Chapter Ten: The Strength to Smile
Hey there, readers, before we start this chapter, I want to clear something up quick, Andreas, the OC created by Warmachine375 isn't actually an OC, but an unnamed character in the series, he gave him a personality as well as spells, so my bad, the OC suggestion still stands, but only till November 11th, I don't want the story to progress and an OC is suggested which can change the flow of the story, so I hope you can all understand.
With that out of the way, please enjoy this chapter, and an important note, it takes place WHILE the Black Bulls and the Golden Dawn are in the dungeon, so keep that in mind. Cya.
The sun rose over the base of the Aqua Deer, a ray of sunlight peered into a room window, shining inside a rather well-sized room, snoring was then heard as Zuka rested on her bed, the light glowed on her face, making her open her green eyes.
"Oh, it's morning already," she yawned, getting out of bed, she then walked to her mirror, looking at her reflection, her magenta and blue hair that reached to the top of her back and her blue two-piece nightgown.
"Okay Zuka, time to get ready for another day," she said to herself before a grin creased her face. Every morning when waking up, she still couldn't believe that she was a Magic Knight and got to live in such a place compared to how she lived in her village. She walked to her bed and grabbed her towel and sandals before exiting.
"Good morning, Zuka," a voice said, Zuka turned to see a girl come out of her room, she was about the same height as her, she had medium-sized red hair, a caramel skin tone, and had a towel with her as well.
"Oh, good morning, Shauna, how was your night?" the sparkle mage greeted back with a small smile, Shauna was the only person on the squad who she could really call her friend, since most of her other squadmates were wary of her, after all, she was a commoner. Despite being a noblewoman, Shauna never looked down on her and often came to her defense from others who would mock her.
"I slept just fine, and I see you're headed to the showers, we can go together," Shauna replied as Zuka nodded, the two then made their way to the showers. "So, how are you enjoying being on the Aqua Deer?"
Zuka thought about what she said, Shauna was her superior seeing that she's been on the squad for a year, it only made sense that she wanted to make sure she was liking the squad so far. "It's been pretty great, especially meeting you,"
"Ah, how nice of you to say so," Shauna smiled as they arrived at the female side of the showers, steam blanketed the room, the two girls each walked to one of the stalls, taking off their clothes and letting the hot water rain over them.
"I always enjoy coming to this every morning," Zuka said with a satisfied tone.
"Do they not have hot water in your village?" Shauna asked curiously.
"Oh no they do, but we never had showers, here, all you have to do is stand, no pouring water on yourself," she replied.
"I see," the two finished showering and went back to their rooms, in Zuka's room, she dried herself, put on her usual attire, and took a piece of rubber to tie her hair into a ponytail, she grabbed her grimoire and put it in her satchel.
She then walked out, Shauna walked out soon after, under her robe, she wore a short black dress with navy leggings, by her side was a dark green satchel, her grimoire within it. "Breakfast will be starting soon, we don't want to be late,"
"Now that's something I'm used to," Zuka remarked, of the many new things she was introduced to after joining the Aqua Deer, one thing she understood well from her life in Hiroka Village was that when it was time for breakfast, you had better not be late, or else you weren't eating that morning.
The two arrived at the breakfast hall, which was a large room in the base, a multitude of tables and chairs were set up in the middle of the room, around the room stood multiple stations, each full of delicious food. The two got their plates and filled it with food before sitting at an empty table.
Zuka wasted no time taking a bite of her breakfast, one thing she especially liked about being with the Aqua Deer was the food. "These taste so good, it doesn't even matter that I've been here for about a week, I'll never get tired of it," she commented.
"I like your enthusiasm about everything that's here, you know, I actually like it a lot when you're around, being a noble, I'm used to all of this, but thanks to you, I'm reminded every day how I shouldn't take it for granted," Shauna told her before hearing a slam right next to her.
The two girls turned to their side and saw a young man, he had short black hair, over his robe, he wore a long-sleeved lavender formal shirt, a light blue tie sticking out on the lower half of his torso, and black formal pants. The two girls were quickly annoyed by the boy's arrival.
"Hey there commoner, enjoying that food? I bet it's the best thing you've honestly ever had,"
Zuka groaned. "What the hell is it now, Oliver?" she asked. Oliver was another rookie who was recruited into the squad along with her, hailing from a noble house, he loved to ridicule her due to her lower status, to him, commoners were nothing more than people unloved by magic itself, he could care less about them. Among her squadmates, the one who undoubtedly mocked Zuka the most was Oliver.
Oliver evilly grinned. "What are you talking about, I just want to know how're you enjoying breakfast,"
Shauna stood and looked around, thanks to Oliver's sudden action at the table, their nearby squadmates began staring at them. "Back off Oliver, I don't know why does this keep happening day after day with you,"
Oliver was clearly annoyed. "You can't tell me what to do,"
Shauna raised an eyebrow. "What're you talking about, I'm 17 while you're 15, not to mention I'm your superior," she said back.
"Whatever, the real question you should be asking is why are you defending her, you're a noble, and she's just a lowly peasant?" he asked.
"Why you ask? She's a member of our squad, as well as a kind person and a strong mage. You were at the entrance exam with her, didn't you see her skills?" she replied before asking.
