation and nature really had begun to find a way to properly exist in harmony.
"I think he would be somewhere need the shops and other services," Kimberly mentioned, walking forwards with a less than serious look. "We should be able to take some time looking for them whilst wondering about the shops. If it starts taking too long then we ask someone."
"I've been here before, I believe the smithery is closer to the centre of town… They should be having the skills for the kind of attention there at least." Raphael then said, already walking past the girls and into the streets.
"Wait, you've been here before?" Caminal couldn't help but ask in confusion as she hurried to keep up by his side.
"Once or twice before for other jobs." Came the simple answer. "Guild wizards take jobs from all over you know?"
"I suppose so… you have been in the guild for a long time as well…" Caminal said thoughtfully. "Then what brought you here last time?"
"Monster extermination most likely."
"So basically, you can't remember," Kimberly mentioned.
"And do you remember every little mission that you go on? Besides, dealing with monsters is a fairly common job." Raphael responded.
"I suppose your right," Kimberly said with a shrug of her shoulders. I wasn't at all like she put any effort into remembering her jobs, the only ones she did remember were when something particularly noteworthy occurred during them whether it was good or bad. "But it does mean that you're our navigation then."
"Right, right…" Raphael said, not giving any particular attention whilst they continued through the streets. The girls eyed a couple of shops whilst Raphael proceeded to Kimberly along semi-forcefully whenever she stopped at something whilst Caminal conflictedly kept up alongside Raphael whenever he did so.
As a result, it didn't take the three long to arrive at the smithery where both an old bearded and a rather young man were working together, hammering away at a lump of metal that was still glowing red with heat.
"Excuse me," Raphael called out to the two workers managing to grab their attention as they stopped their work to look at the group.
"Is there something we can do for you?" The bearded man asked as he rested on his giant hammer, not exactly looking pleased with having been interrupted. "Right now we're in the middle of work and this piece is losing precious heat."
"And we're terribly sorry about this, but we are mages from the Mythic Djinn guild and we came here because of a job request that we received," Caminal spoke up as she stepped forward, taking the job sheet from Raphael to show to the two men to their stunned reactions.
"Then why didn't you lead with that!" The bearded man said with a chuckle, his bad mood completely vanishing before quickly signalling to the younger man who promptly nodded in response as he continued hammering again by himself. "Just come over here for a moment." He said, gesturing the group to the side.
"So, you're the ones going to fetch some cryocrystal from the mountains then." The man said, sitting down at a sturdy wooden table, examining the teenagers that had accepted his job. "I guess you should do, I've heard there's a lot of young talent among mages recently."
"I'll get straight to the point, we've had a request for something that requires cyrocrystal to make, and a part of our service is providing the materials as well at an extra price." He started to explain. "But of course, no one has bleeding cryocrystal on demand, but the customer paid handsomely for it, so a deal's a deal. All you need to do is head into the mountain and find a bunch, about the size of my torso should do."
"That's a fair amount…" Raphael commented at the request.
"Aye, it is laddie. It's why I didn't mention it in the request."
"Then you were planning on underpaying us from the start?!" Caminal burst out, outraged at the old man's words as even Kimberly puffed an air of irritancy at the news, making Raphael have to nudge at the pair of them to stop their behaviour.
"You can relax lassie, I'm not like that. As a hard worker, I likewise don't stand for other hard workers not getting their due." The man said, waving his hand in front of him. "The reason I didn't put a higher price on there is that I have a good idea where you can get it." He said, at which point he started pointing off at the mountains behind them in the distance.
"Somewhere in those mountains is an old mineshaft. Miner's left it after all the constant dangers and monster attacks, even hiring mages didn't do good for long. They needed full-time bodyguards they did, so they left it. But the whole place has always been full of oodles of ore, including cryocrystal."
"So if we find that cave, then it won't be long before we have your requested amount." Raphael summarised as the man nodded along at his words.
"And if you still think that I'm paying you too little for this then think about his, there a lot more in that cave to be found and it don't belong to no-one." The man said, now sparking some new interest in Kimberly at the thought.
"So how much is cryocrystal worth?" Kimberly asked.
"These days, the stuff is a little less valuable than silver." The man answered to Kimberly's continued joy at the news. There was an easy chance that even when they were splitting all the money amongst themselves equally then they would be able to earn plenty to be comfortable with for a while. "Although it pales to when you've actually made something out of the stuff, however, that is where the real profit is. But that's only for folks like me!" He then added on with a hearty laugh.
