When Luna mentioned that she was going to have a word with her friend after she returns, Scarlet hoped that she would just scold her a little for being too reckless.

She didn't expect... This.

Sitting on the bed with her back against the wall, Scarlet could only watch the scene unfolding in front of her in silence. Both girls had practically started arguing, although it was quite obvious who was winning that argument, Luna was scolding her friend, while she could only try to justify her actions.

The pitch of their voices was quite high, almost reaching the point of shouting and Scarlet felt uncomfortable about it. So much shouting could attract the attention of the genesis beasts who were still searching for them outside and if they found them, that would be a little problem. Fighting in freezing rain was not the most joyful experience an arcana could have.

Ironically, the storm had been responsible for lending them a hand with that problem. A few moments ago, the water had finally made itself present and the few drops that fell quickly became a torrent of water that was little by little flooding the abandoned streets of the city.

The rain was loud enough to hide Luna and Shizu voices, however, Scarlet was still prepared to intervene and silence them, after all, there was a limit to what the rain could hide.

"Damn it, Shizu! Where the hell have you been?!" The calm tone she had heard before was completely gone, and while Luna wasn't actively yelling, just from the tone of her voice was enough to tell that by the standards of someone like Luna, she was very upset.

"I told you, I went looking for Rachel!" Shizu on the other hand didn't look upset, rather she seemed to be uncomfortable. She wasn't even making a real effort to defend herself against her and she only seemed to seek to justify her actions. "You know there is no danger for me, I know how to hide from the genesis"

"First of all, it's Major Rachel for you, and second, that's not the damn problem" Luna crossed her arms and managed, in some surprising way, to look disappointed, annoyed and worried at the same time. "The problem is that you left without warn"

"What?" Shizu asked in confusion, clearly not expecting those words. "Why does that bother you now? I've done it before and you've never been so angry."

"That was different" Luna sighed and dropping her hands on Shizu's shoulders, all the annoyance disappeared from her expression, leaving only worry. "This time, we really were about to die"

Luna's hands shook for a moment as her fingers tightened around Shizu's shoulders. And as if she had just remembered her existence, Luna turned to Scarlet. "Shizu, she received a wound because of me, this is not a game"

The black-haired girl gave Scarlet a small glance, and when their eyes met, she could see insecurity and conflict blooming in her expression. She analyzed Scarlet from head to toe, as if she were looking for any sign of a lie in Luna's words. However, even without seeing anything, her shoulders sagged as she let out a resigned sigh. "I... I guess I was reckless... I'm sorry."

"Next time are you going to warn?" Luna asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously until Shizu finally gave her a weak nod, at which point Luna posture visibly relaxed and her calm gaze returned. "I think it's not just me you should apologize to."

Shizu looked at Scarlet with a guilty expression. It had been mainly her fault that Scarlet had ended up injured because of her carelessness, Luna had to protect her and that caused her not to notice a genesis beast attacking her from behind.

It had been fortunate that Scarlet had been close enough and fast enough to arrive in time and push Luna out of the way, but that meant she was the one to take the hit.

Shizu had suddenly bowed in front of Scarlet. "I... I'm sorry for leaving without warning after what happened to you."

Silence

That was Scarlet's response to this girl's strange way of apologizing. At first she didn't know what was happening, but her mind quickly made the connections to relate it to one of the traditions of the Mizukami Republic. After all, traveling constantly had its advantages in terms of knowledge.

Scarlet looked strangely at Luna, confused as to what she should do. Is there really anything to forgive here? The injury she had suffered wasn't even something serious, as Luna said, it was nothing more than a superficial cut. The only thing she could forgive Shizu for was leaving without warning and putting her life in danger, but that was something Luna should do, not Scarlet.

Like Luna, to Scarlet, Shizu was a complete stranger.

On the other hand, Shizu didn't seem to plan to raise her head before Scarlet said something, quickly making the situation awkward, and Luna's response, a small nod accompanied by a smile, didn't exactly help.

"All right..." After a few seconds of complete silence, Scarlet finally prepared to speak in the calmest and kindest voice possible. "All right, just, don't do it again... yes?"

