> The Adventures Begin > by Dragon Shimmer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The banishing > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equestria In the land of Equestria, there is a ruler who has ruled for over 1500 years. Her name is Celestia, a tall, regal alicorn. She has a white coat, black eyes, her rainbow mane, and tail always flow with a non-existent breeze and sparkles like a disco ball. Upon her flanks lay a depiction of the Sun, her cutie mark. She had a sister, Luna, an alicorn like her. Nearly 1000 years ago, Luna changed into a being called Nightmare Moon. To protect herself and her subjects, Celestia had to use six powerful artifacts called the Elements of Harmony, sealing her sister in the moon. Overcome with sorrow, she grieved and has missed her every day since then. And now, she will cry once more, because of a hard decision for her student. Celestia arrives at the court by a chariot in order to attend a meeting about a prisoner. This prisoner, who is dear to her, is the reason she is crying on the inside. "Princess, we are here," her guard announces. Celestia is snapped out of her reverie by the guard. She gets out of the chariot and takes a deep breath to focus and hide her emotions. Two guards escort her into the courtroom. In the room are four ponies, two mares and two stallions, who represent the jury. The ponies bow as she enters. "We were waiting for you, your Highness," says a gray stallion with a short black mane. "At ease, my little pony," Celestia replies. "So, Your Highness, shall we begin the meeting?" asks the gray stallion. "Yes, we can, Gray Scale." Celestia takes a seat. "Guard, leave us." 'Yes, Your Highness,' the guard replies before leaving the room to guard the door. "Now, we know why we are having this meeting," says Gray Scale. . The dark pink mare with white mane nods, "We already read her case before this meeting, so we can start now.” "So, what do you have in mind, Mrs. Graffiti?" asks a lime mare with a purple mane. “She must be executed," replies Graffiti. "That is too cruel," retorts the lime mare. Mrs. Leaf, what advice do you have?" asked Graffiti. . "Just throw her in jail and have her work public labor," replies Mrs. Leaf.  "You want to show her that much mercy despite the crime she committed?" counters Graffiti. "My apologies, I would like to know why she is in jail. What are the main topics of discussion for today?" asks a yellow stallion. The other ponies are mentally face-hoof. "Are you kidding me, Ground Dust?" asks Graffiti. "I wouldn't crack a joke in an important meeting like this," replies the yellow stallion with a blank face. "You forgot again, didn't you?" Ground Dust nods. All of the courts members face-hoof and sigh. "Fine, let us remind you," replies Grey Scale "Please, remind me again," says Ground Dust, blushing. "This mare has killed a renowned noble named Black Mist," says Leaf. "The crime she committed is very serious, but Black Mist had many problems as well," responds Dust. "The problem is the way she killed him," says Gray with a pale face. "How so?" asked Leaf. "Well... I saw her kill him by thrusting a rapier into his throat when Princess Celestia and I went into Black Mist’s room. I swear, I had a nightmare after seeing that scene." All of the other court members paled. "We managed to capture her without any resistance from her." "......" "Well... Shall we continue?" asks Celestia. They nod in agreement. “Your Highness, I am still scared about what I saw," apologizes Gray. "It's the same with us all, Gray Scale." Celestia nods and says, "No need to apologize." "As a result..., we should execute her," Gray advises. “That's just too cruel." Leaf retorts. “Leafy, your idea isn't any better than ours," says Graffiti.   "My idea is better than yours, Mrs. Griffin." Leaf counters “I'm not a griffin.” The mares keep on bickering like foals. The battle continues until Ground Dust slams their heads together. Leaf rubs her head and whimpers, "Ouch, that hurt.". "Don't slam our heads like that!" Graffiti does the same thing. “Look, I know you disagree with each other, but you two need to stop arguing between yourselves. We are friends but not foals anymore, you know?” Ground Dust says sternly. A blush appears on the mares' faces. Look, I have some advice, but I am not sure it will work." Ground replies. Celestia waits for his answer as she asks, "And what is it, Ground Dust?". “I think we'd be better off banishing her from Equestria for a long time." Ground suggests. “That way, we will not simply execute her as Graffiti suggests." As he continues, he looks at the pink mare. "It is also a mercy like Leaf suggested." he finishes, turning to Leaf. “Gray Scale, do you agree?"  "I'm not sure. What if -" "I agree." Celestia cuts of Gray Scale. "Are you sure, Your Highness?"  Celestia nods in response to Gray's question. “It is my final decision." Leaf says, "Right...You should give her one last visit before you say goodbye.". "Don't worry, I'll do it." "Well then, we're done with the meeting." [At night] Celestia is guided to the student's cell by two wardens. When she arrives, she finds an orange mare lying on the hay, staring at the blank wall. Celestia asks the warden to leave to get some privacy. After the warden has left them alone, she sits down on the chair she had requested from the warden before. The orange mare asks, "So... How did the meeting go, Celly?"  Celeste sighs. "It wasn't easy, due to your crime, but I managed to save your life." The orange mare smirks. "Do you really think it's a good idea to save a killer like me?" “You may be a killer, but you're also my student, and I don't think you killed Black Mist without good reason." "Well... to put it simply, he made me angry, and then I killed him." "As if I would believe that." Celestia looks at the mare sternly, demanding the truth. As Celestia and the orange mare are speaking, the orange mare turns around and looks directly at Celestia. "You don't have to know about that, and this is the first time I’ve killed someone anyway." "And how does it feel?". "It feels horrible. I was shocked when I realized that I had killed somepony. Hell, I nearly vomited." "I see... And I know the feeling." "Anyway, what is my punishment for my crime?" "You will be banished from Equestria to somewhere that I choose." "And your choice is?" "It’s a secret." "Nice play, Celly." "Until you spill the beans, I won't say," Celestia says with a grin. "You want me to spoil it? Nah, I won't say. Keep your secret to yourself." "Fine," Celestia says with a huff. "So anyway, this will be the last time we meet, right?" "I’m afraid it is." "....." "Maybe you will have a good life there, you know." "Maybe... or maybe not." "Don't be so negative." "Aren’t you afraid that I will return to Equestria?" "I'm afraid that would be impossible." "Ah... Now I know which place you’re going to banish me to.” "You know?" "Maybe I know you too well?" The orange mare sits up. "Or maybe you are too bad at hiding things." "Oh, come on! Am I that easy to read?" Celestia smiles. "I don't know." The mare laughs. "Hey, I am not easy to read, and you don't know me that well."  "Well, ask something about yourself?" "What is my favorite food?" “Chocolate cake." "What is my hobby?" " Trolling." "What is my weakness?" "Well, a frozen face, I’d guess." The mare laughs. "See, you don't know me that well." The two mares keep talking about their past. As they stop talking about the past, their sad faces are revealed. The orange mare says, "So, I’m going to miss these conversations so much." "Me too." Celestia agrees. "Well... It was good talking to you Celly. Now I want to sleep." The mare says with a yawn. "Ah... See you tomorrow." Celestia stands up and turns to leave. "Oh, I have a question". Celestia stopped. "What is it?". The white mare turns to face the orange mare. "Am I a good student?" As the mare asks, Celestia goes out of the jail and says, "You are not a good student." Then she closes the door. "You are my best friend who I can trust most." She closes her eyes and lets a tear roll over her face. The yellow mare lays down to sleep with a smile but Celestia found it hard to sleep that night. [The next day] Celestia sits on the judge's chair in the court as she prepares to set the punishment for her student. A long line of chairs full of ponies sitting on them across two sides of the building. The ponies come here to witness the case. "Please escort the prisoner." As Celestia says this, four guards (two front and two back) escort the yellow mare bound in the cuffs attracted on each hoof of her, the magic inhibitor worn on her horn to prevent her from doing magic. "My student, you killed Black Mist, the most important noble of the royalty, and made many ponies scared because of the way you killed him. How do you plead?" "Guilty." "Now you have to answer your crime. The punishment for your crime will be... banishment from this country for a long time. Do you accept that?" "I accept." "Does anyone of you want to refuse the punishment of her, please raise your hoof?" No pony raised a hoof and most ponies seemed to accept this punishment of her. "No one? Good, the banishing will be effective..... Right now." Celestia finishes the sentences and she leads to a room and the guard follows her to escort the criminal mare. As she entered the room, there was simply a mirror and the guards were confused by this room. "Guards, leave us alone for now and I will banish her by myself." "But, your Majesty, what if she- " "NOW," she shouts at the guards. The guards go outside the room immediately. As all the guards go outside of the room, Celestia uncuffs the lock and wears off the ring right away. The orange mare rubs her hooves as they were stiff after being in cuffs for so long. She stares at the mirror and sighed, looking at Celestia. "You know this mirror is unbalanced, right?" "I know but this is the only way." "I see...." "As I examine the mirror, it looks like it’s going to be broken by passing it twice.” "Means that if somepony goes through the mirror after I go, he or she will trap inside forever?" "I am afraid it is, and I will keep the mirror far away from any ponies who want to pass it." The yellow mare nods and smiles. "So, this is a goodbye now, sorry for being a bad student of yours." "No, you are my best student of this Equestria." "You say that because I am the first student of yours." Celestia blushed with embarrassment. "Well, I promise I will be back." "It is impossible, you know." "Everything is possible unless you give up." "... You're still stubborn like before," Celestia said with a smile. ".. Maybe you too with the cake." "I will throw you out if you keep teasing me." "Ok ok... Now I have to go." The yellow mare is about to go through the mirror but... "WAIT." Celestia shout "What now Celly." "Don’t go without this." The white mare levitates the saddlebag and equips it to the orange mare. "Now you can go, said Celestia as the two hug each other with tear shedding from their eyes "See you later." "I will wait until that day, my student." As the yellow mare goes through the mirror she suddenly stops and turns to Celestia. She says with a smile "Can you say my name one last time?" and goes through the mirror right away. Celestia sighs, cries, and whispers with a smile. "Goodbye ... Sunset Shimmer." Meanwhile in Earth(en) A few years ago, a great battle against the evil entity rocked Earth(en). The destruction enfeebled and struggled to survive. A mighty warrior, Lance the gunner, took the opportunity to conquer the land. However, he got defeated by Matt the swordsman, and Natalie the Mage. After that, they team up together hoping no evil defeats them and brings chaos to the land. They spend their days hunting treasures and challenging the new opponent. As they heard about the legend and rumors that there was a world-destroyer demon sleeping in a dungeon, they thought that it had many treasures there to hunt and were excited. That was until... [Inside the Arkon Dungeon] As the trio goes inside the dungeon, many monsters stand in their way and they easily defeat them for sure. They are coming near the demon. "I wonder what kind of treasures we got this time," said a man who wears the black pirate hat that has skull decoration, a black coat with a black T-shirt, black pants with the short-chain attract on it and black shoes, he is also holding a black two-handed sword. "I just hope this demon has valuable things and relics to let us loot," he said as he was dreaming about swimming in a pool of gold, walking, and whistling inside the dungeon. "Yeah, dream as long as you can Matt. We don't even know which opponents for this dungeon have" Said the woman, is wearing a red dress with rose wear on her hair, she is holding a staff that has a crystal on the top "Please take the treasure and get out of here as soon as we can, I don't want to be here for long." She says as she kicks a rock. "I never knew you were scared of the dark, Natalie. Are all the mages always like this?" Said the man who wears a soldier helmet with a green camouflage suit and a green camouflage man, his hand is holding a gun-blade and his back has a very big gun for a human. " I promise that you won't be scared again with me around." He said as he dodged a fireball after that. "Don't try to flirt with me, Lance. You know I say that you are not my type, right?" She said as she channeled a spell and glared at Lance. "Fine, but stay cautious, ok?" Lance said. Natalie nod as the trio walks deeper into the dungeon, they find something unfamiliar to them. It is like a statue but has a blindfold and doesn't have any arms, it is also in a heavy chain. The trio stares at each other. "You know what that is, Natalie". Matt asked. "I don't know but it seems dangerous, we suppose not to touch that thing," Natalie answered. "Nah. We will be fine soon, if that has a treasure inside, we will be rich" Matt said with an excited tone. "Fine. But be careful" Natalie rolled her eyes as she knows she can't stop Matt about this. By the time Matt stands in front and touches the statue, the ground shakes and the chains are suddenly broken and the blindfold has glowing eyes on it. "What the hell is that?" Matt asks while trying to keep on balance. "I don't know but the situation is not good," Lance says as he aimed the gun blade toward the statue. "Prepare for battle" Natalie shouts as she created a yellow shield to defend whatever incoming this way. As the statue glowing his eyes. It reveals the demon's wings and starts to talk. "Thank you for waking me up, an intruder. Now, who are you? And what do you think about waking me up?" "We don't give your name to you, demon. As for waking you up, it's just an accident" Matt simply answers. ".... You made a mistake for waking me up. Now as a gift for waking me up, my name is Arkon and I will conquer this world to turn it into chaos land...Hahaha." The demon laughs but gets cut short because of receiving an "Air slash" to his cheek from Matt. "You think we will let you do that. Prepare to your death, demon" Matt shouted as he rushed to the demon. The demon creates several dark spikes and shoots at the swordsman. It gets bounced away when Natalie creates a red barrier to protect Matt and she immediately channeling a spell. The demon sees that and he tries to breathe dark mist at Natalie but it gets cut short because Lance gives him a shot at his chin. Matt starts to jump up and try to slash down Akron, only to be blocked by the demon's wings. Matt immediately rolls back and tries to charge again but he can't move because he gets rooted by the skeleton hand and his teammate gets rooted. "You think you can beat me? Now die" Akron opens his mouth and drains their life and power. After draining a while, he was surprised that they were too strong to drain all of their life and power. He also sees that Lance is charging a shot. He must use teleportation on them to get the risk of the danger. "What are those three humans? I have never seen someone that strong in over hundreds of years," as he thinks, "Well never mind, they will come back soon to slay me, I must be prepared for them" The demon tries to use his power to replace the plan. The only surprise is that his power is now denied because he gets sealed too long. It distorts the space and time around, making it growing void of nothing less. The demon tries to control his power but he is satisfied with the place he is put in. "Now I must prepare an army to conquer this world and to kill these three." > New member in the team... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything went black. When the trio awakens, they found themselves surrounded by some kind of farm, not a soul or even a road to be seen. The sun looks to have moved, now about three hours closer to sundown. "Wha-what just happened? I told you guys not to touch that thing. I felt my magic being drained from me. I don't think I can use it now." Natalie supposes as she feels her magic is nearly drained out. "It looks dead. Smell dead too. Never expect anything like this to happen. It's probably still out there, doing who knows what." Lance replies as he was waving the gun - sword. Natalie suggests, "well, I guess we've landed pretty far from there. This landscape is unfamiliar. It Looks like a farm in some village. Guess we better have a look around." "I just want my swords back, I spent years stealing these," Matt pissed as he lost most of the sword. Lance glares at Matt, "that's not an imitation of concern, but I guess we'll need to recover our skills and weapons at some point," "Fine, let's go," As the team began their first step, they heard someone screaming from the sky . "AAAAAAAA ahhh" Sunset screams when she is falling from the sky. Natalie yells, "Look out!" but it was too late. Sunset and Matt are already headbutting each other. "Ouch. What the hell got dropped onto my head?' Matt whimpers. "What have I dropped into?" Sunset whines and touches her head with her front hooves. The trio turns their head toward the voice and is surprised. "Whoa," they prepare for the worst and Sunset is no exception. Her horn is shining to prepare for anything bad that happens. They stare at each other for a long time. That was boring to Matt as the unicorn doesn't move. He grabs these two and begins whispering to them. Matt asks, "do you know what it is?". "I don't know, but she's so cute for me," Natalie says in a pleasant tone of voice. "I bet you've hugged the slime before," Lance teases her, earning a smack from Natalie. "It's just a joke." "Look, how about we start interacting with it? Maybe it will be useful to us like Noleg." Matt has a crazy idea that Natalie liked, but Lance didn't "Alright ... Since our power is gone, I think this is the best idea," Lance said in an annoying tone. "But don't drop our defense." Matt and Natalie nod in agreement. Matt volunteers, "Okay... I will go first." "Be careful, okay?" Natalie says as Matt nods In the meantime, Sunset continues to defend herself as they try to do anything. The moment she sees that they are whispering something, she creates a barrier to protect herself and waits for them to move. Suddenly, the yellow-haired man comes closer to her slowly, still holding the sword in his hand. Sunset is now in a battle stance to caution. "Hey, we don't mean any harm, can you please drop this barrier? We came to talk." Sunset is surprised that they can talk, but she narrows her eyes at the man, thinking he may be lying with that sword. Sunset shakes her head. Matt steps back, surprised that Sunset understands what he said, and wonders why she says "no". In response, the mare looks at his sword knowing why he was doing it, so he drops it to demonstrate his good intentions. The unicorn continues to glare at the two as they are holding their weapons. "Hey Natalie and Lance, could you drop your weapons?" Matt asks as Natalie and Lance are startled. Lance replies, "Are you crazy? It may be dangerous," "Trust me OK?" Matt gives them a thumbnail that's as annoying as they are. "Fine," Natalie says, "this time we trust you." Lance and Natalie drop their weapons. The yellow-haired man then turns to the unicorn and says, "There, we have no weapons left. Would you mind dropping this barrier?" Sunset sees Matt come closer and shakes his hand. Matt introduces himself with a smile."I'm Matt, nice to meet you," Sunset nods for understanding. Matt waves his hand at them, indicating they are in safe territory. "Awwww, she is so cute," Natalie says with glee, and rushes to embrace Sunset, but Sunset teleports away, much to the surprise of the mage. "Woah, she can teleport. Now I'm feeling better about my decision." Lance states cautiously. "Well... How about we sit here and talk? She understands what we say." Matt says, Lance and Natalie's eyes widened in surprise. "I understand. An introduction will be helpful. "I'm Lance". He points to Natalie "This is Natalie" then points to Matt, "you already met Matt" The unicorn nods for understanding. "So what your...wait I don't know if you can talk or not." "Maybe we should give her a name?" Natalie suggests. "Uh, Bacon?" the unicorn shakes its head. "Uh... Butter" the unicorn shakes head "Uh .... Lantern? I don't know" the unicorn giggles. "What is so funny?" Matt asked The unicorn answers, "Funny that you don't know my name, but have seen what my body looks like." Sunset Shimmer turns her head to the trio, "My name is Sunset Shimmer, and I am a unicorn." "You can talk all the time?" Natalie asks as Sunset nods, "oh man, I thought I had a pet like Matt." She says with a disappointed tone. Sunset laughs, "that's funnier than I expected." Natalie asks the unicorns annoyedly, "You done yet?" Sunset replies, "Yeah, I'm done," Lance asks, "What are we going to do now?" Sunset suggests, "How about we sit down and talk?" "Sounds good to me," Matt replies as the trio sat near Sunset When Sunset and the human team sit down on the ground, Sunset says first. Sunset asks them,"Where am I?" Matt tells Sunset, "We don't know either, because we are teleported by something like Arkon, which drains our power too," Sunset inquires, "Do demons exist here? I think I'm in another world so far." She notices something was wrong. Natalie asks, "Why did you say so? Demons don't even exist in our world since we met one in the dungeon." Natalie refuses to believe that. Sunset simply replies,"While you all meet one means it exists right now, and my world doesn't have any demons or humans like you, they're just fairy tales." "Hmm... You're right, our world does not have any ponies or unicorns. So welcome to Earth(en)." Lance thinks and welcomes her. "You seem like a nice pony. How about we share our lives?" Matt comments, "I don't even know what kind of life my teammate has lived." Sunset nods in agreement with his teammate, as well. Matt volunteers, "Ok... Mine first." The moment they share their personal lives, even Sunset just met them, they eagerly shared their personal lives, to Sunset's surprise, and she decided to share hers for fairness. Some are good, some are bad, and some are tragic, but they are all together. The introduction of their personal lives has been completed. They start a new topic. Lance asks Sunset, "So, is your land modern or not?". Sunset answers, "To compare military technology, my land is less technologically advanced, as we still use spears and don't have weapons like yours that are called guns," With a smirk, Lance waves his hand, "That's boring to me.". "How about the way you cast magic? Are only unicorns and alicorns capable of casting spells, because they have horns?" Sunset replied, "So far, only two races can cast magic. Matt questions, "So what if that horn is cut off?" "We can still cast magic, but it will take more effort." She signs, "I am not sure how to get rid of this weakness though, a magic inhibitor wears on the horn and they will no longer cast magic until it wears off." Natalie thinks as she ponders something. "How about we train with you in magic and physical training?" Natalie suggests as Sunset's eyes widen. "I think some of your knowledge fits into ours," Sunset nods as Natalie continues. "But you have to agree with us on something?" Sunset tilts her head curiously. Lance tells her as he hands her a piece of paper and a pen. "You'll have to sign this contract and join our team," Sunset is puzzled at the contract. Sunset asks Lace, "How do you trust me that quickly? Do you imagine I'll backstab you or something? And why does this paper only have dots and dots?" Matt disagrees, "we trust you because you told us about your personal life. That means you can be trusted." Sunset slimes at Matt. As Lance chuckles, he continues, "Sign this and I will translate it for you," and Sunset is quite suspicious of what he is proposing. Sunset questions with a suspicious tone. "How can I trust you? This is your... password or something?" "Just sign it, we don't mean harm," Lance raises his hands to show that he has no weapon. "....Fine," Sunset signs the contract, "Though I am still suspicious about this..." She gives Lance the contract, "Here you go." He replies, "Thank you; now I'll introduce you to the Morse code." " Okay, what is it?" "It's the code that is used to secretly contract information to others. Our world's military usually uses it. Here, let me translate for you." Lance said with a grin as he starts translating the code to English, writing it onto the paper, and giving it to Sunset. Sunset looks at it and reads out loud: "First, make sure you join our team training. Second, don't leave the party without permission from your teammates. Third, don't reject the training we give you." Then Sunset's eyes widen and her mouth drops. She knows that she falls into their training trap. "Yo-you all trap me all this time?" Sunset asks and the trio grins evilly. "Yes," they said in union and Sunset facehoofs. "...Fine but can I know what my training lesson is?" Sunset asks and hopes that it was not an impossible lesson. Natalie answers with an innocent smile "Well...You have to train 16 hours a day, and we train with you too to regain our power back." "About your lesson", Matt says, "You have to learn how to walk by two of your back hooves and learn the new ways to cast magic." Sunset's eyes widened. "Hey, that's impossible for me you know," Sunset tried to retort but Lance put a finger to shut her mouth and says"you are a part of our team now that means you have to break some limit. For us nothing is impossible unless you give up," he says with an evil grin "Are you clear?" At this, Sunset knows there is no way to get away from them, "Fine," she agrees. "Geez, you three are so evil, aren't you? "Maybe," they answers in unison and smiled innocently at her. Sunset double face hoofed and whining, "This is going to be a long day." > Walking around and training > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset Shimmer has joined the team as a special member. After the conversation is over, they stand up. "Welcome to our team, Sunset," Matt greets gleefully Sunset rolls her eyes, "Thank you so much,"  "Now let's explore the town and look for a good training location for us," Matt suggests as the team nodded to agree. A brown-haired man with brown hair approaches them as they step out of the farmhouse. He was taken by surprise. the old man asks them, "Wow, where did you guy just appear from?"  Natalie answers, "Eh... We're not sure... Where are we?". "You are in a town. It doesn't have a name because it is the only town in this forest. The entrance to this forest is straight up from here, you guys look like you'd be headed there. Feel free to wander around the shop too, but you don't look like you have much money." The old man introduces his town. "Thank?.." He points at Sunset and asks, "Can I buy that horse? It will be good for farming." "No way, she's our teammate. Goodbye." She snaps off as the team walks away from the old man. "We just know where the forest is...How about we go left?" Her teammates are dumbfounded by this but still nod in agreement. To the left of the farm, they see a farming house with cows inside. They see a girl wearing cow cloth, so they decide to ask her where the inn is. She told them they had to go forward, turn left as they passed the park, and the inn was immediately ahead. While Sunset and the team walked through the park, many people around her started staring at her, some wishing they could possess her. Sunset feels annoyed by this, but she tries to overcome the stares. The team has finally reached the inn. Matt cheers, "We're here.". "Finally, I can rest, because I feel uncomfortable when everyone stares at me." Sunset sighs. Matt grins at her, "You're gonna get stared at by the inn owner, right?" "At least this one doesn't have many people staring at me." "Okay... Let us in" The team enters the inn. As the four enter, many people turn to face them. A random band of adventures isn't anything special, but a unicorn, here, a beast of myth, is. Many people stare at Sunset Shimmer, some cautiously, some with awe, and some just seem to want to pet the mare. All the looks made Sunset feel extremely uncomfortable as she tries to hide behind Natalie. As Matt starts to walk to the innkeeper, Lance grabs his shoulder. Firmly pulling Matt away, Lance ushered Matt to a nearby table, making him sit down in an empty chair. "Lance, what are you doing?" "Sorry Matt, but I remember that we have no money on us. I am thinking about how to get some money for them or maybe we can just set up the camp outside the jungle." Lance looks at Sunset. "Eh, you won't sell me for money, right?" Sunset fears when Lance does that "Don't be ridiculous, I'm not staring at you, I'm looking at your bag." "Oh," she looks at her saddlebag, "Right," and then she sets it down. "Ok let's look inside." Natalie says to herself as she searches the bag "Ok... The package has vegetables, potatoes, paper, a ring,... I won't find anything decent there. Well, except the ring." "How about that slack there?" Matt points to a small script, opens it, and sees many gold coins inside it that make him cover his eyes. "Wow, that's a lot of gold coins," Lance says as he turns his attention to Sunset. "That'll be a lot of money for us, you know? Do you think that's a good idea to carry something so valuable in your bag?" Well... I have no idea, they are just the currency of my country." Sunset says innocently as the others deadpan. "I don't know what to say about your country but... You just solved our money problem." "Thanks, as long as you don't sell me for money, I'm fine," "Don't be ridiculous," Matt laughs out loud and makes Sunset sigh. "Fine, let's get a room and rest" Matthew threw the saddlebag away after taking the small script. Sunset is going to blast him, but Matt uses magic to place the stuff in his dimension bag, which makes her surprised. Matt smirks and pays the money, then the team goes to their room to rest since it's dark outside. After two hours, when the team is sleeping except for Sunset, she cannot sleep because of the longing for her home. As she closes her eyes, she recalls every memory of Equestria. Matt is behind Sunset and says, "Can't sleep?" Make Sunset yelps. "Don't scare me like that." "I want to check if you're alright." "I'm fine" "Lie" "Fine, I am remembering my home ok?" Sunset explains. Matt giggles and pats her back. Sunset started wondering, "well, even if you stay here, you can stay with us."  "..... It seems strange that you trust me even though we have only just met." "... Well, that's my instinct though because I feel that I can trust you and believe that you will be a good teammate." "Now? You cannot trust anyone so quickly." "Meh, our decision is final," Matt answers with a laugh "Ok if you resist, but why did you hire this inn for just one day?" Matt points at the forest, "Because tomorrow we will train in the forest though, that will be a good way to train you fast plus don't embarrass you." Sunset gulps as she looks at the forest. She tries to teleport away from Matt, but he grabs her horn and wears it as a ring. He quickly lifts Sunset as Sunset tries to escape. "Let me go!" Matt insists, "I won't let you get away with this." Sunset finally gives up on his hold "Okay, but I'll escape when you sleep." So in that case," he says, bringing Sunset to the bed and putting Natalie's hand into his, as he helps her hug Sunset. Sunset sighs as she gives upon him. Sunset asks, "You know how to handle a new teammate, right?" "Maybe," as the duo starts to sleep now, Sunset is annoyed. The next morning, the team gets up and heads to the forest immediately after breakfast. So far, there are guards and practice areas. The team considers how to set up a camp without anyone knowing. It took the Team hours to track down a suitable and hidden location; far enough from the city, but worth hiding in. "Now let's start training Sunset. Here is the pole." Natalie hands Sunset the pole. "What should I do with this pole?" "Now, you begin walking with two back hooves," Natalie says, sunset sighs, and then stand with two back hooves supported by the pole. "That's the spirit. Now start walking towards here," Natalie encourages. Sunset starts walking but gets tripped. Natalie helps her up and supports her to sit on the stump. Natalie suggests she should sit like her to support the practice and tells her to start walking around the back hoofs in four hours, but she can rest in the middle. During Sunset's practice sessions, Lance and Matt guard the area to prevent anything bad from happening, but they still taunt her to chase them. After 4 hours of practice, Sunset's hooves begin to ache and she takes a break. Lance cheers, "That's a good start." "Thank you, now I think this is not impossible. I wonder, however, why I have to practice this kind of stuff. Don't you think it's weird?" Sunset asked in between breaths. "I thought it was weird at first because you are a quadruple alien." Lance said, making Sunset glared at him "But since this party is...quite abnormal, you can be weird too." Lance says between laughs. "But anyway, firstly I just joke about this training because it is against your nature. But after Matt tries to walk like a quadruple when you sleep and see what disadvantages this state has in battle. We see that the weakness of this type of walk is your back." Sunset's eyes widened after Lance's explanation. "Honestly, when you walk on quadruple, the enemy can ride you like a horse with your back. I am afraid you will be tamed and used as a horse by someone or a monster." Matt explains. "I...I don't know, you guys care about me even if I am new to your team? By the way, I'm offended when you call me a horse, but I'll take it. I'd rather not be an animal." Sunset smiles. Lance says, "Now, break time over." and puts on the magic inhibitor rings on Sunset's horn. "Hey," Sunset tries to protest but Lance shuts her mouth again. "Give up staying here and do more. If we discover that you are lazy, the gun is always at your disposal." Sunset grumbles when he warns her. "Fine," she says and drags her hooves to training. Sunset enjoys sleep after practicing all day, but she cannot sleep that night because her back hooves are aching all the time from practicing too much. She starts to doubt if this training is effective or not, but she tries to close her eyes for sleep. Lance and Natalie stare at each other and laugh at Sunset's action. Natalie casts the sleeping spell to make Sunset sleep peacefully and she starts writing. Lance notices Natalie writing something on paper. "Natalie, what are you writing?" "Well, I'm trying to remember what about magic I learned when I was in the church. I will use this theory for her body because I plan to examine Sunset's mana system later." Lance grins, "You wanna hug her, don't you?". "Maybe... But I will explain my knowledge of magic based on my experience when we went on adventures together and when I was still a priest in that church." "I see, we will give her training so she can support and protect us," Lance says. Natalie nods enthusiastically. Besides, she is one of our teammates too, so we will protect her." "Hmm..." Lance nodded. "Man, it will be hard to say goodbye to her when she finds a way home." Nataly pats Natalie on the back and says, "Yeah, but we will always have to remember her when she is gone. So, now that the drama is over, I'll see what her magic system is. Lance, can you draw her body?" He equips the scanner and begins sketching Sunset's body from various angles. When he is finished, he hands it to Natalie, who drops the paper on the ground. Natalie kneels and places the crystal staff on Sunset's forehead. Tying her mana to Sunset's body, she starts to analyze Sunset's mana system. When it had finished, she used the staff to transfer the system into the drawing. She grew tired and sat down to rest. Lance saw that and told her to go to sleep and they would see the mana system the next day. The next day Sunset continues to practice walking by the back hooves by the time Natalie analyzes her mana system. Natalia discovered that Sunset has no mana core, while her friends do, although Matt doesn't use magic much, just for magic inventory. Sunset encounters some bush monsters, but she easily kills them with her pole even though there is no blood on them. After four hours of training with the pole and four hours of training without the pole, she has started getting used to it and can now walk on two back hooves, but still slowly. Natalie told her to relax and prepare for the lesson tomorrow . "Hey, you should rest." Natalie waves her hand at Sunset. Sunset sits down and takes a break. "How is the training," Natalie asked Sunset smiles, "Now I'm barely walking by two back hooves.". "Good for you, now" Natalie grabbed the paper, which has Sunset's mana system, which surprises Sunset. "This is your mana system, I'm kind of jealous of it because it doesn't have a mana core." "What is mana core?" Sunset asked "Mana core is the place where mana is produced and processed, whenever you rest, cast a spell, etc..., etc..., mana is regen, or lead to the specified destination for casting the spell, ... whenever this mana core is destroyed, you can only cast one and two spells in your life." "Sounds like a blood vessel in our body, right?". "The point is, you do not have one. I'm not sure if your race is like that, but this may be an advantage since you can do everything without risk. However, it is also a disadvantage that you have to train to control mana flow more than a normal one." "What about the horn? I can cast spells using it, remember?" "The horn acts as a natural wand of your body, it helps the caster cast spells faster, but it seems you unicorns depend on it too much." Natalie thinks a little quietly. "You must meditate to feel your mana system." Sunset nods. "I see, you are a great mage." "It's nothing since you can use that spell," Natalie said, making Sunset's eyes widen. Sunset asks, "Teleport?" Natalie nods in agreement. "But that--" Sunset try to reply but is cut off by Matt when he comes to them "Hey, you talk about magic right?" Matt cheers "You know how rude it is when someone talks?" Sunset is annoyed by the golden-haired man. " Oh, I'm so sorry. You can cast a high-level spell, right? " "Eh.. teleport is a common spell in Equestria though." Sunset confused " It would be great if I had that spell," Matt said, while Sunset tilted his head at him. "Don't stare at me like that, Sunset. Think about it, when you get crushed by giants, you can teleport to his weakness and counterattack." Sunset's eyes widen as Matt reexamines the situation. "Besides your brain is fast and your body can blink many times at once, it is hard for your enemies to hit you." Matt continues. Sunset countered, "Bu-but I was taught that this was a harmless spell." "When used alone, it is harmless. But when combined with a powerful attack spell, it will be lethal. I think your teacher put the spell on peacefully, and not in battle, so I don't blame her." Sunset nods, "I see... Wait, I have to train now, see you later." " She will be a great mage," Natalie hopes. "I never imagined that I would teach pony magic, although it is good to recall theory." "Well, it makes me feel better to be a mad mage," Matt teases, earning a staff on his head and knocking him out. Natalie huffs and leaves. Sunset meditates after training. In the process of meditating, she feels the mana flowing around her. As more of it happens, the more she feels the need to control the mana inside her body, but she doesn't know how to. Moreover, she can feel the mana pool was blocked to the horn due to the ring. It has puzzled her how to cast a spell without a horn. As she lifts one of her front hoofs, she feels mana flowing to it; she releases it more, and - bonk! "Ouch," she whines as get hit in the head. "What have I done?" She glares at the trio and they point out that the tent was burned and some of the arias are still burning. Sunset smiles sleepy with an "oops" as the trio facepalms and shakes their heads. Soon the new tent was built fast and they finally got to sleep except for Sunset to have to meditate. Each of the members takes a turn to guard The next day, Sunset can run with two back hooves now, so Matt and Lance give her a bag of rock. They also give her a heavy cuff to wear on her back hooves for training. The other does the same thing. Natalia shows her how to shapeshift the mana and introduces all of the Elements of magic to her. Nodding, Sunset tried to produce a fireball, but she failed and tried again, failed, and tried again until she ran out of mana. Whenever her mana is fully recovered, she tries again. There are also monsters they have to deal with like Big Bees, Big Butterflies, Leaf Turtles, Slime, and Haunted trees. Sunset and others slay them quite hard, especially the turtle, who uses leaves on its back like a dart, causing a lot of pain. However, after Natalie's healing, they are all fine now. Sunset has learned some new spells, while others recover some skills they have been unable to use due to the draining. Training continues until the session is over. "Congratulations Sunset. You've passed the training." Lance cheers as others congratulate her. "Thanks, I couldn't have done it without you three," Sunset says with a blush. Natalie steps forward, "This is a gift for completing the training without quitting, I give it to you." She gives Sunset a black magic cape with a black mage hat with many yellow stars in it, and a wooden staff. "Now wear it." Sunset puts it on and looks around. "Thank you. I like it," Sunset says, as they cheer. Sunset asked, "So... what will we do now?" Matt says angrily, "We will go to avenge that demon who messed us up.". "I'll go with you, but let's get out of here first, okay?" Sunset asks as the trio nods. Now, they will embark on a quest to defeat the mighty demon to save the world. If their mind thinks so. > The strange encounter and forest out > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The team starts to leave the forest but is faced with many monsters. Now, they encounter a turtle with a rhino horn and a big tree on its back named the "Leaf Eater".     The monster charges at Natalie, but it is obstructed by Matt. Natalie cast a fireball at the turtle, and the turtle jerked back and started shaking itself. As soon as it falls, it becomes a razor-sharp object that launches itself at the team. Sunset teleports to the front and quickly drags the staff to the ground, the firewall appears after that and it burns its "Razor leaf" down, then she teleports to the turtle's back and uses "Flame Slash" to cut down the tree on turtleback, the tree falls much to surprise for turtle, it tries to charge again but Lance gives it a "Snipe" to shoot headshot and it goes down.  "Good work, team!" Matt cheers.  Natalie and Lance both replied, "Thank you.".  "And we have a weird mage in the team", Matt teases Sunset before he dodges her "Flame Slash". He shouts, "Hey! Don't use that spell on your teammate, you two hooves walking pony"      "As long as you don't mess with me, we'll be fine, and I am not a weird mage, do you know?"     It's too weird, what kind of mage goes into melee like a swordsman, huh?" Matt teases her.    Sunset rolled her eyes and said, "Hey, I can cast range spells as well."      You two stop arguing already, we are trying to find our way out here," Lance said in an agitated tone. "Ok, we have to cross a river, and I guess some foes too," He said while looking at the map. "This way"   Following their journey, the team feels that they are almost out of the forest until they encounter an unusual enemy, a cat with no back legs and a wooden horse with wooden wheels (like a Trojan horse). They block the bridge completely. Sunrise looks at it strangely, but others are already in battle position, so she'll ask them later.     A cat on the wooden horse blows a trumpet to gain the morale of other cats and to summon them. Then, the wooden horse charges at them. The team dodges aside, except for Sunset, who gets a direct hit, but used "Shield" before it so that she would take less damage, then flew painfully toward the trees.  Matt stands in front of Sunset while the others cover her with shields. The cat on the horse grabs a barrel of explosion and tries to throw it at them, but is cut short by the shot of Lance, so the barrel explodes and destroys the cat. The ground cat starts charging at them, Matt swings his sword and cuts down many of them, Lance tries to shoot down as many as he can, and Natalie uses "Fireball" and "Ice" to try to take them down but too many of them. The Team is going to be down.  "There are too many of them. What should we do?" Matt shout  "I don't know, I wish I could cast "Firestorm" to slay them all." Natalie starts remorsefully.   The cats prepare for their final attack. The cats are suddenly unable to move, they are confused immediately and try to struggle out. The Team is confused as well, they found that all the cats are rooting in some kind of earth spell. Turning their heads back, they see Sunset putting one of her front hooves on the ground to keep the earth spell going. Matt sees that and uses the chance to throw the sword at them, killing most of them, before the sword returns to him. Nicole uses "fireball" and "ice shard" while Lance shoots them all. Now, the team sits and sighs for relief.   Sunset says in between breaths, "I never thought cats could be so... many and so dangerous."  "Are you sure you're okay? You got hit hard by that wooden horse," Natalie wonders.  "I'm fine. I just need a rest because I've run out of mana. But I suggest we set up camp here so we can rest."   "Good idea, now let's set up camp."    After the battle of the cats, the team sets up camp, and Sunset has to eat meat even though she is a pony and ponies don't eat meat. Following the dinner, they take guard charge to follow the time. As Sunset and Matt are now in the guard, they sit down and talk     Sunset complaint "Today is not a good day for me."    "Yeah, but we have a lot of those," Matt said, and Sunset rolled her eyes.    "I didn't think that this bipedal training could bring such great results at first, I thought it would be useless training. But today I see how effective it is." Sunset smile.    "Well, there is another disadvantage of quadruple stance if you agree or not."     "And that is?"       "How do you grab something?"      '"Eh... Levitation spell."     "Can you cast another spell while grabbing like that?"       Sunset thinks a little quiet, "some unicorns can, but they have to train hard"      As you can see, you cannot cast a spell while holding things. This quadruple stance makes you waste a lot of spells that you have just learned since you will either be unarmed or armless to cast spells."    "Wow. You are crazy, you know that. However, I agree with you, I cannot choose both of them at the same time."    He pats her head, "I know.".    She smiles, "Really crazy."    The next morning, the team passes the bridge to cross the river and another one, they meet an old man who gets hurt a lot. Natalie and Sunset (for training) heal him and ask him what happens. The old man says there is a robot that has blocked the bridge to get out of this forest. The team's eyes widen when they hear that but they still go there to get out as soon as possible without planning. As the team meets the robot, it is a pumpkin robot. The pumpkin robot has an eye at the top of its body, has two big holes as fake eyes and a big mouth; it also has two big metal arms and two legs. The team inhales and steps forward to challenge the robot.      Lance uses a scanner to scan the robot, learning that it has flamethrowers and cannons on its mouth, and machine guns on its eye. Its eyes glow and it shoots machine guns at the team, but some bullets hit them, making them sting. Matt charged at the robot, but the robot's arm blocked his attack. The robot reveals the machine gun in its eye and points it at Matt. It is destroyed when Natalie uses "Lightning" on it, whereas Lance uses "Flame Shot" but it is not very effective.  The robot finds this annoying, so it slams into the ground to make the smoke blind team members. They now stand in a circle in order to keep the robot from attacking them. Suddenly, a fist stuck into Sunset's body, making her fly and drop to the ground. She coughs some blood and just lays there, not going to get up at the moment.    Natalie and Lance shouted "SUNSET" before being sent flying and collapsing at the same time. Sunset is trying to wake up.   "Lance, Natalie!" shouted Matt. The pumpkin robot stands before Matt, and he stares at it angrily. His sword now has a red aura around it, and he charged forward. As the robot lifts its arm and tries to punch Matt, Matt dodges and slashes it leaving a scar on its body. He slashes it three more times; the fourth slash cuts off the robot arm and he slashes it one more time, it sends flying backward. Matt is breathing heavily.     Finally, it's done. Now I must- " before he could finish the sentence, the robot punched him in the face and sent him flying. It now has scars throughout its body and appears to be nearly destroyed. Matt then gets up and stances in a defensive stance but is too tired to fight. Matt and the pumpkin robot will charge together.      Before the pumpkin robot charges Matt, it suddenly gets wrapped in some kind of flame chain making the robot struggle to get out, four giant swords made of fire appear on the robot's head and stab through the robot's body then explode, the robot vanishes without any tray because of the explosions. Matt is confused about what just happened and turns around. He sees Sunset flying without any wings and covered in some kind of red aura, her front hooves have a magic circle around them. Then, her aura disappears and she struggles to get up by the staff.   "You're doing that, isn't it?" Matt inquires     "I don't ... know, I see you charging at it and just thinking about protecting yourself and others, then ... I don't know, Sunset is going to lay on the ground, but Matt grabbed her. "Thank you." Matt nods.     "Now you shouldn't try to get up now, I will take you and others to the safety spot," said Matt, and Sunset nod, think that will be the best. Matt carried her on his back and drag others past the bridge. By the time he passed the bridge, he set up a camp near it and gave first aid to Natalie, Lance, and then to Sunset. Sunset is going to say she is fine but her body betrays her.    "Don't strain yourself here, pony" said Matt as he is wrapping the bandage around her chest.       "I'm fine, ok?" Sunset tries to retort     "Yeah but your body says different" Matt is wrapping the bandage around her head. Sunset sighs in defeat.    "You gonna "pillowed" me, don't you? You and Natalie do that every night." Sunset says in an annoying tone.    "Maybe," Matt admits and hugs Sunset. "Sorry, but your fur makes me sleep better," Sunset rolls her eyes. "Besides this is a good chance to hug you soon though." Matt laughs as Sunset huffs and says "you cheater".    Later, Natalie and Lance then wake up    "What happened?" Natalie asked.     "I thought we were still on the battlefield, where am I?" Lance confused, Matt comes in with Sunset in his hold.     "Finally, you two are awake" Matt cheered    "Can you tell me what happened before?" asked Natalie and Matt to say all the things that happened. She was surprised by Sunset's outburst as she can use so much mana at the same time.    "Look like we owe you one now, Sunset," Lance says.    "You're welcome, we're teammates, remember?" Sunset nods. .    "But you should control your mana more, Sunny" suggested Natalie.    "I will try," Sunset whines.    Natalie then claps the hand at the chest, an white orb appeared and spread its dust around. The wound of the team has now completely healed without any scar.    " You have to teach me that," Sunset suggests, and Natalie smiles.    "You know the price," Natalie grin at her, and Sunset sighed. "Fine."     "I got a BBQ party outside, you must join now."    "Wait, where did you get meat to make BBQ?" Sunset goes outside and sees that Matt is roasting the slime. He picks up each stick of slime and gives it to each member. The trio is now scared but sigh, they try to eat them but the taste is very bad, then the trio has their faces "greened" and gets out immediately to vomit. Matt seems fine but later he got a green face too.     (Achievements: eat the weird thing and poison resistance :) ) > The Beach > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once the pumpkin robot is defeated, the team must rest near a bridge because they have defeated a tough opponent (and are ill with food poisoning). They start cleaning before moving on, and as the team finishes cleaning, a gray-haired girl appears.  The girl asks them, "Do you see any pumpkin robot on this bridge? I have the order to go slay it."  Matt simply answers, "Sorry but the robot is no more, it is destroyed forever."  "You all did it." She was surprised and facepalm. "Oh boy, I was just called out here to take care of that huge pumpkin thing. Looks like I don't have to do anything now, thanks guys, you're awesome."   Lance says with pride. "That robot is way out of your league. I'm glad you made it in time before you threw your life away."  "Is that so? Let me show you something cool in return." She shows the black giant crystal. "This crystal here can teleport you back to town! It can even take you to another place, so long as you've already visited them. This is the furthest I can go, unfortunately." The girl says in a disappointed tone.  Natalie replies. "So good, can't wait to try it out. Thank you, Miss....eh...?"    "Call me Sandra, you don't have to say thank you anyway. Good luck." Sandra said and waved goodbye to the team .  "Wait, we don't know where to go," Sunset shouted at Sandra.  "Huh, yeah sorry I forgot to miss....eh who said that?" Sandra is confused. Sunset waves at her and surprises her. "Woah, what are you?"  "I'm a pony okay, anyway what place is up to this forest?" Sunset asked.  "Rock Lake lies past there, lots of squid, crabs, and stuff over there. Be on your guard, especially you, little cute pony." Sandra teases and waves goodbye to them.  The team knows what next place they have to pass. They start looking around and see a treasure chest. They open it and see a big gun that fits Lance, so he takes it. After that, they touch the crystal, and the crystal turns green and teleports them to the nameless town. They find that they are in the park of the nameless town with another crystal in the center. They touch it again and teleport back to the same spot. They decide to take a rest to prepare for the next location named Rock Lake.  ------------------------------------------ After a refreshing stroll through the forest, battling through many monsters in the forest, the trio feels their power is returning while Sunset feels stronger than before. It seems that the monsters of the forest seem more aggressive than usual, possibly due to the volcanic eruption in the North. Local legends suggest that the demon they encountered before was the ancient God named Arkon. Being supposedly immortal, and older than the Earth(en) itself. The ancestors of the land could only seal him deep within the tornado, carefully hiding the exact location so that no one ever hears from him again. His origins and purpose are still a mystery.  However, when news of history's return was spread, many warriors and adventurers headed toward the mountains, each striving for fame and glory. The team has a long way before they once again reach the northern mountain (except Sunset), they will have a long way before they re-encounter Akron.      After a night's sleep near the bridge, the team starts moving ahead to Rock Lake. The place is like a beach as it has many people holding skateboards around. The team has greeted by a gray-haired man.  "Welcome to Rock Lake. It's a lake though, just a bunch of caves and rivers near the sea. I got stuck here after my party ditched me. So, I might as well advise the next people heading up the mountain. That is where you are going, right?" Said the gray-haired man.  "Aye, we are going back up to the demon after some demon slaughters us there." Matt retorts.  Lance follows, "It was an utter massacre but mainly because we caught off guard. I'm sure we could have taken him"  The gray-haired man gives them advice, "Demon, uh? I suppose it's the one they're looking for, you know, Arkon. You'd probably all be dead if you fought him. They say he's a deity that was sealed in the volcano thousands of years ago. No one has been able to find his body.".  "Deity huh... I guess that means he is a god or something. Well, he did not get away with stealing our power." retorts Matt.  "Okay, if you insist. Anyway, can I have that horse?" He points at Sunset who is currently in a quadruple stance and she earns the glare from her teammates. She smiles sheepishly.  Natalie answers with sarcasm. "Sorry this "horse" is not for sale, it is part of my team now,"  "Alright, I hope that cute horse has enough strength to carry your stuff." the gray man says as the trio smirks at Sunset and she was face-hoofed.      The man is gone, and Sunset returns in a bipedal stance to say, "Oops." As the team continues their journey, they come across the blue slimes.  "Eh, remind me of that taste when I eat them." Said Sunset while recalling the taste.  "Don't even say that because I will never forget that taste," Lance said as he glared at Matt.  'Okay, that's my fault. Just kill this slime to get those chests,' said Matt as he pointed towards the chests behind the slime. The others roll their eyes.  Step aside, Natalie said, clapping her hand against Natalie's chest; a moment later, a black cloud appeared and struck thunder to the slimes, leaving smoke in their wake. Natalie is proud of her for killing them all. A slime appears from the smoke and tries to strike Natalie, but Sunset swings her staff at it, sending it flying. Sunset then spins the staff and presses it on the ground. An electric ball appears from the ground and hits the slime directly, killing it.  "Natalie, don't let your guard down," Sunset said  Natalie says, "sorry, I thought the Thunderstorm would kill them all,' . The others roll their eyes. "Anyway, I see you improved a lot in your magic skills, and... physical stuff."  "Thanks, maybe it's from the battle with that giant pumpkin."  "Remember the staff is just decoration, nothing enchanted."  "I know that. Now I can use magic by hoofing, thanks to your training."  Natalie smiles, "No problem.".  Sunset suggests, "Let's open the chest now.".  They open the chest and find nothing but gold coins, a red sword, and a wooden staff. Sunset collects the wooden staff and puts it in her magic inventory. As they continue to walk, they find jellyfish of three different kinds: blue, red, and yellow. These jellyfishes are flying around the beach. "That doesn't look like a beach where I can relax. Look at all the jellyfish, it's not edible." Matt comments, his tone dejected. His whining is ignored by the others, and they keep moving forward. They see two people being surrounded by jellyfishes. The team looks at each other and sighs in annoyance. Natalie creates a crystal, which appears in front of the red jellyfish and shatters, causing the jellyfish to flinch back because of the shards.  The jellyfishes now focus all of their attention on the team. There are five jellyfish in total, two red, two blue, and one yellow. One of the blues uses their tentacles to press their canals, the sky is raining a little, and everything on the battlefield gets wet. Matt uses "Air slash" on the red jellyfish to kill one of them. Sunset is confused about what the yellow jellyfish is doing as it presses its canal. As a thunderstruck strikes her body, she is paralyzed. After getting hit twice more, she tries to get up although paralyzed and finds a red jellyfish trying to burn her, but it abruptly gets a hole in its canal, dying.  