Chapter Text
It was a scorching afternoon. Even when the sun started to set towards the horizon, the air was still filled with terrible sultriness. And the southern wind couldn’t bring any coolness to ease the living; the only things it ever carried were the hot air and trails of dust.
The boys had thus chosen to train in a forest. Maybe the canopy would offer them at least some kind of a shelter to escape the burning rays of the sun, so they had thought. They were right – but little did they except the heat to be so unbearable. Grill under the unsparing sun or suffocate by the thickened air? They were truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Nevertheless, the boy wanted to train. He needed to train. Come rain or shine, he would never skip a chance to train, train, train even more.
Standing alone in a field of pine needles, Magna paid no attention to the dripping sweat which soaked his shirt, and took a deep breath.
“One more time!!”
There was a pause, like an hesitation. The forest itself seemed to look at Magna, at his drenched clothes and sticky bicolor hair, at his chest waving under the panting, at his clenched bloody fists.
One more time. One more time. Magna’s thoughts almost became a prayer to his partner. Like a ripple, the thought Zora would stop the training session came troubling his calm mind. No. He immediately drove it away. He knew he was about to get something, to connect some dots.
Just one more session spent hitting moving trunks. That was all he was asking for. No time to notice the pain in the sore limbs. No time to feel the heat melting every fiber of his being. All he needed was to focus. Focus. Focus…
WHOOOSH!!
The move of the air; the creaking of the rope against the wood.
Zora had launched the trunk. The training had resumed.
Magna should have been relieved his friend granted his wish. But he didn’t have the opportunity to let this emotion reach him.
His body almost moved on his own. The boy crouched at the last second to let the trunk pass over his head, then turned his heels and fueled his legs and fists with magic power. Glowing red shrouded his torn shoes, as he leaped upwards and punched the air. In a real fight, his hands would have broken a nose, or a rib – or even hit a spell of rock, ice, anything solid launched at him. At least, that’s how his mind portrayed it each time he repeated the move.
But it wasn’t enough.
“RAAAHH!!!”
The trunk came back, growing faster with the pendulum movement. Magna dodged its “assaults” again and again, punching even more air, dropping even more sweat on the burning ground. One step after another, the boy entered a trance in which he did not fight with the void and the trunks, but danced with them. A dangerous and rhythmic choreography made of side steps, quick squats, little jumps, punches, U-turns, steps back, one more time…
WHOOOSHH!!
Suddenly, the harmony shattered. The mechanism broke.
The body gave up, unable to follow the mind that carried it until then.
“Wha–”
Magna had barely the time to feel the heavy touch of the trunk before his world became a rumbling chaos. Thousands of stars exploded behind his eyes, as pain erupted inside his skull like an enraged volcano. Like in a dream, he felt his body fall on the ground, had a glimpse of the scent of pine needles coming to his nostrils, before it was replaced by the metallic scent of blood.
His last conscious perception was the presence of someone rushing to his side and calling him by his name. Then only darkness remained.
♣~♣~♣
When Magna woke up, a strange scent welcomed him – some weird mix between coffee and medical supply. He tried opening his eyes, only to groan painfully when the light filtered through his eyelids. An awful pain beat time at the back of his skull, and even the comfortable pillow enveloping his whole cervical area couldn’t ease it.
“Hey, you’re awake.”
Still unable to open his eyes, Magna recognized Zora’s croaky voice coming from his right side. Behind his eyelids, he felt the light going dimmer, and tried to open them once more. After a long and aching time, he could adjust his vision enough to distinguish the masked man’s red hair and the deep blue eyes that shone quietly below.
Zora put aside his coffee cup and his book, took a carafe and filled a glass with water.
“Take your time, dude. You’ve gotten a nasty blow on the head. There are some pills if the pain’s too awful.”
Magna politely rejected the offer, and grabbed the glass of water his comrade gave him, somewhat worried to feel his fingers so wobbly. He closed his eyes as he drenched his sore throat, and for a few precious seconds, the pain seemed to fade away.