"Her opponent was weak, anybody would have taken him out, she just got lucky," Oliver retorted.
"But what about my mission in Rielzu Village, 100 bandits were defeated," Zuka said, taking another bite of her food.
"Oh please, I remember that you were sent on that mission with a Magic Knight from another squad, I bet they did all the heavy lifting while you maybe just stood around doing nothing,"
A shadow covered Zuka's face as she finished the last of her breakfast and stood up, walking away, the other mages watching her do so.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I hurt the little commoner's feelings!" Oliver laughed.
"You idiot," Shauna said, angrily kicking Oliver in the shin, sending the rookie mage onto one knee. She then ran over to catch up with Zuka.
The sparkle mage exited the door of the breakfast hall before Shauna caught up with her. "Zuka, wait," she said as she grabbed her friend's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
The shadow on Zuka's face disappeared as she turned to look at Shauna, and she was relieved to see she was smiling. "Don't worry Shauna, I'm fine,"
"You sure like to smile a lot, but it gives me relief, I know what he said didn't get to you," Shauna said. "But I'm surprised, from the time I've seen you here, you've always been one to say what's on your mind, didn't he piss you off?"
"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm mega pissed, but I didn't want to cause a scene in the hall, that and something about Oliver tells me lecturing him won't change his mind," Zuka replied.
"I hope you're wrong, there has to be a way to calm that attitude of his,"
"Same here,"
Just then, a squadmate walked up to the two girls. "Um, excuse me, are you Zuka Glitenia?"
They looked at the mage, it was another girl, she had short dark blue hair and wore some kind of fuzzy hat.
"Hello Fragil," Shauna greeted. "This is Zuka,"
"Okay then, Rill wants to see you in his office," she said. "It's very important,"
Zuka was a bit taken aback. "The captain wants to see me, I wonder what he wants?"
"Don't worry girl, we all know how Rill is, you'll be just fine," Shauna told her before turning around. "I'm going to head back and finish breakfast,"
"Wait, Shauna, Rill wishes to see you as well," Fragil continued.
"I see, well, so much for finishing breakfast, okay Zuka, let's go," Shauna lightly sighed before the two made their way to the door of the captain's office, they knocked on it in unison.
"Come in," they heard Rill's voice on the other said as they opened the door, there they saw their captain, sitting in front of a canvas as usual, he appeared to be painting the night sky.
"This is good, but I feel like it's missing something if it wants to be a masterpiece," he sighed, turning to the two girls. "Oh, Zuka, good thing you're here, mind using your sparkle magic to liven up this painting of mine, a glittering finish is exactly what it needs,"
"Huh?" Zuka asked. "This can't be the important thing he needed, Rill gets so engrossed in his paintings, sometimes, I wonder if my sparkle attribute was the only thing that made him want me on his squad," she thought.
She reminisced the day of the entrance exam, it was the part where captains decided who they wanted on their squads, when it was her turn, she remembered how ecstatic Rill had been, eagerly raising his hand like a little child, practically begging the other captains not to take her into their squads. Being the youngest Magic Knight captain, she had expected to be a bit less mature than the others, but she was completely taken aback by his display.
Shauna spoke up, taking Zuka out of her thoughts. "Sorry sir, but didn't you call us here for something important?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," he replied, standing from his canvas and walking to his desk, grabbing a piece of paper. "You are already aware due to your mission in Rielzu Village, our squad has been given a star, right?"
Zuka nodded. "That's right, Shauna told me what stars were,"
"That's great, because I have another mission for you, this time it will be in Starym Village,"
"Starym Village?" Shauna raised a brow.
"It's a well-sized village in the Common Realm, not too far from entering the Forsaken Realm, the people there have reported strange activity happening there for a few weeks," Rill explained.
"Oh, so you want me to go there and see what's going on?" Zuka asked.
Roll nodded. "Correct, boy you're smart, but you won't be going on this mission alone,"
Zuka's eyes brightened, she thought this was another chance to work with Kenos. "Will I be teaming up with another squad again?"
"Nope, not this time, that's why I called for you, Shauna, you two as well as another one of our knights will go and see what the problem is," he replied.
"Another one? Who else is teaming up with us?" Shauna asked.
"Fragil should be bringing him here right now," he replied as the door opened. "Oh, what great timing,"
From the other side, Fragil emerged, beside her was the third teammate, when they saw who it was, their eyes widened, but not a speck of joy was found in them, rather, the look of annoyance.
"Oh c'mon, why him," they thought together as they saw their teammate was none other than Oliver.
The male shot a quick glare their way before turning to face Rill. "Captain, you called for me?"
"Yes, that's right, you're going to be working with these two on a mission in Starym Village," he replied.
Oliver was immediately disappointed. "You mean I have to work with them, can't I do this solo?"
Rill shook his head. "Nope, you're only a rookie, you can't go on a mission all by yourself,"
Oliver knew there was no arguing, once Rill could get himself away from his canvas, he could become quite forceful if it ever came to it. "O-Okay,"
"Great, Shauna, you'll be leading as the most experienced mage," Rill instructed.
"Yes sir," she clover-saluted.
"Okay then, I'm counting on you, Zuka Glitenia, Oliver Yggdrow, and Shauna Trixxton, do your best and watch each other's back," he said.
"Yes sir," the three of them clover-saluted together before exiting.
