I woke up to the sound of yelling. A multitude of yelling voices, in fact.

None of them I could parse.

Wait, there was one I could make out. Zenith? She was close. Really close.

I tried to open my eyes. The first thing I saw was the swipe of a blade.

Awake!!

I jumped off, drawing my sword and blocking the strike, before another blade came in my direction. It was thick and curved.

Water God Style, Intermediate Form Three. Flowing Counter Press.

I couldn't dodge it, meaning I had to flow with the strike, sending it over my head with a block, and then adjusting, sliding under the blade, and then repositioning straight into the guard of my opponent. I moved to strike-

"Alti wait!" I stopped my blade. That was Zeniths voice.

I did a scoop of my surroundings. I was looking at a torso. The guard of the person I was trying to…

I looked up. He was big, in fat red armor that looked tougher than bone. His face was covered in a linen cloth, but I could see his eyes. They were green.

I slowly, slowly, stepped out of his guard, sword still drawn and gave my attention to the rest of the scene.

A row of people with weapons drawn, all in front of earthen structures with people in it. A guard. For a town? We reached a town?

The guard spoke to me. Or tried to. It sounded like nonsense. Fighting-God? Most likely.

"Kaa-san, where are we?"

I looked back at her. She was carrying Aisha in her arms, a harried expression on her face. There was a cloth on her back. Her coat, which had a weird binding pattern around her neck. Suddenly the clues all kicked in.

Zenith had carried us through the desert when we lost consciousness. She had reached a human settlement, only for them to decide to attack us.

But why attack us? We were two children, carried on top of a woman.

I faced back to the guards. Even though most of their faces were covered, their eyes told me they were reassessing, their conversation told me they were strategizing. The one I had almost killed was sweating. And not because of the heat.

"What is going on here?!"

I got shouting back. One guy beat his chest and they started encircling us. Bad idea.

I whipped out wind magic around us, blowing all of them back.

They shouted a word that sounded suspiciously like mage.

"Don't try to fight me! I'm not afraid to kill!!" I tried to shout in my most aggressive voice. As aggressive as a ten year old girl’s voice can get, anyway.

Suddenly, a man, dressed differently than the guard, pushed his way through the circle. "Wait, wait." He said something in Fighting-God. "There's no need to fight. You speak the Human language?"

"Yeah, we do. We're from Asura."

"Then how did- that's not important. Sheath your weapon and we'll talk."

I nodded at the crowd, who had stood up. Two of them broke off to point drawn bows at me.

"Them first."

Clearly, the child protecting their mother and sister shouldn't have to back off first, right?

He said something to the guard, and one of them responded back. The guy on the right, with the bow drawn at me. They argued back and forth for a bit, him waving that bow around like an idiot.

Hey, if you let go I might get shot, yo. Please stop.

Eventually, (and I mean it took a bit), they relented, sheathing their weapons.

"I'm sorry about that. When that woman came in at first they thought she was a succubus. It isn't every day a lone woman comes to the warriors shrieking random gibberish."

I sheathed my sword, but kept a spell on the tip of my fingers, just in case. I still did not trust these people.

"And the two children on her?"

He shrugged. "The succubus have been around for a while. They've learned to get creative."

… I didn't exactly buy that, but it's not like I had an option here.

"Sir, can I ask for your name?" Zenith spoke from behind me.

"My name is Sheo of the Walking Stick. I'm an elder, of a sort." His green eyes sparkled.

Of a sort was right. He looked to be just under 30, but that's another thing I'm not gonna question. "You walk often?" I asked.

"I used to travel. I like to use a cane to get around." He waved the cane he was holding in his hand.

Ok. "My name is Zenith Greyrat. This girl here is my daughter, Altea Greyrat. On my back is my… younger daughter, Aisha Greyrat." Well that's one way to say it.

"Greyrat? You're nobility?" He asked.

"It's.. complicated. But my husband is a knight, still."

I mean practically we weren't nobles. We didn't own any land besides our house, and we had no title nor powers. But the family connections were still there, and a commoner technically can't become a knight. So that's something.

"Alright. For now, I think it's best if we escorted you inside the village and heard your story. I'm sure it's appropriately wild." He smiled wryly as he gestured for the guard to clear some space.