“What happened…?”, the flame mage managed to ask.
“You stumbled on your feet and got hit by the trunk.”, Zora replied in a harsher tone than usually – an euphemism, when you knew the guy. “Better thank your devil’s luck: it only grazed your temple. But the speed of that thing blew you against the ground quite strongly.”
Magna massaged his aching temple, noticed the plaster ringing it.
“How long was I unconscious?”, he enquired.
Zora glared at him, visibly upset.
“Three days.”, he said.
“Wh… That much?!”
“What do you mean ‘that much’? You should have seen the state you were in! It’s almost a miracle that you slept only three days!”
Magna scowled. “Y-yeah, I guess you’re right…”
“Of course I am.” Zora started to go back and forth in the room, scratching his head nervously. “Jeez… I told you to stop with that stupid training and go back home, but you insisted… as always.”
Magna balked at his words. “That training’s not stupid! I have imagined the global form of my special spell, but I lack some physical training… Otherwise it will broke the instant I go into battle!!”
“You already sang me that song, moron.”, Zora hissed. “But you already did break your body, see? You didn’t even need to wait going to Spade.”
A whole swarm of bees seemed to have invaded his ears, yet Zora’s taut voice did not escape Magna’s attention.
And even without that hint, it was rare to see Zora lose his cool like that.
“I… It’s because I’m still not trained enough…”
“Wrong.” Zora put a pointy index on his comrade’s forehead. “It’s because you rushed into things without thinking first. ‘Have I eaten well, and enough?’ ‘This ache I feel in my limb, is it stronger than yesterday?’ ‘If I pull this muscle harder, does it feel like it’ll break?’ All these questions are as important as moving your legs and punching the air with your fists, Magna. But I guess a no-brain idiot like you can’t think farther than you did, right?”
The beating pain coupled with the dizziness taking over his mind cut short Magna’s temper.
“Look, I’m awake and alive, okay?! Which means I can and I will make up for the mistakes I’ve made where I failed. No need to kick up dust over what happened…”
Zora clicked his tongue. “An accident, huh? It could have been way worse than an accident, you brainless brat! You could… you could have died…!”
The way the tone of his voice suddenly plummeted at the last sentence suddenly douched Magna’s growing anger. Zora was only worried about him…
The boy glanced at the book and cup of coffee the masked guy left on his chair. How long had he been at his bedside? Had he been there for three days, thinking it would take longer – maybe forever – for Magna to wake up?
A jolt of pain suddenly passed through the convalescent’s skull. This sudden change in his cool had seemed to fuel his already terrible headache…
“Zora, my bro…”, he wheezed. “I’m sorry. I know I caused you trouble, but…”
He couldn’t finish. He felt as if we was going too far again. And presently, he didn’t have the energy to start another argument.
Zora remained silent for a seemingly endless amount of time. Eventually, he pinched his nose, from which a weary sigh escaped.
“Forget it… You’re right on one point – only one: you’re alive and the wound’s not too serious. Now you should focus on your recovering.”
“… Did you tell the others about what happened?”
“I was considering it before you woke up.” Zora passed a weary hand on his nape. “Though imagining how that jerk that’s our captain would’ve reacted if he had learnt how I let you blast your brain in the most literal way while training at my place gave me the creeps…”
A joyless smile stretched the flame mage’s lips. A smile that was immediately erased by Zora’s next words:
“I called a doctor. You’ll have to rest completely during at least a week. Which means: no training, no fighting, and a lot of sleep during that minimum of time.”
“What…?! But wait…!!” Magna tried to sit up, was struck by a spear of pain, leaned on the pillow again. “How… how will I develop my special spell if I don’t train?”
“By studying. Albeit I assume that time will be reduced too, since the painkillers will basically drain your energy.”