Sunset notices that Lance's sword-gun has smoked and he nods at her. Natalie claps her hand and uses "Thunderstorm" at the jellyfishes. The blue jellyfishes are death by thunder but the yellow one seems happy about that. It tries to press the canal but Sunset teleports and wracks it with her staff to stop it from doing that. Matt sees his chance and slams his sword against the ground; a large iceberg rises and breaches the jellyfish's body.  After winning, the team cheers. They help the two people up and check to see if they are injured or not. Both of them thank them and wave goodbye. The team sighs in relief but the trio starts worrying about Sunset.  "You ok Sunset, those thunders are quite powerful you know," said Lance.  "Honestly I'm fine, those thunders aren't as powerful as I thought," Sunset says as the team's eyes widen in surprise, "what?" Sunset asks.  Natalie asks, "I never thought you were that tank. Are you a mage?".  "I am sorry, but I have only just become a mage since I completed your training. But honestly, since the robot hit me, I did not feel any strong attack.`` Sunset says as the others nod in agreement.  Natalie waves her arm, "Might be right. I can take those thunders on my own." "Then stop complaining to me about what kind of mage I am already," Sunset says in an annoyed tone.  "Fine,"  "I think we should go find a camping spot now. It's really dark here." Sunset sighs.   They have found the perfect spot for camping because they have a great view of the beach. It is Sunset's turn to guard, and Natalie's turns as well. Sunset meditates to control her mana since she erupted in the time she fought with the robot.  "You shouldn't meditate too much, Sunny." Natalie gives a coconut to Sunset  "Ah... I look forward to discussing magic with you." Sunset says as she chops the coconut with Matt's sword.  "Do you have some curiosity about your magic?"  "Since I am outbursting mana to destroy that robot, do I need to worry about being corrupted by its power?"  "Good question. Outburst mana is normal when you are angry or just want to protect something. That depends on your emotions. However, corruption is at a different level. That will happen when you can't control your mana and let your mana control your mind and body. People like that will be gone crazy and usually very powerful but mindless."  "I see," Sunset drinks the coconut "Looks like I have to learn more about magic. You know for me."  "Since you just know how to cast a spell, I give you this," Natalie gives her a book. "This is the magic seals and traps book; I steal it from the church and I get kicked out of there. I can't perform a seal or trap but maybe you can"  "Thank you. Hope that doesn't have dark magic." Sunset takes the book  "Don't say that. Magic is just a weapon, and all weapons have one weakness," Natalie points to Sunset "The user".  Sunset nods as she understands what she means. Natalie sits beside Sunset while she is reading the book. They know what they are doing, and nothing can change the objective of this journey > The cave > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun has risen and the trio is awake. He went to the water to wash his face to be able to fully awaken. As Natalie and Lance clean up the camp and prepare to move, they notice Sunset isn't there.      Lance asks Natalie, "Where is Sunset? I thought she slept with us last night." Natalie and he searched nearby the camp and found Sunset sitting on a rock.    Natalie found her, "There she is." Trying to wake Sunset up, she shakes her body, but Sunset is still sleeping, making Natalie and Lance giggle. The evil grin was on their faces, as they picked Sunset up carefully without waking her up, then ran to the water to drop her in. After being drowned for a while, Sunset wakes up with a "gap" and looks around. The duo is laughing when she sees them.     Sunset says, annoyed. "Are you done yet?" she asked.     Lance teases, "We're done, you need to get up early.".     "Fair enough, thanks for your water rush now I am fully awake," said Sunset as she got up. "So which way do we go?" Asks Sunset.    "You see that bridge over there? We will pass through it." Natalie points at the bridge, Sunset nods to understanding     The team has completed setting off the camp, they continue to go to the bridge. When they approach the wooden bridge, they see a blue armored man-like holding a sword between the bridge. Each team member stares at the other, confused but cautious. As Matt moved closer to the armor, he pokes it with his sword. Suddenly, the armor moves and tries to slash him, but it is blocked by his sword. It then slammed the tip of the sword into the ground, creating the small iceberg, which appeared from the ground, try to hit Natalie but promptly jumped away from it. Lance pulls out the big gun and shoots at the armored head, leaving a small explosion that breaks the moving armor in pieces.  "... I never thought an armor that was empty could move by itself," Sunset said as she picked up a piece of armor.  Matt replies, "Trust me, I see worse things!"   "So shall we -" she gets cut off when she feels something approaching. There will be two more living armors on the way, one red and one green. As the green one charged at Sunset, she blocked it by her staff, then put her hoof on the armor, and it appeared to be the magic circle, so she kicked it out and it exploded. In the smoke, the red one charges at Sunset, making her unable to react, but Lance shoots at its leg, causing its armor to fall at the knee. Matt sees that and seizes the opportunity to slash it into pieces.  "Well, I don't know what it's called, is it a living armor?" Sunset asks confused.    "It's called a Clay; it's a golem created by someone... But there's a rumor that it's out of control and has been trying to kill anything" Natalie says as she looks at the book.   Sunset notes, "That explains how a blast can slay it." She looks ahead and sees a cave. "Great, now we have to go through that cave first."   "Then what are you waiting for? Let go!" said Matt with excitement.    After the team enters the cave, they look around to see what they can see.    "Well, I don't know what will happen. I would like it if we encountered a crab," says Matt as he is dreaming of eating crab.   "I won't be surprised when I encounter that thing because my nerves of surprise are numb," Sunset says irritated.   "Aye, don't be like that Shimmer," he pats Sunset's head "I just don't wanna meet some monster that can't eat, a crap would be--" a giant crab with a shell on its back and a big pincer appeared "--good"     "Oh, my---, next time shut your mouth, Matt," said Sunset as she took a battle stance.    "What? Just a coincidence. You say that jellyfish will appear too?" Matt asked as the red jellyfish appeared. When Matt yelled, "Oh come on, I am sure you don't have any clay in here!", a green piece of clay appeared. Matt facepalms and Sunset smirks at him.   "Told you ~" Sunset teases as Matt groans.  The Green clay stretches its bow and aims at Lance while the crab burrows into the ground. Jellyfish press their canals and shoot fireballs toward Sunset. Sunset was going to teleport, but the crab struck her from the ground, making her flinch. The fireball is headed her way, but Lance takes a shot at it to stop it before it can hit her. He slams his sword tip, releasing a ray of lava from the ground, and destroys the green Clay. Sunset creates spikes of ice around the crab, making it defend itself by going into the shell. The ice spikes fell down, causing the crab to trap inside its shell, and Natalie finished killing the jellyfish by using "Ice Shard".     Sunset says, "Yeah, we're definitely having a crab meet.    Natalie cheers, "You know how to use the spell."       Sunset retorts, "That's normal, right? You're better than that.".   "To be honest, I'm not much more agile than you. As compared to other mages I have met, you are the weirdest," Natalie said as she wished because she was jealous of Sunset.   "Thanks, I guess," Sunset rubs her head. "Anyway...". "Let's get out of here," Sunset said to the team.    The team searches for the way out of the cave. They find a boy stuck in the ruins. They set up and helps him out. Natalie and Sunset then use "Heal" to clean up his wound. They decide to take the boy back to his mother. As they nearly leave the cave, earthquakes cause the cave to shake violently, making Sunset and Natalie create shields in order to prevent getting injured. The earthquake is strong enough to create a hole under Sunset, causing her to fall into the hole.    "SUNSET." shoutsthe trio.     "We have to save her," Matt shouts as going to jump to the hole but Lance stops him by the gun-blade.   Lance shouts, "We have to wait for the earthquake to end first." Matt had to agree. Five minutes after the earthquake, the team starts to worry about the unicorn.    Matt yells at Lance. "She needs our help now!"    "Lance shouts back, "How can we get down there? It is too deep from here and none of us have teleportation except her."    "Then what are we going to do? Wait here and watch her die?" Matt shouts angrily.    "Can you fucking calm down?" Lance shouts louder and Matt falls silent. "We know she is important to us, but why go down there and have another injured team member? I need some tools down there. Kid, do you have rope? I need one."     "I have a rope, but it's at home," he said. Lance nods as he understands.    Lance says, "Let's get this kid home so we can borrow some tools." Then he turns his head to the kid and asks, "What's your name, kid?"     The kid answers "Simon,"  Lance suggests, "Look Simon, we need your help ok?" The boy nods, "let's go, let's not waste any time."    The trio runs as fast as they can to get the tools. In the process of making their way to Simon's house, ten pirates, hiding in the brush, emerge from the brush and block their way with knives and guns.    Matt shouts at them, "Move aside, we don't have time for this.".     "If you want us to move," one of the pirates is pointing his blade at the trio, "give me that horse for your life." The trio glares at the pirates in surprise.   Lance asks them, "What do you want from her? She isn't a helpful pony for getting labor work."   "Oh, we don't need to get it to work for us. We sell it to get money, a rare horse like that will have high value for us, besides having that horse in your group is just an anvil to hold you all down, don't you think?" The pirate laughs "How about this? I give you some money so you can sell that horse for us and we will let you go. I'm sure -" before the pirate finishes the sentence, Natalie throws him a fireball to make him shut his mouth up.       "You don't get her," Natalie shouts as she points the staff at the pirate, "move aside or you will die."    The pirates don't listen to Natalie, they whistle to reach their teammate. There are now 20 pirates aiming at the trio. A pirate smirked, "You think you can defeat us? You should give me that horse.". The trio has had it with the pirates, so they let out their rage at the start of the battle.   - Meanwhile -    As Sunset starts to grow conscious, she notices that she fainted in the hole. Although she tries to get up, her injury won't allow her to do so, so with the help of her staff, she tried to move.  "Where am I?" she asks as she searches around. It is dark around, so she lit a fireball and let it flutter around. When the light comes on, she sees a big hallway that leads somewhere. She looks around the hallways. Sunset continues to walk and comes to a door. Sunset said, "Well, at least we have something in here.".  When she opens the door, she is surprised to see a small, bipedal, pure white dragon with large wings. This dragon is a little bigger than an adult human. She points the staff at the dragon, feeling scared and cautious. The dragon looks at her but says nothing else as he walks into the room. Sunset feels strange about this but decides to follow him. They walk until they reach a platform in the middle of the room with a crystal on it. The dragon transforms into a mist and enters the crystal. Sunset looks at the hexagonal-shaped crystal, which is red and blue. After looking around the crystal for a few moments, she decides to touch it in confusion. After she touches the crystal, it is too bright and causes her to faint.  While looking around in confusion, she notices a pure white dragon staring into the void, saying nothing. "Hey, Can you hear me?" Trying to shout, Sunset tries to catch the dragon's attention. The dragon turns his body to her, then walks towards her, kneeling beside her at eye level to gaze at her. Sunset stares back at the dragon, not knowing what to do. Sunset's eyes are poked by the dragon after he touches his forehead.   "Ouch", Sunset whimpered in pain at the touch, then she felt like her eyes were on fire. She cries in pain, and tries to open her eyes; as she opened her eyes, she saw that she stood beside a small mirror, and she noticed that both of her eyes were being burned by bright red and blue fire. As she breathes in pain, the burning finally ends. She has never felt so much pain. As the dragon nods and stands up, he walks to a magic circle and disappear, and Sunset faints after that.    Sunset's eyes widen, and she gets up quickly, breathing heavily as she just witnessed that dream.    Natalie says, "You're awake!" as she embraced Sunset    "Can't breathe." Sunset struggles with Natalie's bear hug. Natalie releases her with an "oop".     Sunset asks them, "Where am I?".   "Don't worry, they let us stay here overnight so you can take a full rest." Said Lance.    Ok... But why are you all bruised? Did you fight a monster that was so strong?". Sunset asks again    Matt replies, "We fought against the pirate group."...   "I see, but I am going to bed now." Sunset replies. "We will discuss this later.". The trio says "me too," before lying on the ground together. The next morning, Sunset wakes up and tries to move herself up but she can't because Matt and Natalie are hugging her like a pillow and sleeping. Sunset pours water on them, making them "gap" and fully awake. Then they glare at Sunset. "You can wake us up in a far nicer way than that," Matt says as he hates being poured. Sunset counters, "Stop "pillowing" me already, I'm a pony, not a pillow.". "But your fur is so soft for us, I can't sleep without your fur!" Natalie cheers as Sunset facehoof. "Fine, but don't hug me without my permission, ok?" Sunset responds as the duo nods. Sunset stands up, goes out of the tent, and sees Lance, Simon, and the blue-haired girl talking to each other. Sunset waved her front hooves and approached Simon, patting his head and conducting a conversation. Sunset says, "Hi Lance, what's new?", the blue-haired girl, amazed that Sunset could speak to her. "Yo-You can talk?" exclaims the blue-hair girl, Simon's eyes flashing for excitement. Sunset replies, "Yeah, I can talk." "My apologies for laughing at you Lance, I thought you said something crazy." The blue-haired girl says. "Andddd....she can walk on two legs too. WOW, I'm thinking I'm nuts now. All horses have four legs, yet I just met a two-legged talking horse." Sunset gets annoyed by that. "This team here... tricks me into signing a contract, and then teaches me some crazy training lessons. And sorry but I'm a pony, not a horse." Replies Sunset as Lance smirks. "Oh come on, you've already passed that lesson and become part of our team," says Lance. The blue-hair girl introduces to Sunset,"My name is Krystal, it's nice to meet you Mrs. Alien",  "Please call me Sunset and don't use the word "alien". It makes me feel uncomfortable". Says Sunset as she shakes Krystal's hand. "You're an old mage, aren't you?" Asks Krystal making Sunset surprised "Oh? I thought all old mages wore these clothes with wooden staff". Sunset facehoof.  Sunset counters, "I'm just over 40 years old, so I'm still young, OK?" "That age is fairly old for us, you know?" asks Lance, Sunset tilting her head in confusion. "I mean, the average human life over 100 years old is incredible," Lance replied. Sunset replies, somewhat surprised, "Really?... I thought humans could live longer." "Well, for us, it is normal to live that long." Lance replies, "I have no word.". "Anyway, since you saved this beach from the pirates, I need to thank you three," says Krystal. "No problem, they make us angry too," Lance says, making Sunset surprised. Sunset asks, "What did they say that made you angry?". "They keep telling us to give you up to them, no matter the warnings we give, they still charge at us. Natalie uses the spell "Genesis" and makes them heavily injured. Geez, they finally give up." recalls Lance. Sunset simply nods. In her bag, Krystal pulls forth a staff with an ice ball and a number of spikes attached to it. "Please take this staff as a thank you to me," she said and Lance just simply takes the staff "but can you do one more flavor? I can believe you all can do it." The duo nods their heads to listen, Krystal points at the wooden bridge. "That bridge is the only way I can go home in Glacier Valley, but a few days ago, a giant squid was blocking our way. I can't handle it on my own so I set up camp here waiting for someone to slay it. So, can you do it for me, please? My parents are going to miss me and Simon so much." The duo stares together and nods to agree. "Really? You'll do it? Thank you so much. I'll pay you after I get home." Well, we have to rest in Glacier Valley before we head to the volcano, so we're good," says Lance. Sunset continues, "Well then... Would it be safe for you to stay here? I don't want to drag you into it."  Crystal nods, "Good luck on your quest." Sunset goes back to the camp and tells them about the quest. Matt seems excited because he wants to eat that squid while Natalie is terrified of...tentacles, but seeing that they must pass through the Glacier Valley, she has to agree. After breakfast, the team head to the wooden bridge. As they just have a step on the bridge, they already see a giant squid camping on that bridge. "I wonder what the Squid is like in that bridge?" Asks Sunset. "I don't know but I'd like to try that squid." Matt was excited. "You remind me of Celestia when she wants cake. Anyway, let's have that squid." The team notices that the Giant Squid hasn't noticed them yet. Natalie cast "Thunderstorm" to the squid and made it "yelp". It turns to them and glares. It swings one tentacle at them but misses. Matt slams the tip of the sword and a fire ray appears on the ground, making the squid flinch back. Lance uses his big gun to aim at it but the squid split ink at his face makes him can't shoot. Natalie casts the spell to make many stars appear on the squid's head, then falling at it.  The squid jerks back to the attack because of the hurt, it is angrier and starts to swing the tentacles rapidly. The team dodges most of its swing but one by one gets hit. They get sent flying in different ways, Sunset and Lance fall into the sand while Natalie and Matt fall into the water. The squid then uses its tentacle to press into the wooden bridge and it flies direct to Sunset. The squid slams its body to Sunset's position while holding the big gun and aim at it. At the time, he shoots the gun and makes him jerk back by its recoil. When the bullet begins to touch the squid, it explodes electrically, making the squid groan.  Sunset, teleport before the slam, forming an ice spear and going to throw at the squid. Before she can do it, the fire once again appears in her eyes, one blue and one red, making her feel the burn and can't focus the spell. The squid took a chance to wrap the tentacle around Sunset and lock her in it. Matt feels something wrong about Sunset, he charges at the squid and slashes the tentacle out. While Lance finishes charging, he clicks the trigger and a beam has shot from the gun. It goes through the squid and burns it completely. Matt goes forward to check the squid and finds that it dies, then he quickly turns to Sunset, found that her eyes are still in the fire. The fire then went out, making Sunset sighs of relief for not feel her eyes burning. Matt demands, "You got to explain about this"  "Okay... I will explain when we get to Glacier Valley." Says Sunset as Matt nods. The giant squid is now completely dead. Lance signals Krystal of the squid's demise. Matt drags the dead squid while Lance finds the perfect spot to set up camp. They will discuss the issue of their unicorn teammate. > Unexpected event > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After killing the giant squid and saying goodbye to Krystal. Natalie is happy when she gets a new staff, and Matt seems okay when he receives a big blue sword from Krystal. The team sets up camp and sits around the fire to discuss Sunset. Matt asks the unicorn, "what's happening to you Sunset? You don't seem to be able to concentrate on the attack,"  Sunset replies, "Sorry, I feel something burning in my eyes.". "Matt, are you serious? We all see the fire has literally burned her green eyes." Lance says with a deadpan, making Matt scratch his head. "It's weird how two colors of fire appeared at once." Natalie comments, "we've all seen blue fire before, but it's rare to see two colors at the same time." Sunset asks "Is this a good or a bad thing?". "In the present, I don't know. In the future, yes. Because you can't concentrate on the spell while you have... weird fire appearing in your eyes" Lance answers.. "... Then what will I do when I can't use magic to help you in combat? I feel like I'm becoming a burden on your team now," Sunset replies. "Hey, you're not a burden in our team here, you can be our pillow at night," says Natalie. Sunset responds, "Thanks a ton. I'll pass.". Natalie comes up with an idea after a while of thinking. "I suggest we stay here for 3 days to see what happens with Sunset, while we train by slaying monsters to become stronger." It's a good idea, Natalie. I'll teleport to the town to prepare stuff that dropped when we slay the monsters, and then I'll sell it," Lance said as he pointed the crystal over the bridge. The other nods for agreement.  Sunset uses simple spells like burning a leaf, creating a water ball or fireball, but nothing happens. Natalie suggests Sunset try some advanced spells, so Sunset creates a ball of electricity, but nothing happens, then a spear of ice, but again she feels the burn. Due to this, sunsets become annoying.  Sunset whines"I really hate this fire."    Matt asks, "Yeah, you should. But when exactly will this happen?"    Sunset answers, "I think this has happened since I found that crystal.".     Natalie asks confusedly, "What crystal? We found you lying in a throne room, but I am sure there was no crystal there.".    'Really? I met some sort of white dragon before you found me. He poked my eyes after he poked his forehead," Sunset opens her dimensional pocket, appearing fire in her eyes, but she doesn't care about it. "Well, I think I have that crystal in my pocket," and she found nothing. "Maybe I'm wrong."   Natalie looks at Sunset curiously. "You don't feel any burn or anything?".   Sunset admits, "I still feel like my eyes are on fire, but I'm getting used to it. Besides, I'm trying to ignore this problem."   'Should I burn your whole body to make you feel it?" Matt asks as he is lighting matches, but he got a "bonk" from Sunset.      Sunset says, "Don't joke about this stuff please, I don't like to be on fire."   Matt offers, "Okay okay geez...Anyone up for some squid meat?".   "Ok...we should wait for Lance for eating each other"    Sunset, Natalie, and Matt test magic to learn more about this fire. It has been found that if Sunset uses a certain amount of mana, she will get burned. When the testing was done, Lance returned with a medium bag of money.  Lance says to the team, "Here's our money, we have a lot of materials for fighting monsters, so the shop buys them at a good price."      "Well, we can use the money to buy food, weapons, and clothing. I am tired when I wear these clothes all day." Natalie says in an annoyed tone.   "Have you forgotten that we have not taken baths since we first met Sunset?" asks Matt    "Fine, we need some baths for morale"    Lance asked, "Okay so where do we get a bath?"    "Well, Natalie and I have magic so we can create hot water for bathing." Sunset suggests, "we can create a hole by earth spell, Matt and Lance will bring water, and finally we can boil the water to a comfortable temperature."      Good idea, Sunset, but... What do you mean by "a"? Natalie is confused.     Sunset says, "Eh, we took a bath together, didn't we?" The trio deadpans at her    "Sunset, don't you know human boys and girls don't bathe together?" Natalie asks with a blush on her face as Sunset tilted his head in confusion. "That's why we wear clothes every day."    "Ah, I see. Well, it's too bad that in our world clothes are not a requirement, but I've seen mares and stallions bathe together a lot with no problem." The trio is surprised and feels that was correct.    "Okay. Topic aside. After the bath, you have to tell me when this problem happens, ok?" Lance said as Sunset nod        The team starts making hot baths, the girls begin digging holes while the boys bring water from the beach. As the water fills the holes, Natalie and Sunset make the water hotter until it reaches the proper temperature, and then Natalie builds an earth wall to prevent the boys from peaking.  Natalie and Sunset are discussing magic stuff as they take a bath. Mainly Natalie is talking about magic seals, magic words, and spells while Matt and Lance climb the wall to reach the girls. Lance and Matt peak a little, then Natalie shoots fireballs at them. Natalie quickly wears her clothes and chases Lance, while Matt already hides. Sunset simply waves a hoof at him and asks him if he wants to join. He seems to deny it because of embarrassment as he assumes that Sunset would chase him as she did with Lance.     The team sits together after the bath and begins to talk.    Natalie screams angrily, "You pervert have to pay for this.".    Lance tries to stop her, "Okay, okay, we won't peak at the future"    "But Sunset, why won't you embarrass me for this?" Matt enquires as all eyes turn to Sunset.   " Eh...The pony boys and girls taking baths together are normal to me. Even those two are strangers. But we prefer to take a bath alone since something should happen in the bathroom." Sunset explains and the trio stares.     Matt is disappointed: "I thought that was a joke."    Sunset asks, "Okay, how far will we have to walk to reach the mountain?"    Lance takes out the map and starts pointing to the location of the map, "Well we are now near the Glacier Valley, and then we have to pass this valley and the Kitten Ruin, and then we will reach Volcano Peak."   "I see, then we'll go two days later," Sunset says, as the trio nodded .  "Good, we have to get to sleep, it is already night time. I will guard this night." Matt says         The trio is now sleeping well after the bath, while Matt is guarding the camp. Several monsters with red eyes, who appear to be hypnotized, enter the camp silently at the camp's back. When they saw inside the camp, they carefully carried Sunset out without anyone noticing. Matt, who is guarding the camp, is bored and gets into the camp to find something to do, and notices that Sunset is missing.     "NATALIE, LANCE, wake up" he shouted, waking the duo.    Lance asks him, "What happened Matt? Are the enemies attacking?"  "Sunset is missing." The duo is fully awake and preparing weapons, "we need to find her".     They go outside and look for the unicorn, find the footprint and follow it. They saw many monsters carrying Sunset to a magic circle. They rush to rescue her.    "Sunset, wake up!" Matt shouted to hope to awaken Sunset, but he saw she was still sleeping because she had an earplug in. "Shit, she's wearing earplugs!" Matt charges at them in an attempt to rescue his teammate, but the many monsters from the ground appear and try to stop him. While they try to kill these monsters as quickly as possible, there are too many. The monsters carrying the unicorn are almost at the magic circle.     "I have an idea, cover me," Lance demands as he equips the scanner and aims the gun-blade at Sunset. Lance takes a deep breath and shot. The bullet flies near Sunset's cheek to cut her cheek, making Sunset awake   "Ouch, what's happening?" Sunset wakes up and is being carried by something. Looking down, she sees monsters are carrying her. Sunset plans to burn them down with magic, but the monster throws her into the magic circle. As the magic circle is lit up, many chains emerge and surround Sunset's body. Sunset tries to get out, but the circle lights up again, and she is teleported away.    "SUNSET," the trio yells as they slay all the monsters and come to the magic circle.     Natalie said, "This is a long-distance teleport spell circle, but whoever created it must be a master of trapping spells... And hypnotizing spells to control the monster."  Matt says to others, "Whatever he or she wants from her, I can assume that this mage is not seeking to sell her,"    "Yep, we should bring this magic circle to Glacier Valley. Maybe we can track her from somewhere," proposes Lance, and the trio nods in agreement.  After Natalie has separated the magic circle from the ground, she uses the spell to attract the magic circle to a sheet of paper. After finishing, she rolls the paper and puts it in the bags. The trio then heads to Glacier Valley to ask for some help. --------------------------------------- > Dragon's will > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A moment later, Sunset starts to wake up, and her vision blurs. She tries to move but to no effect. Her body is wrapped in chains to make sure she can't move anywhere soon, so she signs and decides to lay there and wait. After waiting for a while, Sunset hears something coming to her and she again feels the fire in her eyes. The closer this footstep comes to her, the hotter the fire is. Sunset grunts and tries to open her eyes as long as she can. Finally, the footsteps are stopped and she looks up. It is that dragon she meets in the ruin and she glares at the dragon.    "What do you want from me, dragon?" Sunset demands.        The dragon says nothing and just stares at Sunset. The chain is not attracted to the ground anymore but still tied Sunset up. The dragon then picks her up and carries her on its back, much as Sunset struggles. Sunset tries to use her horn to escape but the chain wraps it to prevent her magic cast that way. Sunset finally gives up the struggle, feeling the burn in her eyes. The dragon leads to the room which has two chairs and a table in there. It puts Sunset down to the chair much more in her confusion. The dragon comes into another room, then comes out with two cups of coffee. It put two cups on the table and sit down, stare at Sunset    "You really cute, you know?" the dragon says as Sunset stares at him bluntly. "What with that stare? I just invited you here."    "Then what kind of invitation would kidnap the guest then tie them up and drag them into this table, Mr ghost dragon?" Sunset asks the dragon in an annoying tone.   "Okay okay... Sorry I have to do that to separate you from that suicide squad."    "Can you please untie me so I can talk to you... normally?"    He thinks for a little while and says "OK," then he unties her and gets wracked by Sunset.    "That for kidnapping me and tie me up"      "Ok, I deserve it. " He says as he rubs his head. "Geez, did all the cute girls look like that?" he whispered.     "Anyway," Sunset picks up the cup of coffee and begins drinking. "What's your name, Mr dragon? Are you a pervert?"    “I'm Whitty, and please stop calling me a pervert."   "Fine, I'm angry because you put fire in my eyes."    "That fire is my power, adapting your mana so it will last for a while."     "Really? Why did you choose me over Natalie or Matt?"   "Humans do not adapt to my magic as well so I will try it on you." He lies    "Then can you at least let me know when you meet me in the tomb?" " Sunset facehoofs.    "Besides," Whitty ignores Sunset's question, "I'm dying here, so I want someone to take my mana before I close my eyes."    "I .....see " Sunset taps her chin "so ..when you really close my eyes?"    "I have no idea. I just know it will come soon."     "What if I denied? Don't you think I would deny it?"   " My last breath has been given to try and use my magic on someone capable of it. Dragon magic may be hard to control, but it is very powerful."   "Are you arrogant about your species? I doubt a dragon like you can kill the humans that I team up with."   "...Fine, but you still need to collect the last pieces."    "What pieces?" Sunset asks in confuse   "The staff you collected in the jungle and the gems when you just met me."  I don't know where the gems are, though." Sunset searches the dimensional pocket "let's see," and then she takes out the staff, the staff is now covered with a white aura, much to Sunset's surprise, then she takes the gem, too." There you go."   As the fire in Sunset's eyes moves to the staff and gems for red and blue fire, Whitty used the spell to make the two items into a white ball. "There you go, we have two pieces. Now, Battle me," said Whitty.   "What...what are you saying? "Why should I have -" Sunset is cut off by the fire breath nearby and it explodes behind her.    Whitty in a battle stance and says "Your only option here is to fight me or die." Sunset takes out her wooden staff and is ready to fight.   Meanwhile      After Sunset disappeared by kidnapping. The trio quickly finds someone in Glacier Valley who is familiar with magic. After searching around for a while, the team meets Krystal again.    "Oh hey, nice to meet you again. What are you doing here and where is the unicorn? " Krystal asked    "That's... What we are doing. Someone takes control over the monsters and kidnaps Sunset away." Matt explains.   "I see, she's a rare pony, so maybe they kidnap her for money," Krystal replies.    Natalie says, pulling out the piece of paper and examining it. "I don't think they are using teleport spells. Maybe they have other purposes for going to Sunset."    "Let's go to my house, I have some books of magic that might help you," Krystal says. The trio nods their heads in agreement.    Krystal and the trio head for Krystal's house. They are welcomed by her family and asked if they want to stay. The trio simply states that they will stay here for a while to search for the lost teammate then they will leave. Krystal leads the trio to her room, which has a lot of books, but the books of magic make up only a fraction of the collection. The group sits down and takes out all the books of magic to solve the magic circle. Krystal explains, "this is a weird circle to me. It combines a trap spell and a teleport spell. Whoever kidnaps Sunset, he or she must be a mage,"     Natalie asks her, "So how do we solve this one?"    Krystal answers, "Well, we have to activate this one again to meet her. Natalie, you need to help me solve this problem faster." Natalie nodded in agreement. They start to work with the magic circle to rescue their unicorn teammate. Back to the forbidden ruin  Sunset and Whitty start charging at each other, blocking each other's attacks and jerking back immediately. Whitty flies up and charges at her again as Sunset is ready to block it. He immediately dashes to Sunset's back, then punches her, making her send flying but Whitty uses a spell to pull her back and punch her at her belly, causing her to spill some blood and send her flying backward again.  Once again, Whitty uses his pulling spell and tries to punch her again. Sunset got pulled, but by the time she reached Whitty, she blocked the punch and kicked him in the chest. Whitty jerks back because of the sudden kick, then he is going to charge at her, but then he realizes there is a magic circle at his chest. The dragon was shocked when the circle exploded, sending him flying backward. Before he can get up, he receives many elements from Sunset, forcing him to defend. Sunset runs circles around Whitty and keeps shooting him with element balls. A beam from the dragon is shot at Sunset, forcing her to dodge and cut the shots.  The dragon congrats the pony, "You're really good at fighting here, weird horse,"    "I don't know if a dragon in this world can cast magic or not, but that will be a challenge to me when encountering a dragon like you. " Sunset replies as she keeps circling the battlefield.   "I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but I'm the only one who can speak here, because--" Whitty ready to charge at her "There is no dragon in this world."   "I see," Sunset stops walking. "That's why you want a good fight, isn't it?"   Whitty replies, "Yes, I want to die harshly, but... I don't want all of my magic that I have learned to be lost."  "... I see, but you don't have to fight like that."   "Sorry, but I have challenged many human warriors, and they have all disappointed me." Whitty points at Sunset, "Don't disappoint me," and the ground begins to tremble, making Sunset flinch.  Once the ground has stopped shaking, Whitty increases his speed and charges towards Sunset. As the unicorn creates ice crystals and throws them at him, he dodges them easily. By the time he gets close to Sunset, he immediately slashes her in the body. Sunset sees her blood is shedding, but she ignores it and finds a way to defeat the speedy dragon. The dragon suddenly appears in front of her and punches her, making her lie down.   "Have you given up yet?" The dragon taunts Sunset as she stands up. "You stubborn horse, you're gonna get killed now," then he ran to her and punched her to make her faint. After the punch makes a deal with Sunset, he feels light from her body, and soon he finds that his fist and Sunset are glued together. "Glue trap?" he asks. Sunset inhales then creates a fireball in front of Whitty, and the fireball's explosion causes Whitty and her to fly backward. Sunset is now heavily injured, while Whitty has only minor injuries. Sunset is barely able to continue. Whitty sends a "Shock Wave", the spell explodes windily, it hits her and sends her crashing into the wall. Whitty steps closer to the heavily injured Sunset with an ice sword he created by an ice spell. "Goodbye," he whispered. As he is going to swing the sword to Sunset  Suddenly, he feels as if he cannot move his legs or claws, and he looks back to see that they are frozen. The floor is illuminated by a large magic circle that has a snowflake symbol inside, and the air around it grows colder and colder until it explodes. The room and dragon are immediately iced. Whitty breaks the ice and feels it really hurts. Look back at Sunset who gets up. Her front hooves are in two magic circles.  Whitty stands in an attack stance and is going to impact her but suddenly, flame chains appeared from the ground and wrapped his body, four giant flame swords appear and aim at the dragon. Whitty breaks the chain as the sword flies at him, dodges the first sword, then uses it to cover the second sword, and dodges the third. While he was proud that he dodged all the swords, the fourth sword struck into his leg much to his surprise. The swords exploded when Sunset clapped her front hooves together. Sunset just struggles to stand, so she needs the staff's support. In the smoke, Whitty is seen and is heavily injured. Like Sunset, he is also struggling to stand there.   Whitty said with a smile, "This is the best fight of my life" As Sunset coughs blood, she replies, "I have a promise to keep, so I am not going to die soon." "I see--," the dragon says, "--that I am losing now, but if I met you in my next life, will we be good friends?" "I'm fine as long as you don't have a pervert mind" "Can you give this to Amelia and Diana when I die?" Whitty throws the pendant to Sunset and she nods. As the last thing, the dragon does. he covers his mana through his body, then appears many dragons, each with its own element. Sunset puts her front hoof on the ground and changes the angle of the magic circle into vertical, then separates it into many small circles and aims at the dragon. The two stare at each other, then they fire their spells and charge each other.    Matt, Natalie, and Lance are able to teleport to the forbidden ruin after solving the teleport magic circle. They immediately run to find Sunset, then, after finding a strange frozen room, they agree and open the door. Sunset and Whitty are found lying heavily injured. As they rush to Sunset to see if she is okay, Natalie uses "Heal" to treat her wound. The dragon's body is vanished and two orbs of blue and purple appear after that. A blue orb joins with the other two white orbs and flies to Sunset's body, combining with her, much to the surprise of the trio. Sunset's eyes are on blue and red fires again before disappearing. The purple orb is flying away.    Equestria    One year has passed since Sunset was banished. Celestia sits on the throne doing paperwork. She misses Sunset deeply but must move on. By the time she finishes her work, the guards rush to her room and report.    'Your Majesty, we have caught the man who sold the dragon eggs.'     Celestia nodded " Now send him to the dungeon and return that egg for his parents"      "That is the problem, Your Highness. When I ask them about the egg, they don't know who it belongs to so they return it for us," the guard said as another guard revealed to her the purple eggs. Celestia opens the windows and thinks for a moment.     "Put the egg there and let me decide what to do with it."     The guards then leave the room after saying, "Yes, Your Majesty.".     She stares at the purple egg for a while, wondering what to do with it. Celestia is surprised when a purple orb flies through the window and lands on the egg, causing the egg to shine in purple light. She thinks this is a special egg. Finally, she has an idea.   "Guard!" Celestia commands    The guards came in and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."     "Put it in a safe place and take good care of it, I know a filly could hatch it,' Celestia said, not sure.   "Yes, your Highness," the guard replied, taking the eggs from the room    Celestia is finding a paper with information about a certain unicorn. When she finds it, she grabs it by the levitating spell and thinks. "I believe this unicorn to be the one who can hatch the egg," and then puts it down. The information paper reveals a certain purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. How can this unicorn hatch this egg? Times will answer her question > Mammoth on the mountain > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Krystal is enjoying a hot cup of coffee after helping the trio solve the magic circle. It is her dream to be able to read books without being bothered by anyone until... "Krystal, you here?" Matt shouts as he kicks the door 'I'm in my room,' Krystal responds and the trio ran into her room accompanied by a heavily injured Sunset. "What happened?" Natalie answers, "We don't know, when we came there Sunset was bleeding heavily." "Okay, let's put her in my bed," Krystal says and she carries Sunset to her bed. To her surprise, Sunset's fur made her want to cuddle Sunset.    "You know if you want to hug her please later because I don't think she can take the hug" Lance simply says as Krystal blushes.     "Natalie, do you have a healing spell?" Krystal asks     Natalie replies, "I've tried it before, but it heals very little, I think something blocks my healing.".      "Okay... I'll leave her here for a while. You guys should get some sleep though, it's nearly midnight." Krystal suggests, and the trio nods.     "You know that you can't resist her fur right?" Matt says      Krystal replies, "Yes, I know." As they laugh together, loud enough to wake Sunset. As Sunset awakens, she looks around and sees Krystal and her teammate.     "Where am I?" Sunset enquiries    "You are in my house," Krystal replies, as she watches Sunset try to wake up. "Woah Woah, you have to sleep here."    Sunset says, "I'm sorry for bothering you,"    It's OK. As long as you're safe, we're fine. " Matt cheers       "Thanks," Sunset smiles, "I thought I was going to die"    "Anyway, Sunset, since when did you get new eyes?" Lance asks as Sunset gasps.   "My eyes?"     "Your eyes have changed," Lance says, "here is a mirror" Lance hands Sunset the mirror. Sunset was surprised to see she had red and blue draconic eyes instead of her green eyes.      "Wha-what happened?" Sunset asks terrifyingly    " I don't know, when we get there, three orbs will have entered your body, and the next thing we see will be your eyes burning and then proof," Natalie says and looks at Sunset's eyes. "I don't know whether these eyes are good or bad, but it makes you even cuter."     "Not helping"     "So Sunset, may you explain what happens in there," Matt demands.    As Sunset begins to tell the story of everything that happens in the ruin, all of the room's eyes widen in amazement, realizing that there is a dragon that exists. Sunset now has dragon eyes and some power she hasn't discovered yet, but she will soon discover it. Now, the team needs to stay here for 3 days so Sunset can fully recover, while the other three help Krystal's family. Natalie teaches Krystal magic while Matt and Lance help with hunting.    Three days later  "You feel good?" Natalie asks    Sunset replies, "Feel good from now on."    "We should leave now."     After saying goodbye to Krystal and thanking her, the team heads to the Kitten Ruin. As the team starts its journey, they encounter several cliffs and some rock slides, but they are able to make their way through it without difficulty. The team goes the long way to get to Kitten Ruin    "... That sounds boring," Matt complains    Sunset asks, "How so?"     "Oh well, no monster to slay. Boring."     "Then, using fire to warm us up is okay."     "Boring, even a cat can do it," Matt says as the bunch of cats stood in front of him. "Really?" he inquires. "Why am I talking to others about monsters, they don't appear, but Sunset, they just appeared like that? Don't you have eyes, monster?" By the time he finishes the sentences, an eye with ice spikes appeared, floating around. The others glare at Matt as he smiles sheepishly.    In the cats' fort cart, there is a shark and a canon. The cat blows the conch to boost other morale. Natalie is attacked by ice spikes from the eyes, but Sunset deflects them with her staff. Sunset is going to use "Fireball" toward the eye, when she casts it, it appears as a fire-shaped dragon charging into the eye and consuming it. The fort cart charges forward towards Matt, but he blocks it and jumps up into the fort to kill the cat. The other cat is scared and flees from the team.     Matt cheers, "Well, that was a start-up."     "Don't say anything to me about monsters, Matt, you're just spawning them," Sunset demands.     Natalie asks Sunset, "May I ask you something?"    Sunset turns her head to Natalie, "Do tell."    "Since when is your spell related to dragons?"     "What? Is my spell related to dragons?"    "Yeah, you're going to cast "Fireball" but instead it appears to be "Fire dragon"."  "I'm not sure, but perhaps I can be more useful about this," Sunset says, and Natalie nods  Continuing the journey, the team moves forward. As the weather is getting cooler, Natalie must cast "Fireball" and make it fly around for her teammates. Sunset tries to cast it too, but it only casts "Fire Dragon" and accidentally burns a house. Then they simply walk away without anyone noticing.     Natalie sighs, "Ugh... I feel so cold now... I don't know when we will get out of here."    Lance says, "Just keep it up, we're almost through."   As the team continues their journey, a turtle with an iceberg on its shell charges at them. Another turtle charges at them and Sunset gets hit, but she stands still and uses 'Fire' to burn it. The Ice Turtle jerks back and gets ready to fight.     The turtles open their mouths and breathe ice breezes into them. When Natalie saw that, she chanted a spell, and after she chanted, many fireballs appeared to the turtles and burned them. Because of the fire, the turtles felt burned around their bodies and got dizzy. Lance and Matt see a chance and charge at the turtles. The turtles are all inside their shells and in a defense position. They jerk back as the icy shell is too hard. She teleports to it and throws her staff at the shell, casting "Firewall" on it to burn and kill it. The firewall continues to shape as a dragon much as Sunset surprises. It bursts through the other turtle, destroying it even though it was in a defensive stance.     Matt pats Sunset's back, "Maybe all your spells are related to the dragon now."    "Yes, I think everything you cast will be related to the dragon," Natalie agrees with Matt   "Is this a good or a bad thing?" Sunset asks   "I don't know, but we will find out later... after we get out of here. This place isn't convenient to set up a camp." Lance says as the rest nods. They continue their journey. The team keeps moving out of Glacier Valley to find somewhere warmer. As they moved forward, they found a mountain with many cracks that created a small cliff, enough to cause many men to fall.    "Does anyone have a flying spell?" Matt asks   Sunset says, "I'm sorry, but I can't take many of you to teleport.".   "Well, that's OK. Let's take it slow and steady," Lance says to the team.    As the team moves away from the cliff, they step close and steady to avoid falling. As they move, they meet large rocks standing in front of the wooden bridge. Sunset feels weird about this, so she steps forward to poke at the rock.    "Did you know what this rock is? I see that it is weird to appear like this." Sunset asks.    "Well, I don't know either but I feel familiar about this." Matt's answer makes Sunset confused.    "You mean there is a rock monster or something?"    "Yeah, but I don't remember well which rock monster I encountered"    "Ok.. should I-" A beam shot from the rock makes Sunset surprised, fortunately, the rock misses and she sighs in relief.    "Now I remember, this is a "Monolith", it likes shooting beams," the rock glowing and appeared two more small rocks with ice spikes to attract it, floating in the air. "And summoning stuff."     The small rocks rush toward the team, who are in a defensive position. As the small rock gets closer to the team, it explodes and makes ice. Natalie gets frozen because of the explosion. Sunset uses "Fire Dragon's" attack on the Monolith, but it does not work. 'why do I use fire against a rock?' she thinks. Monolith forms a big ice spike and tries to drop into her head, but she uses "Fire Slash" to cut it off, the spell has also formed like a dragon. "Even a simple spell is formed as a dragon " she gets annoyed by that.    "Time to use this," Matt slammed the tip of the sword into the ground. A big earth sword came from the ground and struck the Monolith directly, destroying it completely. "Wow, that was a nice shot," he said.    "Nice earth skill you have there Matt," Sunset cheers   "Thank you," Matt replies.     Natalie whimpers, "When will we see a warm spot?"   As the team continues to cross the bridge, they hope to find a warm place to camp. Along the way, they encountered a white-suited woman with a white staff and a white hat.     "Karen?" Natalie asked in surprise    "Natalie? Natalie" Karen rushes to Natalie and embraces her tightly "Where have you been, Natalie?"     "Just some adventure stuff. Look, you know somewhere that we can stay?"    "Cross this wooden bridge and you'll find some ice houses to stay at."   "Can you guide me?"    "Sure, I'm also in the way. Follow me."       Karin guides the team to the ice houses. There are three houses with three men living in them. Karen and her team ask the men if they can stay, and the men agree to pay for their stay with some money. The team sits around the campfire with Karen.    "It's been a long time since you left your church, Natalie," Karen said.    Natalie replied, "I hope the church will still be OK when I'm gone.".    It's okay. And... you forgot the book of holy magic of the church," Karen replies as she brings a book to Natalie. "I know you like this book, so I'm giving it to you"   "How about you introduce your teammate, Natalie?" Karen says.       Natalie points at Matt. "Well, this is Matt," points at Lance. "Lance," points at the black figures with black coats and hats.  "And Sunset Shimmer."    "I am okay with these boys, but..." Karen points at Sunset "I suspect her. Why does she conceal her face and body? Is she a dark merchant?"     'Eh, she is just a little shy because...eh, the face is so ugly and the body is old." Natalie lies.    "You know you lied so badly, don't you? For those reasons, she has nothing to hide. "Now, let me "unhood" her." Karen tries to use a wind spell to reveal the dark figures, but Sunset just teleports out of the way. Karen was shocked, then glares at Natalie, "Since when did you have a mage of this level?".     Natalie lies again. "It's just that she wants to join us. That's it. ".    "...Okay, I trust you this time," Karen said as she turned away from the trio. When the dark figures teleport back to the spot, she uses a wind spell to surprise her. Sunset swings the staff to block the wind spell, making Karen more surprised    "You really want to know who am I right, Mrs. curious?" Sunset said.    "Okay, I give up." Karen waves her hand and sighs. "Geez, I didn't know you had a mage like Natalie. And... she's a high-level mage also, which I suspect quite strongly."     "I'm gonna go to sleep, see you," Sunset says as she went to the ice house to sleep?     "Well, we're going to sleep soon, see you tomorrow, Karen," Natalie follows Sunset as the trio slept.     "See you, Natalie," Karen waves her hand and goes to her ice house to sleep            The next morning, the team and Karen awoke. When they ask about the way out of Glacier Valley, they show them the way and tell them that there will be a mammoth on the way. Gritting at this information, Matt drags the other people to the site without saying goodbye to Karen. On the way out of Glacier Valley, the team heard something move that was very heavy, such that it made the ground shake. The team stops themselves, in a defensive stance, and sees what is going on. A big mammoth appeared later and roared in preparation for battle. After the roar, two eyes appeared, each with a white circle and four flying ice knives.    The mammoth slams its legs, making an earthquake, the team tries to balance, then a fire ray strikes directly at Matt, causing him to burn. Matt coughs from the attack. The other eye creates a tornado toward Natalie. She flinches at it and gets surprised, but she quickly counters by casting a spell. Five stars appeared above the monsters and attacked them. The mammoth roars in angry and it jumps on Lance in an attempt to crush him. Lance sees that and attempts to step away, but the knife impacts his leg to keep him immobilized.  Sunset throws her staff at Lance when the mammoth approaches, sending him flying out of the "Bodyslam". Lance coughs a bit of blood from the staff throw, and he sees two eyes are going to use their knives on Sunset. He quickly pulls out 6 bullets, loads them into the gun-blade, and shoots at the eyes, which fall down, but he can't move. The mammoth rushes at the trio and causes Matt to take a direct hit.   Matt stands up from the slam, his sword changes into a light ball and he slams it back at the mammoth, sending it flying. The ball returns to the sword. When Sunset and Natalie chant a spell, the mammoth rushes toward Natalie, but it feels pain in its leg, forcing it to kneel. The mammoth turns to Lance and sees his gun-blade smoldering and starts the scanner. Sunset and Natalie slammed the staff to the ground, and two large magic circles appeared under and above the mammoth. A ray of light is cast beneath the mammoth, and dragon ice appears above it, slams it, and explodes, creating smoke. All four breathe heavily and think the mammoth is destroyed, but from the smoke, it appears to be heavily injured and trying to stand up. Sunset nods at Matt and he charges at the mammoth, jumps up, and strikes its head with his sword, killing it.    "That's the hard battle," Sunset says.    "Yeah, but at least we can get out of here," Lance exclaimed weakly.    "Let's move around a bit before we set up camp and heal," Matt suggests.    "Good idea, but you'll have to drag me up," Lance replies.    "Be careful, we're on the mountain," Natalie said as the others just realize that they had fought on the mountain.     "I think that spot over the bridge is perfect for camping." Sunset points to the spot. The trio nods and crosses the bridge, setting up camp. They found a chest when the camp finished, and when they opened it, they found a white sword with a ruby inside. Sunset huffs because she hasn't received a new staff before while Matt's eyes shine.       They sit down and start a campfire.     "That's a beautiful view for us," Matt smiles.     Natalie cheers. "Yes, stargazing after the battle is a good rest for us.".     The team starts talking and stargazing like there's never been a battle before. It is a long journey to Volcano Peak. > The stone gate > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset stretches her body as she hears some "cracks" coming from her body. She feels more comfortable after the battle with the Mammoth. She greets her teammate when she gets  out of the tent, sits with them, and eats fish when they go fishing.. Natalie starts to speak, "After breakfast, what will we do now? We can't go to the Kitten Ruin without preparation." Lance explains, "We have many things to prepare before our journey begins. First, we have to prepare our gear to pass through the desert. Second, we should recall the monsters we have fought to prepare for future encounters." "... Sounds like a good idea. So, where can we get water?" Matt asks. Lance says, "The better question is where we can store water since we have two mages who can create water and boil it." "Oops, I'm just silly," Matt says, "then, I will grab something to contain the water." Lance replies, "Just a few plastics or clothes will do," as Matt nodded. Sunset is casting a spell to see if something changes, and it does change quite a lot. Cast "Fireball" and it reveals "Dragon Fire". Cast "Flame Slash" and it reveals "Wyvern Slash". Her spells have all changed into dragon stuff, which Sunset finds annoying. "Ugh, this is annoying, are any of my spells not related to dragons?" Sunset whines. "Well, you will be cute when you become a dragon," Matt teases her and dodges the approaching "Fire Dragon", "Hey, this spell is more dangerous than "Fireball". "Oh really?" Sunset says angrily, "But I think you'll have some endurance for this." She throws "Fire Dragon" at Matt and starts chasing him. Natalie and Matt see this and sigh. By the time Sunset and Matt get the materials to make the water container, Natalie has retrieved her notebook of monsters to start the discussion. "So we've encountered a lot of monsters, right?" Natalie enquiries "Yeah, I don't care what it looks like anymore. "For me, the monster could be anything at the moment," Sunset answers. "Okay, let's do a review." Natalie opens the notebook and says, "Okay, I think we'll meet a lot of types of bush monsters, right?" Lance replies, "I'm not calling them "types" since they are all the same, just change color.". Matt replies, "Yeah, all colored monsters are scared of fire, so it's not a type, just like someone paints them.". "So, I will put it as colored" Natalie takes a piece of charcoal and writes, "well, next we will review this" she points to the picture of turtles" "Ah, turtle... Right? Because it looks like a turtle," Sunset says to the other as she giggled "They are turtles, but the name is not "Turtle," Natalie points at the tree-shell turtle "Leaf Eater", then pointed at the iceberg shell turtle "Frost Eater", and pointed at the volcano shell turtle "Lava Eater." Natalie started explaining. Sunset feels strange about this " okay... What's next?" "So far, we have only seen three types of turtles. I don't know how many types of turtles there are. We know what kind of moves it uses, right?"Natalie said as the team nodded "Okay, next" she turned the page and saw a blue armor that resembled clay. "This is Clay. There are three types: red and blue clay uses the sword, while green clay uses a bow, we discover that they are really vulnerable to the explosion." Sunset and Matt look at Lance. "What?" Lance was amused "Nothing," they both say together and turn back to Natalie Taking another page, Natalie continues, "next we have...slime. The smiles also have many types like green slime, blue slime, sky blue slime." She pointed to one slime picture after another. "Each one contains an element." She added." Green represents plants, blue represents water, and sky blue represents ice"    Lance rubs his head, "Ugh, it reminds me of eating slimes."    "I hope it's not the yellow one that stands for sand," says Sunset.    "Maybe or maybe not" Natalie flips another page "so, this giant rock is called Viking Monolith, according to Glacier Valley people. It can shoot beams and summon some ice rocks, which can use as a boom. But to see Matt's " Cataclysm", the earth moves and it gets destroyed easily. Besides, it is typically a rock so maybe it vulnerable to explosion too."     "....I should discover some new spells even if it will be "Dragonized"," Sunset claps her front hoof.      "Good for you, now we can practice many things before we go to Kitten Ruin," Natalie replies    "Why is it called Kitten Ruin anyway? I know we already encountered the cat. The cat seems quite... Intelligent." Sunset said.   "We don't know because we don't care about the legend and stuff. Hey, Noleg," Matt says, pointing at the blue cat, "You should train too, the more we can fight the stronger we will be." The blue cat says " meow" happily meaning agreed. "Good, we will start training as going to Volcano Peak ok?" The blue cat nods.     The Team trains all day before going to the Kitten Ruin without knowing Arkon is watching them.   Meanwhile, inside Volcano Peak  Arkon is struggling to build an army to dominate the world because the rumor has spread far. Many adventurers and warriors come here and set a camp, they make sure that no monster will come out of this Volcano. Arkon is very furious about this, he can't even get out of the volcano to spread his army to conquer the world. Even if there aren't any people down, the volcano can kill him but the numbers are very crowded so he can't do anything.     "I must conquer this world, those humans are annoying me right now," he says as an eyeball came to him and showed him the team. He was shocked that they were coming here.    "What? Not these three. As far as their power is concerned, they can kill me. And the horse is probably as strong as them, so it will be an uphill battle." Akron thinks. "I should send something to kill them until I regain my power."    Arkon starts to transfer his power, make the eyeball black, and send it away. The eyeball quickly flies into the Kitten Ruin to find something that is powerful enough to kill them. It flies around a while before it sees a machine that has four legs, a big gun on the back, and crystals on the front. The eyeball comes near the machine and transfers the dark aura, glowing black and accepting the mission. Kill the Team. ----------------------------------------- The next morning, the team starts moving to Kitten Ruin. The first thing they see when they arrive at the ruin is a campsite occupied by aborigines. When the Team first enters the camp, they don't care about it and proceed through, but are suddenly stopped by an arrow shot in front of them. As the team tries to find out who shot the arrow, they see a man with black hair holding a bow. "Who are you and why are you invading our land?" He explained, "Hey, hey, we're not going to disturb you or your camps, we just want to go through it.". "Liar, you three bring a monster and bring weapons, are you really going to kill us with that creature?" the man demanded as Sunset felt offended at this. Matt asks, "Are you sure you're ok with this?". "How sơ?" The man asks confused "Because..." Matt said as he pointed to Sunset trying to cast a spell while the other tried to stop her. "This". The man is afraid of the unicorn. "You really know how to make someone angry, don't you?" "Someone? Just a horse monster!" he exclaims as a "Dragon Fire" fly near his face. He gets stoned from it. Matt warns, "You should shut up already or you will be roasted alive.". "Let me go. I'm gonna kill him," Sunset says as she tries to escape the duo's grasp. The man steps back, "I...it can talk?". "Let's go inside and introduce ourselves, okay? Or, you wanna deal with her." Matt points at Sunset. The man nods At the campsite, there is a small village with some families, but they are all injured. "What is going on here?" Are there monsters attacking?" Lance asks. "It is a stone monster with four legs, and a canon on its back. It starts attacking our village one day, and we have fought back, but we have been unsuccessful. And this is our last line of defense." "I see, but next time don't call our teammate a horse monster, ok?" Matt replies. "That... Uh... that .... she's your teammate? Oh... didn't know that." "And you just insulted her like nothing?" Matt asks. "But I'd like to know your name,"  “Simon, I’m Simon," he introduces himself. "Alright. How about we go inside and talk for a while, so you can apologize to my teammate later?" Matt suggests "Sound... Good to me." Simon says with a gulp. As Simon goes into his house, he nearly gets burned by Sunset. He apologizes right away. Sunset accepts his apology but is still angry with him. The team now sits down with Simon at his home. "So... Why are you here with a... I don't know what to call her." Simon says in a nervous tone Lance remarks, "Pony," "Right, pony. Ok,... I wonder... 'Why are you here with a pony,' Simon asks. Matt explains, "We are here to cross Kitten Ruin and go to Volcano Peak. "So you're a front-line soldier?" Simon enquiries "Why did you say that?" Natalie asks. "We're just an adventure team." "Because there is a military camp to prevent monsters from spreading to other places," Simon explains. "Meh, I haven't heard anything about that, I just want to get there and work with someone who messes us up," Matt replies. "Regardless, if you want to reach Volcano Peak you have to cross a stone gate created by that machine," Simon says as his team's eyes widened. "So, that machine is blocking the way?.... We should go through it, right?" Sunset says as the team nodded "I really appreciate it if you get rid of that machine," Simon replies happily. "No need to thank me, just show me how to get there and we will be all right," Sunset replies.  "It will be about 800 meters straight ahead from the village, then turn left, you will see the stone gate," Simon tells the team before they leave. "Do you need anything?" The team shakes their heads and leaves the camp.     They continue their journey, unaware of the danger that stands in their way. After walking for a while, the group meets a strange thing that looks like a human wearing a cowboy suit. However, it has no legs.  The team stands in defense as Matt goes near it to check, and then it reveals a big canon shot directly at him causing him to hit a rock. Lance grabs his big gun and aims at it, while Natalie uses " Thunderbolt " to electrocute and paralyze the figure. Lance fired an "electric" at it, and it couldn't stand the shock and laid down, unable to function.  "Matt, are you ok?" Sunset asks     "I'm fine, just a little scratch," He answers, walking out of the stone with minor injuries     Sunset asks, "Well Lance, what is this thing?"?    Lance replies, "No idea, but let's take a look at it." The team nods in approval.     Lance approaches the figure to see what it is. By the time he got close to the figure, he immediately jumped aside as other figures charged at him with many blades in their stomachs. The figures look at the team with glowing eyes, and a yellow raven appears.    Sunset ponders, "I'm not sure if that figure is a human or a robot."     "... You know what? Let's find out," Matt says as he is in a defensive stance.      Matt raises his sword, increases his speed, and rushes towards the raven. A raven was slashed by Matt. It glares and starts charging something, while the brown figure uses his big blade to rush to Sunset. Sunset blocks it with her staff, but it is too strong, making her jerk back quite a bit. Lance notices that the raven is charging something, so he takes out the scanner and aims at it, while Natalie summons three lightning bolts to attack the robot using "Thunderbolt". Light hitting the robot causes it to sound "beep beep," Sunset teleports near it and chop its head by using "Wyvern Slash". Finally, the raven's charge is complete. Before it can be cast, its received a headshot from Lance, and down, it lays there and dies.     "Well, that's a good thing," Matt replies.    Lance examines the figure and finds out "... it's a weird robot, I haven't seen anything like it before". He points at the other robot and continues, "...multiply swords are literally stuffed into this robot, and multiplication guns are literally stuffed into that robot too."    "...I don't know about technical stuff, but it looks like we have new foes to deal with in the future." Sunset looks confused as Natalie draws the robot in her monster book.    "All right, I named it as... " Natalie points to sword robot "Swordslinger", points to guns robot "Gunslinger", points at raven "Electric raven". The other nods    "Right, let's get going," Lance says as the team start moving         The team continues their journey to Volcano Peak, walking in Simon's direction, and finally reaching the stone gate.      In front of the stone gate, there are four large poles, two poles on the left and two poles on the right; and an old man wearing a straw hat with green T-shirts and blouses sits in front of them. The team examines and sees that each one has a hole like something missing. The old man comes near them and asks.    "Is there anything I can assist with?" " The old man asks them.    Matt explains, "We have to figure out how to open this hate."    The old man warns, "I see, there's a dangerous machine behind this door, you think that's a good idea?"    Lance replies, "Maybe because this is the only way to Volcano Peak."   Matt suggests, "Well then, collect four red orbs, put them on each pole and it will open,"    Natalie asks, "Then where are they?"    The old man pulls out a hand-drawn map, which has "X"s to mark something. "I see, then I will tell you the truth," the old man said as he passed the map to Matt. "This is the map of the location of the red orb. Each "X" indicates the location of the red orb. Once you have collected all of the orbs, you can open this gate."   "Thank you very much, old man."    "Good luck, now I must leave," the old man says as he waves his hand to leave    The team looks at his map, it has been drawn well, and they know what to do next. > Collect the orbs (1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Team decides to set up a camp in front of the stone gate to use for several days. Lance is analyzing the map so he will know exactly where he needs to go. Lance found the orbs' location, so the Team decided to go together since they knew going alone would be dangerous. They are now on their way to claim the first orb.    "I wonder what the orb looks like," Sunset replies inquiringly    "We don't care about the history of this planet nor its legends, so we don't know what the orb looks like," Lance explains as he looks at the map.  On their way into the cliff, the team came upon yellow slimes and an electric raven. They slay it with no problem and go deeper into the cliff. At the end of the cliff, they see a red orb glowing on a pole. Sunset suspects this kind of situation.    "I wonder if there are guardians for this orb or not."   "Nah, don't worry. We'll take them down no matter what." Matt responds as Sunset nods.    "I think we should set up traps before we go to that orb." Sunset says.       "This will be a good idea. I've got some...uh" Lance says as he searches for something in his dimension pocket " oh sorry. I forgot my explosion" Lance pulls out a piece of C4.    "What was that?" Sunset asks    "It's a C4, can only be used to destroy important targets, because it doesn't explode instantly and is used as a time bomb instead of a grenade," Lance explains.    "Oh, I see... Just take back please, we don't use it" Sunset says as Lance takes the C4 back to his pocket. "I will set some magic traps on the floor and mark it with an "X"      Sunset and Natalie set traps while Matt and Lance keep an eye on things. By the time they were done, Sunset waves her front hoof at the boys. Matt volunteers to go up and grab the orb. By the time he gets close to the orb, a rumble is heard on both sides of the rock wall. Following that, the Clays have different colors for each type: Black, White, Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow. They jump in front of the orb and slash Matt. Matt jumps back immediately to dodge the slash and stands alongside his teammate.     Green Clay aims the bow at Sunset, while Red and Blue Clay rush to Matt and Natalie, Back Clay rush to Lance, White and Yellow Clay rush to Sunset. Sunset blocks White's attack with "Shield" as she blocks Yellow's attack with her staff. Matt punches Blue, making it fly backward to Black, rescuing Natalie. Natalie sees an opportunity and chants a spell while Lance blocks Black's attack. He sees that Green Clay aims for Sunset; gritting his teeth, he uses all his strength to make Black back off.  Green fires two arrows at sunset. Sunset immediately pushes the duo off and dodges one of the arrows, but the second stabs at her right front hoof. Natalie cast a spell at Green; many fireballs appeared then exploded at Green, making Green unable to react, shattered into many pieces after the explosion.  Black slams the axe to the ground. Under Sunset appears a black circle; Sunset immediately jumps back to dodge, the circle appears many dark spikes seem to stab the patient. Sunset grits her teeth to contain the pain. She teleports above Black to stab it. Black simply dodges aside and makes Sunset's staff slam into the ground. She casts the spell after that while Red is busy fighting with Matt. Red looks back at Sunset but all it sees is a water dragon that appears from the ground and rushes to the Clay. Red is surprised and gets hit by the water dragon, scattered into pieces.  Black tries to slash Sunset but she reacts fast enough to dodge the slash, then she teleports above Black while Black is stumbled by his slash. Sunset pushes Black into the traps by the "Push" spell. Black flies toward the traps, it activates and explodes, another Clay scattered into pieces. White is using many flash thrusts on Lance but Lance dodges them all. Lance kicks White away, takes out his big guns and aims at Yellow. White jerks back and rushes to Lance, but it activates the trap, explodes and shatters into pieces. Lance shoots "Plasmacross" by the time Sunset throws an electric ball; all projectives fly toward Blue. Blue tries to jump back to dodge, but it can't move; looking down, it sees vines tied it up into place. The shot and the electric ball strike directly at the Clay, scattering it into pieces. Now all the Clays are gone.  Sunset sits down the place and uses her left hoof to take off the arrow while Natalie uses "Heal " on her. The wound slowly recovers.   "Wow, I don't know there is an army of clay" Sunset is trying to say between the breath.    "Yeah, look like magic traps are effective; still, there are three orbs left," Matt says he takes the orb and puts it into the dimensional pocket.    "We will rest here for a while," Lance says as he sits down next to Sunset.     "So... How is your life when you serve your princess, Sunset," Matt asked    "I don't know what I felt like at that time. Honestly, I feel like I'm going astray when I serve her. Even having a friendly talk with Celestia didn't help me have a way to live." Sunset explains as Matt pats her back. "Thank you" she whispered.    "You know Sunset, I once lost my way too," Natalie says, making Sunset surprised. " When I was still in church, I had to follow the rules of the church. Eventually, I counted how many days I wanted to be free because the church doesn't want me to go outside" she says with a smile, "until I meet Matt here. He is the one who meets me in the church, listens to my story and drags me outside the church. If he does not appear, maybe I wouldn't be here and talk with you guys." Natalie laughs.    "Well, honestly at least you two have a good life. I am the one who doesn't have parents." Matt said with a sad tone "I don't know what family is, how do I feel when I am in a family. What I know is loneliness into infinite until I meet Natalie here." He pats Natalie's head and makes her blush "When I meet her and hear her story, I decide to get her out of the church. And we started many adventures until now."      "Well, I have a family but my mom is dead. My dad was always strict with me because he loves me, teaches me how to shoot a gun. My sword-blade is a gift for my 17th birthday." Lance leans against the rock, "when my dad is gone, I feel empty so I decide to conquer the world to find my feeling"   "Oi, you kidnap Natalie there and make me have to beat you down," Matt says   "Oh come on, you don't have to remind me," Lance complains as the other laugh.   "So? Continue our journey?" Sunset suggests    "Sure," the trio nods.    The Team gets up and goes to the second orb with Matt leading them. When they walk, slimes and ravens stand in their way so they have to slay all of them. After a while, the team finally arrives at the place that has the second orb.   "Here we are," Matt says as Sunset pokes him " What's wrong?". Sunset points at the line of spikes that prevent them from getting the orb.    "Okay, how do we get out of this one? Even this line has missing one square of spikes." Natalie explains.     "Sunset, can you see up high there?" Lance asked.     Sunset teleports to a high pole and sees an exact square of spikes.    "... They are square of spikes, it is a 4x4 square" Sunset explains as Lance draws a 4x4 square. "There have some levels and missing spike too"    "How sơ?"    "The first line, miss the second. The second line, miss the fourth. The third line, miss the first and the fourth line, miss the second."   ".... there must be some related to spike and level, Matt can you pull a level?" Lance asks as Matt pulls the first level.  "The first line, missing third" Sunset tries to say as shorten as possible.   "I see. Now it's time to do some math."    Matt pulls the second level, the second line misses the first and the third. He continues to pull the third level, the third line misses the second and the third. He continues to pull the fourth level, the fourth line misses the second. The team pulls level until the spike opens the way for them. They continue to go to the orb and grab them easily.    "Well, that was easy," Sunset cheers    "Yeah, let's go back to the camp," Lance says as the team goes back to the camp. They decide to take a rest for a day before finding the third orb. After sleeping for a night in front of the stone gate, Sunset opens her eyes and tries to wake up but once again she can't move. She finds that annoying because she knows Natalie and Matt use her as their pillow, again. She wakes them up with a water spell, makes them a jerk, and glares at her. "Like I said, not using me as your pillow" Sunset complaint "Sorry, except you are a human or something else. I will try to "pillow" you." Natalie says and giggles. "I see... So where will we go, Matt?" Sunset asks. "Last time we collected two orbs from the west. Now we go to the east to claim another." Lance answers. "Good, have breakfast with...raven meat and we go now," Matt says. After breakfast, the team starts to go to the East of the gate. After walking a while, Sunset feels hot and so does another. "Ughhhh are we there yet?" Sunset asks as she drinks water. "No, we have to go further," Lance answers while still walking. The Team has been stopped by two small stone gates. "Right..... We have to open these stone gates to get the orb" " Okay... I see two levels over there" Matt says as he points to the levels. "Isn't that so suspicious? I mean there is no monster here" Sunset says. "Nah, you too worry about this. Remember they are level, not orb so I doubt that there has a monster there" Matt rejected. ".... Ok maybe I am too cautious about this." Sunset accepted The Team comes near the level, it is in the area of sand. Sunset has more caution about this because all the walks are ground but this one is sand? Matt goes near the level, but suddenly the sand seems moving. After that, a giant sandworm comes out of the sand, has many teeth around its mouth, and roars at them for the challenge. "You know what, maybe my caution is right ~," Sunset teases, making Matt groan. The sandworm vomits its green saliva at the team, making them jump back; the saliva seems to have acid inside, it burns the sand ground like nothing. Matt lifts his sword and tries to slam it to the ground but it ends up subsiding to the sand, making him yep. Natalie is chanting a spell while Lance is charging his gun. The sandworm goes under the sand, making Sunset and Matt cautious. After a while, the sandworm appears and rushes to Natalie. Sunset quickly teleports in front of the worm and punches one of her front hoofs on the ground. A fire dragon appears and flies around her and Natalie makes the sandworm feel hot and jerks back. Natalie casts the spell; a magic circle surrounds the worm, then a light ray rises from the ground, making the sandworm stunned by the light. Matt rushes at the worm and slashes it into two. "Well, I don't know you can do that Matt," Natalie said. "That's a surprise for me too," Matt says as he feels something burn on his shirt, making him roll to cut the fire. "Hey, could you dispel that dragon? It is annoying here" "Sorry," Sunset apologizes as she pulls the level, the stone gates opened for them to come in. The team decides to go into the left gate, as they walk into a dark cave. I see many skeletons in this cave a lot. "I wonder why many humans lie here? Something dangerous in this place." "Yeah, be in caution because we don't know what we will meet here They continue to go deeper into the cave. A while later, they see the third orb is wrapped in some kind of dried branch. The Team looks at each other and nods. Matt and Sunset go near the orb; suddenly, an earthquake-like something heavy is walking. Look at two sides, they see two golems, all white and seem made of stone. The golems stand in front of the orb and are ready to fight. The Golems rush to Natalie, Natalie uses "ice" to freeze the floor, making one of them slip on the ground. The other golem tries to throw a punch at Natalie but Matt blocks it; the punch is too strong, making him fly backward. Sunset uses "Dragon Fire" at the golem but it has no uses. The golem rushes at Sunset as she simply teleports away. Natalie starts chanting a spell while Lance grips his big gun, aiming at the Golems to find the right time to shoot. The Golem that rushes at Sunset, tries to punch Sunset; she keeps dodging the punches. Sunset teleport to another second golem, the second golem gets up and change its arm into a sword and slash her; Sunset duck to dodge; by the time the first golem throw a punch to her, she teleports away make the punch connect to the second golem, send it flying backward. The first one glares at Sunset, it lifts its arm and shoots at her. She simply jumps aside while Matt is rushing the first golem with a red- aura sword. The second golem punches Sunset from her back, makes her and sends her flying. The second golem uses a sword - hand and swings at Sunset while she is in mid-air, trying to kill her. Before the blade impacts her, Lance shoots "Shockwave" above Sunset; it explodes windily, making her drop faster. The blade just connects to Sunset's horn and instead of connecting her chest, slashes off her horn. Meanwhile, Matt rushes at the first golem and slashes furiously at the golem. The golem tries to block it but the slash is too powerful, Matt slashes off one hand by the third slash then leaves a big scar by the fifth slash. Natalie slams the staff on the ground and yells "Pulsar", a black hole appears and it inhales two golems inside, then explodes; make one golem scattered into pieces and another one nearly joins its friend. Matt rushes the golem and furious slashes at it while Lance shoots at it many times until it is shattered into pieces. The trio now breathes tiredness. "That was a massive fight!" Matt cheers "Yeah" Lance agrees " I don't know how hard for those Golems" "We will check those golems later. Now grab the orb," Natalie demands. "We hope that we can reach Volcano Peak right, Sunset? Sunset?" Matt asks as he turns around and sees Sunset is holding pain and panting, then she fainted after that. "SUNSET" The trio yells "Quick, I grab the orb while you two carry Sunset back to our camp. Natalie, you can heal like moving right?" Lance says as Natalie nods. "Let's go". Lance quickly shoots down the branches and grabs the orb while Natalie and Matt carry Sunset back to the camp. When they get to the camp, Natalie keeps using her hand to heal Sunset by magic while others set her down carefully and just wait until Sunset can awaken. "I don't know that horn is sensitive for a unicorn," Lance said "We don't know too, keep healing Natalie. I will hunt some ravens" Matt says as the other nod. They know he is not going out simply hunting. "How is Sunset, Natalie?" Lance asks "Other is fine but due to the pain of horn cutting. She will have to sleep a lot, luckily she learned how to cast the spell without that horn before" Natalie explains and Lance sits beside Natalie and Sunset. "Just keep trying, I don't wanna lost a teammate," Lance says. "Will do". Natalie nods. The team now collects 3 orbs successfully, they have to prepare for a future fight and Arkon > Collect the orb (2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darkness. Darkness around her. Sunset wakes up and sees only darkness and a road of light. She wonders where she is and starts to get up; following the road, she sees many memories, good have, bad have, even despair moments. She suddenly stops when she sees a memory that she killed Black Mist; feels scared at herself, she starts to step backward.   "Enjoy the memories?" A voice behind her causes Sunset to turn around. She was surprised to see the white dragon.    "Wh-Whitty?"     "Sorry for surprising you, cutie," He says, making Sunset feel annoyed.   "Anyway, where am I?" Sunset asks    "This is your memory hall. The place where you hold your memories, of course, there will have some memories that you don't like." The dragon explains.    " I see... Wait how are you in here if this is my memory?"   " Well, my power is in your body so I am here " Whitty explains most easily. Sunset glares at him   "Is this why I have the dragon eyes? I think you like to mess with me."      "And yeah, this is why you have dragon eyes. Anyway, follow me and I will show you something." The dragon waves his claw to direct her. Sunset somehow trusts him about this and starts to follow him. He opens a door to get into a room. The room has nothing just a magic circle.     "Wait, what is this magic circle?" Sunset asks while the dragon grins behind her. He pushes her into the magic circle, making Sunset surprised. The magic circle glows and the chain appears, wrapping her around to keep her in place. "Wha-what are you doing?"    The dragon steps closer to the bound mare. He rubs her neck and makes Sunset feel weird. "Simple," he said as he lifts his finger to Sunset's forehead "I am gonna transfer all of my remain magic to you,"  Sunset tries to retort but the chain wraps her mouth, making her struggle. "What a cute and stubborn mare! But it's time for you to wake up now." Whitty says as he uses one finger to point at her chest and the light appears to blind her.     Sunset snaps her eyes open, gets up quickly, breathing heavily as she feels pains inside. "I swear that I hate that dragon," she yells and starts to look around. She sees Natalie and Lance is guarding while Matt is somewhere else.  "Hey, you see Matt somewhere?" She asks to cause the duo surprised     "Sunset, you finally get up," Natalie rushes at her to hug. Sunset tries to teleport but she feels a headache. Natalie hugs her successfully "I don't know if you will awake or not."    "What happens?" Sunset askes    "I don't know, what I see is you fainted after the horn cut. Was the horn sensitive to unicorns or something?" Lance asks.    "Ah... Yeah. Horn is very sensitive to unicorns. " Sunset signs, "With the horn cut, unicorns, and alicorns hard to cast a spell though."    " You explained it before in your training. Anyway, we should wait for Matt to talk while you are recovered." Lance explains.    "Fair enough," Sunset lies on the pillow. " Luckily I learned how to cast the spell without a horn so maybe I don't mind with a horn cut."    "And walking by two back hooves too," Natalie continues    "I don't know how Celestia reacts to this."     "You shouldn't reveal what you learn to show everyone else though because someone will exploit you as a tool," Lance sasy.    "I see... Thank you for the advice," Sunset says as Lance nods.  After resting like 8 hours, Matt finally comes back with a bag of eatable creatures like Ravens, Giant crabs,... He sits near the campfire and checks the equipment.    "You know, I think you should change your staff, Sunset," Matt suggests    "I think that is not necessary, my wooden staff is good for me--- " Sunset says but she got cut off by Matt's finger.    "Nah ah... Your staff is just a wooden staff with no enchantment. I think you should have a fit staff in the future," Matt suggests.  "Currently... I don't see any staff that fit me though so... I will go with this wooden staff."     "Fair enough, you really wanna be an old mare, I get it," Matt says to make Sunset feel wanna retort but she is too tired to deal. Matt starts cooking food and makes soup for the team. After the meal, they go to sleep while taking guard one by one.       The next day, Sunset is fully recovered, except for the horn. The trio asks if she is ok with the horn, she says fine because has a horn or not, she is still herself. The trio smiles at her and continues to claim the orb. They go inside another small stone gate that they have discovered before. Inside the stone, the gate seems like a temple. They go deeper to the temple-be-like.   "Well, I hope that we don't meet any golems," Sunset says annoyingly.    "I hope so, I would rather fight a ghost than a golem," Matt said    "... Well, in my world they have spirits so I don't mind that."    The team finally sees the orb. Matt is going to go near the orb but Sunset stops him and shakes her head. Sunset picks up a rock and throws it near the orb. The roof is cracked and broken after that, it appears that two brown un-legged creatures, the creature has some dragon-like face with an arm-blade and an arm-ring. They roar at them and fly in front of the orb.    "Wait, what kind of monster is that?" Sunset asks.   "Let me scan" Lance takes the scanner to scan the information but the first creature rushes at him and tries to attack Lance. Lance forces to block it with a gun blade, he tries to take out some bullets from his pocket.   "Lance" Matt rushes at the first creature and slashes at its chest. It blocks and jerks back to Lance.     "I got information. It's "Elemental " and it is the earth one," Lance yells at the team while he loads the ammo to the gun-blade.    "I see" Sunset rushes at the Second Elemental. The creature tries to shoot her with the ring hand but she dodges it easily. While she gets near it, she jumps, spins around, and uses "Wyvern Slash" at it. The Elemental tries to block but fails. It received the Slash and has a big scar on its body. The second Elemental tries to slash her with a hand-blade, she simply teleports away. The Elemental is surprised and its blade connects to the first one.  Matt sees the chance and slams the tip of the blade. A moment later an "Iceberg" appeared from the ground and hit directly at the second Elemental's chin. Natalie chants a spell while Lance grabs his big gun and aims at the Elementals. The Elementals try to shoot at them but Sunset uses "Shield" to protect them.  Natalie slams the staff on the ground. Many many ice shards appear near her and shoot at them. The monsters force themselves to defend themselves. Sunset summons four magic circles and aims at them. Moments later, ice bullets shaped dragons appeared from the magic circle and fly toward them fast. The monsters can't take it and get holes from the spell, they fall to the ground and lay there, dead. The team sighs in relief.    "Well, that easily compare to the golem," Sunset says   "Well, to be fair they just make of....rock," Matt teases    "Fair enough, let's get this orb and go back to the camp."   Matt goes and gets the orb from the pole. As they successfully collect all four orbs, they are now preparing for a fight with the Guardians. > The Guardian > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opening her eyes, Sunset found herself in that room again, being chained and having a dragon keep pointing his finger at her forehead. She finally can speak again    "You know, you can do that more adequately, right? Why do you keep tying me up like this?" Sunset asks in an annoyed tone.    "Because..." Whitty rubs her neck while talking, "I feel like it," he starts stroking her back, making her shiver.    "Anyway, why are you giving me your magic huh Mr. Like to touch me?"   "Because I trust you that you can use all of my power if you can live... By the way, I take that nickname."  "Grrr... I'm going to get you when I get out of this chain. Anyway, is there any payment to your full power? "    "Yes, but I can't tell you yet," he giggles     "Fine," Sunset says in an annoying tone." You really want to touch me right?"    "Yep. I like your fur, it's so comfortable when I touch it," he says as he keeps stroking her back. Sunset gives up because she can't do anything. "Anyway, time to wake up."    "And how can I wake up? You're not gonna use my body for anything bad?"   "Nah ah ah, don't be like that. Anyway just close your eyes as you sleep and you will wake up," Whitty says. Sunset nods and closes her eyes.     The Team wakes up and stretches their body. They sit together to make a plan for the Guardian.    "I assume that you know what to do in this meeting?" Lance explains as the team nods. "Good, for information, we just know the Guardian is a robot with a big cannon on its back, and can walk like a quadruple creature. So, any idea?"    " Use explosion spells and things, but only me and Sunset have those kinds of spells," Natalie suggests    "I can support Natalie for chanting the spells. Sunset, Nah her style of fighting does not need support," Matt says as Sunset glares at him   "Sadly, I have only this C4. As I said, it can't be used as a grenade so this thing may be trash for battle," Matt explains and he sees Sunset raise her forehoof "yes, old mare?"     "I think you gave this to me. Just show me how to plant that thing and I will use it," Sunset suggests, making Lance surprised.     "What are you going to do with this? " Lance asks but sees in Sunset's eye, he knows that she had a plan. "Fine, I will show you later."   " How about making some covers? I will use "Tremor" and "Iceberg" to create this, just make sure it has machine guns or something. " Matt explains.   "..... We don't know much about this machine though so that can count, we will fight in the plain area so that's gonna be a good idea," Lance explains.   "Then what if it has minions?" Sunset asks, "Don't get me wrong but from my experience when we fight big foes they always have some minions aside." "In that case, Matt's cover is a good thing in case that happens. So, any idea?" Lance asks as the others are silent. "Good, we should prepare now. Sunset, come with me, I will show you how to plant this C4. "   The team is now fully prepared. They begin to put the balls on all the poles, the gate is open aside. Behind that gate is the white four-legged machine. It has a ruby on its head, a big cannon attract on its back; waiting for them to demand a battle. The team is now in a battle stance. The robot shoots many shots in the sky; a moment later, two balls, each ball has a pedestal and has crystal attract on it with different colors, down beside it.  Matt slams the tip of his sword to use "Tremor", a pile of earth rising enough to cover some ammo shooting. The red ball charges at the cover, sparking its crystal and then itself - explodes, destroys the cover. The machine shoots cannon at the team, making them have to split up. The yellow one uses its crystal at Sunset; Sunset looks up at the sky and sees a dark cloud on her head. She teleports to the blue ball and holds it to make sure it won't move.  A moment later, the cloud strikes thunder at them; it makes them hit by that. The blue ball was destroyed while Sunset could standstill by a lightning strike. The machine lifts one of its legs and tries to slam Sunset down, but an Iceberg rises from the ground and makes it fall aside. Sunset drags the staff on the ground then swings it, a wave of fire rushes the Guardian and explodes, creating smoke around. The team step up and take caution to see if it is destroyed or not.    Suddenly, a beam shoots from the smoke and strikes directly at Sunset, making her fly backward, slamming into the trees and coughing some blood. The smoke faded, it appears that the robot just has little starch, it takes out machine guns from two sides of the ruby, shoots at the trio rapidly. Natalie creates a shield to block the shoot but the machine rushes at them while shooting, it slams into Natalie and Lance, sending them flying backward.  Lance takes the big gun and shoots the machine gun and destroys it. Matt quickly stands up and points two fingers at it. A black hole appears on its head. A moment later, many swords from the sky drop into the machine. The Guardian raises the shield and blocks all of them, suddenly a giant sword drops into the shield and destroys it. All the swords disappeared. Sunset teleports to its back and seems like she is casting a spell. The machine shakes its body and it successfully throws her out of its back. The team starts breathing hard.    "This robot is tougher than through," Matt says.   " I don't know how long we take but we have to attack together," Natalie suggests as the team nod.   The robot shoots the cannon at them. Sunset and Natalie make a shield to block it while Matt puts his sword behind him, starts charging and Matt grabs his big gun on his back, starts charging too. The robot keeps shooting at them, trying to take out the shield. Sunset and Natalie can't take it anymore but Matt is done charging. He rushes at the machine with very high speed and delivers a massive blow at the machine, making it stun and the cannon is slashed off. Following the rushing, Lance shoots a massive beam at it and it explodes, leaving a smokescreen at its spot. Matt quickly returns to the team and sighs.       "I think it's over," Matt concludes.     "Yeah, I don't think so-" Natalie tries to say but is cut off by laser shot, making the team sent flying backwards.     The Guardian steps out of the smoke, nearly destroyed, electric sparks over its body. The team tries to get up, the machine rushes to Sunset but Sunset teleports away. She gets up and rushes at it with a flaming staff. When she gets close to Guardian, a magic circle appears on her chest and Sunset feels very hurt at her heart. She holds her chest by her front hoof and tries to ignore the pain. The Guardian is now in front of Sunset, it lifts one leg and tries to slam her down but Matt blocks it and tries to resist it, Lance supports by shooting its leg with Natalie using " Fireball".     Suddenly, the Guardian's back explodes and it jerks back. The trio is surprised as the Guardian suddenly explodes and they look at Sunset. Sunset's dragon eyes are glowing and a magic circle appeared on her front hoof. A moment later, a large magic circle appeared behind Sunset. A large ice dragon appears from the magic circle and it breathes ice at the Guardian, then rushes at it. The Guardian gets frozen by the breath and then gets shattered into pieces by the slash of the dragon. The dragon disappears after the attack and Sunset faints after casting that spell. The other looks at Sunset and sighs for relief.    "Why did the robot suddenly explode? I don't see any spell cast by Natalie or Sunset." Matt confuses      "I don't know either, but what I see is Sunset teleporting to the Guardian's back and doing something up there. Maybe that's why it exploded. We should ask Sunset when she awakens," Lance suggests as Matt nods.   The trio picks her up, goes back to the camp to recover for herself and themselves. Now the Guardian is gone, the way to Volcano Peak is cleared and nothing can stand in their way. Inside Sunset's body Sunset wakes up, finds that she is inside that hall again. She grunts as the chains keep her still and she's gonna meet that annoying dragon again. Speaking of the dragon, she doesn't see him anywhere so she decides to wait and sigh. "Look like you're really tired, don't you?" A voice speaks behind her. "I'm glad that I'm not a corpse outside there," Sunset replies. "Sure, just keep complaining and no one helps you," Whitty puts a small table and two cups of tea in front of Sunset. "Mind explaining?" "Yeah, when I rush into the Guardian. I feel something hurt in my heart..... Then, I feel something strong flowing into my body and cast a spell that destroys the Guardian." Sunset explains. "I see, I should give you an apology then,"  "How so?" Sunset confused. "Well .. let me explain An hour ago "Dammit, I thought her body could adapt to my magic," Whitty thinks as he tries to figure out what was wrong. The dragon uses his magic to analyze Sunset's body, then he finds out what happens. The mana stop flowing and they go together into Sunset's heart, the dragon's eyes widen and panicked "What the.. that gonna make her mana system overcharged and can kill her by mana explosion, I have to stop this thing," the dragon uses a claw then press it into the heart and cut the overcharged. He sees his mana flowing fast into her body and then her body shining and stopping. Whitty wipes his claw over his head and sighs in relief. "Wow. That was more dangerous than I thought. I hope she can contain the pain" He sits down and thinking something else and waits for Sunset to come back here. "Yeah, that's all happening you think- " Whitty heard the chain breaking with a strong killing sense. Looking back at Sunset, her face is very angry at the dragon. She summons the wooden staff as he backs away from her out of fear. "Why... YOU?" Sunset steps closer to him with a fire aura staff. "Hey...uh don't be angry like that, it's just an accident," He pleases but has to dodge her "Wyvern Slash" which makes him gulp. "Oh, really? How about I go to attack you until you are down then confirm that "this is just an accident?" Sunset says as she casts an ice ball at him. The ice ball changes into an ice dragon midway. Whitty dodges at it "This gonna be a long day," Whitty thinks as he runs away from Sunset and makes her chase him. Outside Sunset's body The trio puts Sunset on the floor and starts healing each other. They are waiting for Sunset to wake up to continue the journey. Now they are taking care of her while cooking food for eating. By the time they are done, they put Sunset in the middle, sit together around her and start eating. "I can't believe that she fainted so long, it makes me start worrying about her right now," Matt says "We are. But I still don't know why that robot exploded. I looked around but no one was there," Natalie is confused. "Yeah, we are all curious about her right? Remember when we planned to fight that robot? She convinces me to give her that C4 and show her how to plant it even if I said that explosions can't be used in combat." Lance recalls "What if... She plants that on that robot's back?" Matt says. "If she does that, the bomb will drop out of its back. Besides if it was not dropped out of its back, the "Hyper Beam" that shot will denote it. I don't see that bomb still exists after that shoot." Lance rejected "Make sense. But we should wait until she awakes to explain," Natalie suggested as the team nods for agreement. Meanwhile in Sunset's body "Come back here you scaly ass, I got a lot of nerds to say," Sunset yells as she is chasing a white dragon. "No way. I won't let you kill me again." Whitty retorts as he ducks to dodge Sunset's "Wyvern Slash". He runs like no tomorrow from the angry mare until he meets a dead end. "Ah, shit," He turns around and faces Sunset in fear. "You nearly killed me that time, you know? I don't know why you do that to me," Sunset complains "I'm sorry, okay. I don't know you are in a massive battle." Whitty apologizes to her "Fine. But next time don't do that in the important moment," Sunset warns as she smashes the staff to Whitty's head, makes him rub his head by claw, and cried in pain. "We should sit together though to think about how to control your magic." "Okay, trust me to this," he followed Sunset They go to the main hall and sit together. Sunset starts to ask. "Okay first thing I wanna ask. Why are you here? I thought your soul would be gone into the next world," Sunset asked. "Maybe yes. But I just spent half of my soul into the next world." Whitty answers, making Sunset feel interested. "I see. So you're gonna be here until you fulfill your will right?" "Yes. I promise myself that if someone defeats me, he or she will receive all of my power. No matter which winner is good or bad," the dragon explains. "Fine. You really make a gamble for your power. But....." She signs " I lost control of your power when you hurt me. Now I feel scared too." "I see. Just don't be scared, okay? I will be hê for you," Whitty said as he hugs Sunset. "Thanks, I need that," Sunset smiles but starts feeling weird when the dragon hugs her too long ." eh... Can you release me, please? I'm quite uncomfortable here." "No. Sorry but I love hugging you too much," Whitty answered, making Sunset struggle. Finally, she gives up because the hug is too strong. "Don't resist, I won't do anything to you." "Fine. See you again next time," Sunset closes her eyes to wake up Sunset opens her eyes and starts getting up. The trio greets her and hugs her. They give her some soup after that. "Ahhh~ feel good again," Sunset cheers. "Good to know. May I ask you something?" Lance asks, making her notice. "Sure, go ahead." "Where is C4? I need to get it back through," Lance lies "Oh... That. Sorry about that but I planted it on the Guardian's back," Sunset answers to make the trio surprised "What?" "H..how can you plant it when it is simply easy to drop it back. And how does it not explode when Lance shoots "Hyper beam"?" Matt asked. "Well... Before the battle I used two spells... one is a trap spell called "Sticky" and one is a timing shield spell. Besides you told me how much time it will explode after planting so I am more confident about the "Timing shield" spell. I thought I could enchant it better than that." Sunset's explanation makes the trio even more surprised. "Wha-what? You use those simple spells?" Natalie asks while amazed at how Sunset uses the spell. "Yeah. You said magic is very powerful whenever it is used in the right situation right? I just did it even if I don't know how long it will explode though." Sunset said. "I....see," Natalie replies in a jealous tone. "But anyway, what I'm curious about is how advanced your ancestors were? These things may be the same as your level of technology?" Sunset asks. "Wait, you say that sentence makes me curious too. I mean that robot we fought before can be the same as us. Maybe I should stay here more". Lance says "Well, sorry but you can't stay here Lance, and enough saying. We got a volcano to go there" Matt says as the others nod to the agreement. The team now starts to set off for the camp. Once they finish, they immediately head to Volcano Peak to slay the demon that messed them up. ----------------------------------------------- > A campsite and a sparring battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With supreme pain and effort, the team finally made it to pass the Guardian of the Kitten Ruin. They were impressed by the technology of the ancient. Plain rock would float through the air, fire into them gigantic particle beams, capable of melting any armor. The source of such technology still remains a mystery to anyone. Beyond the ruin, the ground began to slope steeply. Few adventurers would wander that far, only the most skilled warriors carry on. Regardless, the team finally made it to Volcano Peak, the goal of their journey. Where the ancient deity, Arkon, was buried thousands of years ago and has now returned to incur untold disaster. The end of their journey is drawing near.    "Come on, why are you so freaky heavy?" Sunset whined as she and Lance try to pull Natalie and Matt out of the cliff    "Hey, it not my fault here. This is Natalie's fault, she can't jump so I must bring her here. I didn't know that she is so heavy." Matt tries to blame Natalie and receives a pinch from her. "Yes, that's hurt".    "Don't call me heavy, ok? I'm on diet so please don't issue about my weight," Natalie complain   "Fine. Just keep weight on what you want, now think about how we can get out of here please?" Math yells.    "... I think I got an idea. Hey Sunset, can you teleport both of us here?" Natalie asked.   " I don't think that works because you guys will be teleported randomly. So I don't take this risk," Sunset answered   "Just do it, we are going to fall here," Natalie says. Sunset nods and casts a teleport spell to them; the duo disappears.    Later, Sunset and Lance hear some voices on the tree, it was Natalie. She goes down the tree after that. A moment later, she put an arm to the tree and start vomiting   "You ok?" Sunset asks   "Heh.. heh... This Is the effect of teleporting?" Natalie asks as she continues vomiting.   "Yeah, first time but you will get used to it soon. Besides I can't use that in combat though, sorry," Sunset explains while waving her wooden staff.   "Have you seen Matt? I don't see him any -" Lance gets cut off because he is hearing someone yelling in the sky. He starts to look up and sees Matt is falling from the sky with a long "Ahhhhh". As he lands, he falls into Natalie's body, makes her blush heavily, and after that, he receives a punch to his chin from Natalie, sending him flying backward much as Lance and Natalie are surprised.   "Wow, I didn't know Natalie can punch that hard," Sunset says   "Yeah, me too," Lance agrees.      Matt stands up and rubs his chin. He never thought that Natalie can punch that hard, so he must be careful with her in the future.      "You know, that good punch Natalie," He said as he rubs his chin.    "Sorry, I'm just surprised," Natalie said while covering her face to hide her blush.   "Anyway, we should go now before it's night," Matt suggest    The team head to Volcano Peak. As they arrive, they see many big tents set down by the volcano. Sunset quickly hides herself into the cloak as she sees a big campsite. The campsite is like a market, they have spots to sell food, weapons, etc... Each one has some specific kinds of stuff.    "... Since when do they get campsites in this volcano?" Matt asks curiously.    "I don't know. But the good thing is that we don't need to use a teleport crystal to go back to town to get supplies." Lance explains    "As long as Sunset can keep hiding her appearance, we will be safe." Natalie caution as she stares at Sunset, make her smile sleepily  As the team keeps going, they are greeted by someone wearing black armor and black pants.   "Hey, hey over here Lance," The stranger waves at them as Lance turns to him and is surprised.   "Uncle Eldaro!" Lance cheers and he rushes to his uncle and gives him a hug "How are you, Uncle?"    "I'm fine, kid," He says as he pinches Lance's cheek. "Long time no see, you are growing up so fast, kid" he pats Lance's back happily.   "Come on, I'm not a kid anymore." Lance laughs   "Well, good for you kid. Anyway, what are you doing here, this place is very dangerous, now." Eldaro said  "Honestly, I come here to slay that demon down" Lance answered as his uncle surprise.   "Are you Crazy? That thing over there is very dangerous. I don't think you can handle it alone" Eldaro worried about his cousin.   "Nah, I don't come here alone. How about I introduce myself to you, my teammate?" Lance suggests.   ".... Well, we will do that in my tent. Come." Eldaro waves his hand to ask them to come in.        The team goes into Eldaro's tent. Inside the tent, there has a large map on the table with some of the monster's figures. It also has some weapons and radar too.   "Wow, this is really like a tactic tent here," Matt amazed    "It is. Since that demon wakes up by something, we must isolate this mountain to make sure that the monster will not be coming out of this Volcano. " Eldaro explains to make the team, except Sunset, smile sheepishly.   " So... Eh you got anything to kill that demon?" Lance asked.   "Unfortunately no, even if we blow up this Volcano but I assume that Arkon will still be alive and continue to make a disaster. Worse, after the bombing, he will be free to spread that disaster all over the world. So I can't take that risk." Eldaro says as he walks around the table "So, this is your team?"   "Yeah. This is my team," Lance answers.   "Hmmm...." He stares hard at them " where is your healer? I don't see any priest in your team" he points at Matt " I know you are swordsman", point at Natalie "a mage", point at Lance " a gunner", point at Sunset in dark figure "and... Eh, what is his or her role?"    "A mage too. Anyway, the swordsman is Matt, the mage is Natalie and the dark figure is Sunset" Lance introduces.   Eldaro stares into Sunset, making her gulp inside the hood while outside she seems fine to him," I suspect you most, dark figures. I am not gonna ask why you hide your appearance because you may be ugly so you have to hide. You are a mage after all though," He decides to touch her forehead to feel her mana but Sunset uses her staff to stop him.   "Sorry but you really know how to mess with the woman right? I didn't know you are a jerk," Sunset teases.   "Ah.. tough one. I like it." Eldaro says, "You make me curious now," He sits at the table and drinks his coffee "If you are a beautiful girl, I would like it."  "Sorry but I'm not beautiful. I'm just a normal girl as the normal mage", Sunset says   "Now you make me more curious about your appearance," Eldaro turns to Lance. "Can I borrow her?"    "Eh... What for?" Lance asks curiously   "I wanna have a sparring battle with her," Eldaro said as Lance's eyes widened.   "But uncle, why don't you pick Matt there? He will be a good opponent to spar with." Lance tries to deny it.  "Nah, I don't like him. Besides, he is a fine swordsman to you and your team," Eldaro pat Lance back and points at Natalie "That is a very good mage for you then," point at Sunset " I'm honestly don't know if she is a good mage or not, I just can't read her mana." Natalie and Matt giggle while Sunset's face hoofed.    "... Ok then, just please be gentle ok?" Lance said as Eldaro thumps up.        The team goes to the training park. It has a wide battle zone with some weapons and some benches aside. Matt, Natalie, and Lance sit on the bench and watch, they also have some popcorn that they just bought in the next camp. Eldaro, who wears heavy steel armor, grab a pistol with a big sword on his back, and steps into the zone. Sunset steps on the zone too and wishes that her appearance not be revealed.     "Okay, time to choose your weapon lady. Remember if you lose, you have to reveal your appearance," Eldaro said    " I'm fine with this wooden staff, and since when have we had that bet?" Sunset asked.    "Just for now, and don't worry I will be gentle," Eldaro said as he is in battle stance make Sunset facehoofs.   The duo stares at each other to analyze. Eldaro feels weird because a normal mage must be chanting spell right now while Sunset doesn't. He rushes at her and swings his sword at her, Sunset manages to block it but the swing is too strong, making her step back. He jumps up and slams the sword at her, Sunset simply steps aside to dodge. Eldaro feels something is wrong, he jumps back after that to dodge Sunset's "Wyvern Slash". The slash has contracted to his armor; to his surprise, it has slashed through the armor.    "... What kind of spell is that? It looks like a dragon," Eldaro thought as he spins around and slashes, a tornado appears after that, and it rushes toward Sunset. Sunset spins the staff and slams it to the ground. A bit of ground has risen before her, enough to block that tornado. Eldaro feels annoyed right now. He picks his pistol and tries to aim at Sunset but before he can do it, a fire dragon is flying toward him, making him have to duck to dodge but a "Wyvern Slash" appears in front of Eldaro, making him fly backward as the armor is cut into a two-piece. Eldaro is surprised about that, wondering how she can move that fast.   "I am surprised that mage has this type of fighting," Elrado admired her.  "Then what do you think a real mage does in battle?" Sunset asked.  "Well, from the start you don't chant any strong spell that makes me surprised, even that slash-shaped dragon makes me impressed. But I'll not stand down," Eldaro slams the sword on the ground, a moment later his body glowing red as Sunset in a defensive stance. Eldaro rushes at Sunset at high speed with a punch to Sunset, making her slam into the wall; then he swings the sword at her.  Sunset manages to block the swings and she tries not to fly backward. She creates a lighting ball on her front hoof and slams it to the sword. The electricity flows into Eldaro's body like a second, make him jerk back and glare at her. He immediately swings the sword at Sunset more furiously, but she manages to dodge all of them and quickly counter back by a punch into his face. Eldaro is surprised at being punched, next time he realizes he has a nose-bleed after that and stares at her and asks.   "Are you really a mage? This punch is just like a horse kicking into my face. Weak one but still hurt," Eldaro explained, making Sunset feel offended but she must calm at this.   "Maybe you are too weak for that punch?" Sunset taunts him.   "Or maybe this mage doesn't know any advanced spells," Eldaro taunts back.   "Oh really?" She uses mana to cover her body "I really hope that this will be fun", and she suddenly disappears, making Eldaro surprised and looks around to find her. For the instinct, he immediately rolls forward and dodges the "Wyvern Slash" behind his back. Sunset grins as she punches the ground to cast a spell.  Eldaro feels his legs being held by something and looks down, he sees the earth is rooting him in place. Looking up, he sees a lightning-shaped dragon is flying toward him, nowhere to move, he gets hit by it and gets paralyzed but still stands up. Then he got hit two more, making him fall to the ground. He tries to get up but a wooden staff slam near his face looks up and sees the dark figures now on his body. He finally surrenders. "Ok, you win." He gets up after Sunset gets off his body. "Geez, I don't know you have "Blink" spell"  ".... Maybe this name fits my spelling. Anyway, good fight," she lifts her hoof to and has a friendly shake. Eldaro is now more suspicious after this shake but he will keep that in mind.    Lance, Natalie, and Matt cheer Sunset about her victory. They rush to Sunset and bear hug her, making her can't breathe. After a while, they release her. Lance walks beside his uncles.   "You are defeated. That's not unusual for you, uncle," Lance said.   "I know, though this mage of yours has... Weird style of fighting but I feel good. But I am curious more about her appearance though." Eldaro rubs his hand at his nose. "If this is a beautiful girl, I will flirt with her though."   "Uncle, I have known you alone for 40 years now, but you will be disappointed after finding out her appearance. Trust me," Lance suggests but Eldaro raises his palm to stop while another hand holds his chest for a heart attack.    "Why are you striking me down like that? Anyway, I trust your team can survive in this place but I doubt that you can fight Arkon by that. I suggest you must have more people to do that," Eldaro suggested   "Nah. I'm fine with them, and I will slay Arkon down with my team. Trust me," Lance said, making his uncle think while deciding to trust him this time.  "Fine, I can't stop you now. I will give all of you a map of this volcano with a condition. That is you must survive, ok?" Eldaro said and Lance nod "Good, take a rest and sleep. I will give you the map tomorrow." And he leaves the tent "oh, by the way, the sleeping tent is next to the tactic tent, it's big enough for you four. Don't worry," then he left the tents.  The team going to the sleeping tents, and arranges the tent to make it comfortable enough to sleep, and they sleep together. Tomorrow, they will start the remainder of their journey.   , > Another gate > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset wakes up at midnight and goes out to the camp. She stares at the night sky while still covering herself with the cloak and hat. Sunset remembers home right now but no way can get back, she doesn't know what to do.    "You still awake?" a voice is spoken behind Sunset makes her turn back. It's Eldaro, he sits beside her to talk " I thought you are stronger than that. "    "Strong in magic, not strong in mind, Eldaro." Sunset counters.    "Ah.. ah.. don't be like that.  I am like that when I leave home and start military training," Eldaro drinks his wine and gives her the cup "want some?"    "I see, and sorry but I haven't drunk alcohol before," Sunset denies and she pushes the cup away.   "I see. But you should try one," Eldaro invites her but Sunset shakes her head "You really don't like alcohol right?"    "I'm fine. Just... I don't like alcohol though"    "Well .... " Eldaro put his cup down " I don't push you now." And he turns to Sunset " and you should reveal yourself now."  "And why do I have to do that?" Sunset asked.  "Because you are an alien right?" Eldaro said, make Sunset smirk. "Don't be like that, I already know you are an alien since you push the cup. You know, I suspect you since I shook hands with you," Eldaro explains      "Ah... But I still denied it, I am maybe an alien but I think  I have the right to hide myself right?" Sunset makes a fireball and spin.   "Oh... Right" Eldaro drink another sip," you homesick right? Believe me, I already know that feeling when I am on my first trip to the army." He puts the cup down and is stargazing.  "Yeah, I am missing home but right now I have no way to come home now. So this feeling kind of annoys me," Sunset explains as she lies down on the ground.   "Then I ask you a question," Eldaro said, making Sunset turn to him "What will you do after slaying the demon? You know, you will be famous in our army, and maybe you will have your statues. " " Honestly, I don't know," Sunset pulls out the wooden staff " Maybe I will continue to train magic in this identity," She swings the staff and hits Eldaro's arm "and don't try to pull out this hat. Pretty please."    "Geez, you so hard," Eldaro said as he rubs his hand.   "And I know you are nearly 40 years old and still single," Sunset smirks, making Eldaro hold his chest for hurt feelings.   "Could you please stop stabbing my pain? I can't handle it, you know? "   "Maybe not, now I must go to sleep. It's good to talk to you, see ya," Sunset stands up.    Sunset starts walking into the sleeping tent. When she is just in the midway, the wind goes up and blows her hat away. That hat has dropped into Eldaro's hand. He takes a chance to see what she looks like, as he looks up to see. Her face reveals under the moonlight, making him don't know what to talk about because, in his eyes, she is so beautiful. Eldaro stares at her at the moment until...   "Eh... Eldaro?" She waves her hoof at him. "Hello?"    "Yeah.. sorry, just a bit surprised to see your face," Eldaro is snapped out and he gives back Sunset's hat.  "Thanks," Sunset put her hat on. "I'll go to sleep now, see ya."   As Sunset is going back to the camp with the team. Eldaro holds his chest for the screen that he had seen, maybe his crush, he doesn't know. He sits down and stargazes for a while. After an hour, he goes back to his camp.    The next day, the team wakes up and has breakfast quickly. Sunset tells the other that she has been revealed by accident. When Lance asks about his reaction, she honestly doesn't know what is wrong with him. After breakfast, they head to the tactic camp to meet Eldaro.   "Good morning everyone, sleep well?" Eldaro greets them.  Lance greets his uncle back, "Good morning, uncle. Congrat for discovering Sunset's appearance,"    "Thank you, I take that'' Eldaro step closer to Lance "can I meet you later?" He whispers, Lance is pushing him away, much as Eldaro's disappointed.   "So... Where the map and how can we get to Arkon?" Sunset asked.   "Oh sorry, I will get the map " Eldaro opens the table to take out the small map. "Here," He gives Sunset the map "Be careful, the Volcano is surrounded by monsters that I have never seen before."    "Oh, thanks for--" Sunset gets cut off by the guard wearing grey, heavy armor rushes into the camp. She quickly hides herself before he can see him.  "Sir, we have a problem," The guard said. "A giant three-headed monster has flown in front of the portal  that leads to Arkon and is guarding there."    "I see," Eldaro walks around the camp and thinks "How about I have an offer? You three slay that monster while I will call for resources."  "Why don't you send your troops there?" Matt asked for confusion    "Well, if I send troops there, who will guard this camp and others? " Eldaro waves a hand for reject " Besides, that portal does not allow our vehicles to get through, maybe it can shoot though."   "I see. We should prepare for our journey then," Lance suggests and the team nods.        After preparing, the team starts walking to the top of the mountain. While they are walking, they look around and see this place has many skeletons lying around. The team continues to walk and see a metal bridge on the lava river.   ".... Well, this will be dangerous if we fight near this river" Sunset said, as she is cooking corn by lava.    "Yeah, we will. But I will suggest that we should... Get away from this lava."  Lance point at the robot shape like a red ball with a propeller spinning on its top. It also has two drills on two sides.   "... I don't like to fight with robots so I think we should avoid it" Matt suggested.   "Good idea, Matt. I don't like to fight robots either," Sunset agreed. "And it looks like that robot hasn't noticed us yet. Let's go."   The team walks slowly behind the robot, hoping that it won't see them. As they walking out of the robot, they manage to get away from that robot sight but a sound " intruder Detected, Require The Reinforcement and Destroy" rings. They froze and turned their heads to the sound, it appears another red ball robot is ringing. A moment later, five more robots appeared and surround them.   "That's why I never use "Drill ball" for guarding" Lance complains as he pulls out his gun-blade to prepare to engage."   "Wait, you know that robot, why don't you tell us so soon?" Natalie asked.   "Because I hate it," Lance simply answered.   The robots are all charging something. Matt and Sunset see that and rush fast at the robots, while Lance finds a spot to aim and Natalie chanting a spell. The robot charge is done and releases a big laser at Matt and Sunset. Sunset teleports and Matt slides down to dodge the laser.   Sunset teleports to the back of the robot, uses "Wyvern Slash" and slices it into two. Matt throws his sword and its impact on the robot, destroying it. The robots rush at Matt as he doesn't have a weapon anymore. But one of them lost the propeller in the way, while the other two got electrocuted by "Thunderbolt" from Natalie and beeping like mad.  Lance took his big gun and shot at the robot. Unfortunately, that robot is near Sunset and it explodes into many bullets fly around, making Sunset get hit by it. The robots have been destroyed completely.   "You really like to shoot me right?" Sunset said in an angry tone.  "Come on, that just an accident. Is it just I "misfire" the "Bullet Hell" ok?" Lance tried to explain to calm Sunset down.   "Fine. Just don't do it again." Sunset continues to walk ahead and the other follows her.   The team continues to walk, hoping to encounter the Hydra. Lance see his map and lead the team but it has a metal gate block their way   "Ok, who built this thing?" Lance says as he knocks on the gate for annoying. A humanoid robot comes near him and pushes his hand away from the gate.  "Sorry this is the danger zone, anyone who is not under influence is not allowed to go in," the Robot warns and takes out the gun from his back and aims at them.  "Oh sorry, we didn't know. So... Why are you building this gate, is that from the three-headed monster?" Natalie asked.  "Yes, it is" the robot hold down the gun "This hydra is dangerous so we build the gate to prevent it coming out"    "I see....is there any way to come in?" Sunset asked.   "Well... You must be strong enough to come in. Only the strong adventurers can come into this gate." The robot explains.   "Oh... I see. So... Anything to prove that we are strong?" Matt asks and the robot thinks for a while.    "How about you take back my weapon and my CPU? When I come here with captain Eldaro, I drop it and the monster suddenly guards it like a treasure so I don't know what to do, I have to use a secondary CPU here." The robot rubbed the back of his head." If you can take back my CPU and my weapon, you can come in. Deal?"     Lance steps forward and handshake robot. "Deal, you gonna prepare your thing to open that gate right now,"  Lance laughs at that.    "Well, let's see about that. The CPU and weapon are in the chest. The chest is...." He points the way "that way, about 200m away, good luck"   The team starts to go the way that the robot points at. And who knows what monsters they have to deal with? > The Golems and The Ghosts > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After receiving the quest of the robot, the Team starts moving in the way of the chest. As the team is walking, they notice that something weird has happened but they do not realize it yet. They still keep moving to complete the quest as soon as possible. Natalie gets tripped because she is too tired now, so the team decides to sit down to take a rest.   "Well, why do you get tired easily, Natalie?" Sunset asks while playing with a small "Fire dragon".   "Sorry, I'm not the one who likes exercise, and also I'm a mage," Natalie answers while rubbing her legs.  "Weird. I am a mage too but I don't feel tired when walking too long here," Sunset teases her as she tries to create an ice dragon.   "You know, I'm gonna compare me with other mages, not a mage like you, "Natalie says as she waves her hand to retort.  "Fair enough. Anyway, I should learn some light and dark spells though. You know, for some monster is immune to light or dark magic," Sunset explains while she creates a small ice dragon successfully, making it fly around with the fire one.   "Wow, I am jealous about your spelling now,... And you're durable too." Natalie waves her staff to "shoo" away from the dragons.  "Well, except I still think about how the spell is used. The trap spellbook that you give me is good though, I can use -" Sunset duck because a big metal butterfly flew above them "geez, I hate incest."    "Let me handle it," Lance volunteers as he takes out a scanner and shoots at its wing. It falls into the ground and Matt simply stabs it at the chest."Oh right, we should get going, no time to waste."   Natalie and Sunset stand up and continue to collect the chest. After a while of walking, the team meets two stones, one black, and one white is floating in the air. Matt looks around to see anything suspicious, but he finds nothing. Sunset comes near to examine the stones.   "Weird. Why do we have stones here?" Sunset uses her staff to poke at the stone "and nothing special about this stone though."   "I don't know anything about this stone though," Natalie says, making Sunset turn to her as Natalie continues, "and yeah, even-" she got cut off because of surprise.   "Eh, you ok Natalie?" Sunset asks as she points behind Sunset, making her turn back. She sees a Light Golem holding a hammer and a shield standing in front of her. , "Eh.... Where is it come from?" the golem slams its hammer into Sunset's spot. Sunset teleports away from the slams and turns to the dark stones.   Many dark rocks flying into the dark stone. It soon shapes the legs, arms, and head. By the time it completes shaping, the Dark Golem raises its arm, the rocks once again shaping like a hammer and a shield, in front of the dark golem. It grabs the weapon and shield, then raises the hammer up to challenge the team.  "Now I know how the white golem came from now," Sunset's facehoofs.  The dark golem slams its hammer down, a trail of dark spikes is rushing toward Matt and Natalie. Matt pushes Natalie out of the trail then he dodges the trail by himself. Natalie glared at him but she quickly gets up and chants a spell, her body is floating a little bit while her staff is suspended into the air. The light golem sees that and rushes at Natalie to cut off the chanting while Lance finally finds a perfect spot for aiming and he runs into it as quickly as possible. Sunset teleports in front of Natalie and rushes at the light golems, the light golem sees that and stops, slams its hammer down and many small magic circles appear on the ground.  Sunset sees that and makes a fireball behind her back and makes it explode, making her fly forward the Golem by the time the magic circles shooting small light ray from the ground. Sunset enchants her wooden staff and is gonna use "Wyvern Slash". The Light Golems sees that and raises the shield to block while the Dark Golem picks up the hammer and goes to rush at Lance, Matt is pointing two fingers at the Dark Golem and a circle appears after that.  When Sunset nears the shield but suddenly she teleports near the Dark Golem and uses "Wyvern Slash" on it. The Dark Golems surprised, it received the spell and jerks back. A magic circle on the Dark Golem and it appeared the giant light sword appeared from the circle, the Dark Golem still stunned by the slash and it sees the giant sword is dropping at it. No time to react, the sword impacts through the Dark Golem body. While it is trying to pull out the sword, Natalie slams the staff on the ground and a magic circle appears under the Dark Golem and it shoots a light ray into the Golem. The golem is shattered into pieces by the spell. The Light Golem sees that and it roars angrily, the ground is shaken and the Golem covered itself with a red aura. The team was surprised but they still in the defense position. The Golem teleport to Sunset and swing its hammer at her. Sunset uses "Shield" to block but the swing is too strong, the shield has broken and its impact on Sunset, makes her send flying to the stone pole. The pole is shaken, then the rocks on the pole are dropped into Sunset, make her buried under the rocks.  "Sunset," The trio shouts, then turns to the golem. The Light Golem continues teleported in front of Natalie and is going to slam the hammer into her, but Matt slams the tip of the sword to the ground first; moments later, huge earth shaped sword rise from the ground and connect to the Golem's chin, make it jerk back and fall into the ground. Natalie quickly uses "Pulsar" to summon the black hole in the sky. The black hole inhales the Golem, it struggles to get out the hole.  Matt enchants the sword with a red aura and rushes at the Golem while Lance takes the big gun and aims at the Light Golem. The golem sees it and changes the arm into the cannon, aiming at Lance; the cannon is shining and going to shoot but it is blocked by a giant stone. The golem is surprised and tries to hold back the shooting but it's too late. The shoot exploded, self-harming it. By the time Matt rushes near the Golem, he jumps, slashes furiously at the golem five times, and cuts off the cannon arm in the fifth slash; Matt shoots at the Golem the explosive bullet and it explodes. The Light Golem now is just pieces of junk.    The trio turns their head to the spot where Sunset gets buried. But she gets out of the stones before that and waved her front hoof at the trio, but she has to sit down because of the pain. The trio comes there as fast as they can.  "You ok there? " Lance asked as he is holding her front hoof   "Not so ok. You think being buried by several stones is ok? " Sunset counter as Natalie is healing her. Matt takes four blue potions and gives them to others.    "Here the potion, we should drink it before continuing. And anyway you are really durable for a mage, Sunset," Matt teases her, making her groan.   "Oh come on, what is a normal mage here? Am I too abnormal for a mage in this world?" Sunset complains as Natalie has done healing for her. Sunset stands up by two back hooves and stretches her body.   "Yes," The trio answers in unison and laughs, making Sunset facehoof and shaking her head but her face has a smile.    "Fair enough. Anyway, I wonder how Eldaro built that gate so fast? That gate must be cost a lot of time to complete," Sunset asks while she sees her body to check the wound.    "...yeah. that gate must cost at least 15 days to build, and.. he has just received the news that the Three-headed monster is guarding since 12 hours ago..." Lance thinks a little bit.    "Bla Bla, who cares? As long as other is safe, I'm fine with that gate," Matt waving his hand to refuse to know    "Fine. Anyway, let's just keep going though. I don't wanna hear anything about my style of mage," Sunset takes and drinks the blue potion, the trio drinks their potion too.    After finishing the potion, the Team keeps going forward to collect the chest. After 20 minutes of walking, they finally see the chest, but they feel cold and shudder at the same time.  "Do you think this zone has something wrong?" Sunset said when she feels something is watching her.   "Yeah. Even us can feel that," Matt says as he feels like Sunset.   "It just likes-" Sunset swings the staff to the right and she has blocked a scythe that attacked her.   "What the... What is it?" Natalie said as another scythe is attacking her, Matt blocks it at the moment that the Scythe near Natalie's arm.   "Ok... This is enough... Show yourself or I will make you reveal," Matt shouts into the air. A moment later, two cloaks with two skulls are floating in the air. Each one is holding a scythe. "Now that I like it." Matt rushes at one of the ghosts but it doesn't move or defend. Matt swings the sword at its body and it goes through the ghost without hurting it, he gets surprised. The first ghost swings the Scythe at Matt, cause him to have to block it while the second one rushes to Lance. Sunset teleports in front of it and uses "Wyvern Slash", making it jerks back.   "They just got magic damage, we must cast magic on it," Sunset said after she analyzed Matt's attack.   "Got it," Natalie nods and she starts chanting a spell.   Sunset is thinking about the chanting while dodging and blocking the ghost's scythe attack. The ghost get angry about this, it swings the Scythe on the ground. A moment later, many spikes appeared under Sunset's hooves, making her roll forward to dodge. Lance is charging a magic shoot because he knows he only has "Hyper Beam" to damage the ghost.   "Maybe I should ask Natalie or Whitty later," Sunset thinks and she creates a small ice dragon at the second ghost, making its head frozen. The first ghost is trying to hit Matt with the scythe but he easily dodge or block it, he knows he can't hit them so he decides to taunt them to buy time for his teammates.   "What's wrong? Can't you hit me" The first ghost even angrier by that taunting? The second ghost finally can get out of the frozen area but Sunset teleports near it and gives a "Wyvern Slash". The ghost is surprised and send flying backward to the first ghost; they fall to the ground and try to get up.   Before they can get up, they receive a beam shot from Lance; make its vision not clear. The moment it wakes up, they see a magic circle under them. A ray of light interacts with the ghosts, making them disappear and nothing more.   "Well, that's a good thing. Now we should get the chest." Natalie cheered.   "Yeah" Matt opens the chest by slashing the chest lid, it appears the robot's CPU and a gun inside. "We got them now." He is waving his hand to cheer.   "Ok.. so shall we come back to the gate and rest?" Sunset asks while spinning the staff  "What else can we do? Come on, Matt returned this thing and gave it back to that robot. Damn, I should have asked his name though," Lance facepalms..   Matt grabs the items and puts them in his dimensional pocket. Then the team goes back to the gate and challenges the monster that guards the portal. > Magic Theory > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The team is coming back to the metal gate after they grab the CPU and the guns from the ghost. The robot sees them and turns to the team.   "Welcome back! Never thought you would come back so early," the robot says.   "It's fine. Anyway, you didn't introduce me to your name last time," Sunset waving her staff in the air. "And I honestly wonder how you built that gate so fast."    "Oh, this?"  The robot points at the gate "This gate is built hastily when Arkon wakes up. But this will be useless when that Three-headed monster flies above it. Anyway, my name is T-86."    "Nice to meet you T-86, These are the things that you requested," Natalie says as she pulls out his CPU and his gun "Here you are," Natalie gave it to him.   "Thank you. You proved that you are a strong team" T-86 said as he takes his gun and his CPU "I am appreciative that you managed to take these things back. Now you can go into that gate anytime you want," he points at the gate. "we also have tents and some resting spot here though," then he points at the terrified tent "If..... you can repair it"  "Well, no thanks. We will have our own tent to rest, thanks for the offer," Lance shakes T-86's hand.   "If you insist. Oh, remember, any problem just ask me, I will help you if I can," then T-86 goes to his spot and guards the gate.       The team signs and they start to make their own tent. By the time it is finished, they start the campfire and ask T-86 to bring some food to make a hotpot. They eat, dance, and sing happily, but the boys are surprised that the girls can sing that well.    "Wow, I don't know you two can sing very well. Can you play some instruments? " Matt asks as he wanna know more about them   "Well, sadly no. While I am in the church, I sing every day and my voice becomes better time by time, but I stop when the church forces me to learn light magic," Natalie explained, she reveals a sad face when remembering the church.  " Me is like..... eh don't know what to do in free time so I decide to sing for fun whenever I am finished helping Celestia's job," Sunset answered, and kind of miss Equestria though but she has to move on. "Anyway, you have great cooking skills, Matt. Except, you made us eat the slimes before." Sunset shudders that memory while others have a green face.  "Well,  I have been cooking since I know I don't have parents not here and have to survive. Honestly, I don't know how I'm cooking now." Matt explained while he wandered what a family is.  "Don't be like that Matt, you still have us to go with you because you drag us for your adventure," Lance pat Matt's back "Be strong." Lance's words make Matt smile. "If don't have you, we will not be here and sitting next to each other like this."  "Also you have some crazy mind to invite an alien like me to your party," Sunset feed Matt mushroom, makes Natalie quite jealous while Matt is surprised "Besides I am quite scared of myself now."  "How so? You really are a strong mage now, old mare," Matt's sentence makes Sunset glares at him for annoying.  " Honestly, first I don't know what is wrong with me now. I can stand many things that can kill any pony in my world. Second, I feel my magic is stronger right now. What if I lost control and harmed you guys?" Sunset wonders as she creates a small fire dragon and makes it fly around her front hoof.  "Nah, just keep using it to control it. And if you lose control, I will slap your face to wake you up. About your durability, maybe because you got hit by many strong monsters, and your...daredevil. " Matt wave his hand at her, make Sunset shudders  " Wow, you really don't know how to be a gentlecolt huh?" Sunset asks    "Gentlecolt or gentleman, I don't care, I just care my teammate is fine or not," Matt says, make the other laugh    "Anyway, can I talk with Natalie for a while? I need to talk to her about magic," Sunset asks to make the boys' eyes widen.   "You got some crazy ideas about magic right? Oh wait, you are not a normal mage in the beginning." Lance says and Sunset glares at him. "Fine, we will leave you two to prepare some sleeping spots.."     The boys start walking out of the campfire to leave them alone. Natalie is curious about Sunset's new idea about magic.    "So Natalie, can you tell me about the chanting magic? I see whenever you complete chanting, you cast a powerful spell enough to destroy the enemy."  Sunset lies down and taking out the paper and pen that she asked T-86 to bring to her.   " Well, I am quite jealous of you when you use quick spells but you can cast many things maybe more powerful my chanting spell and new to me though," Natalie said, Sunset tilts her head for confusion "What is that face? You can summon a spell dragon even if you not chanting anything, and that call "Wyvern Slash"... well I don't know it powerful than my "Judgement" or not but I still see its power and the way you use it to combine with your teleport is very effective"   "Uh, I had to put myself in danger much time because I can't use two teleports between 5 seconds. Besides, you don't answer my question here," Sunset gonna continue to explain but get cut off by Natalie's hand that put on her mouth   " Let me finish, ok? " Sunset nod "Good. The way you use magic is very new in this world because no mage is daredevil like that in the past. I have tried to use spells in your way but .... no I can't do it."   "OK, thanks I guess." Sunset confused. "and now can you answer my question please so I can see if my idea can do or not"   "Fine. Whatever your idea is but I still explain this," Natalie starts answering "Now. I will talk about the basic chanting of the spell,"  Sunset ready nod. "Chanting the spell is means to focus the mana and speak magic words for casting powerful spells and also not to waste the mana you have in your body.   "I see. Meaning if you focus on one spell that is chanting then you can't do other dodges or blocks?" Sunset guesses and Natalie nods. "Well, maybe that spell does not fit me."   "Yep, without chanting the mana your cost will be triple maybe quadruple times than the mana you have chanted." Natalie explains and Sunset writes it on not "any questions?"    " That's all you know?" Sunset askes and Natalie nods " well, I thought I can use those magic words while I learned many of them while traveling."  " I'm just afraid that will waste," Natalie signs but still pat Sunset's back to comfort "Come on, let's sleep and we will have a lot of things to do tomorrow." Sunset nods to agree.    By the time the boys finish organizing the sleeping spot. The team makes themself as comfortable as they can, Lance and Natalie are guarding outside. Sunset is ready to go inside her body again.   Inside Sunset's body Sunset found herself in her body halls again. She gets familiar with this feeling because that is the feeling of being hug by a dragon. Whitty is currently sleeping while hugging Sunset, his head resting on Sunset's shoulder makes her annoyed about Whitty's breathing.  "Hey hey, wake up please," Sunset shakes Whitty but the dragon hugs her even tighter, making her yelp. "WAKE UP!" Sunset yells at the dragon, makes him wake up, jerks back, and waves his claws on the air furiously.  "Whoa whoa...huh.. oh hey Sunset, why are you yelling at me? I am sleeping here you know?" Whitty complains and he returns to hugs Sunset. " So what are you wanna talk to me?"    "Just gonna ask you some questions about magic." Sunset said as Whitty's eyes widen " Don't be surprised because I have some theory about magic."   "I see... Hmm, I thought you are master of magic when you manage to beat me though." Whitty teased Sunset, making her glares at him, "Fine. What you wanna know about magic?"   "Well... I wanna know how I can use chanting spells while I am in close combat with the enemy." Sunset explains, which makes him surprised."I just think that if I can chant spells while in close combat, it will be good to do that." Sunset finishes the explanation. Whitty hears that and grins at her, making her uncomfortable about that.   "You think that will work?" Whitty asked as he put his face near her neck "you thinking that will be possible?" She simply nods, making Whitty laugh while Sunset is confused. "Maybe being defeated by you is the best choice of mine. Okay then, I will show you how it is even impossible to do that."   "Impossible? Why?" Sunset tilts head to confuse,  Whitty walks in front of and makes a fireball and an ice ball at two claws. "Like your friend Natalie said, it's a focus of your mana. Like you concentrated into one point, some mages can do it in two-point like this, as my balls," Whitty explains and he walks around Sunset. " Normally, a mage must lose about one year to do it. You are very different."   "How sơ? Like I can concentrate and do two spells at the same time?" Sunset asked as she rubs her front hoof to her back of the head.  "Remember what you do when you fight against Dark Golem. I remember it just 6 months since I met you, now you can contain a spell while doing another spell like teleport. Now I wonder how far you will go if you continue learning magic plus physics like this." Whitty explained as he throws away the balls "But I didn't see a mage can concentrate three points of mana before"   "I believed that someone could do that before. You know, you can't claim that thing while you just see," Sunset countered   "Nah, It's on the textbook and education for mage now," Whitty explained, as Sunset facehoof. "You are a special case here, but anyway there is a way to do is the magic weapon," Whitty suggested but Sunset feels amused. "What? .... oh wait your weapon is just a normal wooden staff, my bad."    " That's ok, but I feel like I wanna smash you with my staff," Sunset takes her staff, "But I need to learn magic though, even if that can be used or not."   "I believe you can do it. I will show you how to store a spell into a weapon," Whitty says as he pulls out a sword "Don't ask where I get this sword." He starts to concentrate on mana and chanting a spell to the sword. The sword has some kind of word fly around it, then he throws it, the sword is shining and later a fireball fly following it. "That is an example. Now start training." Sunset nods.   "OK, question?" Sunset wanna asked, "Can I store a powerful spell?"   "Oh, you can. But the weapon will be broken by the time the spell is cast because of overload." Whitty explained while seeing Sunset have something on her mind, he has to wait.    Sunset starts training how to store the spell into the weapon with the introduction of Whitty while try to concentrate the mana at three points. Begin the training, she creates a fire dragon and an ice dragon and keeps them flying around while chanting the spell to her weapon. At first, it exploded and sent her flying backward   " You can't do that, okay. It's impossible to transfer the mana at three goals," Whitty heals her "And you gonna hurt yourself a lot if you keep doing that."   "Nah, I have to prove that I can concentrate on three points, okay." Sunset rejects make Whitty faceclaw and sigh. It's gonna be a long day. > The Hydra. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After 4 hours of failing, Sunset lies on the ground while Whitty is healing her. She is very tired now.   "You're really stubborn, don't you?" Whitty asks while keep healing her   "Heh, thank you. Celestia told me the same thing," Sunset lying on the ground due to her tiredness.   "Well, at least I can "pillow" you with no resistance," Whitty hugs the tired Sunset, she has to accept that because she is out of stamina. "So how long will you give up?"    "Well, I don't know, maybe until I succeed," Sunset smiles at him. "I must know if I can break the limit or not." She closes her eyes but does not return to the real world.   "At least you can close your eyes without returning to the real world." Whitty says while he strokes Sunset's mane " Don't worry, I will be here when you are depressed," he smiles at her.   "Thank you, I guess," Sunset feels slightly creepy about him. "I just don't know what will you do when you defeat me? "    "Oh about that, I won't say because you know the answer," Whitty laughs as Sunset confused "Anyway, I advise you to stop that thing called "break the limit" because this may kill you."    "Nah. I'm fine with that," Sunset waves her front hoof to reject making Whitty's face claw at the mare "Besides, I have an ambulance here so I am finer," she teased, making Whitty amused about that.   "Fine, I give up," Whitty moves his head closer to Sunset's neck, making her shiver "but in exchange, you have to allow me to hug you without struggling."   "Deal. Now I need to wake up to prepare things, see you later," Sunset closes her eyes to wake up.     Sunset wakes up to take a turn guarding Matt, she sits and starts meditating to analyze the flow of the mana to try to concentrate the mana into three-point of her body. She creates a fire dragon and feels the mana focus on her left front hoof, and if it needs to stay as long as she wants, she has to make the mana keep flowing onto her left front hoof.   ‘I see, the reason the pony can teleport is they have to focus to make their mana balancing all over the body,’ She thinks and writes on her notes. ‘Now I see why some unicorns can use teleport while they already use levitate on themself to keep the mana covering their body,’... She thinks for a little while…’But if it is simple like that, why only the unicorn use magic while Pegasus and Earth Ponies can't. Geez, I have to think more about this in the future but now I have to start training this idea,’ she starts to create an ice dragon and make it flying with the fire dragon.    The two dragons fly around Sunset's body as she feels she have to keep the mana on two front hooves, she decides to transfer all the mana that focus on her front hooves to her back hooves to see what happens and opens her eyes to see what will happen. The dragons are still there and still flying around her, making her smile. Matt sees that but decides not to interrupt her because he knows she is doing something crazy, which makes him shudder.     "Right. Wherever the mana focuses on the body, the spell can still continue casting," She thought, the fire dragon lands on her hoof, Sunset feels a little hot but not too hot to burn her hoof. Now,  she feels very weird about this; the dragon must burn her while it can burn down an "Ice Turtle".     As Sunset looks down her front hoof, she sees some kind of dragon scale in the middle of her hoof. She now feels so scared, is she slowly changing into a dragon? She doesn't know. Sunset takes a deep inhale to come down to not be so scared, but she is still nervous about what will be a dragon? How can she talk to Celestia when she comes back to Equestria?. She shakes her head to abandon her thought away, "Let's the time answer it, not now," She thinks.   "Something wrong?" Matt asked behind Sunset's back, making her yelp for a surprise.   "Don't scare me like that," she waves her hoof "But anyway, everything is fine?" she lied   "You sure? You look so nervous here." Matt says as he stares at Sunset, makes her drop some sweets and gulp "Anyway, we should be prepared now."   "It's morning already?" Sunset asks as Matt points at the sun rising, Sunset facehoofs "Fine, we should be prepared. My theory of magic is still not done though but it will be later."       Sunset and Matt return to the campfire to reunite Natalie and Lance, they cook some soup and corn the breakfast. As they sit together and eat in a happy mood, Sunset wonders about something that Eldaro asked her before.   " Hey, I just wonder what will we do after we defeat this Arkon?" Sunset asked, make them surprised but they still happy when she asks that   "Honestly, we will still travel around like a beggar. Oh wait, we are already a beggar now," Lance teases and makes Matt lightly punch at his arm. " Come on, I'm just joking"   "Yeah, we still travel around to see many things in this world" Natalie is totally dreaming, making the trio deadpan "I wonder what if we see the Atlantic or something beautiful."   "Cut off your dreaming, Natalie. Remember we nearly died many times since we started this journey. I don't think traveling is not easy. Is anyone here used to stealing?" Sunset asked, make Matt whisper and slowly walk away but Sunset use "Firewall" to block his way   "Fine, fine. I used to steal, ok? Because these days were hard , I must steal food and stuff to survive." Matt sits down beside his teammates.    "Okay, but we are still a beggar team, right? You know we don't join any adventure guild or any alliance. So I call this team a beggar team," Lance explained.  "Then why don't you just join the guild so as not to be a beggar?" Sunset asks. Matt facepalm and she knows the answer now " Fine, but after this journey, we will find some jobs to do."   "Nah, I hate the guilds because they will catch some unnecessary attention when you are in highlight so I think we will stay like this," Matt explain and Sunset know they not gonna changed, she signs but smile because she can't do anything   "Fine, can I join this beggar team?" Sunset tease, make the trio nod and laugh. When the laughter dies down, Sunset starts to discuss the opponent they are going to fight "So you have any information about this Three-head monster."   Lance sighs about this "Sorry but I don't have anything about this monster. But if we don't fight, we won't know what it is. If we can survive."    "Don't worry, we will survive," Matt cheered the trio as the team stand up and go to the gate    The team is in front of the gate. They asks T-86 about how many times they can go in, he says that they can go in anytime they feel right. T-86 pulls the level and the gate is opening. They see a Three-head monster have three dragon heads, have many spikes attract to each head, it has a red scale with an enormous body and the wing-claw seem sharp look like can slash anything that stands in its way, and the tail has some spikes attract on it    "..... I don't know this world have Hydra too," Sunset confused, make the trio surprised   "Hydra? Does that really exist in your world? Then tell-" Lance gets cut off as he has to dodge when one of Hydra's head slams into the middle of the team. The team has to dodge aside, as they stand into the position after that.   Matt and Sunset rush at it while Natalie chants a spell and Lance aims at it with both his gun-blade and a big gun. The Left head and Right head open its mouth and aim at Sunset and Matt, a moment later, the two heads breathe the fire ray at them. Sunset teleports to near the Hydra while Matt has to run away from the ray. Lance has to shoot  "Shockwave" the Left head's chin and Natalie has to use "Ice shard", a shard of ice appeared on it chin and exploded. The Left head roars for pain and has to shut its mouth.     Sunset uses " Ice dragon" on the Middle head but the head breathes fire at the dragon, making it melt. Then it swings its tail to try to hit her. Sunset teleports but the Right head breathes the fire exactly the spot she teleported. Sunset gets hit by the breath and drops to the ground.    "Uh. This is hard when I can't give information about this... Fire breathing Hydra," Sunset complains as she dodges a breath from the Hydra.  "Stop complaining and do something," Lance yells as he aims the Hydra.  The Hydra suddenly spreads its wings and flies into the ground, making the team confused. A moment later, a lot of fireballs dropped into the sky, and it's direct to the team. Sunset and Natalie use "Shield" to defend against it. The Hydra then flies down and slams its body into the ground, making a huge shockwave after landing that is powerful enough to break the shield.   Matt rushes at the Hydra and Sunset teleports on its body while Natalie is analyzing the Hydra and Lance is still aiming at it. All Hydra's heads rush at Matt, Matt slams the sword and leaves it there, keeps rushing, and jumps at the Hydra. An iceberg appeared from the ground, making Matt jump higher than before while the Middle surprised, it slammed into the iceberg and stunned. Matt takes out another sword from his dimension pocket, covers it with a red aura, and try to slam at MIddle head's neck  The Left and Right head's open the mouth and try to breathe at Matt, Sunset teleports to the Left head's chin and uses "Wyvern Slash '' on it, making the head shut its mouth and explode inside, it roars in pain. The Right head breathes fire at Matt but Lance shoots "Shockwave '' above Matt, it explodes windily, making him drop faster and dodge the fire breath. Matt successfully slams at the Middle's head neck and cuts off that head. He then quickly runs and grabs his white sword to the team while Sunset teleports back to the team.  "One down, two more," Matt cheers.  "Not yet" Sunset creates a shield and makes the others confused. The Hydra grows back and the Middle head makes the trio surprised. "Well, I think that's right."   "Why didn't you tell me this before?" Lance said  "Because we can't talk while in combat. Now we have to retreat since I know this monster," Sunset suggest as three heads of Hydra is open their mouths and prepare for a strong attack  "I agree about this but that if we can survive this attack," Natalie points at the Hydra and she raises the shield too, Matt slams the sword and the earth appears in front of the team to make a cover.  The Three heads breathe at them at the same time, enough to create a huge fire blast. The team is trying to hold the attack but it fails, the blast is interacting with them and explodes. Matt and Sunset are still standing but weak now while Natalie and Lance are unconscious.     The Hydra is going to rush at them to finish the battle but suddenly, many smoke grenades shoot into the sky and drop in the middle of the battlefield.  Now the Hydra is blind, try to find the team. Eldaro, T-86, and another person wear metal armor going in and meet the team in the smoke.   "you guy need help?" Eldaro asked Sunset.   "Yeah, carry us out the battlefield. We have to leave now," Sunset says as she is heavily injured and tries to stand up straight.  Eldaro suggests, "Don't strain yourself like that. I will help you," Sunset nods and Eldaro helps her while T-86 carries Natalie and the armored warrior helps Matt and carry Lance. They are quickly walking out of the gate. As they get out the gate, T-86 immediately closes the gate. Sunset sees many tents are already set outside the gate, she sighs and now she wants to take time to rest. > After The Fight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Eldaro and others drag the team back to the camps. Lance and Natalie are sent to the healing tent and have several priests and doctors there to heal and take care of them. Matt decides to stay in the healing tent to watch Lance and Natalie while Sunset sits on the chair near the campfire and sighs because Eldaro and the armored warrior sit near her.   "So you are near death in that gate but you know what that monster is, right?" Eldaro said while cooking rice and curry.     "Fine, but first," Sunset points at the armored warrior "Who is this? Is that your bodyguard?"     "Eh.... no. She is my co-captain of this campaign," Eldaro says and gives Sunset a plate of curry and rice. "Careful you're saying, she is kind of a hothead," Eldaro turns to the warrior and sees that she is raising her spear while being blocked by Sunset's wooden staff, making him facepalm and sigh.   "Could you lower the spear and sit down, please? I don't wanna fight right now." Sunset suggested and the warrior stops and sits down near Eldaro "Okay..... can you please take off your helmet and introduce your name?    The warrior takes off her helmet, revealing her long, straight red hair with red eyes and a scar on her left eye. Sunset is kind of amazed by her appearance.    "So, you are a Witch that destroyed the Guardian right?" The red-haired girl said in an angry tone, making Sunset confused.   "eh.. not really. My team is there too, I will die if they are not there. By the way, can I know your name and why are you so angry about that Robot is destroyed," Sunset said while creating a fire dragon on her hoof, making the red-haired girl flinch back.   " eh... Sorry. My name is Rose, and the reason I am angry about your team destroyed that robot while I am going to challenge that robot is," Rose spinning her spear and slam it on the ground, "Now who are you and why do you have to hide your appearance, Witch?"    "Wow, you are really a hothead, aren't you?"  Sunset smugs and tries to hide her appearance. " My name is Sunset, I...eh like to hide my appearance" Sunset nervous and that makes Rose stare at Sunset, her face is close to Sunset an inch,  make Sunset more nervous. "EH..... can you please don't stare at me like that" Sunset pushes Rose's face away by her front hoof    "I don't believe you, not the fact that you defeated captain Eldaro there," Rose points at the Eldaro, make him feel embarrassing.  "Now, I want you to reveal your appearance right now. Since only Eldaro knows your appearance and that makes me jealous," Rose demanded and Sunset shakes her head for the decline, making Rose even angrier.   "OK... Eldaro, how about discussing the monster inside?" Sunset avoids Rose's demand.   "Good idea, explain that monster inside the gate, please?" Eldaro agrees, making Rose stare harshly at him.   "Okay inside that gate is a Hydra," Sunset explains, Eldaro and Rose turn their heads to Sunset and are surprised, "Eh, don't tell me Hydra doesn't exist in this world."    "How can you not know about our world? Except you are an alien, we should know the basics about this world." Rose coughs for the embarrassment of her attitude "Oh sorry, anyway, the monster so-called Hydra is not existed," Sunset tilts her head as Rose continues, "Ok, I am more suspicious about you"    ".... Really, then someone created this monster?" Sunset asks and eat her curry  "Yeah, and I am sure that Arkon created this thing to guard that portal. Since that monster appeared, it is not going somewhere but attacking someone that tries to pass it to enter the portal," Eldaro says as he pulls out some paper of some adventurers that used to go to the gate. "These are the adventurers that go to that gate before to challenge that Hydra but they end up as a corpse, making me have to deliver their body to their family." Then he looks at Sunset "you are the only team from now that survived and reported to me."  "Heh, thanks. we're going to challenge it again since I know how to kill it. Maybe I will share some information about this type of monster."  Sunset explains. Eldaro nods while Rose huffs.  "I want to challenge you to a duel," Rose yells, making Sunset and Eldaro deadpanned.    "Eh, no. I am injured and I have no reason to fight you. If you wanna challenge someone, Eldaro is a good opponent for you there," Sunset points at Eldaro, but he puts her hoof down and shake his head.   "Sorry but I spare with him like thousands of times, I wanna challenge a new opponent, especially someone who can defeat a captain," Rose grins and stares at Sunset, making her sigh.   "Fine, but can you wait until I am fully recovered?"  Sunset suggested and Rose nods "Okay,three days later, we will fight."    "Okay, don't ever hide from me. I will find you and drag you out to the duel," Rose threatens, making Sunset smirks. "Okay, I will hunt some monsters around, see ya soon."    By the time Rose geo away, Sunset and Eldaro sigh. They start talking and maybe explain about the present situation.    "So you mean, that monster is a Hydra. How did you know?" Eldaro asks and takes a small piece of paper for notes, an A4 paper, and a pencil in case he has to draw.   "Yeah, that Hydra is similar to the Hydra in my world. But I admit that it is like an upgrade of my world because it can breathe fire and fly while mine doesn't," she explains and Eldaro is taking note of what Sunset said.   "So can it can fly and breathe fire....."  Eldaro asks and take an A4 paper "Okay what does it look like? And any specific about this monster."    "Red scale, have three dragon-like heads .... eh if your world has dragons, have claw-wings and very big," Sunset recalls the monster and Eldaro takes note and starts drawing the monster from what Sunset told him.    "Sorry, my world doesn't have one, from my experience. But it has many in our childhood tales, some people imagine what dragons look like and draw it into the storybooks." Eldaro explains while he is drawing "and.... dragons always play a role as the bad guy, heck I don't know why dragon kidnaps the princess for what though?" He outrage   "eh... can you calm down?" Sunset asks, Eldaro nods as Sunset continues, "Good, my world has dragons, but...... you know they do not seem friendly even if Celestia tries to talk to them. All we have just a pact that no one touches others," She signs "I just wish ponies and dragons come together though."    "Now I am jealous of your world now," Eldaro stops his drawing "Sometimes I wish my world had other sentient creatures to talk to," then he put the pencil down "Maybe my wish is granted when I meet you now, silly wish right?" He laughs. The words about his world make Sunset think a lot.   "I see, but not all aliens are friendly, you know?" Sunset retorts.    "Nah, I am speaking with a friendly alien now. I don't care if all aliens are  friendly or not," Eldaro waves his hand to retort.   "Okay, you got me. Anyway, you draw the Hydra, right?" Sunset asks and Eldaro nods. Sunset asks him,  "Can you show me?" Eldaro shows his picture that drawing the Hydra, make her appreciated "Now that the Hydra I talking about, you draw very similar to that one."    "Thanks, that's why my team gave me for drawing the new monster whenever it was founded," Eldaro says proudly.     "oh sorry I forgot to tell it can grow another head whenever one head is chopped off," Sunset recalls, make Eldaro's eyes widen   "What? Then how can you slay it?" Eldaro asks.    "Well, you have to chop all the heads at the same time. No head no growing," Sunset explains, Eldaro takes notes "another way is to chop one head out and use some spell to prevent it growing back. This way is quite slow but safe. The problem is you have to chop the first head."   "Thank you for your information Sunset, this will be good for our future encounters." Eldaro cheers, Sunset nods  "OK, now I have to sleep. By the way, just make sure no one sees my appearance," Sunset says as Eldaro thumps up, Sunset nods and goes to the sleeping tent.    In the bush, Rose sees them talking and laughing very friendly, but she can't hear what they are talking about. That makes her jealous and wanna smash Sunset down to see her appearance.  Sunset comes to the sleeping tent. By the time she is going to go inside the tent, she suddenly stops midway and start looking at the sky, and sighs.    " You can go out now, Rose," Sunset creates a fire dragon. "I don't wanna burn you alive," She turns herself to the brush. Rose is coming out from that brush and surprised.    "How can you know that I am watching you?" Rose bursts out, "I am hiding that carefully and you can see me."    "I feel your mana and your sense is near me so that's all," Sunset explains, "Look, can we wait until the duel cause I am very tired today. And also no peeking in my tent."    "Fine, I will crush you into pieces," Rose starts leaving with an angry feeling. "Just wait and see," Sunset rolls her eyes. Inside Sunset's body Sunset goes to her sleeping tent, lies down, and closes her eyes for sleep. She then opens her eyes and sees the familiar hall but this time it has some crack. She is confused and turns to the dragon that hugs her as usual, he is sleeping while his head is on Sunset's shoulder.   "Can you get up, please?" she nudges him " I have many things to ask here."   The white dragon slowly opens his eyes and sees Sunset is on. He yawns and hugs Sunset closer "What is it? Something related to magic?" He asks in a sleepy tone.   "I didn't know the spirit must sleep. Anyway, why does the hall have some cracks here?" She is confused.   "Ask your body. Not me because this hall is your body at all," Whitty said while still snuggling Sunset.    "I see. Now please get up and I will practice please?" Sunset demands. Whitty lets go of her and prepare to heal spell  "I suggest you should use all mana in 1-2 hours," Whitty says as he takes out some papers and a pencil. " Then I will teach you more about spells and stuff"   " Okay. So what will you teach me?" Sunset confused.   "I'm not telling. Besides, you aren't curious about that scale you have huh? " Whitty points at the dragon scale on her knees.  "Oh, right. Do I slowly turn into a dragon or something?" Sunset asks while rubbing her knees and feeling the scales.  " Yes, it is. That is the cost of my full power," Whitty explains as Sunset glares at him "now, now being a dragon is not bad right. Besides, it must be in a few years not a few days," Sunset facehoofs by Whitty sentence.   "Can you have something to restrain it or something to boost it?" Sunset asks  "Oh yes. I can make you a seal to not become a dragon. But.. if you activate it, you will be in pain a lot besides you becoming a dragon in 5 minutes. And you will not Sunset, the pony; it will be Sunset the dragon," Whitty explains.  Sunset thinks awhile "Can it replace my body even if my pony body is like... Eh you know lost a hoof or being a poison"     "Yes. It will be like if your body lost a hoof or all hooves. Your new body will be perfect, not lost anything. Just one condition that you must activate it before you die though," Whitty explains, Sunset smiles at it.   "I hope I don't have to activate it."   Whitty uses a finger to her chest, making her cry in pain. A moment later, her chest now has a dragon sign in a magic circle on it. "Hope you can keep your pony body."   "Thanks. Anyway, I think I have the solution to my theory," Sunset summons fire dragon and Ice dragon and make them fly around. She starts concentrating on the spell, of course, she gets exploded, she stands up after that and tries again. Whitty faceclaw and know that this will be a long day. > Whitty, The Magic Teacher > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside Sunset's body After "flying" for about one and a half hours, Sunset starts frustrating because she doesn't know what's wrong, but she doesn't give up until her theory is right. For her, she believes that a mage could cast three or even four spells at the same time, but she tried it for two days but still not successful. "You don't have a "give up" word in your dictionary, do you?" Whitty says in a sarcastic tone, as he prepares to heal Sunset. Sunset glares at him  "Then you should calm down, and figure out what is wrong." Whitty suggests while writing something on paper, "If the mage wants to cast two spells at the same time, you have to make sure that you got two things: large mana pool and good control of the mana," then he points at the two dragons that Sunset has created before, "You use two continuous spells like this that means you got good control, plus you got half of my mana to combine with your mana. Large mana pool, huh?" He ticks in the note. "What is a continuous spell?" Sunset asks, tilting her head for confusion  "Continuous spell is a spell that you have to spend your mana overtime to make sure that the spell will not disappear. For shortly, the spell that will drain your mana to exist for a long time." Whitty tries his best to explain. "These spells are like those dragons you create or some levitation spell. It is different from the summons though."  "Ah, I see. Thank you for your advice," Sunset sits down and starts thinking about what is wrong. She closes her eyes and feels the mana inside. She feels that the mana used for the dragons is still in her back hooves, weird that her mana doesn't get drained by the dragons.   "Weird," Sunset says, making Whitty notice. "I don't feel any mana draining from these dragons," Whitty glared at her with that sentence, making Sunset nervous.  "Did you use all of the mana like every day?" Whitty demands an answer from Sunset. Sunset's face is now pale, and tries to step out but Whitty's tail pulls her back and makes her face to face with him.  "eh.... that's quite a long story. Can we not mention it?" Sunset now more nervous but Whitty still glared at her " Alright. Alright. I spend it like every day back in Equestria, okay?" She waves her forehooves in the air to surrender.  Whitty stops glaring at her and asks "Then what did you use the mana for?"  "Well, I will shorten the story. " Then Sunset told the story  Cancerlot, Equestria, many years ago   Sunset is going to take the teleport lesson from Celestia. The filly was so excited, and can't wait to learn the first lesson of magic, she crawls onto Celestia's bed and bounces at it. Celestia was sleeping, now has to wake up because of the filly. She looks at the filly, puts the pillow on her face, and starts to regret the decision but the orange filly pushes away the pillow and keeps bouncing the bed. Celestia sighs and looks at the alarm clock. It shows just 4:30 am.  "Why do you wake up so soon? You know I always get up at 6 am right? And you usually wake up at 7 am, if I remember," Celestia asks, Sunset hugs her tightly and makes Celestia sighs.   "Sorry, I'm just too excited about learning the first magic of my life so I can't sleep," The filly answers. Celestia pats her head and smiles.   "Now, that's too early to learn the spell, isn't it? How about we go to sleep and see at 6 am?" Celestia said in an angelic tone.   "NO, I wanna learn my first spell right now. Besides I can't sleep due to my excitement," Sunset retorts and that makes Celestia double facehooves. She slowly gets up and yawns.     "Can you please go outside my room and wait for me for a while? I will be back in a few minutes," Celestia asks and the orange filly nods.      30 minutes later, Celestia comes outside her room. The first thing she sees is a boring filly lying on the ground. She giggled to see how cute she was.      "Alright, no need to show that face. Come with me and we will start," Celestia says, making Sunset excited and hop up on her back. Celestia shakes her head and smiles.       The duo comes to a training room for the guard. The training room has no one inside because it is too early, it is big and has some weapons and armors around. Sunset jumps out of Celestia's back.     "Well, we wake up too early so this room has no one." Celestia giggles "Now, we start with the "Teleport" spell, shall we?" Sunset's eyes are shining due to excitement. Celestia chuckles at that, "Now, now don't need to rush you know."    "But I wanna know how that spell works, pretty please," Sunset shows her puppy eyes, making Celestia gulp.      "All right, now we start with the theory," Celestia pulls out the board, "Well, to cast this spell, you must think about what place you think you will teleport to. Then make the horn glow and let the mana flow around your body and flick it. Remember, you can't teleport too far away. For example, Celestia's horn glows and she teleports behind Sunset, which makes her look around to find Celestia. Celestia pokes Sunset's back, making her yelp. Sunset glared at Celestia, is giggling. "Now, do the same."    "That sounds easy, you know?" Sunset closes her eyes and inhales, then she starts to concentrate and thinks about some places behind Celestia's back. But the maids are going past the training room, carrying a hot water tub, and say    "I wonder why we have to deliver this tub of hot water to the courtroom?" Sunset accidentally thinks about water and teleports to the hot water tub. Make her jump out and run around the palace halls, much as the maid surprised "What's just happened?" Then they turn back and see Princess Celestia go out of the room and giggling. much as their confusion.   "From that time, I started to waste my mana every day to do many things until I'm out of mana, mainly I do teleport. Because it's boring while I finish a day of helping Celestia do royalty stuff." Sunset explains make Whitty laugh "Hey, that's not funny"    "All right, all right," Whitty pokes Sunset's cheek "That's why your magic regeneration is quite high and your mana pool is big."   "How so?" Sunset confuses   "Because you do that every day so your body and mana adapt to your mana loss and expand your pool, like to torture yourself huh?" Whitty teases her, Sunset simply smiles at his teasing. Whitty continues, "Fine, now you should do your... idea of spell casting while I prepare to explain the next type of spell."   Sunset closes her eyes and starts to concentrate on the mana flowing. As she concentrates the mana to the third place of her body, she feels the mana flowing into exactly the place she wants, her right front hoof.  "No rush, no failure," Sunset starts to control the mana. As she controls, she feels the mana flowing into her right front hoof, and flowing until she feels all the flow of the mana in her body. She feels the mana is condensed into three points of her body: her back hooves and her left front hoof, then she tries to cast a spell from her left front hoof slowly, slowly, and slowly.... until.   "Hey, wake up." Whitty shakes Sunset but no available "WAKE UP" he shouts at her ear make Sunset flinch back and rub her ear.    "Yes, Mr Scaly?" Sunset asks sarcasm "Don't you see I am training?" She continues to rub her ear because of the yelling and glares at Whitty. Whitty pointed his finger at the sky, making Sunset look up and surprised after that. She sees a lighting dragon flying with a fire dragon and an ice dragon, the dragons that she casts before. "You don't cast that dragon," She asks Whitty as he shakes his head. She feels so happy that she sees the lighting dragon, but the lighting dragon disappears after some minutes.    "Well, at least you proved that you can cast three spells at the same time," Whitty said. "The point that lightning does not exist long because you control mana is not good enough."    "I see. So I can train more than before." Sunset glee, but now she feels tired because of mana. "Maybe tomorrow."       "Then shut those dragons please." Whitty demands and Sunset dispel the dragon, "Good, take a rest and I will teach you about the type of magic." Then he hugs Sunset, much as she grumbles. "Don't be like that, you enjoy that, right?" He rubbed his head against her neck, making her smile.   "Fine, you got me. I do enjoy it," She commits  "So," Whitty levitates the chalk and starts writing and drawing to the chalkboard, "We have mentioned continuous spell. Now, we change to the "circle-drawing" spell," Whitty suggests as Sunset is confused about this, Whitty explains,"Well, this type of spell is the one you use to defeat me here. Don't you remember? Geez, sometimes I wanna rematch too."   "Sorry, but if you do that, I will deny it because I prefer the dragon pillow more," Sunset teases   "Fair enough. Continuing, this type of spell is usually for seals and traps, but the seal one is more usual. Some of the stronger spells can use this type instead of chanting, but that will waste more mana and time to do that so in combat, this type of spell is never used." Whitty explains and Sunset nods.    "I see, in combat even you make mistakes in one second and you can pay with your life." Sunset thinks, "Now I wonder, how can I use that type of spell from that battle with you?"   "Geez, cast "Absolutely Zero" and still don't remember when you cast it? You need to fix your brain," Whitty complains, making Sunset smug.   "I don't remember. I saw Natalie's book say that "When you wanna draw a magic circle, you have to rail your mana into the circle by your hand," So... uh I used the backhooves to draw it" Sunset counters. The white dragon uses his claw to rub her ear, make her feel weird. The unicorns asks him, "What is that for?"  "For beating me," Whitty answers, "and for using the spell for the wrong purpose,"   "Fine, but if I don't do that, you're going to kill me. Fair huh?" Sunset counters.  "Nah, I'm not gonna kill you that time," Whitty counters back, "But anyway, you're a weird mage compared to the mage in this world." The white dragon complains and draws a magic circle, "I mean the way you use spells is really weird but very effective."   "Like that bomb, I planted it on Guardian's back."    "Yep, like that. But hey, who knows after this lesson you might get some weird idea appearing on your head," Whitty teased, making her knock his head by her hoof, "Ouch. Don't be like that. But anyway, the "circle - drawing" spell is not usually a circle, you can use magic words to replace the circle, or drawing a rectangle," Sunset smiles because she got some ideas, "The rectangle is a joke, but you can draw a hexagon to replace it, but I recommend that you don't use it," Whitty explains then asks "What do you think?"   "I'm thinking about using trap spells on my body, especially my hoofs, and transfer it to the enemy. That will be good too." Sunset grins at that idea, making Whitty faceclaw.  "Can you have at least one day to be a normal mage, please? I never thought you got that idea too and don't tell me you do that with the seal spell too."   " Hey, that's a good idea. Thanks for the advice," Sunset cheers, make Whitty double faceclaw.   "Me and my big mouth. Anyway, move to the next type of spell, the summon spell." Whitty erases the board and uses some chalk to write a new test. "The summon spell has two types: contract and shapeshift"   "You mean the shapeshifting spell like the changeling from my world?" Sunset asked, making Whitty surprised The dragon asks her  "Oh, your world got that spell huh? " Sunset nods at his sentences. Whitty suggests, "Then when you go back, you have to create a magic circle to protect your princess immediately because that spell is very good for assassination. If she can survive by the time you come back,"    Sunset surprises and smiles,"Wow, you said that makes me realize now. Thank you"   "Not yet. There is no seal for a shapeshifting spell because the user can shape any things as they want." Whitty explains making Sunset feels not good, "But you can prevent one form, make them can't shape that form. I will teach you later." At that sentence, Whitty surprises because Sunset suddenly hugs him tight.   "Thank you. Now I feel like I am a burden for you."    "Nah, don't say that. Besides, my time is nearly come so I have to teach you as much as I can." Whitty explains and Sunset feels sad about this. "Don't be like that, you have to move on," Sunset nods. " Anyway, let's get back to the topic, shall we?"   "Yeah, I ready."    "All right, let's move on. The contract summon is the one you sign the contract to, that one may be a monster or even someone, you can summon the ones your contract to," Whitty explains while drawing some pictures about the spell, "Normally, this contract must have the agreement of two sides, once they sign this contract, they can summon each other."   Whitty draws a monster and a human with a wall between them "Simply, people like to make a contract with the monsters. Once, because they like cute monsters and want to keep them as a pet. Also, monsters can help a lot with them, and many summoners manage to make a contract with a strong monster. "   "You mean summoners are some kind of mage right? I don't think Equestria even has a mage."     "Except an abnormal mage that I am hugging here," Whitty teases, making Sunset smile. "Anyway, the term "Summoner" will be right IF they can contract with many monsters. Besides, make a contract with many of them in trouble because they can break the contract anytime they want."    "I see. Have you ever signed a contract with someone?" Sunset asks, Whitty simply shakes his head.  "Sorry, I can't make contact with anyone, because....." Whitty suddenly stops with a sad face but Sunset puts her front hoofs on his head and shakes her head, making him blush "A-anyway, shapeshift spells are different from summoning spells. They release a certain amount of mana, then make it in the shape they want, and add some element to it." Whitty sees Sunset seem overload "Don't worry, this progress is happening very fast, the fastest one is not until one second. "   "Eh....like a fireball?" Sunset guesses   "Correct, you see the more you control more fluently, the faster that progress happens. Not everyone notices that, like you, can make a fire dragon in .... I don't know for one second? Meh, I don't care," Whitty erases the board, making Sunset glares at him, " Don't worry, I will give my lesson to you."  " Fine, I need them for my practice and I wanna research magic too," Whitty nods at Sunset's sentences.  "Anyway, controlling the mana is the most important thing for everyone, because ... let's see. Like this board, if I wanna enchant it, I have to add the mana slowly and slowly until it can't contain anymore. Too much, it will explode," Whitty explains. "This thing applies to everything that relates to magic. Transferring the magic power is an example. If you too rush, the body of people who give power will not contain anymore. Some will become crazy like an animal. Careful," Whitty warns, makes Sunset gulp.   "Okay, but I wanna use light and dark magic. Can you teach me some?" Sunset asked, making Whitty suspicious of her. But Sunset pulls her puppy eyes, he must agree about that.   "Fine, get up and we will start," Whitty says, "Oh anyway, tomorrow I will say everything basic about the elements of magic" Sunset nods as the duo start to train light and dark magic. > The Curious > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tactic Tent, near the Steel Gate Eldaro and Rose are sitting in the tactic tent. Eldaro shares with Rose the information about the monsters in the metal gate, Rose is now more suspicious about the black coat mage and has many questions about her. Eldaro sends the information to the King and asks for more resources and soldiers by radio.   "So, how is the response?" Rose asks while sitting on the chair and spinning a knife in her hand.    "They will be coming with some missiles and many medical resources. They also will bring two tanks here too, led by the Queen,” He answers with an annoyed tone.  "Why is the Queen coming here? And why does she bring such resources?" Roses are curious about this.   "I bet that the Queen is threatening king Leo again so he let her go..... again," Eldaro explained cause he knows those two more than anyone and sighs.    "You know those two? " Roses asks with a surprised tone.   "More than you know. We have been best friends since we were kids."    "Wow, you really have a good relationship here, you know, you can ask as many resources as you want."    " I don't do that to my friend but this time it is a serious problem. Monsters keep coming out the portal and gate while our soldiers are struggling to fight these monsters. We can't even go into that portal if that Hydra still remains there," Eldaro explains the situation for her.   " I see..... so when will they come here?" Rose asks and take a cup of coffee.    " Three days. They are full speed ahead here," Eldaro answers and he sits and thinks after that, "I hope those four are ready to battle soon. No offense but only they can slay that Hydra."    "Ah speaking about the Team. I am still very suspicious of that Black Coat mage," Rose said in an angry tone "I mean she looks so different from other mages. And why does she have to hide her appearance?"     "You mean Sunset Shimmer? Well, the reason that she hides her appearance..... I don't tell," Eldaro teases Rose to make her curiosity more than ever    "You know her, then tell me, please?" Rose put her face to Eldaro's face. Eldaro uses his hand and pushes Rose's face out. She whines, "Oh come on, I want to know."     "Sorry, but this time is a big "no-no". If you want to know, just ask her in the morning," Eldaro goes out of the tent and leaves Roses, sits there, has a red face like a tomato because of angry.    Medical Tent     Lance and Natalie wake up and they notice that they are in a strange place. They start to get up but can't because they are heavy injured    "Whoa, whoa don't move," A young, white-haired woman with a white robe and a white hat said, he is sitting with Matt, who is lightly injured too.     "Ugh... Where are we?" Natalie asks, "And where is Sunset?"    " You two are in our Medical Tent, and I advise you two shouldn't move right now until tomorrow, you will recover." The woman says, "Oh, sorry. My name is Tiana, nice to meet you,"    "About Sunset, she is sleeping in the tent. I'm here to watch you two too," Matt explained and he is eating the meal, "Well, Tinana, you have any beds? I should sleep too. "    "There are many empty beds in this tent because we don't have any injured soldiers right now," Tiana says and points at the nearest bed, "I think you should sleep here for me to check you three."     A blue-haired girl rushes into Tiana, shaking because of fear "Mom, I think there is a witch in our sleeping tent. I'm so scared of her because she might be evil, and all the witch is evil," Tiana sighs and explains to her daughter.    "Now, don't need to be scared, ok. If that witch does anything to you, I promise that I will protect you okay?" Tiana tries to comfort her, her daughter nods and hugs her tighter, "So how about you sleeping here with Matt over there?" Her daughter nods and sleeps beside Matt, make Tiana smile, "I hope that witch is like Matt, even if... I haven't met her yet"  " Don't worry, Sunset is nice. Just her face is so... uh different for others so she has to hide her appearance," Lance tries to explain    "Oh, really. Does she have a curse or something?" Tiana asks as Lance shakes head, " I see, you know your friend... Sunset here makes all the camp members suspect her. Because they wanna know why she has to hide her appearance. Even if captain Eldaro said that they are not curious but in their mind wanna know very much. Well, me too."   " I see. Maybe she has a very impressive fame to make them do that," Lance teased.    "It is because everyone in this camp knows she defeated the captain," Tiana explains while Lance and Natalie deadpanned, " What? we have cameras in the training room there so we know that battle."    "So, does anyone know my uncle?" Lance asks "I should not predict the guns and techs before."    "Yep, but I don't think they're gonna challenge her though because she causes nothing harm there. Besides, she got information about that monster. That will be a good thing to encounter something similar in the future," Tiana explains, Lance only smug at it. "Now, you should take a rest and sleep as much as you can. I'm gonna sleep so if you want something,  just ask some soldiers outside there."     Tiana finds her own bed with a book in her hand. When she finds her bed, she climbs on her bed and starts reading. After reading a while, she starts to sleep along with the trio and her daughter. Inside Sunset's body "So we will start about some basic light magic," a white dragon is talking with an orange unicorn, "Let's start with this spell," Whitty form a light arrow on his claw "This is "Light Arrow" spell, a very basic spell to a light spell," Whitty explains, "just careful with those"   "All right, let's do it," Sunset is forming a light arrow. As she is forming the light arrow, she finds it very difficult to form it. After a moment, she finally forms a light arrow but lost more time and more mana.   "Wow, is your body clean or not?" Whitty teases but has to dodge because Sunset throws the light arrow at him, "Okay, okay. But seriously, this is a problem because you lost more time than normal to do the spell."    "Maybe the light spell is not my type," She jokes and is thinking about something.     "What do you have in mind now? " Whitty says in a suspicious tone     "Not nothing, just ask if there have any spell that makes the spell keep going?" Sunset asks with an innocent tone.   "Well, it does. That the "circle - drawing and continuous" spell.  Here is the circle," Whitty draws the circle of the spell on the ground,  "This one will keep another spell or things keep working until you are out of mana," Whitty explains and sees Sunset is picking the circle, "Now, now what are you doing?"   "Well nothing, just wanna know how the circle is drawing," Sunset sees the circle, which makes Whitty sigh of relief. Then, he turns and walks around to think about the basic dark spell that can teach Sunset. ".... Well, maybe dark ball is the good thing or dark spear,... or,"   Sunset uses a light arrow and puts it in the circle, it consumes the "Light arrow" and she picks the circle up and chanting something without Whitty notices,  she aims the circle to Whitty and thinks that will be normal and tests the spell. The circle's words disappears and many light arrows appear and fly to Whitty.   Whitty turns his head to Sunset  "Hey, Sunset. I think I had-" but his face went pale, if he can paler, when he sees many light arrows fly to him and has to jump aside to dodge the arrows, "What the-," the arrows are too many and form nearly into a ray, and that 'ray' keeps following him, make him have to fly away     "What the hell is this?". He turns to Sunset and sees she is using that combination spell, makes him roll and fly to her, and dodge the 'ray' that she keeps that weird spell chasing that spell. After a while, Whitty finally near Sunset uses his thumb and his index finger, makes them around her throat then pins her down to the ground. Make her shut down the spell   "You're going to explain about this. Right... Now," Whitty says in an angry tone, making Sunset gulps in fear. Whitty helps her stand up and hugs her tight, making sure that she doesn't escape anywhere. Sunset tries to escape but Whitty puts his teeth near her throat, making her breathe faster, "Don't even think about that. Now tell me how you can do it?" Whitty demand.    "Well... uh I-I just borrow your spell and add a "light arrow" to it, and it seems to apply the spell, and I try to transfer some mana on it and it shoots many light arrows to it" Sunset inhales and explain "That's ... spell draining my mana quite fast but I can't stop the spell so... it keeps continues to shoot until you pin me down," She gulps, "I'm sorry."    Whitty pins his teeth to Sunset's neck to make sure that not hurt her. Sunset yelps and her neck have some Whitty's teeth marks. " Why are you so daredevil like that? Don't you think what will happen when you drain out the mana?" Whitty asked and Sunset shakes her head "You can die if you don't be careful because the mana will consume your energy life, and death will come to you," Now Sunset scare more, "Don't depend on your mana pool and mana generation too much because it will make you prideful."    Sunset inhale to make her calm down "So, these teeth marks are the warning for that thing?" She uses her hoof to reach the mark and feel it "Maybe I should be more careful about this... and this is the first time you make me scared a lot."  "Sometimes scare is the medicine of your daredevil. You should feel it to tell yourself that be more careful with your actions in the future because magic or anything in life is not a joke,"  Whitty warns her, "One small mistake can cost your life, you know it right? " Sunset nod, " And advice for you, if you want to try some new "recipe" for your magic, try it with a little mana."   Sunset leans into Whitty's body "Sorry, I got lost into the new thing." She sighs, "If you are not here, maybe I will be a magic freak though."   "That's dangerous. Sometimes greed will come to you and many victims get lost into it, that's why you have to calm yourself down." Whitty says while rubbing her neck and Sunset seems like it, "At least I have a hugging pillow."    "Enjoy your pillow cause I have my own pillow too," Sunset teases, and both are laugh    "Oh right, you should get up now, it's 6 am already," Whitty lies, Sunset smugging. "I'm not lying about this thing, just wake up before someone will take off your coat."    "Fine, I trust you," Sunset closes her eyes to wake up.     At the gate of the campsite, before Sunset awake   "Man, that boring," said a black-haired man is wearing a black coat with bulletproof ammo, who has to guard the campsite, he is eating soup and sitting in the watchtower "I don't know why we have to guard, I wanna some fighting to improve my skill"    " Don't say that, Jame," a blue-haired man is wearing a white coat with a white hat, white dress-like clothes retort "We have to guard this gate and campsite in order that the people will die if we give up."    "Nah Nah, a priest like you don't know anything about me, I wanna be stronger and stronger to protect this kingdom," Jame retorts in an annoying tone, "How can we protect the land and kingdom when we are not strong huh? "    " Stronger but you have to be smart enough to fight too,"  The priest retorts. " Sit down, we-" he sees two people coming their way and going to take charge of their guard.    "Finally, I can have some practice," Jame cheered but then he has an idea "Hey Paul, how about we discover the Black Coat mage's appearance." Jame's idea make Paul step back away from him   "You think that a good idea, Jame,"  Paul is quite shaking, "I have heard many rumors about her like she is an evil witch, can curse anyone around or she just wanna hunt for Arkon's power to destroy this land."   " If those rumors are true, then we should stop it before she can do it right?" Jame said in an interested tone and start to drag Paul to Sunset's sleeping camp, "Besides, what if she is a beautiful girl? Come on, we will miss the chance."     "Fine, I follow you this time," Paul follows Jame to the camp, "But you have to buy me breakfast this time," Jame nods for agreement.    Jame and Paul go to Sunset's sleeping camp. By the time they got there, they see the Black Coat mage is seemed sleeping. They look at each other, then nod, and start coming closer to the mage. They come near to the mage as quiet as they can, but Jame makes a sound, makes them immediately look at the mage. They sigh in relief and keep come closer. When they near her, Paul reaches his hand to take off the coat, but he got blocked by a wooden staff. They look up and see the Mage is turned to them. She slaps Paul's hand by the wooden staff, makes him jerk back.   "May  I help you?" Sunset asked them and seem to prepare to fight. > The Queen > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jame and Paul scream and try to run out of the tent, but Paul finds that he can't move easily. He trips on the ground, looks back at Sunset, and sees that her staff is pinning his dress.  Jame comes back to help Paul, but he falls to the ground too because he trips the rocks.     "Ouch, that's embarrassing," Jame rubs the back of his head, "I hope we don't get into trouble right?"   "Invading someone's privacy is trouble for you here, Mr. armor." Sunset glares at them, but they don't see it because she is hiding her appearance. "So what are you doing here? Wanna see what I look like or something?"  "Eh... no. We just come here to visit and see you alright or not," Paul tries to lie but the staff is pinned on the ground near him, making him gulp.  "Fine, we come here to try discovering your appearance ok?"    "Then no, my face is ugly compared with others," Sunset lies because she is not sure she is beautiful or not.     "Then I will be more curious about that," Jame says with a more curious tone "You don't know all the camp does not have a good impression on you, right? Due to your winning of captain Eldaro, I don't think not anyone wants to challenge you."   "Fine," Sunset rubs her forehead and sighs "Anyway, I let you go this time but next time I will roast you alive if you do that. Am I clear?" Both of them nod. "Good. Can you tell me where the training zone is? I need to test some spells"   "Well... we got a small zone to training there. It's not large enough like a training tent like the one that is down to the mountain," Paul answers, and then he gets up "Anyway, we will show you the training zone because we are going to that place too, right Jame?" Paul smirks make Jame rolls his eyes.         Paul and Jame lead Sunset to the training room. The training is quite huge, it is designed as a circle. There are some bullseyes for practicing range attacks and some dummy for practicing melee attack. Sunset is quite impressive in the zone because it's like yesterday they just came here and set the camp.    Paul grabs the two-handed sword, the sword has something like a blue battery in it.  While Paul takes weird staff, it is thinner than other staffs that she saw but it has two crystal attract on two sides of its head   "Oh, what kind of staff is that? It is thinner than mine but seems its more powerful than mine," Sunset asked and take out her wooden staff    "Don't compare my shining rod with your staff, silly." Paul waves his hand to Sunset "My shining rod gets enchanted while your staff doesn't. And... I never see a mage use the un-enchanted weapon. Suicide in battle? Paul taunts Sunset, and Sunset pays nothing to that.    "Right... You got me. I should change the weapon though," Sunset sighs, " But I haven't found a fit weapon yet"    "Nah, don't worry. You will find a suitable weapon for you in the future" Paul cheers her up " Anyway, what is your main element of magic."    ".. Fire. Sometimes, I used ice and lightning,"  Sunset answers, "But still have many elements I haven't used yet like earth,... " She sighs and rubs her forehead. "Geez, I don't know how to use them in battle."   "Just focus on your main elements and stuff. Besides, if you have too many elements, you will be confused in battle," Paul explains.  "Hey, you should come here and I have something to see buddy," James waves his hand to call Paul training with him.    "I'm coming, Paul." Paul takes his shining rod " Wanna come too?" Sunset nods and they come to Jame's training spot.        By the time they meet Paul, he introduces something special. A dummy has been attracted with two guns at two hands, Paul and Sunset surprised.    "How is it? I make it by myself," Jame says proudly, "So far I wanna train with range enemy too but I rarely meet them so I create this, eh... of course with some help of engineer team" He knocks the dummy "Of course, this is rubber bullet but the feeling will be like being shoot by real one."   "Oh... I like that idea. Besides, I want an "injured" dummy to practice healing though. Anyway, how many of them do you have?" Paul asked.  "So far only ... six dummies, with two dummies holding the sword and one dummy holding the shield and the other holding the guns" Jame rubs his head  "Sorry, but the material is limited for the engineering team, " Jame takes out a button. "We should start now, right Paly?"    "Okay... can sit there and watch," Sunset says as she points at the bench. "Just wanna see how you train. Besides, I haven't eaten breakfast yet."   "Sure," He takes out a box of noodles and throws it to Sunset, then he takes out a big blue shield. Sunset catches the noodles as he replies, "Nice catch. Now you should boil some water then you can eat it, the water is over there," He points at the tank of water near the zone, Sunset takes the pot near the bench and starts pouring water into the pot. Jame presses the button to start training "Get ready, Paul. we got a hard training"    "Sure, dude." Paul gets ready in a battle stance "I hope that no more hospital" Jame smirks    The six dummies are beeping and engaging while James raises his shield for defense. Two swords Dummies are rushing at James while the Gun dummies aim at Paul. Paul creates a light arrow and throws it at a gun dummy but the shield takes the arrow by its shield. The gun dummies shoot at the priest, Paul uses a "shield" to protect himself while Jame throws the swords at one gun dummy, destroying it.   "You throw the weapon again?" Paul complains and sighs "No wonder captain don't wanna give you any weapon."    " Nah, I have many, "Jame takes out a one-handed sword while still holding the dummies' sword. "The two-handed sword is not my core weapon," He swings the shield, making the robot flinch. Seeing the chance, he thrusts the sword at one swords dummy. The other sword dummy rushes at him, Jame freezes the dummy that he just thrust, then lifts it up and slams the dummies that rushed at him like a hammer. The dummies get destroyed.   "Nice job, Jame," Sunset comments while pouring the boiled water into a noodle cup. "Good to know that you can use ice spells like that" Sunset takes chopsticks and begins eating.    "Heh heh. No problems," He rubs his head while blushing a bit but gets cut off while the gun dummies are shooting at him, he has to raise to block the ammo.   "Next time, don't get distracted in combat." Sunset is eating noodles and smiles "Lucky that this is a training if this is a real battle, you will be a goner,"  James grumbles at her words and Paul smirks at him.    "Funny?" Paul is concentrating on mana while Jame glares at him "Being taught by a stranger is not a good thing you know" Then he points his shining rod at the sky. Several light balls appear at the gun dummies' heads and fly directly at them. The dummies have no time to react and get hit by light balls. They are then destroyed, James slashes the shield dummy and it is not moving anymore.    Sunset is quite amazed at the way Paul uses light balls. She smiles as she finishes the noodle cup and looks at them. They are laughing and talking like best friends, making her remember more about Celestia. They used to talk and laugh like that, Sunset starts to look at the sky and remember the happy memory while in Equestria.     "You look at the news here. I never see you at this campsite team" Said the slender woman is wearing a  long white sliced - dress and a white bra. She has blue and white ponytail hair and carries a boomerang that is bigger than her and attracts her back. She also has two large metal ring wear at two sides of the hip. Her ears have some earring accessories.     "Oh, sorry. But I have my own team now. Hmmm..... I wonder what they are doing now?      Meanwhile, in Tactic Tent    Eldaro is sitting on the chair and thinking what to do with the Hydra. It seems this monster is strong. Even if he has information about that monster from Sunset Shimmer, he doesn't believe that this campsite will defeat it and has to think a lot. Lance and Natalie coming inside the camp.     "You have a problem, uncle?" Lance asks as he takes a chair to sit near a big map on the table "I think you have a problem with that Hydra."    "You know right. If that Hydra is deployed to our campsite, it will destroy all of us. And if it goes to our capital city, we will lose a lot of soldiers because even if they know about this monster, I don't think they can fight this." Eldaro explains while he rubs his forehead for thinking.   "I see..... Anyway, we know many things about this monster, so we can defeat this monster. We come here to prepare things to fight against the Hydra"   Eldaro is thinking for a while " I don't know. I don't wanna die in there, should I let you go in there again?" Eldaro stands up and walks around. "Besides the Queen reinforcement is nearly come here, should we wait for three days then you can go"    "Sorry, I can't wait to beat that monster. If we can slay that Hydra as soon as possible, we can turn down the pressure and take off that gate, " Lance points at the gate as he is annoyed to see that. "I know this gate is necessary, but it blocks our clear site inside so.... no"      Eldaro nods for understanding. "I see.. well what -"  Rose rushes inside to the camp, much as the trio was surprised.   "Eldaro, the reinforcement says our Queen is going first to this campsite. She can be blended into our camp. " Rose says in a quite scary tone while Eldaro can only sigh. Then she sees Lance and Natalie, "Where are your Black Coat mage and your swordsman? " she asked curiously   "Well, we don't know where Sunset is though but she will be alright due to her ability. About Matt, he is talking with some guards." Lance said as he is making his own sandwiches and Natalie is making noodles cups.   "I see. Alright, let's pick the Queen and Matt now." Eldaro is going out of the tent, making the others surprised. "Don't be like that, I know where that battle-hungry Queen is always in." The trio looks at each other and can only follow Eldaro.   Training Zone  Sunset meets an unidentified woman who sits next to her. She isn't surprised and continues to eat her noodles. The woman seems quite interested in her.    "Oh, you don't scare me right," the woman says in a normal tone but inside she is creating her pressure to threaten Sunset. "I'm quite interested now"    "And who are you? I don't see you at this campsite too," Sunset says without any sight of the scare. " Are you an intruder or something? Because you are carrying that weird weapon." She points at the woman's boomerang.   "Intruder? No no no" The woman waves her hand to denied "Oh, sorry. My name is Sabrina, one of the soldiers of Earth(en) kingdom" she lies about her identity, "and that weird weapon you said is my boomerang, quite heavy right?" she knocks her boomerang.    "Fine, I trust you. Anyway, what are you doing here? The soldiers in training over there" Sunset turns her head to Paul and Jame.    "Nah, I'm not in the mood for training now.  And I come here to meet the Black Coat mage, is that you?" Sabrina asks curiously "I heard that the Black Coat mage always wears a mage hat that has many yellow stars in the hat, has weird spells and can teleport ... and always uses a normal wooden staff but can defeat many opponents. I just wanna try to battle with her though."   "Well... uh no" Sunset tries to lie in a nervous tone, "I use this one", She quickly picks a sword because it was on the bench before. " And I use just some normal spells like... " She creates a fireball by her front hoof.  Sabrina pushes her face near Sunset's coat, making Sunset more nervous "... Well, I don't know if you lie or not. But you know anyone can disguise as the Black Coat mage so I think you are not that mage due to you using a sword," Sunset sighs of relief in that sentence "Anyway, who are you and why you have to wear that black coat."  "Oh sorry, my name is Sunset and I have an ugly face so I have to hide my appearance," Sunset introduces herself  "I see.... " she put her hands to her chin "Man, I hope I can meet that mage to a battle. I just want to fight strong opponents to improve myself" That sentence makes Sunset gulp as Sabrina continues, "and I don't hope to meet that grumpy old man"   "And who is that grumpy old man you are talking about?" Sunset curious about this  "His name is Eldaro," Sabrina answers, make Sunset surprised about that "That grumpy old man never let me go battle alone except he allows to do so"   "Well... yeah. Oh, you should look behind " Sabrina raises her eyebrows and turns her head to look behind, her face turns pale immediately when she sees a familiar old man. Eldaro stands behind her with Rose and Matt    "Did I hear something wrong, my queen?" Eldaro says in a dangerous tone. " I hope that I hear wrong about what you say before so much."    "Ehh.... yeah. You heard wrong," Sabrina tries to deny but she got dragged by Eldaro  "Hey, hey. Let me go, I am the Queen of this kingdom, you know?" Sabrina tries to struggle out of the drag, making her drop the boomerang.    "You may be a Queen to everyone, but for me you just a battle-hungry woman named Sabrina" Eldro continue to drag the Queen of the kingdom, Sabrina gives up eventually "I got a lot of things to say you know"    The others, except Sunset, are surprised that the woman is the Queen. Sunset finishes her breakfast and puts the empty noodles cup "Well, I don't surprise". Sunset, Matt, and Rose decided to go back to the Tatic Tent to prepare for the battle of Hydra. Sunset decides to drag the boomerang back to the tent and sigh. > Unneccesary Sparring > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now they return to the Tactic camp, where Lance and Natalie are. Eldaro brought Sabrina to camp and sat her on the chair, staring at her with angry eyes. "Why are you here, Queen?" Eldaro inquires. "I told you to stay with the reinforcements to defend them." "Okay okay, you can drop that title, please? Because we are friends," Sabrina says as Eldaro nods, "Well... Honestly, I find that kinda boring so I come here fast by teleport crystal and found your camp." Sabrina rubs her back of the head, "Also I heard the rumor that some mage has defeated you so I wanna challenge her to... eh some revenge." Eldaro glared harsher at Sabrina, making her use her hand to cover her eyes, “Oh please, I don't like that stare." "It's funny, Sabrina, you still enjoy making trouble like before, don't you?" Eldaro sits down in his chair, while Sabrina smiles nervously. "Please take your seats, we have lots of chairs," Everyone in the tent finds a chair and sits down around the table. Eldaro signs "I hope the reinforcement is okay for now." "Don't worry, I selected the best soldiers for this trip," Sabrina smiled at him. "Don't worry, they will make it... Just wait two days." Eldaro is too tired to be angry at her now and sighs. "I would like to ask with your majesty," Rose asks as Sabrina nods. "What is your relationship with captain Eldaro?"? 'Oh, we have been friends since our childhood,' says Sabrina while drinking a cup of coffee. Everyone but Sunset is surprised by the answer. "Don't be like that, we were surprised when we found out Leo is a prince. He said that he didn't want to be rooted in the palace so he stepped out and explored." "You... You are friends with the Royal Family. Oh, man, if I know that, I am going into the army." Lance, lying on the table, says.. "Sorry, don't think your uncle is a friend of the King and Queen, it doesn't mean you will be safe in our army." Eldaro puts the gun on the table. "Well, we will travel together for many years until Leo takes the crown and rules the kingdom." Eldaro takes a picture of three "Even his parents banned him from going exploring with us, he tries to sneak out if he has a chance. Man, every time he comes out, many troubles come with us." Sabrina sighs, "Yeah, those memories are good," she says, "I just wish I could go back to those days and relive those moments." Sabrina set down the cup of tea. Anyway, who defeated you, Eldaro? I wanna know," Sabrina said with glee, all eyes except for Eldaro's turn to Sunset, making her nervous. She puts her face near the Black Coat mage as she walks toward Sunset and asks, "Oh, so you're the one who defeated Eldaro?". "I want to challenge you to a fight. Do you accept?" Sunset pushes Sabrina's face with her wooden staff, "No, we have an important thing to do than this ridiculous duel. Right, Eldaro?" "Yep, Sabrina, can you sit down for a while?" Eldaro asks and Sabrina just sits down but grumbles inside. "Ok, what will you four gonna do with the Hydra?" "Honestly, I don't know what we will do for that monster, but we will prepare some sort of thing." Natalie is drinking a cup of coffee." But honestly, at present, we can only ask you to sharpen Matt's sword, "Natalie explains as Matt puts the sword on the table. Eldaro and Sabrina impress with the sword. "The scale of that Hydra is too tough for the sword." "Well, we can do that. Also, Eldaro has some missiles that are still not used, maybe he can support you outside of the gate," Sabrina explains. "You will get more by the time the supply arrives. Besides, this is their test so they don't wanna fail." She smiles."I wonder how they are doing?" Meanwhile in Rock Lake "Aghh... Why are there so many insects here?" says the large bird robot struggling to shoot the large pack of Giant Bees. She is as big as an adult man, her body is blue with some green patterns and red wings. "That's because you touch the beehives, leader" A man wears heavy armor, holding a shield and a sword. "We need something to clear them out." "I have an idea," Suggests the woman holding the blue wand and wearing a mage robe with a mage hat. "Hey birdy, you have a grenade?" The bird robot turns her head at the woman "Can you shoot into the middle of the pack?" The bird nods and she takes out the small cannon from her back and shoots a grenade into the middle of the pack. The woman uses "Fireballs" and throws the grenade, making a large explosion. The bees are burnt out and drop into the ground. The man and the woman are breathing hard. "Now I know why our Queen gives us this exam." The bird says, "To test our spirit, besides to test if we can make the Supports safe or not." The bird points at the cart with supports item and two tanks "Then why do we have to deliver those tanks, my leader?" The man says, "I mean we have some men to protect them but it's still hard to go to that Volcano." "As soon as I complete this delivery, I am not going to be a shipper anymore." The bird says happily, making the woman facepalm, "Anyway, we may join the campsite to fight along with the campsite so the tanks will enhance our firepower. Besides this is a powerful opponent so those supports may not be enough." "I see... But remember you are a leader of this reinforcement team. Don't cause any trouble," The woman glares at the bird, making the bird have a nervous smile. "Fine, I will be careful. We should keep going then, you two announce to the other that the road is clear while I will go ahead for scouting."The bird demands, and the duo nod, go back to the team. As the reinforcement keeps going to the Volcano, they hope they can do it to support the campsite for slaying the demon. Back to the Tactic Tent "So I will sharpen this sword, you four should practice in our training zone to improve yourself," Eldaro suggests and the Team nods in agreement. "Good, me and Sabrina will talk awhile alone. Dismiss," The gang, except Sabrina, goes outside the camp. The Team and Rose head to the training zone with Sunset's direction. "Sabrina, I know you wanna challenge her but we have an important thing to do right now," Eldaro said as he sat down. "I know. But I'm still pissed off when you get defeated by her," Sabrina folds her hand in anger," But anyway, I can handle that Hydra you know?" Eldaro is surprised. "You know how to counter the "head growing" of that Hydra," Eldaro asks. He receives a shaking head from Sabrina, "Did you hear the information about the Hydra that I sent for you 3 hours ago." Sabrina shakes her head, " then no, you don't go into that gate. I would rather send someone who knows that monster than you." "Fine, I won't go and I will stay here for defense," Sabrina makes a cup of coffee, "But I ask you to support them as you can." "No need to command that, Queenie. I already know what I am doing." Eldaro takes out a board from his dimension pocket "But we need a backup plan. We split into two situations, "He draws a board and separates into two small boards', "First is what if The Team fails." "Well, I will rescue them and support them by myself. Besides, I think the chance of The Team failing is quite low because they are very strong right now plus they already know that monster." Sabrina sips the coffee "I would rather turn into the second situation." "Why are you sure about that? They just fail once and can be in danger again," Eldaro retorted "Besides I only got three small missiles, 2 medium ones, and a Black Hole missile. I can only support them like that" "I'm very sure about that, Eldaro," Sabrina confirms, "Besides I read their mana but I can't read the Black Coat mage mana. Make me feel weird about this." "Why can't you read her mana," Eldaro asks in a surprised tone. "Well, we read mana based on the mana core so we can know if they are strong or not. The three humans are good and can sustain many damages but the Black Coat mage is just a mystery. Just like... she doesn't have the mana core." Sabrina says in a quite scary tone " Is she even a human?" "Nah, she's good," Eldaro answers, making Sabrina glares at him, "Anyway, we should go to the second situation if they truly slay the Hydra." " I suppose that the reinforcement will come. I suppose we will use the transparent spell to see through that gate, then we will split our campsite into two by the time the reinforcement comes." Sabrina suggests " I agree. We will stay at this campsite for defense, draw a magic circle to teleport to the second campsite if this one is down. About the tank, I got one there." He reveals the tank on the table, which makes Sabrina deadpanned. " What, you know I can do that right?" "But that will be lost a week to recover that spell you know? Besides any magic come to it will regain average size."Sabrina now takes a stone to sharpen her boomerang "In case, we have to prepare in any situation happens." Eldaro nods " Okay, we should go to the training zone to see if the Team is training or not." Sabrina stands up and leaves the campsite. Eldaro sighs in relief. "Heh, she doesn't ask me about Sunset's appearance," Eldaro thinks and follows Sabrina to the training zone. Training zone Eldaro and Sabrina come to the Training Zone. They see that Matt and Rose are sparring with each other while Natalie and Sunset are learning magic from each other. Sabrina grins and rushes to Sunset to take off her coat but she slams into an earth pole made by Sunset. "You are the third person to try to take off my coat. Sabrina," Sunset points at Paul and Jame, make them whistle and get out of the zone because they finish training today. "I wonder why everyone is curious about my appearance." "Because you are a mystery. And the mystery that increases people's curiosity, "Sabrina answers and rubbing her face to clean the dust" Anyway, what are you training?" "Well, light magic. It was hard for me, though, because I lost 4 hours to perform the "Light arrow" perfectly. Now, I wonder what dark magic I have to start first through." Sunset performs a "Light arrow" and chants something on her staff. "How about we spar a bit?" Sabrina asks, making Sunset suspect her "You know, I just wanna know how strong you are." "Well... uh no. I don't have the mood to fight with you right now. Besides I just fi- " Sunset gets her sentence cut when Sabrina drags her to the small zone to sparring. "Sorry, you will come here to me. I heard that you are a weird mage too so I wanna see how weird you are?" Sabrina keeps dragging Sunset to her zone. "No... I don't in the mood right now." Sunset tries to pull back but fails. After being dragged for a while, she and Sabrina stand at each other. The others take a spot to sit and they wanna watch the duo fight together. " Do I have a choice named "I surrender"? "You can surrender... IF you really fight me." Sabrina retorts as she drags her boomerang and ready to fight "Now show me what you got, Black Coat mage." Few minutes before the sparring Many campsite members gather around the training zone to watch the battle. A rumor spread among them that the Queen was a very strong woman, and some of them used to spar with her, but they had no chance to fight her. Thanks to Paul and Jame, the audience has heard that the Queen will be sparing with the Black Coat mage, so they rush to the arena. Before the duo begins the battle, they are already watching it. They also start to bet on who will win. There was a large majority of bets on the Queen wins. Eldaro is surprised about this, but he is powerless to stop it, so he joins the bet with the campsite member, but he bets on the Black Coat mage. Many members boo him, but he doesn't listen. Rose is there to put the bet on Sabrina. Rose feels proud when many members cheer for her. The two of them return to the others with popcorn Eldaro has brought near the bet and Eldaro smirks at Rose. The others deadpanned from what they were doing. Now Sunset sighs as she realizes that she won't be able to escape this. Sabrina grins and is in a fighting stance, knowing that the Black Coat mage is still injured and that she wants to take the opportunity to see his face. Sabrina warns, "If you lose, you have to show your appearance to everyone.". "Hey, that's not- "Sunset gets cut off when a boomerang flies towards her, forcing her to block it with the staff. Boomerangs go back to Sabrina; Sabrina catches it. "Sorry, life is not fair," Sabrina retorts, throwing her boomerang at Sunset again, then taking a metal circle and charging at Sunset. Sundown leaps to dodge Sabrina's boomerang attack and block her attack. Sunset's ear flinches when she hears a boomerang flying back towards her. Sunset is pushed to the ground by Sabrina, and the circle is swung towards her. Sunset teleports to Sabrina's back and uses "Wyvern slash" on her. She rolls forward to dodge and catch the boomerang on its way. Sabrina grinned as she watched Sunset. " I like it now, even though you're injured, you still fight." Sabrina praises Sunset for fulfilling her wishes Sunset plugs the staff to the ground and asks, "Do I have a chance here?". While it stands there, Sunset retrieves another wooden staff from her dimensional pocket. Sabrina feels strange when Sunset does that, but she continues to fight. With her big boomerang, Sabrina charges at Sunset. Sunset blocks it with her staff. The duo continues to fight like a sword fight. Then Sabrina jumps backward, throws the boomerang at Sunset, and grabs her circles to charge at Sunset. Sunset teleports over Sabrina and uses Wyvern Slash vertically. Sabrina blocks it with her metal circles and sees the boomerang coming back to her. She slips Sunset by her left leg, making Sunset fall to the ground, and then she jumps up, grabs the boomerang, and slams it into Sunset. Sunset teleports out of the slam and kneels down due to her injury. "Ughh... you are really know how to torture the wounded." Sunset starts rubbing the wound and grunts. "You should get used to that. Especially the long battle," Sabrina spins the metal circles, "Well, I think I can use this Chakram for revealing your face." Sunset grins at her. "Sure, if you can. Even if I don't know what Chakram is?" Sunset smirks. After throwing one chakram at Sunset, Sabrina charges at her to throw a boomerang at her. Sunset dodges the chakram and blocks the boomerang. The boomerang keeps rubbing her staff like a wheel, making it hard to stand against it. Sunset pokes the boomerang as much as she can, and the chakram returns to her. Sunset has no time to react, so the chakram slashes her left back hoof. Sunset feels hurt but tries to cope. Boomerang finally comes to a halt. As Sabrina is already in front of Sunset, she uses another chakram and slashes at her. Sunset kneels down to dodge and places her front hoof on the ground. Suddenly, the pole of earth appeared, and Sabrina couldn't react in time and got hit in the belly. Sunset uses "Wyvern Slash" to burn Sabrina.Sabrina kicks the boomerang away from Sunset, she does much acrobatics backward before she stands. Sabrina catches the chakram and breathes deeply. " Even though you're injured, you can still fight like this." Sabrina smiles at Sunset. "My attack still isn't finished!" Sunset commandingly said as she started to cast another spell. Backing off slightly, Sabrina cautiously defended herself. Holding her boomerang defensively, Sabrina was surprised to see several magical circles glowing on her boomerang. Having no time to react, Sabrina took the full force of the explosion as the magical circles blew up almost right as Sabrina noticed them. The audience around the arena is dead silent, and they start murmuring about the Black Coat mage. Sabrina stands there with just a little bruise from the smoke, and Sunset takes caution. As Sabrina starts flicking dust off her body, she smiles at the mage. Sabrina asks, "You're not surprised, are you?" Sunset replies, "At least I can risk the enchantment on your earring." Sabrina prepares to attack at sunset with two chakrams. Sunset is in a defensive position. Sabrina rushes at Sunset at a faster pace, making her surprised, and slashes Sunset's back hoof. After the slash, Sunset grunts and kneels down. Sabrina continues to rush at Sunset, making sure that she doesn't have a chance to recover. Sunset swings her staff to rub the ground around her, a "Firewall" appears after that, forcing Sabrina to stop. Then, Sabrina walks around the wall as she searches for any slits it has. "Clever girl." Sabrina thinks. After walking around the "Firewall" for a while, Sabrina finally found the slits of the wall and saw Sunset in it. Sabrina throws the chakram at Sunset, but Sunset deflects it to Sabrina with his staff. The deflected chakram has fire all around it, so Sabrina must dodge it. As it plugs into the ground, the chakram is still on fire. Sabrina realizes that Sunset is chanting something as she looks back at her. She senses danger brewing, and she rushes to Sunset to break the chanting. Sunset sees Sabrina charging into her path, but she continues chanting the spell. Sunset puts her hand to her staff, and Sabrina knows she has finished chanting, but she rushes towards her, hoping it will hurt her. The fire of Sunset's "firewall" is condensing into her staff, forcing Sabrina to stop because of the heat of the fire. Sunset's staff contains a large fireball after the condensing of fire, and Sabrina wonders what she will do with it. She enchants the chakram to turn it into a water aura, then throws it at sunset. Sunset swings the staff, a large "Wyvern Slash" appears, burning the chakram. Due to the slash, Sabrina falls to the ground. After that, Sunset uses her "Wyvern Slash" in a vertical fashion to hit Sabrina, and it explodes at Sabrina's spot. Sunset sits down as she is exhausted by the attack. Her mana pool is quite large, but her stamina is limited, so she wishes to know the spell that can increase her stamina. Outside the 'arena' It was a fantastic fight, the two competitors appeared to be at equivalent levels. Now, the audiences have more questions about the Black Coat mage. Rose is surprised that the mage can battle against the Queen, while Eldaro seems to be analyzing the battle with Matt, Natalie, and Lance. They want to learn what kind of mage the Black Coat mage is, but she seems to be quite... Unexpectedly. "I have several questions about that Black Coat mage in my mind," Rose begins wondering as she rubs her chin. Natalie and Matt are eating noodle cups while Lance says, "You can ask us if you want. We're her teammates anyway." Lance sees the noodle cups and asks "Where did you get them? I'm starving like hell here." Natalie and Matt point at the food store as Lance is surprised. "Don't worry, I'll get you breakfast." Eldaro pats his nephew on the back. "In actuality, Rose and I have a few questions about this mage you've got there." "Go ahead. Maybe I can help you out, but I'm not sure what she has in mind, because she's unpredictable," Natalie said while she continued to eat. Natalie purred, "So good.". "Okay... First, I'm not sure where the magic circles are. And second, is she really a mage?" Since she has never encountered a black coat mage in the past", Rose sighs in relief because she hasn't faced that kind of opponent. Well, I can't answer the second question," Natalie begins to explain, "but maybe she ... I have no idea what she is doing. Besides the first one, which is just like transferring the trap," Rose and Eldaro show the faces like "I don't understand", Natalie takes the last sip to finish her noodle "I mean she drew the trap on her body and her staff before. When she touches the boomerang, the trap will be transferred to it." Rose and Eldaro nod their heads in understanding and look back at the kneeling mage. Eldaro notices that there is still a wooden staff plugged on the ground. Eldaro is intrigued by this. "Okay... do you know why she plugs the staff on the ground like this?" Eldaro asks the trio. Due to their teammate's unpredictability, they shake their heads and are unsure about this. Eldaro sighs and looks back to the fight, hoping to find an answer. Inside the 'arena' Sunset sits down, tired as she is, and looks at the smoke, and hopes that Sabrina has been knocked out. As the smoke begins to fade, it reveals a more injured Sabrina holding another boomerang in her hands. While another earring is broken into pieces, Sabrina says, "You should give up now." then she taunts Sunset, "You look pretty tired." She sees the mage standing up, and she continues fighting. Sabrina thinks as she is in a battle stance, "I'll knock her out now.". With a boomerang in hand, Sabrina rushes at Sunset. Sunset creates an earth wall to prevent Sabrina from approaching. Sabrina slashes at the earth wall, which splits in two, then she slams the boomerang at Sunset. Sunset teleports herself far away to Sabrina to make sure she isn't coming, but she has to sit down because she's tired. Sabrina smirks and rushes at Sunset again, but she finds that the ground is shining. All the 'arena' is illuminated by a large magic circle, so Sabrina needs to slow down as she tries to figure out what is going on. A large snowflake is inside the circle. Eldaro sees the circle and understands it is a spell, so he orders anyone to defend it. "Everyone defend yourselves. The magic circle is about to explode," Eldaro commands, but no one understands what he is saying. "NOW!" he yells in an angry tone, causing everyone to listen to him. Mage and priests around the 'arena' cast 'shield' spells, while others raise the big shield to defend. The shield spell Natalie uses wraps around her and others. Sabrina feels her legs are frozen due to the spell. Then she saw Sunset using a shield spell to cover herself, so she used her boomerang to cover herself as well. The 'arena' becomes frozen and then it explodes, freezing the entire arena and some surrounding areas, accompanied by cold smoke. The audience lowers the shield and sees that the arena is frozen; they start to go into the 'arena' zone to see if everyone inside is okay so they can provide treatment. "Captain, where are you? If you're still alive, please speak up!" they yell while looking for Eldaro, "I know how I hate you, but I don't want you to die like this." The soldier is knocked over by Eldaro and is shocked. The five members of his team are standing in front of him: Rose, Matt, Natalie, and Lance. "You hate me, huh? How about I train you for this?" Eldaro sneers, making the soldier's face pale. "But worry aside, let's enter to meet the Queen and the Mage." "Yes, sir," and all the soldiers rush into the arena. They finally made it inside the 'arena'. When the smoke fades, they see their queen encased in ice while trying to cover herself with a boomerang. Their queen is unfrozen by using the fire magic of the nearby mages. The Queen cannot stand when unfrozen but still wakes due to the frozen. Soldiers carry her into a Medical tent after helping her up. Eldaro and the Team are searching for Sunset. Upon finding her, she was sitting on the ice with a bare face and she appeared very tired. "You've surprised me, Sunset," Eldaro said as he helped her up Sunset smiles at the team. "I should rest then." I don't know how you can use that spell, but you have to explain it to me later, okay?" Natalie says with an angry tone. "Fine," Sunset lies down on the ice, ignoring the fact that it is very cold. Sunset is brought back to the sleeping tent so that no one will see her appearance while she is being healed by Eldaro and the Team. They will have a long discussion about this now. > After the sparring > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset is completely healed after three hours of treatment. This is good news for the Team, while Eldaro is cautious. He does not know whether this mage is dangerous or not. Sunset stretches her body after lying down for too long. Sunset asked, "So where is Sabrina? I hope she doesn't get sick from my spell." There is no danger to her. I am not sure how can you cast such a powerful spell on the battlefield? You have to explain everything to us." Eldaro suggests. "Fine. However, first, we need to get her to the Medical tent since she might have frostbite." Sunset wears her coat and staff and begins to go toward the tent. "We'll explain everything in there." Everyone follows Sunset into the tent. Medical tent Due to the freeze, Sabrina has to lie down. As a result of three hours of treatment, she has now recovered from frostbite, but she is still uncomfortable after losing the battle. She needs to rest for another three hours, according to the medical team. Even though she doesn't want to stay here, Sabrina must listen. Sabrina sees Eldaro and the Team come to visit her after the medical team leaves. "Hope you enjoy that bed, Queen," Eldaro teases, making Sabrina grumble. "Anyway, we go -" he turns to the team, but he doesn't see the Black Coat mage. "Hey, where's Sunset?" he asked. "She told us that she has to clean up the training zone. Because she believed that the ice that she had created couldn't melt in three hours." Natalie explains. Eldaro has to agree because the ice is not melted yet even the mage in the campsite is cleaning up that ice. "Fine, let her clean up." Eldaro sits on the chair, "you three should sit there too, there are plenty of chairs around." "Ugh... I have never felt defeated for so long," Sabrina whimpers as she gazes at the defeated, "What was that spell, and where did it come from?" "That spell named "Absolutely Zero", the one I have countered when I go to clean the bandit in Valley Mountain. Must say I lost many soldiers in that time," Eldaro recalls the raid, "I remember that spell is a very time-wasting spell when you have to draw a big circle or chant a long time, and you don't let Sunset anytime to draw or chant. How can she perform that spell?" Eldaro starts drinking tea while trying to explain the battle. As he asks the trio, "You all know how she does that, right?" they shake their heads in unison because they are vaguely unaware. "I don't know. She just joined us seven months ago... If I have a clock." Matt says as he fumbles with his thoughts. Eldaro asks Natalie, "Did you introduce all the spells you know?" Natalie shakes her head. "...Honestly, if she is known by many countries, she will be invited by them due to her talent for magic." "Yeah, she can join our Sorcerer Academy," Sabrina says with a bitter tone. "I know I am defeated by her, and I still want a rematch, but she seems to know how to teleport and she has some really strange magic. Those will open up new doors for magic containing, so we can advance our technology." "Look Sabrina, I know you want her to join your academy. But do you really think she will accept? If you want a mage to join your academy, lady Natalie here is the one," Eldaro points at Natalie, making her feel proud. "Without her, Sunset will not acquire her own magic like this." She rubs her head in a blush, "Heh, heh,... I just taught her some basics about magic. Another is self-development, so - " Natalie gets interrupted when a familiar wooden staff pokes her, "Hey, Watch your walking." "Sorry, I just finished cleaning," Sunset says as she sits down and takes a seat in the tent. Then she makes a cup of tea, "Are you discussing something?" "Yes, we are talking about you," Eldaro says, as Sunset turns her head to him, "just one question - how did you cast that spell during the battle? It must have taken a long time. Well, without spending a lot of mana at the same time." "I just contain the spell in another wooden staff," Sunset takes the staff and covers it with magic words. "I just contain it before the battle... and then you get a spell like that, they just require a lot of time like you chanting the spell," Sunset explains it all in an innocent tone. Everyone in the tent is surprised by that explanation. "What?" As Natalie remarks, "When you enchant a spell like that, it will cause explosions whenever you try to enchant," Sunset tilts her head in confusion, "Don't be like that, right? You must have a way to contain this spell?" " Well, you say like the spell is the air and the 'container' is the balloon, right?" asks Sunset, making others don't understand, "eh.... how can I say it? I just try to adjust the mana until it fit the 'container', then I pour a little mana to upgrade it, then pour it until I feel that it can't contain any mana anymore." Sunset tries her best to explain. Her explanation surprises the others. "... This thing just requires the mage's skill in controlling mana. The more skilled you are, the more powerful spells you can store in it. That's all" "Th-thanks for your explanation. I don't know what to say now, this thing is the whole new theory for us about magic," Lance sits down and doesn't know what to say, "All I know is, only the material affects the mana containing mana, now..." Lance shakes his head, "Can you please go outside a bit? We have a topic to discuss." Sunset nods and goes outside to the training zone to think, create and try more spells. Team members are shocked by what Sunset said. Matt can't take it any longer and goes outside searching for a "cutting board" to calm him down. "Your team really holds a treasure, if that theory is successful, we can spend less money on material. Not being restrained to expensive materials like platinum or gold, not to mention that those materials are very heavy for the user so they only fit the heavy tanker," Sabrina explains, "But if anyone finds out she is that talent, especially from other countries. I don't think she will have a peaceful life in the future." 