"Now that that's taken care of, back to painting!" he said, happily skipping to his canvas.
"Oh Rill, sometimes, you are such a child," Fragil thought with a small smile.
Time passed and the three Magic Knights took up their brooms and flew into the sky, Shauna bringing a map with her to help find the village. "Okay, going by what the map says, we should arrive there shortly," she explained before hearing Oliver suck his teeth.
She turned to face him. "Gotta problem?"
"Damn right I do, I don't want to work with you two, especially her," he replied, pointing at Zuka. "I'm not going to work with some commoner, she's just going to hold us back,"
Zuka's face was getting red with anger, ready to give Oliver a piece of her mind, but Shauna quickly stepped in. "Enough, I don't want you saying that about her, you're her teammate, besides, why do you think she's so much weaker than us, did you forget that Rill was the only captain that wanted you, and he told me that was a last-second decision,"
Oliver gritted his teeth and looked away, Shauna smiled. "Good, now please just stay like that until we get to the village,"
Zuka flew closer to Shauna. "Hey, not that I don't appreciate it, but why did you step in, I could've handled it," she whispered.
"I thought you said that lecturing him wouldn't help?" Shauna asked, whispering as well.
"I know," Zuka replied, showing her friend her clenched fist. "I was going to beat the shit out of him,"
Shauna lightly giggled. "Then it's a good thing I stopped you when I did, one hit and all hell would've broke loose between you two,"
Zuka puffed up her cheek. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said, flying back to where she originally was.
Shauna looked at her map, then grinned, looking down. "Hey, we're here, get ready to land," she said as the two did as she said.
Oliver looked around. "This place isn't really that big," he noted before noticing people look at them, they all wore simple clothes. "Uh, commoners,"
The three knights approached them, Shauna being the first to speak up. "Hello, this is Starym Village, correct, we Magic Knights of the Aqua Deer have been told you are in need of our help,"
"Wow, that sounded so professional," Zuka and Oliver both thought.
A man walked out from among them, he was quite young and tall, having dark green hair. "Greetings, Magic Knights, I am the chief of Starym Village, Dimitri," he introduced himself, the trio bowed their heads in respect. "We have been having a problem for about two weeks,"
"And what would that problem be?" Zuka politely asked.
Just then, a good distance away from the village, sparks flew into the sky, making a loud sizzling sound.
Dimitri sighed. "That's our problem, our village greatly relies on our abundant number of livestock, but whenever we take them out to graze, and those sparks fly into the sky, the animals become frightened and run away," he explained, pointing to the area, loaded with grass, only a few large rocks around with no buildings. "That area is the only place big enough for them to graze, if we don't handle the problem, the animals will become malnourished and eventually die,"
"Damn, that does sound like a big problem," Shauna said.
"Well, then let's hurry and see what's causing it and put it to an end," Oliver said impatiently, running towards an open area. "The sooner we get to leave this place, the better,"
"As much as I hate to admit it, he has the right mindset there," Zuka said, running as well.
Shauna turned to Dimitri. "Don't worry sir, we'll handle it," before running to her squadmates.
"Hey, commoner, we don't know exactly what we're facing, if it turns out to be something hostile, make sure you don't get in my way," Oliver said.
"That's what I should be saying to you," Zuka retorted with a smirk.
"Enough you two," Shauna said, catching up to them. "Whatever the problem may be, we'll do it together, and just to let you know, my attribute is mostly for support, so if we do engage in battle, I trust the two of you can cover combat,"
"Of course," the two rookies said at once as another round of sparks flew into the sky.
"We're getting closer, I can feel its mana, it's definitely a spell, someone casted it," Oliver stated.
Shauna nodded. "Good, we should first see who they are before engaging, so let's hide behind one of those rocks," she instructed as they got closer and did so.
"Okay then, let's see who our mystery mage is?" Zuka wondered aloud as they all peered from the side of the rock and saw someone not too far away from them, it was a girl, she had long purple hair and wore a large white cloak of some sort, she then raised her hand and sparks fired, flying into the sky.
Oliver grinned. "Great, we found our culprit, let's get her,"
Shauna took another look at the girl. "No, we don't know who she is or why she's here, we should wait here and come up with-," she began, but stopped as she turned to look at her squadmates and saw that Oliver was not among them.
"What the?" the two girls said.
"Hey you!" they heard Oliver yell, they looked over to see him confidently approaching the female mage. "I don't know who you are or what you're doing, but your magic is making trouble for some villagers,"
"A Magic Knight?" the girl said suddenly, her face wearing an expression that shows she was doing something suspicious, she turned around, showing the front of her cloak, it had a black background around the chest area along with three golden eyes in a vertical pattern. She raised a hand and fired a spark at Oliver.
The mage dodged it. "What the hell?!" he screamed, Zuka and Shauna quickly leaving their hiding spot and coming to his aid.
The mage gasped. "More Magic Knights?"
Shauna stepped forward. "Wait, we don't know you who are or why you're here, but we don't want to hurt you, we only came to talk,"
"That's a lie!" she exclaimed, taking out her grimoire. "I'll give the chance to walk away and forget what you saw, or else you're all dead,"
Oliver rolled his eyes. "Well, so much for talking," he turned to the mage. "We're not going anywhere, we got a problem to take care of, and you seem the source of said problem,"
"Don't say I didn't warn you, Spark Magic: Ground Sparks!" she exclaimed, punching the ground, sending a trail of sparks at the trio, it then divided into three.