“Y-yes, but…”
“No ‘buts’.”, Zora interrupted him. “That’s for the better. You were so obsessed with training you completely neglected your health. Now you’re paying the prize: try to make good use of your stupidity, at least.”
Magna opened his mouth to protest, but closed it immediately. He knew Zora was right and that enraged him.
“But you said yourself that to make my own spell, I had to picture it the most precisely…”, he tried to plead as a last resort. “I don’t have enough imagination to picture things by sitting on a chair, staring at the piece of paper. I… I need to feel things, to live them, I…”
“Magna.”
A firm yet mollifying hand grasped his shoulder, and Magna suddenly became aware of the tears wetting his eyes. “I get it that you want to get stronger. That you don’t want to be a burden for the others. But that’s exactly what you’ll become if keep being an idiot who tries to rush things to master a new spell, only to end up with nothing new but a broken body.”
“… I bet he’s getting stronger as we speak.”
Magna had muttered these words for himself, which did not prevent Zora from hearing them. Again, a sigh escaped from his sharp teeth.
“Listen, I know that you and that devil of Luck are the super duo of the brigade or whatever, but stop comparing yourself with that genius. He’s getting stronger his way. You are getting stronger your way. And who cares if it’s the slow and tedious way? You’ve got no other one.”
The masked man squeezed the shoulder of his comrade, before striding to the door of the bedroom, adding in a whisper: “Us peasants do not have another one.”
The door then flew close, leaving Magna alone with his thoughts.
Tears rolled quietly on the boy’s cheeks to wet the pillow underneath, freezing them cold. He never felt so pathetic. Zora was right; he was still trying to get stronger the old classic way. By sheer physical and magical training.
He had definitely not learnt a thing from his awfully short trip to Heart.
“You’ll have a hard time there, with your magic power. Yami knew what awaited him. He had always known.
“You think you can do it?” Yet he gave him a chance. Or maybe had he guessed nothing would stop Magna from going to Heart with the chosen ones?
“This one’s mana is too low.” How arrogant of him to believe he could follow the same training as his Magic Knights colleagues, chosen by the Captains and the Wizard King themselves. And as if it wasn’t enough, he had the audacity to ask Luck’s assigned tutor, Gadjah, the strongest Spirit Guardian – in other words the strongest mage of the whole Heart kingdom – to train him as well.
In hindsight, he must have looked so stupid.
“You’re about stage five. To handle arrays in combat, you have to be at least stage three.” To be fair, the fact he chose Gadjah to train him didn’t change a thing. Of course, the other Spirit Guardians would probably have been more tactful… But who cares that?! No matter the way you say it, the truth was still the same. He couldn’t use the runes or the arrays like them.
Because he was weak.
“That one appears to have an instinct for it.” Not only did he come up against a wall, but he also made a fool of himself in front of his friends. In front of Asta. And in front of Luck.
“Okay, well, I’ll just get stronger by myself!” The illusions Magna had been feeding himself shattered the second Luck was chosen to go train in Heart. Or even before, when he was chosen to be a member of the Royal Knights. Or even before, when he stood up against Vetto without even blinking, while Magna remained rooted to the spot.
He had always known the truth, but never faced it. He would never catch up with his friend. Let alone surpass him.
“If he lets this stop him from getting stronger…”
All he gained from his trip to Heart was a broken pride.
“… that means that was all he was worth.”
The carafe and glass of water went flying before crashing into the wall. Wheezing painfully, Magna peered at his clenched fist, then glanced down at the soaked floor, littered with shards.
As if this sudden burst of anger had swept away all his energy, Magna let himself fall limply back onto his pillows. Feeling suddenly crushed by weariness, he stared at the ceiling, and let his thoughts mixed with memories flow freely.
Six months. They were given six months to grow stronger, strong enough to face the upcoming threat that lurked in the faraway Spade kingdom. And the more time passed, the more this ultimatum pronounced by the Heart queen was hanging above Magna’s head like a sword of Damocles. Of course, no one could pretend reaching the level of a captain – or at least a vice-captain – in so little time.