'You aren't going to use her, are you?' Eldaro glares at Sabrina, and Sabrina shakes her head, "Good. I want her to have her own choice of life. Don't force her." "I won't. And I believe this theory enough for me to allow her to live free." Sabrina says, "I'm just worried about her because I feel that she is not human." Everyone on the team pales when she says those words. "But the alien doesn't exist, so that's just ridiculous." "I see, you'd better rest," Eldaro says as he leads the team out of the tent, "the others follow me and we'll start training to get stronger." The team nods and begins following Eldaro. Training zone On the way to the training zone, Eldaro found Matt with a big crab. Matt sets the crab aside and follows the Team. Now, the training zone is back to normal. As the Team and Eldaro arrive at the zone, they see a fire dragon, an ice dragon, and a thunder dragon flying around. Apparently, the soldiers inside don't care about it because they assume it's normal. After a few moments, the three dragons vanish. Eldaro and the team spot an exhausted Sunset sitting on a bench and breathing heavily. Matts says, "You ok? Don't strain yourself too much," as he passes Sunset a towel "Thanks, I do that every day," Sunset says as she drinks some water, and Natalie is caught off guard. "I am just checking to see if I can combine any of my spells." As Natalie explains, "I see, can you show me how to train to control the mana? I realize I can't control my mana well enough." "Okay, but it's quite boring," Sunset agrees, "just sit here and meditate to feel how the mana is flowing through you." The others hear that and just find some zone to train because it's really boring. Lance sparring with Rose, while Matt sparring with Eldaro. Natalie sits beside Sunset and meditates to feel the mana. Sunset just sits around waiting for her mana to fully regenerate and then trains until it is draining out, she just repeats this process. At night The Team feels very tired after training from the afternoon because they keep training continuously. When they can share their experience in fighting monsters and receive advice from the captains, they have fun together. They now want to sleep a lot. Because the camp is quite dangerous, Natalie and Lance use earth spells and techniques to build their own place to sleep. Matt and Natalie have already borrowed some pillows to sleep on. Sunset and Natalie use their own earth spells to adjust the ground for more comfort. Lance says, "Good night. See you later." The others say back, "Good night.". They close their eyes and begin to sleep. Inside Sunset's body Sunset opens her eyes to find a familiar dragon snuggled up next to her. Despite agreeing to let Whitty cling to her, Sunset feels a part of her still wants him to hold her. She smiles and snuggles up to him. Whitty suddenly says as his eyes close, "I like to hug you, don't you?". "Eh... no, no," Sunset shakes her head and turns her face away from Whitty, hoping that he doesn't see her blushing face. Whitty smiles. Whitty opens his eyes to see Sunset and asks. "Anyhow, do you have any new theories?"  "Sorry but I haven't discovered any ideas yet. But all I know is, everyone wants to hear my theory about containing magic." Sunset explains and lays on the dragon's body, "I don't know if that theory is good or not," Then she received a knock to the head by Whitty's tail, "Ouch, hey." "Silly girl, your theory is just the beginning of the new era of magic," Whitty grins at Sunset, making her uncomfortable. "Before you talk about this theory, many nations were trying to find rare materials in order to perform the enchantment. But you sort of adjust it," Whitty wraps his tail around the body of Sunset, forcing her to get closer to his face. Sunset struggles to get out of the wrapping, "Besides, I never thought that I would see the spell that defeated me again." Whitty glares at Sunset, "You really know how to rub salt in my wound, huh? Sunset turns her face away from Whitty's gaze, scared by that stare, "Sorry, but can you please unwrap me? I feel uncomfortable here." Whitty's tail unwraps her body, "Thank you, I don't think my small theory will destroy the world." Sunset laughs but gets cut off by Whitty's claw. “You don't know what the future holds, so don't say this." Sunset pushes Whitty's claw away, "Okay, but don't cut off like that." She gets out of Whitty's hug, "Time to practice." "Well, you keep draining yourself like that," Whitty says, as Sunset 'flies' backward again. "Well, practice makes perfect.". Keep doing that until you're out of the mana," Whitty takes out the board, "I will prepare to teach you the second lesson about magic." How did you get that board? As Sunset asked, Whitty used an earth spell to create another board." Okay... How do you write it?" "My claw is my chalk," Whitty said, showing Sunset his extremely sharp claw, "I hope that this claw will not terrify you" Whitty teases Sunset, making her mumble. Whitty takes out some 'papers' from the earth with which he will prepare his second lesson, while Sunset continues to practice casting three spells at the same time. The two will be able to learn from each other. on to each other. > Magic lesson with Whitty, again. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset feels her mana is drained out after 2 hours of 'flying', but it is a good thing she has mastered mana control. Whitty looks at Sunset, who is presently lying on the ground, and yawns.   "Are you done yet?" Whitty asks in a boring tone. "We should begin the lesson now."    She feels Whitty hugging her again and she sighs, "Fine. You won't need to do that when you learn about magic."    "Sorry, can't help. Besides, you enjoy it, right?" Sunset nods in agreement. Whitty nods,. "I'm glad you enjoyed the hug. Now we'll start the lesson."   “Okay, so what will you teach? You already taught me a lot about mana, didn't you?" Sunset asks as the white dragon draws a symbol for the Elements of magic.    “Yes, but you took that lesson too well," Whitty smirks at her, "and those are not enough for mana lessons."   "You mean there are more types of spells?"    "Sorry about that, I forgot to explain two more types." Whitty rubs his head. "Anyway, it's not too late to explain right?" Sunset nods, "Okay, the fourth type of spell that I wanna mention is a charging spell. This is when you use your condensed mana when you use the spell."    "Like..... my "Wyvern Slash" that I used in the battle?"     "Yes, outside resources can be used for casting spells. Only one condition is that the resource must be an elemental same as the element of the spells you are going to cast." Whitty explains. "In this way, the mana wasting can be reduced. Although some elements cannot do that." Sunset put the hoof to her chin and thinks    Sunset asks, "Are there any disadvantages to this type of spell? This feels a bit like enchanting the weapon."   "You're right at this part," Whitty admits, "The difference between a charging spell and an enchanting spell is that a charging spell can be used only once. An enchanting spell can be used many times, or forever," Sunset thinks about the battle and remembers that Matt usually covers his sword with some red aura.   "I see, it makes sense that Matt sometimes covers his sword with a red aura to boost his slashes."   "Don't charge too much or you will explode," Whitty smiles at Sunset, who still rubs her hoof because she is thinking, "Now now, what are you thinking again? Remember your "Wyvern Slash" is a charging spell, the power depends on the times you charge at it. I see you most time charge less than one second." Sunset surprises by his sentences, "I thought you were smarter than that. Not only you, but many people have the same misconception about charging spells because they happen too fast," Whitty put his head on Sunset's back. "Today, I see a normal mage," Whitty grins at her, making her smirk.   "I'm a normal mage," Sunset rejects,  Whitty rolls his eyes. "Fine, if you insist," Whitty draws a human body with an aura around it, "The next type of spell I'd like to introduce is a buffing spell..." He turns his head to see Sunset playing with her dragon. Whitty knocks her head with his tail, causing Sunset to rub her head. "Focus. This kind of spell is easy. You just buff on your friend, and they will get stronger in minutes or hours."   Sunset replies, "I'd rather buff myself than buff someone else," and Whitty raises an eyebrow.  "How so?"   "I'm afraid that if I buff speed for someone who is already fast, they won't be able to keep up,"   "In short, if you always support the team, you will know what your teammate needs. But that's impossible for someone like you," Whitty laughs at Sunset, making her growl and snap out of Whitty's hug, "Hey, What are you doing?"?   "Draining my mana for training," Sunset says with an angry tone, and Whitty just lays there and waits. "Oh right, do you have any dark spells for me to practice?"    "Well, you can try this," Whitty creates a dark basin and throws it at Sunset, Sunset blocks it by her front hoof, "Well, that spell call "Abyssal Drop", a basic spell of dark element. Just hope that you don't 'upgrade' it like the one you do with "Light arrow".   "Fine, thanks for showing me." Sunset takes out the wooden staff and starts training.   Sunset inhales and starts to focus on the "Abyssal Drop" spell, she tries to create a simple basin but it not appear. Whitty just lies there and watches Sunset like watches a comedy for himself, that makes Sunset very annoying but she keeps going until she truly can cast the spell. Whitty starts bored and he decides to sleep and wait.     Three hours later  As Whitty yawns, he decides to see how Sunset is doing. As he turned his head toward Sunset, he was surprised to see that Sunset was using two medium-size magic circles, one up in the air and one down, put together oppositely. Moments later, the circles launch many basins at the same time, making it look like a massive laser beam. After casting the spell, Sunset sat down, exhausted from trying so many ways to complete the spell, but very happy that it had worked.    Whitty rubs his forehead and sighs. Then he drags Sunset and comes to him by an earth spell, Sunset struggles to get out but no use because she is tired. Sunset finally gets hugged by a familiar dragon. She smiles nervously and avoids the dragon's eyes contracting.    Whitty looks at Sunset, making him uncomfortable with his stare. "What did you do this time?" he taps his finger to the ground. "You 'upgraded' the basic spell again?" he glared at her.   "Can you please don't look at me like that?" Sunset gulps when the dragon keeps staring at her like that. "Why do you like to glare at me like this?"   "You know, if you stop being weird like this, then the mare before me is not Sunset," Whitty pokes Sunset's forehead for teasing, making her huffs, "Then how do you 'upgrade' this basic spell?"  " Well, when I complete your "Abyssal Drop" in like 45 minutes, I feel very tired. But I think that if I combine them with the magic circle, how will they go?" Sunset lies on the dragon's back, "Then I create a magic circle by chanting and combine this spell, it did not work at first. But I try like ... until now, it works perfectly." Sunset says with glee, " New spell invented, I guess?"  "Indeed, this is a new spell, Ms. Mystery mage. What will you call it?" Whitty rubs Sunset's neck with his claw, "Let's see how good you are at naming spells."   Sunset pushes Whitty's claw away. "I know it sounds edgy, but the dark spell is already edgy."    "Yep, it sounds edgy," Whitty draws a fire symbol on the board, "Well, let's move on to the element lesson."    "So far, Natalie has explained to me the elements of magic."  "I would recall it to practice. This is you," Whitty points at the fire symbol, and he gets smacked by Sunset, "Okay okay, I'm just joking," Whitty rubs his head, "This is the fire element. This element represents the energy, if someone uses this element, they will be very energized." Whitty turns his head to Sunset, "Just like someone I know."  "Hey, I am not energized."    "Sorry, but you are because you never give up when you fail. I see that a lot when you try the new spell," Whitty rubs his chin, "I wonder if you can do another element," Then he got watered on his face, "Well, good answer."   "Maybe you're right. I just want to try new things with magic."     "You should try something else, such as music or alchemy, to help you relax when you are stressed."    "Well, I should give it a try. If... I can reveal myself."   "Okay, next is..." Whitty draws the Water symbol and Wind symbol, "this is Wind and Water. Honestly, I only know what fire represents which personality, so I will skip the personality. These elements are the most balanced elements when they hardly fail when casting." Whitty draws an earth element, " Earth element, defensive one because the earth always has defense spells while fire is opposite. Of course, Earth elements have some attack spell but not much."   "I should train more on these elements, right?"    "Yep, fire element doesn't have a lot of defensive spells. And you only have "Firewall", a semi-defense spell. " Whitty then points to the electric symbol, "Electric spell, fast and furious. They can counter some metals like silver and gold. Well, the power of electricity is not power like fire one but the piercing is different."   “I just realized that I still don't have any electric spells."     Whitty points at her electric dragon, "You are a bad liar." Whitty points at the halo and trident, "Light and dark elements. I don't know much about them because they are complicated."    "I see, but how did you utilize light and dark magic?"   "Well, just learn from the book and practice. Dark elements on the other hand are quite negative. "   "Maybe because they are easy to lead the user to do something negative," Sunset remembers the memory, "In my land so far, we have Sombra falls into the darkness." Whitty's eyes widened to hear this, " and the one I just kill is Black Mist, I see him falls into darkness too when he wants to kill Celestia."    "For me, I don't believe it." Whitty rejects the theory, " If you say so, then there are many out-controlled people who are doing the bad thing, and they do other things." Whitty rubs his chin, "And there are many people who cast dark magic but still help people, but there are many people who do light spells but they still can do others." Sunset is surprised about this. "I think the key is the user, not the spell."   Sunset sighs, "Maybe you're right. I'm taught that dark spells lead only to negative emotions." she put her front feet on her forehead. "Maybe because we have lived in peace for almost a thousand years thanks to Celestia, but she still misses her sister."  "I see. She is a very kind ruler, doesn't she?" Whitty put his head to Sunset's belly, "The crown on her head is very heavy, and she manages to keep her land and people, or ponies, in this case, live in peace in one thousand years. I should admire her," Then he hugs Sunset, "Ruling the land in over one thousand years, her face must be thicker than a concrete wall, and you still make her spill some of her life. You are her friend or something?"   "Well, I'm her student, but sometimes we share the moment together like friends, even if she has less time to relax, she still spends it with me." "I see, but did she share any information with her sister? If not, there must be something wrong with her sister that prevents her from sharing."  "Unfortunately, when I ask about her sister, she always changes the subject."   "You should go outside more," Whitty suggests. "Oh wait, you already do," Whitty smacks Sunset with her wooden staff.    "Can you please stop teasing me for a while? That's annoying."   "Fine." Whitty rubs his head "Moving on, I forgot to introduce the leaf element," Sunset tilts her head in confusion, "What is that face? you already encountered that giant turtle carrying a tree on its shell already." Sunset now understands, "Anyway, the leaf element is very related to the jungle. If you were born in the jungle, you will master it."   "Sounds like being "one with nature."   "It is. However, you can learn some single leaf spells like "vine"."    Taking notes on Whitty's lesson, Sunset says, "I am not sure if this will appear outside, but I will need it when I review it.".   Whitty erases the board. "Now I want you to know that all elements react to each other differently." He draws a water symbol and an electric symbol with a plus between them. "This is a single reaction. Now you can cast the electric spell on the wet enemy."   "So, any condition?"    "Well, I don't know much about how elements react, so...  Whitty rubs his head and blushes as Sunset sighs, "Well, this might be called the combination of the elements." He turns away from Sunset, "However, you can't cast two elements that contradict one another. For example, you can't cast fire and ice at the same time, or light and dark, or fire and tree, etc..." Sunset nods for understanding, "Well, that is just a normal human being. Not the one I am hugging." "Then you know the reason why we can't cast two elements like that?" Sunset says as she gets used to Whitty's teasing.    "The reason is, when you convert mana to an element in your body, it still inside until that element is going out. This progress is very fast, people normally aren't aware of this." Whitty draws a fire symbol in a human body, "but if you use a counter element while this element remains in your body, they will destroy each other and no spells can be cast out."    "Has any human ever been able to do this?"  The only one I know is in the ground, I don't know how many years ago." Sunset becomes suspicious of this.    "Have you written a book about this knowledge that you discovered?"  "I am not the only one who writes a book, but mine remains in ruins until the day I first meet you, so I burn all of my research after that."   "Then... What made you do that? Are you afraid that humans might use those research to do something wrong?"   Whitty sighs. "Well, I'm afraid it is," Whitty pushes Sunset out of her hug, making her surprised. "You should also train, I'll tell you later."  She huffs at him and begins her training about the elements. As she is training, she realizes that she has no knowledge of the land, but she will discover more about this later. > Preparation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- She keeps practicing spells to improve her spellcasting. When she practices, she thinks about a water spell. After training for a while, she stops practicing for her own spells and sits down to think.   "What are you thinking?" A white dragon lies on the ground and watches Sunset practice.  "I am thinking of practicing water spells," Sunset is thinking as she placed her chin on her forehoof   Whitty creates a water ball with his claw. "Well, I have some advice here. You should start with the water ball first. Everyone always starts with the basics, right?" He throws the water ball to Sunset. Sunset swings the staff to cut it.   "Fine, let's start from the beginning," Sunset sits down, plugs the staff on the ground, and starts meditating. Waterballs float around her as she forms them.   Whitty sees that. After lying for so long, he decides to stand up, stretch his body, and see how Sunset is doing. The "Waterball" is floating around Sunset, then the "Waterball" becomes thinner and thinner until it becomes a plate-like shape. Witty laughs at this, making Sunset glare at him.   "Are you going to eat dinner with this thing?" Whitty rolls on the ground and keeps laughing, "I hope not because that will be more fun." Sunset throws a plate at Whitty, who dodges it without much effort. "Don't be like that, you will get the better spell."  "Just don't disturb me, I feel like a hot pot here," Sunset says, creating another plate. "I just remember Sabrina's chakram."   "That's fine... "I would recommend you focus on your own, not another's." Whitty rubs his cheeks, "You might want to study someone else to learn about them, but you should be a reference, not a copycat." Sunset nods in agreement.   "You're right." Sunset returns to a meditation state. "I should focus on my own spell though because I am nearly at that level."   Whitty nods and turns his back on Sunset so she can concentrate. After sitting down, he reveals the bleeding cheek, "That spell... Is combined with a wind blade cover,... And it can penetrate my scale ..." He thinks about fighting Sunset again, but that will be very painful for her body. He sits down and starts to find a solution.   Sunset keeps finding her own way to cast water spells. Despite trying many times, she still hasn't found her spell. Due to her fatigue, she is now lying on the ground. Sunset's front hooves are wrapped in water, which Whitty uses to drag her. Sunset sighed and just accepted being dragged. Whitty hugs Sunset after dragging her, much to Sunset's annoyance.    Sunset lies on Whitty's body as she asks, "Can you drag me something nicer? But anyway, I am still crafting another spell."   Whitty puts his head on Sunset's shoulders. "Create a spell does not happen in an hour or a day, it takes time. But for you, the fastest way is ... on the battlefield."   "Are you kidding me? How can you have something new in battle?" Sunset creates a fire dragon and plays with it. "If you distract in one second in battle, you're gone. How would I be able to create a new spell?"  "Because it's like your nature," Whitty rubs Sunset's neck, making her purr, "How many times can you do the impossible thing that others can't do on the battlefield?" Sunset shakes her head in denial, "Really now?" Sunset nods, making Whitty deadpan.  "Because that's not impossible, just some little way to use the resources I have," Sunset waves her hoof, "that's normal, right? That's something anyone could do." Whitty rubs his head, showing that he has a headache for Sunset.   "You should wake up now. It's already morning," Sunset nods and she closes her eyes to wake up   Outside Sunset's body  Sunset opens her eyes and sees that the others have already awoken. Stretching her body, she gets up.   Matt teases Sunset, "Hey, I thought you would sleep for a thousand nights." Sunset nods and goes to the campsite with the Team. They have cooked soup in the pot for breakfast  Sunset rubs her head, "I feel like I have a headache about this." She asks, "How long have I been sleeping?".     "I don't know because.... we don't have a watch." Lance is eating soup, "Because we don't like to watch the time all day."   "At least we're not military then," Sunset grabs a bowl and starts eating the soup, "Besides we don't need to be a soldier."    "Yep, and I have to train my magic more," Natalie is reading the book while eating, "I hate losing you, Sunset,"   Sunset eats the soup, "Eh... at least you can support the team. Besides, you don't fight in melee like me."   Natalie says in a jealous tone, "But I feel that I'm losing you because you're so good at using the spell while I can't help anyone.". "I want to become stronger."   Sunset sighs, "Look, you don't need to be stronger," Natalie hears that and turns head to Sunset, "I just want you to be yourself,"    "But... but..." Natalie gets cuts off by Sunset's front hoof.   "Hey, don't be like that Natalie," Matt pats Natalie's back, making her surprised, "You know Natalie, even if you are weaker than Sunset, you're still our teammate,"  then Matt points at Sunset, "Unless you want to be a daredevil like our pony teammate, you can learn some from her,"    Sunset rejects, "I'm not like that"   Matt says, "No, you are that daredevil," with a wave of his hand. Sunset sighs, and the others laugh. Sunset soon joins in the fun.  The Team heads to the tactic camp after breakfast. Some people around them murmur about them on the way to the camp, telling them that they are crazy to challenge the monster, but the Team ignores them. Finally, they arrive after walking for a while.    Tactic Tent  The team enters the tent. Eldaro, Rose, and Sabrina are seated around a table with a map on it. They turn their heads toward the Team.   Sabrina put a chessman on the table, "We are waiting for you. Please take a seat and we will start discussing." The team nods and takes a seat around the table.  Eldaro took out his walkie-talkie and asked, "So, what's your plan? I hope you have one because this is going to be a tough fight." Eldaro handed the walkie-talkie to Lance.   Lance taps his finger on the table, "Some smoke bombs will do."  "I see, the smoke bombs reduce its vision. But... how can you see your own?" Eldaro pulls out some smoke bombs, "I hope you have some idea how to use these things.".     "I forgot to mention, chili smoke bombs." Lance rubs his head, "the normal ones don't work when the Hydra can just blow them away."  "I see. We have that kind of bomb in our military depot. So why don't you go get some, Valkyrie?" Eldaro hands them the key to their depot. Lance nods. "Oh, and the bombs are coded 09, don't forget that."   Lance and the team rush out of the tent, carrying the Team outside. Sabrina smiles at him when he does that, while Rose doesn't understand some of the odd words he says.  Eldaro placed a bird chessman on a spot named "Kitten Ruin" on the map and is hoping that nothing goes wrong because these supplies are crucial for the campsite.   Eldaro turns to Sabrina and asks, "How's our capital city? I have some suggestions."  "I think the Lavita city is fine," Sabria says, looking at his eyes. "What do you have to suggest?"     Eldaro starts to discuss, "Can you please suggest to Leo these things? First, increase the defense for big cities? I am scared that this demon will be angry and send the swamp of monsters to attack our important cities." Sabrina nods, "Second, cancel the meeting with the king of Nathan country. Tell him that this is a very important time. We cannot let our relationship with them suffer." Sabrina is surprised by this. "And finally," Eldaro slams the table, "Please evacuate the people of small villages to the big cities for a while. I'm afraid that they will be their first victims. Also, recruit more soldiers to defend these cities."    Sabrina asks, "Why do you propose such measures? How can you be sure that demons will attack us?" She yells in anger, "The first one can be done because it does not have any harm. But the second and third one is very dangerous because it will decrease our goodwill to ally countries, plus the faith of the people to our kingdom will be decreased." Sabrina slams her hand to the table, "If Arkon doesn't attack, you will take heavy responsibility for this. You think you can bet your life like that?" Sabrina looks at Eldaro's eye and sees that he is very consistent about this. "You know it hasn't been my first time placing a bet like this." Eldaro turns his head to the hourglass. "I am going to retire after this mission," Sabrina is enraged. He replied "I know that look, but please do it because it is important to our people,"  Sabrina waves her hand in the air and replies, "Fine...Fine, I will do it. But if these things fail, I will take responsibility." Sabrina points at Eldaro, "What is your order now?"   "Then you agree,"  Eldaro stands up, " And now this is my order. Sabrina, after you suggest these things for me, take a spot outside the gate with T-86. If the Team fails again, drag them out." Sabrina nods, and Eldaro turns to Rose, "Rose, you guard outside the Volcano to escort our reinforcement there to the camp. I will check our missiles to make sure that they work fine or not. Do you understand?" The girls nod, "Now go to our position." Then they go out to the camp in their position. Meanwhile in Kitten Ruin The reinforcement team is now at the campsite of the aborigines. Sammy is talking to a bird robot in the campsite, as they just protected them from the Gunslingers.    While the bird robot drinks some soup, she asks, "Why do you stay here, Sammy? Do you think this place is safe? I don't think this place is safe anymore."   "Honestly, Silver. I don't think we have a place to go." Silver still drinks her soup while hearing, "Because we can't go anywhere." Sammy sighs and Silver puts her left wing to her beak.   "Why don't you come with us to the campsite?" Sammy is surprised, "We will train you some battle skills, while we get supplies to the campsite?"   Sammy waves a hand to indicate he's unsure. "I...I think I can join, but what about the others?"   "Well, you can-" Silver gets cut off while hearing a man with black hair and a white robe rush towards her. "What happens?"   "Madam, we have a cliff blocking our way to the campsite."  "I see... hop on my back and we will see the cliff," the man hops on Silver's back, Silver turns her head to Sammy, "I'll be right back, we will talk about this later. Think about my offer." Sammy nods. Silver takes a fly to the cliff with the direction of the man. After two minutes, she sees the cliff and her team. In order to clearly see the cliff, she lands near it.   Silver turns to her team and says, "... that's a pretty big cliff. It will cause trouble if we just stand here. So, do you have any suggestions?"   The team begins to think about the situation. A few of Silver's members have crazy ideas like equipping the propeller on the tank, using a shrinking spell... Silver sighs and puts her wings to her head.   "Fine, now get up," Silver's team began to stand. "I need all the mages to step aside." The mage starts to part ways with the team. "Good, here is my order. The mage team uses the earth spell to create a bridge to cross the cliff. The sniper team watches the area around, if there are monsters, take them out. Others, protect the mage to make sure that they can build the bridge. Understand?" Silver sees a hand raise up, "You have an idea?"  Just a question. How long do you think this bridge will last?"   "Well, I'm not sure, but we must build it as soon as possible without problem." Silver points at the silver hair man, wearing heavy armor, "You, watch the team, make sure that they are working. If there is any problem, tell me." The man nods and Silver spread her wings  "I will ask the campsite to join us so we will have more men and supplies. Don't be lazy, ok?   "Yes, madam." Silver flaps her wings and flies to Sammy's campsite. Back to the Volcano Having taken some equipment from the military depot, the Team is now preparing to engage in combat in front of the Gate. T-86 sits beside the gate and prepares to open it.  "You guys ready? If you fail again, I am not sure I can drag you out again." T-86 warns the team to make sure that they are all ready.   "We know. That's why we are here," Lance points at the gate. "Open the gate and we will slay the Hydra."   "Good luck." T-86 opens the gate and the Team starts to go inside the gate. They hope to slay the Hydra because it irritated them when it defeated the team. > Battle with the Hydra, again. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside the gate The Team members enter the gate and exhale before beginning the battle. The Hydra is visible as soon as they enter the gate. Hydra sees the team and roars in anger. The Team is now in the battle stance.     While the Middle Head of the Hydra rushes at the team, the two other heads open their mouths and prepare to breathe fire. Team Dodge dodges away, but Sunset jumps on it and tries to stand on its head. The two heads fire many fireballs at the trio. Natalie chants a spell as Matt slams the sword to the ground. Fireballs are blocked by a growing tremor in front of them.    An ice drill is formed by the Sunset to drill the neck of the Middle Head. The Left Head observes that the Middle Head is roaring in pain, then rushes at Sunset. The Right Head is also going to do rush at Sunset, but Lance will shoot into its left eye, causing it to roar in pain. Sunset dodges the rush and teleports back to the spot where she is drilling the Middle Head's neck. When it is enough to leave a hole in there, Sunset plugs the wooden staff with its full of magic words fly around, then uses the ice magic to make the hole permanent.   The Middle Head keeps shaking itself to make Sunset fall out. Sunset grabs the staff plugged into the Middle Head to keep her from falling out. The Left Head opens its mouth and breathes a fire blast towards Sunset. Sunset has no other choice but to teleport out of the blast. Due to the blast, half of the staff has been lost.  Sunset has teleported back to the team. Matt helps her stand up and grab the sword, then he closes his eyes and concentrates. When the Hydra spreads its wings and starts flying, it breathes many fireballs from the sky to attack the Team. Sunset uses the "Shield" spell to block fireballs, while Lance pulls out the walkie-talkie and yells, "Valkyrie, code 09-1," before placing it in his pocket. Hydra keeps shooting fireballs at Sunset's shield. Sunset notices a crack in her shield.   Three missiles suddenly fly toward the Hydra and shoot it down. Hydras are surprised and fall to the ground. Before it has a chance to get up. Matt rushes at it with a high speed, using a red aura-covered sword, he slashes off the Left Head and plugs in the blue claymore, which makes that spot covered in ice and prevents the body from growing a new one.  Matt is attacked by the Middle Head and the Right Head. Matt dodges aside and returns to the team. When the Right Head pulls out the sword, the Middle Head breathes fire at the spot, melting the ice. The Left Head grows back like normal after a moment.   "That is what I didn't expect," Matt says while staying attack stand, "I thought all monsters were stupid."   Sunset teases Matt, "maybe you shouldn't underestimate the enemy so much," causing him to groan.   Lance pointed at the Hydra and said, "Focus, we're not done yet.".   Hydra's wing-claw strikes the ground, magic circles appear in the sky, and all of its heads open their mouths to attack the Team. Matt raises his sword to raise the ground, and he notices Natalie is chanting longer than usual. Sunset prepares to block the attack by using "Shield". Magic circles start spinning and shoot many fire arrows, while three heads breathe together to create a big blast. Both attacks combine and rush toward the Team.  Sunset tries to hold the shield, but she can't. After the shield is cracked, it is broken. The trio takes the full brunt of the attack, and smoke appears at their location. When the trio gets up in the smoke, they try to attack Hydra, but many fire arrows keep shooting at them. They must dodge the arrow that keeps coming at them without pause.   Suddenly, two large ice spiked plates appear from the smoke and fly toward the Hydra. Due to surprise, the Hydra has no time to react. After the plates slashed at the Left Head and Right Head, the Hydra roared in pain; and the magic circle vanished. The ice plates are stuck to the heads. The spell has exhausted Natalie's mana, and she kneels down.    The Middle Head rushes toward Natalie to attack her. Matt slams his sword against the ground as Sunset chants the spell. Lance fires a bullet, which explodes near the left head's neck, the bullet shines blue under the ice plate; he then pulls out the walkie-talkie and shouts, "Valkyrie, code 09-2. Follow the blue glowing dot."  The Hydra's heads roar together. After a while, meteors start falling from the sky and flying toward the team. While chanting the spell, Sunset tries to teleport and dodges the meteor. As he punches the ground, the ground around him rises, and he drags Natalie behind it. Lance runs to Matt's side to cover him. Sunset is hit by multiple small meteors, leaving her lying on the ground but still chanting. A big meteor lands on Matt's spot and explodes, destroying the cover and sending the trio soaring backward.  Sunset creates a magic circle after chanting for a while. As she stands, she equips the circle with her staff and aims at the Hydra. The Middle Head will finish the trio. Suddenly, a big missile damaged the Left Head spot and exploded, shattering it. The ice plate was injected into the head, now covering the spot to freeze it, which prevents the Left Head from growing. Middle Head sees that and opens its mouth to unfreeze it, but feels that it is also becoming frozen. Slowly, the Middle Head is being frozen by the staff plugged into the head. After seeing this, the Left Head is going to breathe fire in order to unfreeze the Middle Head. Sunset sees this and aims at the Left Head. The Left Head opens its mouth with a fireball, Sunset flips the staff, and the magic circle shoots arrows at the mouth, the Left Head is surprised and tries to close its mouth but it is too late.  In the magic circle, light arrows keep shooting at the Left Head's mouth, while the Middle Head is now covered in ice. Matt sees this and throws the sword at the Middle Head. Lance sees that and decides to fire "Bullet Hell" into the Middle head. As a result of the two attacks, the Middle Head was shattered into pieces. Sunset keeps the magic circle aimed at the Left Head as it shoots and shoots until the Left head explodes. The headless Hydra stumbles to the ground and lies there, dead.  "Nice work," Matt tells Natalie as he helps her up. "See, I told you you would be stronger," he smiles at Natalie. "Anyway, we should go back, right Sunset? Sunset?" Matt turns to Sunset and sees that the spell she casts can't be stopped, "What can be done? Can you stop that spell?"  'Eh no, I'll be glad if you can shut it off,' Sunset says, still holding the staff, "a little something will work."   In response, Lance aims the gun - blade at Sunset and shoots at her staff. The staff drops out of her hoof and the spell is broken, "There you go."   "Thank you," Sunset remarks as she turns her head to the teen's body. "That was a very tough fight. If we encounter Arkon, how can we know about him since we don't know anything about him?"    "We'll find out later, but we should be aware that we've got only one ticket," Natalie leans on the body of Matt, and points to the portal, "That portal will lead us to him. Whenever we get to him, we must defeat him."   sunset smirks, "I'm out. It's your revenge, not mine," as she steps back out of the gate. Lance steps on her tail and she yells in pain. "Hey," she says, glaring at Lance in anger.   Lance grinned back at her, "You can't get out of this thing. Also, do you want to make everyone aware of your appearance?" he asked.   Sunset sighs, "Let's sit down and rest," the trio nods  "Good idea, now I will send the message," Lance take out the flare gun and shoot into the sky. Outside the gate  ST-86 and Sabrina sit on the relaxing chair chatting and playing chess together. Sabrina feels worried when the Team stays there for a long time without receiving a signal.  Sabrina sighs and waits until the flare gun in the sky is fired and sighs. The bullet came from the inside of the gate, and Sabrina realizes they were successful.   "T-86," Sabrina turns her attention to T-96.   "Yes, my queen," T-86 bows to Sabrina, aware that she will give orders   "Contract with Eldaro right away, and tell him that the Team has defeated the Hydra and that I'll be here to ensure no one disturbs you."   "Yes, your Majesty," T-86 bows again and rushes to the contract tent near the gate.    Meanwhile in Vocalno's campsite  Eldaro is checking to make sure that a large black missile is still functional. Since the second wave of missiles, Eldaro has not contracted with his cousin yet. As he sits down, he sighs.   Paul runs up to Eldaro and tells him, "Captain, captain, we got news from the gate." Eldaro stands up immediately: "Calm down, your cousin is fine, and the Hydra have been defeated."   "Really? Now I should move the campsite closer to the gate," Eldaro feels proud of his cousin, "My cousin really beat a massive monster like this, I feel so proud of him."   "I think we should just stand here since it's so close to the gate and you don't dismantle the wall anyway." Paul sits down and takes out the shining rod. "I believe they will beat that demon for sure."   It will, but we must assist them as far as possible." Eldaro pats the missile, "Paul, I give orders at the campsite."  "What is it, Captain?"   Eldaro says, "First, we will take down a section of the wall so that we can transport the missiles and the tank through the gate." Second, be sure to guard the camp against spying. Unfortunately, I feel that some paparazzi are already present.    "Yes, sir," Paul rushes to the speaker to announce Eldaro's order. One group of campers rush to the gate to dismantle a part of it, and another group moves missiles.  Eldaro thinks, "I think the demon is angry right now." Then he goes to the gate to see the Team.    Kitten Ruin  "We are done building the bridge," says the man in a white robe to Silver. Silver stands up and looks quite surprised.   "Wow, that was fast. I thought we would have to lose a day to complete it." Silverpoint at Simon. "Anyway, prepare to receive new members and supplies. This campsite will join us to the volcano."  "But... But aren't you worried that they will slow us down?"   "Don't worry, they won't slow us down. Besides, we got guns and shields for them to use so our men can defend the volcano's campsite." Silver eats the bread, "More men, more defense, right?"    "But... But," the man sputters, as Silver's wing prevent him from finishing the sentence   As Silver nods to her soldiers, "Don't worry, this campsite only has ten people but has a lot of supplies, so we'll make good use of these. You all can train 10 people quickly, can't you?"   As the man is persuaded by the bird robot, "Okay, we'll train them fast to be a soldier, but I'm not sure they'll be able to fight like us."   Silver spread her wings, "Good, we have to move fast. While we move, we will train these people, get it?"  "Yes, Madam,"   "Full speed ahead. Time is not waiting for anyone," Silver says and flaps her wings to lead the reinforcement team. Inside the portal  Akron is now very angry right now when he heard that his Hydra is defeated, "Damn it, How can they defeat my Hydra," then he looks at the monsters that he has created, "Okay, I will create the portal to lead the monster to attack human's cities," then he laughs, "The human will suffer on my wrath right now." > Summary The History > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Team sets the campfire to rest. Afterward, they start to cook soup using the material that Matt had stolen from the Volcano's tent's food storage. Natalie knows that, and she is chasing after Matt everywhere.  Sunset smiles at them, "That reminds me of when I raided Celestia's kitchen," she drinks some of the soup, "Man, it will be good when I come back, but also will be sad to say goodbye to you all."  In reply, Lance points the chopsticks at Sunset and says, "If you are able to go home, or if you are not, then you should stay with us." Sunset smirked.   "Hush you, Lance," Sunset waves her hoof at Lance, "I have to stay here for a while here and you tease me like that?" Lance just takes more soup for Sunset, Sunset sighs, "Fine, I guess I have to stay here a little while. Anyway -" Sunset can't finish the sentence due to Natalie and Matt wrestling each other. "You two should stop fighting, please." Natalie and Matt stop wrestling.   "Fine," Natalie gets out of Matt's back. "But you shouldn't steal anything again," Natalie points at Matt as he nods.   "Fine," Matt says when he comes close to the fire camp, "but I don't think I can't steal again," Matt is smug toward Natalie, making her angry.  "Anyway," Sunset takes some of the soup, "Just a question for you three," The trio turns their attention to Sunset, "What will we do when we complete this journey?" Sunset drink some soup, "I'm afraid that if we can't live like this, right?  "I'm sorry, but I will continue to go out," Matt says to Sunset, "I just want to get to know more about the world, I want to explore more," Matt raises his sword to the sky.   "I will follow Matt to explore the world too," Natalie rubs her fingers together, making Lance and Sunset look at her with that look of admiration. "What does that look mean? I want to beat Sunset in magic," Natalie says with a jealous tone, making Sunset laugh.  "Silly," Sunset waves her hoof to deny, "You can win me anytime you want." That sentence makes Natalie's face red like a tomato. "Could you please calm down, or-" Sunset takes out the wooden staff, "I will knock you out in the most violent way possible," Natalie's face turns pale immediately, "Honestly, I don't know what to do when I complete this journey." Sunset closes her eye and sighs.   "When I complete this journey, I decide to go to the military to improve my skill," Lance takes out the coffee flour and a cup, "In your case, Sunset, you can be a teacher." Sunset deadpanned when hearing that sentence, "What? You can lie to everyone that you are a robot, not biology stuff," "Like if I can -" Sunset gets cut off when a hand pats her shoulder.  Turn her head behind, she sees Eldaro standing behind her. Eldaro joins the campfire along with Sabrina, they sit around the Team.   "Sorry for disturbing you, but what are you discussing," Eldaro puts some food material into the soup pot, "and I can punish Matt for stealing my food storage," Matt turns his head away from Eldaro and whistles.   "Well, just a small discussion about the something," Sunset creates a dragon fire, "Hope that you don't mind,"   "I don't mind," Eldaro start taking the food to the bowl, "At least this dimension pocket spell is the thing I like most,"   "Geez, Eldaro. You really don't know how to make others laugh," Sabrina takes out the boomerang, "Anyway, you can teach some of the magic for our school, Black Mage."  "No, thanks. And why am I suddenly changed into that title?" Sunset stares at Sabrina, "Did you just talk to anyone about something?"   "Why should I care about that?" Sabrina grins, "That title is my people's gift for you," Sunset facehoofs.  "Fine, maybe I should accept that," Sunset points at the Hydra, "At least my appearance is not revealed yet."   "Someday," Sabrina points at Sunset, "I will make your secret being revealed."   Sunset waves her staff for disagreeing, "No and no," then she plugs the staff on the ground, "Anyway, I just wondering what will I do when I complete this journey."   "Like I say, being our teacher," Sabrina eats the soup while waving her left hand to invite Sunset, "You can be our professor of magic. Don't worry, I will pay you a good salary,"  "Still a no, I am rather free to research the magic without anyone's control," Sunset continues to eat the soup, "Besides what point to keep a dangerous mage like me?"  Sabrina tries to deny, "Nonsense, you are not dangerous. That just our people scared of you," she takes out a notebook, "but you don't care that fame anyway, we just want to -" Sabrina is going to push more to persuade Sunset but Eldaro puts his hand in front of Sabrina and shakes his head. Sabrina nods her head for understanding.   Eldaro says, "You four should go back to the campsite. You are going to go inside that portal tomorrow anyway, right?" he points at the portal, "You should have full energy to take on the demon. Don't worry, I will support you as far as I can," The trio goes back to the tent but Sunset still stays at the tent.  "Well, maybe I should stay here a little longer," Sunset rubs her head, "Because... I don't know anything about this country." Eldaro facepalms, while Sabrina grins.   Sabrina is going to talk but Eldaro puts his hand to her mouth, make her silent. Eldaro starts eating the soup as Sabrina glares at him.   "Fine, I will summarize as short as you can." Eldaro drinks some water, " Make sure that you don't get confused about this."   "Please do," Sunset rubs her head.   History of Earth(en) Four hundred years ago, a dictatorial king was ruling the country named Valar. He implemented a corvée system. His focus was to build the military at the expense of all else. Because of this, starvation gripped the people. They tried to find a way to escape this country to go abroad for a better life. But whenever people tried to leave the country, they would get executed by him.  Having enough governance from him, many people rise up and fight against his military and government. Many revolutions were broken out to take over his kingdom and government. But many have failed, from father to son, warriors to master, down to all their ancestors. All effort has been futile. Everyone is in despair, the countries become chaos.  But two people, a man, and a woman, both were trying to free the people in the land. For they both sort of purpose is to free the land. One is for the promise, another one is for the people. As they both created a final revolution, they decided to fight against the king, whatever the cost.   Thirty years of the revolution, many soldiers have sacrificed, many bloods have shred but with the iron will, all the cost is worth it. The revolution was successful. After the revolution, the mysterious man disappeared, leaving the woman to rule the kingdom alone and open a peaceful era until now.    "... So, what is the first queen name?" Sunset rubs her chin to confused    "Her name is Aria and she is known as the Master of the dark spells," Sabrina eats the soup, "And she has a weird way to choose the next ruler though. And that way still applies until now."  Sunset asks, "So what is that test?"  "National secret," Sabrina shakes her head "I won't spoil this thing,"      "Okay, I want to ask another thing," Sunset takes the food, "You know who that man is?" Eldaro sighs, "There is no information about that man, he did not even reveal himself when leading the revolution," Eldaro takes out the book, "But some of the records said, "When the revolution over, the man reveals as a white dragon and fly away," Sunset has taken back by this, she is surprised, "But some say he just a person who wants to free the land, so when he the revolution success, he completes his mission. Then he blends into the people and starts the retired life," Eldaro flips the page. "But whatever he is, whoever he is, the people still know his name, and his name is Whitty. What a strange name, huh?"    "So... that's why your country's flag is the dragon symbol right?" Sunset asks with a nervous tone.   "Correct, see that flag." Sabrina points at the flag that has a dragon in a shield decoration, "It is our ensign. to remember that man who leads the revolution, and to show the strength of our country and show that we want peace."   "I see,... " Sunset stands up, "Sorry, I feel tired now. See you tomorrow," She goes back to with a lot of questions with Whitty.  "What's wrong with her?" Sabrina turns to Eldaro and he simply shakes his head for have no idea    Sunset goes to the sleeping tent with a lot of questions about the dragon. On the way to the sleeping tent, she got cheered by many people around but she doesn't care about that. Sleeping tent By the time Sunset enters the sleeping tent, the trio of her team is already asleep, make her smile at them. Sunset sighs and takes a spot carefully, casting a spell to make sure that no one can take off her hat and coat. Lies down and inhales, she is ready and closes her eyes. Inside Sunset's body   Sunset opens her eyes and looks around, she sees a familiar dragon head is on her belly and sleeping. Sunset rolls her eyes and starts poking the dragon to make the dragon awake.  "Why did you put your head on my belly?" Sunset asks, and the dragon smirks, "That is not your pillow,"  "Because I like it, that's all."    Sunset sighs, "Fine, I can't stop you anyway," Sunset start to look at the dragon eye and asks, " I ask you something,"   "What is it? Is that some kind of new "spell" that you just discovered?" Whitty teases, making Sunset roll her eyes.  "Not a magic question this time," Sunset waves her hoof to show deny, "I just ask you about you and this country,"   "Meh, I just live in this country for one hundred years ." Whitty lies, "Nothing special about me and this country anyway."  "Then why is your name printed in history books?" Sunset says in a hard tone, making Whitty's eyes widen. "Did you lead a thirty-year revolution for a promise, right?" Whitty turns his head away from Sunset. "Don't be like that, Eldaro and Sabrina just told me the history of their country, and your name is marked as a legend. Any excuse?"   "So you know many things right?" Whitty turns  his head to Sunset, "And bet that you want to know more?"   "Please do. I just want to know more about you." Sunset's sentence makes Whitty smile.   "I see, then you have to do this thing," Whitty stands up and takes a walk away from Sunset a distance, "You have to defeat me," Whitty raises his wings, "And show me you will defeat me again,"  Sunset hears that and she starts standing up by two back hooves, she knows that he is not joking and takes out the wooden staff, "Hope that you are ready,"   Whitty breathes a fireball to Sunset. Sunset teleports to dodge. Whitty keeps breathing the fireball to Sunset, Sunset keeps teleporting to dodge his fireballs and her staff is on fire. Whitty sees that as Sunset teleports again, he waves his claw behind him and manages to block the "Wyvern Slash" from Sunset without looking. Sunset's eyes widen as Whitty grins at her. "I will win this battle." > Fight against the dragon. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset teleports out of the grasp of the Dragon. She is now standing opposite the dragon and in the battle stance.  "If you think you can defeat me again, you are wrong," Whitty charges Sunset to slash her with his claw, Sunset blocks it by her staff. He uses another claw to slash her but blocked by Sunset's front hoof, the claw slashes her front hoof makes her bleed. Sunset is taken back from this, Whitty grins at her and keeps charging to slash her, Sunset has to dodge the slashes while she is chanting. Whitty sees that and uses his finger to touch her neck, make Sunset feel something strange.   Sunset is trying to chant the spell but her mouth doesn't allow her to do that, she can't produce any sound while chanting. She looks back at Whitty with an angry stare while Whitty smirks at her. Sunset rushes at him and uses "Wyvern Slash" on him but Whitty just grabs the staff and takes the fire like nothing. Sunset facehoofs at that because she forgot that the dragon can bathe lava. Whitty delivers Sunset a punch at her belly, sending her flying backward while he is still holding her staff.  Sunset tries to get up as Whitty breaks the staff. Sunset glares at him and takes out another staff, this staff has two crystals that attract two heads.  Whitty's claw glowing purple and black, "I thought you never stole anything."  Sunset spins the shining rod, " Sorry but this thing is... eh.... "   "Fail excuse," Whitty slams the claw on the ground and many dark chains appear around and rush at Sunset. Sunset jumps up to dodge the chains. The chains keep coming at her, Sunset teleports away to dodge, then swings the shining rod to block the chain, but the chains keep coming, and finally, it surrounds Sunset. Whitty sees that and smiles, but a light shining inside and all the chains step aside from her. Sunset rushes at Whitty and spins the staff, Whitty quickly creates a dark shield to block it. Sunset thrusts the shining rod against the shield. After a moment, Whitty manages to push Sunset back and make his chains following her. Sunset spins herself to keep her balance. When she sees the chains are coming to her, she teleports above Whitty and thrust the staff to him. Whitty quickly blocks it by the dark shield, Sunset sees that and drags the staff into a circle as Whitty can't see it due to the dark shield.   "Why do I feel the shield is being drawn by something," Whitty decides to keep the shield up despite the shield's lack of sight.    When Sunset finishes the circle, Sunset sees the chain is coming. She quickly jumps up to dodge and thrusts the shining rod into the center of the circle, the circle is shining and it starts to shoot "Light arrow" into the dark shield. Whitty feels the shield is cracking and he knows that this shield can't hold it anymore. He decides to dispel the shield and jump out of the way of the "Light arrow ". He sees that Sunset is using that spell again so he grins. The 'ray' of "Light arrow" is chasing him and Whitty just dodges it until Sunset drains out the mana.   Sunset put her left front hoof to the circle, the circle stop shooting, much to Whitty's surprise. Then she draws a circle to overwrite the previous circle and throw it to Whitty. The circles start glowing spikes and spin with high speed. Whitty rolls forward to dodge the circle. The circle is plugged into the wall then disappears.   "Even if you can't chant the spell, you still fight well." Whitty takes out a red sword, "I should fight stronger than that," Then he rushes at Sunset and swings the sword to slash her. Sunset blocks the swing; Whitty drops the sword as it disappears after it touches the ground, then he uses his claw to slash Sunset. Sunset manages to dodge the slash, then she spins around and uses "Wyvern Slash" to Whitty, Whitty dodges it but suddenly a big dragon wing is coming his way. Not having enough time to react, he tries to dodge it but the spell slashes his chest, leaving a scar on it.   Whitty grunts as he sees his blood is dripping on his chest, he uses a healing spell to stop the blood dripping. He uses a wind spell and makes it around him, then the spell disappears, making Sunset confusing. Whitty inhales and kneels down.  