Hello everyone Shady here :D I know this chapter is a little bit slow however it contains details which will be important for later.
Chapter 2 part 2 A village in need
They follow along an empty riverbed where the soil is wet, muddy, and in some spots, slippery. "You can already see the problem sticking above the trees over there. That mud wall has and is currently clogging up the river," Asta exclaims.
"It is," the man replies as they head into a thick forest. Nearby, they hear giggling as two kids run along the path ahead. "Ronald, Mikey, remember to be careful and don't mess around too much!" Barron calls out.
"We will," they respond before running into the forest that the group proceeds further into.
They walk quite a distance and arrive at a huge hill made of mud, dirt, enormous rocks, and trees that have been forced on top of each other. "As you all can see, here is the blockage of the village's water source," Berran explains. "I see. So you want us to remove this so the village can have clean water again, if I'm not mistaken?" Noelle says.
"That is correct, Miss. However, we've been on the other side of this blockade, and as you can tell, it's massive. It has been like that for a while, and we informed others a long time ago. The problem has only worsened until now. So we need this to be removed without flooding the town," Berran explains.
"I see. Is this the reason for the messed-up soil back there?" Finral asks. "Correct, sir. As of right now, water is spilling out the side further up, and the water drains into the ground, making it wet and cold, so we can't plant anything there," the man explains.
"I see. So, if this isn't fixed soon, it will be too late to wait for it to dry in time to plant anything before the harvest season comes," Magna says. "Correct, sir," the man replies. "Oh, man, you guys are so smart," Asta tells them. "It's not that they're smart; it's that you're stupid," Liebe chimes in.
"We will take care of it. Just leave it to us," Magna assures the man. "Thank you," he replies, and Berran leaves.
They look at the huge pile in front of them. "How will we even do this?" Finral asks. "Good question," Magna replies. "Hmm, we should probably see it from multiple angles so we know what we're dealing with," Finral suggests, and the rest nod.
Finral and Magna break off branches and fly on them.
Noelle activates her Valkyrie armor, an armor made of water magic around her body, with two tall boots extending up to her thighs and a water dress with two long water-like fins extending from the back of it, along with a water crown on her head.
Asta uses his sword, and they fly to the top. They see a significant body of water that has accumulated, and they spot where it spills out. They fly back down. "Okay, that was way more water than I thought," Magna comments.
"Yes, how are we even supposed to do this? I mean, if we just start digging, this pile will eventually collapse. But if we do nothing, the water will spill over, and the village will be in trouble for sure," Finral says.
"Well, we need to do something about the water at least," Magna says. Finral sighs, "I guess I can use a portal to pass the water through it and into the river so we can have time to work as well as drain the water hole," Finral tells them.
"Good idea, and Me, Asta, and Noelle are on digging duty," Magna says. "Right," they agree, and they start working.
Millie lies down on a branch as she has not been asked to do anything.
The hours go by, and they get a lot done. Millie raises her head and looks around; her ears go in every direction to locate a sound. She stands up, honing in on the sound.
She jumps down and starts to run towards it. "Millie, what's going on?" Asta asks. "I hear someone in trouble, Master," she says, casting a glance at Asta before running.
"Wait, it talked," Magna says, his jaw dropping.
Asta lets go of the rock and runs after her. "Hey, wait a minute!" Noelle shouts and goes after him. "What are we all running for?" Magna asks, looking back and forth before going after them.
Millie stops by a small cliff and looks around until she locates the sound. "Ronald, hang on!" a kid screeches.
They look down and see him holding onto the rocks, and further down, Ronald is holding onto a root. "Mike!" he shouts, scared.
Millie is about to jump, but Asta is already headed down. "Hang on!" he shouts and barrels down the cliffside. He grips the cliff wall, then hangs on next to Mike. "Hey kid, get on. I will take care of the rest," he assures. "But Ronald," he utters.
"I will get him too. Just hang on," Asta says, and the kid takes Asta's hand and climbs onto his back. Asta climbs further down and sees that Ronald is hanging onto the tree root for dear life.
Asta reaches down. "Ronald, take my hand," he says, and Ronald looks up. He tries to reach, but the root snaps. "AAAH!" "NO!" Asta jumps down, grabs the kid, and his Slayer Sword comes out. He lands on it, and Ronald slowly opens his eyes and realizes he is safe.
Asta flies up to the others and lands by his friends. The kids get off. "I thought we were done for," Mike says. "What had you end up like that in the first place?" Noelle asks. "Well, we ran from something," Ronald says.
"What? Ran from what?" Magna asks. "We aren't sure. It was like..." Millie jumps onto a rock and looks around. "Like those?" she asks, and the kids look at what she sees: spectral beings shaped like giant wolves growling.