But the problem was there: they had no choice. Get stronger and fight, or run away, hide and wait for the storm to pass. These were the only options available.
Three months had passed since the ultimatum was pronounced. And what did he accomplish? Nothing. ‘Nothing yet’, he would usually tell himself – but the heart wasn’t in it for the moment. It had gone roaming about the friends he left in Heart. They, at least, had what it takes to get more powerful within the given time. Noelle was a royal: they had witness her power and the latent potential behind it more than once. Asta was a peasant like him, but he had the power of antimagic. And for someone who had joined the Magic Knights about a year ago, he had made more progress than anyone else. As for Luck…
Luck is Luck. That’s all.
Perhaps Zora was right. Magna could deny it much as he wanted, he was always comparing himself with Luck. But how couldn’t he? They were friends of the same age, both hot-blooded, and both coming from the boonies…
“Except that Luck is a genius and that I’m nothing special.”, the flame mage mutter aloud. “Just a regular peasant like there are many in this world…”
“That means that was all he was worth.”
If Magna was honest with himself, he would admit that those words he still couldn’t get over with were the main reason he was so ‘obsessed with training’. Yes, he didn't want to drag the Black Bulls down. Yes, he hated the idea of being the weak one to protect and who would only get in the way of the strong.
But above all, he desperately needed to prove Luck wrong. To prove him this setback wasn’t going to stop him from getting stronger. That he would get up and fight, even if it meant struggling against all odds, like he always did before. That he was going to do everything he could to be able look his friends right in the eye again, without shame or regret.
That he was ‘worth’ it.
“That I’m still ‘worth’ being your partner…”
Magna eventually sank into sleep, these words barely mouthed lingering a little longer on his lips.
♣~♣~♣
“Seriously…?”
Zora slammed the book shut with one hand, waited. Then, with his other hand, he threw the chalk stick against the black board, where it banged against the dozen of equations, schemas, and other runic symbols traced on it.
He waited again, then tiptoed to the only desk in his ‘secret base’ – a special room attached to his house, where books, black boards and note sheets were kings. Arms crossed, Zora drummed his fingers on his biceps, stared at the snoring Magna slumping on said desk.
In other circumstances, he would have woken up his silly student with a book blow on the head. But the bandage around Magna’s skull dissuaded him.
Zora let out a sigh. Guess that’s okay for today…
A week had passed since Magna’s accident, and to Zora’s surprise, he – reluctantly – agreed to put physical training aside during this period. To make up for it, the boy pulled all his energy into runes and mana theory classes… which did not prevent him from taking a nap or too between them.
Zora glanced down at Magna’s notes, most of them written on creased paper. Obviously, he had worked on his special spell during class again. More weary than angry, Zora scanned the messy notes, mentally wrote down the points to discuss with his student later, then looked through the window. Outside, the sky started to turn dark as the sun was setting. Though no cloud was in sight, the wind was gusting against the panes. Predicting a storm, Zora promised himself to check the roof and window insulation as soon as possible.
Taking care not to wake him up, Zora took the jacket Magna had thrown on the ground, and put it on his friend’s shoulders. The heat from the outside had invaded the redhead’s house, but this wasn’t a reason to be careless and let the lad catch a cold.
Zora clicked his tongue in annoyance, and left the room.
It was always him who had to worry and care about Magna’s health. Ever since the flame mage came to his house to learn about runes and how to use them when you were a peasant with paltry magic, Magna had flung himself body and soul into study and training. Looking back on the two months they had already spent together, Zora seriously wondered how that guy would have survived is he hadn’t been there to check on him, to prepare him balanced and regular meals or to impose him some decent sleep schedule.
