Vina sighs, clearly uncomfortable in her new body. “How did you adjust so fast, Ventus? I know I found you on the same day you woke up.”
Ventus looks at Vina amused as she continues walking with the trio “Well do you want the short answer or the well thought out answer?”
Shaking her head with a grin, Avery looks towards Ventus and just says “Well thought out answer of course. Especially since it may help Vina adjust to their changes.”
Ventus nods before explaining, “Well I knew I was the wrong gender since I was very young. So getting switched to the so called other gender, didn’t feel that jarring. After all, I had wanted it for so long. As for the adjusting to I assume the missing piece between your legs. Eh I never really liked that anyway, so rather than an adjustment and it feeling strange, it more felt like a relief with every step I didn’t feel it. The relief is still there to clarify, just a bit more muted as I’ve gotten used to it. I suppose long story short, it is an issue of mindset.”
Vina nods, a small smile on her face as she quietly mutters, “Well it is nice to not have it, that’s for sure.”
Ventus smiles at that since she could faintly hear it, her ears twitching to catch it over the wind, though she chooses not to comment on it at the moment.
Slowing down as the sun rises more, Avery walks in step with the other two. “So I have a question for you, Vina. Is it she, is it still he, or are you unsure? Oh, and I did write a report for Lamu, so expect to be called to see him once we finish up at the stores.”
Ventus tilts her head, ears folded in confusion. “When did you have time to write the report, Avery?”
Avery laughs a bit at that. “I wrote it while we were in the cavern. I saw Vina’s changes first, and noted it down before sending an email to Lamu about it. Not a full report, so expect to surprise him, Vina.”
Vina smiles faintly at that before answering Avery’s question. “I think she is fine, at least for now. However, if we can find a way to change that part back, I wouldn’t be opposed either.”
Ventus shakes her head, chuckling at Vina’s partially faked response. “You know, I heard you say it’s nice to not have it, right? These ears pick up a lot.”
Vina grumbles, face turning crimson before sighing and picking at her clothes. “These aren’t comfortable, do you think the shops are open now?”
Avery chuckles and then grabs both Vina and Ventus’ hands before looking at Ventus. “Do your thing, your spaciness.”
Ventus pouts slightly, but still moves them towards the shopping district, easily traveling along the threads without having to focus much. Upon arriving she lets go of Avery’s hand, her tails flicking behind her in slight agitation. “Don’t call me that again, unless you want to be mana bound for a day.”
Avery blinks before chuckling, “Sure thing your spaciness. Please do that so I can observe the process.”
Ventus growls, several spiraling sections of solidified space appearing surrounding Avery, upon which mana is etched into symbols instantly. Once the effect takes hold, the solidified space vanishes, effectively limiting the duration. “Luckily this is one of the few I received directly. Let’s go Vina, we’ll leave the researcher to study this.”
Vina nods slowly, almost afraid that she’ll be mana bound as well. “Yes, uh let us do that. Please don’t mana bind me though, that happened way faster than the cuffs.”
Ventus chuckles before nodding. “I won’t so long as you don’t do anything bad to me again. Besides, she’ll have to walk back, since I’m not moving her while she’s mana bound. Consider it the actual punishment since the formation is more of a reward due to her being a researcher.”
Vina nods before realizing something. “So, we’re just leaving her there, rather than bringing her with us so she can pay?”
Ventus frowns, having not thought of that. “Hmm, good point, and she most certainly has the best eye for fashion among us three. Okay, we should bring her hehe.”
Avery rolls her eyes, having heard the entire conversation. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I can take notes on this when I get back, rather than now, so let’s pick something out for both of you hehe.
Ventus nods and then leads the way into the nearest store. It happens to be a lingerie store. “You’ll need quite a few of these for when we dive into the crevice Vina, so you should grab plenty of comfortable pairs. Don’t worry about storage either, since that’s one of the reasons I’m going to be diving with you all.”
Vina nods and then flushes crimson again. “You’d better not do anything with what I get Ventus.”
Ventus blinks, not having thought of that at all. “Why would I? It isn’t as though I’d need to wear any of it, and I can just copy any design I can think of in my head. Color too with a bit of focus. No need to wear yours.”
Avery chuckles as Vina continues to blush. “I believe she meant not doing anything with the ones she has worn.”
Vina nods, clearly embarrassed.
Shrugging at that, Ventus nods. “I can agree to that, not like I would do that to begin with. Oh, what about that pair?” She is pointing to plain black fabric. “Shouldn’t cause any troubles, and they’re full so no awkward moments.”
Avery shakes her head to them. “The design is good, yes, but the color doesn’t suit Vina, I don't believe. Let’s try more neutral colors.”
Vina smiles at Avery, thankful for her considerations, not noticing Ventus’ tails sagging slightly. “Thank you Avery, that does sound good, let’s hurry and pick some out because I’m not comfy right now.”
Ventus trails behind the other two, ears starting to sag as her tails start to sweep the floor. She scuffs her shoe against the floor a bit while looking around. Seeing all of the designs she won’t be able to truly wear since she can’t separate the mana fabric from herself, she sighs.
