It doesn’t take long for us to eventually end up standing at the gates of Domacchin.

The region’s one of the only places around here that has an actual mountain range, making it a popular location in Aikawa. But thanks to the fact it’s currently 4:30, there’s no chance of anyone else being there at the moment.

And of course, we eventually start the eight-hour trek.

3

“Come on, Niko! Just another few minutes and we should be at the campsite…”

I’m completely exhausted, and I don’t know how much longer I can hike. I mean, I was already lagging behind…

“Can’t you just use one of your spells to get up this stupid thing?”

“That would use… what, a quarter of the mana? If I use up all of my energy then, I won’t be able to battle of the elites on the mountain!”

***

After we finally get to the peak of the mountain top, (just like Saco says) there’s the same lonely camp that’s been on this mountain for around 100 years now.

There isn’t that much going on over here—just two old, worn down barbecue grills, the type you see in outside parks—some ragged tents, and of course, the cave.

Sacho can see that I’m not ready to hike into the cave and join the other mages just yet, so we both stop on and old log just outside of the cave.

There’s been a lot on my mind lately, and I’m pretty grateful for yet another moment to rest.

It also reminds me of a question I wanted to ask Sacho…

“Hey, Sacho, I just realised…Your’e a witch, and I’m a human…isn’t that a bad thing? I mean, if we’re in a relationship, and we’re not even the same species…”

“Oh…That’ll take some explaining… Basically, witches and wizards come from the same blood line of humans. In fact, witches and wizards are basically the exact same. The only difference is, well…”

Sacho reaches into her robes, and pulls out her wand. She gives it 5 very subtle, gentle waves.

Not a moment passes before rain starts to gently pitter onto the mountain, turning a beautiful crystal shade as it comes down.

“Yeah, That…” Sacho exclaims. “Okay, we better join the other mages now…”

“Wait…Sacho? I thought you said that the other mages treat you terribly!”

“That’s only for my tribe,” Sacho says as she starts to walk deeper into the cave. “Don’t worry, this tribe hasn’t heard anything about me, besides some of the devils I’ve killed…”

“Wait, so how come you never bothered trying to make friends in other tribes?”

“I was too shy; I was sure I would mess up, and run all the way back to square one.”

“Ah…That makes sense”

***

Eventually, we arrive at a rocky dead end at the end of the cave, and I can’t be sure of what we can do from here. But before I can ask Sacho she presses her hands onto the hard, rocky surface.

Not a split-second sooner, the wall completely melts into liquid; after we walk through the now-melted wall, the liquid comes back up, making the shape of the exact fit the wall was, before hardening into rock again.

On the other side of the now covered rock, stands a few tents, Identical to the ones outside the cave, and a few witches and wizards camping outside.

“Sacho! There you are!” A girl exclaims. She has bright blonde hair, similar to the colour of Kanjo’s but with three curls in the back of her hair, and subtle bands just going over her forehead. She has red eyes and is wearing a full witch’s uniform, with the hat braising over her shoulder.

“H-Honaki! I haven’t seen you in forever! This is Niko, and he’s joining me on this mission!”

“My God, Sacho! That annoying side of you really hasn’t budged! Anyway, good to see someone else join us in the dump! Here, let me show you to your tent…”

***

Somehow, our tents bigger on the inside, to the point where it’s bigger than the apartment block I live in…

“Woah, Some place!” I exclaim

“Yeah…Oh…Great…”

Sacho sounds really worried, so I ask her what’s wrong.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Oh, my god…Now I’m remembering. That girl you saw there, Honaki, was the only girl in the magic realm that accepted me. She was the best thing that happened to me for my entire witch schooling. But now I’m reminded of something… In the magic realm, families are started very young, and your’e seen as inferior if you don’t have a family after the age of 15…Honaki’s bound to assume your’e my husband, and if she finds out…She’ll be bound to tell everyone. Then all the others will know just how much of an outsider I am…”

“Can’t you just lie or something? I’m sure they might—”

“Even worse, they might use a revealing spell, just to make sure…I’ll need to find a way to most certainly get past that…If I even can! This is a complete mess…”

Just before I can say something, the ground begins to shake…

***

What’s happening? I ask, shocked. I’m standing outside with Sacho next to me, trying to figure out why the ground is shaking.

Honaki runs towards us, fury blazing through her red eyes. “The devils found us! Any secon—”

Before Kanjo can explain the rest of the sentence, two giant devils appear. One has the most monstrous texture of green scales, yellow eyes, and it carries a crossbow, with a blood red arrow to match.

The other devil had blood red scales and six green eyes, and it carries a bloody katana.

“I have the feeling that we’re in for quite the fight…”, Sacho says, her voice overflowing with determination.

“Time to show these bastards how it’s done, cause things are about to real flamboyant!” Kanjo says.

All of us pull out are wands, and join the other mages in the high-stake battle.