Moving at the pace of one who knows every corner of his home by heart, Zora surveyed the kitchen and opened all cupboards and the fridge, mentally making a list of food to buy, while reviewing ideas for meals he could prepare for dinner. He noticed with concern supplies had dropped drastically over the past week – not surprising when a convalescent coupled with a binge eater shared your home...
Zora left the kitchen and proceeded to check the attic’s insulation. While expertly tackling the task, he pondered the coming months.
Half of the given time had passed. Three month of training awaited them: a long period, you would think. But three months of training had passed: a period too short, too short…
As infuriated he was by Magna’s behavior, Zora could easily guess why his junior eventually got carried away with training. It was no longer a matter of rivalry with Luck or Asta: this time, the stakes were higher. The Spade kingdom and its devil possessed soldiers were a serious threat, looming them like a patient and confident predator. The Diamond kingdom had already fallen under their domination three months ago; Clover and Heart were actually very lucky to have six months to train and prepare their soldiers for the upcoming fight against the invader.
But what was the point if they didn’t show results?
Zora went on with the windows, checking them one by one, repairing the oldest, all without quitting chewing his thoughts over.
At first, Zora had faith in Magna’s potential. The spell he imagined to be able to stand up against the enemies that awaited them, no matter their magic power, had left him impressed.
Adding the power of two fighters, then redistributing them equally, thus allowing an equal fight, in the true sense of the word. The concept, both ingenious and of a disconcerting simplicity, had seduced Zora.
However, if thinking of such a complex array was a relatively easy task, building it was a whole other ball game. And unfortunately for him, Magna was starting out with a cruel handicap: unlike Zora, he was still a neophyte when it came to runes, arrays, and fine mana modeling.
But Magna wasn’t the kind to give up at the first difficulty. Studying wasn’t his cup of tea but what did it matter! He busted his brain to think of that spell and kept busting his brain ever since to give it shape. Sadly, no matter how much Zora could acknowledge his efforts, the fact was that no significant progress had been made. And time was flying fast.
Magna was probably aware of that. Hence why he pushed himself farther than his body could endure… until he had this damn accident.
Honestly, was this war worth rushing things? Was this spell worth a man’s life and health? Zora and Magna had a few arguments about the latter’s careless attitude of the past few weeks, and the accident didn’t help to ease the growing tensions between them.
Zora closed the living room’s window abruptly, feeling anger flowing through his veins again. Honestly, why did he even bother caring about that stupid moron? He had the nerve to crash at Zora’s place and never helped for anything to thank him to have let him stay. Instead, he became a pain in the back, only good to give Zora anxiety and…
Suddenly, Zora’s hip hit a chest of drawers. Thanks to his reflexes – and also his long arms – the redhead managed to catch the vase placed on it before it went crashing to the ground. With a sigh of relief, he put it back on the cupboard. His eyes then caught the doll lying next to a photo frame.
Though upside down because of the shock, the doll peered at Zora with a mischievous look. The masked guy couldn’t suppress a smile. Delicately, he put back the doll against the vase, before turning his glance at the photo frame. He seized it, and stared for a moment at the two persons on the photograph. Then the smile faded away to give way to a sigh.
Obviously. The answer to his questions was there, on a photo turned yellow by the years.
On this photo were a man and his son. Both shared the same dark red hair and deep sea-blue eyes. The father, smiling, was holding his son by the shoulder. The latter was smiling with more reserve, a beautiful white flower in his arms.
Zora glanced quickly at the flower in the vase – which, he noted, was starting to wither. A white flower, similar to the one on the photo.
Your favorite flower…
Ignoring the mousy-looking squirt, Zora looked his father straight in the eye.
