Sophia, Maya, and Fen were still exploring the jungle around their cottage together. Things had gotten a little heated when the blonde got a little upset by the constant teasing of the other two, and she decided to part the whole area as a demonstration of real ridiculousness, but everyone managed to calm down again.

“Okay, let’s go this way for a while!” Fen slightly repositioned himself and looked at a particularly dense and overgrown part of the jungle they were in. “It has to be worth something, after all, doesn’t it?”

“Absolutely!” Maya felt the same.

“I wonder if I really can teleport people against their will inside my domain.” Sophia's voice turned into a bit of a mumble. “I guess I have to try and find out.”

“Ah.” The wolf paused for a moment. “You’re not going to find out today!”

“That’s entirely up to you~.”

“Do you want to go instead?” He glanced at the cat-girl next to him.

“It’s your turn, big guy.” Maya slowly shook her head.

“I figured as much.” He hung his head. “Well, might as well have some fun before I go out!” Resigning to his fate, Fen started to concentrate again. The wolf chose a different approach to the cat-girl, though. He went silent for about a minute, but things soon took a turn. Rather than a ball of fire plowing through the undergrowth, it seemed like the jungle had suddenly combusted before him. The raging bright-white fire burned for exactly two seconds, and once it was done, a roughly five-meter-wide gap got revealed where the thick undergrowth previously was. It was way longer than they could see in the dim light, as well. "You can't teleport me into my fire if it doesn't travel, as I ignited everything at once and only lasted two seconds!" His voice was full of smug.

“You win this round.” Sophia had to give it to him. “Also, you get bonus points for using that type of fire. Were you trying to get on my good side?"

“I had to use every chance I had.” He just nodded.

“That was so cool!” Maya faced the wolf with sparkling eyes. “How did you do that?!”

“I flooded the path I wanted to form with a portion of my raw magic and also changed the composition of the air itself so it burns better.”

“Wow!” The cat-girl was impressed by his feat.

“The greatest pyromaniac in history taught me how to use it.”

“Hey!” The pyromaniac in question got loud. “It’s fire enthusiast, okay?!” The blonde didn’t like his wording.

“He learned it from you?” Maya easily connected the dots while she stared at her tiger.

“It’s actually the first magic I taught him.” She scratched her cheek. “I think it was after I was upset over something and incinerated a herd of cows to get rid of some frustration.” She got even more awkward. “Don’t worry, no food was wasted, and we had a feast afterward.”

“Why am I not surprised that you’re the origin?” The cat-girl lightly rolled her eyes.

“Because it’s cool!” Sophia looked back at her. “Today’s not my day because I’m overprotective about my domain, but just as Fennyfenny said, I’m the biggest fire enthusiast!”

“Fair enough.” She was okay with her reasoning. “Also, I want to learn that, too!”

“Sure, I’ll teach you!” Fen really liked Maya’s current enthusiasm.

“Well, we’re far enough away from the cottage, so I guess it’s time for a catastrophe. The damage around here shouldn’t matter too much for the aesthetics.”

“Hey!” The cat-girl glared at her. “Have some faith in me!”

“Do you still remember Canir’s joke dungeon on our way to the capital about a year ago?”

“The one you blew up?” Maya tilted her head. "That left behind a ten-kilometer-radius wide hole so deep people found new and rare materials in it?”

“That very one.” She nodded.

“Of course!”

“That was the same magic as what Fenny just used.”

“Ah.” The cat-girl started to see the issue. “Compared to you, I know how to hold back, though.”

“If you say so.” It did not sound like Sophia was convinced, though. Especially not after the past few hours happened.

“I do!” She smiled at her before facing the wolf again. “Teach me!”

“Gladly!”

Before they got started, the group first walked along the path Fen had created. Maya should get an impression of his work, and it already was there, after all.

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

“So, what’s first?!” The cat-girl was very motivated.

"You've already down the enthusiasm, so we can head to step two, in my opinion."

“Great! What is step two?”