The three quickly jumped into the air, avoiding the attack. "Don't tell me that's all you got," Oliver scoffed as they landed, he took out his grimoire. "Time to show you what a real spell looks like, Wood Creation Magic: Wood Hammer!"
At his command, wood drew close to him before shaping itself into a hammer, he charged toward the spark mage.
"Oliver wait, I have a spell to help you," Shauna said, taking out her grimoire. "Illusion Magic: Falling Slab!" she exclaimed as a slab appeared between the two, the slab then began to fall on the girl.
The girl's reflexes told her to cross her arms and brace herself for the incoming impact, but as the slab touched her, it disappeared.
"Huh?" she asked aloud, not feeling any pain, however that pain soon came as Oliver struck her with her hammer, knocking her a few feet back.
"Nice, a clean hit," Oliver smirked. "Hey Shauna, that was a pretty impressive spell you pulled there,"
She nodded. "It's like I said, I'll do support, you two will do combat,"
"Okay, it's my turn," Zuka said, her grimoire floating up to her. "Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!" she exclaimed as the bow formed and she fired an arrow.
The spark mage ran and hid behind a rock, avoiding the attack. "Not bad, you have mages that attack from close up and far away," she remarked.
Oliver turned to his squadmate, a look of slight confusion was present on his face. "You use...sparkle magic? Sounds kinda girly if you ask me,"
"Don't push it!" Zuka exclaimed, despite the same situation happening with Kenos just a few days prior, Oliver had already managed to get on her nerves enough for the remark to annoy her.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," he turned back, setting his hammer on the ground. "This ought to get you out of your hiding spot, Wood Magic: Gale of Splinters!" he boomed as jagged pieces of wood appeared around him, at once he fired them off, maneuvering around the landscape to find its target.
"Shit," the mage muttered as she quickly got up and dodged the splinters, but some had managed to hit, cutting her face, she used her sleeve to wipe the blood that trickled down.
"I bet you regret threatening us now, tell you what, why don't you just surrender, we have nothing against you personally, as long as you just leave, we're good, the villagers won't have a problem, everybody will be happy," the wood mage offered.
"Sorry, but no, there's something I have to do here," she challenged. "Besides, I'm nowhere near beaten, Spark Magic: Flickering Melee!" she exclaimed as sparks enveloped her hands and feet. "You seem like the most confident one of the bunch, why don't you show me what you got, one on one,"
Oliver took up his hammer. "Alright then, but don't come crying when I pummel you into the ground!" he exclaimed, charging forward.
"Wait!" Shauna cried. "Give me some time to cast something, we'll do this together!"
"No way, she said one on one, your spells might be useful, but I don't technically need them, my strength on its own is more than enough to take her down!" he exclaimed back.
"Listen to her you idiot, she's leading this mission, besides, you think you have to agree to a one on one match just because she said so?!" Zuka then said.
"I have to agree, on my honor as a noble, I must display my own strength to my opponent, a commoner like you wouldn't understand!" he taunted as the sparkle mage groaned.
Oliver and the spark mage clashed, each swing of the wood mage's hammer was met by either a punch or a kick, sparks flying after every collision.
"You aren't too bad," Oliver complimented.
"I suppose the same is sort of true for you as well," she responded.
Zuka and Shauna looked from afar, Zuka sighed. "Screw it, there's no way he just expects us to stand here while he takes her on alone, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" she exclaimed, her lance forming, she took hold of it and charged. "Shauna, back me up!"
She nodded. "You got it, Illusion Magic: Creature of the Unknown," she said as a small, red glowing beast appeared next to Zuka, running beside her.
"Cool, I might need a little more power to finish this off quickly, Sparkle Reinforcement Magic: Rampage Force," she said, the aura surrounding her body.
"I need to finish this three off quickly, I have to complete the mission I was given by the master," the spark mage thought, ready to use a new spell, but was stopped as she saw Zuka along with the red beast from the corner of her eye.
Suddenly, wings sprouted out from the creature's back and it flew towards the mage, ready to strike with its claws, from the back, Shauna grinned. "This is one of my most useful spells, it can already take a few hits before vanishing as well as deal minor damage, I just hope Oliver and Zuka can work together to finish her off," she thought.
"Crap," the mage muttered, ending her struggle with Oliver to dodge the incoming attack, the creature eventually fading away. "I don't know what the hell that was, but something tells me I'll have to be a lot more care-," she continued, but stopped midway as she noticed a shadow looming over her, she looked up and saw Zuka in the air, ready to strike with her lance, but she managed to evade it.
The sparkle mage landed on the ground with tremendous force. "Darn it, I almost had her, if only she didn't notice me,"
"What the hell are you doing, didn't I tell you I was going to take care of this, one on one, on my honor as a noble?!" Oliver exclaimed.
Zuka's face showed that she didn't care one bit. "Honor as a noble my ass, this isn't some competition, you're on a mission, with other people, we're going to work together like Shauna said,"
"I'm good, I already said I didn't want to work with either of you, especially you, remember, you're just a commoner who came from some village in the sticks, don't think you can fight on the same level as me," he said, charging at his opponent once more.