“You never seemed to be worried about anything. Yeah, of course, you didn’t have this sword of Damocles above your head like we do, but… I don’t know, it’s like no matter how many times you failed, you kept being confident in your future success.” Zora let out of as soft giggle. “He may not be as carefree as you were, but that moron’s sure optimistic in his own way, too…”
Pride mixed with love for his late father spurred Zora on hating to recognize him in Magna. And yet, he had to admit that it was for this very reason that he had agreed to help the young Magic Knight in the first place. Beyond the fact that he was a peasant with Flame magic... it was mostly the fire in his eyes that had convinced Zora. An unquenchable flame that burned with a rage to win. Although his father was not the sanguine type, the same fire had always burned in his eyes, as far back as Zora could remember.
And despite his little breakdown that had followed his coma episode, Magna had refused to give in. He had come back to Zora with that fire in his eyes, smoldering with that rage to keep on going again and again and again.
For some reason, seeing that burning look had unsettled Zora. Just like realizing that he was the one running the house and taking care of the one who was training unsettled him.
“Hey, what’s this?”
Magna's voice was a flash in the fog of his musings. Zora jumped so violently that he almost dropped the picture frame. Without him noticing it, the flame mage had slipped behind his back, a bag of chips in one hand, the doll in the other.
“Ichjdat you…?”, Magna asked while chewing loudly.
“Wh–?! GIVE ME THAT BACK!!”
Zora dropped the photo frame to literally snatch the doll away from his comrade.
“Woah, Zora, my bro, I didn’t know you had a fetish for dolls…”, Magna ragged him. “Especially the ones in your likeness.”
“I’m not your ‘bro’. And this is… I-it’s n-not what you think…!”
“Oh yeah? Then what it is?”
His arched eyebrows and the way he tried to suppress a smile suggested that Zora's reaction amused Magna greatly – the former’s irritation increased tenfold.
“And what are you doing here exactly?”, he said in an attempt to change the subject. “I thought you were snoring after today’s lesson.”
“Got hungry.”, Magna replied, pointing at his bag of chips.
“… How many times did I tell you to not eat between meals? Put that thing away already.
Magna blinked, and gave him a cheeky grin.
“Oh. Sorry, Mom~”
That unexpected answer made Zora blush all the more because it was kind of accurate, especially considering the thought process he had a few minutes ago.
I’m gonna kill him someday, I swear. Zora pinched his nose. He had long passed the age to lose his cool against a stupid brat. Except I never not lose my cool whenever one of these problem kids from the Black Bulls are nearby…, he thought to himself.
“Hm? Hey, is that…?”
Magna took the photo frame lying at his feet. A frank smile stretched his lips when he looked at it.
“It that your pops on the picture?”
Zora gritted his teeth. He probably wasn’t aware, but Magna was taking a huge step into his intimacy, and he already hated it.
“… yeah, that’s him.”, he eventually replied.
“And who’s the guy next to him? Your brother?”
“Huh? That’s me, moron.”
Magna chuckled. “I was joking, don’t be so stiff!”
The flame mage licked the salt on his fingers and peered at the photo again.
“That robe… he’s a Magic Knight of the Purple Orcas?!”
Before Zora could say anything, Magna went on, suddenly very enthusiastic. “That’s so cool! Your dad’s in the Magic Knights! Man, you’re so lucky…”
Without noting his friend’s silence, Magna paced back and forth in the room, lost in his thoughts.
“Peasants becoming Magic Knights are rare, especially those old enough to be our parents… Personally, I didn’t know my folks… But I bet they were basic peasants, like everyone in Rayaka, haha. Say, does your dad use the same kind of magic in battle? With the arrays and stuff?”
“… Yes. He was an expert in trap magic. Except his magic attribute was Flame magic, not Ash…”
“Wait, Flame magic? Just like me, that’s sweet!” Magna froze, struck by a sudden idea. “Hey, Zora, my man, do you think I can ask him to give me a few tips about my special spell? I mean, since we share an attribute, maybe he could… y’know, know some tricks?”
Zora remained silent, gazing at the doll in his hands.
“…hey, Zora? C’mon, don’t make such a face! I didn’t mean your teaching’s useless… It’s the contrary, I… you helped me a lot!! I was just suggesting…”
“My dad’s deceased.”
