The next chapter is done! This chapter concludes the first story arc, but rest assured that the others will be longer. I mean, the first major story arc in manage/anime only lasted a few chapters and two episodes. Anyway, hope you all enjoy! And don't forget to review!

Spiral, Sakura, Jason and Flora were walking out of the Clover train station.

Jason pulled out the job request flier and took another look at it. "Okay… it says here that the thieves usually hang around the country roads outside of town."

"Let's go then." Sakura said, still relieved that they're off the train.

As they walked off, Spiral could overhear some gossip from the local townsfolk with his magic.

"You know that kingdom to the far to the west, Zaphir? I heard the king's daughter has been sent on her pilgrimage."

"Why do they send their heirs out on these dangerous journeys?"

"I heard it's so they can learn about the world around them and apply what they've learned to further their prosperity."

"I'm just lucky they haven't declared war on anyone yet… I hope."

The four of them stood on the path of the country road and looked out toward the landscape. The only thing they could make out was a person heading toward Clover.

"Spiral, you're up." Sakura said.

Spiral nodded and stomped his foot on the ground to use his magic and sense if there were any bandits hiding out.

"… There are bandits stalking that person heading right toward us!" Spiral informed them.

"Let's go!" Sakura immediately started running further down the road.

"Wait! Sakura!" Spiral tried to call out to her, but she didn't listen.

"Sakura, you can't just rush in when there are killers about!" Flora shouted as she gave chase after Sakura.

"There are at least three bandits on each side of the road hiding within the trees right next to it. Jason, you take the ones on the left."

Spiral and Jason split up to take out the thieves in the woods.

The young girl with the scythe was still walking down the path and noticed that Sakura was running right for her.

"Get down!" Sakura shouted as she tackled the girl to the ground.

"Might I ask what you are doing?" The girl asked as she was pinned to the ground.

"GAAAAH!"

Three masked bandits were knocked unconscious by Spiral stealthily while Jason took out the three on the other side with a massive gust of wind that also happened to destroy a few of the trees. The two guys went over to the girls once the thieves were taken care of.

"Sakura, you didn't need to pin that poor girl to the ground." Flora said as she flew up to Sakura.

"Oh, it's so cute!" The girl somehow pushed Sakura off of her and quickly went to hug Flora like she had never seen a cat before. "Are cats like these common in Fiore?"

"I can't breathe." Flora spoke.

"Wait, you're not from Fiore?" Jason asked.

"I'm actually on a pilgrimage right now." The girl said. "Oh, my name is Aura Bloom (Age 14). What are your names?"

"I'm Spiral, that's Sakura, this is Jason, and the cat is Flora." Spiral introduced them.

"My arms are starting to fall asleep." Flora said.

"We're from a new guild that started up called Phoenix Dawn." Jason stated.

"Oh, so you're wizards." Aura said. "Well, thanks for saving me."

"Even though it was for a job, I would've saved you anyway." Spiral said.

"Spiral, are you trying to hit on her?" Sakura asked.

"No!" Spiral replied. "I'm just being honest!"

"Hehe, you seem like a fun bunch." Aura giggled. "Are there others like you in your guild?"

"No." All three responded quickly.

"Well, more precisely, there are NO other people in the guild, except for our Guild Master." Jason clarified.

"Anyway, let me thank you by getting us all something to eat." Aura offered.

"That sounds good. Free lunch AND money for our job." Sakura said. "I hope we luck out this much on future jobs!"

"I would like to take you up on your offer, but could you please let go of me?" Flora asked.

Aura finally let Flora go and the five of them headed back to Clover. As they walked, Spiral had an idea going through his head.

At a restaurant in Clover, the group was having some lunch at a table. Sakura was munching on a very large bowl of salad, Spiral was having some chicken, Flora was having some fish and Jason was having steak.

"Are you sure none of you want any of this?" Jason asked. "I can't really eat this whole thing by myself."

"Then why didn't you just ask for only half of it?" Flora questioned before taking another bite of her fish.

"Are you the leader of your team?" Aura asked Jason.

"We don't really have a leader on our team." Spiral answered.

"Then maybe we should have a vote on who should be the leader." Sakura said right before raising her hand. "I vote myself leader!"

"If Spiral and I haven't taken our initiatives, those thieves would've come out of the bushes and…" Jason was saying before realizing something. "You would've taken them out without any real problems."

"Ha!" Sakura mocked before eating more of her salad.

"Is that her?" Spiral heard a voice speak from another table.

Though the men were talking in whispers, Spiral could hear them from the corner of the restaurant.

"Yeah, we could probably get a lot of money out of her."

"Those mages around her took out our men without much effort. We should wait until they leave her company before we bag her."

"Spiral, is something wrong?" Flora asked, bringing Spiral's attention back to the group.

Spiral thought back to the men he just overheard. "No, it's nothing."

After they had finished eating, they left the restaurant and Aura was ready to say goodbye.

"It was nice meeting you all." Aura said.

"Thank you for the meal." Spiral said. "Anyway, we should probably head back to our client and get our reward."

Aura turned around and left and the others walked in the opposite direction.

"This isn't over yet." Spiral muttered to his teammates. "Someone's tracking her. They should be leaving the restaurant now."

Jason turned around and noticed that two men were exiting the restaurant heading in the same direction that Aura went in.

"Should we go back and help her?" Sakura inquired.

