"W-wha?"

A joke... That must be it...

Bodies soaked in blood lie on the ground breathless... There I saw some familiar faces, Trevor was one of them, in his last breath, he advised the sorrounding peoole to run... Screams could be heard across town, the houses burned and flames flickered as smoke rose up to the sky... Then a sudden scream resounded.

"Ryomi!"

"Shim! Shim! Where are you!?"

Damn it! Damn it! Why!? Why all of a sudden!

I took Trevor's sword and shield then ran towards Shim's voice... It was 15 minutes ago...

--

"See you!"

"Un!"

With a wave she smiled as we parted ways in the intersection... Honestly, I wanted to take her home myself but she insisted I don't and so... Here we are...

As usual both my parents are gone and are working at the capital... I sometimes wish they would stay at home for a week or two... It's always just two days...

"G-goblins! Thousands of Goblins march towards this town, we must go now!"

A man spoke in words full of fear as he trembled...

"Evacuate the town! Immediately!"

"Hurry!"

The guards took the man's word in earnest and replied thus... Panic spread like wildfire as the guards announced the goblins arrival...

"Tsk... Why now?"

However, their arrival came much sooner than expected... A green beast with a body of a human child held a sword in one hand and shield on the other, they spoke words that only sounded gibberish to humans as they screamed as if shouting "Charge!!"

The town guards tried to repel them but their numbers were too many keeping up was a tad impossible for them, as their enemies grew to 5:1 ratio they were immediately defeated, goblins don't have much skill in the sword, but they were much stronger than an average human.

"R-run!"

He said as he breathed his last... Taking the sword and the shield Ryomi ran. The houses ablaze in flames and collapsed soon after, goblins kept on popping up one after another, due to the smoke being thick it's much harder to see and breathe.

"My eyes hurt" she thought as she slashed the goblin, making it's wound reveal blood...

"O, spirits of the water, douse thy flame with thy blessings! [Rain!]"

She held her hands towards the sky, magic power overflowed the surroundings and soon the grey sky convulsed, the skies roared as lightning passed through, this signalled that "it's already starting". Rain poured down from the sky extinguishing the flames that burned the surrounding houses.

She trembled as her knees suddenly weakened... Her breathing became rough as she stared at the ground...

"Haaa... Ha... Haa...."

However, the threat still lingers... Sounds of footsteps could be heard from every angle... They weren't humans... The green beasts held hostility towards the one who casted the spell, they gritted their teeth and gripped their swords tightly, as they growled.

"D-damn it... I... I can't move..."

Her body won't do as it told it to... Using magic at that level, she didn't knew how much burden it would give to her, simply looking towards the beasts that was all that she could do... However, her eyes haven't lost hope as of yet... She struggled forth releasing every ounce of energy from her body to move... Her sword gripped lightly, the shield in her other hand might fall if she were to recieve one more attack, but she didn't care... She wore a fearless smile as she tried to gripped the sword in her hands and shouted "Come! You Green-skinned A-holes!"

-Shim PoV-

"Ryomi!"

"Shim! Shim! Where are you!?"

Casting [Fire Lance], I managed to defeat two goblins... I shouted Ryomi's name since it was still 15 minutes ago when we separated from each other... It seems my family has already evacuated as I immediately ran towards the house as soon as I heard the news...

The surrounding houses blazed, it had only been 10 minutes since the start of the invasion but it already had gone this far... If I were the same as a year ago I might have fled as well, but right now.... I can't leave Ryomi alone...

In the air echoed an aria! This is...

The grey sky started to swirl and soon after released a bountiful amount of rain, however, this was not a normal rain... Someone casted it and there is only one person I know who could do this in the entire town...

"That idiot!"

Using that much mana would render your body useless for a day... She's really reckless! I thought as I ran towards the direction I heard her voice from earlier... Sound of swords clashing could be heard in every direction, there seems to be people fighting still... It must be the Explorers...

"Fire bend to my will! [Blast]"

Where is she? Where is she? The same question resounded over and over in my head, as I desperately searched for her whereabouts... Then...

"Shim! Where is Ryomi?"

The crowned Prince with Ms. Emily and Sir Toni came while riding a horse...

"I'm still looking for her! Ms. Emily can you find her using [Detect]?"

"There was no response..."

"As I thought, she did use all of her mana after all!"

"What do you mean?"

"This rain... It's..."

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"Tch! We got to find her fast! The goblins are swarming all over the place, the army will be coming in 5 hours... We only got here faster because of Emily..."

"5 hours? They won't make it in time... The town might get destroyed by that time...."

"Don't worry it wasn't just us... We got 7 more people who're much skilled than the royal army's soldiers..."

"Then the sounds of metals clashing were..."

"Yes... The kingdom's finest knights along with Sir Toni and Sir Kieffer..."