"Then how much would a typical completed work sell for then?" Caminal couldn't help but ask, unable to resist how much it was being built up.
"Let's say that I would much prefer taking you jewellery shopping wherever you wished than pay for anything like that." Raphael chimed in with the client nodding along with him.
"Aye, between a pretty crystal ring and a functional one made of cryocrystal, even those high-end places start looking reasonable."
"Combining the two?" Raphael then said with a soft chuckle.
"Are you searching for a quick way to throw away a fortune?" The client chuckled back, the two men understanding one another whilst leaving the two girls only vaguely able to comprehend the sheer amount of money that they were talking about. "Anyways, I've got work to return to. I'll be wishing for your swift and safe return. Happy searching!" he then said breaking the mood as he got to his feet whilst grabbing his hammer.
"Right, we'll be back soon enough with whatever that cave has to offer," Kimberly said with an unusual amount of energy in her voice, betraying the small presence that she had before. "Oh, but do you have any idea about the general direction of the cave?"
"Not really, only that its general direction is over there." The man said gesturing back at the mountains. "I'm sure that there'll be traces here and there to look out for, maybe even a trail! Just make sure that you don't go falling out there."
"Thank you very much, we'll be sure to take care," Caminal said with a quick bow before the three of them likewise took their leave, simply looking up at the mountain range that towered over them. 'We're really supposed to find a mine somewhere in there?' Caminal couldn't help but think to herself with a small frown, simply praying that the task couldn't be too extreme.
In comparison to her, Raphael had an easy smile on her face whilst Kimberly looked completely eager at the prospect.
"Look at your new playground for the time," Raphael said.
"You don't need to put it like that," Kimberly replied, trying to make it sound like she was in a huff yet failing. "So when do we get going?" She asked, already giving up on the act.
"I'm ready whenever, it's up to you Caminal," Raphael said, now shifting the attention to her.
"Oh, Naturally I'm perfectly prepared, it's what we were doing before we even left. We should make sure to complete the job as soon as possible." Caminal said, making sure to stand tall as she covered over her initial hesitation.
"Then let's get going!"
"So you simply wish for me to fetch you some from the mountains?" A woman asked the darkly dressed individual that stood before her.
"That's all." The practically cloaked individual replied with a small nod, flashing a smile that was so sharp it easily gave the woman a bad feeling.
"Very well, I'll be back here in three days' time." She curtly said, promptly turning on the spot and leaving, not needing anything else from the exchange. She herself didn't even want the exchange to continue for longer than necessary either.
'I don't like that person…' She could help but think, still feeling their eyes on her and imagining the still smiling as she left. 'But there is no proof. And they pay well, I can't refute.' She thought to herself, doing her best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that had been climbing her spine until now, silently swearing to herself to complete her job as soon as possible…
"How can you be fine like that?" Caminal eventually asked whilst the three of them continued walking down a narrow rocky path, blistering winds blowing past them making her snuggle into the thick coat that she had produced for herself.
"I'm built differently?" Raphael replied as he continued to walk on with indifference as unlike Caminal, he still didn't feel the need for any extra layers, not that he even had any.
"You sure it's nothing to do with those takeovers of yours?" Kimberly added, "You use a bit of their magic without even changing." Similarly to Caminal, she had also opted to put on a coat that she had been carrying with her.
"Maybe," Raphael replied.
"You're going to end up sick at this rate. You shout at least wear this!" Caminal shouted at him, quickly creating a fitting, thick coat for him to wear.
"I mean it when I'm fine though," Raphael said as he looked back at her offer much to her disbelief. "But thanks for the offer though."
"Cami-meow, there's no point in trying anymore. You're just going to tire yourself out." Kimberly sighed. "Besides, I guess he hasn't really gotten sick before."
"But it's irresponsible!" Caminal pressed on.
"Look, just feel me and you'll understand," Raphael said, now stopping in his tracks and turning around to abruptly offer his hand to Caminal's shock. The sudden action had easily taken her off-guard as she now almost hesitantly looked at his hand before firmly gripping it causing another wave of shock to overtake her.
'He's so… warm! Wait, he's almost hot instead of just warm… how is this the case?' Caminal thought whilst she kept a firm grip on him, doing her best to work out just what she was experiencing. "I suppose… that if your that warm then you're fine…" She said, her voice still laced with disbelief as she finally let go allowing the freezing wind to rob away the warmth that she had just been feeling.