The words rang out like a sinister gong. Stunned, Magna blinked a few times, in disbelief of what he had just heard.
“About thirteen years ago,”, Zora went on, “my dad did not come back from his mission. They found him dead on the battlefield.”
“I… Zora, I’m so sorry…”
Zora shook his head, more in an attempt to drive away a pang of sadness than to reassure his friend. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to tell him the full truth about his father’s death.
How would Magna react if he learnt Zara Ideale had been killed by his own brigade comrades?
That’s not his business anyway. What happened to his father was Zora’s secret. His personal fight. A scar left in his heart, and that would probably never fully cicatrize…
As if he read in his elder’s thoughts, Magna said: “Zora, my bro… I… Listen, I won’t force you to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’ll understand. But, if you ever need to let something out of your chest… well, friends are here for that. And I’m your friend! Everyone at the Black Bulls is! So…”
Zora interrupted him with a sneer.
“How considerate. But I’ll choose the first option, thank you.”
Magna gave a little nod, but seemed upset nonetheless.
“You know what? Forget what I said. I… I’ll get my tips myself. After all, it has to be my personal spell, right?”
His enthusiasm was forced, but to be fair, Zora appreciated he did not dwell at length on the tough subject of his father.
“Say, I almost forgot!” Magna dig into his pockets, and took a letter out of it. “An owl-messenger came to deliver this while I was getting some grub.”
Zora raised an eyebrow. “Must be from the others. Let me see.”
Magna gave him the letter, which was indeed sent by Vanessa. Zora read it aloud:
“To Zora and Magna
Hey guys. Hope you’re doing well? Sorry to interrupt whatever business you’re running together (I won’t break into your intimacy boys, don’t worry~ ♥), but the Captain’s got a message from the Magic Knights council. Apparently, several herds of magical beasts are running wild around Inadie and Canary villages. Magic Knights from other brigades have already been sent, but they wouldn’t mind some reinforcement. Since you’ve said to live in this area, Zora, the Captain suggested you two could take care of it. Not to mention Finral’s still in Heart and hasn’t planned on coming back until next week at least.
You’ll find attached to this letter the crystal to set in a communication device to join the Magic Knights aforementioned (you could say Yami doesn’t leave you a choice, but consider it a good training session…)
Good luck, boys, and stay safe ♥
Kindly~
Vanessa”
“A mission? Excellent! It’s a perfect occasion to put my work into practice in a real situation!”, Magna rejoiced.
Without answering, Zora checked the presence of the crystal mentioned in the letter.
“Monster hunting mission, huh? Can’t be helped, I guess.”
He glanced quickly at Magna, lingering slightly on the bandage around his head.
Magna caught his gaze, smiled widely, and undid the bandage.
“Don’t worry ‘bout me, Zora my bro! I’m perfectly fine, now.”
“Says the guy who couldn’t stay awake during a lesson before he was too tired. And I’m not ‘your bro’”
“Well, I did sleep enough after that!” Magna’s smile faded as he grew impatient. “C’mon, let me go on this mission with you!”
“… No matter what I say, you’ll just go, won’t you?”, Zora presently sighed.
“Yep. If you know me well – and I know you do – you’ll be sure I won’t let this opportunity to improve my skills with the arrays pass!”
Zora couldn’t help but let out a soft giggle. Maybe that bonehead’s cheerful attitude was starting to rub off on him…
“Fine, then. But before that, we need to prepare correctly. Eat well and sleep well. Oh, and… talking about arrays, I’ve noticed some mistakes in your notes…”
Hopefully this unexpected mission would help ease the tensions between them. Both really needed to stop worrying about the future – easier said than done, though… At least, Magna seemed to have recover enough to handle the mission, so Zora would probably have one less thing to worry about.
After all, it was a banal monster hunting mission, and they were both experienced Magic Knights.
What could possibly go wrong?