"Absolutely." Spiral nodded. "Follow me."

They hid behind the buildings and followed the two men as they tailed Aura. Aura noticed the men following her and started to pick up her pace. As her pace quicken, so did the pace of the men. She eventually started running and one of the men cast some sort of spell that caused her to stop dead in her tracks. She looked down to see that black chains made out of magic were preventing her from moving.

"You've been more trouble than we thought." One of the two men said as he walked up to her.

"Yes, I do believe this is her." The other man said. "This is without question-"

Without warning, Spiral had run up to the one casting the spell and punched him in the face. This caused him to lose focus and break the spell on Aura. Aura quickly pulled out her scythe and casted a magic seal.

"Flower Shards!" Aura sent a series of white flower petals at the other man.

He dodged the attack and stood right next to the other man.

"Who are you guys?" Spiral asked.

"We're the leaders of a Dark Guild prefecture." The man replied. "That Dark Guild happens to be the Bladed Foxes."

"We're a guild of thieves who specialize in-"

"Stealing things?" Jason guessed. "Yeah, should have just stopped with 'guild of thieves'."

"Enough of this!" The first man shouted. "Liquid Bullets!" He shot several bullets of water at Spiral.

Jason got between Spiral and the attack and used his wind magic to absorb the water bullets, which merged with the wind.

"One of the advantages of Zephyr Magic is that it can absorb fire, water, lightning and earth magic to power itself up!" Jason explained. "Zephyr Typhoon!"

Jason sent a water-filled whirlwind hurling toward the first man and it whisked him away into its vacuum.

"Chain Magic!" The other man shot a chain out of his sleeve that aimed for Aura.

"Forest Dragon Blossom Blade!" Sakura used cherry blossom petals forming in her hands and sent it toward the other man diagonally in the form of a flower blade.

The blade cut the chain and knocked the man to the ground. He tried to get up, but the other guy fell on top of him and they became unconscious.

"The authorities should be here any moment." Jason said. "I doubt they could ignore the noise we just made."

"Thanks again for saving me." Aura bowed to them.

"Why were those men chasing you?" Sakura inquired.

"I think I know why." Spiral spoke up. "I overheard a couple of gossiping women earlier about a king's daughter who was sent on a journey. I think you can figure out the rest."

"Wait, so you're a…" Sakura said.

"Yes, I'm the princess of Zaphir, sent on pilgrimage to learn about the world." Aura confirmed. "Those men must have known I would be here and probably planned to kidnap me to extort money from my family."

"So you're rich?" Sakura asked, her eyes filled with hope. "And can help renovate our guild?"

"Actually… I don't have THAT much on me." Aura admitted.

Sakura fell to the ground from her hope being shattered.

"I'm only allowed to bring a certain amount of money, necessities and prized valuables on my pilgrimage." Aura stated. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Your money supply might run out at some point if you don't find a job you can do." Spiral pointed out. "I have an idea, why not join our guild?"

"Are you sure that's okay, since she's on pilgrimage?" Jason questioned.

"Well, she's supposed to learn about the world." Spiral answered. "It would let her explore, learn and earn money at the same time. It's a win-win for both sides."

"Well, when you put it that way, I'd be happy to join your guild." Aura said.

They had to take the late train back to Roseshade, inevitably causing Sakura to get sick again and the rest to fall asleep. However, Jason woke up and decided to take a walk. There was no one else on the train, so he could afford to walk around. Spiral opened his eyes and noticed that Jason was taking a step outside.

Jason was just resting his arms against the railing and sighing.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Jason turned around to see Spiral had stepped outside, too.

"Well… at first I was fine." Jason replied. "But… I just needed some air."

Spiral could tell that Jason was hiding something, but he could tell it seemed personal and that he wouldn't tell them anytime soon. "All right. Don't be out too long, or you'll ruin your sleep schedule."

Spiral went back into the train car, leaving Jason to his thoughts.

"… Please be okay…" Jason muttered to himself while looking at the sky.

Back at Roseshade, the group had returned to the Phoenix Dawn guild hall… er, building, and Spiral gave Aura her guild mark, which was placed on the palm of her left hand and colored sky blue.

"Hey, check this out." Jason said.

There was now a request board and there were two jobs posted on it.

"Looks like we're progressing nicely." Spiral said.

"So… where exactly do you guys live?" Aura asked.

"Well… Jason and I just sleep in the bar here." Spiral replied. "Sakura and Flora go to the forest out of town. We can't make enough money for our own places right now."

"Sakura, do you mind if I stay with you until I can get enough money for my own home?" Aura asked, turning to Sakura.

"I don't mind at all." Sakura replied. "I mean, it would be more comfortable than being around two guys alone."

"Why don't we take this job tomorrow?" Spiral asked as he pointed at one of the jobs. "It's simply helping out this restaurant in Hargeon called 8-Island."

"Why would a restaurant ask a wizard guild for serving customers?" Sakura questioned.

"Because the food is served using magic, so the owner thought it would be a good idea if the waiters and waitresses use magic, too." Spiral explained, still reading the job posting.

"That sounds like a good first job." Aura said.

"And it doesn't pay too badly either." Sakura agreed as she looked at the posting.

"I guess it's settled then." Spiral said.

A/N: I must admit, I managed to finish this chapter much sooner than I had anticipated. I also got to introduce a new OC, too. I really hope you guys like my OCs so far as well as the story itself.