Since it’s a surprise attack, no one has a plan to defend themselves, and we’re all just trying are best to hold the devils back by casting are weapons.

Because of how powerful the other devils are, It doesn’t take long for us to start using more advanced spells. As if that’s not enough, the devils start to try and match our speed.

After the mages start to attack with more speed, the Crossbow devil, in particular, starts to pick up speed; It starts to try and confuse us by shooting multiple crossbows at different angles. Matched with the insane speed that devils naturally had, arrows are pinning us down at every angle possible.

One arrow of which, shoots across the room and finds its way to none other than—Sacho! Sacho’s been shot!

In the same moment, Sacho is flung back. Her hair turns a bright pink, and she becomes knocked unconscious while flying across the room. She hits her head on a wall, before slumping down, her forehead split open.

It doesn’t take long for Honaki to start ushering people over, while simultaneously fighting the demons, all while shouting:“MEDICS! MEDICS! MEDICS! COME QUICKLY—WE HAVE A POSSIBLY FATAL SITUATION…”

As the medics run to help Sacho, I try to join them to check up on Sacho. But the other mages pull me back, and tell me to join the fight.

Meanwhile, some of the other mages take the chance to start going for the katana devil, who seems to be just standing there, watching. All this time, I’m trying to find a good opening to attack.

But it only takes a second for people to have it dawn on them that both devils are ranked elite! It only takes the devil one look at the mages to immediately take out his sword.

Then devil then disappears from my sight. Panicking, I scan the cave to see if I can find the devil. But before I can locate it, A splatter of blood appears across the cave. All of a sudden 1/3rd of our mages fall down, dead.

All of a sudden, the katana devil comes back into view, Smiling at the scenario its awakened.

I take a deep breath. I decide to leave the rest of my role in the fight to my pure instinct.

I just take out my wand, and let it take control of myself…

My eyes go red, I start to see colours, and it feels impossible to see. I feel just the same as I was five seconds ago, lost and unfocused. If I want to win this fight, I’m going to need to focus to my utmost possible limit…

Then, all at once, no pauses, Every part of my surroundings become crystal clear. The reason we’re not winning is because we’re not focusing.

All I need to do to take out this devil, to take half the weight off everyones shoulders, is just focus…focus…focus…

All of a sudden, my hands turn white, my skin, pale-tan, and two sharpened katanas with the ends chiseled off, appear by my side, through pure magic. All at once, I lift off the ground. No emotions…No cares…

The devil, surprised at this incoming attack, dodges just in time for my katanas, but slams into the side of the cave, causing such a gaping hole, that it collapses half of the mountain, causing it to fall into shreds to the point of sunlight rushing in.

The devil, of course, begins burning in the sunlight, and scrambles to find shelter in the side of the cave. All the while, the crossbow devil is near ashes, fighting with the only power it has left to obtain shade.

I’ll take out the crossbow devil, just to be thorough…

I thrust myself towards the devil, dismembering its crossbow, before using my katana to cut off its left arm.

After that, I aim for its right leg, and I take care of it in one slice.

It doesn’t take long for the dreaded creature to burn in the sunlight.

After the crossbow devil is thoroughly killed, I turn my attention to the katana devil…To realise there’s no need to. The other mages have already finished them off…

All that’s lef—Sacho! I need to check on Sacho!…

***

It takes me a while to catch up to Sacho, since she’s surrounded by medics; By the time I do get to her, I realise what’s wrong: When Sacho was shot, the arrow was filled with poison, Which is why her hair turned red. Weirdly enough, she was the only one the crossbow devil shot, which is why she was, thankfully, given enough attention that she would be okay. Just a few minutes later, Sacho wakes up, to me, and a few others, looking over at her.

“Niko!,” She began in a panic, “The devils where are they, did they esca—”

“Niko was Amazing!” Honaki begins. “His eyes went red, he summoned two katanas, and then he—”

“HE WHAT?” Sachos’ face immediately goes white. “How did he find his inner warrior if he’s not a wizard?!?…”

“We’ll find out later,” A medic starts. “For now, you need to focus on your symptoms…”

The medic hands Sacho a fill-out form. I peer over Sachos’ shoulder to find out what happened…

Witch Diagnosis Sheet:

Patient name: Sacho Koniwai

Patient age: 16

Injured in: Battle with devils

Wounds description: Injected with devil poison, impaled through patients arm.

Symptoms suffered: Hair has turned scarlet, blood is ejected into bloodstream.

After reading the sheet, Sacho has two questions:

“Is my hair permanently going to be stuck like this?”

“You can dye it, and no-one will know the difference.” The medic responds.

“Is the poison treated enough for me to go back on my missions?”

“No, give it a few weeks. Even after you recover, it won’t be fully ejected out of your bloodstream. Because of the increase of the effects since it was ejected through one of your veins, it won’t leave your bloodstream until the day you die.”