"But still... We have no way of looking for Shim!"

"I heard her voice earlier... Though I can't discern where it is..."

"I see... Split up in two groups..."

"I'll go with Toni, you go with Ms. Emily..."

I nod in the prince's proposal... We have to find Ryomi before... No... She's strong... She can definitely hold... Wait for us! Ryomi!

-Emily PoV-

She's reckless... I wonder if teaching her magic was really the right thing to do...

"It's okay, ma'am... Ryomi's strong! Stronger than I am..."

It seems I've showed impatience as we still couldn't see her after all this searching... Why does it seem like this town suddenly grew bigger... The supposedly minute walks were now like an hour... The streets were filled with goblins with swords in hand, their expression, angered as they possibly could... It must be because of the sudden rain but since the goblins are a race that's particularly sensitive in magic, they must've known that it was not a natural rain...

"Heil sove cram sool saer [Slicing Air]"

Unlike the normal [Wind Cutter] that can be used by most people, the [Slicing Air] spell uses the same amount of mana but with a ridiculous difference in strength, because it is one of the primal magics, which [Wind Cutter] was derived from... Also since it is one of the original spells and is chanted with "True God's Words", I was taken aback because Ryomi learned it so easily, in just one day... But apparently her friend did too... But it's because she was thought first by normal way of casting, which is normal, but Ryomi learned it without any background in magic, she just learned to use "God's Words" without prior training... Also, Shim's progress was also quite fast... Learning to use "God's Words" with few practice... I actually wanted to cry...

"Solei kif sol web cor! [Water Baloon]"

A compressed rain water bursted out blasting away all the goblins in a single space... However, this magic only causes confusion and abnormal cuts, it's not a magic that can kill, however, you look at it, this is the first time she's ever fought for real, having to kill her opponents, she still holding back...

Her breathing was rushed and she looks almost exhausted, has she been using magic since earlier... Her eyes burn alight with determination, she looked at the enemies towards her, no... She wasn't looking at her enemies it was beyond that...

"Ryomi..."

She muttered lightly as she ran...

"I could hear her voice! Ms. Emily!"

"Eh? W-what do you mean! Hey wait!"

Shim's voice grew excited and she ran as fast as she could, a smile visible in her mouth... I don't hear anything has she gone desperate? But then...

"Wraaaaaaaaagghhhh!"

A cry different from the goblins... No... It's not even close, it's a human's cry, and a desperate one at that... Even after using that ridiculous amount of mana to make it rain through the whole town... One should no longer be able to walk, let alone stand, yet I could hear clashing of swords nearby...

There I saw... Her hair wet by the rain glistened silver, her body, had visible cuts as blood runs down from her clothes... The eyes that seemed to want to cry still had a will to fight, she gritted her teeth as she blocked the goblin's attacks but she is not almighty, she is a mortal such a thing is impossible to begin with... She knelt down with her legs and still was trying to receive the goblins blade...

"Ryomi!"

Shim acted rashly and ran towards Ryomi as she chanted...

"Solei Ruu Shin Axe Cru! [Icicle Shower]"

As soon as she finished chanting the area around her suddenly grew a lot colder... This is... She's not supposed to be able to use such magic in the first place...

I looked at her and saw she vomited blood as she staggered forward before kneeling down... This is bad... She used too much mana beyond her use... The rain turned into piercing shards and pierced the goblin's limbs. Rendering them useless and unable to move... Terrifying... Though I could also use this kind of magic... But never to these extent, later, it was reported that it wasn't just the area where Ryomi fought goblins were but also across town...

I wrapped Ryomi in a dark mantle that she once had to cover her hair... If worst comes to worst I'll have to silence shim for good so that she won't tell anyone about this... I wrapped Shim in white cloth and recited an aria, the area surrounding the three of us was then covered with warmth, this is a area spell called [Sanctuary] no monsters, not even rain could pass through here... and dried them down...

Seeing as they were exhausted and wounded all over, specifically Ryomi, I immediately used healing magic, but it still wasn't enough, I have to let a priest see their wounds and apply a much higher healing spell...

"Everyone gather at the main street towards our house..."

I chanted [Whisper] magic and reported our situation, not long after sounds of horses stumping the ground could be heard not too far from here... There I saw my husband and the crowned prince... He really seemed to care for Ryomi's well-being even if they only met a year ago... His expression was that of a man worried about his lover, I saw that face once, seeing as Toni had the same expression back then, but now he has an expression of a father worried about her daughter, everybody really does change... I looked at Ryomi who was sound asleep, with a calm expression...

"Thank goodness..."

It was a bit late... But I was really happy that she didn't suffer sever injuries... My eyes started to tear up as I caressed her face slowly, as her warmth put me at ease...