"I'm glad that you understand. I still mean that I'm grateful for the offer though." Raphael said with a weak smile. "Now come on, we're still got a lot to cover."
"Wait, you don't need a break at all?" Caminal then said with some alarm, this time getting both Raphael and Kimberly to look at her.
"Now this time I can completely side with you," Kimberly said as she stood alongside Raphael. "You really haven't changed much since when I last saw you huh, Cami-meow?"
"Stop calling me that!" Caminal exclaimed in a huff as her cheeks started to turn red despite the cold at the treatment that she was receiving.
"Well, it's not like this is an ideal place to rest if you need it, and it really hasn't been that long," Raphael said, immediately returning to the initial topic with a thoughtful expression that soon lightened up as an idea came to mind. "I could just carry you for a bit, however." He then offered.
"C-carry me?" Caminal stuttered in response, not having expected to receive such an answer. "I do not need to be carried! Not like before!" She said with a beat red face. "I would much rather something else instead."
"Cami, there aren't many other options out here. I mean I wouldn't exactly want him to pick me up either but it's not like there's much else." Kimberly then replied yet Caminal didn't seem to react in the slightest to her words.
"I think you're forgetting about my magic," Caminal soon replied. "My ark of embodiment allows me to create whatever I imagine, so naturally." She said before producing a crisp snap with her fingers. The sound almost seeing to turn into light that soon moved onto forming a distinct shape, with the light soon dying to reveal a wyvern-like creature staring down at them. "I can ride upon this for a while, in fact, we'll be able to fly about until we spot something like we talked about before."
"And how much of your magic is being consumed by doing that?" Raphael asked as he admired the creation that was likely large enough for the three of them to ride without problem.
"I can hold this for a while, if there's something I have some confidence in it's the amount of magic that I have," Caminal replied with a smug little smile. "My magic has countless uses, and taking advantage of that on a daily basis helps improve stamina."
"Well, I've got no objections to a free ride." Kimberly cheerily said at the prospect, already moving towards the wyvern and jumping onto its back before helping Caminal up whilst Raphael simply watched all the while.
"Well, don't push yourself too hard. We still need to be able to fight at a moment's notice." Raphael mentioned whilst hopping onto the creation as well. The moment that the team was settled the wyvern instantly began to stand up tall and walk along, beating its wings all the while until at last, it took to the sky.
"This is amazing! Why didn't we do this sooner?" Kimberly shouted out over the sound of the wind that was practically roaring in their ears. The short girl peered over the side of the wyvern at the land below, admiring the sight of everything in the mountainside now beginning to look small in comparison.
"Because…" Caminal said, getting Raphael and Kimberly to look at her before remaining fixed on her in shock. Whilst before Caminal had been wrapped in a rather thick coat, such clothing now looked thin in comparison to the giant one that she had now put on, and yet was still shivering on her spot. "It's… freezing…" she finished, shivering all the while.
"Well…" Kimberly said whilst she and Raphael looked at one another in conflict before looking back at their shivering friend. "I mean you came prepared but, you going to need to be able to endure environments like these, guild wizards can be sent anywhere."
"Yeah, this may be worse than usual but you can't be completely shut down due to weather alone." Raphael worriedly added on. "I would that that we should give you training sometime back at the guild but I don't actually know any real way to get better used to the elements."
"Well… how did you… get used to it?" Caminal asked through her shivers and barely over the wind.
"You felt my body temperature not that long ago you know?" Raphael replied before silence took over them. While Kimberly had gone back to admiring the mountains and Raphael was lazily scanning over the mountains as well for any sign of the mine, Caminal's thought remained occupied.
'He was incredibly warm…' she thought to herself whilst looking at Raphael's back. 'And he still isn't wearing anything more, so it means that his own warmth is still enough for him…' Unknowingly she had actually begun to creep up on Raphael as she began to crave the source of warmth that she now knew him to be, but her actions soon went interrupted.
It was an explosion as the wyvern they rode upon suddenly shook in slightly, doing its best to maintain stable flight yet the movement was enough to throw everyone off balance.
"What was that?!" Caminal exclaimed as she started looking about rapidly.
"Something hit us!" Kimberly shouted back as Raphael helped pull her safely back onto the wyvern back after having been too close to the edge when the shock came. The moment that she was back on however multiple more explosions soon occurred to the underbelly of the wyvern, making it continue to roar out in pain whilst the three mages desperately clung too.