When Shizu raised her head immediately afterwards, her guilty expression had vanished and been replaced by a big, radiant smile. "Rest assured, I won't do it again. I'm Shizu by the way, what's your name?"

The sudden change in attitude took Scarlet completely by surprise and made her wonder if this girl really felt bad about what she did, or if it was all a ruse to appease Luna. It took Scarlet a moment to formulate a response. "...I'm Scarlet"

"Scarlet... Hmm" Shizu repeated the name once, with some curiosity, as if she was trying to engrave it in her head so she wouldn't forget it. "By the way. Can you explain to me what the hell that was that you did outside?"

"Do what?" Scarlet asked totally confused, she had done a lot of things out there so she didn't know what she was referring to exactly. "You have to be more specific"

"You know" Shizu responded by extending both hands to the sides. "That super attack"

Even with such a vague and ambiguous description, Scarlet was able to recognize what he meant quite simply. It was something she did when she was injured after protecting Luna, an inefficient thing used purely out of the desperation of the moment.

**

The situation had deteriorated faster than Scarlet had thought, with wave after wave of genesis beasts having fallen under the edge of her sword and the shots of her pistol. Exhaustion was beginning to catch up with her little by little

She didn't know how long they had been fighting like that, and not even the presence of two new companions had managed to lighten the situation, they were simply being slowly overtaken and it was only a matter of time before they were inevitably defeated.

That's when it happened. The black haired girl was having trouble. She was someone whose main weapon was a bow, so she naturally had several problems when it came to fighting at such short distances and was being attacked by two beasts in the shape of ferocious wolves, with jaws and teeth large enough and Sharp enough to kill a normal person with a single bite.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She managed to kill one of the wolves with an arrow that pierced its head wide, but the other had taken advantage of the carelessness that this generated and attacked her, knocking her to the ground. The wolf tried to bite her head several times, but the girl managed to dodge it with difficulty while she tried to push it away from her with a few blows.

Then, with a single slice, the wolf's head was separated from its body by a Katana, and with one kick, the black-haired girl removed the wolf from her. The one who had saved her was the other person in the place, a white-haired girl, whose chest was rising and falling because of tiredness, even so, she extended her hand to help the girl in black. "Are you okay?"

The girl was about to take her hand, but suddenly her eyes widened, at the same time Scarlet, without time to think, began to run towards them, driven simply by her instinct. "Look out!"

"Behind you!" With both of their warnings, the white-haired girl was finally aware of the huge monstrous shadow looming over her, but it was too late to react in time and her huge claws were about to hit her.

Luckily Scarlet managed to arrive in time and pushed her hard to get her out of the way, but as a result, she herself did not have time to get out of the way in time, and the claws of the huge monster reached her.

Pain ran through her back in a single moment, the impact was so powerful that her Arcanum shield could not absorb all the damage and she was inevitably pierced. The only thing she could do was let out a brief cry of pain before being thrown forcefully towards one of the buildings.

"Gah!" All the air in her lungs was forced out of her as she crashed into the thick solid concrete walls, causing massive cracks and damage to the already battered structure, before falling to the ground on her knees, breathing frantically. She coughed several times as her chest rose and fell at an unnatural speed.

She managed to hear a strange sound coming from above and looked up just in time to be able to push herself forward, narrowly avoiding being crushed by several pieces of debris that fell right where she was moments before.

In her confusion, a genesis beast lunged at her, and Scarlet looked almost desperately for her sword to defend herself. But a single arrow of light pierced the head of the monster, which fell to the ground completely dead.

"Are you okey?!" The black-haired girl was holding her bow, one knee on the ground and her trembling hands pointing directly towards where the monster had been before. She got up and ran to Scarlet to help her stand up.

On the other hand, the girl in white was taking care of the largest beast, although the only thing she managed to do was contain it momentarily. It was big, tough and too strong so the girl's ice was not very effective in causing fatal injuries

And more and more beasts were accumulating around them, the black-haired girl was shooting multiple arrows around her friend to try to keep the smaller beasts away, she was succeeding, but for how long could she keep it up? They couldn't go on like this...she would have to waste some Arcanum to end this once and for all, or the situation would become untenable

"I'm going to finish it" Scarlet murmured those words so that the girl next to her would hear, causing her to stop and look at her confused. Scarlet did not return her look, and instead walked a few steps forward while one of her hands slowly lit up in a reddish color as she gathered a large amount of Arcanum

The girl in white realized this, and in surprise she froze the monster's legs and anchored it to the ground before moving away until she was behind Scarlet, making sure to kill all the beasts in her path, giving Scarlet a nod in the process.