Zuka groaned. "For the love of the damned, can this guy just stop talking about statuses for five seconds, I honestly want to beat his ass more than our opponent, he should really take some notes from Kenos," she thought in an annoyed tone.
"No more playing around, I am going to finish you!" Oliver exclaimed, jumping into the air, ready to slam his hammer on the spark mage.
She nodded. "You're right about that, I need to finish you now," she said as Oliver was just about to reach her, her grimoire flipped to a new page. "Spark Magic: Flickering Detonation!" she exclaimed as Oliver was just a few inches from her face, a crackling white orb appeared in front of them, before the wood mage could even react, it exploded, sending him flying a number of yards before landing on the ground.
"I can tell you that's going to sting," the spark mage continued. "Flickering Detonation is a spell made to attack opponents over a short distance, you practically took the attack on point blank, there's no way you're getting up for some time, which only leaves you two,"
"Well, so much for your honor as a noble," Zuka silently taunted her squadmate before quickly regrouping with Shauna. "So, what's our plan? We're down one mage slash annoying jackass,"
Shauna lightly giggled before putting on a serious face once more. "I'm not too sure, that spell of hers is made for a short distance range and is even more dangerous point blank, which means the best move would be long-range attacks,"
"That would make sense, but she can evade them and hide behind a rock, as much as I hate to admit it, only Oliver has a spell to lure her out," Zuka pointed out.
"Then what about my creature illusion, it can draw her out," the illusion mage suggested.
"It could, but can it do a lot of damage to lure her out, and she can probably use that spark melee spell to fight it without leaving her hiding spot," Zuka pointed out once again.
"I see, then, I'll have to use my best spell," Shauna said. "The greatest illusion spell in my arsenal, but for it to work on her, I need to touch her," she turned to the sparkle mage. "Zuka, I'm counting on you, I need you to draw her fire and keep her occupied while I get in close to touch her,"
"You got it," she replied, summoning her bow and firing off a flurry of shots as she and Shauna advanced, the two then split up.
"Over here," Zuka said, continuing her fire, the spark mage dodged her attacks and sent back a few of her own, completely ignoring Shauna.
"Okay, just have to get a little closer," the illusion mage whispered to herself, slowly nearing her opponent.
The spark mage continued firing her spark attacks, each one being met by one of Zuka's light arrows. "This girl isn't too bad, but where's that other girl, the last I saw of her, she split up with the sparkles over here, what are they planning...wait, is she trying to attack me from behind?" she thought before turning around, and surely enough, Shauna wasn't too far from here.
"So that was your plan, impressive, but not impressive enough," she said, preparing to fire a spark blast.
"Not happening, Shauna hurry!" Zuka exclaimed, continuing her blast of arrows, Shauna didn't waste any time running to the mage, trying to get just one touch in.
"I'm not letting either of you get a hit in, Spark Creation Magic: Wall of Sparks!" she exclaimed as a wall formed in front of her, protecting her from Zuka's attack, meaning she could focus completely on Shauna.
"I'm going to get you!" Shauna exclaimed as she finally got close enough to touch the mage, but she dodged every attempt. "You're not going to make this easy are you?"
"I still don't know what you're planning, but you have to touch me to do it, so I won't let you touch me, I'm clearly faster than you," the spark mage replied.
"You may be faster, but I have something you don't, Illusion Magic: Twin Clone," she said as a clone of herself appeared. "I've imprinted some of my mana onto this clone, so even though it isn't real, if it can touch her, I should still be able to use my spell," she thought as the two Shaunas ran towards the spark mage.
The mage sucked her teeth. "Shit, adding a clone could make things difficult, I'll have to do something to take care of them, which means I'll have to take a bit of a risk," she thought as she just stood still.
"I take it that you've given up, thanks for making this easy!" the two Shaunas exclaimed as they both jumped into the air, ready to land on the mage.
Instead of looking worried, the spark mage merely grinned. "I haven't given up, in fact, you just played yourself into my hands!" she exclaimed. "I believe you remember this spell, Spark Magic: Flickering Detonation!"
The white orb from before appeared between them and exploded, the clone vanished and Shauna was sent flying, landing a few yards away, not too far from Oliver. "Damn...that spell packs one hell of a punch,"
"You got hit too?" she turned to see Oliver laying down too, the mage was right, he didn't look like he would be getting up soon, which meant the same was true for her.
"Yeah, which means Zuka is the only one left who can fight right now," she replied.
"The commoner is all we have left...we're doomed," he said.
"Don't underestimate her, I know she can do this," Shauna said in an attempt to reassure him.
The mage's spark wall fell, giving her view of Zuka. "It seems you're the only one left sparkles, I'll give you one more chance, take your friends and get out of here,"
"Sorry, but I can't do that, my squadmates and I were given a mission, and we're going to complete it," she said back, her voice full of determination.
The spark mage shrugged. "Fine then, I've given you two chances, no more mercy, and now that there's only one opponent to worry about, I'm not holding back, Spark Magic: Ground Sparks!" she exclaimed, punching the ground as the trail of sparks appeared, but unlike last time, it divided into ten different trails, each heading towards Zuka.