The sigh catches Avery’s attention, causing her to turn towards Ventus. Upon seeing the state of her ears and tails she walks over and hugs her, “You may not be able to wear these particular designs, but I’m sure you can make them, no? You should study the designs until you memorize them. That should make things a touch easier.”
Nodding, Ventus agrees, but with another sigh she looks towards Vina. “That’s all well and good, but shouldn’t you be helping out Vina? I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but this is something I’ll have to get through myself. I don’t even know why I have this mana cloth or fabric or however you want to call it. Plus with the hormones racing through me, I’m sure that has something to do with my current feelings.”
Vina comes back over, hugging Ventus as well, before stammering. “Uh-uhm I cou-could go grab those black ones. They’re a plain design, but the color draws the eye.”
Ventus shakes her head. “No Vina. No forcing yourself to be uncomfortable to make me feel better, you hear me. I do think you’ll need some thermal tights though, given your thoughts on dresses. Oh, I could pick up some of those for myself, saves some of the fabric for other things.” Upon thinking of this, her ears perk up, and her tails start waving slowly, clearly a bit cheered up.
Avery chuckles before heading to the changing room, dragging Ventus with her. “Sure sure, bring out the measuring tape, we only measured your bust earlier, but I should get updated measurements of the rest, for when we pick out more clothes for you.”
Vina blinks, left alone in the lingerie store. She starts to feel a bit uncomfortable when two men walk in. They ignore everything and walk over to Vina, their intentions clear.
The first man tries to grab Vina’s shoulder, which she dodges. “Why don’t you come with us pretty lady? We’ll show you a good time.”
The employee at the front has already dialed for the police after the attempted grab. “You should know the police are on the way.”
The second man frowns, and attempts to grab Vina’s wrist, succeeding for a second before Vina throws him to the ground by leveraging his force against him. “Do not touch me, and don’t make me hurt you to defend myself.”
Wind rushes from outside through the open door, covering Vina in a thin layer of whipping wind. Seeing this, the first man stumbles backwards, not having noticed the ears on Vina to see that she is an awoken. “Ah. I’m sorry miss awoken. Please let me and my friend go, and we won’t bother you further.”
Vina looks to the employee before shaking her head, the wind surrounding her converging around the two men to hold them in place. “No, you will stay here for the police.” She then frowns before muttering to herself, “I don’t know how Ventus does it. This is draining so much mana to hold them in place.”
Ventus frowns upon feeling the flow of mana, as does Avery. Ventus quickly covers up with her mana cloth and heads out, frowning at the two men trapped in the wildly whipping wind. “So Vina, what happened here?”
Vina chuckles, “These two attempted to abduct me, for their own pleasure I can only assume given the comments. Also, how do you manage to hold people so easily, this is draining so much mana.”
Ventus tilts her head before chuckling upon seeing the wind acting like it is. “Try flowing it more naturally. It looks like it is fighting your control, which would definitely raise the cost. Oh, but first let me do this, given what I saw happening.”
Snapping her fingers, space solidifies around the waist of both men, preventing them from reaching for their firearms. “I know they’re not nearly as effective now, especially against us awoken, but they can still put out an eye.”
Vina shudders at that statement, knowing that Ventus must have seen at least one instance of it happening. “Uhm, how much of a chance was that Ventus?”
Shaking her head, Ventus smiles at Vina. “Not very likely, but it is still better to eliminate the chance. Especially since I want to see you use a bow. Not necessarily in the caverns, but while we’re outside defending people from beasts? It could be extremely useful. Especially if you use your wind to guide the projectile, and accelerate it.”
Vina giggles, before nodding. “That does sound like a good idea. Now to find someone who knows how to use a bow.”
Ventus blinks and points to herself, before answering. “I used to practice archery when I was younger. I can’t say I was any good at it, but at least I know the basics. Between me helping get your stance correct, and videos on proper form you should be good to start practicing your accuracy within the week.”
Vina blinks, not having expected that answer, before nodding. “Okay that’ll work. Now then, what do you mean when you said that the wind is struggling against my control?”
Ventus blinks before just looking at the wind, wisps of it falling out of the containment before getting sucked back in. “Do you not see it? Wind wants to flow everywhere. Confining it just costs more. Why not trap them in a vortex rather than hold them down with wind? I don’t know if the cost will change much, but it should definitely ease the burden on your mind.”
Nodding, Vina changes how the wind is acting, causing two vortexes to appear around the men. They can move now, but not much since their waists are still held by solidified space. “Oh, that changed things immensely. Not only did the cost drop by about half, it doesn’t feel like a metal spike is in my head now.”
Avery smiles, sending an email to Lamu about having every awoken attend a seminar held by Ventus, to discuss how to use their elements more efficiently. Detailing the example of what just happened between Ventus and Vina, she clarifies that this should be a priority. She adds a footnote that Ventus could wear her kimono again.
Lamu almost immediately sends back an affirmative message, and says that they should get back to base as soon as possible for the so called seminar.
Avery clears her throat upon receiving that message, before noticing that Ventus and Vina pull out their phones, having received a similar message.
“What did you do Avery? I can’t teach! I just noticed that things were off and made a suggestion.”