The beast let out a furious roar as it strained its legs trying to break the ice, an effort that was paying off but not fast enough.

Scarlet pointed her hands towards the monster, and from one moment to the next, a huge torrent of energy shot towards the enormous creature, and when it came into contact, a huge explosion was created that consumed everything in a radius of several meters, and destroyed it. The only thing that remained of the beast were unrecognizable pieces that were scattered around the surroundings

"We have to go... Now!" Scarlet screamed as she saw that the explosion had not only killed the monster but also killed a large number of the smaller beasts, and that left an opening of time for them to escape

Both girls didn't even say anything before the three of them ran away from the place.

**

"I guess that's what you meant" Scarlet murmured in Shizu's direction.

"That's right." The black-haired girl nodded repeatedly. "What was it? I've never seen anyone use Arcanum like that."

"Never?" Luna asked out of nowhere, totally surprised just like Scarlet. "Have you been living under a rock or something?"

"Hehe... Something like that" Shizu explained while shyly scratching her head. "Dad has always been very overprotective and he didn't let me train as I should, nor have I seen many arcana outside of television"

Luna's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and her tone of voice left no room for evasions. "Shizu... How did you manage to come to Sourtech and enroll in a training academy?"

Shizu subtly shifted her eyes to the side, trying to avoid answering, but Luna's intense gaze finally made her give up. "It's okay... I might have escaped..."

"And what else?" Luna asked again, her tone dangerously serious. "How did you manage to be admitted as an arcana in training?"

"Hehe... That part is a little funny" Shizu smiled nervously trying to lighten the situation. "Could have... Hmm forged him signature?"

...

Luna was speechless. "Really?"

"...Yes" Shizu answered timidly.

"Really..." Luna massaged her temple, having obvious difficulties assimilating what she had just heard. She gave her a subtle look, as if she expected Shizu to say it was a joke, but that revelation never came. "You're so stupid"

"In my defense, I was thinking of telling him..." Shizu defended herself sheepishly, earning a scowl from Luna.

"I'm sure you were going to," Luna muttered sarcastically. "When we come back, you will have to explain many things"

"Anyway! This isn't about me." Shizu turned to Scarlet, subtly ignoring the judging look Luna was giving her. "It's about explaining to me what she did."

"You won't be saved from explanations" Luna murmured under her breath, but didn't say anything else.

Shizu's curious and excited gaze was completely on Scarlet. It was surprising how Shizu was practically unaffected by the possible problems she would be involved in later. Everyone deals with problems differently, or so Scarlet assumed.

"Okay..." Scarlet settled herself a little closer to the edge of the bed and patted the space next to her, inviting Shizu to sit down. She did it quicklyz keeping her excited smile at all times. "I assume you know about the Arcanum and how to control it?"

"Of course. Since dad didn't allow me to train, I dedicated myself to studying instead" Shizu declared with her head held high, clearly proud. "Arcanum is the source of all the power of an arcana, without it, we would barely be superior to the weaker genesis beasts. It allows us to create shields to protect ourselves and can be imbued with elements, such as Luna's ice, to attack"

That explanation had been accurate, but incomplete. "Arcanum is not used solely for that, and the elements are not mandatory" Scarlet began to explain. "Elements are the easiest way to use Arcanum, but not the only one."

With Shizu's attention fully on her, Scarlet slowly extended one of her fingers pointing towards Shizu. "So, what happens if you just let out Arcanum without imbuing any elements?"

With those words, and to Shizu's astonishment, a small ball of reddish light began to form at the tip of Scarlet's finger. It was as small as a simple marble and it took her by surprise when it shot out and crashed on her forehead, forming a small, harmless burst. "That's a controlled discharge from Arcanum."