We entered into the village proper. It wasn't a giant village, a few dozen houses mostly made of sandstone and Earth magic, but it was big enough to have a town center and a mayoral building, so good enough.

The people stared at us curiously from their houses. I noted that it was mostly women and children, aside from the old people, who were either gender.

Is this one of those Warrior villages that those escorts in the novel talked about? From the… uh… consequences of a succubus?

God I hated just about everything about that story. To have women around just to- Mmmmmmmmm.

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We had arrived at the biggest building here, the mayoral building I mentioned earlier.

The inside looked a lot more interesting than the outside. There were no chairs, or desks or anything. But there were drawers and cupboards and the like. The carpet rug was done in the most intricate design I'd seen from this world yet. It was red, with small blue wheels embroidered throughout. I felt it, it was very soft. I assumed this was the sitting space?

We lay Aisha down on the floor as we sat, taking a moment to appreciate the lower temperature the inside provided.

"This is the Gahad Shaf, where the elders meet." Lit. "I will have you seated here while I assemble the rest." He nodded at us and the guard and walked out.

As soon as he left I turned to Zenith. "What-"

"I couldn't stay there. I didn't know if more ants were going to show up, so I kept going. Followed the signs of water. More shrubbery, more large animals. I took you on my back and carried Aisha in my arms." She looked tired. Immensely tired. Her arms were lightly shaking. "I found them and begged for help, but they instead pointed their weapons at me and then-"

"I woke up." I embraced her before she even finished her story. It sounded like a hopeless scenario. A single healer having to carry two children out in the desert to who knows where while possibly being hunted? "I should have been more careful. Not used as much mana."

"No, you did what you had to. You're inexperienced too. You couldn't know when you were supposed to stop." I squeezed tighter.

"Still, to put you in that situation, how many hours-"

She pulled me by the shoulders and put a finger over my mouth. "It doesn't matter. I'd do it all again if it meant getting you two to safety."

I almost cried.

----------------------------------------

We both sat there for a bit in silence, catching up on the last few days of tension. Not that it was over. We still had two of those armored men behind us, hovering.

Sheo finally came back, this time accompanied by four way more dressed up than him elders.

They all sat down in a semicircle in front of us.

"The chief will speak, and I will translate." Sheo said.

The guy with the most elaborate chest piece in the middle spoke. "My name is Kindaran the Wise.. You, children of the Kingdom of Asura, what business do you have here in our village?"

Getting right down to it huh. Zenith spoke for us, bowing. "My name is Zenith Greyrat. These are my daughters, Altea and Aisha. A few days ago, we were teleported here by a mana disaster that struck the whole region and dropped us in the middle of the desert. We seek only shelter, and a way back home." She said, way more formally than I was used to from her.

Now that I think about it, Zenith used to be the good girl in a noble house. This would be expected behavior, right?

Sheo's eyebrows shot way up, but he translated faithfully.

"A tale like that beggars belief. Do you have any proof to your claims?"

Uuuuu- "We came here in gear not at all prepared for the desert. We came with my sister, who is not even five years old. We're in the middle of the desert, and we don't know any Fighting-God. Do I need to go on?"

I waited for Sheo to translate my outburst. "You have quite the spirit, young warriors. But remember, the first soldier to yell their war cry is also the first to die."

Is…that supposed to be a warning? A threat? "Okay?"

Sheo, apparently a butt, translated that too.

"So it is as you say. Then, how did you survive days in the desert like this then?"

I preempted Zenith, speaking before her. So far, I did not like the treatment these people have been giving us. "I'm a Water Saint-ranked magician who can do incantation less casting." As a demonstration I pulled a string of water to rotate around my wrist. I made fun patterns. "And my mother is a healer and an S-class adventurer. We tried our best."

They went more on-guard when they saw the ease at which I could cast, but they needed to know we weren't just someone they could push around.

"I see. And why do you have need of us, then, if you are as mighty as you claim?"

"Just some direction and shelter for a day, if you'll provide it. We don't exactly know where we are."

"You are three months travel Northeast of the Oasis City, Quendenshe, and four months from Labyrinth City Lapan." I winced. Oh that's not great. Not great at all.

"I'm assuming by camel?"

