Burden - Hero's Lies Arc

“So, you have no manna?” Kage asked, a puzzled look on his face. It was the very first day of training, and Kage was trying to find out his training regime for Bibi. She sat there, her mechanisms all equipped, with a goofy smile on her face.

“Nope! Not a bit! Absolutely mannaless!” she laughed, trying to make light of the situation.

“Well, Bibi…I’m just going to be blunt and honest,” Kage sighed. “It’s near to impossible that you will ever be able to perform Carte Blanche.”

“What?” the light out of Bibi’s face disappeared almost immediately. Her mouth curled downwards, and she looked so hopeless.

“I’m sorry, Bibi. Manna adds to a person’s power and soul. It’s not impossible, but it might as well be.”

“Will…I be a burden to the rest of the group?” Bibi asked Kage, searching for an answer in the man’s dim, yet almost cheerful eyes.

“Not at all. You have one thing that nobody else has,” Kage said with a smile, taking one knee and poking her sharply in the forehead with his finger. “You have a brain.”

“Are you saying everyone else is stupid?” Bibi laughed, the colour in her face coming back.

“No, of course not! But compared to you, yes. Your equipment is awesome!” he took her hand. “How did you make these?!”

“Well, before my father died, our dream was for me to become super strong! So, we took forever to make these! And my chest plate! It uses gunpower on the inside, and when I open my palm, the match inside lights!” Bibi beamed proudly.

“Well…I know how I’m going to train you,” Kage smiled. “See that tree over there?” he asked, pointing over at a sturdy looking tree, that was at least a metre in diameter, moss climbing around all sides to the sky.

“Yeah?”

“Punch it down with your bare hands.”

“What?!” Bibi was taken aback. “A girl like me that has no manna, punch that tree down? No way!”

“Number one, being a woman makes no difference to me. You are a strong warrior, and two, there’s a reason for this. If you make your fists stronger, you can add almost triple the gunpowder…and on top of that, you can add some on your knuckles too…to have explosive punches!”

Bibi looked down at the ground, then looked up at Kage.

“I want to be strong.”

“Good. We will do this Bibi. Together.”

Kage shook Bibi’s hand. She wanted to avenge her father, but she needed to accept the fact it was going to be challenging.

That started now.

Bibi faced down Eve in present day, as Eve staggered to her feet.

“I can’t feel any manna from you. You must be the weakest one,” Eve laughed, then immediately coughed and spat up blood. “Think fast!”

A strong vine shot out of her hand, and coiled around Bibi. With a bit of effort, Eve grunted, and roses bloomed out of the vine, with sharp thistles. Bibi yelped in pain and opened her palm, pointing at the main vine near Eve’s hand.

"Sorry love, but I have a date scheduled, so I have to make this quick!" Bibi yelled out suddenly.

A massive explosion erupted out of Bibi’s palm, scorching Eve’s hand. Eve howled in pain, and the vine retreated back into her hand. She stumbled, trying to run away. However, Bibi wasn’t going to let that happen. She was determined to not slow the others down. The young woman focused hard, then used her new ability.

She hit the floor, landing perfectly on her two feet. She got down low, then violently spun in a circle. Instead of her usual explosions, a ring of fire began to form, engulfing everything in its path. Eve jumped back to avoid being burned, and looked at her foe, her anger building.

“How…how can you do that?!” she yelled out in frustration. She just about got her words out as Bibi launched herself forward, landing a swift punch to Eve’s face. Her second new ability came into play, as the mechanism on her palm, had now been added to small, circular panels with wires connecting them to each one of her knuckles. The explosive punch knocked Eve into the fire, making her scream in pain. She used most of the rest of her manna to fly away, then looked down on Bibi. In a last-ditch effort, she used her most powerful attack.

Vines came from both of her hands and tunnelled their way down into the earth. Bibi focused, knowing that she couldn’t let her cocky nature get in the way.

“Would my dad be proud?”

That’s the question that Bibi asked Kage as she punched through not just a tree, but a boulder, of pure rock, almost three meters high and ten meters in diameter. Her knuckles were bleeding, and there were tears in her eyes. Kage brought her in tight, as if he was hugging her.

“More than proud. Overjoyed,” Kage responded, to which Bibi just let her tears flow.

She was stronger now. She didn’t need to be saved anymore. She could win.

The vines reached up through the earth, attempting to wrap around Bibi’s leg and suck her in. Bibi jumped on one, then another, then another, gaining altitude. Eve panicked, desperately trying to stop Bibi.

She couldn’t.

Bibi put her two palms together, aiming them at Eve, almost looking at her dead in her eyes.

“Thanks, everyone,” she said to herself with a smirk. “I can now be of use to you all.”

She let her explosions fly, so massive that the ball of the explosive was the size of a two-story house. Eve yelled out in anguish. Truly defeated.

*QUESTION TIME!!!*

“Next question! What do you think of Wisteria?”

Hiroshi says – “I love her to bits. She always makes me happy and everyone around her happy. She is very similar to Blossom, which is kind of awkward. I mean, Blossom is my ex technically, but she died when we were still dating…what am I saying? Point is, she’s a great person, and I’m terrible at relationships…and dancing.”

Wisteria says – “I think I’m pretty cool. Sure, I was ashamed of my magic, and even my body, for some time, but Oshi helped me get over that. Overall, I know I can improve, and I will!”

“Tomokazu says – “As much as I hate to admit it, she is stronger than she says she is. Her power almost exceeds mine. However, as a person, she’s great. I do get confused sometimes, because most of the time she’s confident, but around Hiroshi occasionally she gets really shy. I know they are dating…but even with that? Wisteria is totally wearing the trousers in that relationship. Hiroshi is useless.” Hiroshi – “Hey, I heard that!” Tomokazu – “Good!”

Bibi says – “Oh, she’s my bestie! I love her so much! And she’s so strong! I respect her because not only is she strong, she is also kind-hearted and soft. Yeah…Wisteria is pretty awesome alright.”