Avery chuckles before nodding, “Yes. However, that’s precisely the point. You know nothing about controlling wind via mana, yet you made a suggestion that not only cut the cost, but also cut the focus needed, while attaining a similar effect. I’ll also tell you this now, a lot of us just fling mana into our element, and picture how we want it to go.”
Vina smiles at Ventus and pats her cheek “You can do this Vene. Besides, I’m sure we can make Lamu compensate you for this. Such as petitioning for Lilith and Desi to be here long term? After all, who better to trust at your back than those you believe in most.”
Ventus pauses at that, before nodding. “I won’t ask for that directly, but I’ll see if I can request when they come here that they can stay longer than just for the tests. Not too big of a favor at first.”
Vina and Avery are about to respond when the police show up. “Hands up where we can see them.”
The three girls and the employee raise their hands while the two that attempted kidnapping do their best. The sheriff walks over, and talks to the employee. After getting the information, he then approaches the group and asks, “Are all three of you girls awoken? Also, who was the one they attempted to kidnap?”
The three pull out their identification. While the sheriff looks several times between Vina’s ID and her face, he shrugs and says. “Understood, well that’s an additional crime for these two. We can’t arrest them until we see the footage, but based on all of your reports, they attempted kidnapping with intent to assault on an awoken. While we can’t do much more than put them in prison, I’d like to thank you for sparing their lives.”
Ventus nods and then gestures to Vina. “She’s the one that they attempted to take, and they also have guns, just so you know. Each of them has one tucked into their waistbands. I’m releasing my bind on space on them now, if you would release your vortex Vina.”
Vina nods and the air calms quickly. Meanwhile solidified space appears around the two criminals, mana runes appearing on it as their minor injuries heal rapidly. “There, any minor injuries are dealt with as well. They’ll be hungry though, since I didn’t offset the requirements of that recovery boost due to lack of knowledge thus far.”
The sheriff blinks while two deputies cuff and disarm the criminals. “That was still amazing. Are you going to teach other awoken how to do that?”
Nodding, Ventus answers affirmatively while gesturing to Avery. “She’ll be my first taught. Sadly though, we need to get going, also Avery, you’re no longer mana bound.”
With a snap of her fingers the binding shatters, much to Avery’s sadness. “Aww, I was just observing the runes.”
Ventus chuckles before grabbing Vina and Avery lightly. “I’m sure I’ll see you around Sheriff. Especially if I need some help testing new healing array configurations.”
The sheriff looks confused. “I’m not sure what you mean. Also call me Tim, easier that way.”
“Well, it’s simple Tim. I have all the knowledge in my head, but accessing it requires me to understand what I currently have unlocked. Right now it is just effectively copy and paste, but to unlock the rest I need to fully understand, and be able to modify them to my needs. So for testing healing formations, death row inmates that are scheduled for execution could perhaps be granted a stay if they agree to help.”
Tim sighs before shaking his head. “That’s not exactly my call to make, but if you can get permission from the government, I’d happily lead you to some of those scumbags, so long as your experiments don’t actually kill them that is.”
Ventus chuckles and responds, “It shouldn’t. All I’d be testing is healing, trying to get it more efficient, while not starving the one being healed.”
Tim chuckles, “Why not a hospital then? I’m sure they would be happy for the extra help.”
Ventus thinks for a bit. “While true, and I’d be happy to, I’d rather not risk complications while I experiment. That’s why I am thinking what I am.”
Avery sighs, shaking her head. “Animals first Ventus, simple as that.”
Vina shakes her head, disagreeing with Avery. “No, beasts seem to form from animals infused with enough mana. That kind of testing could just make beasts.”
Avery nods before shaking her head to clear it. “That’s true. Hmm, well looks like human trials will be necessary, but first we’re running out of time Ventus, take us back to base please.”
Ventus nods, and sends the two back to base before smiling at Tim. “Please don’t think of me as evil, I would never intentionally hurt another human, even if, well I’m not exactly that anymore.”
Watching Ventus’ ears flick while her tails sway gently behind her, Tim nods. “I figured, especially if you do what I hope you would once you get the knowledge.”
Ventus tilts her head before smiling. “Ah, if you mean make a giant one around the hospital, I can’t. I could make it that large, yes, but each patient would have different needs. The better option once I know enough would be to make configurable arrays in each room, that allows the doctor to adjust them as needed to help patients heal.”
Tim nods, considering that information before a grin spreads across his face. “If you can’t get clearance for the death row inmates, then I’ll offer myself for some of the trials. This would be a good thing for society, not to mention you’d heal me up if it fails.”
Ventus chuckles, her tails stirring the air from her happiness. “Yes I would.” She leans in closer before adding, “I can also stop them from starting if I see something bad happen.”
Tim blinks in surprise, wondering what Ventus means when Ventus disappears, traveling to the base. Thinking back to the special ID Ventus had as an awoken, Tim nods. “Ah, there was that mark about extra senses. Well men, take these two to the jail, and set them for trial. Should be a pretty quick case given the footage.”
nice chapter
Thank you! I truly appreciate that :3