"I see it." Raphael then calmly stated as his eyes spotted a brief flash from down on the mountains. "Djinn soul: Zagan!" He said, his whole body being consumed in lightning on command before revealing him in a whole new appearance once again.
His hair had turned yellow and spiked as lightning jumped to and from various parts of his body lighting him up whilst wearing a crown of lightning. His eyes had turned completely sharp as they glowed with a fierceness. To Caminal's shock, he was once again shirtless in the form that he had taken, and once more various glowing patterns covered his body yet now glowed with yellow magical power instead.
What clothing that he did wear however was robed garments, wrapped around his waist and attached to his wrists and shoulders, all of it well decorated with gold as well as being plenty adorned with jewellery. Yet his legs and arms which would have been bearing were covered by storm glowed that continually flashed with thunder in sync with the sparks that flew off a large circle of lightning that floated just behind the djinn in an impressive manner.
"If it wasn't for the fact that he doesn't get to choose his appearance, I would say he's showing off," Kimberly mumbled to herself, yet she remained unable to take her eyes off his transformed state.
Raphael merely raised his hand, causing a blue crystal spear to appear in his hand, its blade being purely made of electricity. The moment that the flash on the ground suddenly brightened did Raphael respond by throwing his spear, launching it off and incredible speeds as it annihilated the oncoming projectile and caused an explosion where it landed.
"Did… did you do it already?" Caminal asked while she and Kimberly peered over the edge to see the results of Raphael's attack.
"Don't raise that flag Cami-meow." Kimberly quickly replied as they collectively looked down below.
"Flag?" Caminal asked, confused at the statement.
"It's just superstition." Kimberly quickly replied, just before being assaulted by another shock that soon had their ride turning white. "Um, Caminal?!" she shouted out in response.
"Um, too much damage…" she replied whilst what remained of the wyvern quickly began to vanish. "Hold on! Pegasus Wings!" she hastily said, quickly managing to grow four large angelic wings on her back with her magic.
For a brief moment did Kimberly feel herself begin to fall until Caminal grabbed hold of her, holding her as they hovered in the air with Raphael calmly remaining alongside them. "What do we do now?" Caminal asked as she flew closer to Raphael.
"You two get to the ground as quickly as possible, I'll be keeping the attacker's attention, and hopefully beating them." Raphael immediately commanded, his spear reappearing in his hand with a flash before he shot forwards, appearing just like a lightning bolt as he dropped from the sky.
For a few moments, Caminal could only look on in amazement at the sight of a serious Raphael until Kimberly had enough. "Come on Caminal! I can't get down on my own!" she shouted out getting Caminal to shake herself awake before making her own descent.
Down on the ground, the attacker was in disbelief as the watched the djinn appear from the wyvern, and was even more shocked at the speed that it had managed to approach her. It had barely been a few seconds and despite the enormous distance that had been between them it was nearly directly before her.
It had close so quickly that she already knew that she needed to leap back, the space that she had been occupying moments ago now being where a pillar of lightning struck the ground with enough power that it was forcing smaller stones to explode.
'It's certainly no ordinary djinn…' she thought to herself as she carefully repositioned herself, taking care to produce no sound as she let her clothing make use of her magic to keep her concealed from view.
"They were right here…" Raphael muttered to himself quickly yet carefully looking around. "It must be here… but then it must be concealed…" he continued to mutter before grinning. 'If they're concealed and able to attack from such a range, they must be quite poor at close combat huh?' He thought whilst pointing his spear to the sky.
"Thunderclap!" he shouted, suddenly causing the electricity that made up the blade of his spear began to intensify to the alarm of the attacker and in the next moment, countless streaks of lighting burst from it. All around Raphael did lighting rain down, striking everything and jumping about until the attacker knew she couldn't risk anymore.
There was a faint glow as the bow in her hand changed shape and size, taking on a pointy form that was yellow in colour. Silently yet with stunning speed, she immediately took her shot at the rampaging djinn as a sparking arrow of pure magic launched forth.
Instantly all the lightning stopped rampaging and instead direct itself towards the arrow which absorbed it all, adding to its size and power as it sped towards its target. However, it was hardly something that went unnoticed.
Raphael immediately reacted to its presence as he merely pointed at the arrow with a single finger, making the arrow dance to his will as it looped around his head and went back to once it had come.