They stare at the group before growling and running toward them. "Leave it to us," Magna says, pulling out his fiery bat and swinging it while shooting fireballs after the wolves. Noelle takes out her wand. "Water ball!" she utters, shooting water at the other wolves. Asta jumps in and cuts them down with his sword. "Anti-magic?... I see," Millie mutters to herself, looking at Asta.
Once they get rid of all the creatures, they gather together. "Those creatures were like something one can find in a strong magic region. I wonder what they are doing way out here," Noelle asks.
"Well, there is a strong magic region not far from here. Maybe they wandered off and ended up here somehow," Magna replies. "Maybe. Still, I find it strange, and their mana felt weird too," Noelle utters.
"I get what you mean," he replies. "Well, if there are any more, I'm gonna slice them up. Just wait and see," Asta yells. "How about we figure out what's going on first, idiot," Noelle scolds. Asta looks at her. "What do you mean?" he asks. "Well, their mana felt strange, and that weird purple aura," Noelle says. "Huh, strange how?" Asta asks. "I don't know. They felt cold and menacing, almost like..." Noelle says and starts to think.
"Regardless, I think it was all of them. We don't exactly have time to get into it right now," Magna says. "Agreed. We should still write this in our report, though, just in case," Noelle responds. "Good thinking. We will do that, and if it's worth investigating, the Investigation Unit will handle it," Magna says, and they all nod to each other.
"Let's get back and continue," Asta says. The group leaves, and Asta stops and looks at Millie, who is standing on the rock, looking at the woods where the creatures came from.
She seems concerned. "Millie, is there something wrong?" he asks, and Millie looks at him. "No, Master. It's all right, for now," Millie says and jumps down. She looks back again before following along with the group.
"As of right now, what?" he asks as he and Liebe share glances. "Asta, quit lagging behind already. We still have a lot to do," Noelle yells. "Right, coming," he says, running after the group.
They bring the kids safely back to the village before continuing their job for a few more hours. They dig quite far into the wall of mud and hear a slight sizzling sound. "Uh, what is that?" Magna questions.
"What is it?" Asta asks. Pressured water spurts at Magna's face. "Are we supposed to hit water already?" he asks, covering up the hole with a rock. "I don't think so, or we shouldn't be, unless we underestimated the amount of water," Noelle says.
Magna looks at the rock, which is slightly moving. "Uh, guys! We'd better do something!" he says, nervousness in his voice.
The rock falls out, and more water forces its way through as the pile of dirt starts to give way right down the middle. The dirt wall collapses, and the water spills over. "Oh no!" Magna yells and jumps out of the way.
They see a twister of water form, guiding the water toward the river. "You guys are hopeless without me. Now, how about a thank you?" Noelle says.
Asta/Magna: "Thank you." "That's a lot of water. We should probably wait until most of it drains away," Asta suggests. "Good thinking," Magna agrees.
Meanwhile, Finral notices a significant decrease in water as it empties out more rapidly. "Uh, what's going on? What's happening with the others?" he mutters to himself. "I shouldn't worry about that right now. They're all strong enough to handle it, so I'll trust them and focus on what I need to do," he thinks out loud and continues sending water through his portal.
The water drains quickly, and the dirt wall keeping it in place falls apart. "Oh no," Magna says, and Asta gets on the sword. Noelle puts on her Valkyrie armor, and they fly up and head toward the village.
"Okay, I have to direct it using my water magic," she says, taking a deep breath. She stops in front of the massive wave of water. "Water magic water wall!" she improvises, creating a huge wall ahead of her. "There's so much water!" she says, focusing on directing the water by supplying it with her mana and driving it away.
Magna flies using a branch, and Millie sits on Asta's shoulder, watching the teamwork. (They are all so immensely powerful. It's truly amazing.) She thinks to herself.
The water is moved downstream, and it quickly turns into a small river, flowing in its proper path.
"Man, that took a while," Finral says, getting down to the others. "It sure did, but it's finally over," Magna says.
"Now that's done, we should remove these piles," Noelle says. "What? You can't be serious, right?" Magna tells her. "I don't like it either, but look. Those piles on each side of the river still look very unstable. If they fall into the river, we're back to square one," she points out. "I hate to admit it, but you're right," Magna says, looking at the two monstrosities that are left.
"Well, we'd better get to it," he mutters, and soon they're digging and removing more of the piles. They keep going until late, and they walk down to the village. They notice the river is quite full of mud.
"Shoot, we should probably clear this out too before it turns into another problem," Magna says. "I guess," Finral complains as they work until later at night. "Finally, we're done now, right?" Finral asks, breathing heavily. "It sure looks that way," she says. They talk with one of the villagers in town and are told to come back the next day.
They wave goodbye to the villagers, and Millie jumps up onto Asta's shoulder. They go through Finral's portal back to the hideout.
Thank you for reading all the way. I have allot I want to do with this story I have started. Reviews and criticism are welcome. :D
