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 "I've been meaning to ask this but, Riveria… have you ever seen someone else cast magic like that girl does?" Finn asked, looking at the cat girl sitting away from the rest of the group.

Before the sun could set, they decided to camp here not far from the paths. They're still far from Orario and it would take time to get there. This was determined through a majority vote.

Riveria, who has been quiet up until this point, hummed thoughtfully.

"Certainly, the way she cast her magic, as well as her unthinkable control over it, is unheard of. I do not remember any records of such technique back in the royal forest… Not entirely but…" She cut herself, thinking about the impossible.

"But?" Finn inquired.

"But there are records of beings using magic like how they would breathe…"

Finn's eyes widen and his smile falters, "You don't mean spirits, do you?"

Looking down at her own staff, Riveria answers, "Yes, that's what I think currently. However, I could be wrong. It might be the cause of a skill unique to her. Like Lefiya's Elf Ring and my Chant Connection."

"Let's say that that is true, that she has a skill that allows her not only to use magic with no chant whatsoever. Not even the name of the spell. While also moving at high speeds, using multiple spells at once. Do you think our mages, aside from you, can go against that?" Finn asked in curiosity, but it came out as a little offending. 

Riveria looked at him, deep in her thoughts. After a minute or two, she had an answer.

"It is hard to say. Having seen how seemingly easily she took advantage of your height and how seemingly easily she dealt with Bete's assault, it wouldn't be easy to win against her. The rumors made light of how powerful she actually is, and that has cost you your loss."

Finn frowned, that experience was still etched behind his mind. He felt like a single tree in the middle of a raging storm, unable to do anything but hope that the winds would not throw him away, which it did. 

To think that he, entitled 'Braver', would be feeling this way from just one loss against a stranger. Perhaps it was because he subconsciously saw himself as her better, and that hit his pride. Perhaps it was because he was frustrated to have lost in such an anticlimactic way. Even if it was a duel they both did not take seriously, it was still unpleasant nonetheless. Goodness, he really should stop thinking about these things.

"Oh well, I suppose so long as we make sure to properly replace her ingredients then we could still somehow build positive relationships. It's still not too late to be on friendly terms with her." Stated Finn. Perhaps she could even be a part of Loki Familia.

The two of them continued their conversation on different matters until it was time for dinner. After of which, they decided on a night watch schedule.

Everyone who wasn't scheduled for night watch headed to sleep in their respective tents, while those who were sat by the campfire. 

None of them dared bother the girl glaring at each of them. She simply sat under a tree couple of meters away from their group. It was pretty unpleasant. It was obvious that she does not trust any of them and would not dare sleep with them near. 

She just sat there, cautious and focused. Until she wasn't. Midnight came and they've changed shifts twice already. And this girl still hasn't taken a single blink of sleep. She's still cautious, but definitely not focused. Her eyes are starting to drop and she's nodding off as well.

Is she seriously not going to sleep? They all collectively thought. 

Morning came and everyone was woken up by the people who woke up earlier than the rest. The girl? She's awake too, but her eyes don't look like it is awake.

They were just about to prepare breakfast before continuing their return when a large flaming red bird made its presence known with its loud wing flaps and loud screech. 

Finn immediately jumped into action and started giving orders.

"Men, into formation! Vanguards, distract it while the mages cast their magic, rearguards support them and make sure it does not get away! If that huge monster is left on its own it will surely cause massive damage or even death! We must put it down right here right now!" Having heard their captain's orders, everybody immediately stood to fulfill their given roles.

Not even a little hint of panic could be seen on their faces despite the untimely ambush. They are high-ranked adventurers belonging to the Loki familia. They have been killing monsters for a living for decades. Panic is the last thing one would expect of them in this situation. 

But before they could even get into formation, half of them, mostly the mages and ranged, fell to their knees when an invisible pressure was put onto their bodies. Reducing their speed and rendering all of them vulnerable to any fatal attacks.

Bete immediately knew what, or who, was the cause of this. He turned around and glared at the small figure of the only girl he knew that was capable of this spell. Her arms were spread straight into either side of her. Magic seeped out of her hands dropping onto the ground and up their bodies.¹T

"What are you up to now, huh!? Tryna get us killed!?" He shouted as he struggled to walk in her direction.

The girl gave him one glance before his body crumpled onto the dirt as the pressure on his body increased by multiple folds.

"Damn it!" He growled. 

She just stood there, while glaring at everyone's figures.

Finn glanced at Riveria and gave her a signal. Riveria understood immediately what he wanted and started chanting silently. Her goal is to do the same thing she did when the girl first used this spell on Bete. 

But suddenly her body also fell to the ground as the pressure on her increased. Looking at the girl glaring directly at her, she realized what happened.

"I suppose I underestimated her senses," she whispered.

Seeing this, Finn could only frown. Although he was displeased, he kept his calm and focused on thinking of a way to get them out of this situation. His smile sat comfortably on his face.