Then he snaps his finger and an explosion behind him. He rushes at Sunset with a speed of sound, making Sunset have no time to react. Then he punches at her chest, sends Sunset flying backward to the wall, makes Sunset cough some blood.  "What is that speed?" Sunset thinks as Whitty snaps his finger, then he rushes at Sunset and locks her neck against the wall. Whitty smiles about this.   "Give up yet?" Whitty asks as Sunset swings her "Wyvern Slash" at him. Whitty smirks and snaps his finger, he runs back far from her. Sunset sees this and a theory comes to her mind. She inhales and puts her hoof on the wall if her theory is right. Whitty grins and snaps his finger again, he rushes at her to punch her, making sure that Sunset will be knocked out. By the time he delivers a punch at Sunset's spot, he is surprised that Sunset isn't there, then he sees an ice hammer is coming his way. He tries to snap the finger but it does not create the sound, he looks back and sees this claw is wet. No time to react, the hammer strikes his face, sends Whitty flying backward, and makes him lie on the ground. Sunset forces to kneel down because of the punch and dispel the ice hammer. She breathes heavily, leans her back to the wall, and looks at the dragon. She is sure that Whitty can't be knocked down like that. The white dragon gets himself up and rubs his chin, he looks at Sunset. He wonders how she can dodge that attack, but he thinks that she is lucky then he snaps the finger again; he rushes to the Sunset with the speed of sound and use his claw to slash Sunset. Once again, Sunset is not at her spot, then Sunset punches the dragon with the ice-covered front hoof, sending Whitty to fly backward again. Whitty gets up but still doesn't understand how she does it. He feels the buff is gone, and he feels good about this.  "You're still unpredictable as usual," Whitty teases her, making Sunset glared at him. Sunset closes her eyes and inhales, she covers the shining rods with a water aura. Whitty sees that and covers himself with a fire aura, then the duo stare at each other. After a moment, Whitty and Sunset start rushing at each other. Meanwhile in Tactic tent  Eldaro and Sabrina come back to the Tactic tent. By the time they go into the tent, Eldaro takes a seat and looks at Sabrina.   "I know why you want Sunset, but this is not the time," Eldaro takes a cup and makes tea, "And you know that she is not going to agree anyway, why should you want to have her?"   "Come on, Eldaro," Sabrina takes a seat near the table, "I don't want  a mage like that in the hand of other countries, she will help us a lot."  "Look, why don't you find someone like her?" Eldaro waves his hand in front of his face, "I am sure that she will deny and I won't help you to recruit her," Sabrina glared at him, "Don't stare at me like that, I won't help you."   "Fine, you got me,"   "Good, how is my suggestion?" Eldaro slams the table, "I want to know right now."   "The first and second suggestions are going smoothly, but the third one is hard. Only twenty percent of our people agree to do the migration,"   "I see. Just keep coming. Just keep coming in five days."   "Are you sure about this? Our King didn't understand why you suggested these?" Sabrina points at the capital city, "The King is setting Lavita city is stronger than others city," Eldaro nods as Sabrina circles all of the cities on the map, "All of the cities will have the same defense level."   "Good, we will wait for the reinforcement," Eldaro start going out of the tent, "Now, I just want to sleep,"   Sabrina nods, "Me too," Then she goes out of the tent to her own sleeping tent and yawn. "Good night, Eldaro," She waves her arm to him.   "Good night," Eldaro waves back and comes to his own tent.   Inside Sunset's body The duo has been fighting for nearly two hours but no one wins. The pony and dragon are trying to stand with the heavy bruise, they are now very tired but no one will back down. Sunset is holding a flaming shining cane, while Whitty's claws have some lighting. He strikes the lighting into Sunset. Sunset takes the lighting, then she raises her front hoof and the lighting comes back to Whitty. Whitty dodges aside and tries to create a dark chain. Sunset rushes at him to prevent him from creating the chain but too late. The chain has appeared and Sunset teleports far from him. Sunset breathes heavily, she feels her vision became blurry due to her tiredness. She shakes her head to make her vision become clear. But she is tripped by Whitty's chain, make her fall to the ground. Whitty casts a spell, a magic circle appears under Sunset. Sunset tries to stand up but the chains from the circle already wrap her up. Whitty uses his claw to slam to the ground, make Sunset electrocute. After a while, she faints. Whitty comes near to her to check that if she fainted or not. Then he takes Sunset's unconscious body and hugs her close. Two hours later Sunset opens her eyes and finds that her front hooves are not moving. Look back, she sees that her front hoofs are tied behind her back by a chain. She turns to the white dragon, who currently puts his head on her belly.   "You know, you don't have to tie me like this when you want to do that, pervert dragon." Sunset glared at him.  "Meh, I like you in this state more," Whitty teases, making her look at him like she wants to punch him for real, "Okay, fine fine. But I won’t release you."   "Wow," Sunset sighs, "Fine, I lost anyway,"   "Well, you accept?" Whitty asks and Sunset nods, "Honestly, you really are a moral warrior. I like that."   "I lost, remember?"   "Lost but still make me miserable," Whitty's face close to Sunset's face, "I don't know how you dodge my buff spell,"  "Well... Let's see... When I saw that you had to snap your finger to increase your speed and explosion when you rush at me. I put my theory that you are one with the sound," Sunset turns her head away from Whitty's head, "So, I put my hoof to the wall, and its work for instance," Sunset turns her head to Whitty, as his eyes widen because of surprised, "Because I know the sound travels fast in solid texture."   "You know," Whitty rolls his eyes, "That requires the user must have a fast reaction," His finger circles Sunset's belly, "If I don't want to say is monster,"   "Maybe training teleports increase my reaction speed," Sunset feels weird when Whitty's finger circles her belly, "But I feel that is not enough for me, do you have any suggestions?"  "You should train harder than this," Whitty kisses Sunset's forehead, "I just want you to be stronger and stronger,"   The kiss makes Sunset stoned because this is the first time she receives a kiss from a dragon. She quickly shakes her head while blushing so hard. She inhales and breathes out, and manages to asks him.   "So....  I think that I will never know your past," Sunset leans into Whitty's hold, "What a shame !"  "Don't need to worry about that," Whitty rubs her neck, "You have fought well, so I will tell you about my past." > The past of the dragon (1) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three hundred years ago, somewhere in Hella country "We did it, We finally did it," A black, straight hair woman wearing a black shirt in a white coat and black jeans, is shouting, " Honey, we did it, we finally create a new biological creature," the woman is hugging a black-haired man, he wears a white shirt in the white coat and a blue trouser, "I thought we will fail again, but now we success. I can't believe it," The woman's tears fell down because of the joy. "Yeah, we did it, Jane," The man hugs his wife tight, "After twenty years of research, we finally succeeded," He turns his head to the little white dragon in the test tube, "But what will we do with it?" "I don't know, Alex," Jane turns her head away from her husband, and take a seat, "How about we take care of it like our child," "Are you crazy? It - " Alex points his finger at the dragon, "- Is not a human, how can you be sure it is as intelligent as us?" "But I don't know what to do," Jane takes out the paper, "we can't have kids, you know? I'm struggling to decide whether we should divorce or not here," Jane looks at the dragon, "But to see your research, I hope that I have a chance to have a kid. So I am just with you because of this." "You... You are so selfish, don't you? How can you be sure that something is intelligent like us? If it is just at an animal intelligence level, I'm sure we will waste time in the future." Jane slams a table and stands up, "But we haven't tried yet, have we? If we train him as a human, we will have a kid like others." "Are you even listening to me? I strongly disagree with this, are you sure it will not kill us in the future? For me, I'm not sure." Then the couple keeps arguing for fifteen minutes, making the white dragon wake up. The first thing he saw is a man and a woman bickering together, he opens his mouth and says "Mom? Dad?". The couple stoned and turned their heads to the dragon, "Mom... Dad..." the couple kneel down and hug each other, their tears are falling down because "I... I don't know Jane, But it's just..." Jane puts her hands in front of her face and crying, " Call us Mom and Dad," "We all hear that, Jane," Alex hugs his wife tight, "We all hear that," Then he helps Jane up, " Come on, get up and we will name this child of ours." "You... Do you agree to take care of him?" Jane asks in shock, Alex nods, Jane comes close to the dragon and lifts him up, "Aww, he has a tough scale," He raises his claw and wants to hug his mom, Jane lets him hug her, his scale is warm, making her want to melt into it. "You should hug him, honey." Alex picks him up and turns the dragon to face him, his blue eyes keep staring at Alex, making Alex want to cuddle him. "Yeah, he is so cute," the dragon hugs Alex, making him surprised. "I think he likes you," Jane giggles, making Alex groan, the dragon hugs Alex's neck and sleeps. "Aww... he really likes you, and you get a dragon coat," Jane teases her husband. "You always bully me, Jane," Alex waves his hand to shoo Jane away, "But I admit that he is warm." "So what will we name him?" Alex goes to the stairs to get out, "How about we name him Whitty?" He puts his hand to the doorknob, and opens the door, "I just think that name is fit for him." Jane quickly follows her husband, "Hey, wait for me," Jane walks beside Alex, "And I think that name is good for him." "Then you agree," Alex is walking beside his wife, "Don't you think it will be fun to take care of a child," "It will be fun~," Jane says with a seductive tone in front of Alex, make him rolls his eyes Ten years later At the house in the deep of the Pipewood Jungle, there is a wooden house have a couple and a child. "Mom, Dad. Look at this," Whitty runs to the living room and shows his big fireball to his parents, "I have a big fireball here," He spins the fireball. Jane and Alex shake their heads and sigh, they know their dragon is bigger now but still a child. "So, how is it?" "It's good," Alex looks at Jane to give her a signal, "But please don't do the fire spell in the house like that, ok?" Whitty says in a sad tone, his eyes stare down the floor, "Okay... I will do the different spells. I won't do the fire spell anymore," Alex smiles at him and pats his head, "Just don't do it in our house, but you can do it outside," "Really?" Whitty hops in joy, "I want to train my magic to better," Whitty rushes outside the house. Alex and Jane sigh and smile, "He is really like magic, isn't he?" Jane pour some tea for her husband, "I like him when he has a hobby," "I should take care of him more," Alex sips a little of tea, "I want him to have a happy life, even if he is not human," Alex put the cup down, "I quit researching because he is our child and not an animal," Then he takes out a book of magic, "I should know him more by this," "I know, right?" Jane giggles, "I thought you don't care about magic," Jane kisses his cheek. "You know, since we created this dragon, I have quit researching about biology stuff and focus on magic." Alex sips his tea, "I like magic more now. Don't change my mind." "I won't," Jane sits on his lap, "I also love you more." She kisses his lip. "You can stop now, Jane," Alex put the book in Jane's face, making her huff, "You should focus on magic like we do while we are still researching biological life and how to create it," Jance nods in agreement. "We should," Jane taps her finger to her chin, "but what will we research which way of magic? There are so many ways of magic." Jane sighs, "And magic is abandoned in this country, I don't know how we can get the document of them?" "Don't worry honey, I have a friend who always collects magic documents." Alex closes the book and shows her, "And this is the copy of the original books, he always gives anyone free if they truly want to learn it or research it." Jane nods, "Okay, here's the thing, we will start researching." Alex waves his hand and smirks, "I already do that when Whitty is one year old." that makes Jane's cheek somehow inflated, "What? You think I didn't care about him? Anyway, I hope our dragon is fine," "I will check him outside, don't worry." Jane is walking outside to check her dragon. --------Outside-------- Whitty tries to create an ice spear but it fails, "Aww... fail again," He lies down on the ground due to boredom after failing too many times. " I don't know much about magic. Maybe Mom and Dad can help me with this," He stands up and goes to the house. Whitty opens the door and goes to go in but he hears someone in the bush. "Who's there?" He turns his head at the sound and sees someone in the brush. He steps closer to the brush with a large fireball in his hand. A shadow comes out of the brush and runs away from him, "Hey, come back here," Whitty chases the shadow. After five minutes of chasing, Whitty manages to catch the dark figure, "Now, let's see who are you?". Whitty tries to reveal the dark figure, much as the figures struggle. " You better show me your face," Whitty raises his claws to tear the coat out, revealing a purple and white-haired girl. "Mon- monster, please don't eat me,.." says the girl while she is shaking due to she so scared of Whitty's appearance. "Eh.... who is a monster here?" Whitty kneels down to the girl, "I'm not a monster, I'm just a --" Whitty rubs his head, "I don't know, but I am not going to hurt you," "Like if I believe that," The girl quickly took the wooden pole on the ground and pointed at the dragon, " You and your claw can tear me anytime you want," The girl is still grabbing the pole but her hand is still shaking. "Look, if I want to kill you, I do it right now," Whitty still scratching his head, "No need to wait for you to talk like this," The girl stands there and thinks for a moment, "Fine," The girl sighs and throws away the wooden pole, "I think I can trust you," Then the girl sits on the rock, "I am talking with a monster, I think I am crazy now." "Can you stop calling me a monster?" Whitty sits opposite the girl on the rock, "I am feeling annoyed here," "Fine, then what's your name?" "Whitty, my name is Whitty," "My name is Aria, nice to meet you," The girl turns her head away Whitty, and huffs. " Nice to meet you, too." Whitty stands up and turns the way to his home, "I got to go. Nice to meet you here." "Hey,... " Aria calls and Whitty turns his head to her, "Can... Can I come back here? I promise that I won't tell to anyone," Whitty smiles, "Sure, you can come here anytime you want," Whitty goes back to his home and waves goodbye to Aria. Aria is stoned for a bit a moment, then shakes her head and slaps her cheeks to see if she is dreaming or not. When she looks around, she sees nothing until the white dragon has appeared in front of her, making her fall on the ground. "Sorry, I dropped my book," Whitty picks up his book on the ground, "See you again," Aria smiles as she knows what she is seeing is real, She waves her hand back to Whitty to say goodbye. Whitty comes back home with a fun whistle. On the way back home, he meets his mom. "What is so funny? You meet something fun," Jane grabs Whitty's claw and walks with him. Whitty looks back at the ways he just meets Aria and smiles, "No, nothing. Just some conversation with some animal," He lies as his mother laughs. Jane pinches his cheeks, "Don't be silly. Animal can't talk," Whitty rubs his head, " Yeah, I know but I try to interact with them," Jane pats his head and lifts him up to her shoulder, making him feel embarrassed and struggling to get out. After a moment of struggle, Whitty finally gives up as his mother carries him home.   ----- The next day, outside the house------ Whitty is forming an ice spear, "Come on, come on..." He tries to form the spell and he finally succeeds, "Yes, I did it," But the ice spear doesn't exist long and it melts into the water seconds later. "Ah... I don't know how to hold the spell longer," Then he lies on the ground. As Whitty turns around, he sees a hand appear in the bush and wave for him. Whitty comes near that bush and sees Aria in there. His eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, I don't think you will come back," Whitty goes into the bush, "So, what are you doing here?" "Just see if you are real or not," Aria turns her head away Whitty, she feels a pinch to her cheek, "Ouch. Hey, what are you doing?" "Eh... just wake you up," Whitty earns a smack from Aria, "Okay, okay, I'm just teasing you." "Anyway, are you learning magic?" asks Aria, Whitty nods, "yeah, I have some trouble with magic too." Aria sighs, "Because my magic is mainly darkness. People around me don't like dark magic, so they try to teach me other elements but... I can't make it clear so my family hates me. They hate me and tell me I am a failure of the family." "Oh, so... you must be in some rich family," "My family is the Draco family, the family can master many elements but they really hate the dark element. My family is in the honor of the king, Valar." Aria sits down and sighs, "I just want to abandon this dark element, but... I can't. I feel so useless." Aria put her down to the ground, "At least you don't give up and keep going," Whitty smiles at her as Aria lifts her head up to him, "You're just like me. You see I am not a human like you. Sometimes, I wish I were a human to see the world around me but... I can't do anything. My parents said I am created by them." Whitty hugs Aria, makes her face red, " But you know, no matter if I am created or not. My parents still love me like a human." Then he earns a slap from Aria. "Ouch, that's hurt." "Then stop hugging me suddenly like that," Aria takes a deep breath and calm her down, "But you know, I'm afraid that people will hunt you down to do the experiment when you appear." Aria pats Whitty's back, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," ".... Okay... I should keep my training continues," Whitty stands up, "I don't want to be lazy," "Hey..." Aria shouts, Whitty turns around. "Eh... can I train with you?" Aria rubs her head, "I can train with you until three p.m, and also we will teach each other about magic." "Sure," Whitty smiles at her, "Let's do it." ----Inside the house----- Alex is sitting in the research room, which is filled with magic books and information. He tries to find the best way to research but even the basics are complicated. He leans his back to the chair and thinks, then he hears the knock, making him fall out of the chair. Jane rushes into the room to see what happens. "You ok, honey?" Jane helps her husband to stand up, "I found that you are struggling to find the way to teach Whitty, right?" "Yeah, " Alex gets up and show Jane a book, "Even if this is a basic spellbook, it doesn't show anything about how to cast it," Then Alex takes another book, "And this is the explanation book about mana, it really stupid. I can't believe that this book is sold in the marketplace. Take a look at this." "Okay, let me see," Jane opens the book. The mana of the person is decided when that person was born. We were born with different mana capabilities and no way to increase that. Depending on the ways they were born, they were ranked on many levels. The lowest is F and the highest is S. The lowest rank will be hard to cast the advanced spells, and the highest rank can cast two or three spells in combat. "Wait, this is wrong in the beginning," Jane looks at her husband, "We used to do many experiments on monsters about their mana capabilities, right?" Jane rubs her head, "I don't remember which experiments because it takes so long not to study them." "Yeah, let me search our information research," Alex walks to the table and pulls out the drawer to take the previous research papers, "Here, we used to use two same monsters but in a different environment, one is not training and one is training until out of their mana every day." Alex gives his wife the paper, "Here, we already do on many monsters." Jane looks at the comparison papers and nods, "I see, the one training until out of their mana every day has more mana capabilities." and Jane flip the papers, "And more mana controlling, which is we already have the conclusion that no control, the owner will be crazy," Alex nods, "Yeah, but I don't know much about elements of magic, because monsters already have one element. Some of them can have two but that is the different environment. We can't have the conclusion to this," "Well, Whitty can already cast fire spells and ice spells out there," Jane points at the windows, "How about we teach him an electric spell. Maybe we will reach a conclusion and we can make him stronger." Alex thinks for a moment then he nods, "I agree, but don't push him so hard, ok?" Jane nods to show that she agrees, "Okay, we will train him in the afternoon and push him until he is out of mana." "... That's cruel you know?" "I know, but if he agrees. If not, don't push him." says Alex, "You should call him here. We will talk about this." Alex sits on the chair, "Oh wait, he is training in about two hours right now." Jane nods and goes out to find Whitty. -------Outside--------- After two hours of training, the duo is out of mana. They are lying on the ground and breathing heavily. "Wow, I didn't know you were really good at the dark spells, "Whitty says between breaths, "So, want to see me tomorrow?" "Sure, I'd love that," Aria stands up and starts to go back to her house, "I will see you tomorrow, see ya." Then she uses a crystal to teleport back to her house. Whitty smiles, gets up, and goes back to his home. On the way to go back home, he meets his mother and waves his claw, "Hi mom, what are you doing here?" Whitty walks beside his mother. "Well, we will have to discuss something in our house," "Oh, then we should go fast to go back home." Jane nods, "Okay, let go." ---------Inside-------- Whitty and Jane open the door and see Alex is sitting to wait for them. Alex says, "Now, take a seat and we will start to discuss," Jane and Whitty nod, they take chairs to sit beside Alex, "Now Whitty, I want to ask you a question." "What is it, dad?" Whitty rubs his head, "Did I do something wrong?" Jane and Alex giggle, "No, no. You didn't," Alex and Jane stare at each other and nod, "Well, we just want to train you with magic." Whitty hops up with joy, "Really?" His parents nod, "I thought I will train my magic alone," Alex raises his hand to stop him. "Look, we don't have any experience of fighting. We just collect the information of your training to make the best training for you." Jane put her face near Whitty's face. "Meaning, you have to drain all of your mana every day." "I think I can do it," Whitty smiles at them, "Well, this is good for my training magic." "Oh, Whitty," Jane and Alex bear hug Whitty, making him struggle to breathe, "I thought you will deny this thing." "Can't.... breathe," Jane and Alex release him, making him breathe fast. Then they all laugh together. "All right, tomorrow we will start training." Whitty nods. Eight years later "Come on Aria. Is that what you got?" Whitty says as he is dodging Aria's dark claw, "You can do better than this," Whitty's taunts make Aria's face red in anger. "If I got you, you will die with me," Aria raises her dark spear to strike Whitty but Whitty uses two fingers to strike her wrist to disarm her. Her arm is stunned, much to Aria's surprise. Then Whitty strikes her legs to make Aria fall down, then gets up her body and slams the wooden pole near Aria's face. Aria huffs. "You really don't know how to treat a girl? Right?" Aria turns her face away to Whitty, "You should know how to treat a girl, or else you will never have a girlfriend." "That would happen if I were a human?" Whitty gets off Aria's body, "Look at me, I am a lizard full of scale and have wings and tail. And a girl told me that I should have a girlfriend." Whitty turns his face to Aria. "You think that works?" "Fair enough," Aria gets up, "But at least you should know how to treat a girl." "Well, I will treat a girl nicely if that girl is not named "Aria", because that girl sounds... dark." Whitty received a slam from Aria. "You and I have been training every day since we first met eight years ago." Aria points a finger at Whitty, "And I already showed you how my house and my life were three years ago." "Yeah, I saw that." Whitty rubs his head, "But... I have already seen your family hanging people. And that time made me nearly vomit. Where is the king when his people need his support?" Aria sighs, "I don't know. When I came to find the king, I didn't see him." Aria put her hand to her chin, "My family always goes to the luxury party. They don't care about the people who are suffering from starvation, who are trying to work day by day with a poor salary." "I bet that you take a lot of trips to go outside your luxury house, right?" Aria nods, "I take many trips to go outside. Even when I go outside for a week, my parents and brothers don't even ask me how I am or even look at me to see if I'm fine or not. All I received is... their cold stare. Like if I do not exist." Aria stares down the ground, "Sometimes I just don't want to live anymore, sometimes I curse myself that why I have the dark spells," Then she pats Whitty back, "But lucky that I meet you, an abnormal eh... I don't know what to call." "Choose your word carefully Aria," ``Whitty laughs, "or else you will be teased by me more." "Geez, I don't know you like to tease me that much," Whitty replies, "Because you are an easy target." Aria rolls her eyes. "Fine. Hey, want to come to Mist Town? Adel makes some new art from there." Aria takes out a crystal, "I got a teleport crystal to go there." "Then, how can I go home? My parents won't let me live if I go home late." "Don't worry, I draw a magic circle near your house," Aria points at the magic circle, "Don't worry, I have a spell to teleport back to your house." "Okay, you got me," Whitty takes the dark cloak and black clothes to cover all of the ------ Mist Town ----- The duo has teleported to the Mist Town to see Adel's art. What they didn't expect is a flaming town with many people lie on the ground and dying. Aria and Whitty rush into the town to see if anyone is alive. "Wh - what happens?" Whitty checks a corpse, he is still disgusted when sees the corpse. When he flips the corpse, he sees a hole in the chest. "He gets shot by a gun," He turns to Aria, "Meaning someone destroy this town." Aria steps back as she didn't believe that. As she steps back, she sees a medal that has an eagle symbol, the eagle has one staff and one gun at its wings. "Th- this is a king symbol, " She panics to see the medal, "Then why the king destroys this town. It makes no sense." "How did you know this is a king symbol?" "Because I saw his army before. Every soldier have this medal on their uniform," "I see, we should go around and see if anyone is still alive," suggests Whitty as Aria nods. The duo wanders around the flaming town to see if anyone is still alive or not. When they search in a destroyed house, they hear someone calling for help behind them. The duo turn their heads around and see a green-haired man is heavily injured. "Adel," Aria shouts as she helps him to lay on the ground, "Oh god, you are injured," "Let me help him," Whitty's claw is glowing green and he puts the claw on Adel's chest. Adel feels his wound is being treated as he looks at Whitty, "Thanks, I thought I will die here," " What happens here?" Aria take out the king's medal, "And why the king attack this town," "I don't know," Adel panics, "I actually don't know why they do that. All I heard at that time was that this town had violated the death rule and they came here to execute us," Adel grinds his teeth, "I can't believe that they do that when the town does nothing wrong." "Why did they come here? They do not simply slaughter all of the people like this," Whitty turns his head to Adel, "They must have another purpose." "Yeah, I think I heard that they will go to Pipewood Jungle," Adel looks at the sky to remember, "I think they find someone named Alex and Jean," Whitty and Aria's eyes widen when they hear it. "And they just started to search them," Aria thinks a bit, "I will carry you to a safer place," Aria takes the man without problem, "Come on Whitty, we need to go back to your house," Whitty nods, "We should go as fast as we can," And then they rush to Whitty's house to save Alex and Jane. > The past of the dragon (2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----Inside Whitty's house----  "Yes, I finally completed the theory." Alex raises both ar in excitement. "After these years, I am finally making the theory of magic simpler,"   "Good to know, honey." Jane put the cup of tea on the table. "I hope this theory is the evolution of magic," Jane kiss his cheek, "I thought that you are crazy when you want to research the basics of magic,"   "Oh, I didn't explain why I concentrate on the basics of mana right?" Alex turns his head to Jane as Jane nods, "Sorry... I forgot to explain," He sips the tea, "The reason I research the basics of mana has two things. First, everything advanced is always starting from basic, and this previous basic is very complex to the one who wants to learn magic, so I have to make it easy as possible," Alex stands up and walk to the window to see outside, "Second thing is everything about magic and element in this world is from mana. I still study elements to see how we can make it easier to understand but the element of magic is more complex than I thought."   "I see...  So that's why you focus on basic, right," Jane picks up the tea while Alex nods, "So... Will you continue to research?"   "Maybe I will -" Alex is going to say something but stops when he sees the king's soldier, "Shit... The king's army," Jane's eyes widen as Alex pulls the drawer to take out a can have some kind of a ring attached to it, "You come down the basement and open the tunnel immediately,"    A soldier of the kings comes to the door and knocks on the door. Jane quickly comes down to the basement while Alex quickly comes to the door and hides the can behind the back.   "Oh... sorry for being late." Alex opens the door as he tries to act surprised. "Oh sorry, what are you doing here sir. I do nothing wrong," Alex says with a smile.  "You are Alex, right?" says the masked soldier who wears a black camouflage and is carrying a rifle   "Yes, I am." Alex nods, "Please come in, you must be tired when you come here."      The soldier nods. "Oh right, I am quite tired now." The soldier waves his hand to let two other soldiers come into the house, then they sit down on the sofa, while Alex makes some tea. After a moment, Alex comes out and puts the cups of tea on the table.  "Here you go," Alex says.   "Thank you. Now sit down and we have something to discuss." The soldier commands Alex and she sits down, "So where is Jane, Dr. Alex? I thought you two are a couple,"   "My wife is currently outside right now. She will come back soon." Alex sips his tea. "So, what are you doing here? I quit researching biology stuff."   "I'm here to announce an important thing." The soldier flicks her head to command her soldiers to pull the curtain to make sure that no one can look inside. "The king has commanded us to bring you and your wife back alive."  the soldier points the gun to Alex's head. "And I think that you should die because of your research," Alex stares at the soldier without looking away while his thumb is prepared to pull the ring out. The soldier put the gun down, "Looks like you're really tough right?"  "I don't have any regret in my life," Alex lies, " I rather die than come back to that place,"  "Don't lie to me," The soldier smirks, "The main reason that the king wants you back is you have created a new creature. But he didn't know what creature you had created."   "What do you want?" The soldier turns on the headphone and points the gun on the roof. Alex is confused about this. The soldier shoots on the roof. Her teammate hears from this headphone and says, "What happens there? Report,"  The soldier shouts to her headphones, "We are taking heavy fire in Dr. Alex's house, he has a machine gun and I need resistance."   "Mark the position then hold them down. Make sure that they don't get away. "  Then the soldier shuts down the headphones and pulled them out. The other soldiers do it so. "So, you will be stuck here."  "What do you want from us? We will never come back to that lab," Alex pulls out the flash grenade.   "Hey, hey. we don't come here to threaten you. we just come here to rescue you,"   "Rescue me? By calling your team to come here?"   "Your house is full of bombs right?"  The soldier points at the grenade on the bookshelf, "Bet that you set a trap here," Alex's eyes widen.   "How... How can you know that?" Alex asks but the soldier raises her hand to stop him from talking.   "Look. How about getting out of here? We can talk later." The soldier reloads her gun and destroys her headphone, then she throws away the medal, "Guy, destroy the headphone, we have done here." Other soldiers destroy the headphone and medal too.  "Fine, follow me." Alex leads the soldiers to his basement. "I think I can persuade my wife. Anyway, what's your name?"   "Captain Eula," Point at the soldiers he is leading, "And this is Sergeant Morgan and Corporal Axe. They follow me to take over the King," Alex is going to talk but Eula stops him. "Get out of here first then talk later."   Alex, Jane, and the Soldiers are meeting each other in the basement. Jane opens the tunnel to escape the house while the Soldiers are guarding the door.   "Hey Alex, you should burn all of this research. I don't want any of them to fall into the King's hand." Eula says while she is guarding the door.   "Sure, just take those barrels from the corner or me," Alex points at the barrels lie in the corner of the basement, "Those are patrol, I can use it to burn this house."  "Okay, let me help you." Eula and her soldiers help them to lift the barrel, "Wait, where did you get those patrols? I thought it was on the list that only the army can use it."  "I buy it on the black market," Alex says in a serious tone, "You know this king is addicted to the military, right? That's why a lot of his subjects don't like him and many revolutions are still going on."   "That's why I hate this king. Many times he orders me to slaughter his own subjects because they don't follow his order." Eula opens the barrel. "But most of the soldiers follow that order like they are getting brainwashes. I don't get it, even if they are soldiers, don't they feel any disgust when shooting innocent people?"   " I see," Alex hears the footsteps closer to the house, "Quick, pour them," Eula kicks the barrel to make it lie on the floor, others her soldiers make it lie on the basement, "Go now."  "Not yet," Eula and her team point the gun at the door, "You two go first, I will see you later." Jane is going to talk but Eula cut her, "I will find away," Jane and Alex nod  Alex points at the button, "The button to lock down the door is there, good luck." Eula nods as Alex and Jane run away from their home.   Eula smirks, "What a worried man! " Eula takes out the mask and reveals her short yellow hair, and she hears the door being kicked out, "Engage." ----Meanwhile-----   Whitty and Aria are on the way to the house after treating Adel. They are running as fast as they can, after running a while. Aria feels exhausted, and she has to sit down to rest  "I don't remember that I put the circle far away from your house, sorry," Aria says between rest,  "I want to blame you right now but this is not the time." Whitty lift Aria to his back, make her face red as tomatoes, "Come on, we have to go faster,"  "Hey you don't need to-- " Aria gets cut off because  Whitty increases his speed to the house. "Hope they still fine,"  ----Back to the house-----  Eula shoots down one of the King's soldiers but there are so many going on. The King's soldier keeps rushing into the house and shoots at Eula and her team, making them have to take cover.   "There are too many, we can hold it anymore. We need to retreat," Morgan says as he trips an enemy soldier that rushes at them, then he takes out the knife and stabs the chest.     "I know, but we will leave while all of them are coming in." Eula shoots the enemy and kills one of them.   "I see... Oh hey, they all come in," Axe found it and Eula keeps shooting at them.   "Good, Morgan, throw them a flashbang. Axe, lock down the door, we will get out of here," Eula commands and rushes to the tunnels. Morgan throws the king's soldier flashbang, making them cover their eyes and ears, while Axe presses the button. After that, they go to the tunnel with Eula and get out of the house. The iron bars start closing the door to lockdown  When the iron bars nearly lock the door, Eula takes out the lighter and opens it, "Goodbye," She throws the lighter and makes the house on fire.  ----Outside the house----   Whitty brings Aria to his house to make sure that his parents are fine. After a while, he finally comes to his house and he sees a soldier still out there.   "We are here," Whitty kneels down to make sure that the soldier does not spot him, "And we got a soldier guarding my house."  "Okay, I will help you if you gently put me down, please?" Aria asks and Whitty throw her down, "Hey, I said gentle, not like this,"   "Stop talking, more doing," Whitty is going to rush at the house but the house explodes, making him stoned. After a moment, he kneels down and his tears fall down, "No... Noooo." Aria just stared at him and said nothing. She doesn't know what to do now and stares at the burning house. She sees a giant metal robot coming this way and it shoots some rocket.  "Look out," Aria rushes at Whitty and pushes him with her. The rocket exploded at their previous spot. "Whitty, you have to move on and get him," She takes out her polearm, "I will hold him down."      The robot throws a punch at Aria, Aria dodges and slashes the arm but it is too tough, making her body shaking when it interacts with the robot's arm. The robot pulls out some rocket launcher from its back and starts shooting at Aria, Aria slashes one rocket then dodges aside others. Aria charges at the robot then jumps up and slams the polearm at the robot. It doesn't flinch. As the robot is going to attack her, a dark claw appears and slashes at the robot, making it fly back a bit but it doesn't have a scratch. The robot stands up straight and opens its head. After that, a man wearing a tropical shirt- and- trousers and a bush jacket appears, he sees Aria and claps his hand.   "Well, well, well. Is this Lady Aria of the Draco family? Never thought that I would meet you here." The man takes out a cigarette and starts smoking." Tell me what are you doing here and why are you attacking me? "  "Because you burn the house and kill the innocent family in there."   "Sorry, but I didn't burn it. They burn the house by themself. Why would I have to do that with that trash?" He puts the cigarette down and breath out some smoke, "Besides they were not in the house,"   "I see. But sorry I have to kill you, commander." Aria points the polearm at the man, "Because I hate that king a lot."   "Good luck with my full metal robot." The man closes the robot head and starts controlling it.    The robot's arm starts forming some kind of canon and shoots at Aria. Aria forms a dark shield and defends against it while the robot keeps shooting repeatedly. Aria starts to change the shield into a wheel with spikes around, then she steps aside to dodge the shot and throw it at the robot. The robot just stands there and takes the wheel. Despite the wheel rubbing the robot, it just stands there until the wheel disappears, then it starts shooting rockets at Aria.  Aria tries to dodge the rockets but it is too much, the rocket explodes near her, making her fly backward and slam into a tree. Aria coughs some blood after this.  "Give up yet?' The man who controls the robot inside says as Aria tries to stand up, "Don't worry, I will send you a coffin to your house," The robot raises the fist and tries to kill Aria but an explosion appears at the robot's back, making its turn around. The robot sees a black coat figure holding a "Fireball". "Ah, another kill for me,"   "Let's see what you got," Whitty stares at the robot and throws the fireball at it. The robot just stands there and takes the fireball.  "You know, my robot is invincible when I create it full of silver and copper." The robot throws a punch at Whitty, he jumps back to dodge. Whitty smirks at the controller and he creates a lighting sword, then he rushes at the robot and slashes it. The robot does not flinch, "You think -" the controller is going to say something but he gets electrocuted, "Aaaaaa..." The controller breathes heavily inside and doesn't know what is going on. "How... how can it be?"  Whitty points his lighting sword at the robot, "sitting in the silver and copper like that doesn't make you immune with lighting," Whitty rushes at the robot and stabs the sword at the robot. The robot gets electrocuted until it explodes. He stares back at the explosion and turns his head away to see Aria,   "You ok?" Whitty helps Aria up, "I hope you don't injure much. Thanks for saving me."   "That's ok. That is friendship, you know?" Aria leans into Whitty's back as he carries her, "Now you have to carry me because I'm injured."   "Fine... but where can I find my parents?" Whitty starts walking out of the forest, "And I don't have any place to go, maybe I will be a beggar sometime."   "You can live at my house." Aria smiles as Whitty puts her down and goes away. "Hey, what is that action? Come back here."    ------- Five years later ------- At night in Valiant city, the capital of Hella city, there is a large white villa near the big castle. In front of the house, there are two flags on two sides of the gate. The flag has the eagle with one sword and one gun at both claws. Inside the house, there are two siblings who are arguing with each other.   "I don't care what you are doing out there. But you have to marry the son of Ironclad," A gray hair man is shouting to Aria, " You will be happy with someone like that in the house,"   "Nonsense, Johnny. I don't love him and he doesn't love me. How can we live with each other like that?" Aria turns her face away from her brother, Johnny is going to say something but Aria raises her hand to stop him, "Look, I know you worry about me but this is not a solution,"   "But... you get hated by our other brothers and our parents. How can you be happy with a life like that?"   "Then I will get out of the house. Don't worry." Aria is going to step out of the room but her long dress is stomped on by Johnny. "Hey."   "Can I ask something?" Johnny points at the white dragon standing on the pedestal, "Where did you get that statue? I see that is a good statue though," Aria tiptoes to see what Johnny is pointing to and sees Whitty is disguised as a statue, she facepalms.  "I bought that statue to decorate my room."Aria lies, "You know, when I went to the statue shop, I bought this statue, it was very detailed so I bought this one." Aria rubs her fingers together, "Eh, and that the last statue because the one who makes this is retired."   "I see," Johnny comes near Whitty to want to see closer, "You know, I see this statue feels so realistic. It's like it is alive though." He goes around Whitty, "The scale, the horn, the eyes. It feels so realistic. Same that the artist is retired. If he can still work, I would like to hire him to make me a statue like this one."  "Sorry, this is his last work." Aria rubs her head, "I am lucky that I got this statue though."   "I see." Johnny goes to the door and opens it, "Anyway, think about the marriage. Tell me if you change your mind, see ya," Johnny goes out of the room and closes the door. Aria sighs of relief while Whitty is going to go out by the window but he got pinned when Aria puts her feet on his tail.   "Where do you think you are going?" Aria says in a threatening tone, make Whitty freeze in place. Aria grabs his neck and lifts Whitty up, making him gulp, "I said that you must not let anyone see you."   "Okay okay, I get it. Can you put me down?" Whitty struggles to get out the grips of the angry woman, "I should listen to you. Please put me down, your hand is stronger than I thought," Aria puts Whitty down and he takes a deep breath after that.   "Fine, I forgive you this time but next time if you get someone sees you," Aria stomps at Whitty's belly, make him yelp, " You know the result,"   "Geez, you are stronger than I thought," Whitty pulls out Aria's leg, "Hope that you have a boyfriend if you are strong like that."   "Thanks to you, Whitty. I don't get strong like this if I haven't met you before."  Whitty rolls his eyes, feels kinda regretful when he starts training with Aria, "Okay, I will go out tonight, you come?"  "Of course I will come, it will be boring when I stay at this house." Aria opens her wardrobe and takes out her polearm, "Never come out without this,"    "Okay, let's go," The duo jumps out the window and goes around the city.     After two hours of going around the city by hopping on the roof, the duo sitting high tower has a bell in it to see the city. Whitty sighs as he remembers his parents. He lies down on the floor and looks at the night sky.   "Miss your parents?  I'm sure they will be fine,"  Aria gives Whitty an apple, "Just sit up and see this beautiful city," "Sorry, but I don't want to see the beautiful shell," Whitty eats the apple, "The beautiful shell but ugly inside, what else we don't understand? I rather watch this beautiful sky than that shell,"   "You know me, I really hate this city so much. The king focuses on developing this city but forgets other towns." Aria sits down next to Whitty, "That is why many people from other towns try to take over the king because he is not a king." Aria leans into Whitty, "to get out the heavy tax, heavy labor. Some want to make this country better for the people."   "How did you know it?" Whitty pushes Aria away, "We already know the King is a tyrant, but we don't know if the rebel is good or not."   "I have already talked to them with the honor of my family. But you're right, some of them just want to take over the king to continue this kind of ruling but some of them want to free people from suffering." Aria leans against Whitty's wings.   "I see," Whitty turns his head to Aria, "and can you stop using my wing as your pillow?"   "No can't do." Aria leans more against Whitty's wing, "Your wing is too soft for lying,"   "Really?" Whitty stares at Aria, "I wish I can lean my own wing,"   "Meh, You can't because this wing stick to your back," Aria take out the popcorn and eat it, "yep, lean against a soft pillow while stargazing is the best to do right now,"   Whitty rolls his eyes, "Fine, you got me," Whitty takes some popcorn from Aria and eats, "But should we come back now? It's midnight now."   "Sure," Aria stands up, "We will- " but she gets cut off when she hears someone is going up here, Aria looks at Whitty and they nod, they come closer to the door. Whitty casts a fireball while Aria is ready for her polearm, " Ready... 1...2...3," Whitty opens the door, and they charge. As they charge, they take down a man wearing a cloak. "Okay... we got him. Now let's see who is him," Aria pulls out the cloak and reveals a familiar black-haired man. Whitty steps back for a surprise.   "Dad?" Whitty steps closer to the man, "Is that you?"   " Whitty?" Alex looks up and sees his dragon, "It's you, It really you," Alex and Whitty hug together, making Aria turn her head away. "Oh, and who is that?" Alex points at the girl.   "My name is Aria," Aria steps closer to Alex and shakes their hand, "Nice to meet you."   "Anyway, where have you been Dad? I'm looking for you everywhere," Whitty hugs him tighter.   "Sorry for making you wait so long," Alex pats the dragon head, " I live in the Xan market."   "Xan market? That is... the black market." Aria pulls out the map of the country.   "Yeah... and I'm here scouting the city." Alex rubs his head. "But got caught by my son," He pats his son's head. " But anyway, you seem like a noble. Are you in a family or something?"   "Honestly, I want to get out of that family if I have a chance," Aria goes out and sees the city, "And I have a question in my mind,"   "What is it? Is that about your life?" Whitty stretches out his wings. "But you already said this to me before,"  "Well, should I make a revolution against this country?" Aria sits down as Whitty and Alex's eyes widen, "To see many suffering out there. Some of them are dead because of starving, killing, and other stuff. I just don't want to make them suffer anymore."  "But if you make a revolution, people will die too." Alex counters as Aria looks back at him.  "If we don't do it right now, people out there will suffer in the future. The suffering is prolonged from generation to generation until now, someone has to stop this thing." Aria shouted at Alex, "But who will lead this? I don't know." "Look, you can come with us to Xan market there." Alex stands up and pats Aria's shoulder, "You come or not, your decision"  "Of course, I will come." Aria looks back at her house, and takes out her family's medal, "I don't want to influence this family anymore," she throws away the medal and turns her head back to them, "Let's go."  Aria's determination makes Alex and Whitty smile. After that, the trio takes a trip to Xan market. For Aria, the answer to her question may be in there. > The past of the dragon (3) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The trio is coming the way to Xan market to see the people there. To go to the black market, they walk into the jungle. As they encounter many monsters there, they must fight them. After a while, Alex feels tired and sits down on the rock.   "You know what? This is the worst finding in my life," Aria is whining while walking, "I don't know how far we will have to move."   "Don't worry, we are almost there." Alex says between breathe, "Sorry if I slow you down,"   "That's ok. No one blames you," Aria sits next to Whitty, "So, what is that market going to be like?"   "Mostly the one who doesn't want to deal with the kingdom," Alex takes out a bottle and drinks some water, "But everyone in there hates the King. Some of them want to take him down but... They don't have courage." Alex sighs.   "Well, that's just those people who can talk but can't do." Whitty creates a water ball, "You sure about this, Aria? There is no turning back If you keep following us."    "I am very sure about this decision, you know that?" Aria puts her hand at her chest, " No way I'm turning back," Whitty and Alex laugh at her.   "Oh right, we should keep going," Alex stands up and leads Whitty and Aria, "This way," Then the trio moves to the market.     After a moment, the trio head to the tunnel that is disguised in the ground. Aria and Whitty feel amazed when the door is disguised so well.   "That is a good basement for a black market," Aria points at the door, "Is that enchanting magic or something?"   "Nah, they have not enchanted any magic." Alex laugh at Aria, "If they are magic, the King has found it before we found it,"  Alex waves his hand, "All right, let's go."  Alex knocks on the door, a man stands behind a door, opens the eye's bar, and sees Alex. He glares at him and askes, "Password?"  Alex stares at the man, "KATM", the man nods and opens the door to them.    "Welcome back, Alex," The ivory - haired man pats at Alex's back, "What are you bringing here? A weird cloak man and a Lady?" He mocks Whitty and Aria, "I hope they can survive in this market."   Aria swings her polearm and it near the man's neck, make the man step back, "I don't know, but I am strong enough to beat you up,"  "Okay okay, I get it," The man pushes out Aria's polearm, "You really good, don't you. Anyway..." The man points at himself, "names Sam, but you can call me Sammy if you like." Sam sits on the bench as a helicopter flies over the area, make Whitty and Aria stand in a defensive stance, "Oh don't worry about this, they fly past through this like every day," Sam opens another door opposite the door that he just opened, "Welcome to Xan market, newbie."   "Thanks, Sammy," Whitty walks to the door with Aria and Alex to see the market.  The market is very huge and crowded. There are many stores there. Each of them sells one thing they like: guns, food, illegal weapons, magic, etc...  Whitty and Aria feel amazed at how big this market is and Alex smirks at them, "Amazed?" The duo nods. "Good, follow me to meet others," Alex starts to walk and the duo follows him.  After 30 minutes of walking, Alex points at the red house with a blue roof. Aria doesn't know what to say right now.  "This house is edgy, you know? You really don't have some art taste, do you?" Aria points at the door, "even the door is black too, really edgy."   "Sorry, that's why this house is cheap because of the painting... " Alex points at himself and says with a rising tone, "And because I bargain too well,"   "Nah, you can't bargain with mom while you are still in the jungle," Whitty walks to the door as Alex feels his pride shoot down, " Come on, I can wait to see my mom."    "Fine, let me knock on the door," Alex comes close to the door and knocks it.  "Who is there?" A woman behind the door says, "If you come in with trouble, I will shoot you."   "It's me, Alex," Alex keeps knocking on the door, "You can't do that like every day, Eula" "Sorry, I don't know anyone named Alex," Eula shouts from the door, "Because that guy is just lame who remembers a fictional character." Whitty and Aria giggle while Alex feels like his face is going to explode.  "Godammit Eula, why did you do that every time someone knocks on the door?," Alex slams the door, "Open it or I will kick you out," The door finally opens, "Finally,"   As the door opens, a short yellow-haired woman is standing there. She flicks her head to ask them to come in. The trio comes inside the house. Eula leads them to the living room.   "You three sit here, I will call Jane," Eula goes upstairs to call Jane, "Cause no trouble, especially you, black coat," She points at Whitty and goes upstairs.  "Where did you get her?" Whitty asks as he is making tea, "I don't remember that you got a woman like that?"   "Stuff happens," Alex rubs his forehead, "She and her soldiers make me have a headache though,"   "Since when did you hire guards?" Whitty puts the cups of tea on the table, "I remember that you never want to have a bodyguard."   "Oh, she makes me have to accept her to be my bodyguard," Alex raises his hand to stop Whitty talking, "And I don't want to talk about him."    "I see," Whitty sips his tea, "Wait, since when do I drink tea like this?"   "Since you live with me for three years." Aria smirks and Whitty rolls his eyes, "Maybe you should stop teasing me. I am stronger than before I first met you," Aria pats the dragon's head, making him groan.  "Fine," Whitty pushes Aria's hand away, " Just stop patting me," Alex giggles at that, "That's not funny,"   "Seem you got a best friend, don't you," Alex sips his tea, "I just worry that you will never have a friend. Maybe I wrong about this,"   "No, she is not my friend, she is my anvil," Whitty crosses his claw into an X, "And she is going to pull my leg down until I drown," Whitty received a strong grip from Aria, "Ouch ouch, okay okay you're my friend." Then Aria loosens her grip but keeps her hugging the dragon, making him sigh in relief.  "I like hugging you so much, my scaly friend," Aria rubs his neck, making him roll his eyes, "But anyway, you should take off that cloak because no one sees you." Aria takes off Whitty's cloak. "Now I can see you clearly."   "Fine, you got me." Whitty sips his tea,   "You know, we should wait for others to talk about this." Alex claps his hand, "We will talk about the rebel thing after all the members are here." The duo nods.  After waiting for a moment. Jane and Eula come down to the living room to meet guests. Jane's eyes widen to see Whitty there while Eula points the gun at him. Jane quickly bear hug the dragon with her teary eyes, and Eula puts the gun down.  "Whitty, where have you been? I am missing you much," Jane squeezes her son tighter, "I miss you every day," Then she kisses the dragon. "Aw, my little dragon still cute like before,"   "Mom, don't embarrass me," Whitty rubs his head, then he hugs Jane, " But I miss you too." Whitty tighter his hug.   "Ehem, everyone here." Alex sips the tea and Jane looks back at the door. She finds that Eula, a cyan-haired man, wears a green camouflage cloth and a coral girl wearing the same clothes as the cyan-haired man. "Oh everyone here, I should introduce my son to you." She points at the trio soldier, "From left to right is Eula, Axe, and Morgan," Then she introduces her son, "This is my son, Whitty. Don't worry, he is not a monster." "Hi there...eh... thanks for protecting my parents," Whitty raises his claw, "NIce to meet you."   "No need to thank me, I want to shake you ... claw right?" Eula confuses, "But your claw is quite sharp so I don't risk myself to do that." Eula rubs her head and sees her teammate shake Whitty's claw like nothing.   "Sorry captain, anyone here knows that you are scared of something sharp." Axe takes Whitty's claw," Hey, can I borrow your claw," Whitty nods as Axe pulls out an orange and cuts the peel with Whitty's claw, "Wow, so sharp. This can be a lethal weapon though. Careful with those, kid."   "eh... yeah I will be careful," Whitty turns his head to Aria, "After cut Aria too much time. I barely can do it." Axe nods and picks a scale of his, "Ouch, hey."   "Sorry, but your scale can grow back right?" Axe waves Whitty's scale as he wants to examine it, "... Hey doctor you have any scale of his?"   "I have a lot of scales because of his scale loss like our hair loss." Alex shakes his head and sigh, "I don't study biology anymore since I gave birth Whitty," Alex take a bag of Whitty's scale from this dimension pocket, "Here, this is his scale,"   Aria takes out small bags of Whitty's scale too, "Hey, don't forget this," Aria throws the bag to Axe. Axe catches it and he takes Alex's bag,   "Thank you," Axe nods, "I appreciate that. I just want to see how hard of his scale," "Can you sit there for a while? We have a discussion." Alex throws a stool at Axe, "This is an important one. "  Eula catches the stool and sits down, "Sure, hope that this is a good discussion."  Aria nods, "Okay. So we know the king is causing suffering to the people right?" People in the room nod, "We need to do something with him, like a rebel to dethrone him," Everyone in the room is silent, "So who agrees with this, raise your hand. Who doesn't, just stay there." Everyone raises their hand to agree except Jane, "Oh, why don't you agree with this, Jane?"   "Because this is too dangerous," Jane says in a worried tone, "Plus what will happen when you fail? If we succeed, who will be the leader of the country?" Jane scratches her head furiously, "And we don't know how long we will fight? And how many people will die in this battle?" Jane is going to ask more but Aria raises her hand to stop.  "Look, I have asked those questions to myself for three years," Aria raised her left hand behind her back, "Three years... And all of those years I wonder with Whitty and keep asking those questions." Then Aria put her hands together, "Then I got this decision. You know why?" Jane shakes her head, "Because if we don't do it, who else? I know many revolutions have failed but this time, we must do it. Or else people out there will suffer more than death." Jane stuns at Aria's words. Jane looks at the floor and stays silent, then she puts her hands on her head, "... Let me think about this for a moment. I will answer tomorrow."  "Take your time, no one forces you." Aria sips her tea as Jane nods, "But first, we should get out of here first." Everyone in the room’s eyes widens.   "What... What are you talking about? This place is safe for the rebels." Eula tries to defend but Aria shakes her head.   