"Shit, she can make more than three," she muttered, paying attention to one trail that was getting quite close, she dodged it, but to her surprise, the trail followed her.
"Surprised? That wood boy isn't the only one who know seeker type spells, it's a lot easier using it on just one person, you have ten trails to worry about,"
Thanks to her Rampage Force, Zuka was able to outrun the trails, but the problem came in the form of its number and the fact that it could follow her, each being able to come from any direction.
"This is going to be tough, even if I go into the air, it'll follow me when I land, I need a plan to get around-," she thought, but was cut off, due to her thinking, she didn't notice a trail getting near her before it was too late, she could feel the pain traveling through her entire body, and the pain only increased as the other nine trails caught up to her, she fell to the ground, her aura disappearing.
"No, Zuka!" Shauna exclaimed.
"Don't think that's enough to keep me down," Zuka muttered as she got up, the spark mage grit her teeth but was then caught completely off guard as she saw that Zuka was smiling.
"She's smiling, is she planning something?" the spark mage said to herself.
"Sparkle Magic: Glittering Star Shower!" Zuka exclaimed as the stars began falling towards the mage, at the same time, Zuka began running towards her, hoping that the spell would let her get close enough to land a clean punch.
The spark mage raised her hands into the air, firing a multitude of sparks at the raining stars, their clashes detonating in the sky, she then aimed her hands at Zuka, who was still a good distance away. "Spark Magic: Flickering Detonation!" she exclaimed as the orb appeared and exploded, sending Zuka a few feet back, onto the ground.
"This is pointless, it doesn't matter what the commoner does, she can't beat her, if only we had enough strength to get back out there," Oliver said as he tried to get up, but fell back down. "I don't even have enough strength to cast a spell,"
"We have to believe in her, either to win or hold out long enough for us to regain our strength," Shauna told him as she saw Zuka get up once more, the smile on her face still present.
"Uh, why don't you just stay down, Spark Magic: Flickering Melee!" the spark mage exclaimed as she ran to Zuka, launching punches and kicks, Zuka blocked and maneuvered around a good number of them, but her opponent managed to get a clean hit on her face, sending her down once more.
But she got up again, her smile not fading, from afar, Oliver and Shauna looked with some amazement. "No way, she's getting her ass handed to her, but regardless, she keeps getting up, I guess that's pretty impressive, not even...I, a noble, could do something like that," Oliver thought.
Her opponent was now getting really frustrated. "Why, why do you keep getting up! This fight is over, you can't beat me! And why, just why, do you keeping fucking smiling?!"
"Why do I smile? Why don't I give up? Those two questions have the same answer, a great person who was once a part of my life," she replied. "Listen up, because I've got something to tell you, a story about that person,"
[Flashback]
Five Years Ago. Hiroka Village
"I'm going off to buy some food, I'll be back soon mom," a young Zuka said as she emerged out of a simple house, a basket in her hand.
A tall woman with blue hair then emerged, standing by the door. "Be careful Zuka, don't spend too much!" she called.
Zuka turned around and smiled. "I know mom!" she called back before turning again.
Soon, she arrived at the village marketplace, the part of the village where people sold food along with other things, it wasn't very big, but she knew the people there were really nice.
"Hey there Zuka, what're you here for today?" she turned to see a woman, politely calling out to her, she walked over to the woman.
"Hello there Mrs. Droms, your fruits look really good today," Zuka said.
The lady smiled. "I already told you Zuka, just call me Alma,"
"But you're my elder, it wouldn't be right for me to call you that," Zuka replied.
Alma chuckled. "Oh Zuka, you're such a kind girl, it makes me forget that when someone makes you really mad, you give them hell. As for the fruits, we had a really good harvest yesterday, so everything is great, so, what will it be,"
Zuka looked at the variety of fruits. "I'll take three apples, two oranges, and two pears," she said, paying the amount of money to Alma before putting the fruits in her basket. "Bye Mrs. Dr...Alma,"
Alma waved back. "Say hi to your mother and father for me,"
Twenty minutes passed as Zuka went around, talking with the merchants and buying food. "I have everything I came for, I better hurry back," she said before bumping into somebody.
"Be careful Zuka, you almost dropped your food," the person said, Zuka looked up to see a tall young lady with white and black hair in a neat vertical stripe pattern, she wore a short-sleeved green shirt with a blue sleeveless jacket and long black pants.
"Oh, hello Chief Moiru, sorry about that," Zuka apologized as the female chief ruffled her hair.
"It's all right, I see you bought food, are you making dinner for your family?" she asked.
Zuka nodded. "That's right, I'm getting a lot better at cooking,"
"Great, tell me Zuka, how's your father doing, I heard that he's been sick for a few weeks, I hope everything is alright?" Moiru asked.
A sad look appeared on Zuka's face. "He hasn't been getting better, but at least he hasn't been getting worse, when I get home, I'm going to make his favorite meal, then he'll feel better," she said, a small smile creasing her face.
Moiru smiled. "That's better, you don't look good when you're sad, I like it when I see a smile on your face, well, take care," she said as she walked away from Zuka.
"Okay, bye chief," the girl said back as she walked back to her house.
"I'm back mom," she said as her mother came to her.
"Ah, you're back, I got the fire on, you can make dinner now," she said as Zuka took out the food and began cooking, once she finished, she took a plate and entered a room, a man with magenta hair was laying on his bed.