Rolling out of the way, the arrow narrowly missed the attacker as it rushed past to destroy another boulder. 'It controlled my arrow… don't tell me that lightning djinn can control all forms of electricity?' she thought to herself whilst carefully repositioning herself once again all while changing her bow to another one shaped liked a bunch of spider legs with fang-like protrude pointed out at whatever it would shoot.
Quickly she proceeded to take several shots, but not at the djinn, instead aiming for several higher ledges. Each shot produced a sticky string-like substance that remained completely attacked to the bow when she shot, allowing it to quickly pull her away to the higher ground.
As she travelled from spot to spot she barely managed to keep out of the various lighting shots that the djinn aimed in her general direction upon hearing and noticing hints of her movement. Consistently she managed to keep just ahead of its shots until finally it caught onto her desires and predicted her movement, allowing it to land a direct blast on her which sent her sprawling back across the ground.
She didn't let the stinging pain phase her however as she neatly transitioned into a role behind cover, changing her bow once again and taking shots before the djinn would inevitably rush her again.
Taking hold of a bow reminiscent of a pair of wings with the pattern and colour of flames she hastily shot an initial powerful arrow of flames towards her target before it could rush in a straight line at her. The arrow abruptly split into countless others, each one made of fire that rained down at the djinn.
Raphael gave a quick grunt of annoyance at the attempt, shifting his grip to the centre of the spear's handle as he began to rapidly spin it around, blocking the attack whilst filling the surroundings with a smokescreen of flames and lightning.
Hoping to take advantage of the cover, Raphael quickly slammed his foot into the ground as he launched forwards as a lightning bolt once more, but unlike before, the attacker was ready for it.
The moment that he pierced through the cover was he greeted by a single large fire arrow that struck him in the chest and send him crashing into the ground below. With a smile the attacker took advantage of the created opportunity, notching three more pure flame arrows into her bow at once before shooting straight at the downed djinn.
Each of the three arrows split apart in the air, turning into a complete bombardment of flame that rained down on the djinn, yet it also blocked out the sight of it whilst it broke into a scowl and completely sparked up with magical power.
The whole of the ground below soon erupted with explosions and flames that didn't take long to die down as they remained unable to burn the rocks, but it didn't matter, she was sure that she had won. It was something that she was quite confident in until she felt each one of her hairs beginning to rise as static electricity filled the air.
Only thanks to long-honed senses did she feel the need to suddenly duck before she felt the immediate reward of doing so as a crackling lighting spear narrowly swung over her head. There wasn't even any for the unique spear to know that the djinn had somehow circled right behind her as her eyes caught sight of the remaining sparking trails that it had likely left behind in its dash.
She leapt to the side but it didn't save her from getting shocked by a stray bolt that it fired off of its body, Before she could do anymore she felt pinned, the djinns spear poking at her throat whilst the odd sparked from it fuelled her discomfort. There was nothing more she, an archer, could do. The djinn would claim her life…
"Who are you and why did you attack." The djinn suddenly spoke to her, much to her surprise as she now looked up at the beaten up, burned and clearly deadly serious djinn. But it was more than the djinn was willing to talk to her that shocked her, it was its face.
It had either been way too far away to accurately make it out or there was no time in fighting it, but not only could she now distinguish that it was in fact a he, but it also wasn't even a wild djinn.
No, there were too many humane features for it to be the case, and it aligned with his behaviour as well. "Are you human?" She initially asked. "A takeover mage?"
"Yes, you couldn't tell in the fight?" Raphael replied, not exactly easing up on his spear but the woman slowly raised her hands to surrender.
"No, I saw a wyvern and with it a djinn, there was too much distance to make out any details." The woman replied in a monotone voice, hardly seeming that she was phased by the idea of the spear so close to her throat.
"Raphael!" Two voices suddenly called out, getting the attention of the two mages as they merely looked over for Raphael to confirm who they were, noticing that it was Kimberly and Caminal running up to them.
"Is she the one who shot us down?" Caminal asked as they finally arrived, looking down at the woman that Raphael had pinned down.
"Yes… but, how did you tame a wyvern to ride it? And what are you doing here?" The woman asked.
"I don't think you're in the position to ask questions," Kimberly replied as she approached, examining the woman head to toe. The first thing of note about the woman was easily the hair which while long and wild, was also a mixture of orange and blue.