“You need to release a part of your internal magic.” Fen looked at her. “Not too much, though. It burns extremely strong, and the concentration of ambient magic in this jungle is already quite high. Once you have done, you let it flow in the direction you want to create your path.”

“You can move your own magic once it's released?" Maya tilted her head. "I thought you could only do that if you use it while doing so?”

“It’s possible.” He nodded. “From what you need to imagine to do it, it’s relatively similar to wind-based magic. It’s just that you have to stop at thinking about it. Do not put any actual power into it. You should eventually feel it moving into the direction you want it.”

“I see!” Trying to visualize his explanation, the cat-girl closed her eyes and concentrated for a bit. “Okay, I think it feels right! What now?!”

“The next step is pretty complicated," Fen paused momentarily. "I'm not entirely sure how to explain it, either.”

“Thanks to the dense flora around here, the air is already much better in assisting fire.” Sophia joined the conversation again as the plants were already doing a good job on the oxygen front. “You should be good to go if you simply pour some power into wanting the air to be better for fire. Only a little, though. You should feel when it’s enough.”

“Thank you!” Maya was happy about the tip. “Let’s go!” Saying so, she closed her eyes once again and concentrated for another minute. “I’m good! This should work out fine!”

“Are you sure about that?” The tiger looked rather dubious about her claim.

“Yes!”

“Really?” She raised her eyebrow.

“YES!”

“Absolutely?”

“Absolutely!” The cat-girl was starting to get upset. “Just trust me, okay?!”

“Okay…” Even though she nodded, Sophia still did not look like she believed her.

“I’m going to make you regret doubting me!” Sounding extra smug, Maya then activated her prepared magic. Instantly after, the entire space in front of her turned into a yellow-white inferno. It only lasted a fraction of a second because their surroundings turned completely dark before the cat-girl could even react.

“To correct your claim, no, you were not good. This did, in fact, not work out fine." Sophia let out a small sigh while calmly patting the earthen dome she created around the trio the moment Maya ignited her magic. “Far from it, in fact.”

“What just happened?” Fen wasn’t able to follow the events.

“Dear Maya here almost just killed us.”

“HUH?!” The girl in question raised her voice while she stared at the blonde. “How?!”

“You concentrate almost all of your released raw magical around 10 meters in front of us. Same with the changes to the air around it.”

“S-Seriously?!”

“Yup.”

“Why didn’t you say something?!” Maya got even louder.

“I tried.” The tiger stared right at her. “You just got upset for not trusting you, though.”

"A-Ah.” She immediately broke eye contact with her.

“Because, thanks to using Canir’s magic, I can see raw ambient magic, so I saw this coming from the very beginning. I already started preparing the dome before our beloved cat here finished her own preparations.”

“Y-You should’ve tried to warn me harder!”

“Would you have believed me?”

“…” The cat-girl went silent again. “I-I’m sorry…”

“Was it really that bad?” Fen lightly tilted his head.

“Well,” Lightly scratching her cheek, Sophia then removed the earthen dome around them. “What do you think?”

“O-Oh.” Maya and the wolf had the same reaction. In a radius of roughly 200 meters around them, the entire jungle was gone. Only ash and some burnt stumps remained where once luscious flora was. It had turned bright, as well. As the trees were gone, the bright-white nothingness of Sophia’s domain shone down on them once more.

“My poor jungle, too!” The tiger started pouting a little. “Well, I was thinking about having a lake near the cottage, so this might be perfect for it~. In the middle of a jungle also makes for an amazing backdrop!"

“Could you be a little more serious?!” The cat-girl glared at her once more. “I almost just killed us!”

“I should let lose more, I should be more serious… Could you decide on one stance?” Sophia rolled her eyes.

“This and that are completely different situations!”

“Even though we were never in danger? I made sure nothing could happen, after all.”

“…”

Afterward, as Maya needed to sort out her feelings over the event, the trio decided to take a short break from exploring. Sophia went ahead and used the time to take a better look at the area to get her lake plans started.

 

 

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