"Hey dad, I made your favorite meal," she said as placed the plate on a counter next to him.
"Thanks, Zuka," he said, grabbing the plate and taking a bit of it. "Ah, this tastes great, you really are becoming quite the cook,"
"Of course, you did teach me," Zuka said. "We both know that mom couldn't make a good tasting meal to save her life,"
The two laughed. "You got that right, being a good cook is one of the things that made her want to marry me," her father said before roughly coughing into his hand.
"Dad!" Zuka exclaimed, coming to his side, she looked at his hand and saw that it was covered in blood. "Oh no,"
"It seems that my sickness is getting worse, my time is running out," he said grimly.
"No, you can't go, dad, you have to get better, I'm only ten years old, I still have growing up to do, and you have to be there, not just for me, but everyone else," she cried as tears fell down her eyes.
Her father stood up and wiped the tears off her eyes. "Don't be sad Zuka, even if I'm gone, I know you'll grow up to be an incredible young woman, you can already take over as the chef of the house right now,"
"But I...don't want you...to go," she said in between sniffles.
He smiled. "I know, and I don't want to leave any of you either, but it seems that neither of us can do anything about it, so no point getting too sad about it, but there's something I want you to do for me,"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Before I tell you, I want you to remember your most fond memory," he instructed.
Zuka closed her eyes and thought, her most fond memory was the memories she had of her father, playing together, cooking together, laughing together, she then opened her eyes, a wide smile on her face.
"That's it, I love to see that smile of yours, I want to remember this, that whenever you face something difficult, you're going to smile, if you have enough strength to smile, you have enough strength to overcome the obstacles in your way," he explained. "As long as you can promise me that, I can die with less regrets,"
"But what about when you're gone, I won't be able to hold back my tears?" Zuka asked.
"Okay then, you can cry during my funeral, but after that can you promise me?"
Zuka tightly hugged her father. "Of course, I can do that,"
"Thank you," he said as they released from the hug, he then took his plate. "Now, I better finish this before it gets cold,"
"Alright then, I better go get some too, bye dad," she said as she exited his room and went to go get her dinner.
The next day came, and it was a sad day, Zuka's father had breathed his last breath, the entire village came together to bury him and comfort Zuka and her mother, and just as her father permitted her too, Zuka cried, she cried for hours, not a person disturbed her, they all knew how close she was to her father.
She eventually stopped and slowly walked back home, as she arrived, she walked into her dad's room. "I miss you already," she said aloud before noticing the plate from the other day, and on it was a piece of paper, she took it and read its content.
Thanks for making my favorite meal, it was great, especially since it will probably be the last time I ever get to eat it. Take care of your mother for me. -Signed Leroy Glitenia aka the luckiest husband and father in the world.
Zuka finished reading the letter as she set it down and took the plate, heading towards the kitchen, as her mother got home, she saw a look on her daughter's face, but it wasn't a sad look.
It was a smile.
[End Flashback]
"That's the answer to your question, my father was the closest person to me, and I made a promise to him, as long as I have the strength to smile, no obstacle exists that I can't overcome, it doesn't matter how many times I hit the ground, I'll get back up with a smile on my face!" Zuka exclaimed.
"So that's the reason, some promise you made to your dead dad, whatever, I think I would've been better off not knowing," the spark mage scoffed.
Shauna reacted quite differently though. "Is that why she likes to smile a lot, I never knew it went that deep,"
Oliver, however, was in deep thought. "As long as she has the strength to smile, she'll keep getting up, no matter how hard the obstacle in front of her is," he turned to the illusion mage. "Hey Shauna, I guess...you were right,"
"Right, right about what?" she asked, confused by his sudden statement.
"I was underestimating her, I thought she was weaker than us because of her status, but I was wrong, that common-...Zuka, is strong, as a mage and as a person, and I guess I don't mind working together with you two either," he reluctantly explained.
Shauna smiled. "As much as I like hearing you say that, what can we do, we're still too weak?"
"Not exactly, thanks to Zuka's story, she was able to buy me some time to regain some of my strength, enough strength to cast this," his grimoire came up to him. "Wood Recovery Magic: Healing Branches of Yggdrasil," he said as a small tree sprouted in front of them, two branches from the tree touched the two mages, enveloping them in a glow.
Shauna could feel her strength coming back quickly. "Wow, that spell is fast,"
Oliver nodded. "It can heal any number of people, but the speed of the process decreases if I have to heal multiple people, but for now, it's only the two of us,"
"Awesome, we have to hurry, this fight will come to an end," she said as they both got up. "I have a plan,"
Zuka made some distance between her and the spark mage, ready to cast a Shimmering Bow spell. "Zuka, wait!"
The sparkle mage turned around to see Shauna running to her. "Shauna, she's back on her feet, but where's Oliver?" she thought.
The spark mage was surprised. "How are you able to get up, let alone run, you took my attack on point-blank?!"
"It's called recovery magic, ever heard of it," she replied before turning her attention to Zuka. "Run towards her Zuka, I have a plan, trust me,"
"I trust you," Zuka replied as she ran towards her opponent.
Shauna's grimoire came in front of her. "Illusion Magic: Illusionary Multitude!" she exclaimed as thirty clones of Zuka appeared, each of them running as well.