Surprised, Shizu checked the impact area with her hands, as if she were looking for any trace of a wound, but she found nothing and the glow in her eyes only intensified. "That's so cool... How can I do that?!"

"Well..." Scarlet considered it for a few seconds, it shouldn't be impossible for Shizu, it was evident that she had some control over her Arcanum, but trying was risky at best. "It shouldn't be impossible for you, but I wouldn't recommend trying."

"Eh? Why?" Shizu asked bewildered.

"It's just inefficient" Scarlet's response was calm, but curt. "If you don't have enough control over your Arcanum, all you're going to do is run out of Arcanum faster than normal"

"It is so difficult?" Shizu asked that question into the air at the same time that she looked at her hands for a few seconds, Scarlet was momentarily afraid that Shizu would try it, but she just let out a small sigh. "Well, I guess now isn't the best time. But I'll try when we get back."

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Scarlet muttered under her breath. She still remembered her own training with that... So many involuntary explosions... she will have to keep a close eye on Shizu so that she doesn't end up accidentally self-destructing.

"Anyway," Shizu spoke again, this time with a strangely serious tone, abandoning all emotion beforehand. Scarlet was again surprised by this girl's ability to change emotions in a matter of seconds. "Luna, I found the place where Major Rachel confronted that crazy woman."

Luna's ears perked up visibly upon hearing Rachel's name, but from the tone of Shizu's voice, she immediately knew it wasn't good news.

"I think the situation is worse than we expected" With Shizu's words, Luna simply sat on the other free space of the bed, and Shizu immediately asked her a question. "This was just a reconnaissance mission... Right?"

Luna raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "That's what Major Rachel said."

"Well... It doesn't seem like it..." Slowly, Shizu turned her gaze towards the window, watching the occasional drops of water splashing across the dirty glass. "For now we are safe... But there are so many beasts out there that it will be impossible to get out without forcing our way out"

"We already knew that" Luna responded.

However, Shizu shook her head. "There are even more than before"

"But why?" Luna asked herself. "This area is supposed to have little Genesis presence. Why did that change so suddenly?"

Scarlet also asked herself that question, it was not unusual for genesis levels to change in a place, normally a drastic increase in levels significantly increased the number of beasts. But this... Genesis was unpredictable, but she had never heard or experienced such a sudden and drastic change as now.

"That's not even the worst thing" Shizu spoke again, this time with worry seeping into her words. "Major Rachel is nowhere to be found, the place where she confronted that crazy woman is destroyed, but she just... Disappeared"

Luna's eyes narrowed dangerously, making Shizu uncomfortable. "Are you suggesting she may have been defeated?"

"No!" Shizu quickly shook her head. "I know she's strong enough to survive that... But she hasn't even shot a flare into the sky..."

"I don't know how your teacher thinks... O Major" Scarlet began to speak, gaining the attention of both Shizu and Luna. "But if she is strong enough to be able to survive all of this on her own. If she hasn't sent out a signal for them to meet her, couldn't it mean that there is an even greater danger than the genesis beasts?"

"Maybe the crazy woman is still alive?" Shizu timidly suggested after thinking about it for a few seconds. "She was strong enough to stand up to Major Rachel."

"It's possible..." Luna murmured as she looked out the window and her lips trembled for a moment. "Not only do we have to deal with the genesis... But also with a possible international criminal..."

"Then what do we do?" Shizu asked unsure. "We can't just wait here forever."

"I think for now we should rest and wait for the storm to pass, after everything we've been through, that would be the best course of action" Scarlet didn't have to think much about her response, going out with the storm out there involved several unnecessary risks, with genesis beasts taking advantage of the lack of visibility to hide and wait for the best moment to attack by surprise. "After that, we can try to find this Rachel and get out of here"

Luna nodded slowly. "Yes, that would be the best"

"Then... I ask for the bed!" With a smile, Shizu slipped between Scarlet and Luna in a surprisingly agile and fast manner. And before either of them could say or do anything, Shizu had already settled perfectly on the bed.

"Ahh... I'm so tired" Shizu murmured those words with a big smile as she made herself comfortable, under the watchful eye of Luna, who decided to do nothing... For now.

And there goes another sudden change of mood. Scarlet really didn't understand Shizu...