The woman's bright red eyes stared back as she went evaluated but she didn't move not even a bit of her body that went covered by only a bunch of skin-tight camouflage clothing with leather arm guards. Even her hunter's boots were tight to her legs and feet as little about the woman seemed appearance yet screamed practicality.
"You're a hunter then? Using archery?" Kimberly finally said, done with examining her.
"I made use of requip magic, the archer in particular," The woman answered. "I was travelling here for a job that I was carrying out, but when I saw the wyvern in the sky I thought to take it down. Not only can they be dangerous but their scales can be valuable, I had no idea that it was something to do with other mages in the area."
"And when I appeared and attacked back, you then saw me as another danger," Raphael added which the woman promptly yet calmly nodded in response.
"So where is your job request? If that's true then it's a quick way to prove it." Kimberly said but it only made the vaguest struggling face appear on the woman's face.
"I am a freelance mage. I don't have typical jobs sheets as you do. But I can say that I'm here for an individual that wanted some ore from a mine in these mountains."
"That's the same as us." Caminal mentioned as the team exchanged looks, trying to silently communicate how much they were willing to buy into the story they were being told.
"I see…" The woman said as she lapsed into thought. "Then we can work together. I'm sure there's enough for the both of us. And you can keep an eye on me, I struggle at close range. Your friend, Raphael, is also most impressive."
"That is one possibility to consider," Raphael said, thinking about the proposition.
"If we need breaks we can just take it in cycles." Kimberly mentioned, "And you're not the only capable one here." She added, raising her hand to her back to pat the handle of the blade that she carried with her.
"If she gets space, you're a bad matchup, even with that sword." Raphael reminded her, the battle he just had flashing through his mind. "But I get ya." He then said, finally pulling back his spear and releasing his takeover, returning to his usual appearance whilst giving the woman the chance to breathe.
Meanwhile, Caminal could only look at the group of the other three mages with a sense of awe in her. Even when Raphael had saved her on her first mission, he had remained so lax, and yet the Raphael that she had been watching moments ago was so intense, serious and focused, unlike anything she had seen from him before.
'So that's why some people see him as reliable… he's so powerful.' Caminal thought to herself, recalling the things that she heard about her teammate. 'And Kimberly, she also seems so used to this all, she's still so cool and confident…'
Even that other woman that Raphael had just beaten, even though she was beaten, she hardly seemed incapable herself. Caminal had versatility but, what else?
'If this is what A-Class is like, then I'm certainly not it…' she thought to herself with a frown. It wasn't like she wanted to be A-Class herself, but she didn't want to be borderline useless either. Even if they were supposed to be working together as a team, it felt more like she was just tagging along for the ride.
'I don't like that… I want to be of some use! But as I am now, I can't be…'
Maybe no matter how the job goes she should decline to go on A-Class missions again and remain on the C-Class missions until she was ready. Until she had caught up enough at least, then she would be able to keep her head held high when asking Kimberly and Raphael for a job and be able to work alongside them.
"Mina?" Raphael then called out to the girl, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Are you alright? You were frowning a bit." He asked, Caminal now realising how close to her face he was.
"I'm perfectly fine, please stop getting so close to people, you need to understand personal space!" Caminal replied in a huff as she stepped back.
"Wouldn't need to if you replied the first time we called out to you," Raphael asked. "But are you sure? Still not freezing cold?"
"Well… that could be better, but aside from that I'm fine," Caminal admitted whilst forcing herself to stand tall again and walking over to the rest of the woman.
"If you say so…" Raphael said with a shrug of his shoulders as he followed after her to join the group.
"So what is your name?" Kimberly asked the additional member of their group.
"Tori Aine." Came the blunt, monotone response. "It's nice working with you."
And now, after so long, I'm back.
Sorry for the long break, honestly did too many stories and burned out so super break and I'm back. When it comes to my stories, I'm only doing two now, one being Re:Zero and I will be working on them in turns.
Honestly, super sorry for being abruptly gone and I'll try not to have it happen again without warning and a given amount of time.
But, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and are looking forward to the next one, this was the more requested chapter as well. But there are two things I would want to mention, and the first is that the 'main character' role is something that I want to be passed between different people just depending on who the ark is mainly focused around so I understand so far with Raphael and Mina but everyone will get their spotlight!
Another thing I wish to mention, or rather ask, is do people want a discord server? For little hints, easier talking, announcements and maybe some other things? Only a suggestion to perhaps prevent sudden vanishes again.
Until the next.