Large flaps were heard from behind them, and in a second the bird is now flying by a meter or two above them.

Right, there's that too. 

It gave them one glance before flying in the girl's direction and comfortably sat behind her.

The girl put her hands down and ran to hug the bird as she made adorable noises.

The pressure on their bodies came off and they immediately formed a circle around the cat-bird duo.

The pair gave them one glance before the girl jumped onto the bird's flaming body and comfortably sat there. The bird walked under a tree's shade and curled its body down next to the bag no smaller than it was. Its eyes were fixated on the girl as if it was looking at its own chick.

The girl on the other hand has already fallen asleep on top of the flaming bird. As if its flaming feathers didn't bother her at all. 

"What now?" Someone from the back involuntarily said, bringing everyone else out of their own little stupor.

"Well, it certainly is not every day that you get to see such a view. The monster doesn't seem to be hostile and is in a close relationship with the girl. Let's leave them on their own for now." Finn, as well as everybody, collectively let out a sigh of resignation. Not entirely everybody though.

"Are you ser—"

"Yes, I am serious, Bete. Now back off before that bird shoots a ball of fire or something at you for shouting so near the girl." Bete was just going to question his captain's decision before he was cut off and silenced. He looked at the bird glaring at him. He spat on the ground before turning around to join everyone else to wait for breakfast.

Finn could be seen sitting together with Riveria, who has a deep frown on her face, and Bete, who has an even deeper frown on his face. Finn just watched the two with amusement.

It didn't seem that these two would be willing to start a conversation so Finn did. "So far she has shown us four of her spells. That earthen pillar and stone spikes, the gravity spell, her wind spell, and her flight spell. Quite a formidable set of spells and that is most likely not all she can do."

"Indeed. Yesterday in her backyard, she flung the both of you toward me with some kind of force. It might be the same force she uses for her flight but for now, let us assume it is a different spell." Riveria responded.

Smelling the scent of food in the air, Bete stood up.

"I'll go eat." He said in a monotone voice.

"Seems like someone's feeling down," Finn whispers to himself. "I suppose I'll grab breakfast as well."

Finn stood up following behind Bete, leaving Riveria to her own thoughts.

She glances to her side, observing the figure of the sleeping girl and fire bird. 

…

Is that bird's feathers actually fire? It moves and looks like it is. So how come the girl is not getting burned? How curious… I want a closer look, but that will only endanger me and everyone…

Contrary to her thoughts, she has already stood up and made a few steps toward the pair.

"Riveria! Are you not going to eat? The food will cool soon!" Seeing how Riveria is being consumed by her curiosity, Finn decided to call out to her.

Riveria realized what she was doing and returned to sit together with the group, grabbing a plate and set of cutlery for herself.

How uncharacteristic of me, she thought.

They all finished eating their breakfast and were prepared to now continue heading back to Orario. That was when they run into a roadblock.

"Sooo… who is going to wake her up?" Finn asked the rest of his group.

…

Silence.

"Since it seems that no one wants to do it, why don't we decide by votes? Since it is obvious that you will only vote for the three of us level six's here, raise your hands if I say the name." He suggested.

Everyone gave him a nod and Finn proceeded. He smiles and says the name, "Riveria." Everyone raised their hands.

"… you did this on purpose, did you not?" Riveria sighed and looked at the girl.

"I don't know what you're talking about? If anything, are you not pleased?" Finn clapped, "You seemed quite curious about them earlier before breakfast. Is this not beneficial for you?"

Riveria remained silent and walked toward the duo. She sighed inwardly before coming walking closer.

"Why not just shout from here?" Bete asked.

"Well, you can go ahead and do just that. So long as you will take care of the consequences that come after." Finn responds to Bete's question as he watches Riveria in amusement.

I suppose this is not so bad. I just hope I don't get immediately blasted away.

Riveria hastens her steps. Her eyes were fixated on the feathers of the bird, watching it move from how the wind affected it.

"Riveria, please be reminded that you're supposed to wake the girl up!" Finn shouted from behind. "We haven't gotten her name yet, have we?"

Riveria was now a step away from the girl. She crouched down and reached out to the girl. Her hand was met with a hard invisible surface and the girl woke up sluggishly. Riveria immediately pulled her hand back and took a step behind.

"It's time to continue, huh?"

The girl murmured some things and started preparing to leave.

She gave Riveria a glance and smiled at her before going back to her stern expression. At this angle, only she could see this. Her smile was quite adorable.

My barrier did not hurt her. I wonder why that is? Was it because she did not mean harm? But I thought that function would not work. I guess there are still things I need to learn about my magic.

Riveria went back to her group and they waited for the girl to finish her preparations. Soon enough, they are again traveling back to Orario. The girl ate her breakfast on top of the fire bird accompanying her. By the end of the day they could see the city again.

Wait, what? They come from here? They were not bandits? Why? Why why why why why why-

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