Whitty asks, "You know the first person who just talks with?" Alex nods, "I saw that he got the king's medal on his body."   "What? Nonsense, he doesn't have any tattoos there. How can he be a spy?" Alex counters. "He doesn't know about..." Alex says something but takes back and thinks a while. "Hand right?"   "He is wearing his gloves for something. At first, I think it is normal until you shake his hand," Whitty sighs, "The hand is protruding the king's medal through the glove."     "I see..." Alex rubs his chin, "That's why he has some weird action from these days like he is talking to somebody." Aria and Whitty stand up.  "We gotta get out of here, as far as we can." Aria rushes that the door, "I bet that he is contracting with the King right now."  The others nod and rush to their room, "You have a vehicle?"   Eula points at the garage room, "I have a pickup truck in the garage," Eula circles her hand. " 'borrow' from a soldier." Aria and Whitty shake their heads, "I should check the truck to see if that vehicle is still working or not." "You should," Aria picks Whitty's wing and drags him, "Now help me to take something important." Whitty rolls his eyes and lets Aria drag him.  ------ Meanwhile----- Sam takes his radio and his headphones, then he starts to contact the king's army. After 5 minutes, he finally contacts them.   "This is Argent Sam, I am in the position to attack this market." Sam says to his headphones, "I will leave a mark to see the market."   "Good work, Argent Sam. Now we will recruit the soldiers to your position. See you in about thirty minutes."   "Roger that. Contact me if you are done recruiting."   "All right. Remember Argent Sam, this is an important thing so do not fail."   "I won't. Don't worry." Sam sees someone coming, "I have to go, someone is coming. See you later, Argent Sam out." Then he shut down the radio. Get in the guarding position to pretend that he is doing nothing.     ------Back to the Family-----   After 15 minutes of taking something good. The family sets all the things up on the pickup truck. Alex, Jane, Morgan, Whitty, and Aira sit on the tailgates, breathing heavily while Eula and Axe are taking on driving positions.   "Okay, everything ready?" Eula turns her head back to them and sees them nod, "Let's go." She drives the truck to the exit gate of the market.  Eula is driving the truck to get out of the market. When they nearly out, a guard is standing there and raises his hand in order to stop the truck.   "Are you going to leave?" the guard asks and Eula nods, " Then when will you return?"   Eula answers, "Sorry, we have to leave forever," The guard points the gun at Eula, "I hope you don't cause any trouble because... " Eula points at Morgan, who is aiming the gun at the guard.   "Sorry, but I have to make sure that no one leaves without anything." The guard whistles and many gunners are aiming at the truck.   "All right. You want some good information right?" Eula says and the guard nods, "Well... can you call your leader because this one is a sensitive subject." Eula points at the gunners, "Don't worry, we don't go anywhere with those gunners." The guard silents a moment then nods.   "I will call my leader." The guard rushes to his watchtower to call his leader. Eula and others just wait there and play some games.   After a while, a gray-haired man wearing an officer costume is moving to the truck. He is walking to the truck. When he is near the truck, he raises his hand to welcome Eula.   "Sorry for waiting," The man shakes Eula's hand, "I heard that you are going to leave the market, right Lady beauty?" Aria and Alex giggle at that sentence while Eula glares at them.   "Yeah, I am going to leave the market." Eula takes a bottle of beer and drinks them, "Don't worry, we don't say anything about this market."   "How can I trust you?" The man glares at Eula but Eula doesn't flinch a bit, "All right, how about this?" The man turns his head away from Eula, "If you got any valuable information, you can go out."   "Oh don't worry, my information is related to any people's life in this market," Eula warns as the man quickly turns his head back to Eula, "The King is going to attack this place. I don't know when they will attack but soon. You have to be prepare,"   "Nonsense, how did the king know this place?" The man takes out a pistol, "And how can you know?"  "Because one of the guards named Sam is the spy of the king's army," Eula's answer makes the man and his soldiers step back. "But I bet that the king is calling an army to raid this place," Eula looks at the man without turning her head. "So, is that good information, Mr. officer?" The man stands silent for a moment, "Come on ~, you and I don't have any choice, right?"   The man stomps his feet and waves his hand to command the soldier to let them pass. "Let them pass." Then he points at a guard, "You. Announce this information to our leader, right now." The guard hurried to the leader. The man sighs and inhales deeply then breathes out. "Thanks for the information. Now you should get out of here because this place is going to be a battlefield." The man throws a sniper rifle at Eula, "Good luck."   Eula catches the sniper rifle, "Thank you. Try to survive, officer." The car is engaging to leave, "If you are alive, maybe we will meet together." Eula is loading the sniper rifle, "Thanks for this gun."   "That's nothing to your information," The man turns his body away but suddenly stops, "Wait, I forgot to ask something." His head turns to Eula, "What will you do when you all get out of here?"   Eula stays silent a little while, and opens her mouth, "We will dethrone the king, whatever its cost."   "I see," The man turns his head away, "Go to the Spring Jungle and send my message to my family," The man throws a knife and it plugs into the tailgate. "Promise me one thing."   Eula asks, "What is it?"   "My instinct says that the white dragon and the lavender-haired girl will dethrone him. Prove me right." The man takes a cigarette and starts smoking with his fire spell, "That jungle is a good place to start a rebellion, good luck." The man raises his hand and starts walking, while Eula starts driving out the market.   Eula and others are driving out the market with many questions on their head, Aria thinks a little bit. "You think he will survive?"  Whitty shakes his head, "Maybe not because this is a large battle. If he is still alive, we will recruit him to be our rebel," They start driving past the desert to reach the Spring Jungle and start the revolution. > Inside the portal. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----Present time----  Sunset is lying in Whitty's hug and still listens to his story. She feels so amazed when she hears about his story. She sighs and leans into him more, which makes her feel comfortable.  "So you start the revolution there right?" Sunset exclaims, "And how many people die in this revolution? Thousands or millions?"  "I don't know. Too many people die in front of my eyes, I lost count. Feaking lost count," Whitty's tears are falling, "Sometimes I wish the revolution to be peaceful but... It can't." Whitty turns his head away Sunset, "Especially the last battle." -----Back to the time of revolution----  The rebel army has surrounded Valiant city. Whitty and Aria stand on the cliff and see the battle is continuing but they are not taking down the last fortress. Whitty sits down on the ground while Aria still looks at the battle with binoculars. Whitty takes the radio,  "All unit retreat, all unit retreat," Whitty commands as all of the rebel soldiers are retreating out of the city, Whitty sighs about this, "This fortress still stands up defense at our attack. It has been 15 days since we start this siege." Whitty rubs his forehead, "I don't know how many people will sacrifice in this war."  "Don't worry, Whitty," Aria pats his back, "Our soldiers' morale is still high, that's good news. But... "Aria turns to sit beside Whitty, "If we keep continuing like this, our morale will fall day by day. And the King will take the chance to make a counter-attack."  "I know, let's get back to the tactic tent and use this thing," Whitty stands up and goes back to the tent, "I will discuss this thing," Whitty and Aria go back to the tactical tents, there are many commanders sits at the big table that has the map on it and they still find a way to strike down the castle, but all the way fails. They are starting out of ideas, some of them want to quit this battle. When they see Whitty and Aria coming here, all of them stand up and use soldier etiquette to say hi to them. Whitty and Aria move to the table and sigh.  "We all know this battle is failing again right?" Aria slams the table, "I don't know this King still has many soldiers to do that,"  Whitty asks, "Can I ask who is commanding this attack?"  A commander is walking to them, "It's me, sir. Sorry for failing you."  Aria raises her hand, "You have tried your best, I can't blame you or any of you. Report the injured."  "Madam, this time we got one thousand dead, and five thousand injured, including three hundred heavy injured," The commander reported, "We nearly run out the armor, the reinforcement is on the way, and tomorrow they will come here."  "I see," Whitty nods, then he turns to other commanders, "All of you should take a rest in one day to refresh your head,"  "Sorry sir, until we take down the King," A commander slam into the table, "We will not rest because he took away all things that deary to us." Then he sits down, "I still not forget in the day he kills my family and friends in front of my eyes,"  Aria nods, "I see. Then I order all of you to take a rest in one day. No secret meeting, got it?"  "But...But... "  "That's the orders,"  "Yes, Madam,"  Then Whitty and Aria go outside the tactic tents with the preposterous feeling.  ----- Sleeping tents---- Whitty is digging something on the ground, making Aria confused. After a while, he takes out the box. Open the box, they have five white pillars and all of them are shining.  "What is this?"  "This is a spell that took me 6 years to complete. I just want to use it when necessary, and this is the necessary time to do it. This spell will make the siege successful." Whitty looks at Aria, "I'm serious."  "I know. Your spell is advanced compare to others," Aira grabs a-pillars. "I bet that four pillars will plug around the fortress and the fifth one will be the center of the fortress, right?"  "You got me. But who will do the fifth one? Many soldiers are exhausted from the last battle."  "We do," A voice from behind, makes the duo turns their head to the voice and sees Eula, Axe, and Morgan there. All of them have wrinkles on their face, "We will do this mission."  "Eh sorry, but you can't," Whitty denies, "I rather call someone younger,"  "Are you insulting the old one, huh?" Eula points at herself, "Sorry, maybe I'm old but I'm far more experienced compared to every soldier in there. I have followed you for over twenty years, you know?"  "I know but this is an important one. If the last pillar falls into the enemy's hand, we will have no choice than retreat," Aria raises a hand to stop them, "But we are all old right? This war is nearly 30 years old, I'm not sure if I can continue." Then she points out to Whitty, "Except this dragon, he has not even changed a bit after these years."  "Because I'm a dragon?" Whitty stretches his body and hears some bone cracking, "Ahhh ~, so good. Anyway, you all can't do this mission."  Eula points the sniper rifle at Whitty, "Are you really Whitty? The dragon always orders everyone without hesitation?" Eula steps closer to Whitty, "Or you are an imposter?"  "Look, I know you really go to this one but this is my friends. I can't send them to do that."  "If that is so..." Eula says and loading the sniper rifle, Morgan quickly punches at Aria's belly, making her fall.  "ARIA," Whitty turns to Aria and gets shot into his legs, make him fall too. "What.... are you doing?"  Axe takes the box and gives it to Eula, she nods. Then Axe turns to the duo, who is trying to stand up. He kneels." Don't worry, this tent already has a soundproof spell and no one can hear the gunshot." Axe stands up, "Because of your scale, I have to use a sniper rifle to make sure that you will be injured," Axe turns his back to the duo and walk, "Goodbye Whitty and Aria, I will deliver this thing to the King,"  "STOP," Whitty yells at them, "STOP. YOU... YOU..." but the trio walks far away from them, Whitty punches the grounds, "Damn it. DAMN IT."  His tears fall as he screams "Aaaaaaaah". Then he breathes heavily like he is tired and closes his eyes. He reaches his claw to the wound and takes off the ammo inside his leg, then he uses "heal" to treat his wound. Once he finally stands up and picks Aria up to the sleeping tent.  "Are they going to send that to the King?" Aria rubs her belly due to the injured, "If that happens, what will we do?"  "They won't," Whitty turns his face away Aria, "Let hope that they complete the mission," He stares at the ground, "I just want them to retire... Why did they want to die like that?"  Aria pats his back, "They are warriors in the heart. Maybe when you pull out that thing, they want to do the last mission before they die."  Whitty sighs, "You right? We will see it tomorrow to see if they succeed or not." Whitty lies next to Aria, "Tomorrow the reinforcement will be here. If they succeed, we will full speed ahead and take down the king," "What kind of spell did you put in there?" Aria rubs Whitty's neck, "I don't believe a spell can turn a table,"  "We will see." Whitty closes his eyes, "Have a good night." ------- The next day------  Aria wakes up and sees that Whitty is not with her, she sighs and stands up. After stretching her body, she goes outside to have breakfast. She sees Whitty is sitting on the cliff and stares at the castle fortress,  "What are you doing there?" Aria comes near Whitty, "Don't tell me you sit here to wait for the spell to activate?"  " Maybe," Whitty eats his noodle cup, "We can't attack today anyway so I just wait here and hoping that they succeed,"  "I see..." Aria stares at the castle, "What will you do when you finish this promise?"  "I will go to the jungle and put my flower in my parents' graveyard." Whitty stares at Aria, "I will leave you to rule this new kingdom," Whitty stares at the sky, "Sorry for this selfish needing,"  "That's ok, no one blames you, If-- " Aria looks at the castle surrounded by a large magic circle, "Look at that Whitty, Is that your spell?"  Whitty looks at the castle, "Yes, it is. This is our chance," Whitty takes out the flag and gives it to Aria, "Go Aria, Summon all of our troops to strike this castle down,"  Aria takes the flag and runs back to the camp. ------Present------ "I see, you spent 6 years to draw a spell and used it in the last battle," Sunset looks at the roof, "I want to hear more but this is time for me to wake up," Sunset closes her eyes, "Good luck," Whitty hugs her tighter, "Good luck," ----Outside Sunset's body----  Sunset wakes up in the sleeping tent. She doesn't see her teammates there. She sighs, gets herself up, and goes out of the tent. She thinks, "Maybe they are in front of the portal." And she is on the way to the portal.  After a while, her teammate is in front of the gate and they wave their hand at her. She waves her hoof back to them. Sunset picks up a fish can and opens it with some rice. Then she starts eating and watches the Team and Eldaro, they are discussing something.  "So... " A giant bird sits beside Sunset, "You must be the Black Mage?" "Oh... eh... no, she is somewhere else, not here."  "Don't lie," The bird says, "Names Silver by the way, and I am a robot. You are?"  "... Call me Sunset if you want," Sunset starts eating the meal, "Anyway, I didn't see you from here. Are you from reinforcement?"  "Yep. Weird that a robot can talk and have emotions like a human, right?"  "No, I'm not a caveman, thank you."  "I see. Well, we and humans have lived happily with each other for 100 years. But before that, we have to fight a lot for our freedom,"  "I see, but sorry history is not my impression," Sunset sees Matt, and Natalie waves their hand to call her, "Sorry, I have to go, see ya." Sunset runs on the team. They are already in front of the portal and just wait for her. Matt, Natalie, and Lance smile at her as they go inside the portal with Sunset. Inside the portal, they see the narrow road to walk. They look around and only see the infinite darkness around some galaxy planets and a sun.  "Am I dreaming? What the hell is this?" Natalie says and sneezes, "Sorry."  ".... it looks like space and time are twisted beyond recognition here." Lance kneels and puts his hand on the ground, "At least we can walk from this road." Lance points at the road that is blocked by two large rectangle black stones.  "Stone again? I thought we would fight enough stones for this." Sunset put the staff out of the road, it appears more ground, ".... Look like a tank can fit this ground though."  "So, we are not dead, eh? Sounds good enough for me," Matt turns his head to Lance, "How did you know that anyway?  Lance answers with a grumbling tone, "Science... fiction,"  "I suppose we should go back to ask Eldaro to put a tank in here to support us," Sunset suggests, "we don't know which enemy we will face,"  The trio nods at Sunset's suggestion and they go back to meet Eldaro. Eldaro sees them and asks what is inside but they don't answer, they suggest putting a tank in there. Eldaro agrees to the suggestion and commands a soldier to drive a tank in there under the Team's direction. The Team carefully puts the tank on the ground and say the soldier to stay there and asks him for more missiles and ammo. The soldier nods, he goes out of the portal while the Team continues the journey.  The team goes forward to face the black stones. The first stone shines and releases a small ray at them. The Team dodges it and Matt charges at the first stone; when Matt is going to slam at the stone, it teleports away and Matt spins around and slashes at it. A wave of slash is coming its way and interacts with it, it just cracks a little bit.  Natalie says, "They can teleport..." and she starts chanting the spell. The second stone is shining and a black hole appears above the Team, making them inhale into the holes. Sunset teleports to the second stone's head and puts her front hoof on it. The second stones shine again, many dark spikes appear near Sunset and fly toward Sunset. Sunset uses "Wyvern Slash" to clean most of them and jumps down in front of the Second stone to block the dark spike. Then she has to dodge aside when Lance shoots six times at the stones. Sunset glares at Lance, while Lance turns his head away and takes out the big gun.  Natalie slams the staff on the ground and two magic circles appear near her. The first stone is charging a spell while Matt rushes at it and stabs the stone on it, making it cancel the spell. The magic circles combine and appear as a spear light and stab into the first stone, making it scattered into pieces. Matt thumbs up, "Nice work," and he picks up his sword.  Sunset has to keep dodging when the Second stone keeps shooting dark spears at her. Lance clicks a button and many explosions appear at the Second stone, then he shoots a beam at it. The second stone gets hit most of it, and it has many cracks right now. Sunset circles her front hoof in the air and a magic circle appears, then she slams the magic circle. Its shine and a large water dragon come out of the magic circle and rush at the stone. The Second Stone has no time to react and it is scattered into pieces after the water dragon slams at it.  "Now, that's the spirit." Sunset spins her wooden staff, " I don't think I should change the weapon." and she got dragged by Natalie. Sunset turns around and sees Natalie's face is close to her face, which makes her don't know what to say, "Eh, what's wrong?"  "Nothing, I just want to ask you how you have a cool spell like that?" Natalie huffs, "can you teach me that spell?"  "Eh... Honestly, I don't know," Sunset looks away from Natalie, "Eh... can we move yet?"  Matt drags Natalie, "Okay, we should keep moving." ----- Meanwhile -----  Seeing the Team is closing to him, Arkon creates many vortexes and makes sure it is connected to the cities of the Earth(en). He commands, "Now, go my monster, let the human suffer. Let the world burn in the flame," the monsters go through the vortexes.  ----In Campsite--- Silver is flying in the sky to enjoy the free time she has. When she flies up high, she sees many vortexes in the sky. All of the above at least one of the cities, and many monsters come out of the vortexes. Silver sees that and quickly flies down to Eldaro,  "Sir Eldaro, I have things to report," Silver shakes her wings,  Eldaro and Sabrina are playing chess and they turn their heads to Silver, "What is it, Silver?" Sabrina takes out her boomerang, "Monster attacking this campsite?"  "Oh your majesty, I apologize for my rudeness," Silver bows to her, "Anyway, many vortexes have appeared in the sky and above many cities. Many monsters come out from there,"  Eldaro and Sabrina stand up immediately. "I was right, how many cities have that vortex?"  Silver reports, "All of them sir. Lavita city and Aquile City have two vortexes."    Eldaro raises his arm, "Announced to the soldier, move this campsite near the portal as fast as we can, we have to support the Team in the portal," Silver nods, "Now go Silver, we must do as fast as we can," Silver flaps her wings and flies away.  Sabrina looks at him, "Why do you command like that, Eldaro? Shouldn't we support our city?"  Eldaro looks back to the Queen, "Are you kidding me? Do you think we have time to do that?" Eldaro turns back to the map, "We can't go anywhere right now, so the best thing is to support the Team and guard the portal."  Eldaro and Sabrina run to the campsite to help move them. The Team didn't know about outside the portal and they continue to go deeper into the portal, with the only goal of slaying Arkon. > The last battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----Inside the portal-----  After destroying the black stones, the Team goes deeper into the portal. Natalie looks around and is still amazed by what is inside the portal.   "Walking through space feels pretty weird," Natalie pokes the staff on the ground, "Even if this is a fake one."  "I know right," Matt swings his sword in the air, "I'm pretty excited about fighting Arkon again though! Looks like he's a lot stronger than before."  "This might end pretty well be the end of us, you know?" Lance is loading ammo into his gun.   Sunset nods, "Well, the new beginning waits for us."   Matt pats Sunset's back, "If we pull it off though, we'll be legendary heroes! And we don't really have a choice. I bet that Arkon is doing something in our world."   Sunset pushes Matt away, "You can have that title, thanks. I don't like it because it just brings us more annoying situations." "You think you can get away from that title?" Lance smirks at Sunset, "Sorry but you will stick with us from this."   Sunset rolls her eyes, "You got me. I'm afraid that you all will die without my assistance," the others laugh at her, "But anyway,.." Sunset points at the bone Hydra guarding the way, "You know what to do right?"  The others nod and walk to challenge the bone Hydra. It's big and doesn't have a wing. It only has two heads. Matt sees that "... Well, this will be easier than the physical Hydra,"  The Hydra roar at them and breathes out the green cloud. Natalie sees that and forms a paper fan and swings it to create the wind. The cloud was sent back to Hydra. Matt is going to charge at it but Sunset stops him. She glances at him and shakes her head. The first head makes it longer and rushes at Sunset. Sunset makes her staff on fire and rolls to the right, then she swings the staff, and a fire dragon wing appears after that and flies toward the second head. The Second head tries to bite the wings but it goes through it and cuts off its head. The first head sees that and tries to attack Sunset but Matt slams the sword at its neck, the first head is slashed off.   Natalie and Lance watch them finish the Hydra and sigh in relief. They come near Sunset and Matt, then examine the bone Hydra.   "... well, it's weaker than I thought," Matt lifts his sword, "Maybe because this is the bone one, not the scales one?' "Well, I don't know because I'm not good at biology, so..." Lance hears his walkie-talkie ringing, he takes it and talks, "Hello?" then he nods and says, "Yeah. yeah, okay." Then he puts it back.   Sunset asks, "What's happened?"  "My uncle and his campsite will fully support us slaying the demon," Lance flicks off the dust from his clothes. "That's the good news. The bad news is Arkon has sent his army to attack the city." "What are we waiting for? Let's go." Natalie commands and she runs forward on the road.   " I didn't know she was that fast," Matt says as he and his teammate follow Natalie.   After running for a while, they finally see a red magic circle. The Team inhales and looks at each other. They are sure that Arkon is in that red magic circle.  "There he is. I'm having second thoughts. He owned last time, and he'll do it again," Matt steps back but Natalie stops him.   "This is the first time you've ever acted like a coward! Now's not the time! This is going to be our greatest moment." Natalie pushes Matt forward.   "We are so dead. Let's get out of here. We can still go back and practice some more. We've still got time." Lance steps back but Sunset stops him too.  "Are you kidding? He is attacking your kingdom out here. We don't have time to scare you KNOW?" Sunset pushes Lance forward.   "But.. But..." Lance tries to say something but gets cut off by Natalie.  Natalie yells at Lance, "Lance, shut up! We'll be fine! We've gotten this far, haven't we? Just shoot and stab him like you've always done! I'll back you up, so you won't die." Lance, Matt, and Sunset say nothing, just look up and sigh, then they smile at this.   "I can't believe she suddenly has more balls than us." Matt steps in front of the team. "You know what, I'm in."   Lance rubs his head, "Shameful, really. Heh." Lance suddenly laughs, then he looks to the ground and shakes his head, "Alright, let's send him back to the void."  Sunset stretches her body and neck, hears some 'crack' to this, then she raises her left front hoof to the others, "No regret?"   The others see that and they put their hand on her hoof, "No regret!", then the Team goes inside the battlefield to fight the Demon, end the chaos one and for all.  When they step inside, Sunset plugs a wooden staff that has fully magic words flying around, then she follows the team. The magic circle shoots a ray of fire into the sky; after a while, Arkon appears and he sees the Team after that.   "Ah, it is you who awoke me. Let me see if you are worthy to stand before me." The demon's only eye grows red and two metal claws rise to the ground and shine red.  The first metal claw charges at Natalie, but Matt uses "Air Slash" to stop him. Then Matt covers his sword with a red aura and rushes at the Arkon. The demon creates many magic circles and shoots multi-spikes at him and the team. Natalie and Sunset create a shield to block the dark spikes while Matt increases his speed and dodges them. Once he got close, he jumps up and slashes at the demon. Arkon blocks the slash with his wings. Sunset teleports behind the demon and uses "Wyvern slash" at his head. The spell burns Arkon's head, which Sunset smirks at it. Suddenly, his head turns back to her like an owl, opens his mouth, and shoots lasers from it. Sunset swings her staff wildly, and it deflects the lasers aside.  Sunset teleports back to the team, and Matt jumps back to them too. Arkon uses a water spell to set out the fire. "For billions of years, I have lived. I have in my memory the early days of this planet. When the Earth was but rock and fire. Before other life had even begun to evolve." The demon moves an inch before rising from the ground, revealing a whole new part, with a disgusting and horrendous face as its razor-sharp teeth are bared. The Face breathes black smoke at the Team, making them cough. Then he casts a spell, which makes the smoke explode.   Arkon smiles at the smoke and grins at that, but a beam shoots at his Face. The smoke faded and revealed the Team was still alive. Sunset is holding a magic circle and aiming at him. The claws try to stop her but Lance quickly shoots them down. The magic circle changes into light spears that form the circles. Sunset spins the staff and the light spears start to fly towards him. Arkon uses his wings to block the spears but all the spears strike directly at one point. make the wings have a hole and a spear plugs directly into his chest.  Sunset smiles at this, Lance takes out his big gun and starts charging the shoot. The Face sees that and opens its mouth, a black ball comes out of it. The team dodges aside and the ball impacts into the ground. A moment later, it exploded, making the team send flying. Arkon casts a magic circle under Sunset, who is still dazed by the explosion. Many dark arms appear from the magic circle and hold Sunset on the ground, then many dark spears fly toward her. Sunset teleports in front of Arkon's Face and touches his neck. Then she teleports back to the team.  "Countless times I have been weakened and enslaved. Yet ultimately I remain, while my enemies succumb to the flow of time," Arkon's eye shining, "For aeons I have pondered the meaning of my existence. Alas, I am still unable to find my answer." Then many large dark balls appear beside him. "All the things must come to an end. Planets, stars, entire universes, even Gods. Perhaps my destiny is simply to be destroyed." Arkon shoots lasers at the team from his eyes and all of the dark balls fly toward the Team and leave smoke at their spot.  Arkon smiles as he thinks that he finally destroyed them. Suddenly, a fire dragon and lighting dragon rushes toward him from the smoke. Arkon has no time to react and the dragons cut off one of his wings. When the smoke faded, he saw Sunset holding a magic circle. Sunset yells at him, "You freaking shut the hell up," then she throws her wooden staff at his neck. The staff is plugged into his body and right at the spot that Sunset just touched him.  Arkon tries to pull the staff out by another wing but a missile strikes him and explodes, making him jerk back. Arkon looks at the sky and sees many missiles flying toward him. The missiles keep striking into him and exploding, the other wings finally cut off. The Face creates a shield to block them, but it's too much for the shield. It is broken down and the missile keeps shooting at Arkon. Lance takes his walkie-talkie and says, "Stop". The airstrike goes down and leaves smoke at his spot.   Matt and Sunset look at each other and nod. They come in front to see if Akron is really dead or not. There is a silence in the smoke, which makes the Team feel more cautious. When Matt and Sunset come close to the smoke, dark lasers strike directly at Matt, sending him flying backward. "Matt," she glances at Matt to see if he is fine or not. A dark spike stabs through Sunset's belly, making her look back at the smoke.  Arkon is still alive and glared at Sunset. He creates a dark claw and slashes at Sunset. Sunset flies backward with her left front hoof cut off, making her breathe faster than before. Then a black vine is corrupting her back, making her scream in pain then faint. "Sunset" Natalie goes near Sunset to check on her that if she is alright. Then she glares at the demon, "YOU! What have you done to her?"   "That horse will be dead," Arkon now has many holes in his body and the Face but still alive, "Slowly," His eye glows dark as many red magic circles appear beside him, "And you all should join her," Many swords appear from the red magic circles and shoot at them. Natalie spins the staff and slams it to the ground. A yellow magic circle appears beneath the team and is shining. A large shield appears and blocks all the swords.   Matt commands, "Let's finish him before Sunset dies," and he charges at the demon.   "On it." Natalie starts chanting the spell, and Lance takes out his talkie-walkie to command the soldier.  ------Inside Sunset's body------  Sunset opens her eyes and wakes up. She breathes fast and hard. After a moment, she calms down and looks at her left front hoof, and finds that it has gone. She looks up and sees the white dragon standing before her.   "Look like you mess yourself up," Whitty kneels down to her and closes his eyes, "As I say, this is a final meeting of us," then he helps her up,  "What... What do you mean?" She glances her back and sees that something black is covering her. "What... WHat... What happens?"   "Look like a poison spell," Whitty grins at this, "Cure it cost a lot of time but..." Whitty points to the wall and it disappears time by time. "That demon used the spell to fasten the poison. Geez, this is the first time I saw this kind of spell,"   "Then what am I going to do? Am I going to die?" Sunset steps back with her tears falling down, "But... but..."  "The only way to do this is..." Whitty points at Sunset's chest and the magic circle that prints on her chest activates, making her feel pain, "You have to be a dragon," Then Whitty's tears start falling down, "Sorry, Sunset. I have a lot of things to share with you, but..." Whitty closes his eyes and smiles, "There is no time for us now." The floor starts disappearing.   "It... It has to have another way right? RIGHT?" Sunset hugs Whitty, "I don't want you to go,"   "Still a stubborn girl! I like it. But my time has come. Please keep yourself alive and fullfill your promise," Whitty hugs her close.  "But...But... " Sunset is trying to say something but gets cut off because Whitty kisses her lips, making her close her eyes. Then Whitty pushes her into the hole and flies up. He changes himself into a purple orb and a white orb. The purple orb is flying away while the white orb is rushing at her. Sunset holds the white orb and closes her eyes. Her tears keep falling down, the orb goes inside her chest. "I hate you, I HATE YOU, WHITTY,"  Why you take my heart. Been through so much together. Through think and then we never parted ways. Lost count of both night and day. Like the friend I never wanted. But yet you were needed. We trained, laughed, fought, and I prayed one day something more. But now what we had is over. Like a puppet on strings you made me your dancer. Using my powers for you gain. Had I know you’d pull this dagger. I would have just passed you over. Now there is only pain. Tears falling from my eyes. Air filled with hurtful cries. Was all this just a game. Now I just want to curse your name. I’ll be back but this time better. I’ll train and train until I’m the master. I’ll become unstoppable and they will see. I’m not just some other nobody. Don’t worry you’ve played your part. Now I ask why did you take my heart. Sunset opens her dragon eyes and they glow red and blue, she raises her hoof and a magic circle appears on her hoof, her tears still falling down, "Time please obey me, let me rewind you once, and turn back to the happy time I used to be." The magic circle is changing into a clock, and Sunset closes her eyes, "Time... Rewind." ------Outside ------- The demons keep shooting dark beams at the shield. The shield is cracking while Natalie creates two large ice wheels, she makes it fly to the demon. Arkon let the wheels cut off some of his Face parts, he cast a large red magic circle in the sky. A large dark sword appears, stabs through the cracked shield, and plugs into the ground. The sword explodes immediately. The trio gets hit by the explosion and falls down. They try to get up and glared at him.  Arkon laughs at the trio, "You think you will defeat me?" Then he summons a pillar and it quickly draws a magic circle under them, then he summons many dark spikes on them. The magic circle is shining red and going to cast a spell to finish them. "Goodbye," Arkon makes the spikes fly toward them.  Matt lies down on the ground, "Thanks for coming with me, Natalie, Lance, and Sunset." The trio closes their eyes and waits for the end. When they open their eyes and see that they are still here, they find it strange and feel that they cannot move, even the dark spikes. They look down at the ground and see the magic circle is replaced by a clock.  Arkon yells, "What.... What happens with my spell?" and he sees the clock beneath the Team, "What... What kind of spell is this?"  The Seconds Hands of the clock start moving backward ten seconds, the trio feels like they just rewind back. Then all of the hands of the Clock keep moving backward and the trio feels like they are moving back, the dark spikes just going back outside the clock and disappearing. All the wounds of the battle on the trio are slowly removed. When the clock stops moving, the trio can move again and feel like they just entered the battle.   "What.. what happens?" Matt looks around his body, "Our wounds have been treated. HOW?"   Natalie looks at Sunset and sees that her eyes are on red and blue fire, and she has an orange dragon claw on her left. "Sunset?"   Sunset breathes heavily as she feels hot in her body. "There is no time," Sunset raises her claw and a magic circle appears on it. Natalie sees that and points the staff at Arkon, and another magic circle appears. Matt and Lance nod. Matt covers his sword with a red aura while Lance starts charging the shot at Arkon.  Arkon, feeling like he can't do anything, closes his eyes and says, "Perhaps humans do have a future on this planet." Then he laughs at the sky, "I am done here." Matt charges at Arkon at high speed and slashes him in half while Lance shoots "Hyper Beam". A fire dragon rushes at Arkon and a ray of light starts shooting at his spot. Arkon's body shattered into pieces, then it disappeared into black dust.   Sunset lies on the ground and closes her eyes. She still feels that her body is burning like she is in lava. Lance runs to her, "Sunset," he yells as all the team members are near Sunset, "What happened?" Lance sees dragon wings growing on her back with many blood drops, "Oh shit. I will vomit after this."   Natalie takes out the spell book to see if there is a spell to decrease the pain. Sunset's right front hoof is glowing many nails and the hoof is blasted out, revealing another orange claw. Then her back hoofs explode and are replaced by orange dragon legs. Natalie sees that and looks away. She vomits after seeing this scene.  Sunset's fluffy tail is ripped off as another dragon tail grows to replace the fluffy tail. The new orange dragon tail has many red spikes on it and has a fire at the end. Then her ears get rips off and replaced by two dragon horns that point to the back. Then her muzzle is replaced with a dragon one. When the transformation is complete, Sunset roars at the sky and creates a shockwave around her, making the team send them flying backward. Then she breathes, calms herself down. She sees the trio as they have their mouths open in shock.  Sunset says, "You guys ok?" Sunset starches her head with a claw, then she looks at them, "What... what happens to me?"  "Well.... uh." Natalie takes a big mirror for Sunset, "Take a look at yourself."  Sunset's eyes widen to see her new form. Now she is an orange dragon with two red horns on her head, she has a yellow body with a light yellow belly, and yellow wings. Her eyes are red and blue dragon eyes. After seeing this, Sunset closes her eyes and shakes her head. It doesn't matter anymore for her.   "It looks like I have to adapt to my new body." Sunset swings the claw at the mirror, the mirror is cut into pieces, "Whoa, now I have to be careful with those." then she looks at the sky, "Looks like we won, right?"   Matt takes Sunset's dark cloak and mage hat, "Yeah, we won," and gives them to Sunset Sunset wears it on and feels it's smaller than she thought. "Well, I need a bigger cloak," she glances at the team and realizes that she is a little bit taller than them. "and I have to get used to this one too." Natalie takes a bigger cloak and hat from her pocket dimension, "here you are," Sunset looks at Natalie and tilts her head, "what does that look like? I thought that I could wear it and bought it in the store,"  Sunset takes the cloak and wears it. It fits her, "Thank you," The ground is shaking cause no one controls this portal, "Well, we gotta get out of hers first, right?"  The others nod as they run to get out of the portal. Their mission is finished and now the world is in peace in the future. > Epilogue: Heroes don't need fame > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----Outside the portal----  Silver is flying in the sky to check if the city is fine or not. Some cities are on fire because they are fallen by the monster. Silver is going to fly to the fallen cities to help but the monster suddenly turns into black dust and disappears. The vortexes are closing then vanish, leaving a peaceful blue sky as usual. Silver flies back to the campsite and wants to see Eldaro. When she found him, she lands in front of him and reports,  "Sir, the vortexes have disappeared and the monsters vanish," Silver sees Eldaro look at the sky, "Sir?"  "I know, our soldiers are coming out of the portal because it is closing," Eldaro stands up and turns to Sabrina, "They did it right?"   Sabrina sighs in relief, "They did it, but they haven't come out of the portal," then she looks at the portal, "I hope that they are all right."  Eldaro looks at the portal, "they will be fine, don't worry," and he sees the Team is walking out of the portal as the portal is completely closed and vanished. Eldaro smirks at Sabrina, "See."  When the Team comes out of the portal, they look back to the spot that they just came out and sigh. When the Team turns to the campsite. They got cheered and congratulated by the members of the campsite, some of them call them heroes. The Team looks at the sky then they look at each other and laugh.   "They're silly, right?" Lance spins his gun. "They call us heroes,"   Matt rubs his head, "It's quite embarrassing, right?" Then he steps forward to the crowd, "But we should get going." The others of the team walk with Matt.   On the way walking, they got claps and congratulations from others. The Team looks around and keeps looking around, they don't really care about that. Eldaro and Sabrina are standing in front of them, and Eldaro shakes Matt's hand.   "Thank you, for helping us," Eldaro puts his other hand to Matt's hand, "What will you do? The demon is gone now."   "How about we talk somewhere else?" Matt looks at the crowd, "We feel uncomfortable here,"   Sabrina nods, "I see, follow us," Sabrina leads the team to the tactic tents while Eldaro commands his soldier that no one disturbs them, and prepares to move back to Lavita city, then he walks to the Tactic tents.  --------Tactic tent--------  "You're really tired, aren’t you?" Sabrina notices that the Black Mage is taller than before, "And.... Do I have an illusion or something? Because it seems like your Black Mage is taller than normal,"   "Eh.... stuff happens," Sunset steps back, "It doesn't matter right?"   Eldaro just walks inside the Tactic Tent but his bump into Sunset, makes him fall. "Sorry," then he looks at Sunset and notices that she is taller than before. He stands up and compares his height and Sunset's height, "Ok, did you use a spell that increases your height or something? You are taller than me right now."   "Eh..." Sunset turns her body away, "I ... don't know how to explain that. Can you skip this thing, please?"   Sabrina hears the radio, she sits down and wears a headphone, realizes that is her husband, "Hello dear. What are you calling for?" then she nods, and nods and she takes off the headphones. Sabrina stands up and turns to the Team, "Looks like Leo wants to invite them to a party. Inside the castle."   "Can we not attend? I hate the noble party." Natalie sits down. "Because it's boring. "  "Sorry girl, you and your team must attend the party," Sabrina pushes Natalie lightly, "Don't worry, I will dress you nicely." Sabrina puts her face near Natalie's ear and whispers, "But I hate those dresses a lot."  ".... Well, I never attend any noble party." Matt glances up, "But we don't have any nice dress."   "Don't worry, we will let you borrow them," Eldaro pats Matt's shoulder, "And you can steal them for money thought,"   "Right... But what about Sunset?" Lance points at Sunset, "She doesn't want to show her appearance,"  "Well, she can dress like that at the party," Sabrina points at Sunset, "And I am still salty when losing you, Sunset Shimmer." then she glances back to the Team and realizes "Wait, did the demon is too weak for you? I didn't see any wounds on your body." "Well...." Natalie puts her arm to the table, then she puts her cheeks on her hand, "Actually, we thought that we would die but..." Natalie sighs, "Sunset uses a spell that rewinds the time, makes everything like you watch the video in rewind,"   Sabrina and Eldaro look at each other and rub their ears to hope that they hear wrong. Eldaro questions, "You say Sunset can rewind the time?" Natalie nods and Eldaro sighs, "Oh right, if that is Sunset, I won't surprise anymore."   "Yeah, everything is weird from that mage if that related to magic," Sabrina points at the map, "Well, we currently are here... wait do we have teleport crystal?" Sabrina looks at Eldaro as he shakes his head, "Okay...we will be lost three days to return to Lavita city."   "All right," Eldaro steps outside of the tent. "We should start now."  The campsite starts collapsing, and all of the campsite members start moving back to Lavita city, the capital of Earth(en). On the way back to Lavita, they encounter a lot of monsters but they just get over it. At night, Sunset lies on the ground and stargazing, wondering what has happened in Equestria now. -----Equestria----- A lavender filly is so nervous about the test because this is a test to assign to the School of Gifted Unicorns, she keeps walking around and walking around. Her parents see that and walk next to her.   "Twilight dear, you don't have to worry about that." Twilight Velvet hugs her daughter, "It's just a test,"   "A test, a TEST. Mom, this is important because this is my only chance for me to attend school," Twilight Sparkle keeps walking around, "I don't know what happens if I fail."   Nightlight pats his daughter, "Don't worry, you will--" He gets a cut sentence because the judge in the room goes outside.    The judges announce, "Twilight Sparkle, you next." The lavender nods and step slowly toward the room. She looks back at her parents.   "You can do it, dear." Twilight Velvet cheers as she and her husband come inside the room Inside the room, there are three judges sit on chairs. They look at the lavender filly, then two of the three judges do not bother to look at her. The other judge says, "Now, show your magic skill and let us see if you can attend this school or not." Twilight Sparkle feels nervous about this. She looks around and sees a purple dragon egg, then she says, "Okay, I will hatch this dragon egg," then she points her horn at the egg and shines it. A purple aura appears around the egg but it does not hatch. The judges see that and sigh.  A judge says, "You can try again. But this time if you fail, I will mark you fail at the test." Twilight Sparkle hears that and gulps, then she closes her eyes and tries again.  Celestia is enjoying walking in the sunlight without her guards. While she is walking, she sees the school and smiles at it. Then Celestia turns her head away and sees a purple orb flying around. The purple flies toward the school and goes through the wall. Curious in her mind, Celestia decides to follow the orb and see where it goes. When she comes close to the window to see what is inside. She sees the purple orbs fly toward the purple dragon eggs that Twilight Sparkle is trying to hatch and it fuses the eggs. Celestia decides to stay there for a while to see if the filly can do it or not. Twilight Sparkle opens her eyes and tries to hatch but it does not even flinch. Suddenly, a rainbow explosion appears in the sky, make the filly surprise and the magic that focuses on her horn is stronger, and it hatches the eggs successfully. A purple baby dragon appeared in the eggs. Celestia sees that, smiles, and walks into the school.   Twilight bounces around happily while the judge's mouth just opens in shock. Celestia sees the lavender filly jumping around. It reminds her of when Sunset first learned magic. She decides to go to the class and meet Twilight. Twilight keeps bouncing around until she bumps into Celestia. "Ouch," Twilight Sparkle opens her eyes and sees princess Celestia standing in front of her and smiles. She quickly bows to Celestia, and other ponies do that too. "Your... your Majesty, sorry I'm bumping into you."   "That's ok, little filly." Celestia's turn to Twilight Velvet and Nightlight, "Is this your daughter?"   Nightlight answers, "Ye..yes, your Majesty. She is our daughter,"  Celestia nods at this. "If you mind, I want her to become my student," Nightlight and Twilight Velvet's eyes widened when they heard of this. "That if you allow her. I won't take anyone against their will."   "Let me ask--" Twilight Velvet gets cut off when she sees her daughter's eyes widen, and has a big smile, "I think she likes it. So you can take her as your student."   Celestia picks the purple baby dragon and makes him on the back, "Thank you, Twilight Velvet. I will take care of this baby dragon." Celestia's horn glows yellow, "You can bring her to meet me every time you want," she pats Twilight's head and smiles.  "But your Ma-" the judges are going to say something but Celestia teleports away.  ---------Back to Earth(en) --------- The Team has dust around because they raided a secret dungeon, making all members of the campsite have to slow down one day. After four days, when they finally go into Lavita City, the battalion is cheered on by people in there. The Team just walked forward to the castle with the battalion as fast as possible. When the battalion goes inside the white castle, they separate and then most of them go home and rest, except the Team.   "So, what are we going to do here?" Matt glances at others, "We just stay here and wait, right?"   "Yeah... " Sunset says while creating a fireball, "And what will we do now?"   Lance pats Sunset's shoulder, "We will party as the last time, and then... we will separate for training." Lance turns away from the team, "We are done here and nothing can threaten this country or this world."  The team agrees with this decision, Matt says, "then see all of you seven years later."  Eldaro sees the team and runs at them, "Hey, the king summons all of you. You should come in to meet him." The Team starts walking inside the castle.   When the Team comes into the castle, they are led to the courtroom by the guard. The door opens and they see a large hall with many guards standing aside, and a long red carpet on the ground. The team looks at each other and steps forward. They meet a teal-haired man wearing a royal coat and fancy clothes who sits on the throne. He also has a gold crown on his head. Matt, Natalie, and Lance bow at him while Sunset does not bow for him. A coral-haired woman wears knight armor and points the sword at the Sunset.   "You, you should bow down to the king," The woman yells at her, "That is disrespect to the king,"   "Well, I don't know much about the king, why should I bow to him?" Sunset spins her wooden staff, "And you know, I didn't do anything to this country yet. How can I have his respect?"   The coral-haired girl is going to charge at Sunset but the King raises his hand to stop her, "You are really an interesting mage. And about "doing anything to this country", you have already done it by slaying the demon.   "I should bow right?" Sunset is still spinning her staff, "Then my answer is still a "no" because I don't know you, that's all."   The king laughs at the mage then stops, "You really an interesting mage. But you know, I can ignore your disrespect, and all of you should stand up," the king points at Sunset, "You are quite tall compared to the woman in here. But anyway, my name is Leo, and can I know all of your names?"   "Well, my name is Matt," Matt points at the Black Mage, "This is Sunset," then points at Lance, "Lance," and finally points at Natalie, "Natalie,"   "You know, I want to talk more to all of you but my time is limited." The king stands up, "See you at the party at 8 pm, don't be late." The team nods and gets out of the courtroom. When the team goes out of the courtroom, they get escorted by the guard to their guest room.  The knight glared at the king, "Forgive me for my rudeness. But I don't trust that mage cover in the black coat,"  "No need to apologize, Clare," Leo takes a cup of red wine, "You can talk about what is in your mind now," Clare nods at his sentence. The king started drinking the wine, "I think she is an interesting mage, Sabrina always wants her to be our teacher at the magic school," Then Leo put the cup down, "Now I know why she wants her so much,"   "But what if she curses you with a spell?" Clare worries, "What if she is just a spy from another country?"  "If she wants to curse me, she has done it," Leo turns his head to Clare, "and if she is a spy from another country, she won't talk like that," then Leo pats Clare's head, "you should learn more,"   Clare pushes his arm away, "All right, jerk." then she steps out the door, "Let's see if she wears something at the party,"   "Sorry for disappointing you, Clare," A voice behind Clare, she turns around and sees Sabrina. Sabrina steps into the courtroom. "The Black Mage will wear that at the party," Clare sighs and goes out to the castle. She takes out the armor to come back home and prepare for the party.  ----At night----   The Team is walking together. Each of them has a fancy dress, except Sunset still wearing her usual black coat and black mage hat. Lance and Matt are wearing black vests while Natalie is wearing a white dress with some purple on it. She also wears a white flower on her head.   Sunset complains, "Man, I wish I could wear these dresses,"   After a while, they come to the door. Matt steps forward and puts his hands to the door, "Ready?" The team nods and Matt opens the doors. There are so many fancy tables in there, each of them has drink and food on it. Inside the room, there are many people and all of them wear fancy dresses. Some are talking to each other, some are dancing to classical music. But all of them seem to enjoy the party.  When the Team goes inside, Matt immediately runs to the food and takes the dish, then he grabs as much food as possible. Lance, Natalie, and Sunset just stand near a table and take some cups of orange juice to wait for Matt. Everyone in the room is looking at Sunset due to her wearing and starts discussing her and her teammate but they didn't care about this. Matt comes back to others full of food, he puts them down.   "Look like we got all of the attention, right?" Lance looks around the room, then turns attention back to the Team, "Anyway, what will you do after this party?"  "Well, I will go with Matt on his journey," Natalie rubs her fingers together and her face bright red, "I have to look after him if he steals or not."  Matt rolls his eye, "you can go with me," and he grabs some food, "But you can't stop me from stealing stuff,"   Natalie grins at this, "Challenge accepted."  Lance drinks a little wine, "Well, I will go to my house to practice more about shooting," Then he puts the cup down, "And military tactics,"   Sunset takes a piece of pie, "I don't know if there is a hidden village for me to hide," Then she takes a bite, "I just want to start a normal life,"   "We will see each other again seven years later. Don't forget that." Matt laughs, "We will start the journey to take Sunset back to her world," Matt eats some meat, "The things I will continue my journey is finding a way to connect her world, even if that is a one-side portal,"   Sunset hugs Matt, "Thank you, I owe you too much."  Lance takes out four medals that have a shield that has dragon detail on there, "This is an "alarm clock", it will ring after seven years." each of them takes one medal, and they nod. Matt waves his hand to Sunset, "Remember, you don't owe me anything," then he smirks at her, "That's a friend for." then he turns to Natalie, "Hey, Natalie. Shall we dance together?"   "Dan...dance?" Natalie blush furiously at this, "But...but I don't know how to dance,"   Matt rubs his head, "Well. me too. Don't worry." Then Matt drags Natalie to the dancing zone, Lance follows them to teach them how to dance. When the others go to the dancing zone, Sunset leans against the wall and drinks some juices. Many people in the room still look at her and start discussing her. Some of them look at her with disgusting faces, but some of them seem to find that interesting. There are two men and one woman who keeps staring at her, and a man is pushed close to Sunset by his friend. He takes all of his courage to ask Sunset.   "Hello,"   Sunset turns her head to the voice and sees a familiar teal-haired man. "Hello, Leo? May I help you?"   "No, I just want to know why you keep that coat and hat at the party?" He points at the crowd who stare at Sunset, "You got much unnecessary attention there,"   "I don't even a noble," Sunset start walking upstairs, "How about we go out the balcony?"  Leo thinks a little bit, "Then how about you and your friends go to my room and have some discussion?" He glances at the crowd, "I hate being here though,"   "Good idea, I will call my friends,"  Sunset calls her friend to come back. Leo leads the Team to the large balcony. There is a large round table with many chairs around and Sabrina has already sat there to wait for them.   "Have a seat, everyone." The Team starts sitting on the chair. Sunset looks around and sees many small red dots attract on the wall, the table, and on the roof. Sunset decides to ignore it. "There are many foods around here, you can eat." Then Matt starts to eat, while Natalie feels shame about Matt's attitude. "Don't worry, if we are out of food here, I can call more."  Lance says, "Thanks for your welcome, your majesty,"   "Just call me Leo. Because without all of you, this country is drowning in the sea of fire now." Leo picks his cup, "I should be the one who says thank you to you." then he drinks some red wine and puts the cups down, "Well, I just want to ask one thing."   Sunset drinks some red wine. "What is it?"   "Why do you want to slay the demon for yourself?" Leo points at the team, "What are you doing this for? Fame, Money or something?"   Matt answers, "Well, simple. Arkon takes our power and we come here to take revenge. That's all." Matt stands up, "We don't do this for anything else."  Leo laughs at this, "I see. I got the clip that all of you were fighting in the campsite though," He turns to Sunset, "But I still do not recognize this mage's appearance. Anyway, can you tell me about your journey?" The Team starts telling about their journey to the King in two hours. Sabrina and Leo feel amazed but still laughing at them when their journey has some remembrance moments. After two hours, Leo and Sabrina thank all of them. The Team stands up and starts leaving.  Leo raises his hand, "Hey, can I borrow the Black Mage a little bit?"   Matt answers, "Sure, we will start separating." The team hugs each other, then release, "Goodbye all of you, see you seven years later,"   Sunset nods, "Goodbye," then Matt, Lance, and Natalie start moving out while Sunset turns her body to the King and the Queen, "So what is it?"   "You know, we are all curious about your appearance for a long time," Sabrina spins her chopstick, "About the thing that all of you do in this country, we can make a statue for you. But we can't make it if you don't show your appearance,"   Sunset pulls out her wooden staff, "I deny," Leo and Sabrina sigh as they expect this answer. Sunset continues to say, "I don't like to be popular anyway,"   "I see," Leo grins at her, "Then at least you can show us our appearance,"   Sunset glances at the roof, the floor, and the wall. She steps forwards to the King and grabs her black coat. Leo and Sabrina feel more curious about this. Sunset takes off the black coat and reveals a white coat covering her appearance. The duo feels so angry about this. Sunset continues to take off her hat, then she puts the black hat, black coat, and wooden staff on the table and turns her body away from the duo, and starts walking. "Heroes don't need fame." Leo and Sabrina sigh at this but feel angry inside, Meanwhile, outside the castle. Everyone in the country sits somewhere and watches TV. They have seen all of the heroes who save the world. They are amazed about the heroes, and the rumors of the legendary heroes start from here.