"I think I know what to do, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" Zuka exclaimed as all thirty-one of them equipped the weapon. "Let's see you stop me now!"
"Shit, there's so many of them, I can't hold back, Spark Magic: Twin Flickering Detonation!" she exclaimed as two orbs appeared, one of each side, they exploded at the same time, enveloping the entire area with dust. "There we go, an attack that powerful ought to take out the girl and her clones,"
"Nice try, but I'm not out," a voice said, the spark mage looked around before seeing Zuka emerge from the dust, ready to strike with the side of her lance. "I stayed back, so the only things destroyed were the clones,"
"Damn, I'm low on mana, I can't defend myself, but that attack shouldn't be too bad, she's taken a lot of damage," the spark mage thought with reassurance.
"She isn't the only one you have to worry about!" a voice said from behind her, from the dust, Oliver emerged, ready to strike with his hammer.
"Where did he come from, they're both attacking from different sides," she muttered.
"This fight is over, victory belongs...to the Aqua Deer!" the two rookies exclaimed together, attacking simultaneously, sending their opponent yards away from them, the dust then began to clear.
"Damn..it, they beat me, but I have to complete my mission, I have to," the spark mage said, slowly falling out of consciousness.
"That was quite the battle," Oliver said as his hammer disappeared. "Shauna, should we take her in, I don't know what she was doing here, but whatever it was, it seemed important,"
Shauna nodded. "Yeah, good idea, do any of you know a binding spell?"
"I know one," the wood mage said as he began walking to the spark mage. "Okay, you're coming with us, we'll take you to the capital for questioning, I assume you won't give much of a fight, now-," Oliver was about to cast a binding spell, but just then, a purple portal appeared right under her and a figure came out, their face was completely hidden by a cloak similar to the girl's, the figure carried the mage in their arms.
"This magic, it's you...Valtos," the spark mage muttered weakly. "I'm sorry, I couldn't complete the mission the master gave me,"
"Don't worry about it Annalise, you did your best, even fighting three Magic Knights on your own, the master will understand, for now, just get some rest," he told her and they sank back into the portal.
"Hey, you're not getting away!" Oliver exclaimed, firing splinters at the mages.
Valtos retaliated by firing purple balls of space, destroying the splinters, before completely sinking into the portal.
"Who the hell was that?" Zuka asked.
Shauna shook her head. "Not sure, but for now, we've completed our mission, we can head back to the village," she replied as they did so.
As they entered the village, they were met with cheers from the people, Dimitri walked out from among them. "I take it the problem is solved?"
"Yes, we have done it, this problem will trouble you no more," Oliver replied.
The crowd cheered even louder, they were saved, life could resume normally for them, the three mages then took their brooms and flew up into the sky, waving down at the villagers.
"Hey...Zuka," Oliver said, not making total eye contact with the sparkle mage. "I know I never really have been the nicest person to you, but, I apologize, I just thought that because you were a commoner, you were below people like me, you were weaker, and you didn't deserve my respect, but during that fight, I see that I was completely wrong,"
Zuka's eyes widened. "You were?"
Oliver shyly nodded. "Yeah, you're strong and you have an even stronger mentality, I'm sorry I couldn't see that and only looked at your status, so...I hope you can forgive me,"
Zuka flew over to the wood mage and punched him in the arm. "Ow, what was that for!?" he asked.
Zuka grinned. "Just a little payback for every bad thing you've said about me, but in all seriousness, I forgive you, and it's better late than never, if you kept it up, I think I would have to kill you,"
Oliver chuckled. "Well thankfully, you don't," he then extended a hand to her. "This might be a little late but...welcome to the Aqua Deer, Zuka Glitenia,"
She took his hand and they shook. "Thanks, it'll be a pleasure to work with you, Oliver Yggdrow,"
Shauna breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god, I'm so glad you've cleared the bad blood between you,"
"Me too, and by the way Shauna, you were awesome today," Zuka said.
"I was?"
Oliver nodded. "She's right, your spells really helped us, especially at the end, we would've never gotten a hit like that in without you,"
Shauna's cheeks turned red. "Oh, it was nothing, that's just what we support mages do,"
"Support mages?" Zuka said, thinking back to something Kenos told her.
"I see, well now you know it's good to know a variety of spell types," his words said in her mind, she flew closer to Shauna. "Hey, can I do something for me?"
"Um, sure, what is it?" Shauna asked.
"Well, I don't really know any spells that aren't combat-centric, so if you could, can you help me learn some support spells," she replied.
Shauna was a bit surprised by her squadmate's request for help, she then smiled. "Of course I'll help you,"
Zuka smiled as well. "Thanks, I really appreciate it," she said as they continued flying back to their base.
But back at the scene of a battle, a man walked around, taking into account the scorched patches of grass, he walked over to a spot that was especially scorched, his face showed a distressed look.
Just then, he took out a device and pushed a button on it, creating a small window, from the other side of the window, a person spoke.
"Julius, what are you doing outside of the capital again," the person said, it was Marx, he then noticed the distressed look on his face. "Julius, is everything alright,"
"No Marx," Julius replied, bending down to get a better look of the scorched spot, he then raised himself up. "I have a feeling, that something bad is about to happen,"