The chief nodded. "Assuming no interruptions, or ailments of the road obstruct you of course." Like monsters and bandits. Or even heat exhaustion or destroyed roads. Camels dying, etc.

"And to the nearest port city? How far are we from that?" Zenith hacked her way back into the conversation, giving me a cross look. Sorry…

"The closest port city, Coast City Engelen, at least six months travel. Maybe more. The bandits in the area are especially ferocious. You will not survive without an escort. Or a bribe.”

Fantastic. Just… fantastic.

“I see.” Zenith fell quiet, contemplating.

Six months travel in the desert.. While traveling with Aisha? It- no. Aisha is not even five. She can’t walk for more than a few hours. She already has blisters and peeling skin from the sun and sand. We can water and shelter her, but the environment already does enough to hurt her here. Especially since she’s not used to it. We didn’t have a camel or any other form of transportation either, further lengthening the journey. With me as the only serious combat potential? I-

Maybe we could… steal one from here, but that might send their warriors after us. If word reaches the next towns over we’d be labeled as bandits and hunted.

Both Zenith and I looked at Aisha with concern. She was sleeping in dirty clothes, still stained with red.

“I see that you are eager to go home, but the journey is not without its perils, I’m afraid.” The chief’s eyes looked at Aisha with pity.

“Which course of action do you suggest we take, chieftain?” Zenith asked.

He stayed silent. Next to him Sheo had a thinking pose on, deliberating, then said something to the elder to the far right. He responded pretty violently, to which Sheo responded back with the first bit of genuine emotion I’d seen from him. They went back and forth like this for a bit. Then, he turned to me suddenly.

“Altea, you say you are a Saint Ranked Water Mage, who can use incantation-less casting, correct?”

“Yes that is correct.” Where is he going with this?

“Are you able to teach said incantation-less casting?” Oh. OH. I see. He’s trying to get a deal worked out for me.

“Yes, but only to a select age group. Past a certain age, a child’s mind won’t be flexible enough to understand the concept of magic implicitly.”

“And what would be said age group?”

“I don’t know for certain. My brother and I both started learning when we were three. I taught Aisha and my other sister starting when they were four. My brother started teaching a friend of his.. When they were five? Six?” I honestly couldn’t remember. Eris wasn’t able to learn it, and she was almost ten..? By the time Rudeus arrived. But Julie, who I think was seven, was able to learn it. “If I had to guess, the upper age limit would be somewhere around eight or nine. Ten year old’s essentially wouldn’t be able to learn.”

Sheo and the other elder had another heated exchange, leaving me completely out of the loop. Looking at the elder now, he was dressed differently than everyone else.

For one, he had some sort of headdress on, and his midriff was exposed for some reason. In a desert climate, usually you cover every single part of your body because of the sand and sun.

Anyone who’s stood on a beach when it’s windy for long enough knows it’s not a pleasant experience. Then, there has to be a reason..

“If I translated for you, would you be able to teach one of our children here?” Sheo randomly said, midway through the conversation with the weird elder.

I almost agreed right away, but. “In exchange for what?”

“We would shelter you. Teach you the Fighting-God language to the best of my ability, and give you a method of transportation.”

I narrowed my eyes. “A camel?”

“Even better. A spirit.”

“A spirit?”

“Yes. If you teach the shaman’s apprentice magic, he will in turn teach you summoning magic.”

That… would solve so many problems we’d have. A guardian beast like Leo or Perugius’ summonings would solve all the issues we would have on the road. Even something half as good would be a great help.

“Would you teach Aisha too?” The one who needed the most protection is her after all. “She’s a quick study. Wouldn’t get in the way. Even as young as she is, she already knows Intermediate level Fire Magic.”

They discussed some more, the elder eventually calming down and nodding in agreement, even if he gave me a dirty look.

“That’s fine. You’ll have to agree to do some odd jobs around here, maybe work with the guard for a few shifts, but it’ll work.”

“It’s decided then?” Sheo stuck a hand out for me to shake.

I looked to Zenith. As my mother, she’d be the final authority on things here. She just frowned and sighed. “Go ahead, Alti.”

I shook his hand firmly.

Summoning magic, huh.

Let’s see what you got.